| | | | | | What's news: What a morning! Paramount's hostile bid for WBD is valued at a whopping $108b. Hollywood unions across the board have come out against the Netflix-WB deal. Joe Rogan missed out on a Globe nom for best podcast. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opened to a huge $109m. And Avengers: Endgame will be rereleased in theaters. — Abid Rahman
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Paramount Launches $108B Hostile Bid for WB! ►Good Lord! We have a Hollywood bidding war. David Ellison’s Paramount is launching a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the company said on Monday. "The Paramount offer for the entirety of WBD provides shareholders $18b more in cash than the Netflix consideration," the company stated. "WBD’s Board of Directors recommendation of the Netflix transaction over Paramount’s offer is based on an illusory prospective valuation of Global Networks that is unsupported by the business fundamentals and encumbered by high levels of financial leverage assigned to the entity." A filing suggests that Paramount’s tender offer is also supported by financing from sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, as well as from Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. The story.
—"We think it is a damn good hand." Comcast president (and soon-to-be co-CEO) Mike Cavanagh says that his company “did not expect that we had a high likelihood of prevailing” in its bid for WB but that “I think we’re better for having taken a look” at the company. Cavanagh made the comments at a UBS conference in New York Monday morning. Comcast, of course, was one of three companies vying for WB, alongside Paramount and Netflix. The story.
—The plot thickens. Netflix taking pole position to win the race for WBD sent shock waves through Hollywood, partially because it was presumed that Paramount's David Ellison had the support of Donald Trump. Now multiple sources tell THR that Netflix may also have received some sort of blessing by Trump, or at least his ear. Insiders says that Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke with the president in the last couple of weeks in a confab that lasted about two hours. The story.
—"It’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens." Trump publicly addressed the proposed Netflix-WB deal for the first time on Sunday. Trump was asked by reporters ahead of the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., what he thought of the proposed deal. The story. |
Hollywood Slams Netflix-WBD Deal ►"This merger must be blocked." In one of Ted Sarandos’ statements about the Netflix-WBD deal on Friday, he proclaimed that the pact would be "pro-worker." Some of Hollywood’s most powerful unions would very loudly beg to differ. THR's Katie Kilkenny reports that in statements that streamed steadily into reporters’ inboxes after the news broke on Thursday night, labor organizations representing directors, writers, producers and drivers and casting directors expressed deep concerns about the transaction, arguing that it could quash competition and harm Hollywood’s creatives. The story.
—"Netflix doesn’t believe in cinemas." European cinema trade body the UNIC has come out against Netflix‘s takeover of WB, saying the deal will be bad news for the theatrical business. In a statement on Friday, UNIC said the proposed deal “represents a double risk” with fewer films being produced and fewer of those being made getting released in cinemas. The story.
—"Filmmakers have to put our foot down." Multi-Oscar winner Sean Baker has some straightforward structural advice for how the film industry should respond to Netflix’s seismic acquisition of Warner Bros. “We should actually be expanding theatrical windows, not shortening them,” Baker said Sunday during a public appearance at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, where he is serving as head of the event’s competition jury this week. “I mean, you can’t wait an extra three months to get your streaming money or your VOD money?” he added. The story.
—"Deal that could destroy our creative industry." Hollywood legend Jane Fonda weighed in on Netflix‘s deal to acquire WB. On Friday evening, Fonda took to Instagram in a joint post with the Committee for the First Amendment. The statement called the news of the deal “an alarming escalation of the consolidation that threatens the entire entertainment industry, the democratic public it serves and the first amendment.” The statement continued, “Make no mistake, this is not just a catastrophic business deal that could destroy our creative industry. It is a constitutional crisis exacerbated by the administration’s demonstrated disregard for the law.” The story.
—"Does not sit well with me." Filmmaker and producer Greg Orr, Jack Warner’s grandson, spoke to THR about the Netflix-WB deal. Orr wants to see WB continue as a standalone company "with its own voice and decision making." He agrees with David Zaslav’s idea to split WBD but wishes the board and shareholders would “give the company more time to continue its recent box office successes, and to build up its value to fend off any takeover bids, hostile or otherwise.” The story.
