De Niro Upset Trump Comments Cut From Gotham Speech

►"How dare they do that." Robert De Niro was confused when he took the stage at the Gotham Awards in New York City Monday night. The Oscar-winning actor was on hand to introduce the Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award for Martin Scorsese’s Apple film Killers of the Flower Moon. When De Niro began reading his prepared remarks for the introduction of the award, he noticed his comments were edited. He appeared to blame Apple for removing those parts of his speech. The story.

—🏆 About those awards... 🏆 Celine Song's Past Lives took the top prize at the Gotham Awards, with the film that went into the night up for three awards winning best feature. Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers went into the night nominated for a leading four awards but went home empty-handed. Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall won two awards: best international feature and best screenplay. Kaouther Ben Hania's Four Daughters won best documentary feature. The winners. 

'Avengers: The Kang Dynasty' Enlists 'Loki' Creator 

► Safe pair of hands. Marvel Studios mainstay Michael Waldron will tackle the script for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. The hiring cements Waldron as a key architect of Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, its sprawling story told across multiple realities in film and TV. Waldron entered the Marvel fold as the creator of Loki, and went on to write Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He is also the scribe behind Avengers: Secret Wars, which will follow Kang Dynasty. Kang Dynasty is due out May 1, 2026, while Secret Wars has a release date of May 7, 2027. The story. 

—Latest from Kim K. Kim Kardashian's ensemble comedy The Fifth Wheel has landed at Netflix. The reality TV superstar turned budding actress will lead the film, which went to the streamer in a competitive situation. Paula Pell and Janine Brito are behind the screenplay, with plot details being kept under wraps, but Kardashian will play the eponymous “fifth wheel” alongside a female ensemble cast. The rest of the cast has yet to be announced. Kardashian and Pell will also produce. The story. 

—Latest from Kim D. Kim Dotcom, the notorious hacker who was briefly Hollywood’s enemy number one in the mid-2000s with his file-sharing platform MegaUpload, is set to get the biopic treatment. Germany’s ZDF Studios, Boogie Entertainment and Aristosfilms have announced they are adapting David Fisher’s nonfiction bestseller The Secret Life of Kim Dotcom: Spies, Lies and the War for the Internet as a six-part TV series, The Kim Dotcom Story. The story. 

Mark Cuban Leaving 'Shark Tank' in 2025

►"I just want to have a couple summers with my teens before they go off on their own." Mark Cuban says he plans to leave the ABC unscripted series Shark Tank after nearly 15 years as a regular on the program. Cuban tells THR that he expects to leave in 2025 after the next season is over. The billionaire owner of the Mavericks initially revealed the decision in an All the Smoke podcast episode that aired last week, sharing that it was time for him to move on. The story. 

—🎭 Munro doctrine 🎭 House of the Dragon actor Matt Smith has signed on to star in and executive produce The Death of Bunny Munro, a limited series adaptation of Nick Cave’s darkly comic novel of the same name. The six-part series, written by Pete Jackson (Somewhere Boy) and to be directed by Isabella Eklöf (Industry) is being produced by Clerkenwell Films (The End of the F***ing World and Misfits) in association with Sky Studios. The story. 

—🎭 Harold and Nikolaj 🎭 Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is partnering with James Norton (Happy Valley) to co-lead an 11th century historical drama series based on William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings. The BBC and CBS Studios project is titled King and Conqueror and is from Sherlock Holmes writer Robert Johnson. Norton plays Harold, Earl of Wessex, and will also executive produce, and Coster-Waldau is William, Duke of Normandy, who is also directing an episode and also serves as executive producer. The story. 

Oyelowo Couldn't Believe Bass Reeves Wasn't More Widely Known

►"If he was white there would be monuments, there would be multiple movies, there would be graphic novels, everyone would be dressed up as him for Halloween." For THR, Demetrius Patterson spoke to David Oyelowo about his new Paramount+ show Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Taylor Sheridan’s latest series deep dives into the untold story of the legendary lawman — one that has been years in the making for its star. The interview. 

—"Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas." CBS‘ Late Show will be on an unplanned post-Thanksgiving hiatus after host Stephen Colbert says he is recovering after surgery for a ruptured appendix. Colbert shared the news on Instagram’s Threads service. The ruptured appendix is the second medical issue to sideline new episodes of the Late Show in the past two months. In October, the show canceled a week of programs as Colbert recovered from a bout of COVID-19. The story. 

—"I see music and I hear film." Jeymes Samuel has released the first single from the soundtrack of his upcoming feature film, The Book of Clarence. The track, “Hallelujah Heaven,” was written and produced by Samuel and features verses from three of several prominent artists who appear on the album: Lil Wayne, Buju Banton and Shabba Ranks. The story. 

'Eras Tour' Crosses $250M Globally

►Records keep falling. Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert pic has achieved yet another milestone at the global box office. AMC Theatres, which is distributing the film, announced Monday that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has amassed $250m in worldwide movie ticket sales to rank among the top 20 biggest films of 2023. It’s easily the most successful concert film of all time. Eras Tour finished Thanksgiving weekend with a North American total of $178.2m and $71.8m overseas. The box office report. 

—📅 Get excited 📅 Swift’s epic concert movie will be available to rent on demand starting Dec. 13, and the extended streaming version will include three bonus songs not seen in theaters: “Wildest Dreams,” “The Archer” and “Long Live.” The story. 

