HOLLYWOOD
Matthew Belloni
•
September 26, 2025
David Ellison’s Antitrust Playbook
Paramount’s new boss would still release about 15 Warner Bros. movies per year if he acquires its parent company as a key Trump advisor joins to help grease a potentially loud transaction.
Eriq Gardner
•
September 23, 2025
The Miseducation of Brendan Carr
The F.C.C. chairman, who held up Shari Redstone’s Paramount sale and isn’t done antagonizing Disney over “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” has never seemed more emboldened as he wields the power of his agency to potentially silence media figures. But a closer reading of the situation suggests that he’s swerving out of his lane.
Kim Masters
•
September 22, 2025
Iger, Eisner, and Why Disney Finally Stood Up to Trump
Amid the backlash to the Jimmy Kimmel debacle, Disney’s former chairman and C.E.O. Michael Eisner broke his long silence on X with a scathing rebuke of Bob Iger. Did the drive-by contribute to today’s abrupt resolution?
Matthew Belloni & Kim Masters
•
September 19, 2025
Kimmel, Iger, and the Culture of Capitulation
An informed dialog on the fallout from Disney’s Jimmy Kimmel suspension, from the F.C.C.'s sustained attack on free speech to the network’s mishandling of the moment and what ABC’s early capitulation will mean for Bob Iger’s precious legacy and his potential successor.
Eriq Gardner
•
September 16, 2025
Does Trump Need Spider-Man to Win the A.I. War?
As the president expands his legal assault on the media, a former N.S.A. general counsel has argued that the White House should declare a national emergency to seize Hollywood’s I.P. for an A.I. arms race with China. Is it a total fantasy or just a new normal in these strange times?
Julia Alexander
•
September 16, 2025
How David Ellison Becomes Goliath
Buying Warner Bros. Discovery would give Paramount 150 million streaming subscribers and big theatrical I.P. But scale alone won’t turn the Ellisons’ Hollywood foray into a legit Netflix rival. Could two studios become more than the sum of their parts?
Matthew Belloni
•
September 12, 2025
Ellison’s Warner Bros. Trump Card
As Paramount circles Warners, David Zaslav has been telling friends that he’ll only sell on his terms, and that the looming offer from the world's richest man will be too low. But with the presumed blessing of Donald Trump, there’s not much stopping a deal Zaz can’t refuse.
Matthew Belloni
•
September 12, 2025
Is Leo DiCaprio Still Hollywood’s Unicorn?
For years, DiCaprio has been the pinnacle of Hollywood: a prestige movie star who can actually open movies, with grosses of more than $7 billion. But as Leo hits 50 and starts promoting One Battle After Another, does he still have the same power? A new study runs the numbers.
Eriq Gardner
•
September 9, 2025
Warners’ A.I. Rivalry & TikTok’s $2B Dilemma
News and notes on a trio of pivotal copyright suits: David Zaslav’s belated broadside against Midjourney, Anthropic’s $1.5 billion payout, and a bizarrely underappreciated TikTok suit playing out in San Francisco.
Matthew Belloni
•
September 9, 2025
James Wan’s ‘Conjuring’ Future Looks Dead
The producer and his Atomic Monster shingle have been locked in a standoff of sorts with Warner Bros. over his continued involvement in the Conjuring universe, even as Warners’ New Line division plots a potential prequel.
Kim Masters
•
September 8, 2025
Sony’s Coming Succession Vacuum
In the not so distant future, Sony Pictures will have to grapple with a messy succession, as chairman Tom Rothman’s right-hand man, president Sanford Panitch, has yet to close the deal.
Matthew Belloni
•
September 5, 2025
A Big Talent Agency Poach and Trouble for Diversity-Focused Managers
Phil Sun’s exit from M88, and the client exodus including Michael B. Jordan, followed rising pressure from BlackRock and other investors. Plus notes on the falling out between Noah Baumbach and UTA.
Matthew Belloni
•
September 5, 2025
Activision Turned Down Spielberg for ‘Call of Duty’ Movie
Plus, notes on David Ellison’s hunger for Warner Bros. and an executive shakeup at Amazon.
Matthew Belloni
•
September 5, 2025
Attack of the Rotten Tomatoes
At a time when everyone is suspicious of Hollywood, the industry’s biggest arbiter of quality has become rigged, providing the assessment that Hollywood wants rather than the critical feedback that it needs.
Eriq Gardner
•
September 2, 2025
Netflix’s Accidental Elizabeth Holmes
Is Carl Rinsch, the erratic auteur behind a big-budget unfinished Netflix series, a calculating grifter who should spend 90 years in prison? Or is he merely a cautionary tale about reckless producing, ambitious prosecution, and the pitfalls of becoming a John Carreyrou protagonist?
Matthew Belloni
•
August 29, 2025
Can Gen Alpha Save the Box Office?
According to a new study from NRG, the under-15 crowd loves movie theaters, which represent an exotic and alluring escape to a generation whose upbringing has taken place entirely in front of screens and devices, and whose socialization metric has never been anything other than digital.
Eriq Gardner
•
August 26, 2025
Could Trump Take Hollywood’s Backend?
After successfully squeezing Paramount, ABC, Nvidia, and Intel for payoffs, public genuflection, and profit participation, the president is now working to assert control of the patent and copyright system, too. What’s to stop him from setting up a toll booth for Hollywood I.P.?
