Greg Berlanti closed a massive new four-year exclusive overall deal for his Berlanti Productions to remain at the studio for its television operations into the year 2027.
No financial terms are being disclosed but sources indicate that the pact is structured differently than Berlanti’s most recent blockbuster overall deal with Warner Bros. TV Group, whose value had been estimated to be more than $300 million and as much as $400 million over six years. That agreement involved the studio buying out Berlanti’s backend on his shows, while the new deal is more of a joint venture with a big potential upside for Berlanti.
In success, based on the number of series the new deal yields and their profitability, it could be the biggest TV deal ever for Warner Bros. >>>"A Huge Talent" |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Imaginative Move - Jax Media’s Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns are leaving Imagine Entertainment, where they have been presidents for the past year. According to sources, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine exercised its purchase of the remaining 49% of Jax over the holidays, and Hernandez and Burns decided to leave both Imagine and Jax. >>>Amicable Exit
Man With A Plan (B) - Mediawan CEO and co-founder Pierre-Antoine Capton sees broader potential for his company’s acquisition of Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. He said the deal, announced in late December, heralds an opportunity for all content creators in France and Europe to forge stronger links and footprints in the U.S. >>> Future Projects
'Walking' Away? - After nearly six years, one mini-trial and with another trial set for next month, the profit participation battle between The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and fellow executive producers of the now-concluded zombie apocalypse series and AMC has come to an end -- kinda. >>>Arbitration Agreement
Taxing - Led by Warner Bros Discovery, which scrapped series such as the second season of Chad and reality competition The Big D, TV networks increasingly have been taking advantage of tax rules to save money by scrapping shows that already have been completed. In a lengthy social media post, Roswell, New Mexico creator Carina Adly MacKenzie argued such moves are hurting television writers. >>> A "Direct Betrayal Of Promises Made"
Sally-Ing Forth - In her first interview since being cast in the upcoming West End revival of Cabaret, Living and Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood told Deadline's Baz Bamigboye that playing the musical's lead character, Sally Bowles, is "a dream part." >>> Stage Fright as a Child
'Banshees' Ghosted By WGA - Once again, several leading Oscar-contending screenplays were AWOL on the official WGA ballot sent to eligible voting members Monday morning. This is an annual occurrence, as the WGA is standing firm in its eligibility demand for its top film honors: The movie must have been written under the WGA MBA or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of various international WGA-affiliated organizations. >>> 'Black Adam' Makes Cut
In The Hopper - Bad Bunny, Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen, Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins and studio eOne have landed a significant, script-to-series commitment from Netflix for a series adaptation of Adam Silvera’s No. 1 New York Times bestselling YA novel They Both Die at the End. >>> 5 Streamers/Networks Bid
Can We Finally Talk About Movies? With the weary nation having survived the election of a new Speaker of the House, Deadline's Michael Cieply says it seems safe to resume a broad conversation about more trivial matters such as motion picture awards, specifically the Golden Globes. Without the silliness of the Globes as an annual foil, he argues, the Oscars lose power: They become somehow less grand, less authoritative, less real. >>> A Relief
Secret Agents - United Agents, which reps the likes of Kate Winslet, Olivia Colman, Ricky Gervais and Kit Harrington, has added fuel to speculation that it will be acquired by a big-money American agency after it turned itself into a limited company, a transaction that would make the outfit easier to sell. >>>No Official Word
In Brief - Youn Yuh-Jung, the historic Oscar winner for Minari has signed with CAA… America’s Got Talent: All-Stars has racked up 9.1M total viewers since its debut on January 2… Veteran talent agent Justin Baxter is leaving A3 after 17 years to segue into management at Vault Entertainment… Pioneering filmmakers Camille Billops and James Hatch are to receive their first worldwide theatrical retrospective at the Brooklyn Academy of Music… Leviathan Productions has appointed Isaac Katz as Vice President Of Production. |
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THE DEADLINE Q&A Film Forum Director Karen Cooper Upbeat On NYC Arthouse Market As She Prepares To Step Down After 50 Years |
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Karen Cooper, longtime director of New York City’s indie cinema gem Film Forum, says she’s stepping down at a good time, not just for her, but for the business. Despite all the naysayers and after slogging through Covid with the help of federal grants and weathering a slow recovery, Cooper said business is currently pretty lively at the lower Manhattan nonprofit cinema she’s run for the past 50 years. >>> The Interview |
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More News
🏴☠️ Belarus, an ally of Vladimir Putin's Russia, has legalized piracy of media material and computer software originating in "unfriendly nations."
