Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 263rd installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.

AFM: Buyers Seeking Star Sizzle Plus Quality in Independent Movies.

Warner Bros., Quietly Thriving, Recasts Its Own Story.

MGM reports $47.8m loss from Ben-Hur box-office flop.

‘Loving’ Tops Indie Box Office, Poised for Awards Season.

Record 27 Films Submitted for Animated Feature Oscar Race.

If the World Ends Next Week, It’s OK, Because Movies Are Killing Us.

8 Movies With Major Title Changes.

‘Arrival’ Could Never Have Been Made By A Studio: Here’s Why — Consider This.

Invasion Of The Big-Brained Sci-Fi Blockbuster!

Let’s Call a Moratorium on Inter-Dimensional Portals in Movies, Shall We?

AFI Conservatory Dean Jan Schuette to Exit Post.

Canada’s Biggest Film Financier Pledges That Half of Its Projects Will Be Directed or Written by Women.

Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: The No-Budget Indie Films of the Early 90s.

Personal tragedy and trauma in the films of Denis Villeneuve.

James L. Brooks Selected for Norman Lear Award by Producers Guild.

‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ Producer Reveals Backstory of Film’s Famous Gun vs. Sword Scene.

Rebellions Are Built on Hope: Rogue One Writers Share Star Wars Safety Pin Logo.

‘The Exorcist’ Executive Producer on Creating Smart Scares for the Modern TV Viewer, Future Seasons.

486,000 Pay-TV Subscribers Cut the Cord in Q3.

Westworld’s Orgy Is a Reminder That You’re Watching HBO.

Westworld: The Rarest Commodity in Westworld Is Trust (Film School Rejects).

‘Westworld’ Review: ‘The Adversary’ Makes Us Question Who the Real Bad Guys Are (Indiewire).

‘Westworld’: Decoding Thandie Newton and Anthony Hopkins’ Journeys (The Hollywood Reporter).

Westworld‘s “The Adversary”: Brings Us More Maeve, More Daddy Issues, and More of Arnold’s Mystery (The Mary Sue).

Westworld Recap: Death Wish (Vulture).

Westworld recap: Is Ford a robot? (The Week).

Freeform’s Fraught Year: Inside the Rebranded Network’s Chase for Millennials (and a Hit Show).

Instagram CEO Confirms Live Video Plans.

Sony Seeks to Patent Method for Measuring Journalists’ Accuracy.

The Black List Interview: Jamey Perry.

Listen: Scriptnotes (Episode 275).