Barry Keoghan Spent $10 to Make His Riddler Self-Tape Audition for ‘The Batman,’ Then Got Cast as Joker: ‘I Just Wanted Swag to Come Across’

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Martin Scorsese has not seen Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” or Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” but that didn’t stop him from celebrating the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon during a recent interview with the Hindustan Times. Scorsese himself has ties to “Barbie,” as it stars and was produced by his “Wolf of Wall Street” breakout Margot Robbie and shot by his longtime cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. The latter filmed “Barbie” after wrapping up work on Scorsese’s own “Killers of the Flower Moon.” “I do think that the combination of ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ was something special,” Scorsese said.

Jenna Ortega is having an incredible past few years with the success of Wednesday, as well as her addition to the Scream franchise.

Following an extensive auction, LuckyChap and Plan B Entertainment are in exclusive talks to acquire rights to the classic Thin Man series. The rights of The Thin Man recently became available and LuckyChap and Plan B had been eyeing this for some time pre-WGA strike and are in talks for the rights. No discussions of starring are happening in respect to the sag strike. However both companies would produce together.

Jason Sarlanis Jason Sarlanis is the president of Turner Networks, Investigation Discovery (ID) and HLN, linear and streaming. The two-hour documentary special “The Matthew Shepard Story: An American Hate Crime” airs Monday, Oct. 9, at 9 p.m. ET on ID (ahead of the 25th anniversary of Shepard’s death on Oct. 12). Last week, I was sitting in a conference room at our Warner Bros.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Who’s doing it better — Kristen Welker or Jake Tapper? The two journalists, one the new moderator of NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” the other the anchor of the weekday “The Lead” and a co-anchor of “State of the Union” at CNN, aren’t typically pitted against one another. But there they were on a recent Thursday afternoon around 4:30 p.m., duking it out for the future of their medium. Welker was holding forth on “Meet the Press Now,” a show earmarked for streaming users on the broadband outlet NBC News Now.

Deadline kicked off movie-awards season Saturday with Contenders London, which featured creatives and key craftspeople from 13 buzzy films that will be at the forefront of kudos conversations leading up to the Oscars in March.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Guillermo del Toro sent “Star Wars” fans into a tizzy in late September when he confirmed on social media that he was once planning a trip to a galaxy far, far, away as the director of a “Star Wars” movie. The Oscar winner provided no further details at the time, but he’s now confirmed to Collider’s Steven Weintraub that his axed “Star Wars” movie centered on Jabba the Hutt. Considering del Toro’s love of monsters, it’s hardly a surprise he’d pick Jabba as the focal point for his own “Star Wars” movie.

In a boosterish, 12-page slide deck issued this morning, top station group owner and CW parent Nexstar Media Group made the case for broadcast television and saluted last month’s Disney–Charter carriage deal.

Spike Lee has commented on Oppenheimer, suggesting it should have shown “what happened to the Japanese people”.The recent Christopher Nolan historical drama follows the story of the Manhattan Project during World War 2, which developed the first nuclear weapons. These were ultimately dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and are estimated to have killed up to 226,000 people.The film focuses solely on the US side of the events, and in a recent interview Lee – who has directed films such as Do The Right Thing and BlacKkKlansman – praised Nolan, though suggested a “comment” regarding the historical depiction of events.“Chris Nolan with Oppenheimer, you know, he’s a massive filmmaker.

Refresh for latest…: Just as it came in lower than hoped for domestically, Universal/Blumhouse/Morgan Creek’s The Exorcist: Believer didn’t fully convert overseas audiences, summoning a $17.9M international box office debut for $45.1M global. The R-rated David Gordon Green-directed reboot/sequel did see some of its 52 launch markets give it a No. 1 start, while in like-for-likes, the bow is above M3GAN, Evil Dead Rise, Scream VI and Smile. (As regards the latter, recall that it legged out with terrific holds, so the comparison may not stick down the line since scores on Believer are not good, and Taylor Swift is on deck.) 

Emerald Fennell talked the expected starting point for her new film Saltburn at the Deadline Contenders London event today.

Masters Of The Air, the follow-up series to Band Of Brothers and The Pacific, has received a release date and first look images – check them out below.The first two episodes of the upcoming war drama will debut worldwide on Friday, January 26 next year on Apple TV+, with the following seven episodes released weekly through to March 15, 2024.The series reunites Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, who together produced Band Of Brothers and 2010’s The Pacific. The show is written by John Orloff, while directors attached include Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time To Die), duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Tim Van Patten (Black Mirror).Masters Of The Air follows the true story of the American men of the 100th bomb group as they conduct bombing raids over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser was “devastated” when Warner Bros. announced that “Dune: Part Two” was shifting its release date from Nov. 2023 to March 2024.

This is Day 86 of the SAG-AFTRA strike. 

George Miller‘s “Mad Max: Fury Road” wowed critics and audiences at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. So it only makes sense the director would want his upcoming “Furiosa” to have its world premiere at the same fest, right? Variety reports (via World Of Reel) that Miller eyes a Cannes 2024 premiere for his action-packed prequel.

Barry Keoghan says a funny thing happened on the way to playing the Joker in the new Batman film.

Rooster Teeth is moving its content from YouTube to its own website, a move designed to bolster revenue that will allow them to create more content.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Rooster Teeth has pulled some content off YouTube, claiming the video platform’s ad-supported economics don’t make sense. Rooster Teeth, Warner Bros. Discovery’s fandom, gaming and comedy entertainment brand, has removed some of its most popular animated shows, including “Red vs.

