At The Movies

First Man
Oscar winning director Damien Chazelle (La La Land) and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie explores the sacrifices and the cost on Armstrong and on the nation, of one of the most dangerous missions in history. An exciting lesson in history and courage.

On DVD

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
In Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, join our favorite monster family as they embark on a vacation on a luxury monster cruise ship so Drac (Adam Sandler) can take a summer vacation from providing everyone else's vacation at the hotel. It’s smooth sailing for Drac’s Pack as the monsters indulge in all of the shipboard fun the cruise has to offer, from monster volleyball to exotic excursions, and catching up on their moon tans. But the dream vacation turns into a nightmare when Mavis (Selena Gomez) realizes Drac has fallen for the mysterious captain of the ship, Ericka, who hides a dangerous secret that could destroy all of monsterkind.
 

The Buzz...

After opening the 2018 American Music Awards with a show stopping performance of I Did Something Bad, Taylor Swift went on to claim the awards for Tour of the Year, Best Pop/Rock Album, and Favorite Female Artist Pop/Rock and finally Artist of the Year, breaking the record for most AMA wins by a female artist. Swift now has 23 AMA wins, surpassing Whitney Houston, and tied with the group, Alabama. Michael Jackson has 24.

STX has acquired the Jennifer Lopez Hustlers project. At the same time, Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu has joined. Soon after the news broke that Annapurna was pulling out of Jay Roach’s Roger Ailes feature, it was confirmed that the Hustlers project based on the New York magazine piece The Hustlers at Scores, is also leaving the studio. The STX deal reteams Lopez with STX who are pairing on the romantic comedy Second Act, which hits theaters December 14.

Though production on the highly anticipated drama was expected to start in two weeks, sources say that Annapurna Pictures has dropped the untitled Fox News-sexual harassment film starring Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman. One source close to the situation says Annapurna passed on the project for reasons related to the budget, which kept growing bigger by the day.

Netflix has acquired the rights to an original pitch from writer Tom Wheeler currently titled John Henry and the Statesmen, which stars Dwayne Johnson and will be directed by Jake Kasdan. Johnson and Kasdan previously worked together on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Johnson will star as John Henry while leading an ensemble cast of the most popular figures from folklore from all around the world.

James Gunn is making a power move by joining Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe after being fired by Disney from its Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Warner Bros. has confirmed that Gunn has been hired to write the script for Suicide Squad 2.

The Walking Dead returned for its ninth season on Sunday down significantly in the Live+Same Day ratings. According to Nielsen data, the AMC series drew a 2.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.1 million viewers. That is the lowest rating in adults 18-49 since the show began, with the previous low being a 2.7 for the series premiere. However, that episode drew only 5.4 million viewers. The Season 9 premiere was also down approximately 50% in the key demo and 47% in total viewers compared to the Season 8 opener, which drew a 5.0 and 11.4 million viewers last year.

Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons is attached to executive produce a multi camera comedy in the works at ABC. In a competitive situation, ABC has given a put pilot commitment to the the series, which is titled Bless Her Heart. It is described as a multigenerational family comedy centered on two very different Texas matriarchs who wreak havoc on their children’s lives when they all wind up living together. The series is inspired by Parsons’ early life in Texas.

Oscar winner Helen Hunt has joined World on Fire, the upcoming World War II drama for the BBC. She takes a lead role alongside Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) in the drama from Peter Bowker (The A Word). ITV backed production company Mammoth Screen is producing.

Mr. Inbetween has scored an order for a second season at FX and Foxtel, Australia’s leading cable network.

Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb log plenty of hours each week hosting NBC’s Today. But they will add a few more to their schedules as NBC News works to expand its digital offerings around the venerable morning program.