January 05, 2026

What's news: Jacob Elordi and Amy Madigan were among the surprise winners at the Critics Choice Awards. A Stranger Things 5 doc is heading to Netflix. Victoria Jones, the daughter of Tommy Lee Jones, was found dead on New Year’s Day. The Housemaid is nearing $133m worldwide. And China's box office hit $7.41b in 2025, surging 20 percent on the back of a slew of animated films. — Abid Rahman

Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com.

Critics Choice Awards 2026

►🏆 Congrats! 🏆 One Battle After Another was named best picture at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night. In addition, Paul Thomas Anderson nabbed best director honors for his film. Elsewhere, Sinners nabbed four awards, including the trophy for best casting and ensemble, a new category this year, which went to Francine Maisle. The film’s Miles Caton was named best young actor or actress, Ryan Coogler won best original screenplay, and Ludwig Göransson won best score. In the acting categories, Timothée Chalamet won best actor for Marty Supreme, and Jessie Buckley won best actress for Hamnet. Jacob Elordi won best supporting actor for Frankenstein, while Amy Madigan won best supporting actress for Weapons . The winners. 

—Scott's take. THR's executive editor of awards coverage Scott Feinberg weighs in after Sunday night's Critics Choice Awards. Scott considers the meaning of One Battle After Another being recognized with best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay prizes, and the less widely predicted wins for Jacob Elordi and Amy Madigan. The analysis.

—"Let’s use tonight as a reminder of that decency and as a reminder of everything Rob and Michele represented and fought so hard for." Chelsea Handler kicked off the 2026 awards season by hosting the 31st Critics Choice Awards Sunday night in Santa Monica. The comedian paid tribute to to the late Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner. “Everyone in this room knows that the nicest guy in Hollywood was Rob Reiner,” Handler said to the crowd towards the end of her monologue. “Anyone who ever spent time with Rob Reiner knows that the minute that you met him, he felt like an old friend,” she continued. “When you were in a conversation with him, he was present, he was focused, and he was funny.” The monologue. 

—Black carpet standouts. For the first time in nine years, the Critics Choice Awards has leapfrogged to the front of the awards season schedule. It’s also the first opportunity to get a sense of who will emerge as the year’s most-discussed style stars on the awards season red carpet. THR's Laurie Brookins and Tristan Cassel gather together the best looks from Sunday night. The looks. 

—More looks! Laurie Brookins is back with more of the best looks from the Critics Choice Awards. The looks. 

After Burn: Has Hollywood Already Forgotten the Fires?

►"If we can’t prevent the next wildfire, the next communicable disease or the next earthquake, the least we can do is forget it, right?" A year since the blazes reshaped Los Angeles — physically, emotionally and culturally — much of the town seems to have moved on. For THR, Matthew Specktor looks at why that’s both a troubling and a hopeful sign for the future of the city. The story. 

—Suit filed. Will Smith has been sued by a former violinist on his 2025 tour, who alleges he was illegally fired in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment. Brian King Joseph, in a lawsuit filed in California state court, accuses the actor of “predatory behavior” and “deliberately grooming and priming” him for “sexual exploitation,” though he doesn’t cite a specific incident in which Smith was involved. He brings claims against for wrongful termination, retaliation and sexual harassment, among others. In a statement, Allen Grodsky, a lawyer for Smith, called the allegations “false, baseless and reckless.” The story.

—Tragedy. Victoria Jones, the daughter of Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, who appeared alongside her father in multiple films in the 1990s and on red carpets, was found dead in San Francisco on New Year’s Day, according to local authorities. Victoria Jones, 34, was found unresponsive at the Fairmont Hotel after paramedics were called, according to a representative from the San Francisco Fire Department, who confirmed the news to THR on Friday. No cause of death had been announced as of Friday morning. The story. 

