| STREAMING REACHED A PROFIT TURNING POINT IN 2025, BUT MAJOR PLAYERS STILL WONDER HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS |
After more than five years of gushing red ink, 2025 was the year when streaming across the board started to turn a profit.
With that long-sought economic maturity has come greater scrutiny of the balance sheet. Although it sometimes feels like streaming is the only arena that counts, a recent report from Morgan Stanley media analysts noted that spending on linear TV remains about double that on streaming. Gone are the days of the firehose of content. Even the sector leader, Netflix, which may be about to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, has held the line on content expenses of late.
In 2026, Morgan Stanley predicts, “streaming market repair” will be a key phrase across the sector, as “corporate spin-offs and continued cord-cutting are rapidly shrinking legacy TV as an investment factor.” >>>Outlook For Each Major Player |
Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
It's Christmas At The B.O. - The holiday season lit up theatrically with all titles pulling in an estimated $68.4M, the best the post-Covid period has seen in late December. Christmas Day outstripped 2023, the previous high water mark, which fell on a Monday and minted $62.3M. >>>'Marty' Does Supremely Well
Rob Reiner & The Gray Lady - For New York Times readers picking up the paper Monday, amidst tributes to Diane Keaton, David Lynch and 21 others, two names were noticeably absent from the Gray Lady’s annual “The Lives They Lived” section: Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner. Here's why. >>>Official Explanation
State Of The Oscar Race At Year's End - Oscar nomination balloting begins on January 12 at 9 a.m. PT and ends January 16 at 5 p.m. PT, but many voters have yet to see a number of the year's contenders, even at this late date in the game. Increasingly though, it feels like the Academy, and to be fair many other groups, zeros in on a handful of movies and vote down the ballot, even with requirements to see everything. >>> Notes On The Season |
With his new Peacock sci-fi thriller series, Simu Liu is living out his super spy fantasy in an edge-of-your-seat, eight-episode binge.
The Copenhagen Test star told Deadline it was “something that I’ve always wanted to do” before starring in the Thomas Brandon-created series, which is now available to stream on Peacock. It stars Liu as intelligence agent Alexander Hale, whose mind is hacked by a mysterious enemy using the intel to bring down his agency.
Read on for more about Simu Liu’s The Copenhagen Test character, the show’s scary real-world parallels and his fight scene with co-star Melissa Barrera. >>>Q&A
Related:
Melissa Barrera On “Letting Go” Of Control Over Her ‘Copenhagen Test’ Character & Fans’ Ongoing Support
‘The Copenhagen Test’ Showrunners On Potential Season 2 Ideas, “Weird Consent Issues” Raised By Paranoid Spy Thriller |
QUOTABLE "Thank God" - Jamie Lee Curtis recalling her mother's decision to nix an audition for the then 12-year-old Curtis to play Regan in 'The Exorcist' |
MORE NEWS
⚖️ A vivid $77M sexual assault and sexual battery lawsuit was filed against Tyler Perry last week by the same lawyer behind a similar action earlier this year. Perry's high-profile attorney calls it just more of the same in search of a payout.
🖥️ The first two seasons of the Fox series Animal Control are now available on Netflix after Fox Entertainment Global recently closed a deal with the streamer for the U.S. streaming rights to the single-camera comedy starring Joel McHale.
🎗️ Hollywood is rallying around Saturday Night Live writer Jimmy Fowlie after his sister Christina Lynn Downer was reported missing in Los Angeles. |
BY THE NUMBERS $760M - Global B.O. total thus far for 'Avatar: Fire And Ash' |
OBITUARIES
🕯️ Karen Glass, a former Disney studio exec who helped develop The Princess Diaries and Tuck Everlasting before she began producing holiday TV movies, died Monday, December 22, at UCLA Medical Center from complications with pancreatic cancer. She was 63, 🕯️ Mohammad Bakri, a Palestinian actor who appeared in a recurring role on seven 2020 episodes of Showtime’s Homeland and directed the controversial 2003 documentary Jenin, Jenin, died of heart and lung issues December 24 at a hospital in the regional city of Nahariya in Israel, according to local news site Al-Jarmaq and the Associated Press. He was 72. 🕯️ Mickey Lee, a contestant on CBS’ Big Brother last summer, died last week following a series of cardiac arrests in recent days. She was 35. 🕯️ Perry Bemonte , the longtime guitarist and keyboardist for the influential UK band The Cure, died over the Christmas holiday, the band confirmed on its official website Friday. He was 65. 🕯️ Amos Poe, the groundbreaking experimental filmmaker who documented the birth of punk rock in New York, has died. He was 76. 🕯️ Melanie Watson, who was known for her guest role on Diff’rent Strokes, has died. She was 57. From 1981-84, Watson recurred on Diff’rent Strokes as Kathy Gordon, an upbeat child in a wheelchair, who helped Arnold (Gary Coleman) come to terms with the fact that he’ll never grow taller than five feet. 🕯️ Bahram Beyzaie, the Iranian cinema pioneer best known for 1989 film Bashu: The Little Stranger, died on his birthday (December 26) in California due to complications from cancer. He was 87. 🕯️ 2025 Media Deaths Photo Gallery |
ON THE RADAR
Wed - New Year's Eve; Stranger Things Season 5, Part 3 drops
Thur - New Year's Day; Rose Parade
Fri - Palm Springs International Film Fest begins
Sat - Palm Springs International Film Awards
Sun - Critics Choice Awards |
Remembering Bardot - Cinema icon Brigitte Bardot, seen here at a press event for Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt, passed away on Sunday. |
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