Shane Gillis Previews His Best Jokes Ahead of Kevin Hart Roast; Plus, the 26 Hottest Tickets of Netflix Is a Joke Fest

Happy Tuesday, folks!

Theaters were absolutely packed this weekend thanks to The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Michael, while I went to see Hokum and lived to regret it. I mean, if you want to spend two hours with an asshole writer, just watch my podcast every week!

Who knew I would feel even worse 48 hours later when my beloved Boston Celtics dropped their first playoff series of my lifetime to the Philadelphia 76ers, who deserved the victory, quite frankly. We just didn’t have the stuff this year.

Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions hasn’t had the stuff either lately, as the company doesn’t have much to show for its high-priced deal on the Universal lot besides Peele's Nope and Justin Tipping’s incoherent sports thriller Him.

Monkeypaw’s first-look deal expires in a few months, and the company let go of several staffers on Tuesday in an effort to refocus its development efforts. It’s unclear whether Peele was forced to downsize in the hopes of getting Universal to re-up his deal, or whether he wanted to make Monkeypaw a smaller, more nimble operation should he choose to set up shop elsewhere.

Personally, I don’t think Peele is going anywhere, but the only thing I know is that Peele has settled on his next movie, and while he’s still writing it, a well-placed source says that in terms of scale, it’s the director’s biggest movie to date. Nope had a reported production budget of $68 million, so Peele’s new budget may be more in line with the $90 million that Warner Bros. gave Ryan Coogler and Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sinners and The Bride, respectively.

Universal has been very patient with Peele, and the studio is hoping his next effort will be worth the wait.

I also watched the 1980 cult classic Night of the Juggler this weekend, and that movie proved to be worth the wait. I had to sign up for a Los Angeles Public Library card so I could watch the movie on an app called Hoopla, but I didn’t mind jumping through hoops to do so.

The film stars James Brolin as an ex-cop and father willing to do anything to recover his kidnapped daughter, played by veteran Innovative Artists agent Abby Bluestone. It’s one of those gritty crime movies where New York plays a co-starring role, only this time, that hackneyed description is fully earned. For the most part, I had a blast with the chaotic tale, which lends itself well to a remake.

I also binged the entirety of Tatiana Maslany’s new Apple TV series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, which I’ll be able to write about closer its release in a couple of weeks.

Tonight, a look at the 26 hottest tickets of the 2026 Netflix Is a Joke Festival, which is taking over Los Angeles this week, including a sneak preview of the Roast of Kevin Hart courtesy of host Shane Gillis, who tested some highly offensive (and hilarious) material at the Hollywood Bowl last night. Plus, a look at the trailer for Netflix’s new romantic comedy Office Romance starring Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein, who is also performing at Netflix’s comedy festival this week.

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