HBO renews ‘The White Lotus’ for Season 4, USC Scripter Awards nominations revealed, another honor for Cynthia Erivo, and more of today’s top stories
Gold Derby’s top news stories for Jan. 22, 2025
HBO renews The White Lotus for Season 4 ahead of Season 3 premiere
HBO’s multiple Emmy-winning original series The White Lotus from creator-executive producer-writer-director Mike White has been renewed for a fourth season ahead of its eight-episode Season 3 debut on Feb. 16, it was announced on Wednesday. Its logline for Season 3: “The social satire is set at an exclusive Thai resort that follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week.”
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The cast for the White Lotus third season is Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jason Isaacs, Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Nivola, Lek Patravadi, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Tayme Thapthimthong, Aimee Lou Wood. Additional cast include Nicholas Duvernay, Arnas Fedaravi?ius, Christian Friedel, Scott Glenn, Dom Hetrakul, Julian Kostov, Charlotte Le Bon, Morgana O’Reilly, and Shalini Peiris.
The first installment of the series, which premiered in July 2021, was set in Hawaii and received 20 Emmy nominations across 13 categories and won 10, the most victories of any program that year. The second installment, which premiered in December 2022, was set in Sicily and garnered 23 Emmy bids, winning five.
USC Scripter Awards finalists include A Complete Unknown, Conclave, The Wild Robot
The USC Libraries has named its finalists for the 37th USC Libraries Scripter Awards, “which honor the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the writers of the works on which they are based.” This year’s film nominees are A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Nickel Boys, Sing Sing, and The Wild Robot. Television bids went to Baby Reindeer, Ripley, Say Nothing, Shōgun, and Slow Horses. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Feb. 22.
In the case of Wild Robot, it’s only the second time in the history of the awards that an animated film has been nominated. The first was Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio in 2022.
Cynthia Erivo named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals named Wicked star and awards contender Cynthia Erivo the group’s “Woman of the Year” on Wednesday. The theater group dates back to 1844.
“We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo’s arrival,” Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. “We’re sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she’ll have to work a little magic to earn it.”
Jon Hamm received the group’s Man of the Year honor.
Judd Apatow to host DGA Awards for the sixth time
The Directors Guild of America announced on Wednesday that filmmaker, comedian, screenwriter, and producer Judd Apatow will return to host the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Feb. 8 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. It will be Apatow’s sixth time hosting the ceremony, having previously fronted it in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
“I’m shocked the DGA asked me back to host a sixth time,” Apatow said in a statement. “I’m starting to think there’s no one else who will say yes.”
The DGA concurrently announced that director Beth McCarthy-Miller will serve as Chair of the Awards for a fourth consecutive year.
Jenna Ortega comedy Death of a Unicorn, Seth Rogen’s The Studio headline SXSW 2025 Fest
The lineup for the 2025 South by Southwest Film & Television Festival – better known as SXSW – was announced on Wednesday. Running from March 7-15, the lineup of the annual Austin, TX event features 96 films and 16 TV series as well as short films, music videos., and XR experiences. Projects with Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Issa Rae, Jenna Ortega, and Seth Rogen are part of the lineup, with Ortega starring in the world premiere comedy-horror feature Death of a Unicorn from A24 that also features Paul Rudd and Will Poulter. Rogen is co-creator and star of the forthcoming Apple TV+ series The Studio in which he plays the head of an embattled legacy Hollywood movie studio striving to survive in a world where it’s increasingly difficult for art and business to live together. Catherine O’Hara and Ike Barinholtz are among the cast.
Kevin Costner western Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 to premiere at Santa Barbara Film Fest
Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, the follow-up to his Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 that pulled in a disappointing gross last year, is having its American premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Feb. 7, it was announced today in The Hollywood Reporter. It had its world premiere last summer at the Venice Film Festival. The combined budget for the first two movies was $100 million, a large portion of which Costner fronted himself. The poor financial performance of the first installment in what is planned out as a four-film series tossed the release of the second saga into question.
