From the North Pole to the Texas oil fields, Billy Bob Thornton‘s Landman role was influenced by one of his other iconic characters.

Series creator Taylor Sheridan recently revealed that he referenced Thornton’s titular role as Willie T. Stokes in 2003’s Bad Santa when he pitched the Paramount+ series to the Oscar-winning actor.

“I said, ‘I want to make a drama with Bad Santa running an oil company,’” recalled Sheridan on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “He’s like, ‘That’s the greatest f*cking thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Yeah, let’s do it!’”

Thornton starred as conman Willie in Bad Santa, a depressed, foul-mouthed alcoholic posing as a mall Santa to pull off as holiday heist with his partner Marcus (Tony Cox), who plays his trusty elf. The pair reunited for the sequel Bad Santa 2 in 2016.

In Landman, Thornton plays abrasive crisis executive Tommy Norris, who struggles to run a West Texas oilfield following a fatal accident.

Thornton, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance, previously admitted to Deadline that he was surprised by the show’s widespread appeal.

“We thought it was going to appeal to the middle of the country, that was the hope for it. We didn’t think the coasts would go for it — we certainly didn’t think it would become this huge international hit,” he said. “We had no idea; we’re humbled by that and very proud of it. We have fans in Uganda, Australia and everywhere else.”

Thornton added, “I think a lot of it, and this is just my feeling, it’s because the characters are all unabashedly who they are, and they’re just honest about everything. Taylor’s shows normally will have a vibe, and this has several — emotion and humor and drama and absurdity and danger, all those different things. I think the variety on it appeals to people.”

As Hollywood grapples with AI‘s potential impact, Jodie Foster believes the tech is already very present in the industry.

The 2x Oscar winner recently explained why she believes last year’s Joseph Kosinski-helmed, Ehren Kruger-penned Brad Pitt starrer F1 was made with artificial intelligence, pointing to the Academy Award-winning film as an example of GenAI creating “something big and beautiful.”

“I don’t say this disparagingly—how could I? This movie went on to make millions of dollars,” she prefaced during the ‘Who Owns the Future of Hollywood?‘ talk at Aspen Ideas Festival. “But I look at a movie like F1 and I’m like, ‘F1 was made by AI.’ Wasn’t it?”

Foster continued, “I mean, the structure was exactly the structure that you would learn in school. The actors say the lines exactly the way it would be written if a computer was writing exactly what would be the right thing for that time. And they were able to dominate the technology to make something big and beautiful and potentially where a lot of the information comes from other places.”

Winning the Oscar for Best Sound, as well as nominations for Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects, F1 earned more than $634M globally.

While Foster sees AI “getting rid of a lot of jobs” in Hollywood, she added, “Hopefully, things like unions will be able to come in and say, you can use my actor 20 times, but you’re going to pay him 20 times. And I think that’s fair.”

Noting that she thinks AI could be useful for “small helpful things” like pre-visualization and storyboarding, Foster revealed her 2025 Rebecca Zlotowski-directed French mystery A Private Life featured an AI-facilitated dream sequence that she thinks turned out well, despite the fact that the images “made no sense.”

“What we all would love is that filmmakers would be able to dominate AI, and never lose sight of that,” said Foster, adding: “If we are able to dominate AI consistently over time, we will be able to make things that reflect us, and we can make things better.”

The use of AI in Hollywood continues to be a hot-button topic. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA has endorsed the Trump administration’s AI policy framework, which calls for Congress to enact legislation that includes parental controls, intellectual property rights protection, First Amendment protections, expanding AI workforce development, allowing data centers to generate their own power and removing legal barriers that limit AI innovation.

Last month, Trump signed an executive order for voluntary framework in which AI companies would provide the government with access to new models for a 30-day review period before their release.

Moritz Borman, the movie producer who often worked Oliver Stone and also on two Terminator films, has died. He was 71.

Borman died Wednesday, his frequent producing partners Eric Kopeloff and Philip Schulz-Deyle confirmed. A cause of death was not immediately made available.

“It is with profound sadness that we, as Moritz Borman’s longtime producing partners, announce his passing,” their joint statement began. “Moritz was one of the most accomplished and respected independent producers of his generation. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he produced more than 25 feature films, frequently collaborating with Oliver Stone. Moritz’s films include Under the Volcano, The Quiet American, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, Alexander, World Trade Center, W, Savages, Snowden.”

“As both a producer and entrepreneur, Moritz helped shape the landscape of independent filmmaking, building creative and financial bridges between Europe and Hollywood. He will be remembered not only for his achievements, but also for his generosity, optimism, integrity, and unwavering passion for cinema,” the statement continued. “Our thoughts are with Moritz’s family, his friends, and the many colleagues around the world whose lives he touched. His legacy will endure through the films he made, the filmmakers he inspired, and the lasting impact he had on our industry.”

Born in Germany, Borman ventured into the entertainment industry as a producer of German television before making the move to Los Angeles. There, he attended the American Film Institute.

His first credited film as a producer is for John Huston’s Under the Volcano, which earned two Academy Award nominations (including a best actor nod for Albert Finney). The producer boarded the Terminator franchise for its third film in 2003, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as an EP. He returned for the fourth movie, Terminator Salvation, in 2009 as a producer.

Borman worked with Stone first on Alexander in 2004, and the two would go on to collaborate across a number of films, including World Trade Center (2006); W. (2008); Savages (2012); and Snowden (2016).

His additional producing credits include Dennis Dugan’s National Security; The Wedding Planner, which starred Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey; and the Oscar-nominated The Quiet American.

Borman was working on an untitled John Lee Hancock movie at the time of his death, Kopeloff and Schulz-Deyle further confirmed in their joint statement.