In it its third edition, the Barbara Berlanti “Heroes Gala,” launched eight years ago by top TV producer Greg Berlanti in honor of his mom, who had died of cancer, hit close to home as the disease recently claimed one of the shows Berlanti has worked on, Dawson’s Creek.

Series creator Kevin Williamson received the Barbara Berlanti Hero Award at the event held Saturday Night at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica to raise money for F Cancer’s early detection, prevention, and psychosocial initiatives.

He was presented with the award by Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson and TV writer-producer Julie Plec, who worked with frequent collaborator Williamson, Jackson and Berlanti on Dawson’s Creek, in recognition of his efforts around the one-time Dawson’s Creek table read to support Van Der Beek following his cholesterol cancer diagnosis and benefit F Cancer.

“In the days before we went on stage to do this reading to support James, his health took a turn, and Kevin opened up not only his heart for making sure that everybody was okay, but also his wallet to make sure that we were able to honor James and honor his family at this event in truly the most amazing way possible, to allow his children to be in a room filled with people there to celebrate their dad as they had seen him go through what he was going through with humility and grace and to see the love for him that existed outside of their family,” Jackson said as he and Plec, a 2022 Heroes Gala honoree, both choked up while talking about Van Der Beek.

Williamson, who, like Berlanti, lost his mom to lung cancer, also fought back tears while remembering Van Der Beek’s journey on Dawson’t Creek, a series inspired by Williamson’s own coming-of-age.

“James Van Beek gave voice to my childhood, he was the soul of the show, and anyway, he was the ultimate upgrade,” Williamson said about the actor playing a character he had based on himself. “I had the great pleasure of knowing James over many years, I saw him go from a young kid to an extraordinary man — a husband, a father, and a friend.”

Williamson took a lighter note while recalling his and Van Der Beek’s dynamic early in the show’s run.

“James had a full character arc. He started out as a brat. He would get a script and he would call me, and he would be like, ‘Why do I have to say this word? Nobody knows what this word means.’ And I would say, ‘Well, don’t worry about it, the way you mumble, nobody is going to hear it anyway.’ That was our relationship — Dawson talking to Dawson.”

Van Der Beek’s death in February at the age of 48, “really knocked me over,” Williamson said. He called the September 2025 table read benefit “probably one of the most special nights of my life.”

“The only thing missing was James. He was meant to be there. We were holding down hope till the last second, the doctors just wouldn’t let him get on the plane, but he still showed up that night with his unshakable courage and his spirit,” Williamson said. “I think he’s here with us tonight. He’s going to be with us for always. He’s awesome, and so I can’t pretend I’m worthy of any award but I will accept it. I’ll accept it in memory of my mother. I will accept it in the memory of James Van Der Beek, and I will accept it for the entire Dawson’s Creek family.”

The Dawson’t Creek reunion also included Mary-Margaret Humes, who played Dawson’s (Van De Beek) mom on the show. She walked the red carpet with Jackson.

The Emmy-winning The Pitt star Katherine LaNasa, who spoke about getting diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2023 while struggling to find work during the post-pandemic industry contraction, received the Inspirational Hero Award. It was presented to her by The Pitt creator/executive producer R. Scott Gemmill.

“Katherine is more than a survivor. She is a warrior,” Gemmill said. “I think her spirit — I’m pretty sure — was shaped from coming from a long line of tough, ballsy, smart, funny Southern women. I see that every day. Sometimes it’s a lot to deal with.”

Gemmill spoke of how LaNasa’s strength during her cancer battle has influenced her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of charge nurse David Dana Evans on The Pitt.

“That, along with her empathy and her grace, has shone new light on an entire profession, helping healthcare workers to be seen and heard from in a way that’s never happened to them,” Gemmill said.

He referenced one of LaNasa’s most memorable storylines on the HBO Max medical drama.

She portrayed a sexual assault nurse examiner last year with such honesty and rawness for Tina Ivlev, who is also here, that it affected so many people’s lives,” Gemmill said. “But also affected policy to the point where Allegheny General Hospital is now getting $20,000 more to train additional sexual assault nurse examiners, and those men and women will go on to change people’s lives in such a positive way. That’s just because she was willing to use what she went through and tap into it and give it to others, and that is a hero. That is an inspiration. That is impact. That is change. That is overcoming adversity, using your gift to help others. And that is my friend and my muse, Katherine LaNasa.”

Actress-producer Octavia Spencer presented the Memorial Hero Award to trailblazing former NBA player Jason Collins, the first openly gay athlete to compete in one of America’s top professional sports leagues, who died of glioblastoma in May. The honor was accepted by Collins’ husband, Brunson Green.

Among those who attended the gala, co-chaired by Berlanti and Robbie Rogers, were LaNasa’s The Pitt co-stars Noah Wyle, Patrick Ball an Shawn Hatosy, and top executives at The Pitt studio Warner Bros. Television, where Berlanti is based under an overall deal, and platform HBO Max including Casey Bloys, Sarah Aubrey, Joey Chavez, Clancy Collins White, and Brett Paul. (Both companies sponsored the event.)

Other notable guests included Paramount TV Studios President Matt Thunell, former longtime head of Warner Bros. TV Peter Roth, Danielle Panabaker, LaNasa’s usband Grant Show, Jim Rash, who emceed the auction, Lisa Ann Walter, Matthew Lillard and Sarah Shah.

Most of them took to the dance floor when Seal closed out the night by performing some of his biggest hits.

Tom Cruise will not be jumping on any couches this weekend.