—"At risk of being evicted from his home." Facing an eviction notice from his L.A. rental home, Mickey Rourke, 73, is turning to GoFundMe to pay $59,100 in owed rent. Launched Sunday and with his "full permission," the crowdfunding drive, "Support Mickey to Prevent Eviction," urges fans to "help Mickey Rourke stay in his home." "Mickey Rourke is currently facing a very difficult and urgent situation: he is at risk of being evicted from his home," the GoFundMe description reads. "Life doesn’t always move in a straight line, and despite everything Mickey has given through his work and his life, he is now dealing with a challenging financial moment that has put his housing at risk." The fundraiser will pay for "immediate housing-related expenses and prevent eviction." The story. 

—Stripped down awards. The Asian Film Awards will significantly scale back their 2026 edition, suspending competitive categories and eliminating the traditional red carpet, organizers said Friday — a move intended to reflect the somber public mood in the host city of Hong Kong following last year’s devastating residential fire. The Asian Film Awards Academy said the 19th edition of the pan-regional honors, set for March this year in Hong Kong, will pivot to a stripped-down program centered on a small slate of special awards presented “in a dignified and minimalist manner,” rather than the usual contest of best film, director, acting prizes and crafts categories. The story.

Advertising to Boom in 2026, But Hollywood Risks Being Left Behind

►Expert more chaos. 2025 was the year that advertising dealt with shocks to the system: AI disruption reverberated across every part of the ecosystem, Omnicom completed its $13 billion megadeal for IPG, creating a marketing Goliath, and tariff uncertainty threw certain sectors into chaos. But when it was all said and done, the ad business grew last year. 2026 is shaping up to be just as disruptive as 2025 to the industry, as every sector of the advertising business grapples with this new reality. Unfortunately for Hollywood, writes THR's Alex Weprin, it is facing a double whammy. The analysis. 

—It's official. Comcast said on Monday that the separation of most of its cable networks into a separate entity called Versant Media Group, led by Mark Lazarus as CEO, has been completed. Lazarus and his team will “lead the development of an independent strategy,” while also establishing the firm as a potential partner and acquirer of complementary media businesses, Comcast had previously highlighted. Cable channel Bravo, the NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock will remain part of Comcast’s entertainment arm NBCUniversal. The story.

—🤝 Strategic alliance. 🤝 Universal Music India has taken a significant minority stake in leading Indian production banner Excel Entertainment, deepening its push into India’s fastest-growing entertainment market and forging a new pipeline between the country’s local film content and global music distribution. The deal values Excel at $290m. Under the agreement, Universal Music India — a division of Universal Music Group — will acquire a 30 percent equity interest, while partnering with the Mumbai-based studio across film, series, music and emerging formats. The story.

'Avatar 3' Flies Past $1B

►Woof! THR's Pamela McClintock reports that 2026 is off to a good start at the domestic box office, thanks to a varied menu of holiday titles that moviegoers are continuing to feast on before schools resume and extended work vacations end. Indeed, New Year’s weekend revenue looks to be a post-pandemic best.

Leading the pack, of course, is James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, which flew past the $1b mark at the global box office Saturday. Avatar 3's global earnings through Sunday were an estimated $1.083b, including $771.1m overseas after earning another $129.6m. In North America, it finished the weekend with a domestic total of $303m after earning a better-than-expected $40m.

Lionsgate and Paul Feig’s well-reviewed sleeper hit The Housemaid is on course to fall a scant three percent to $14m for a domestic tally nearing $75m and $133m worldwide. The female-skewing thriller is a major win for all involved, and particularly Sydney Sweeney. The actress came under fierce attack for an American Eagle jeans campaign — she recently began addressing the issue — followed by the disastrous box office performance of Christy, an awards vehicle for Sweeney. The box office report. 

—Cartoonish numbers. Blockbuster animation drove a major recovery at China‘s theatrical box office in 2025, as ticket revenue surged 20 percent year-over-year to $7.41b in annual sales. The results represented a strong rebound from 2024, when China’s box office plummeted 23 percent to $5.8b. The outsized impact of animation was unmistakable in 2025’s results, with 57 animated features generating $3.57b in revenue — nearly half the year’s sales — according to data from Maoyan Entertainment’s research division. The biggest domestic Chinese hit and Hollywood import were both massive animated blockbusters: Ne Zha 2 earned a record-smashing $2.13b during China’s Lunar New Year in January, and Disney’s Zootopia 2 closed out the year in December with $558.3m. The China box office report. 

