| | | | Old habits die hard. So Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav just sat down with Paramount Global chief executive Bob Bakish to talk about merging, and the media business yet again confronted the possibility of a spasm of mega-deals reshaping the landscape. Happy holidays? Not exactly. When the opening bell rang on Wall Street, however, investors didn’t exactly give the idea of “Warnamount” a ringing endorsement. Shares of Paramount slipped 1% and WBD slid 4% in early trading.
Citi media analyst Jason Bazinet told Deadline he sees little upside to the combination. Investors “watched CBS and Viacom merge,” he said. “They watched Disney and Fox merge. And they watched Discovery buy Scripps and [merge] with Warner Bros. Discovery. And none of those were the elixir that allowed you to generate huge amounts of cash flow.” Robert Fishman, an analyst with MoffettNathanson, also threw shade in a note to clients this morning, emphasizing the “increasing sense of desperation around media.” He wondered why “any company would try to catch a falling knife?" >>>Regulatory Concerns |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Easy As A-B-C - ABC stayed strong in 2023 amid a rocky year for broadcast TV. The broadcast network managed to hold strong throughout the entire year with the return of series including The Rookie and American Idol, as well as the introduction of new favorites like Will Trent and The Golden Bachelor. >>>More Highlights
'Aquaman 2' Review - In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Jason Mamoa reprises his role as Arthur Curry, diving back into the deep and turbulent waters of superhero cinema. However, it’s not just the seas that are stormy; the film itself rides a messy current of narrative and visual execution. >>>Valerie Complex's Take
A Shot Of Testosterone - The latter half of the 2024 theatrical release schedule just got a shot of testosterone as epic Christmas action comedy Red One, starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, set an exclusive global theatrical release for Nov. 15, 2024. >>>Lucrative Holiday Corridor
Colman Domingo: The Actor's Side - Colman Domingo is riding a career high — from his Oscar-buzzed performance as Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin to his bold interpretation of Mister in the new movie musical version of The Color Purple to his extraordinary turn in the Toronto Film Festival world premiere Sing Sing. >>>Watch The Interview
'Dream Scenario': Read The Screenplay - Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Dream Scenario, A24’s surreal dark comedy from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli that plays off Nicolas Cage’s decades-long permeation of the imagination. >>>Full Script
The Sound Of Musicals - Musicals are back with us in the form of two polar opposite productions that may intrigue audiences but challenge marketers. >>>Peter Bart's Column
In Brief - Vertical has snapped up U.S. rights to AGC Studios’ Poolman, the absurdist comedy caper marking the directorial debut of Chris Pine…Mainstay Entertainment has signed Rachael Leigh Cook for representation in all areas…Black-ish and Grown-ish creator Kenya Barris has signed with WME. |
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Back in 2004 Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti made the rounds for their wine-soaked, Oscar-buzzy buddy movie Sideways. It's taken close to 20 years for them to get out together on the hustings once again.
The film reuniting them is The Holdovers and Payne designed Giamatti’s role just for him. Paul Hunham is a beleaguered Classics professor at Barton Academy, a New England boarding school steeped in history and privilege.
Like Giamatti’s Sideways character, Hunham also likes a drink (more on that later), but the other throughline is a theme Payne’s films have often favored — something The Holdovers screenwriter David Hemingson calls “quiet heroism." >>>Read The Interview |
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Exclusive
Emmy winner Ben Stiller has taken on his first lead film role in six years in Nutcrackers, a new title from David Gordon Green that’s currently in production in Ohio.
In Brief - Fabien Frankel & Alison Oliver joined the cast of HBO's new crime drama series from Brad Ingelsby...Ethan Embry & Margarita Levieva signed onto the indie drama The Gymnast |
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More News
🐭 Disney will shift programming on Star+ to Disney+ in Latin America in the second quarter of 2024, and Star+ will wind down as a stand-alone service in the region.
🛑 Starz has canceled Shining Vale after two seasons. Sources close to production revealed that the Courteney Cox- and Greg Kinnear-led series “did not find a large enough audience.”
👋 Bobby Kotick, the longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard, is stepping down Dec. 29 following the company’s drawn-out $69 billion sale to Microsoft. |
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Trending
 Reacher is the No. 1 title of the year for Prime Video in terms of total viewers across all series and films globally.
🔻 Bosses at TVP, Poland‘s oldest state broadcaster, have been removed and its news channel taken off air by Donald Tusk's new government, which accused the outlet of being a propaganda channel. |
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On the Radar
Thu - Oscar shortlists revealed
Fri - Aquaman 2 opens; Saltburn arrives on Prime Video
Sat - Night Court S2 premiere
Mon - Christmas Day |
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All I Want For Christmas... - The Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, paid a visit to President Biden at the White House, which was decked out for the holidays. |
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