This as the Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible blockbuster star posts his lowest opening in 19 years, that being the reported $160M net priced Digger, which didn’t find an audience with an $8M domestic debut, a $20M global overall start and a C+ CinemaScore.

Myriad sources tell us that the film stands to lose around $150M and that’s if it’s lucky to get to a global box office of $50M. Post pandemic pricey fall disasters such as last year’s Dwayne Johnson starring The Smashing Machine and the 2022 Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington absurdist period title Amsterdam had similar single digit domestic openings, and finaled lower with respective global grosses of $21.1M and $31.2M, and off of respective smaller budgets of $50M and $80M.

The timing of Digger‘s bombing is Shakespearan, coming at the most stinging moment when Skydance co-CEO (né Paramount CEO) David Ellison refused to honor Warner Bros Motion Picture Chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy‘s contracts and bring them into the fold. This after Warner’s milestone 2025 global gross of $4.3B, the best since 2019, and 11 Oscar wins. The new ParaBros is inheriting several Burbank lot lucrative IP assets shepherded by De Luca and Abyd such as Oceans Eleven, Gremlins, Gladys, Minecraft 2 and more going forward, 38 features overall, dated into 2029. In 2027, the Paramount Warners Bros slate will overdeliver the state AGs demands of 30 films annually with 36 titles.

How did Warners pick up a shovel and break ground on a filibustery-dialogue driven satire about the MAGA era which follows an oil tycoon whose latest ice caps project literally misfires, causing a global environmental disaster? (Those who’ve seen Digger know there’s a meta twist).

Iñárritu first developed what would become Digger at Netflix (the project had a different title) where he made the 2 hour 39 minute stream of consciousness art movie Bardo. At the time Leonardo DiCaprio was eyeing, however, after the streamer made the very-similar $75M Adam McKay directed environmental satire, Don’t Look Up, Iñárritu took the project to his Revenant producer Mary Parent at Legendary. There Digger was developed with Tom Cruise in mind.

Cut to 2024. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav is hot-for-teacher to land Cruise post Top Gun Maverick, and dispatches De Luca and Abdy to make a non-exclusive originals and franchise deal with the global star. The first project under the pact? Digger. Pamela Abdy had worked with Iñárritu on his $17M priced Oscar winning Birdman and $135M costing Leonardo DiCaprio western The Revenant while she was Production President at New Regency from 2013-2016. De Luca worked with Cruise when he was President and COO of New Line on the much thriftier priced Magnolia, also from Paul Thomas Anderson, which landed the star his third Oscar nomination (in Supporting Actor) at the time.

De Luca and Abdy, we hear, ran Digger through their analytical comps system. The combo of Cruise and Iñárritu justified a $125M production greenligiht. Legendary’s development costs were bought out by Warners, hence the reason why the production company isn’t co-financing ala other Warner projects like Dune and the Godzilla Kong movies. The cost with an extended schedule rose to around a net $160M shot at Leavesden in the UK with tax credits. Many sources have argued that the cost was substantially higher before the pic’s near $100M global theatrical marketing spend.

At the LA Westwood premiere, Cruise exclaimed to De Luca and Abdy, “You didn’t even take a breath when we brought you this film. I don’t even think you turned the page on it. You’re just like — you’re in.”

Which raises the question, exactly which studio executive says ‘No’ to Cruise?

With De Luca and Abdy painted by some as spendthrift in their loss of motion picture boss jobs at the new Skydance, let that executive who has said ‘No’ to Cruise on his productions, cast the first stone.

Skydance was heavily involved in the co-financing of lengthy Cruise shoots Top Gun: Maverick (net $177M) and the last two Mission: Impossible movies, Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning, which carried an exorbitant combined cost between $591M and $691M, again, those budgets driven up partly due to Covid stops, but also Cruise’s fastidiousness.

“The problem is that there’s no one in Cruise’s camp to tell him ‘No’, and what might not work” says one high level source who was involved with the Mission movies, “It use to be his producing partner Paula Wagner.”

“Everyone knows he likes to direct on the set,” adds another, “I don’t know how that worked out with Alejandro because he doesn’t take direction from anyone.”

De Luca and Abdy did tell Cruise ‘No’, and that’s when they passed on the actor’s project, Deeper, with Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman, a supernatural underwater thriller that carried a $270M budget ask and no script at the time. The project remains in deep development at Universal. De Luca and Abdy also passed on making Michael Mann’s Heat 2, the sequel to a lucrative title in the Warner library as the budget for that movie climbed to $160M, which was cheap enough for $2.7 trillion conglomerate Amazon to make.

The first weekend of October, a hot frame where Warners launched the first Joker to a final gross of $1.07B WW and A Star Is Born to $440M WW, was chosen. Marketing began to tease the movie as the role that we’ve never seen Cruise in: an old, crusty, balding Texas waving a shovel heroically in an apartment. Toe-dip screenings with illuminati critics showed great promise. We hear there were two test screenings. The first with a half hour longer edit didn’t go so well, however, a second test with a half hour shorter edit (approaching the pic’s current 2 hour 9 minute running time) went much better. Insurance covered a reshoot involving Cruise’s makeup following the first test screening. Cruise began pre-production on the movie while doing press for Final Reckoning last year.

While Cruise worked it in regards to opening the movie including a stop at April’s CinemaCon, UK world premiere with the Royals, Q&As and even an appearance on Jennifer Hudson, his availability to the press wasn’t 100%. Read, trades were barred from red carpet appearances despite Cruise constant availably to them on the last two Mission: Impossibles and several red carpets for Top Gun: Maverick.