Link Tank: Arcane and Love, Death + Robots Dominate Early Emmys, Andy Cohen Stirs the Pot 

Netflix’s Arcane and Love, Death + Robots Win Big in Early Emmy Awards

With the Emmys just around the corner, the Television Academy has already announced its early winners, and two Netflix adult-animated series, Arcane and Love, Death + Robots, are among standouts in the Individual Achievement in Animation category. 

Arcane, based on Riot Games’ League of Legends and developed by Christian Linke and Alex Lee, premiered in 2021, with its most recent season released in November 2024. The critically acclaimed series picked up two Emmys, marking its first Primetime win since 2022. French Animation Studio Fortiche Production was honored for its work in Background Design for season two, episode nine, “The Dirt Under Your Nails,” credited to Background Designer Bruno Couchinho; and Color for season two, episode six, “The Message Hidden Within the Pattern,” awarded to Colorscript and Color Keys Artist Faustine Dumontier. 

Meanwhile, Love, Death + Robots, created by Tim Miller, earned four Emmys for its fourth season, which premiered in May. Known for its anthology format and diverse animation styles, the series was recognized for Character Animation and Character Design in season four, episode four, with awards going to 2D Animation Supervisor Daryl Graham and Character Designer Robert Valley. season four, episode eight, “How Zeke Got Religion,” also took home Emmys for Production Design and Storyboard (Art Director Gigi Cavenago) and Storyboard (Artist Edgar Martins). 

Read more about LD + R and Arcane in our Sakamoto Days Special Edition here 

Move Over Julia Fox, Josh Safdie Has a New Muse 

At the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Timothée Chalamet declared he was “in pursuit of greatness.” Turns out, greatness comes with a paddle. Chalamet is set to portray legendary American table top tennis player, Marty Reisman in a fictionalized biopic co-written by Safdie and Ronald Bronstein. The film’s first trailer just dropped, and it’s every bit as chaotic and iconic as you’d hope. 

Gwyneth Paltrow stars opposite Chalamet as a famous movie star who becomes romantically entangled with Marty while he’s on the road (someone has probably written fan fiction about this). Odessa A’zion also joins the cast, along with Tyler Okonma (a.k.a. Tyler, the Creator), Fran Drescher, and because why not, Canadian businessman and Shark Tank star, Kevin O’Leary, better known as “Mr. Wonderful.” 

“The sports dramedy is a fictionalized account of the real-life Marty Reisman, a five-time bronze medalist at the World Table Tennis Championships who died in 2012. Cinematographer Darius Khondji said earlier this year that Chalamet did thorough training to play the ping pong star. ‘He wanted to be like a real [professional] ping pong player when he started shooting,’ Khondji said.”

Read more on Variety 

Watch the full trailer here

Cynthia Erivo is Jesus. Adam Lambert is Judas. And Andrew Lloyd Webber is Having a Comeback

Clips from the three-night run of Jesus Christ Superstar at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl have been nearly impossible to avoid online, and that is for a good reason. Any project featuring Cynthia Erivo as Jesus and Adam Lambert as Judas was bound to be iconic. After selling out all three performances, Andrew Loyd Webber is now teasing taking the show on the road as a full-scale arena tour. 

The positive response to Jesus Christ Superstar is a major flex for Webber, who many had written off following the critical and commercial stumble of his 2020 musical Bad Cinderella. But in true theatrical fashion, he’s staging one of the boldest comebacks in recent musical theater history.  

This rebranding is most evident with Cats: The Jellicle Ball, a queer, ballroom culture-inspired reimagining of Cats that nobody asked for but somehow became a hit Off-Broadway. Additionally, Webber found revival successes in Evita on the West End and Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. 

Fittingly, his London-based production company is getting a makeover too. The Really Useful Group is now rebranding to LW Entertainment, signaling a new chapter in managing the composer’s catalog and whatever boundary-pushing revivals come next. 

“[James] McKnight, CEO of LW Entertainment, said in a statement, ‘It is a privilege to be part of the next chapter of the Lloyd Webber family business. For nearly 50 years, this company has worked with the best in the industry to deliver transformational entertainment. LW Entertainment is about doing more of the same. We want to spread our impact across the world, taking the magic of Andrew’s work into more formats. I firmly believe that great business strategy is led by creativity, passion and partnership. Looking around us, I am not sure we could ask for much more.’”

Read more on Deadline 

Heart Rate Challenge: It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

Much like the SPOTTED: [Insert celebrity name] caught filming the Devil Wears Prada 2 posts clogging your feed, fans have been obsessed with tracking who from Love Island USA season 7 would show up at the reunion, premiering on Aug. 25 at 9 p.m. ET. Now that the reunion has been filmed, we’ve got some intel from Andy Cohen – reality TV’s messiest man who somehow isn’t on reality TV himself – who will be hosting the reunion. 

Cohen first confirms that “everyone is here,” seemingly addressing the swirling rumors that Huda Mustafa and Casa Amor boy Zak Srakaew had opted out. Whether or not Huda is at the reunion, Cohen drops a key piece of intel, stating an extended version of the Heart Rate Challenge from Episode 24 will air during the reunion.

For fans that rushed to label Chelley Bissainthe as a “mean girl” for “overreacting” to Huda pulling Ace Greene for a private lap dance, this context may shift the narrative. When the episode originally aired, fans noticed that after Chelley wrapped up her moment with Chris Seeley, Huda appeared to still be on top of Ace transitioning to another move before cutting away to Chelley’s reaction, raising questions about what exactly wasn’t shown. 

“‘I thought it was interesting that you [Olandria] and Chelley saw Huda for the first time since you left the villa,’ [Andy] Cohen said. ‘I think that was pretty dramatic, and also we showed the extended version of the Heart Rate Challenge, which was revelatory, I think, to the group. So you can look forward to that on the Love Island reunion, which is Aug. 25 on Peacock.’”

Read more on The Hollywood Reporter