It's unwise to think that a vibe shift means anything in the case of the chase for Warner Bros. Back in December, Ted Sarandos was touring the studio lot, with Netflix as its new overlord. Nevertheless, the public pressure campaign against the 12 states to settle with David Ellison hit a fever pitch this week. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Chris Winfrey is cable's last king; Myles Bullock Be is Dr. Dre; David E. Kelley gets into live streaming; Raquel Lee sues Disney.
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Gavin Newsom signaled his support on Friday for settlement talks in the antitrust suit seeking to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger and said the process is happening in "real time." His support for settlement talks puts him in the same camp as Xavier Becerra, the Democratic candidate for California governor in this year’s elections. It also aligns him with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. (Bass' challenger, Nithya Raman, opposes that view.) "What’s the best deal, what’s the landing? And that has to be worked through," the CA governor added. Katie Kilkenny has the report.
Days earlier: California AG Rob Bonta tells Steven Zeitchik of Paramount's full-court press for a settlement: "I literally envision them sitting in a war room saying, 'We’re getting our butts kicked, what can we do? What rabbit out of a hat can we pull to try to impose some pressure on the attorney general? We know the attorney general loves having jobs in California. Maybe we can threaten to leave? It’s a Hail Mary, but let’s try it!'"
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Are Meghan Markle and Prince Harry waving farewell to their Hollywood dreams in a private jet rearview mirror? Not so fast. THR has learned that Markle is in advanced discussions to join Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, which shoots in the U.K. The part is currently being written for an unannounced third season, so it’s unclear how many episodes she would appear in. The couple is leaving California and returning to London — their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have been enrolled in a British school for September. The report.
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Daniel Fienberg writes, "In the past few years, younger millennials have grieved the loss of a number of actresses whose onscreen growth paralleled their own. Hayden Panettiere, Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and others aren’t unified by any one thing — their deaths weren’t the same, their lives in the industry weren’t the same and their support systems weren’t the same. But I still feel comfortable saying this, because it shouldn’t be controversial: Hollywood needs to do better."
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The acclaimed writer Rachel Cusk’s controversial new novel Life of M is an intimate character study of an A-list movie star who is depicted as hollow, immature and cynical, an intellectual poseur and an artist wannabe. The apparent inspiration: Natalie Portman, who selected Cusk’s works for her book club and hosted her for a discussion, calling the author "one of my favorite writers." Gary Baum looks at what happened.
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Creators are turning online auctions into addictively entertaining, seconds-long battles on platforms like Whatnot and TikTok Shop — who are fighting to retain the most popular sellers: "We're live for about four hours, but we're here prepping for maybe four hours before and maybe two to four hours after. So we're putting in like 12- to 16-hour days." Andrew Zucker's latest column.
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"They are crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power." — Mark Ruffalo, on the Ellison family. His remarks drew a lengthy reply from a Paramount rep who called them "a bridge too far."
"The trust is being consumed and depleted by attorneys’ fees." — Anita Wu, counsel to Nick Reiner, expressing frustration at the lack of access he has to a $1.5 million trust as he awaits trial over the murder of parents Rob and Michele Reiner.
"I feel like Reese and I just ran several marathons at the same time." — Lauren Neustadter, president at Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, which launched Legally Blonde prequel Elle on Prime Video, premiered Lucky on Apple TV and wrapped production on The Morning Show.
"I grew up with Disney stories. Now I get to experience that same magic." — Dhar Mann, known for popular dramas on YouTube, in inking a deal to create 20 episodes of original content for Disney.
"Abruptly ended what reasonably appeared to be the final chapter of a distinguished career in theatrical distribution." — From Chris Aronson's lawsuit against Paramount Pictures over millions of dollars in pay.
"Industries rarely suffer because too many people are willing to make sensible long-term investments. The greater danger comes when investment stops." — Cory Jacobson, owner of Phoenix Theatres, on the legal battle over the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
Next Big Thing
The 26-year-old American-Argentine actress and singer Maia Reficco is showing a whole new side of herself with her starring role in Prime Video's coming-of-age romance film The Last Sunrise and her new music: "I've kind of let go of all of those fears and understood that I need to go full force or don't go at all."
