What's news: The combined Paramount-WBD will be called Skydance. Bradley Cooper will star in Paramount's G.I. Joe movie. Peacock has picked up a Fast & Furious TV series. And Eddie Murphy will make his scripted TV debut in Matthew Weiner's The Chairman. — Abid Rahman
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De Luca, Abdy Out at Warner Bros.
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►A lament for Mike and Pam. Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are out at Warner Bros, an insider tells THR. The news of film chiefs’ imminent exit comes as Paramount Skydance prepares for its landmark $111b merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount film heads Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein are expected to oversee both movie studios. Abdy and De Luca are said to have told associates they have been in talks for a possible next act at Netflix. The story.
—We have a name! The entertainment business’ newest conglomerate has a name: Skydance. David Ellison on Friday shared on X that once Paramount and WBD combine, the new corporate brand will take the name of the studio he founded 20 years ago. But while that will be the corporate name, Paramount and Warner Bros. will serve as sub-brands. The story.
—As you were. CNN may have more stability than some had feared under future Skydance management. David Ellison has held discussions with CNN CEO Mark Thompson about keeping the veteran executive in charge of the cable news channel, a source familiar with the matter tell's THR's Alex Weprin. The contract talks, however, are said to be very early, and there is no assurance that they can come to terms on a new deal. No change in leadership is expected at deal close, with Thompson’s current contract to lead CNN running into next year. The story.
—Not too shabby. In a Thursday filing, Skydance disclosed the terms of Ynon Kreiz’s deal to become co-CEO of the soon-to-be-created entertainment giant. According to Kreiz’s contract, he will receive a $5m salary (once the WBD deal closes), as well as a $4.9m annual target bonus. The $5m salary would be on the high side for media and entertainment CEOs. He will also receive a signing bonus in the form of $31.5m in restricted stock units, with an annual award of RSUs valued at $20.1m, as well as $5.1m in RSUs provided as part of a long-term incentive plan. The story.
—"I believe that David and the team want to announce their leadership structure — it’s not mine to announce." Casey Bloys is not prepared to say much about the near-term future of HBO under Skydance — it’s simply not his place, he said (several times) on Thursday at Bloomberg's Screentime event. To everyone else in the industry, Bloys is clearly poised to lead the combined streaming efforts of Skydance once the deal closes on Oct. 6. The recap.
—"This grassroots movement isn’t going to fade away." Mark Ruffalo wants to Hulk smash the Paramount-WBD merger. The Marvel actor slammed the deal after a federal judge cleared the final hurdle for the settlement of an antitrust lawsuit brought by a group of state attorneys general on Wednesday. "This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech, and cost people their jobs — it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved," Ruffalo wrote on X. The story.
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Langley on Landing Nolan and Sheridan |
►"With disruption and instability, it's a moment to look around the marketplace and see if there's a competitive advantage." NBCUniversal has a reputation as one of Hollywood’s more filmmaker-friendly operations. During Bloomberg's Screentime conference, NBCU entertainment chairman Donna Langley spoke about how she and her team wooed some of the industry’s biggest creatives, including Christopher Nolan and most recently Taylor Sheridan. The recap.
—"The biggest draw to us was just to be able to do something theatrical." Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is breaking down why the streamer lost Stranger Things creators The Duffer Bros. and the hit show’s EP and director Shawn Levy to rival studios. Matt and Ross Duffer surprised the industry by announcing they were jumping ship to Paramount last August in a four-year exclusive deal that covered film and TV. Levy announced he was leaving for 20th Television after a decade at Netflix. "The Duffers have worked with us for [a] decade and did not want to make more TV shows right now,” Sarandos told THR. The story.
—"It’s challenging." Dana Walden, Disney’s president and chief creative officer, touched on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! issue at her Bloomberg Screentime session on Thursday. Host Jimmy Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension in December 2025 to keep hosting the late night show through the 2026-27 season, and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw asked Walden if the host would be sticking around. "I’m not going to make that announcement here with you today," Walden said before admitting that the business environment for late night wasn't great. The recap.
—Shake-up. UTA is overhauling the leadership structure for its filmed entertainment group, which includes its Motion Picture Literary, Television Literary and Talent departments, among others. Matt Rice, who had been leading UTA’s TV department, has been named president of filmed entertainment. He will be joined by Allan Haldeman, Blair Kohan, Jay Gassner and Julien Thuan who will become managing partners in the group. The story.
—Coming back. Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul is returning to Netflix, this time with a much larger role than before: vp communications, series. Starting Oct. 18, Bulochnikov-Paul will oversee comms for Netflix’s entire television portfolio, including scripted and unscripted series, documentary series, consumer products and experiences, as well as emerging content categories at the streamer, like live programming, games and podcasts. She’ll report to Dani Dudeck. The story.
