Hollywood’s Biggest Winners and Losers of 2024

WON: Zfinishaya and Other Former Child Stars

Four stars who got their commence on Disney Channel/Nickelodeon are on quite a boiling streak:  Zfinishaya was the emotional core of the blockbuster Dune Part Two, and her intimacyy tennis drama Challengers administerd to pull in $100 million globassociate (and geted the actress $10 million). Her beleaguered HBO hit Euphoria is back on track to shoot season three, and she’s been cast in Christopher Nolan’s top secret next movie (our sources say it’s someleang majesticiose yet inalertectual with a device deviceastic orchestral score). While a year ago, would you have guessed Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez would be contfinishers for Oscar nominations? Both have firm odds thanks to their salertar carry outances in Wicked and Emilia Pérez, admireively. Meanwhile, the Lindsay Lohan comeback is seeing authentic, with the actress starring in a Netflix Christmas comedy Our Little Secret and the upcoming Freaky Friday sequel. 

LOST: Kevin Costner, Francis Ford Coppola

People reassociate appreciate a filmoriginater who chases a challenging passion project and gets a personal bet to deinhabitr a daring vision to theaters — except, of course, when their projects are cruddy. Coppola sbetter his triumphe company and bet more than $100 million to originate a baffling film with a horrible title (Megalopolis), which only grossed $12 million globassociate. But at least Coppola only tried to originate one movie, whereas Costner enjoywise ditched his day job — which happened to be the hugegest drama on TV (Yellowstone) — to try and originate originate four movies (Horizon: An American Saga), two of which might never get made after the first grossed only $31 million in theaters.

Runner-up: Festival de Cannes. The French film fest increasingly sees enjoy the best way for filmoriginaters to get a roaring 10-minute standing ovation only to see their movie ripped to shreds online. Hey filmoriginaters, the examines are coming from inside the house.

Honorable Mention: Clint Eastwood. This legfinish is 94 years better and made what’s probably his last movie in Juror #2 — and critics and audiences consent that’s it’s reassociate excellent; it ranks as his highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes in three decades — and Warner Bros. wouldn’t even give his film a couple hundred theaters and some TV ads? Are they going to have security boot Eastwood off the studio lot with cardboard box in his hands too? The studio claims they secretly always nastyt the film to be for Max, as if that originates it better. It comprises to Warner Bros.’ reputation that they pick out certain originateives to beat with tire irons. (Unless they’re J.K. Rowling, of course — they adore her!). 

WON: Joe Rogan and Podcast Disrupters

Joe Rogan became a kingoriginater this election cycle. His three-hour standardish-sounding podcast intersee with Trump one week before the election became Apple’s most famous podcast episode of the year and YouTube’s most-watched election-rcontent video. Their sit-down was even cited by some voters as they exited the polls as helping originate their decision. Kamala Harris going on Rogan wouldn’t have saved her campaign, but her team’s decision to not originate Rogan’s show a hugeger priority now sees enjoy a misstep. Rogan has bragged that his establishat is better to traditional TV intersees during what experiences enjoy every podcast he’s directed for the last decade (gravely, he repeats himself a lot). This year, he showd it.

Runner-up: Alex Cooper. Cooper may have getn some shrapnel for her Harris sit-down but it raiseed Call Her Dcomprisey to a recent level of mainstream relevance right after she signed a Sirius XM mega deal.

Also: Charlamagne tha God, Theo Von, Club Shay Shay and Ben Shapiro, and even Bill Maher snarked his way to rerecented relevance.  

LOST: The Joe Biden / Kamala Harris Cheer Squad

It’s not the fault of celebrities that Harris lost (though some leank their finishorsements might have backfired). But spfinishing your fandom’s excellentwill to go difficult for a truthfulate who then disthink abouts is always a bit embarrassing, and the catalog of celebs that went all-in for Harris is lengthy, particularly in the music industry — such as Beyoncé (more on her tardyr!), Taylor Swift, Eminem, Lizzo, Megan Thee Shighion and Charli XCX. The most ununprejudiced post-election barbs have been honested at George Clooney, whose inwell-comprehendn New York Times essay about Biden’s apparent cognitive struggles srecommend pointed out what was painfilledy clear to everybody who wasn’t donor wrangler Jeffrey Katzenberg — who came atraverse enjoy he was propping up an inert Biden and waving the plivent’s arms for examines, Weekfinish at Bernie’s style.

Runners-up: Last Night Hosts. Jimmy Kimmel, John Oinhabitr and Stephen Colbert. Not certain when tardy-night structures became the self-assigned moral protectians of our reunveil, but there was a lot of self-righteousness on discarry out in this trio’s pre-election episodes.

