WBD Has Bigger Problems Than Its DC Search

►"Zaslav doesn’t know what he doesn’t know." THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters reports that Warner Bros. Discovery's hunt for its own Kevin Feige may be complicated by key questions about what’s next for the heavily indebted company — and whether another major deal is on the horizon. The story.  

—They ride again! THR's Lesley Goldberg has the scoop on Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell set to star in an untitled reimagining of Butch and Sundance for Amazon. The straight-to-series drama, which landed at Amazon following a competitive situation with both Disney+ and Peacock bidding, will be exec produced by Joe and Anthony Russo’s AGBO. Cousins Kaz and Ryan Firpo (Eternals) will pen the scripts for the series, which is envisioned as a larger franchise with multiple series and spinoffs. The story. 

—Interlinked. Amazon has also given the green light to Blade Runner 2099, a limited series sequel to the iconic sci-fi film franchise. The series comes from Amazon Studios and Alcon Entertainment, which holds the rights to Blade Runner. Ridley Scott, who directed the classic 1982 film, will executive produce through his Scott Free Productions, while Silka Luisa (Apple TV+’s Shining Girls) will serve as showrunner. The story.

—Who is Elly Conway? THR's Seth Abramovitch looks into the mystery surrounding Elly Conway, the first time elusive author of the upcoming book Argylle, that is source material for Apple's $200m spy film of the same name starring Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa and Ariana DeBose. The story. 

—"It became very clear around halfway through that he would not survive." Chrissy Teigen confessed Thursday that the miscarriage she said she had two years ago was actually an abortion — which came as a surprise to her. Teigen and husband John Legend had revealed that in September 2020 they lost their son Jack at 20 weeks as a result of a pregnancy complication. At the time, they said it was a miscarriage. The story.

Inside the Documentary Cash Grab

►"And suddenly we realized that that was the road to perdition." As streaming transforms the once-sleepy nonfiction space into a money-making juggernaut of hit series, cool parties and $30m single-title sales, THR's Mia Galuppo and Katie Kilkenny write that filmmakers are enjoying the gold rush even as they fret about rising costs, ethical lapses and the very soul of their profession. The story. 

—Dragons rule. House of the Dragon didn’t make Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the week of Aug. 15-21 — but only because it was available for just a few hours before the weekly tally ended. HOTD racked up 327m minutes of viewing time on HBO Max in the few hours after its 9 p.m. ET premiere on Aug. 21. The streaming rankings measure viewing from Monday to Sunday, but even with that short a window, HOTD nearly cracked the top 10 for the entire week. The streaming rankings.

—"We're doing this again?" Trevor Noah weighed in on the racist backlash to the recently released trailer for Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid. On Thursday’s episode of The Daily Show, Noah mocked racists who have said that star Halle Bailey, a Black actress, looks “nothing like” the animated Ariel. The story.

—Plum role. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Archie Madekwe (Apple TV+'s See) starring opposite David Harbour in Gran Turismo, the Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions feature adaptation of the best-selling racing video game. The story sees a teenage Gran Turismo player (Madekwe) whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver. The story. 

—Rising star. Borys has the scoop on Isabel May, the breakout newcomer star from Paramount+’s Western 1883, signing on to star opposite Casey Affleck and Marisa Tomei in indie thriller, The Smack. David M. Rosenthal, who directed thrillers The Perfect Guy and the remake of Jacob’s Ladder, is helming the feature. The story. 

'SNL' Adds Four to S48 Cast

►Fresh faces. Saturday Night Live is shoring up its ensemble ahead of its 48th season premiere. Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker have been added as featured players. They join a cast that has seen seven departures since the end of last season. Longtime regulars Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney got sendoffs at the end of season 47. Over the summer, regulars Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor and featured player Aristotle Athari also exited. The story. 

—🎭 Casting news 🎭 Bobby Cannavale, Robert De Niro, Rose Byrne and Vera Farmiga have signed up for Tony Goldwyn's Inappropriate Behavior. The film follows a formerly successful late night comedy writer turned not-so-successful stand-up comic, and his brilliant, complicated autistic 11-year-old son. The ensemble cast also includes Rainn Wilson, newcomer William Fitzgerald and Whoopi Goldberg. The story. 

—Shuffle, shuffle. Disney's ride-inspired film The Haunted Mansion will now open on Aug. 11, 2023. Justin Simien's movie previously was dated for March 10 of that year. Disney has also set dates for a number of tentpoles with Pixar’s alien-themed Elio arriving March 1, 2024; Snow White opening March 22, 2024; Pixar’s Inside Out 2 will open June 14, 2024; and Mufasa: The Lion King arrives July 5, 2024. Patty Jenkins's Star Wars film Rogue Squadron has also officially been removed from the calendar. The story.

—"I did not, personally, identify as a lesbian. I simply fell in love!" The late Anne Heche's new memoir Call Me Anne is set to be released in January. In the book, Heche shared candid thoughts on her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres in the late 1990s, when they were among Hollywood’s first openly gay couples. The posthumous book is a sequel to her 2001 memoir Call Me Crazy. The story. 