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►Some good news for Pam. The honorees for Women in Film's annual WIF Honors have been set, with Pamela Abdy, Adria Arjona, Beth de Araújo, Gemma Chan and Salma Hayek Pinault all being celebrated. The event, taking place at the Beverly Hilton on Nov. 5, recognizes those who are driving gender equity across the industry, while also serving as WIF’s largest fundraiser of the year. The story.
—Death investigation. Ken Urker, the father of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s daughter who also appeared on Lifetime’s Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup, died on his birthday Thursday. He was 34. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed Urker died at a home in Raceland, Louisiana. Blanchard and Urker first met when the latter started writing her letters in 2017 while she was in prison. Before being released in 2023, Blanchard served seven to eight years in prison for her role in the second-degree murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. The story.
—Charged. Rapper Rick Ross was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday and charged with battery after a woman he was living with told police he hit her, authorities said. Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, surrendered at the Miami Beach Police Station, two days after the woman filed a report with police, officials said. Ross faces a felony charge of battery by strangulation, as well as a misdemeanor battery charge, according to online court records. An attorney for Ross, 50, said in a statement that his client is being wrongfully accused by an ex-girlfriend. The story.
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Cooper to Star in Paramount's 'G.I. Joe'
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►🎭 Duke-ing it out. 🎭 Paramount and Danny McBride have convinced Bradley Cooper to sign on for a new and untitled G.I. Joe feature. Cooper will play Duke, the nominal leader of the Joes, a character that was played by Channing Tatum in the live-action movies G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. McBride, known primarily as an actor and for his work as creator of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, is directing the project. He also wrote the script, along with Jeff Fradley and John Carcieri. The story.
—🎭 New dance partner. 🎭 THR's Mia Galuppo has the scoop on Talia Ryder being the latest star lacing up their dance shoes for Tom Holland’s Fred Astaire biopic. The Sony production about the legendary dancer and actor of Hollywood’s Golden Age has already tapped Margaret Qualley to play Adele Astaire and Sabrina Carpenter as Ginger Rogers. Ryder, a classically trained dancer, will play June Allyson, a dancer and MGM actress who was originally set to star opposite Astaire in the musical Royal Wedding. The story.
—🎭 Next up. 🎭 One Battle After Another breakout Chase Infiniti will star in the mysterious horror feature Portrait of God, which hails from rising director Dylan Clark, who wrote the script with Joe Russo. No plot details were available, but sources describe it as a new twist on religious horror. Clark released a short film of the same name online in 2022, wracking up millions of views in the process. Portrait of God was once set up at Universal, but the studio quietly let it go earlier this year, making it available for Lionsgate to move in and greenlight it. The story.
—Move into financing. Production company Anonymous Content is entering a new era where they are looking to become a financier in the film marketplace, rather than just a “fee-for-hire production company,” which will allow them to finance their own projects. For one of the new projects, Anonymous has commissioned author Nicholas Boggs, to write the script for a feature film adaptation of Boggs’ Baldwin: A Love Story, along with his partner Marlon James. The project will be co-produced with Higher Ground. The story.
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'Reacher' Spinoff 'Neagley' Renewed for S2
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►🟢 Dads rejoice! 🟢 Prime Video‘s Reacher is officially a franchise: Spinoff Neagley is getting a second season. The action series starring Maria Sten as the tough and standoffish Frances Neagley will return with more episodes. The debut season launched with all eight episodes on Sept. 16 and was a huge hit (more of that in the next story). Neagley is based on the character in novels by Lee Child and follows a private investigator in Chicago who is the former military protégé of Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) in the Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit. The story.
—No-brainer renewal. Neagley debuted at the top of the streaming rankings for Sept. 14-20, pushing its parent show Reacher out of the No. 1 spot. Neagley drew 1.78b minutes of viewing for its premiere week on Prime Video, that’s on par with the 1.84b minutes for Reacher’s series debut in 2022. In between Neagley and Reacher on the charts was Netflix's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, that premiered with 1.48b minutes of viewing. The streaming rankings.
—🟢 Hit the NOS! 🟢 Peacock is shifting into high gear with its plans for a Fast & Furious TV series. The streamer has officially picked up a show based on the long-running movie franchise. The show’s creative team is also in place: Mike Daniels and Wolfe Coleman are writing the pilot episode and will serve as showrunners. They’ll executive produce with Vin Diesel and Sam Vincent of One Race, Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Chris Morgan. The story.
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Murphy to Star in First Scripted Series
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►🎭 He's still big. It's the pictures that got small. 🎭 Eddie Murphy is set to make his scripted television debut, and his first TV series regular role since Saturday Night Live. The Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning actor has been cast in The Chairman, a new drama series in development at Peacock by Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. While plot details have yet to be announced, the show will be produced by 101 Studios and Universal Television. The show also marked the first project between NBCUniversal, 101 Studios/CEO David Glasser and their longtime collaborator Chris McCarthy as a part of his overall deal with NBCU. The story.