WON: Musical Movies

It was a wonderful year for song-filled movies not about The Joker. Wicked, of course, but also: One Love, Moana 2 and even that Mean Girls reboot didn’t do shabby. All of which bodes well for upcoming projects (enjoy the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Uncomprehendn, Robbie Williams’ Better Man, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael and Wicked 2) and should grrelieve the wheels for the many-many biopics in various stages of enlargement and production (enjoy Ridley Scott’s Bee Gees biopic and others based on Janis Joplin, Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen). Like all genre trfinishs, 2024’s movie musical success is a sign of finishuring audience interest and overweightigue will never set in.

WON: Everybody Involved With ‘The Penguin’

HBO necessitateed another triumph this year between a stultifying season of House of the Dragon, the call offlation of Tokyo Vice and its dreary Dune magic nuns show. And DC necessitateed a triumph because of csurrfinisherly everyleang they’ve made in recent memory. The Penguin was presumed to be a confineed series to hbetter The Batman fans over until The Batman Part II. Instead, the show scratched that post-Sopranos itch for HBO to return to the mob drama genre and cast a much expansiver audience net than anybody anticipateed, becoming the streamer’s third-hugegest first-season show ever. Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti gave Emmy-worthy carry outances and executive producer Matt Reeves will probable get a blank examine to originate more encountered for the IP-insatiable WBD empire.  

LOST: Everybody Involved With ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’

Weirdly, The Penguin and The Joker tried the same leang — do Batman without Batman by concentrateing on an iconic villain, originate him seem enjoy a authentic person in a gritty urprohibit hellscape, then comprise a strong female co-direct and some time in Arkham Asylum. While HBO’s fairyless bird soared, Folie à Deux was so difficult to finishure that one critic accused writer-honestor Todd Phillips of making the film “horrible on purpose.” The movie’s budget was a baffling $200 million for a film that straightforwardassociate took place on two sets (and eventuassociate grossed $200 million globassociate, which doesn’t come shut to recouping the film’s cost), and even global superstar Lady Gaga couldn’t salvage leangs. The wonderful Joaquin Phoenix didn’t help his reputation by also flaking on Todd Haynes’ untitled gay romance movie. And Warners hugely escaped Joker 2 denounce after some “but anybody would have greenlit this sequel!” stories (from us too). But even if Phillips had made Titanic, you don’t greenairy Titanic 2 as a steampunk martial arts movie set aboard a lifeboat (which still sounds more fun than watching Folie à Deux aget). 

Runners-up: Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. We’re not saying more about this one because Sony floundering at making non-Spider-Man Spider-Man movies has become tedious.  

Honorary Mention: Borderlands. The Eli Roth sci-fi action comedy cost at least $100 million and eventuassociate grossed $33 million globassociate. The downcastdest part: At least people have heard of Madame Web.

WON: Chappell Roan and the Pop Girls of Summer

An incredible year for pop music thanks to frees by Roan, Sabrina Carpaccess and Billie Eilish. Roan arguably deinhabitred the most infectious album of the bunch — the encountered-horny The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess — and had the most uplifting social media story to go alengthy with it: Videos (enjoy the one below) finishlessly circutardyd of Roan going from busking her song “Pink Pony Club” to 50 people in a park in 2021 to carry outing it to a massive singalengthy crowds at Lollapalooza and ACL Fest. Last year’s THR Winners’ catalog topper Taylor Swift had a terrific Grammy-stuffed year too, despite The Tortured Poets Department experienceing somewhat bloated. Swift remains the industry’s empress, yet it was rerecenting to see a tiara on another H-O-T act. 

LOST: Katy Perry

All aboard the pop girl summer party bus — not so rapid, Katy Perry. Like a Kevin Costner of music, Perry quit her American Idol day job (though Idol is no lengthyer landing Yellowstone numbers, to be certain) to start a comeback album that some mused must have been made by AI. The album was titled 143 — which might as well have been its position on the Billboard chart for all the blowback she got (according to Luminate, the total album sales-and-streaming consumption of 143 was 100,000 contrastd to., for instance, Roan’s 2.2 million). Lead one “Woman’s World” was an innervously on-the-nose feminism anthem in every admire, except for that choice of Dr. Luke as producer. Look, this doesn’t experience wonderful. We’re rooting for her “dance party tour” next year to be a success (as well as her next comeback album). 

WON: Aliens! 

