Only Murders in the Building, which John Hoffman created with Steve  Martin, received 21 Emmy noms this year, including one for best comedy series – a feat Hoffman, a four-time Emmy winner, tells The Hollywood Reporter is “affirming.” It’s crazy. I was with [EPs] Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal going through the opening scene for season three potentially being this actress walking onto a stage, auditioning for a part, and Oliver being thunderstruck by both the talent and the woman standing before him, and I said to Dan and Jess, “Well, the perfect person to play this part — you know who that is?” They’re like, “Who?” And I was like, “Well, Meryl Streep.” And they were like, “Good luck with that, John.” Then, literally two weeks later, I get a text from Steve and Marty saying, “Hey, Meryl Streep just reached out and said she’d like to talk about doing something together. Should we bring up the show?” I said, “Yeah!” And a week later, they called and said, “Hey, Meryl just said she’s in if you think we have something for her to do. Do we have anything good?” And I was like, “Oh, fuck.”

I pitched her the character over a very nervous-making Zoom. I said, “We open on your character, actually, in the very first scene, but you’re 10 and visiting New York from St. Louis with your mom, who’s bringing you to your first Broadway show, it’s called No Strings. And before I got any further, Meryl said, “I saw that.” And I said, “What?!” She said, “Yeah, I saw that with my mother … Diahann Carroll was in it. She sang this beautiful song.” And she started to sing “The Sweetest Sounds.” I said, “OK, I don’t know what the hell is happening right now, but Meryl, you have to stop because my head is going to explode. Those lyrics you just sang are on page one of the script I’m going to send you after we hang up. And she said, ‘What?!’ (John Hoffman, The Hollywood Reporter, August 13, 2024)

Only Murders in the Building is going bicoastal. Hulu’s series about a ragtag trio of podcasting crime solvers released another trailer for its fourth season on Tuesday, teasing Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel’s (Selena Gomez) big trip across the country. The end of season three left the characters shocked by the death of Charles’ friend and former stunt double, Sazz (Jane Lynch). In the season four trailer, the group must balance their new investigation with a starry trip to Hollywood, after a film studio begins work on a movie adaptation of the podcast. Hulu has hailed season four as Only Murders‘ “starriest season yet,” with guest stars that include Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, Molly Shannon, Richard Kind, Kumail Nanjiani and Melissa McCarthy. The trailer also features appearances from returning stars Lynch, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Michael Cyril Creighton and Meryl Streep (although only very briefly). Only Murders in the Building season four premieres on Hulu on Aug. 27, with new episodes every Tuesday.

The sequel to the award-winning Escape from Extinction introduces rewilding, a proven method for sustainable conservation that has the potential to bring back hundreds of thousands of species from the brink of extinction. Rewilding is a transformative conservation strategy that prioritizes the restoration of natural ecosystems by reintroducing native species – both plant and animal – particularly apex predators and keystone species. This innovative approach restores ecological balance and enhances biodiversity, while generating farther-reaching impacts, such as strengthening our local and global food systems, mitigating climate change, and offering significant socio-economic benefits to communities. Escape from Extinction Rewilding is a powerful and timely documentary that delves into this critical conservation practice. Narrated by Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, the film follows tireless conservation efforts of leading organizations implementing rewilding practices across a diverse array of species in equally diverse environments. Through compelling storytelling and breathtaking cinematography, the documentary showcases the tangible successes and ongoing challenges in the field of rewilding. It highlights how humanity, when armed with knowledge and compassion, can halt the decline of countless animal species and restore the environments we call home. Escape from Extinction Rewilding will be released in over 100 theaters nationwide on Thursday, September 27.

This documentary not only brings the importance of rewilding to the forefront but also emphasizes that you can’t protect what you don’t love, and you can’t love what you don’t know,” shared Dr. Robin Ganzert, President and CEO of American Humane and the film’s executive producer. “At American Humane, we are profoundly thankful to Meryl for lending her voice to this critical story of survival, inspiring countless others to become advocates for animal welfare.

