L.A. hot takes sizzle as mayoral contenders make Hollywood jobs a major issue. Meanwhile in the Weekender, the media mogul class gets a plus-one, Gen Z finds a blockbuster auteur, Disney lowers expectations, and a Cannes consensus emerges.
— Erik Hayden
Ticker: Jon Favreau's Solo-sized expectations; Ari and Mark buy in to the NFL; Reid Hoffman lets his AI avatar do the talking; Darren Star calls it on Paris.
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As David Ellison looks to close his $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery megadeal before the end of September, we've reached the lawyering up phase. As Winston Cho explains:
Jeffrey Kessler, a heavyweight in antitrust litigation, was just hired by Paramount. Last year, Kessler was brought in to represent a coalition of more than 30 states that objected to a last-minute settlement between the DoJ and Live Nation. The case ended with a jury concluding that the company operated as a monopoly. In 2023, he also secured dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit brought by Garth Drabinsky against Actors’ Equity Association after the Broadway producer was placed on the union’s “Do Not Work” list.
The addition of Kessler bolsters Paramount's formidable legal team, led by Makan Delrahim, Trump’s former assistant attorney general for antitrust. Also representing the studio: David Gelfand, ex-deputy assistant attorney general for litigation in the antitrust division under former President Barack Obama. His legal team assembles.
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As the Rich Gelfond-run Imax appears up for sale with early-stage talks with possible suitors, financial analysts have lost no time speculating on who may be a likely buyer. And Wall Street's list, right now, is long. It stretches from exhibitors (possibly), to private equity firms (could be circling) and tech giants (it would be a rounding error for them) along with a couple major entertainment conglomerates. Etan Vlessing's rundown.
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Steven Zeitchik hears more about what James Murdoch will actually do with New York magazine and Vox podcast assets after he sealed his $300 million buy:
"Murdoch has explicitly told his deputies that this is an area he'd like to develop, attracting as many legacy-media refugees as he can — then giving them money and support as part of his new network and reaping the returns. 'If you've created your brand and have a big following, James wants you to come here and be part of this platform,' is how a source close to him described the pitch to me.
I heard this and thought 'well that is an intriguing proposition.' The past few years have brought a massive and often successful outflux from legacy brands — whether anchors like Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, Megyn Kelly and Jim Acosta; trenchant above-the-fray commenter-reporters like Oliver Darcy and Isaac Saul; and, soon, network fixtures like Stephen Colbert and other late-night absconders. It was only a matter of time before someone not named Substack came along to house them." Full report.
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The indie film scene isn’t dead — it’s just creating low-budget bodice rippers for the TikTok era. The microdrama industry, an estimated $11 billion global business in 2025, could grow to $14 billion by year’s end. THR embeds with a buzzy production company, the San Francisco-based romance verticals app called CandyJar, that’s putting the steam into streaming. Katie Kilkenny's report.
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THR spoke to the power players in our backyard, getting the scoop on both the L.A. mayoral and California Governor's race. Exhibit A, B and C:
A) The Spencer Pratt campaign is eschewing local TV and radio ads, instead spending tens of thousands on professional clipping agencies and social media. Pratt’s campaign spent $30,025 on “Clipping Culture LLC” which has a client list that includes Yung Gravy, Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga.
B) Mayor Karen Bass was asked about location pros' concerns on special neighborhood conditions for shooting, and referenced rival Nithya Raman's plan. Bass' retort: "Well, first of all, she can have all the plans in the world, but she's been on council for six years and has never introduced one idea."
C) What's Xavier Becerra up to? THR got the first look at the Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner's Hollywood plan. In short: He wants a law or rule that studios/streamers must provide "meaningful performance data" to everyone from directors to the crew.
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"There is no media player for the generative era. We believe Spotify will become that." — Gustav Söderström, co-CEO, going full AI at its investor day.
"He fell four inches out of a window, that is true, and he yelled, 'We’re going to use that take, right?'" — Mike Richards, former Jeopardy! host, now CEO of Daily Wire, recounting Jonathan Majors' set accident on a film.
"Scale in this deal will devastate both studios." — Joseph M. Singer, a slate film financier looking at that math behind the Paramount-Warner Bros. mega-merger.
"Grateful to be able to be here on Monroe Community Media before they also get acquired by Paramount." — Stephen Colbert, in surprising hosting a public access TV show in Michigan after signing off CBS.
"Guests should be able to expressly opt in to this type of sensitive facial recognition technology." — Blake Yagman, a lawyer in a suit against Disney over its parks use of the tech.