—"The power of cinema." Guillermo del Toro said “there’s no substitute” for seeing films on the big screen. Speaking at a special Imax screening of his Netflix feature Frankenstein in London on Saturday, the Oscar-winning filmmaker touched upon the power of the theatrical experience. The story. |
Golden Globes Nominations 2026 ►🏆 No Other Choice! Sirat! Oh my! 🏆 One Battle After Another leads the nominations for the 2026 Golden Globe nominations, which were being announced early Monday morning. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film scored a total of nine noms, including best picture, director and screenwriter. Sentimental Value landed eight noms, followed by Sinners with seven, Hamnet with six and Frankenstein and Wicked: For Good with five apiece. In the TV categories, The White Lotus is tops with six noms, followed by Adolescence with five and Only Murders in the Building and Severance with four each. The nominations.
—No Joe's club. The first podcasts nominated for a Golden Globe have been revealed, with six popular shows getting the nod, but with the most popular podcast of 2025 — as well as all overtly political shows — shut out. The nominated podcasts for the inaugural best podcast award were: Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard, Call Her Daddy, Good Hang With Amy Poehler, The Mel Robbins Podcast, SmartLess and Up First. Notably, The Joe Rogan Experience did not receive a nomination despite being the most popular podcast on all major podcast platforms in 2025. The story.
—Denied. Stranger Things 5 has been shut out in Golden Globes noms. The show, historically, hasn't been an awards behemoth — but this moment is notable as it’s the final turn for the series that arguably solidified Netflix into what it is today. Plus, there is precedent: Stranger Things was nominated at the Globes for best drama in 2017 and 2018. Winona Ryder’s performance in season one received an individual nod, as did David Harbour’s in season two. But Stranger Things will end its run with no Golden Globe wins. The story.
—Diminishing returns. While the Golden Globes continued to recognize Ryan Murphy‘s controversial Monster anthology series, the third installment, focused on Ed Gein, received fewer nominations than the first two seasons. Charlie Hunnam received the lone nomination for Monster: The Ed Gein Story, landing a nod for best actor in a limited or anthology series or motion picture made for television. The story. |
Film Academy Grows Oscars Revenue to $150M ►"It is so important that we continue to diversify revenue streams." Revenues are up, and expenses are down, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has more work to do. The film academy, the non-profit best known for the Academy Awards, is on sound financial footing, its fiscal 2025 financial statements show, though CEO Bill Kramer tells THR's Alex Weprin that the organization is still in the midst of a transformation that will help it diversify its balance sheet beyond the annual Oscars broadcast. The film academy had total revenues of $269.2m, up from $263.1m in fiscal 2024, with expenses of $208.1m, down from $220.1m a year ago. Academy Awards and related activities revenues continue to make up the lions share of AMPAS revenue, generating $150.5m in 2025, up from $146.6m in 2024. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Cinema giant AMC Theatres has completed a $24.1m transaction to transfer the majority of its equity stake in gold and silver mining company Hycroft Mining Holding to Sprott Mining, a private Canadian corporation owned by one of the world’s leading gold and silver investors, Eric Sprott. AMC had acquired a 22 percent stake in the company for $27.9m in cash in 2022, describing the unusual move as an opportunistic one as it was looking to create value by thinking outside the box – and outside the box office. The story. |
'Freddy's 2' Opens to Huge $63M in U.S. ►We are so back! Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, opening two months after Black Phone 2 put horror maestro Jason Blum back in the driver’s seat, topped the domestic box office chart with a sizeable $63m from 3,412 theaters to score the top opening ever for the post-Thanksgiving frame, among other milestones. Overseas, the Universal and Blumhouse movie took an equally stellar $46.1m from 76 markets for an early global total of $109m against a net production of $36m before marketing.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that critics snubbed the profit monster — Freddy's 2's current ranking on Rotten Tomatoes is 13 percent, compared to 33 percent for the first — but audiences don’t seem to give a hoot. Freddy’s 2 earned a B CinemaScore (not bad for a horror title) and strong exits. And while it won’t match the $80m domestic launch of the first Five Nights at Freddy‘s, it’s hard to compare the two because of markedly different play patterns.