Congratulations to Meryl Streep for receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series for playing Loretta Durkin in “Only Murders in the Building”. The show received a staggering 21 nominations in total, including nods for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series (Steve Martin and Martin Short), Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series (Selena Gomez), Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series (Paul Rudd) and Outstanding Guest Actors In A Comedy Series (Matthew Broderick and Da’Vine Joy Randolph). This is Meryl Streep’s sixth Emmy nomination – she received nods for “First Do No Harm” and “Big Little Lies” and won for “Holocaust”, “Angels in America” and for narrating the Netflix series “Five Came Back.” The Emmy Awards will be handed out during a live ceremony on September 15, 2024.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Carol Burnett (Palm Royale)
Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)
Meryl Streep (Only Murders In The Building)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Devil Wears Prada” writer Aline Brosh McKenna is penning a would-be follow-up to the hit film that is being developed and produced by Wendy Finerman, who was behind the original. No deals for the cast are in place. Disney, which would be the studio behind the film following the acquisitions of the original Devil studio Fox 2000, had no comment. The 2006 film based on the book of the same name follows Andy (Hathaway), a recent college journalism graduate as she lands one of the most coveted jobs in publishing as the assistant to Anna Wintour stand-in Miranda Priestly (Streep). Andy dives into the world of magazines and high fashion thanks to her fellow assistant (Blunt). The film grossed a massive $326 million at the worldwide box office and earned Streep an Oscar nomination. Puck first reported the news of the sequel and offered insights into a possible plot where Priestly is still the head of Runway but the magazine has endured the financial headwinds of contemporary publishing and is in a diminished state. Blunt’s one-time assistant would now be an executive at a luxury brand conglomerate that advertises with Runway. While promoting her recent film, The Idea of You, Hathaway told E! she was doubtful about the possibility of a sequel, saying, “I don’t think a continuation of that story is probably ever gonna happen.”

Today, Hulu has released a teaser trailer for “Only Murders in the Building” season 4, revealing 10 new and returning stars as the show relocates to Hollywood for its next murder mystery. The teaser finds Charles, Oliver and Mabel grappling with Sazz’s death during the season 3 ending, and their investigation eventually takes them to Los Angeles. There are glimpses of cast additions Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis, Kumal Nanjiani and even Melissa McCarthy – whose roles are undisclosed, though they will likely be playing other suspects in Sazz’s murder. While much about the upcoming episodes remains a mystery, the release date has been revealed: August 27. You can find the teaser in the video archive, with a couple of screencaptures being added to the photo gallery.

Meryl Streep did quite some press during her stay at the Cannes Film Festival (see following updates). Among the biggest scoop might be Deadline‘s Baz Bamigboye chat with Streep about the chances of being part of “Mamma Mia! 3”: The acting legend, honored with an Honorary Palme d’Or at an emotional presentation Tuesday night during the Cannes Film Festival’s opening ceremony the Grand Théâtre Lumière, confirmed that “of course, I want to do it,” but first she wants to hear how producer Judy Craymer has resolved the issue of how Streep’s character Donna Sheridan can return for MM3 when it was revealed during the during the 2018 sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again that Donna had died. Will there be some sort of resurrection, I wondered. “I don’t know how they’re going to do it. They have an idea. I haven’t heard it yet but it’s in [my diary] and I’m going to hear about it pretty soon,” the three-time Oscar-winning star told me when I went to chat with her at the festival’s opening-night Dîner d’ Ouverture at a splendidly renovated and refurbished Palm Beach. “Of course I want to do it. I think folks love it,” she added. Her longtime agent, CAA’s Kevin Huvane, seated next to her, cautioned, “We’re optimistic about it.” And he noted Universal’s keenness to get it made. Streep regrets letting Here We Go Again slip through her fingers, appearing in it just briefly. But she had a bundle of fun on the set meeting up again with the likes of Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper.

We’re heading into an amazing week. On Tuesday, Meryl Streep will be the guest of honor at the Cannes Film Festival’s opening night. And today, Hulu has posted a teaser on their social media pages, promising us “exciting news coming next week from the Arconia! We can’t wait to share with you” – which could mean a release date for season 4, or a teaser trailer. We’re about to find out. The post was accompanied by an on-set picture from season 4, featuring Martin Short and Meryl Streep.

On Monday, Meryl Streep made a surprise appearance in Manhattan’s United Palace for a Q&A following a free screening of “The Devil Wears Prada” as part of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ongoing “Movies at the Palace” screening series. She was accompanied on stage by the film’s director David Frankel and producer Aline Brosh McKenna. Lin-Manuel Miranda has supported screenings at the United Palace since 2013 when he helped the theatre’s fund-raising campaign to purchase a new projector, screen, and surround sound system to return movies to the theatre after a 40-year hiatus. Since its launch, Miranda’s film series has attracted about 15,000 guests to the heart of Washington Heights. A clip with highlights from the conversation can be watched in the video archive, and a couple of pictures from the Q&A have been added to the photo gallery.

Another wonderful addition to the archives – one I have been looking for ages to finally add to the site: Meryl Streep’s second and final appearance on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show”. After promoting “Marvin’s Room” on the show in 1997, Meryl returned to Rosie’s Halloween-themed episode with a pumpkin (bearing a striking resemblance to Clint Eastwood) and talked about the theatrical release of “Music of the Heart”. The interview can be found in the video archive. Screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery.