🎧 Tick, Tick: The 10-Day Siege of Warner Bros. BeginsThe hostile bid from the Saudis, Kushner & Ellison has a deadline on it. But it likely won’t end there. Plus: Katey Rich on awards season
Subscribe on Apple PodcastsWatch on YouTubeLike sand through the hourglass, so are the mergers of our lives. With the Warner Bros. board now in a 10-day window to respond to Paramount’s newly hostile counteroffer, Hollywood is nearly guaranteed to be mired in this soap-operatic saga for months to come. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey break down the latest — including the introduction of Jared Kushner and Middle East money as the majority financial backing of the new Paramount bid, how the industry and unions are looking to fight off this merger (and whether public sentiment matters) and the likely chill this is going to have on the day-to-day business of television and film until there’s resolution. Plus, Katey Rich offers the lay of the land now that Golden Globes nominations are out: who got snubbed, who got some love and how a combined HBO-Netflix would dominate awards season.
Got a tip or story pitch? Email tips@theankler.com ICYMI from The AnklerThe Wakeup Disney drops AI bomb in Sora deal 12 C-Suite Execs on the ‘Existential’ Fallout of a Warners Deal and the ‘Least Bad’ Outcome Private whispers about why the acquisition could be as destabilizing for the buyer as it is for the rest of Hollywood Small-Town Theaters vs. Studios: ‘It Doesn’t Feel Like the Industry Wants Us to Survive’ Cinema owners tell Matthew Frank the two-week mandatory run for movies is crushing them The 9 Most Fearless Creative Decisions in Hollywood 2025 Introducing Richard Rushfield’s Boldness Awards! Plenty of people had guts this year, if you knew where to look Jordan Chiles + Noah Beck Reveal the New Playbook for Sports, Stardom & Social Natalie Jarvey talked with the TikTok and Tubi star, and the Dancing With the Stars Olympian (who slips she has a big Nike announcement coming) WORLD WAR WARNER BROS.! People like Netflix, writes Richard. But they can’t have this (and neither can Paramount) ‘NOT GOOD’: Agents’ Alarm as Netflix-WBD Stokes Panic, Fears of a Market Pause Reps talk to Elaine about what they’re telling clients, mounting questions and even a bright side: ‘Where there’s chaos, there’s opportunity’ ‘It Can Be Stopped’: Fighting Back Against the ‘Bad Faith’ Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal Richard, monopoly expert Matt Stoller and former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya break down what’s really driving the merger bid 5 Burning Qs: What The Netflix-Warners Bombshell Means for Creatives, Execs & Shows The deal would put showrunners, revered execs & piles of priceless IP under one roof. It’s going to be messy, Lesley Goldberg reports The WBD Deal Puts Hollywood, and Democracy, at Risk EXCLUSIVE: In a special op-ed, Jane Fonda writes that the proposed Warner Bros. sale should terrify anyone who cares about a free society Voices, Chants, Pain: Amanda Seyfried & Daniel Blumberg on The Testament of Ann Lee ‘I made sounds I’d never heard in a film,’ the actress tells Rob LeDonne regarding her collab with the Oscar-winning composer 5 Globes Takeaways: Wicked Woes, Neon Lights & Netflix Mysteries Katey Rich on the Golden Globe nominations; plus Nicholas Britell talks Jay Kelly 🎬 WGA Prez’ Dire Warning on Netflix-WB: ‘We Know How This Movie Ends’ Michele Mulroney tells Elaine Low about the inevitable ‘self-dealing,’ the ‘distressing’ time for guild members and what writers can do now 🎬 Freddy’s 2 Leads Box Office to Record Heights — Hollywood is Fine! Special guest Roy Price joins Richard and Sean McNulty to talk the good (Freddy’s, Zootopia 2) and bad (everything else) as WBD hangs in the balance 🎬 Netflix-WBD Panic & Chaos in a Hollywood ‘Looking for Some Answers’ The dominant streamer’s $83B acquisition of Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets would heap new burdens on entertainment workers 🎬 How F1 Captured Brad Pitt Driving 200 MPH in a Formula 1 Racer Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda explains the challenges of shooting the Apple racing drama: ‘We had to make cameras’ 🎧 Jeremy Allen White ‘Went Crazy’ to Play Bruce Springsteen. It Paid Off The actor, a freshly minted Golden Globe nominee, on playing The Boss and why sometimes it’s good to meet your heroes 🎧 Wagner Moura Believes ‘Empathy’ Always Beats Tyranny The Secret Agent star, a top best actor contender, tells Katey about knocking away stereotypes and waiting out Brazil’s Bolsonaro More from Ankler Media
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