Heather McMahan on her Netflix Special, Hollywood's Ozempic Obsession, and Finding Humor in the Gross Parts of Womanhood

Matthew Perry prayed “every night” for Bruce Willis leading up to his death amid the “Die Hard” actor’s battle with the neurodegenerative disorder frontotemporal dementia.The “Friends” alum, who died at age 54 on Oct. 28, looked back on his first meeting with Willis, 68, before they starred together in 2000’s “The Whole Nine Yards” in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”Their working relationship began with an amusing message that Willis left on Perry’s answering machine.” ‘Matthew, this is Bruce Willis. Call me back, or I’ll burn your house down and break both your knees and arms and you’ll be left with just the stubs for hands and feet for the rest of your life.’ Click, dial tone.

It’s been another very busy week in the world of pop culture!

More disturbing accusations against Russell Brand are coming out… According to documents obtained by TMZ

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Soderbergh has dedicated more than four decades to shaping his legacy in Hollywood as a director, cinematographer and producer. But instead of splurging on yachts or a home in the South of France, he is investing in the future of independent filmmaking by mentoring directors like Joe and Anthony Russo, Christopher Nolan and most recently Eddie Alcazar. He and Alcazar’s second collaboration (after 2018’s Perfect) is Divinity, which hits theaters nationwide Friday after debuting at the Sundance Film Festival.

Multiple A-list actors, TV showrunners, and Hollywood producers are criticizing their Tinseltown colleagues for their hesitance to condemn the Hamas attacks on Israel last month and the antisemitism that has risen around the world in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre. A-list entertainers like Jerry Seinfeld, Julianna Margulies, along with Hollywood producers, showrunners and even the former president of NBC News Noah Oppenheimer voiced their concern in recent weeks that many in the entertainment industry have stayed "silent" on this issue.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla, the film entity looking to attract international productions to a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders, has forged a partnership with Hollywood indie Stampede Ventures, bringing 10 productions to the region over the next three years with a projected $350 million spend. The groundbreaking agreement with Stampede marks the first deal of this scale between Hollywood and Saudi since the kingdom lifted its ban on cinema in late 2017.

The Hunger Games movies, adapted from Suzanne Collins‘ dystopian novels, are classics to this day.

Friends is one of the most successful television shows of all time.Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, the sitcom about a group of friends living in New York turned its core cast into worldwide stars, including Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.The show ran for ten seasons between September 1994 and May 2004. During its run, Friends was nominated for 62 Emmys, and won Outstanding Comedy Series in 2002.In 2021, the show’s cast returned for a HBO special titled Friends: The Reunion, hosted by James Corden.At the time of writing (October 31), all ten seasons of Friends are available on Netflix UK.Alternatively, you can buy seasons through Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.

AFM will get picked up. But given the climate in Hollywood, many projects won’t officially hit the market until February at the European Film Market in Berlin.

The two ‘Sicario’ films are very interesting thrillers to discuss. The first one, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is one of the better action thrillers in recent memory, and it actually cemented screenwriter Taylor Sheridan as a force in Hollywood.

In the 26th episode of Deadline Strike Talk — which for below the liners signifies half a year without a paycheck that hasn’t come from Uber fares or waiting tables — host Billy Ray hits on a zeitgeist theme that gets voiced a lot by people who just feel that the business isn’t as remotely as exciting or near as much fun as it was before the folly that signatories put themselves into by chasing Netflix as it became the preeminent streamer. The result has put just about every other streamer pursuit in a position of being money losers that have strained the economics, and accelerated the demise of those conglomerates’ traditional networks, and so many other things.

Charlize Theron is celebrating her glam squad!

SAG-AFTRA’s first industry-wide strike in more than 40 years hit the 100-day mark. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will meet for bargaining on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at SAG-AFTRA Plaza.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer On the first day of the SAG-AFTRA strike in July, union president Fran Drescher was asked how long she expected it to last. “We’re set up to go six months if we have to,” Drescher said. It hasn’t been that long yet.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor For Eva Longoria to have the chance to direct “Flamin’ Hot,” she says she had to “overcome the stigma of being a dumb actor.” “I’m more than the actor you know from TV,” she tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I’ve been directing for 12 years. I started with short films.

The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood turned 100 last year — and now the venue is ready for its closeup. Netflix said today that the storied movie palace and birthplace of the red carpet will reopen next month after a three-year renovation and retrofit.

Jonah Platt “What’s your favorite Jewish movie?” This is not a question you often hear. Ask it and you’re likely to get a furrowed brow, a scrunched nose, and then finally a, “Uh… ‘Schindler’s List?’”? Same goes for theater (“Fiddler on the Roof?”) and television (“Maisel?”). We don’t have a lot of options when it comes to Jewish stories onscreen, and the ones we do have are most often stories of strife, persecution and victimhood.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic There aren’t a lot of precedents in pop music for the pairing of Billie Eilish and Finneas, when it comes to brother-and-sister performing or songwriting duos. But in the world of music for films, it might not be too soon to start considering a comparison with a very famous married duo: Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the long-reigning king and queen of movie theme songs.

Timothée Chalamet is opening about the positive friendships he’s made in Hollywood. In a new interview, Chalamet name checked some of his closest friends in the industry, and the ones he admires the most, including Zendaya and Tom Holland.

Caroline Brew editor Level 33 has acquired Christopher Kahunahana‘s “Waikiki” for theatrical and digital release. The film will be released in theaters across the country on Oct. 27.