“I had a meeting, after or during ‘Spider-Man 2’ [‘Far from Home’], with Sony to pitch this idea of a young Bond film that I’d come up with,” Holland said. “It was the origin story of James Bond. It didn’t really make sense. It didn’t work. It was the dream of a young kid, and I don’t think the Bond estate were particularly interested.” A James Bond origin story has yet to be made among the latest set of Bond films, though Daniel Craig just finished out his run as 007 in “No Time to Die....

“NATAS and the Television Academy each pride ourselves on celebrating and honoring the best television has to offer, and with the evolution of our industry, it was critical to update our competitions to meet current trends in both content and viewing habits,” said Adam Sharp, President and CEO, NATAS. “These changes will allow each Academy to honor an undivided scope of achievement in our respective fields of television excellence.” “The realignment of these Emmy competitions represents the most significant collaboration between the Television Academy and NATAS since the two became separate entities in 1977,” said Maury McIntyre, President and COO, Television Academy....

These shifts leave theaters in a new-product desert. They also put Universal in a strong position to make its first short-window arrangement under the deal it made with AMC Theaters this summer. IndieWire has confirmed that “Freaky” (November 13) and “The Croods: A New Age” (November 25) will go quickly to PVOD: 21 days for “Freaky” (December 4) and 28 days for “The Croods” (December 23). Universal is also offering the titles to other theaters, with the same terms....

They also (although, as always, without anything but chart positions from which to judge VOD revenues) defied what might have been a logical instinct to separate their releases so as not to compete with each other. Studios, even when there were far more theatrical releases than currently, virtually never would debut new wide titles the same week. Per standard Universal policy, “Jurassic World,” with an opening weekend of over $50 million, got home availability after its fifth weekend....

It’s not surprising that Taika Waititi embraced StageCraft for “Love and Thunder,” given how much the director took to the system when helming the first season finale of “The Mandalorian” and the pilot of HBO Max’s “Our Flag Means Death.” In fact, that’s why ILM built a large-scale custom volume at Fox Studios Australia, where “Love and Thunder” was shot by “Mandalorian” cinematographer Barry Idoine. And judging from the results, “Love and Thunder” not only benefited from StageCraft but also allowed the technique to flourish, thanks to a funky look that encompassed both colorful and monochromatic space environments....

Ever since its debut, “Never Have I Ever” has earned its spot in the teen TV hall of fame. The series opens with 15-year-old Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) on a mission to bang Paxton (Darren Barnet), the hottest kid in school, while not getting distracted by her frenemy Ben (Jaren Lewison), growing anger issues, and the fresh pain of her dad’s (Sendhil Ramamurthy) sudden death. Thus begins a heartwarming, horny story of adolescent growth, narrated by tennis legend John McEnroe....

Before dropping a new trailer, Warwick Davis, who reprises his role as the titular hero from the film, introduced another high-profile cast member. Davis invited Christian Slater to the stage, revealing that the actor would be joining the series, which hails from creator Jonathan Kasdan. Slater revealed that he was a longtime fan of Lucasfilm’s slate of properties, and was eager to get a chance to join the fantasy franchise. “I love the fantasy, the sci-fi,” Slater said....