—🎭 Drill, baby, drill. 🎭 Landman, Paramount+'s hit Big Oil drama from Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, has begun production on season three in Forth Worth, Texas. Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Andy Garcia, Ali Larter, Sam Elliott, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph, Paulina Chávez, Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie and James Jordan are all returning for season three. Michael Kelly was previously announced to be joining the cast. Meanwhile, Colm Feore, Mustafa Speaks, Bobbi Salvor Menuez and Francesca Xuereb have all been upped to series regulars. The story.
—Woof! The 13th edition of American Horror Story opened with the best streaming performance for a season premiere in the show’s history. Based on internal data from FX, AHS: 13 racked up some 4m views worldwide (calculated as total viewing minutes divided by run time) on Hulu and Disney+ in the four days after its Sept. 24 premiere. The three episodes that debuted that night have a run time of just under two hours, equating to 476m minutes of watch time. The ratings.
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►"Dead on arrival." THR's Angie Han reviews AMC+'s Kill Jackie. A European art dealer goes on the run from seven ruthless assassins, whose assignment to take her out may or may not be connected to her checkered past as a high-flying drug dealer. Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Daniel Ings, Óscar Jaenada, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Darci Shaw, Raff Law, Christine Adams and Julian Rhind-Tutt. Created by Tom Butterworth and Connor Keane, based on The Price You Pay by Nick Harkaway. The review.
—"A bad idea, terribly executed." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Jeremy Garelick's Rolling Loud: The Movie. A father loses track of his 13-year-old son at the titular hip-hop music festival in the latest film from The Binge and Murder Mystery 2 filmmaker. Starring Owen Wilson, Matt Rife, Christine Ko, Christian Convery, Jolene, Henry Winkler and Travis Scott. Written by Jeremy Garelick. The review.
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►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this live episode Scott spoke to Penélope Cruz. The first Spanish actress to win an Oscar reflects on her path to acting and Pedro Almodóvar, building a career on both sides of the Atlantic, and how she crafted award-worthy performances in no fewer than three 2026 films — La Bola Negra, Bunker and The Invite. The podcast.
—I’m Having an Episode. THR’s Mikey O’Connell attempts to stay on top of the latest TV and entertainment news with a little help from his friends, colleagues and a revolving door of actors, writers, showrunners and filmmakers. In this episode, Mikey interviews Sharon Horgan. The writer and actress turns her eye to fiftysomethings in HBO's Youth, and talks about how she doesn't identify as a leading lady, measuring her life in TV shows and the appeal of guys in cardigans. The podcast.
In other news...
—Ebenezer trailer: Johnny Depp's Scrooge hates children, joy and Christmas
—Dexter: Resurrection trailer reveals Brian Cox, Dan Stevens serial killer roles
—PMK Entertainment names Erik Bright executive vp of content and strategic comms
What else we're reading...
—Anthony Lane spoke to Polish auteur Paweł Pawlikowski about his new film Fatherland and making a "career out of examining the mysteries of borders, both spiritual and political" [New Yorker]
—Following Anthropic saying it would pay $1.5b to resolve a class-action lawsuit, Emma Alpern reports that while publishers have hit the jackpot, writers will get screwed [Vulture]
—Michael Race digs into what's gone wrong at Nike and how the world's largest sportswear company lost its cool [BBC]
—Zoey Zhang reports that veteran Chinese filmmaker Zhang Jizhong, 75, is getting slammed by local netizens on his plans to have a fifth child [South China Morning Post]
—Here's your Friday list: The best films of the fall festivals [THR]
Today...
...in 2001, NBC premiered a half-hour medical comedy Scrubs that went on to run for nine seasons. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Sting (75), Lorraine Bracco (72), Avery Brooks (78), Terence Winter (66), Kelly Ripa (56), Trace Lysette (45), Tiffany (55), Angelyne (76), Joe Walker (63), Adrienne Acevedo Lovette (44), Camilla Belle (40), Brianna Brown (47), Efren Ramirez (53), Maribel Verdú (56), Lucy Cohu (58), Natasha Little (57), Ambika Mod (31), Jeff Bennett (64), Samantha Barks (36), Joey Slotnick (58), Jamie Neumann (45), Michelle Krusiec (52), Akira Akbar (20), Robin Riker (74), Elizabeth McLaughlin (33), Jeffrey Weissman (68), Wyatt Nash (38), Brittany Howard (38), Jonathan Torrens (54), Brendan Meyer (32), Charlie Adler (70), Catherine Kellner (56), Arta Dobroshi (46), Tara Lynne Barr (33), Nick Gomez (48), Lindsey Stoddart (52)
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Martin A. Grove, who wrote more than 3,300 columns for THR over 25 years as one of his era’s most respected and influential film experts, has died. He was 83. The obituary.
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