HOLLYWOOD
Eriq Gardner
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May 13, 2025
Hollywood’s Original Fin-Syn
Trump is considering a plan to revive the Nixon-era rules that once barred CBS, NBC, and ABC from owning the programs that they aired—and adding streamers like Netflix to the sanctions list. The president probably doesn’t have that power, but as his former antitrust chief told me, “Has that ever stopped Trump?”
Kim Masters
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May 13, 2025
The Tom Cruise Reclamation Project: The Untold Story
Twenty years since he jumped on Oprah’s butterscotch-yellow couch, a retrospective on the season in which Tom Cruise nearly lost his career—and the brain trust that helped him save it.
Matthew Belloni
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May 9, 2025
‘The Substance’ Studio Eyes $1 Billion Valuation
The art house streaming service and film distributor Mubi is raising $100 million from a consortium led by Sequoia Capital. The financing round will value the company at more than $1 billion—not bad for a niche streamer launched with the mission of connecting cinephiles to classic and auteur-driven films.
Matthew Belloni
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May 9, 2025
What ‘Sinners’ Will Be Worth in 25 Years
Estimating a film’s value in 2050, which is when ownership of the Warner Bros. historical vampire movie reverts to director Ryan Coogler, is both calculable and completely unknowable. And as the ‘28 Days’ zombie franchise shows, the unusual arrangement is not without precedent.
Eriq Gardner
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May 6, 2025
‘Below Deck’ Lawyering & A CBS News Culture War
News and notes on some timely industry legal spats, including a Bravo reality TV morass, a Stephen Miller–inspired D.E.I. complaint at CBS News, and a surprise copyright win for the “greatest fraternity rock song of all time.”
Matthew Belloni
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May 6, 2025
An Opportunity Hidden in Trump’s Movie Tariff Madness
Yes, the White House is already walking back a rant directed at the film and TV industry, and Jon Voight’s press release about how to “make Hollywood great again” was low on specifics. But is the president’s desire to help the business that once revived his career really as awful as it sounds?
Matthew Belloni
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May 1, 2025
Casey Bloys in His “Better Is Better” Era
A candid conversation with the HBO and Max content chief about the evolution of the prestige brand in the Zaslav era, why he’s no longer competing with Netflix, and the mandate now that he’s not programming a “something for everybody” service.
Eriq Gardner & Matthew Belloni
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April 29, 2025
Will Trump Kill the Paramount Deal?
An insider debate over how the Paramount-Skydance sale actually plays out: Will Shari settle the ‘60 Minutes’ suit? Is Trump pulling Brendan Carr’s strings? Can the president be flattered into approving the deal? And what’s the future of CBS if its owners bend the knee?
Kim Masters
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April 28, 2025
Can a Nepo Mogul Also Rise?
For decades, Arnon Milchan was the sort of Hollywood player that the town made movies about—a longtime spy and Murdoch pal who was the driving force behind auteur-driven classics and populist hits at Regency. Now, years after a Netanyahu-connected scandal, it’s up to his son to reimagine the company in a much-changed Hollywood. For the first time ever, Yariv Milchan discusses his dad and explains his strategy.
Matthew Belloni
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April 24, 2025
Ranking the Movie Stars Who Actually Matter
National Research Group’s latest study on the actors who put butts into theater seats reveals a number of unsurprising truths: ’90s stars still reign, women are underrepresented (except Zendaya and Margot), and a dozen or so younger stars are building real staying power.
Eriq Gardner
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April 22, 2025
David Ellison’s Carr Trouble
F.C.C. attack dog Brendan Carr not only regulates the media, he’s proving to be a vociferous media personality, himself. So why won’t he take calls from the would-be mogul who wants to own Paramount?
Scott Mendelson
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April 22, 2025
Is ‘Sinners’ a Winner?
The Ryan Coogler period horror-drama won the weekend, the Cinemascores, and word of mouth despite its unusual deal framework and the anxiety around Warner Bros. Here’s what Sinners says about the state of the business.
Matthew Belloni
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April 22, 2025
Writers Guild vs. Writers
Julie Bush may have never meant to cross the guild, but her aggressive excommunication and public shaming for a strike violation suggests Hollywood’s most militant union is already gearing up for another contentious studio showdown.
Julia Alexander
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April 17, 2025
Netflix’s New Numbers Game
Today’s earnings report marked a shift in how the dominant streamer measures its growth—from subscription numbers to monetization. But it also heralds the next phase of the Hollywood content wars, in which Netflix competes with social video platforms more than streamers.
Eriq Gardner
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April 15, 2025
CBS’s Final Jeopardy & Studio Ghibli’s A.I. Warning
Courtroom observations on Sony’s takeover of Jeopardy! distribution; the Dominion strategy to put the screws to Newsmax; and what’s significant about a Blade Runner v. Elon Musk ruling.
Kim Masters
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April 14, 2025
The Mike-and-Pam Respite & Ellison’s Strange Structure
The latest industry chatter surrounding ‘Sinners’ and the murky timeline for Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy’s potential exit from Warner Bros.; a likely org chart wrinkle for Paramount under David Ellison; and why many in town are speculating about the ascent of Josh D’Amaro in the Disney C.E.O. sweepstakes.
Matthew Belloni
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April 11, 2025
The Trump Tariff Pain Index & CAA’s “Offensive” Buyback
News and notes on the entertainment companies most likely to feel the impact of Trump’s tariffs, CAA’s groan-inducing buyback offer for employee equity holders, the many open questions ahead of SNL’s U.K. premiere, and much more.
