Matthew Belloni • May 28, 2024

The Mail Room: Netflix’s Data Dump and Zaslav’s Next Deal Headache

My answers to burning reader questions on the most important topics of the day: Zaz’s latest sports rights auction, ‘Yellowstone’ drama, ‘Challengers’ questions, the top producers under 40, and much more.

Matthew Belloni & Eriq Gardner • May 24, 2024

ScarJo’s A.I. Endgame & Zaz’s NBA Air Ball

A grab bag of the latest Hollywood chatter: David Zaslav’s NBA imbroglio, the D.O.J.’s Live Nation legal hammer, Chris Winfrey’s eye-popping windfall, the best Cannes sighting, and so much more.

Matthew Belloni • May 22, 2024

The Netflix Secret Weapon Driving Engagement

Tools like automatic video trailers might be annoying but they have proven that the difference between popular and unpopular has way more to do with technology than name-brand showrunners or third-act twists.

Julia Alexander • May 21, 2024

Netflix to the NFL: You Complete Me

Dissecting a long-overdue streaming romance.

The Editors • May 21, 2024

‘The Traitors’: Alan Cumming on Reinventing Reality

The iconic host of the hit NBC reality game show discusses how ‘The Traitors’ inverted the genre, bringing camp to network TV, and turning himself into the series’ true star.

Scott Mendelson • May 21, 2024

The Ryan Reynolds Youthquake

The ultimate success of ‘IF’ hinges on whether Reynolds can continue to be as successful entertaining kids as managing soccer clubs and investing in spirits.

The Editors • May 20, 2024

Roku’s “Lord of the Rings” Strategy

Charlie Collier, the president of Roku Media, discusses the platform’s biggest hits, why they did a deal with the MLB, the future of bundling, and Roku’s plans for original shows in the post-easy-money era.

Matthew Belloni • May 17, 2024

The Judd Apatow Sign of the Times

The Apatow Era has been effectively over for years now. But the plight of the man himself says a lot about the state of comedy, in particular, and Hollywood in general.

Julia Alexander • May 15, 2024

The Disney+/Max Cable Fallacy

The new Bob Iger/David Zaslav streaming partnership has been compared, over and over again, to the halcyon days of the cable bundle. But those facile juxtapositions merely explain how little we really understand about the changes impacting the entertainment industry.

Scott Mendelson • May 14, 2024

Disney’s Play for Fox Redemption

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ isn’t merely a promising summer would-be blockbuster. It’s a rare chance for Bob Iger to extract movie value from his $71 billion deal for most of 21st Century Fox.

Matthew Belloni • May 10, 2024

The Coming Comp War at Netflix

The leading streamer is about to once again try to upend the way Hollywood talent is paid. Will the industry let it this time around?

Julia Alexander • May 7, 2024

SVOD Killed the vMVPD Star

As the biggest streaming players move into advertising and go all-in on sports, the vMVPD industry looks increasingly imperiled—outside of a few players like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, among others.

Matthew Belloni • May 7, 2024

Apple’s Come-to-Jesus Moment for Movies

The tech powerhouse’s film efforts aren’t profitable in theaters, nor are they finding much of an audience on streaming. But Tim Cook and Eddy Cue aren’t pulling the plug on theaters yet—at least, that’s what Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht are telling people.

Matthew Belloni • May 3, 2024

Paramount on the Precipice

Barring a last-minute reversal, the special committee of the troubled media company is planning to explore Apollo’s finally-revealed bid as Skydance mulls walking away.

Scott Mendelson • May 3, 2024

Hollywood’s Summer Box Office Coin Toss

This season’s slate is much less surefire than the mid-2010s MCU lineup or those live-action Disney remakes. Will the teetering theater industry end up closer to the $4 billion of 2023 or below the $3.3 billion domestic totals for 2022?