HOLLYWOOD
Scott Mendelson
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August 13, 2024
What Women Moviegoers Want
After years of ignoring female-focused melodramas, romantic comedies, cat-and-mouse thrillers, etcetera—a string of hits like It Ends With Us may finally convince Hollywood to revisit some of its tried-and-true genres.
Matthew Belloni
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August 9, 2024
Hollywood Finally Faces the Cable-pocalypse
The entire media sector is entering a new, more sinister stage of the linear TV meltdown, with massive write-offs at Warner Discovery and Paramount… and yet, the situation confronting WBD C.E.O. David Zaslav is perhaps the most concerning.
Scott Mendelson
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August 6, 2024
No Need to Survive Until ’25?
Has the box office finally bottomed out? Despite a rough first quarter, ’24 is shaping up to be an inflection year, with an encouraging fourth quarter upon us.
Matthew Belloni
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July 30, 2024
Kimmel’s Out: Oscars Now Seeking New Host
Alas, after four hosting gigs, Jimmy Kimmel has informed the Academy that he won’t return for the 2025 show. And Mulaney passed, too.
Matthew Belloni
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July 30, 2024
Inside the NBA-Warners Showdown
A Studio J-style expert roundtable on how Warner Discovery’s David Zaslav bungled the negotiation, why he sued, what it really means for WBD’s debt and revenue, and what the company might be able to win in a subsequent negotiation or eventual arbitration.
Matthew Belloni
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July 26, 2024
Zaslav Will Always Have Paris…
Zaz is going all-out for the Olympics, which WBD is carrying overseas. But as with the infamous Cannes party, he seems to be tone-deaf to the optics of such largesse during a time of painful cuts at his company.
Matthew Belloni
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July 26, 2024
17 Days in Paris
NBCU Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus offers a candid assessment of his goals for the Olympics, how the Games’ value proposition has changed over the years, and A.I. Al Michaels.
Matthew Belloni
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July 23, 2024
Harris-Walden ’24
Disney TV chief Dana Walden and her husband go back years with Kamala Harris, and the relationship between the potential POTUS and the ascendant Hollywood executive could be meaningful for both of them.
Scott Mendelson
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July 23, 2024
A Twist on Summer Movies
Old-school movie fans flocked to theaters for Universal’s superhero-free storm chaser Twisters, the rare big-budget tentpole with regular people in extraordinary situations.
Matthew Belloni
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July 19, 2024
David Zaslav’s Come-to-Jesus Moment
Warner Bros. Discovery’s well-compensated C.E.O. faces the reality of new pressure from Wall Street analysts, box office bombs, a fresh round of layoffs, and no answer for the worsening economics of television, as he contemplates the inevitable: Something big needs to change.
Eriq Gardner
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July 16, 2024
Skydances With Wolves
David Ellison’s $8 billion takeover of Paramount is already facing legal challenges, including a new suit from Mario Gabelli, the long-suffering Paramount shareholder who is now questioning whether Shari’s sweetheart deal was just a little too rich. Here, Gabelli explains his beef. Plus: there’s another unexpected wrinkle in the deal.
Matthew Belloni
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July 16, 2024
Netflix’s Scramble to Save the Secret Prince Movie
The Oscar winner Ezra Edelman’s exhaustive 9-hour documentary is stranded over a surprising objection from the late music icon’s dueling estates: It’s too long.
Matthew Belloni
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July 12, 2024
Ellison’s Hands-On, Arm’s-Length Paramount Preview
Skydance’s leader told me he’ll be involved in the decisions at Paramount Global during the deal-review process “within all the regulatory bounds we have,” and that he’ll maintain “the appropriate seat at the tables.” But what does that actually mean in practice?
Eriq Gardner
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July 9, 2024
Alec Baldwin’s Code Red
At the dawn of the ‘Rust’ trial, the star actor is fighting a prosecutor’s gambit to connect a frenzied set with the shocking fatality. And yet, while Baldwin’s trial may be an engrossing televised event, it’s likely a cautionary tale rather than a catalyst for change in Hollywood.
Matthew Belloni
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July 9, 2024
Money Wins Paramount
Skydance’s David Ellison reveals plans for the storied studio as he leverages his father’s Oracle fortune and the motivation to reinvent a dying company amid questions about his promised tech fixes: “This is what I wanna do for the rest of my life.”
Scott Mendelson
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July 9, 2024
Can Hollywood Make Old Franchises New Again?
The success of ‘Despicable Me 4’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ demonstrates the power of Gen Z nostalgia at the box office. But a slew of resuscitated, ’90s-era franchises also proves there’s a formula for reinvigorating older movies for this younger generation, too.
Jonathan Handel
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July 4, 2024
A Hollywood Strike Epilogue
The union representing film crews negotiated a new deal last week, and avoided a strike—but what did they really win?
