Variety 12/6/2023

Our wish list for this year’s Actors on Actors had a single name at the very top — and it hadn’t budged since July. As soon as the global phenomenon known as “Barben-heimer” blew up the box office last summer, our staff — as well as readers posting on social media — began asking how we could bring together a pair of actors who played American icons. The two most-talked-about movies of the year shared more than a release date: Both shifted the culture of moviegoing, and both seem destined for Oscar glory. The idea of this pairing was so perfect, in fact, that we didn’t even need to pitch it: Before we said a word, Cillian Murphy of “Oppenheimer” reached out through his team to ask if he could…

This is editor-at-large Kate Aurthur’s ninth time as an Actors on Actors moderator — yet she still hates jumping in to interrupt! Senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson pulled double duty for Actors on Actors this season: moderating a trio of conversations and co-hosting the PBS special. Visual director Jennifer Dorn’s favorite moment of the Actors on Actors photo shoot was having to scramble to raise the dining room table by a foot for Colman Domingo and Jacob Elordi’s cover. Very tall talent! Photographer Alexi Lubomirski, who describes shooting our Actors on Actors gallery as a “pleasure,” says, “From the serene Natalie Portman to the tornado that was RDJ, it was a wild ride!”…

Writers returned to work two months ago, and the SAG-AFTRA strike has been over for nearly a month. Production has restarted but won’t be back to full strength until mid-January. But even as Hollywood tries to return to normal, dark clouds are forming on the horizon. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees contract expires on July 31, as does the Basic Crafts contract, which covers the Teamsters. In a period of rising union militancy across industries, it’s not clear whether the Hollywood studios have achieved lasting labor peace or just a temporary truce. “We’re going to be demanding things we believe members deserve for the work they do. Our members make Hollywood move.”—Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters Local 399 “We’re going to be demanding things we believe members deserve for the…

Kathleen Finch is heading into her Super Bowl season: the holidays on Food Network. Finch is Warner Bros. Discovery’s top cable warrior, a lifestyle TV veteran who helped build HGTV and Food into TV juggernauts. This year, after a roller-coaster ride for her parent company, Finch is leading the charge to help remind investors that WB Discovery still has real heft and earnings potential with its linear TV channels. Food Network alone grabbed more than 63 million total viewers during the fourth quarter of 2022. This year, Finch expects to best that mark with a solid turnout for new series that have proven to be sweet and sticky with viewers: “Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays” and “The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown.” “We have four big returning…

Tony McNamara was a voracious reader as a kid growing up in a rural town outside Melbourne, Australia. But he never once considered becoming a writer. “I was always failing English,” he says. “I couldn’t get my head around grammar. Still can’t.” And yet today, McNamara, 56, is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind some of the most sharp-witted, intricately articulated projects of the past five years, including 2018’s “The Favourite,” for director Yorgos Lanthimos; the 2020-23 Hulu series “The Great,” with Elle Fanning; and 2021’s “Cruella,” starring Emma Stone. Most recently, McNamara reunited with Lanthimos and Stone for “Poor Things,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a rapturous reception and opens in limited release on Dec. 8. It tells the fantastical story of Bella Baxter (Stone), a Victorian woman…

Tom Cruise got to Jack Reacher first, portraying the hulking military police officer turned vigilante in two films. But truth be told, for fans of Lee Child’s hugely popular novel series, Cruise was never a convincing fit, from his distracting star wattage to his smaller stature. Now, in the Prime Video series adaptation, the stans have found their Reacher. The muscle-bound six-foot-three Alan Ritchson — a staple on shows like “Blue Mountain State” and “Titans” — is right at home as the do-good drifter whose one-liners are as devastating as his blows. The first season of “Reacher” debuted in 2022 and became the first Prime Video title to top Nielsen’s SVOD rankings. But for the eagerly anticipated second season, which premieres on Dec. 15, Reacher’s biggest battle might be winning…