Logline of the Week
[Seasons]
"The story, which first appeared on Reddit, follows a husband and wife who buy their dream ranch only to discover the land is alive with ancient spirits, and survival means submitting to increasingly disturbing rituals with each turn of the season." -> Drew Hancock is directing Ron Perlman and Lily James in the Amazon MGM movie.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "Sons of Anarchy Spinoff Legends Ordered — With a Wild Twist"
2) "Rosie O’Donnell Joke About Trump Draws Gasps From Kimmel Crowd"
3) "Hayden Panettiere’s Neighbor Says She Called 911 Multiple Times to Report Disturbances With Star’s Boyfriend"
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If Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merge, an independent economic report suggests a $2.87 billion hit to the motion picture sector, Los Angeles County said this week. Additionally, adjacent industries (seen above) are set to be impacted as well, ranging from indie artists to promoters and talent agents. The County's study also forecasts that thousands of jobs are directly at risk as a result of the transaction across corporate, creative and production workforces.
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Seth Rudetsky thought Nikki Glaser wanted him on her podcast. Bruce Vilanch thought Terry Gross wanted him on hers. Rudetsky, the Broadway performer and SiriusXM host, gets asked to do podcasts all the time. Better yet, this one was offering him between $4,000 and $5,000 to appear. "Oh my God, they’re actually paying for a podcast," he remembers thinking. A Glaser fan, Rudetsky quickly said yes. Both were targets of a hoax. Seth Abramovitch has the story.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, the Hollywood building that houses much of the organization's massive film archive and is attached to its oft-rented 286-seat Linwood Dunn Theatre and event space, is set to undergo a three-year renovation beginning this fall. Scott Feinberg's scoop.
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James Hibberd observes, "For fans of the dinosaurs-attack genre, The End of Oak Street is such a breath of fresh air that the film throws into sharp relief everything that’s grown stale in the Jurassic franchise, which has owned this beat, curiously uncontested, for decades." There are four ways Oak Street creatively took advantage of Jurassic sameness. Hibberd's notebook.
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The state of New Mexico may be an ideal case study for the production spending boom that fueled the Peak TV and Streaming Wars eras — as well as the pull back that occurred after the dual strikes hit in 2023: "People are getting back to work. It’s half of the people working that were working two years ago, so we’re all still in a change phase, I think I would call it, but we're finding our footing." The big picture + the numbers.
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Michelle Rodriguez, Meadow Walker, Vin Diesel and Jordana Brewster toasted 25 years of The Fast and the Furious in L.A. Sarah Paulson, Noah Wyle and Glenn Close supported Katherine LaNasa at a toast for her Emmy nom at Craig’s. Kate Hudson took part as Rick Caruso's Palisades Village celebrated its grand reopening in the Pacific Palisades. William H. Macy was honored with the Timeless Award at the 2026 Astra TV Awards. Gwyneth Paltrow came out to support James Gray at a Hamptons celebration for his new movie Paper Tiger. Anna Faris, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Michelle Buteau celebrated Spa Weekend in the Hamptons. All 33 photos from the week in premieres.
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Upcoming Releases
Notable movies heading to theaters
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One-liners from THR's team of critics
HBO's DC adaptation Lanterns is "smarter, better-acted and just plain better than any season of Reacher to date." Insidious: Out of the Further, the sixth entry in Leigh Whannell and James Wan's horror franchise, "is past the point of diminishing returns." Luca Guadagnino-produced Sicilian teen dramedy Ketticè "suffers from a lack of spark." In director Martin Provost's Love Lessons, "a retired teacher dithers over his dating options in seductive seaside French fluff." Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield starrer The Magic Faraway Tree is "too imaginative for its own good."
And finally:
A Hollywood Flashback...
"Fans might have laughed at the title, cheered the casting of Samuel L. Jackson and even created homages to it on the Internet, but they didn't show up to theaters..."
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