Walt Disney Animation’s record-smashing Thanksgiving tentpole Zootopia 2 easily came in second in its third weekend with $43m from 4,000 sites, bringing its domestic total to $220.6m. Overseas, the sequel took in another $219m for an astonishing foreign tally of $695.3m as it speeds toward the $1b mark at the global box office. Only one other Hollywood pic has achieved that feat so far this year, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. Zootopia 2 continues to make history in China, where it has now earned $430m to rank as the second-biggest Hollywood title of all time behind Avengers: Endgame, unadjusted. The box office report. |
'Endgame' to Be Rereleased Ahead of 'Doomsday' ►📅 Get excited! 📅 THR's Borys Kit has the scoop that in the lead-up to the Dec. 18, 2026, release of Avengers: Doomsday, and to hype up the audiences and fans, Marvel Studios will rerelease Avengers: Endgame. The beloved Avengers feature will be rereleased in theaters on Sept. 25, 2026. It is unclear how long the window will be. Endgame was the second part of an epic story involving the villain Thanos and the culmination of Marvel’s Phase three of its movie release slate. First released on April 26, 2019, Endgame is now the second-highest-grossing film of all time domestically, with $858m, and is the second-highest-grossing film of all time globally, with $2.799b, behind only Avatar. The story.
—📅 By order of the Peaky Blinders, we're going theatrical! 📅 Tommy Shelby and the gang will be back on television March 20, 2026, as Peaky Blinders returns to Netflix via a new feature film. But wait! In perhaps a testament to Netflix's new-found love for theatrical (!), the Peaky Blinders movie will also be hitting cinemas, albeit in a limited fashion. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will play for two weeks in theaters beginning on March 6. The story.
—🏆 Congrats! 🏆 The Tale of Silyan clinched the top prize at Saturday’s International Documentary Association Awards ceremony. The National Geographic title, which follows a North Macedonian immigrant who forms a relationship with an injured white stork as he adjusts to life in a new country, received the best feature documentary award. The film also won the best cinematography prize for Jean Dakar. The film, directed by Oscar-nominated Honeyland director Tamara Kotevska, previously won the Cinema and Arts award at the Venice Film Festival. North Macedonia has selected the title as its best international feature Oscar submission. The winners.
—🏆 One win after another. 🏆 One Battle After Another was named best picture by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which voted Sunday this year’s best films, performances and technical achievements. The Secret Agent was the runner-up, and also nabbed the award for best film not in the English language. In addition, Paul Thomas Anderson won best director for OBAA, with Ryan Coogler as the runner-up for Sinners. The winners. |
'Landman' Renewed for S3 at Paramount+ ►No-brainer. Landman has struck oil, so it comes as little surprise that the Paramount+ series has now been renewed for a third season. Taylor Sheridan's West Texas-set drama has been a success ever since it first began drilling. The first season was one of the biggest shows of 2024-25, averaging 15.8m viewers in Nielsen’s 35-day, cross-platform ratings. The currently airing second season continues to break viewership records — the Nov. 16 premiere nabbed the biggest season or series premiere in Paramount+’s history with 9.2m views worldwide over its first few days, more than tripling last year’s series debut. The story.
—🎭 Saucy. 🎭 This Is Us' Mandy Moore has lined up her next series project, an erotic thriller in the works at Peacock. Moore is set to star in and executive produce Teach Me, which centers on the relationship between a teacher and student. The project, which is in development from Gypsy creator Lisa Rubin, A24, Universal Television and Jessica Rhoades’ Pacesetter Productions. The logline for Teach Me describes it as "an ongoing erotic thriller about a teacher wielding power over an impressionable but unreliable student, and what happens when that student becomes the teacher." The story.