At the box office, there was Alien: Romulus resurrecting the Alien franchise and A Quiet Place: Day One once aget proving the star power of Lupita Nyong’o. On the minuscule screen, there was Hulu’s hit No One Will Save You. And in the unscripted space, there were cut offal recordaries about the UAP phenomena atraverse various streamers (such as Netflix’s The Manhattan Alien Abduction, Investigation Alien, and MGM’s Beyond: Aliens and the Uncomprehendn). Yet the most riveting alien-backd streaming encountered tardyly has been courtesy of Congress and their two bipartisan hearings (highairys from last year and this year) with establisher Pentagon officials and top military whistleblessens being inquireed by the enjoys of AOC and Lauren Bobart. Apparently, it only gets the possibility of actual extraterrestrials coming to Earth to back a unveil discarry out of bipartisan unity. 

WON: FX

How will this lgeted and very definite cable TV brand fare after being swapvalidateed up by the Disney empire? Just fine. FX chief John Landgraf’s huge bet on Shofirearm phelp off by triumphning a record 18 Emmys, Fargo returned to its best season in a scant cycles, and The Bear remains a hit even if its pretentious third season carry outed enjoy a SNL parody of itself (which seeers saw right thcimpolite with a plummeting Rotten Tomatoes audience score). Imagine what Landgraf could do with an Apple TV+ budget. Speaking of which…. 

LOST: Apple TV+/Apple Studios

You can’t buy a pizza these days without being giveed three months of Apple TV+ as a free topping. Their ubiquitous subscription giveaway is enjoy those inesvient Bed Bath and Beyond 20 percent off coupons of the 2000s. This year, Apple even commenceed selling their streamer thcimpolite Amazon’s Prime Video, which must sting their pride a little. Reportedly, Apple spent more than $20 billion since 2019 to originate their innovative encountered library, yet mediocre less than 1 percent of U.S. screen seeing. On the film side, Argyle and Fly Me to the Moon undercarry outed, and the star-studded Wolfs was yanked from theaters. On the TV side, did you even hear of The Big Door Prize? Kindred Spirits? Schmigadoon? Time Bandits (not the movie, the TV show)? Make or Break? Consalertation? All were call offed, and you didn’t accomprehendledge one of those shows wasn’t authentic (amazingly, it wasn’t Schmigadoon). The leang is, we adore the idea of the world’s hugest company throtriumphg its pocket alter to originateives to originate lavish and lgeted encountered. We equitable want their shows were a Schmigadoon better.

WON: Nicole Kidman and Actresses of a Certain Age

Kidman had an incredible year: A No. 1 Netflix show (Perfect Strangers), a best actress triumph at Vepleasant Film Festival (Babygirl) and another season of Lioness. While a unforeseeed number of other AARP-eligible actresses gave, in the eyes of many, the best carry outance of their nurtureer this year, such as — lengthy catalog attentive — Demi Moore (The Substance), Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl), Tilda Striumphton (The Room Next Door), Amy Adams (Nightbitch), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), June Squibb (Thelma), Julianne Moore (The Room Next Door) and Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez).   

WON: Will Smith

It’s probably genuine that Trump could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and be forgiven by his helpers. But also: Will Smith can walk on stage during the Oscars and slap curraccess Chris Rock difficult atraverse the face for alerting a joke and still have his movie, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, originate $400 million at the global box office. Plus, Smith commenceed inking deals aget for recent projects and thrilled Coachella with a surpelevate carry outance of the Men In Bdeficiency theme song. America and Hollywood — both such accomprehendledgeing places! (Unless you’re Gina Carano, of course, who’s apparently a monster).  

LOST: Cable TV

Admittedly, we could have put “Cable TV” on this catalog any of the last 10 years. But 2024 might have broken the model for excellent. Comcast proclaimd structures to spin out its channels — including USA, MSNBC, CNBC and E! into a recent vehicle. Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Disney all took massive write-downs on the cherish of their channels. And pay-TV providers saw their video subscribers drop even rapider. It’s a downcast state of afunprejudiceds for someleang that was arguably once the wonderfulest media business of all time. A particular catalogless clap for MSNBC, who — right in the middle of all this shrinkion — has been taking fire for their ever-vacillating fingers-to-the-triumphd Morning Joe structures; Joe Scarbocimpolite is The Simpsons “I, for one, receive our recent insect overlords” meme come to life.

WON: Taylor Sheridan

Sheridan is commenceing to become the J.D. Salinger of showrunners — tucked away from the world on his massive Texas ranch and dodgeing all press (his last presentant sit-down with a journacatalogic outfit was over a year ago with, well, with us). But he’s remained prolific as hell. Yellowstone returned huge despite the loss of Costner, proving once aget a hit brand is hugeger than any one piece of talent. Sheridan’s recent drama Landman is getting strong examines and ratings (even with the cringiest overweighther-daughter encountered this side of PornHub). “Shut up and originate stuff” seems to be Sheridan’s recent strategy and given how many people he tfinishs to disturb when he speaks out, maybe that’s for the best. 
Runner-up: Ricdifficult Gcomprise, whose Baby Reindeer blew up on Netflix, racked up Emmys, and snagged him a next project (even with a defamation suit).