Logline of the Week
"Involving global warming, time travel, as well as a possible superhero angle. And there are two timelines, one set in the 1980s and one set in the present day. The protagonists of the story are teens … at least in the 1980s-set timeline." — Clues about The Daniels new movie set up at Universal, with Matt Damon now starring.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "Gibson’s Resurrection Unveils First Look at Jesus, Pushes Release Date"
2) "Masters of the Universe: First Reactions From the Premiere"
3) "Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan Don’t Know How to Interpret Outlander Ending"
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Above is Nielsen's latest Media Distributor Gauge, where YouTube regularly dominates broadcasters. This week, the Google-owned video platform also revealed it now has more three billion users. For its next move, the Neal Mohan-run YouTube will now let creators use AI to insert themselves into other people’s videos. Alex Weprin's report.
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Over the past year, Curry Barker has become the most in-demand 20-something filmmaker in Hollywood. Obsession just bowed to $17.2 million, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is waiting in the wings and the Jason Blum, Roy Lee production Anything But Ghosts already shot. “I’m always letting down my friends that love to go out and hit the town, because I go to bed at 10,” he says with a laugh. Aaron Couch's profile.
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It's that season: Glen Powell, Harrison Ford and Riz Ahmed are joined by Owen Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Zach Braff this time. Six comedy kingpins dig deep with Lacey Rose on delusional auditions, nagging insecurities and bizarre fan interactions. "I felt like it peaked and I was hosting SNL and all these things were happening, and I didn’t really know how to keep that going or follow it up, and I got in my head about it and was overly precious about it," Braff recalls. The Comedy Actor Roundtable.
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In Boots Riley's new movie I Love Boosters, Eiza González plays a cashier who moonlights as an expert in dialectical materialism. She dresses like a goth, hits her vape constantly and deep-dives on Reddit. But for González, the most radical thing about the role was acting alongside a group of women for the first time. "It's always, like, five men and then me," she says of her career. "I've always wondered why I get cast in things like that." Seija Rankin's profile.
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A cavalcade of stars, from Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Jane Schoenbrun and Hannah Einbinder to Samira Wiley, Seth Rogen and Riley Keough to (pictured above) Will Sharpe, AJ Dungo and Phuong Mai Nguyen, descended on Cannes — and stopped at the THR Studio at Meta House on the Croisette. Guy Aroch's snapshots.
+ Reviews are in: 20 Best Films of Cannes This Year
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Jason Reitman joined Sam Levinson for a chat about Euphoria, followed by a screening of Dirty Harry, at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Jason George and Phil Keoghan co-hosted the Emmys Pickleball Slam doubles tournament in Calabasas. Tracy Morgan participated in a NYC Principal For a Day program. Michael Kelly, Sienna Miller, John Krasinski and Andrew Bernstein walked the carpet at the NYC premiere of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War on May 15. Nicholas Galitzine, Travis Knight, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba and Alison Brie brought Masters of the Universe to Hollywood. Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas debuted their film Power Ballad in NYC. Mariah Carey and Shawn Mendes shared a moment (and sat front row) at the GucciCore Fashion Show that took over Times Square. Lexi Minetree embraced the pink theme at a Beverly Hills brunch event for Legally Blonde prequel Elle. All 51 photos from this week's premieres and events.
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Meet THR's 2026 Supporting Class. Leah Lewis (Matlock), Timothy Simons (Nobody Wants This), Karolina Wydra (Pluribus), Charles Melton (Beef), Erika Alexander (The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins), Tom Pelphrey (Task),
John C. McGinley (Rooster), Taylor Dearden (The Pitt), Michael Peña (All Her Fault), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary) and Naomi Watts (Love Story), photographed at PMC Studios in Los Angeles. Full feature.
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Snapshots from THR's team of film critics
Jon Favreau's The Mandalorian and Grogu is "just good enough to make you wish it were better." John Krasinski's turn in Prime Video movie Jack Ryan: Ghost War is an excercise in "never let a successful franchise go to waste." Nicolas Winding Refn's Her Private Hell is "a grueling experience." Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson play a daughter and father in Paris in Full Phil, a "a lean, slightly mean slice of what-the-hell-was-that fun." Pedro Almodóvar’s rumination on art and ethics Bitter Christmas is "intensely personal but emotionally unyielding." Léa Seydoux arthouse horror title The Unknown is "simultaneously hypnotic and elusive." Netflix’s Alfred Molina-led sci-fi thriller The Boroughs has "a great cast let down by a dull plot." Apple TV's Tatiana Maslany thriller Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is "a wildly exciting and surprisingly funny ride." With Amazon’s Nicolas Cage starrer Spider-Noir, "if you're gonna watch, watch in black and white."
Winners & Losers
James Hibberd's weekly scorecard
Masters of the Universe has the power ("Fools!'). ABC refuses to let Tim Allen retire. Trump boxes in Pratt. The Boys avoids a crash. A Ticketmaster virus goes viral.
And finally,
A Hollywood Flashback...
"Spending midnight with the Jedi Knights on line..."
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