Stars Walk the Carpet at Academy Museum Gala

►Hollywood shows out. After being rescheduled from its original September date — postponed due to the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War — the 2023 Academy Museum Gala took place Sunday in Los Angeles. Stars including Natalie Portman, Simu Liu, Dua Lipa, Lupita Nyong’o and Selena Gomez walked the red and pink carpet that ran from the entrance and led underneath the museum’s Sphere building. THR has collected together some of the best looks on a night high on glamour. The looks. 

—🏆 Yay for us! 🏆 THR won best entertainment website, Rebecca Keegan was named print journalist of the year and Daniel Fienberg was named best TV critic at the 16th annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards on Sunday night. Overall, THR took home a total of 11 wins at the awards, which are handed out annually by the Los Angeles Press Club. The winners. 

—"It becomes an issue of how you define whether you’re in a relationship." ABC’s Golden Bachelor star Gerry Turner commented on a THR exposé that detailed his less-than-golden relationship past. Turner was asked about the story by reporters while doing interviews for the hit reality show, which aired its season finale Thursday night. The story.

—Cause revealed. Euphoria and X producer Kevin Turen died in November from cardiac dysfunction and heart disease, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office. The producer’s cause of death was officially cited as acute cardiac dysfunction and hypertrophic heart disease, with the medical examiner also reporting coronary artery atherosclerosis as a significant contributing factor. The manner of death was determined to be of natural causes. The 45-year-old producer died on Nov. 12. The story.

—"I realize that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large." Music streaming giant Spotify is making another round of job cuts, slashing 17 percent of its global workforce as the company continues to slash costs. In a blog post published Monday, founder and CEO Daniel Ek wrote that the new layoffs would “reduce our total headcount by approximately [17 percent] across the company.” The Stockholm-based company says approximately 1,500 jobs will be impacted by the cuts. The story.

—Bundling is upon us. Telecom giant Verizon announced a $10 per month deal that includes the ad tiers of both Netflix and Max. That’s a 40 percent discount compared to their standard prices. THR's Alex Weprin writes that it is not clear whether Netflix is offering a wholesale price to Verizon or how the discount cost is being shared between the three companies, but the 40 percent discount suggests that either Verizon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix or some combination thereof is helping to subsidize those costs. The story. 

Gadot Calls Out Silence Over Hamas' Use of Sexual Violence

►"The world has failed the women of October 7th." Gal Gadot has called out the silence over media reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, and the ongoing danger the female hostages face as their captivity nears almost three months. The Israeli actress implored the international community to do everything possible to secure the release of the women hostages held by Hamas. The story. 

—"This phrasing was a terrible mistake." Susan Sarandon has apologized for her recent controversial comments regarding the Israel–Hamas conflict. The Oscar-winning actress was dropped by United Talent Agency last month after claiming at a pro-Palestinian rally in NYC that American Jews had a "taste of how it feels to be Muslim in America." The actress took to Instagram Friday, to apologize for her comments and explain what she meant. The story.

—No dice. An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police. Smollett, who appeared in the TV show Empire, challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court. The story. 

—Not great. Florence Pugh was hit in the face by a flying object during an appearance at CCXP 2023 on Sunday. The actress was onstage with her fellow Dune: Part Two stars when an object was thrown in her direction, seemingly from the audience, and hit her in the face, according to videos circulating online. In the videos, Pugh can be seen flinching and saying something that may have been “wow” or “ow” before putting her hand to her face and leaning over to pick up the object. It’s unclear what it was that hit her. The story. 

—Dads of the world rejoice! Amazon Prime Video is locking in one of its biggest series for a longer term. The streamer has ordered a third season of Reacher, two weeks before the scheduled premiere of the show’s second installment on Dec. 15. Series lead Alan Ritchson — who will also be an executive producer on season three — made the announcement Saturday via video at Prime Video’s panel at the CCXP convention in São Paulo, also revealing that season three has already begun production. The story.

Santos Movie in Development at HBO 

►Messy. A movie about George Santos is in development at HBO Films. The studio has optioned the rights to Mark Chiusano’s book, The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos, which was released on Nov. 28. The film from Frank Rich (Veep and Succession) is described as a “forensic and darkly comic look” at the unprecedented congressional race in Long Island, New York, that led to Santos being elected to Congress. The story.

—Leo Messy. This week’s Saturday Night Live cold open gave a musical send-off to expelled congressman George Santos. Before Bowen Yang’s Santos made his way over to a piano to perform a parody of “Candle in the Wind,” he took questions from the media regarding his removal from the U.S. House of Representatives. "This entire country has been bullying me just because I am a proud gay thief," Yang’s Santos initially says. "But what else is new? America hates to see a Latina queen winning since the day I was elected." The recap.  