WON: Skeezy Streaming Dating Shows

In the age of dating-app overweightigue, seeer can’t get enough of boiling lesser people droping in adore, cheating, splitting up, and rinse and repeat. So perhaps it’s no surpelevate that Love Island USA and Love Is Blind all had their most-watched seasons this year. Nobody wants The Bachelor’s rose, they want #MyPerson — or at least a fun frolic in The Hideaway and a flood of recent Instagram fagelessens. An overhauled Love Island USA, in particular, came into its own for a sixth season that landed the series in the streaming Top 10 for the first time after producers finassociate authenticized Americans want their fact TV as filthy as the Brits. 

LOST: Star Wars

Another Star Wars film pushed. Another Star Wars trilogy proclaimd (does anybody leank these proclaimments are authentic and not a hideing money scheme?). Another Star Wars series which flopped — this one $180 million and originated massive dispute and fan division (some of which was super poisonous, but also: How many times can Disney denounce their audience for not liking what they originate?). The franchise’s recent kids show, Skeleton Crew, is getting excellent examines for its first two episodes, so that’s at least someleang. Part of the blowback agetst Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is equitable people being jealous: Who doesn’t want to be able to have projects repeatedly stumble and still uphold one of Hollywood’s top jobs? The rest of us can only dream of flunking so successfilledy! 

WON: Adam Silver and the NBA

There is only one sports entry on this catalog, promise. The NBA, led by cotransferrlookioner Silver, safed 11-year media rights deals with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon for an eye-watering $76 billion. When the recent deals boot in next year, the NBA will go from having 15 games on widecast TV to 75, and every one national game will also be on streaming, which the league hopes will lure lesserer seeers who have no idea what “widecast TV” even nastys.

LOST: BBC

There’s only one entry about a non-U.S. company on this catalog, promise: The BBC articulate remorsed for their handling of protestts about unseemly behavior by their curraccess Huw Edwards. The BBC then articulate remorsed for an inaccurate story about Nigel Farage’s finances. And the BBC also articulate remorsed for Strictly Come Dancing contestants in ambiguous for abusive behavior on the set, and, months tardyr, articulate remorsed definiteassociate to contestant Amanda Abington. Still, unenjoy many U.S. recents outlets, at least the British Blunder Concession nettoil owns their shit.

WON: Ryan Reynbetters and Two Other Hot Actor Dudes

That Reynbetters is establisher Sexiest Man Ainhabit (despite being Canadian) and starred in the second-hugegest movie of the year with the Marvel-rescuing Deadpool & Wolverine making $1.33 billion and persists to be a untamedly prosperous entrepreneur peddling gin and cell phone structures … honestly, it’s almost too much. What also originates Reynbetters even more distinctive is his genius for frivolous labeleting (gravely, it’s being studied), which is done with humor and fact to fracture thcimpolite the clutter. Reynbetters’ efforts enjoywise helped Disney get back on top this year, compriseing to the studio’s slew of hits (Moana 2, Alien: Romulus, Inside Out 2).

Runners up: Twisters and Hit Man star Glen Powell (secretly enlargen in lab from DNA spliced from Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise, shhh) and Nicholas Hoult (who rebounded from his call offed Hulu show The Great into acclaimed carry outances in three awards contfinishers: Juror No. 2, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu and Justin Kurzel’s The Order). 

WON AND LOST: Beyoncé

Cowboy Carter debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and became the first time a Bdeficiency woman has ever topped the Country Album chart. But for an album Beyoncé called “the best music I’ve ever made,” Cowboy Carter went ”down, down, down” the charts rapider than anticipateed (“the drop off [was] precipitous, and potentiassociate, unpretreatnted in the current album free landscape” as one ineloquential country music alerter put it). But its still-wonderful carry outance — with 1.4 million album units used atraverse streaming and sales, according to Luminate — with came despite Beyoncé intentionassociate not promoting Cowboy Carter with videos, intersees and tours. But the album was snubbed by the CMAs. But that snub might say more about the CMAs than the album and show Beyoncé’s point about country music’s treatment of Bdeficiency artists. But she did that Kamala Harris rassociate which left tens of thousands of fans disassigned she didn’t carry out. But, but, but … Look. Beyoncé took a huge chance, broke some records, still had a huge hit and arguably accomplished more with the uneven reception of Cowboy Carter — including uncovering the door for other country artists of color — than she ever would have with a pop album, so, ultimately, that originates her a triumphner in our book. 

Scott Feinberg, Alex Weprin, Chris Gardner and Ryan Gajewski gived to this alert