EXCLUSIVE: In addition to streaming on Disney+, all 11 live-action Star Wars movies will now also be available on Disney’s linear networks — including broadcast (ABC) and cable (FX nets, Freeform) — starting this month. The arrangement stems from Disney renegotiating the existing domestic licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Networks, which will continue to carry the full suite of movies.

EXCLUSIVE: J. Mills Goodloe has been hired to adapt Michael Thompson’s novel How To Be Remembered into a feature film. MRC will finance and Elizabeth Cantillon will produce.

After thirty-five years of development and waiting, Kevin Costner‘s Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” begins next year. And the first part of the long-gestating passion project for the actor-director arrives in theaters in two parts: Part One in June 2024, and Part Two in August.

One of 2024’s most anticipated TV shows now has a premiere date.  Apple TV+ announced that “Masters Of The Air,” their upcoming mini-series from Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman, the same team who produced “Band Of Brothers” and “The Pacific,” will premiere on the streamer on January 26, 2024. Two episodes premiere on that date, with one new episode every Friday through March 15.

Warner Bros. Discovery international boss Gerhard Zeiler has set a new leadership structure for his team following a spate of exits in the past few weeks.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Amid a widespread executive exodus, Warner Bros. Discovery’s international boss Gerhard Zeiler sent out a memo to the staff today laying out the company’s new global leadership structure. Following France boss Pierre Branco’s exit earlier this week, WBD has tapped Clément Schwebig to oversee France, Benelux, Afrique, Allemagne, Autriche and Suisse.

The Batman.Keoghan revealed in October last year that he had first auditioned for Riddler, sending director Matt Reeves an “unsolicited” recording of himself to campaign for the role. The audition clip – which he shared online and can be seen below – instead landed him the role of the Joker once Paul Dano was named the Riddler.Now watch @BarryKeoghan's audition for Matt Reeves' The Batman. This one got him the role of Joker.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max ranked highest in total customer satisfaction among U.S. subscription-streaming services, according to Whip Media’s 2023 Streaming Satisfaction Report.

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce told his brother Jason on their “New Heights” podcast that the NFL is going a bit overboard when it comes to Taylor Swift coverage. The Grammy-winning pop star and Kelce have captured the media zeitgeist in recent weeks amid dating rumors. While neither of them have outright confirmed they are in a relationship, Swift has caused a media frenzy by recently attending two Kansas City Chiefs games.

In the long history of horror films since the dawn of cinema, it would be hard to imagine any of them quite having the particular impact of 1973’s The Exorcist which became the first horror film ever to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, along with nine other nominations including Best Actress for Ellen Burstyn. It eventually won two Academy Awards for William Peter Blatty’s screenplay based on his 1971 novel, and for the bone chilling Sound work. When I saw it as a young kid in its original incarnation at the National Theatre in Westwood (now no longer existing), there were lines like you have never seen wrapping completely around the block. Warner Bros. even put a nurse on duty in the lobby for those who passed out, no mere gimmick because it actually happened. Nothing I have seen since in the genre has matched that one for me, but it wasn’t for Hollywood not trying. There are countless imitations, even a couple of failed direct sequels including the dreadful 1977 followup, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and the forgettable Exorcist III: Legion in 1990. There have been TV series attempts, an origin angle with Exorcist: The Beginning in 2004, and countless others using the come-on Exorcist in their title. Earlier this year we even had another film, based on the Vatican’s longtime real life demon slayer, The Pope’s Exorcist which thanks to a dedicated performance by Russell Crowe worked quite well on its own terms

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “West Side Story” Golden Globe winner and upcoming “Hunger Games” prequel star Rachel Zegler recently took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to support Taylor Swift against a viral clip in which a Barstool Sports podcast host joked about needing to see a sex tape featuring Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce in order to prove the dating rumors about them are true. “It’s not news that the media is particularly (and unwarrantedly) cruel to Taylor Swift, but the way men feel entitled to speak about women, their bodies and their sex lives needs to be seriously evaluated,” Zegler wrote in response to the Barstool video. Swift and Kelce have captured the media zeitgeist in recent weeks.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max turned in the highest total customer satisfaction rating among U.S. subscription-streaming services, according to the results of Whip Media’s 2023 Streaming Satisfaction Report.

In another latest salvo amid tensions between video providers and programmers, DirecTV sent a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery warning that offering CNN as part of its streaming package risks violating the contract between the two companies.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With Disney’s beloved sports comedy “Cool Runnings” celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, director Jon Turteltaub and the cast reunited for an interview with The Independent and revealed their battle against Disney over the film’s Jamaican accents. Loosely based on the debut of the Jamaican national bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics, the film got its start outside of Disney with a script that was full of “drugs, racism and the characters were getting laid a lot,” cast member Rawle D. Lewis recalled.

The Golden Bachelor is truly golden for ABC and Hulu. The series premiere of The Bachelor spinoffranks as the highest-rated premiere on Hulu for any series in The Bachelor franchise (The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise), and as thenetwork’s No. 1 series premiere ever on the streaming platform in Live+3 with 1.76 million views.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Patrick Stewart reveals in his new memoir, “Making It So,” that longtime friend and colleague Ian McKellen advised him to turn down “Star Trek” and stay in theater when Stewart was debating whether to make the jump to a major Hollywood franchise (via Insider). Stewart originated the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” starting in 1987. Prior to “Star Trek,” Stewart was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and won a Laurence Olivier Award for starring in a West End production of “Antony and Cleopatra,” among other theater accomplishments.

EXCLUSIVE: Amidst one of the most creatively fertile periods in his career to date, actor Michael Cera has taken on new agents at CAA.