—Debroah Messy. Is Ziwe getting an interview with George Santos? That was a deal seemingly agreed to on X on Sunday between Santos and Ziwe, the comedian-writer-interviewer. "You'd be an iconic guest," Ziwe told Santos before the disgraced pol replied "Let's do it." The story. 

'Virgin River' Star on a "Very Draining" S5

►"'Is it too much?’ I said, 'Nah, it’s Virgin River.'" THR's Carly Thomas spoke to Virgin River star Alexandra Breckenridge as parts one and two of season five of the popular drama hit Netflix. Along with navigating the heavy moments this season, Breckenridge opened up about the storyline she felt was "kind of goofy" and her hopes for Jack (Martin Henderson) and Mel's relationship. Warning: Spoilers! The interview. 

—"We've never pitched ourselves as a documentary." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to Annie Sulzberger, a researcher on Netflix's The Crown, who hits back at critics who have lambasted the drama's depiction of Princess Diana's final days in season six. "We’re trying to show this country, these institutions, these people in a way that humanizes them and that gives us a little insight into our own culture," Sulzberger. "I don’t think it’s been misleading in the slightest." Warning: Spoilers! The interview. 

—"We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again." Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man will not be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — at least according to Kevin Feige. In an interview with Vanity Fair about the third act of Downey’s decades-long career, the president of Marvel Studios addressed the rumors that all the original Avengers would be returning in one form or another in a future MCU phase. The story. 

—"I will see it at some point, believe you me!" Baz Luhrmann has confessed he hasn’t watched Priscilla yet. Despite having directed 2022's Elvis biopic, the Aussie director admitted at the Red Sea Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia that he's been too busy to watch Sofia Coppola's more recent biopic about The King's relationship with Priscilla Presley. The story. 

—🏆 Worthy winner 🏆 Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed gay romance All of Us Strangers took home the lion’s share of the honors at the 2023 British Independent Film Awards. The Searchlight title, starring Andrew Scott, won best British independent film, best director and best screenplay for Haigh, and one of two best supporting performance awards for Paul Mescal. The winners. 

'Renaissance' Brightens Up Box Office With $21M Bow

►Home advantage. Beyoncé’s new concert film delivered the goods at the North American box office, where it had the biggest opening at the early December box office in two decades. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé — which the superstar wrote, directed and produced — grossed a better-than-expected $21m from 2,536 locations in its domestic debut after being graced with a coveted A+ CinemaScore from audiences and glowing reviews. 

THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the concert movie struggled badly overseas, however, opening to an estimated $6.4m from 94 markets, well behind an expected $20m. It came in No. 4 in the U.K., for example, and No. 6 in Australia. The concert movie is the second title distributed by mega-cinema circuit AMC, which is also home to blockbuster Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which has held in nicely, came in second in its third weekend with $14.5m from 3,691 locations for a domestic total of $121.2m. Overseas, it has amassed $122.7m from 87 markets for a global cume of $243.9m. The box office report. 

Film Review: 'Godzilla Minus One' 

►"A roaring comeback." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One. The legendary monster returns in this Japanese film in which he rampages through Tokyo yet again. The review. 

In other news...

—House of the Dragon S2 teaser intense dragon war action

—Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer sees epic kaiju team up

—Halo S2 trailer teases more action-packed battles in the war against the Covenant 

—The Boys S4 trailer shows a world being torn apart

—Fallout teaser showcases post-apocalyptic world of Amazon series

—Amazon Prime Video’s new releases coming in December 2023

—Christopher Nolan to get BFI Fellowship

—Kennedy Center Honors fetes new inductees Queen Latifah, Billy Crystal and Dionne Warwick

​​​What else we're reading...

—Charlie Savage, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman look at how a second Trump presidency may be even more radical and dangerous than his first [NYT]

—With Hall feuding with Oates, Eamonn Forde looks at the vexed business of artists selling off their song catalogues [Guardian]

—Rebecca Jennings wonders why dating advice found on TikTok tends to be so sexist — and so bleak [Vox]

—Arwa Haider reflects on the impact of the 1995 TLC hit "Waterfalls" that became the number one song promoting safe sex [BBC]

—Critic Bilge Ebiri writes that Todd Haynes’s May December is a deeply uncomfortable movie as he veered from finding it hilarious to needing a shower after viewing [Vulture]

Today...  

...in 2009, Paramount Pictures released Jason Reitman's Up in the Air in theaters. The film, which starred George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, was a huge critical and commercial success and scored six Academy Award nominations. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Jay-Z (54), Marisa Tomei (59), Jeff Bridges (74), Fred Armisen (57), Tyra Banks (50), Skip Bayless (72), Yōjirō Takita (68), Jin (31), Patricia Wettig (72), Kevin Sussman (53), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (38), Tony Todd (69), Scarlett Estevez (16), Chelsea Noble (59), Pamela Stephenson (74), Álex de la Iglesia (58), Nafessa Williams (34), Anthony DeSando (58), Christopher B. Duncan (59), Sean Riggs (43)