Zero Day trailer puts Robert De Niro in the middle of a national crisis
Another trailer for Netflix’s upcoming limited series Zero Day has been released. The show stars Robert De Niro “as respected former U.S. President George Mullen, who, as head of the Zero Day Commission, is charged with finding the perpetrators of a devastating cyber attack that has caused chaos around the country and thousands of fatalities.” Based on the teaser, the investigation will be anything but routine and probably includes one or two levels of the deep state. Angela Bassett, Connie Britton, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, and Dan Stevens all co-star. The six-episode series debuts on Feb. 20.
Peabody Awards return to Los Angeles for June 1 ceremony
The 85th Annual Peabody Awards will return to Los Angeles on June 1 for a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, celebrating “85 years of stories that defend the public interest, encourage empathy, and teach us to expand our understanding of the world around us.” Awards will be given in entertainment, documentary, news, podcast/radio, arts, children’s and youth., immersive and interactive media, and public serviced programming. The Peabodys have added four new faces to its Board of Jurors, including Variety chief correspondent Daniel D’Addario, veteran television journalist Cynthia McFadden, Michael X. Delli Carpini – the Oscar H. Gandy Emeritus Professor of Communication and Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communications – and Vulture/New York magazine television critic Roxana Hadadi.
Deadpool & Wolverine and Wicked lead ICG Publicists nominees
On Wednesday, the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) publicists announced their nominees for the Maxwell Weinberg Award for Motion Picture Publicity Campaign. Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Beetlejuice, Deadpool & Wolverine, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II, The Strangers: Chapter 1, and Wicked were nominated.
“We’re delighted to celebrate the Local 600 publicists who worked on these outstanding films,” Tim Menke and Sheryl Main, the ICG Publicists Awards committee chairs, said. “Their tireless creativity shines a light on the year’s best films, ensuring these important stories find their audience.”
Prime Video orders series Rise of the Empress based on popular book series
Prime Video announced on Wednesday that it’s ordered Rise of the Empress to series, from JuVee Productions, Significant Productions, and Gemma Chan. It’s based on the popular book series of the same name by Julie C. Dao about a Fantastical Ancient Asian Empire on the verge of destruction that’s torn apart by insidious rivalry. It’s being written by Crystal Liu, who calls the story “a sumptuous, spellbinding tale of intrigue, with a subversive heroine for the ages.” Liu co-showruns with James Wong (American Horror Story).
Michael Keaton-Mila Kunis comedy Goodrich to premiere Jan. 31 on Max
The parenting comedy Goodrich starring Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis will make its streaming premiere Jan. 31 on Max and its HBO linear debut on Feb. 1. Written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, the film tells the story of Andy Goodrich (Keaton), whose life is upended when his wife and mother of their nine-year-old twins enters a 90-day rehab program, leaving him on his own with their young kids. Thrust into the world of modern parenthood, Goodrich leans on his daughter from his first marriage, Grace (Kunis), as he ultimately evolves into the father Grace always wanted. The cast also features Michael Urie, Kevin Pollak, Andie MacDowell, and Laura Benanti.
Netflix renews Love is Blind through Season 10
Netflix on Wednesday announced an additional two-season renewal through Seasons 9 and 10 for its singles reality show Love is Blind and the premiere of its eighth season on Valentine’s Day. The logline reveals that Season 8 is set in Minnesota, following new singles “all ready to cut through the static of modern dating and forge authentic relationships, sight unseen.” Love is Blind promotes itself as a social experiment where single men and women look for love and get engaged, all before meeting in person. Since debuting five years ago, it’s grown to become a major his for Netflix.
The network also released a teaser video celebrating five years of the show today. Watch it below.
Netflix and MGM Grand unveils NETFLIX BITES Vegas restaurant, opening Feb. 20
Menu items inspired by such Netflix series as Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Squid Game, La Casa de Papel, and Love is Blind are among the fare at the new NETFLIX BITES Vegas restaurant inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, a themed “unique dining adventure that brings the magic of the screen to the table” that has its grand opening on Feb. 20. Each dish and drink promises to be a play on a fan-favorite Netflix series, including Bridgerton Regency Tea (a lavish three-tiered tea service with finger sandwiches) and Eleven’s Feast (crispy chicken and waffle sliders).
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