The Filmmaker Going Direct to Consumer With His Jan. 6 Doc

►"It felt like broadcasters, streamers in some instances were counter-programming the apocalypse in some ways." After director Michael Premo found himself filming on the ground at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he started getting offers. In the wake of the attempted insurrection, buyers came calling with the hopes of turning Premo’s harrowing footage. But his complicated, character-driven story Homegrown turned out to be a difficult vision to sell to major U.S. distributors when the finished film premiered in 2024. THR's Katie Kilkenny spoke to Premo about his efforts to go direct to consumer with his verité portrait of radicalized men before and after the siege on the U.S. Capitol. The interview.

—"Will cinemas become silos — like jazz bars?" Do people still have an appetite to attend movie theaters? That’s a question Leonardo DiCaprio is pondering. In a new interview, the One Battle After Another star discussed the shifting film landscape, which he noted is “changing at a lightning speed.” He further pointed out the modern demand of streaming and how it has impacted the moviegoing experience. “We’re looking at a huge transition. First, documentaries disappeared from cinemas. Now, dramas only get finite time and people wait to see it on streamers. I don’t know,” DiCaprio said. "Do people still have the appetite? Or will cinemas become silos — like jazz bars?" The story.

—🏆 One gong after another. 🏆 One Battle After Another was named best picture by the National Society of Film Critics in the group’s 60th annual vote Saturday. In addition to the movie earning the top prize, OBAA's Paul Thomas Anderson won best director; Benicio del Toro won best supporting actor; and Teyana Taylor won best supporting actress. The best actor prize went to Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, rather than to OBAA's lead, Leonardo DiCaprio. The story.

—📅 Dated! 📅  The next horror movie from André Ovredal is coming into focus. Paramount has revealed the film is called Passenger, and has set a plum summer theatrical date of May 29 for the project, which stars Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell and Melissa Leo. Plot details are being kept in luggage. Walter Hamada is producing via 18Hz, alongside Gary Dauberman and his Coin Operated banner. Ovredal last helmed The Last Voyage of the Demeter, his own take on the Dracula mythos, and is known for projects such as the Guillermo del Toro-produced Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The story.

—"People will get a break from me and I’ll get a break from them." If you’ve already seen Hamnet, you might want to savor that Paul Mescal performance. But in a recent interview alongside The History of Sound co-star Josh O’Connor, Mescal said we might be seeing a little less of him until his outing as Paul McCartney in Sony’s Beatles movies, currently set for 2028. “I’m five or six years into this now, and I feel very lucky. But I’m also learning that I don’t think I can go on doing it as much,” the Irish actor said. When asked if he was talking about rationing himself, he replied: “I think so. I’m gonna have to start doing that. For sure … Rationing doesn’t necessarily mean less,” he added. The story.

'Drag Race' Winners Reflect on Show's 18 Seasons

►"When we started, we had no blueprint." THR's McKinley Franklin spoke to 10 crowned queens from Ru Paul's Drag Race about what differences they've recognized in the competition since it premiered almost 17 years ago, amid the arrival of a brand new installment. The interviews.

—If you still want more. The cast and crew of Stranger Things 5 are going on one final crawl. Netflix has announced a documentary, One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, which will debut on the streamer Jan. 12. One Last Adventure, directed by Martina Radwan, is “an inside look at the years of effort and craft that went into the final installment of the Duffer Brothers’ generation-defining series,” per Netflix. It was produced by Angus Wall, Terry Leonard and Kent Kubena, and hails from MakeMake Productions. The story.

—Woof! As is usually the case, the final night of the year was also one of the biggest TV viewing nights of 2025 — and also per usual, the largest share of that viewing came on ABC. The network’s annual Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special averaged 18.8m viewers in the 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET hour on Dec. 31/Jan. 1, according to early Nielsen ratings. That’s a four-year high and a 5 percent improvement on the previous year’s average of 17.92m, pending updates. ABC estimates that 30m people were tuned to the network at midnight ET, and the full night of festivities had some 34m people watching at least a few minutes of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. The ratings.