HBO Sued Over Alleged COVID Testing Fraud on 'Winning Time'  

►Endangered crew. A former HBO health adviser, Georgia Hesse, is suing the company for wrongfully terminating her after she claimed a COVID-19 testing vendor endangered crewmembers by fraudulently using the wrong type of test on the production of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. The lawsuit accuses HBO of knowing about the fraud and sweeping it under the rug to keep the production on track. The story. 

—Branching out. Acclaimed French novelist, film and theater director Florian Zeller has lined up his next project, and this time it's on television. The Son and The Father filmmaker is set to write, direct and co-produce the TV adaptation of Stefano Massini's Tony-winning play The Lehman Trilogy for Fremantle. The adaptation is the first project from Zeller’s production company, Blue Morning Pictures. The story.

—All change. CNN is shaking up its morning show and its primetime lineup in CEO Chris Licht’s first programming shake-up since taking over the channel in May. CNN says that it will launch a new morning show later this year, anchored by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. Lemon will step aside from his 10 p.m. program to lead the new show, which will have a new name, format, and set. The story.

—Coming back. John Carpenter’s 1978 classic horror pic Halloween, along with the fourth and fifth sequels in the iconic series, are being rereleased in theaters for the second year in a row beginning later this month. More than 670 screenings are planned in roughly 417 theaters. The story. 

Film Review: 'All Quiet on the Western Front'

►"Another artful reminder that war is hell." THR film critic John DeFore reviews Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front. Close to a century after Lewis Milestone's Oscar-winning film, Berger offers a German adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's WWI novel. The review. 

—"Solidly made, but lacking spark." John reviews Gabe Polsky's Butcher's Crossing. Nicolas Cage stars in his first western, and plays a seasoned buffalo hunter with costar Fred Hechinger a younger cowboy who looks up to him. The review.

—"Click 'unsubscribe.'" John reviews Mark Polish's Murmur. Written and directed by Polish, the film is an augmented-reality slasher pic for the influencer generation, premiering at the Oldenburg Film Festival. The review.  

—"A nightmarish, disorienting journey." THR's Angie Han reviews Tom Bewilogua's Subject 101. A Syrian refugee tries to get a fresh start in Hamburg but instead finds himself forced into a ghastly experiment in this film premiering at Oldenburg. The review. 

—"Packs a heartrending punch." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Ricky D’Ambrose's The Cathedral. Brian d’Arcy James and Monica Barbaro star in the writer-director’s second feature as a couple whose story of love and estrangement is viewed through the eyes of their son. The review. 

Thank Pod It's Friday

► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.

—TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. The guys begin by running through the week's headline makers, including SNL's new cast additions, Amazon's Butch and Sundance show starring Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell, a Blade Runner series and the cancelation of Paper Girls . There's an Emmys wrapup convo and also a discussion of streaming consolidation with the speculation over Showtime's app. Vampire Academy creator Julie Plec drops by for a chat. And Dan reviews FX's Atlanta, ABC’s Abbott Elementary, NBC’s Quantum Leap and HBO’s Los Espookys. Listen here.

In other news...

—I Wanna Dance With Somebody trailer delivers first look at Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston

—Writers Guild East reshuffles council in latest election

—Jonas Rivera promoted to executive vp film production at Pixar

—Former Netflix exec Myles Worthington launches marketing and content company Worthi

—Former Netflix exec Carla Engelbrecht joins subscription book company Literati

—Tokyo Film Festival names Julie Taymor as jury president

—Blake Lively is pregnant, expecting fourth child with Ryan Reynolds

What else we're reading...

— Maya Salam and the NYT graphics team have another great visual piece tracking the reaction of people when queer characters come out on TV dramas [NYT]

—Simon Bland talks to Jennifer Grey about her new memoir, including the revelation of tensions between her and Dirty Dancing co-star Patrick Swayze [Guardian]

—Nina Corcoran talks to singer Michelle Branch about the recent domestic drama and reconciling with Black Keys’ Patrick Carney [Pitchfork]

—Mikael Wood interviews Marcus Mumford about how a horrifying childhood trauma informed his new music [LAT]

—Here's your Friday list: "The 33 best romantic comedies of all time" [VF]

Today...  

...in 1993, NBC introduced stand-alone half-hour comedy Frasier to its lineup. The Cheers spinoff, starring Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce, ran for 11 seasons and won 37 Emmys. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Amy Poehler (51), Molly Shannon (58), Alexis Bledel (41), Nick Jonas (30), Mickey Rourke (70), Jennifer Tilly (64), Marc Anthony (54), Madeline Zima (37), Elena Kampouris (25), Max Minghella (37), Ed Begley Jr. (73), Jayne Brook (62), Chase Stokes (30), Sarah Steele (34), Toks Olagundoye (47), Fan Bingbing (41), Niv Sultan (30), Kurt Fuller (69), Ed Stoppard (48), Danny John-Jules (62), Amy Price-Francis (47)