“As an employer, this is beyond politics,” Simon wrote on Twitter. “I’m turning in scripts next month on an HBO non-fiction miniseries based on events in Texas, but I can’t and won’t ask female cast/crew to forgo civil liberties to film there. What else looks like Dallas/Ft. Worth?” The Dallas Film & Creative Industries Office, formerly known as the Dallas Film Commission, pushed back against Simon with a post that read: “Laws of a state are not reflective of its entire population....

If you suspect that exhibition issues abound, this weekend saw three new adult-oriented releases, led by Clint Eastwood’s “Cry Macho,” all of which had weak or worse domestic debuts. “Shang-Chi” was a dominant #1 in its third weekend and broke a record, however obscure: At just under $22 million, it is the best-ever gross for the third weekend in September. That record is a nice side effect of being a trailblazer: Before “Shang-Chi,” it was all but unheard of for a film with that much potential to open early in the month....

“That obviously takes some level of propensity for [Comcast] to have reasonable terms for us to get there,” he added Wednesday during the Goldman Sachs’ Communcacopia 2022. “2024 is not that far away.” (For good measure, Chapek then repeated “2024 is not that far away;” perhaps that has become a bit of a company mantra when it comes to Hulu.) Currently, Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu to Comcast’s one-third. Disney added 33 percent to its preexisting share after buying most of Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019 for $71....

The Academy, which wraps up its first round of voting this week, should consider the impulses behind each vote — especially when it comes to the four performance categories, where familiar faces often benefit the most from aggressive campaigns. Should the Oscars reward actors for taking the craft in exciting new directions — or should they do it for the sake of entitled movie stars who want validation and cred? That seemed to be the logic of George Clooney’s case for his pal Ben Affleck’s supporting turn in “The Tender Bar....

The film’s screenwriter, series creator Julian Fellowes, told IndieWire that he wanted the film to feature significant shake-ups for the Downton residents and, considering that its events take place in 1928, it only made sense for film to be a focus. “I wanted very much to have something that was absolutely 20th century coming into the house,” Fellowes told IndieWire via Zoom. “For me, this is not original, I think film is the great 20th century art form and has no 19th century equivalent....

Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation (or first part of a projected two-part film) had its North American premiere last weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival. But only a select few were among the initial viewers of the Warner Bros. film, to be joined by another small number who will be able to see it at its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival October 7 and 8. Initial results from France, Germany, Russia, Italy, and elsewhere through Thursday are positive, with France the best at a reported $2....

From taking on a Southern accent to doing karate to transform into the King of Rock ‘n Roll, Butler pushed himself to the limit for the role. Yet “Elvis” writer-director Baz Luhrmann added another layer to recreate the emotions behind Presley’s biggest performances. “Well, when I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible,” Butler explained to VMAN. “He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes, ‘I want you all to sit facing Austin,’ and he told them to heckle me....