—"I want to say now I feel this loss deeply." Swift met with the family of a fan who died ahead of her first Eras Tour stop in São Paulo on Nov. 17. Before kicking off her final show in the Brazilian city on Sunday, the Grammy winner took some time to get to know the family of Ana Clara Benevides Machado. According to reports, the 23-year-old Swift fan died after going into cardiac arrest, likely due to the country’s heat wave last weekend. The story. 

Hollywood Has Been Here Before With Antisemitism

►"For the industry’s founders, they only knew how to operate by expecting antisemitism as a reality of daily life." In a guest column for THR, author and academic Chris Yogerst reflects on the recent rise of antisemitism in America and writes that the entertainment business, perhaps more so than any other U.S. industry, grew amid rampant antisemitism and flourished in the face of hatred. Just look at the 1930s. The column. 

—One on one. The details of Daryl Hall's lawsuit against his longtime music partner, and fellow yacht rock god, John Oates have been revealed. Hall's suit argues that his plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate the terms of a business agreement the Hall & Oates duo had forged. The move quickly prompted a judge to temporarily block the sale while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue. The story. 

—"Sham sales process." Vince McMahon’s corporate coup that paved a path for him to force his way back onto the WWE board and merge the sports entertainment powerhouse with Endeavor’s UFC is back in the spotlight, with a lawsuit arguing that he ignored more lucrative offers at the expense of investors. In the suit, investors claim that WWE board members favored a merger with UFC to allow McMahon to stay on as executive chairman of TKO Group. The story. 

—"I’m going to get some help so I can learn balance and boundaries." Tiffany Haddish knows she needs to do something differently following two arrests for suspicion of driving under the influence. The comedian was taken into custody for the second time on Friday for falling asleep at the wheel. In a new interview after her second arrest, Haddish said she’s determined to make changes. The story.

Film Review: 'Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé'

►"A thrilling spectacle." THR's Angie Han reviews Beyoncé Knowles-Carter's Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. Written, directed and produced by the musician herself, the documentary combines concert footage from the Renaissance World Tour with behind-the-scenes glimpses at the making of the album and the show. The review. 

—"A lightly playful take that neglects its literary pedigree." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Hulu's The Artful Dodger. Thomas Brodie-Sangster plays Oliver Twist's former pickpocketing pal in an Australia-set period series featuring David Thewlis as the scheming Fagin. The review.

—"Action filmmaking at its purest." THR's Frank Scheck reviews John Woo's Silent Night. Joel Kinnaman stars in the legendary Hong Kong director's first American film in 20 years, a revenge thriller featuring virtually no dialogue. The review. 

—"Exquisite artistry and liberating talk." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Anna Hints' Smoke Sauna Sisterhood. Estonia’s Oscar submission is the debut feature by Hints, who won the directing award in Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. The review.

In other news...

—BBC Subscription podcast service launches in 166 new countries

—Greta Gerwig to receive director of the year award at Palm Springs Film Fest

—Bloomberg Media CEO M. Scott Havens exits to join New York Mets

—Rita Hollingsworth, veteran Hollywood publicist, dies at 61

—Elliot Silverstein, director of Cat Ballou and A Man Called Horse, dies at 96 

—Ross McDonnell, The Trade cinematographer, dies at 44

—Eddie Merrins, Bel-Air golf pro who taught the game to Hollywood, dies at 91

—Doug Ibold, film editor for Dick Wolf shows, dies at 83

​​​What else we're reading...

—With Napoleon and Josephine's fractured romance the anchor of Ridley Scott's new film on the despot, historian Katherine Astbury unpacks the realities of their relationship [BBC]

—Roxana Hadadi reflects on the cultural impact of Rami Kashoú and Ramy Youssef in depicting the reality of Palestinian life [Vulture] 

—Amanda Marcotte looks at the rise of the "tradwife" trend on the right, that is rotting the minds of a generation of men [Salon]

—Maggie Harrison has a frankly shocking report that Sports Illustrated has been stealthily publishing articles by fake, AI-generated writers [Futurism]

—Fascinating Keith Bradsher and Joy Dong story about Chinese families sending money, assets and gold abroad as worries over China's economy grow [NYT]
​​
Today...  

...in 2007, Tamara Jenkins' The Savages was released in theaters. The Fox Searchlight Pictures black comedy film, which debuted at Sundance that year, starred Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Philip Bosco and earned two Academy Award nominations. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Armando Iannucci (60), Jon Stewart (61), Alfonso Cuarón (62), Agnieszka Holland (75), Colman Domingo (54), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (39), Angelica Ross (43), Ed Harris (73), Alan Ritchson (41), Karen Gillan (36), Joe Dante (77), Johnny Simmons (37), Aimee Garcia (45), Judd Nelson (64), Joe Cole (35), Jane Sibbett (61), Ryan Kwanten (47), Malcolm Goodwin (41), Daniel Henney (44), Scarlett Pomers (35), Geno Segers (47), Sunny Mabrey (48), S. Epatha Merkerson (71), Lucy Gutteridge (67), Rose Abdoo (61), Stephnie Weir (56), Jessica Knappett (39), Lee Rodriguez (24), Paul Shaffer (74), Jacqui Ainsley (42), Adam McArthur (41), Kelly Wenham (40)