🐰🕳 Paramount+ will launch Rabbit Hole, a spy drama series starring Kiefer Sutherland, on March 26. The eight-part series will launch with two episodes and will then drop weekly on Sundays. Rabbit Hole stars Sutherland as John Weir, a master of deception in the world of corporate espionage who is framed for murder by powerful forces with the ability to influence and control populations.
Exclusive
✍ Hunter Doohan, who portrayed a local barista with a special connection to Wednesday's titular character (played by Jenna Ortega) in Season 1 of the hit Netflix series, has signed with WME. Doohan is also known for starring opposite Bryan Cranston in the series Your Honor for Showtime.
🏀 Former NBA star Allen Iverson has signed a deal with Authentic Brands Group to develop opportunities in entertainment, endorsements and strategic partnerships.
👀 CTV Edmonton reporter Jessica Robb was doing a live remote on the six o’clock news when she began jumbling her words as she spoke to anchor Nahreman Issa. The frightening footage later went viral and the station tweeted a thanks to everyone who inquired about the reporter and added, “Jessica Robb is feeling better and is now resting.”
🖖 Patrick Stewart’s Picard is heading into its third and final season at Paramount+, but the venerable British actor is leaving the door open to return to Star Trek: Picard. “There is still enormous potential for matters in what we can do and there are doors left open and we didn’t close all of them,” he said at TCA winter press tour.
🛑 Paramount+ has canceled its plans for a Workaholics film, just five weeks out from production. Co-creator Adam Devine announced the news via Instagram. Devine said he and his collaborators were told the project was axed because it no longer fit into Paramount+'s "new “global strategy," though sources tell us the decision stemmed from scheduling issues after multiple production delays. |
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BY THE NUMBERS
4.1M - The UK TV audience for Prince Harry’s first sit-down interview to support his new memoir. It was less than half the number who watched the prince and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah. |
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Obituaries
🕯 Mike Hill, the film editor who, along with editing partner Dan Hanley, cut 22 consecutive Ron Howard feature films, beginning with Night Shift in 1982 through In the Heart of the Sea in 2015, died of Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia (COP) January 5 at his home in Omaha, Nebraska. He was 73. 🕯 Donald Trump took to Truth Social to share that Diamond , whose real name is Ineitha Lynnette Hardaway, from the “Diamond and Silk” duo had died. Diamond, along with Silk, billed themselves as Trump’s “most loyal supporters.” The MAGA duo supported Trump throughout his presidency and beyond. The duo rose to notoriety for their political comments on YouTube and they both eventually got shows on Fox News’ Fox Nation and Newsmax TV. |
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Trending  Office life got a boost from Disney and Lionsgate after nearly three years of Covid uncertainty. Both companies told workers that they soon must come into the office four days a week. Disney CEO Bob Iger, who just did a major return-to-work of his own, replacing Bob Chapek last November, said he believes "working together more in-person will benefit the company’s creativity, culture, and our employees’ careers.”
🔻 A bizarre video that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted to her Twitter feed, in which she celebrated the election of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House to the strains of Dr. Dre’s hit "Still D.R.E.," was pulled from the platform after a copyright complaint from the hip-hop mogul. “I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” Dre told TMZ. |
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On the Radar Tue - Golden Globes
Wed - DGA & SAG Awards nominations
Thu - PGA nominations
Mon - Martin Luther King Day |
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"This Is Crazy!" - Montecito homeowner Ellen DeGeneres posted a video of herself with a raging torrent just over her shoulder and in the clip remarked, "This stream next to our house never flows. Ever. It's probably about nine feet up. It could go another two feet up. We have horses ready to evacuate." |
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