—Back for more. Apple TV has handed out a third season order for comedy Platonic, starring Rose Byrne (Sylvia) and Seth Rogen (Will), who play platonic best friends reconnecting after a painful falling out, only to remain just best friends. Byrne and Rogen also executive produce the series from Nick Stoller and his wife, Francesca Delbanco. The second season ended with Sylvia agreeing to get into business with Will as the public face of his new bar. The story. |
CCXP Brazil Teases News on 'Testaments,' 'The Boys,' 'Paradise' ►Going back to Gilead. Hulu’s highly anticipated sequel series to The Handmaid’s Tale got a first look and premiere month on Saturday, the news coming out of CCXP25 Brazil. The Testaments, based on Margaret Atwood’s 2019 Booker Prize-winning sequel novel of the same name, will premiere April 2026 on Hulu and Disney+. The first photos released from the series include early looks at the returning Aunt Lydia, played by Handmaid’s Tale star Ann Dowd, as well as new characters played by Chase Infiniti, who steps into the role of Agnes/Hannah — the daughter to June Osborne, who was played by Elisabeth Moss in Handmaid’s Tale — as well as the characters played by Lucy Halliday, Rowan Blanchard, Mattea Conforti, Isolde Ardies, Shechinah Mpumlwana and Birva Pandya. The story.
—📅 We want answers! 📅 Hulu's Paradise is ready to reveal more secrets in season two. The twisty post-apocalyptic hit drama from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman ended on a major cliffhanger and made good on a big promise that much more will be revealed when season two returns, which is all part of the show's three-season master plan. On Saturday, coming out of the Paradise panel at Brazil's CCXP, Fogelman debuted some of what to expect when the mystery show returns, which he revealed will be Feb. 23 with three episodes, followed by new episodes weekly on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 The boys are back in town, one last time. The first trailer for Amazon Prime Video's The Boys arrived Saturday at CCXP — and things look more dire than ever for Billy Butcher and his crew, who after the events of the season four finale, are living in an America under a Homelander dictatorship. The show has a new release date of April 8, 2026, when the first two episodes bow, leading up to a series finale on May 20, 2026. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Peyton List is set to explore a new mystery in the third season of Paramount+ series School Spirits. The drama series will launch with a three-episode premiere on Jan. 28, with the date being revealed at the show’s panel during CCXP in São Paulo. List took part in the event that featured the first footage from the new season. The story. |
TV Review: 'Spartacus: House of Ashur' ►"Bloody fun." THR's Angie Han reviews Starz's Spartacus: House of Ashur. Nick E. Tarabay reprises his role as the former gladiator from Assyria for a sequel set in an alternate timeline in which the character survived to rise through the ranks of Roman society. Also starring Graham McTavish, Tenika Davis, Jamaica Vaughan, Ivana Baquero, Jordi Webber, Claudia Black, India Shaw-Smith and Leigh Gill. Created by Steven S. DeKnight. The review.
In other news...
—Akashi sweeps awards at Whistler Film Festival
—Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi part ways
—Lily Allen announces West End Girl North America tour
—XG’s Cocona comes out as transmasculine, nonbinary
What else we're reading...
—Lucas Shaw has the inside story of how Netflix won the Warner Bros. auction [Bloomberg]
—Amongst all the negativity, Josef Adalian offers the take that maybe Netflix will be good for HBO [Vulture]
—Melena Ryzik has a great piece on all the distinctly New York cultural influences that have shaped incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani [NYT]
—Nearly a year after the fires, there's a new house in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood, but the catch is no one can buy it [WSJ]
—Mark Savage and Ian Youngs look at whether the Eurovision Song Contest can survive the controversy of Israel's continued inclusion amid boycotts [BBC]
Today...
...in 2006, Warner Bros. unveiled Edward Zwick’s drama Blood Diamond in theaters, where it would go on to gross $171m globally. The feature, starring Djimon Hounsou and Leonardo DiCaprio, was nominated for five Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Nancy Meyers (76), Kim Basinger (72), Teri Hatcher (61), Nicki Minaj (43), Matthias Schoenaerts (48), AnnaSophia Robb (32), Ian Somerhalder (47), Wendell Pierce (62), David Harewood (60), Owen Teague (27), Dominic Monaghan (49), Tanner Buchanan (27), Yura Borisov (33), Matthew Labyorteaux (59), Jahnel Curfman (47), John Rubinstein (79), Rohit Saraf (29), Ned Dennehy (60), Tyler Mane (59), Mary Woronov (82), Katie Stevens (33), Belinda Balaski (78), Matt Adler (59), Margaret Anne Florence (47), Alexander Elliot (21), Vanessa Benavente (46), Hannah Ware (43), Nick Thune (46) |
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