Earnings season is upon us, and with that the ax has fallen on employees at Disney and, soon, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Netflix as execs promise shake ups within their empires. Here's hoping a film and TV production rebound translates into more jobs. — Erik Hayden
Sign of the times
SHOT: "This Is the Man Who Cultivates YouTube Filmmakers Like Kane Parsons"
CHASER: "Screen Gems Shocker: Sony Brings in YouTube Exec to Run Genre Label"
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Good times for five executives from Warner Bros. Discovery — who between them took home $1.1 billion from the Paramount takeover. JB Perrette (above), the former CEO of global streaming and games for WBD, saw shares and in-the-money options net him about $157 million, while CEO David Zaslav cashed out $606 million, as Alex Weprin reports. "Other top executives, including many who made the jump to Skydance, almost certainly held large equity stakes as well, and Zaslav made it a priority to get employees across the company invested in its success," he notes.
Still, the optics are something. And given the layoffs and an $80 billion debt bomb at Skydance, it's quite a time for the M&A scene in Hollywood. "The combined company now has the scale to take on Netflix and Disney, but little room for error as it balances massive spending on film and TV with servicing its crushing financial obligations," Weprin notes in his latest report leading this week's magazine.
Golden Parachutes
The C-suite at Warner Bros. Discovery
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*Plus: How David Ellison outwitted everyone. An inside story of the billionaires, ultimatums, frantic texts and hush meetings behind the $111 billion deal. The megadeal twists and turns even had Zaslav calling it "a little whiplashy."
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"Six years ago, Los Angeles soundstages emerged as some of the most coveted properties in real estate. Studios were pouring money into original movies and TV shows, and seemingly every square foot of production space appeared to be spoken for, as it had been for a long time," Winston Cho recalls. Property records and foreclosure filings obtained by THR show that bet unraveling, with the upheaval potentially reshaping who controls the region's production infrastructure.
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Luca Guadagnino and star Andrew Garfield speak frankly to David Canfield about what went into their daring film about Sam Altman and OpenAI, and what led to Neon rescuing it after Amazon decided not to release it: "The fight is on to make sure that we are allowed to make things freely."
+ What happened here? "Once the sales process began, rumors swirled around the making and quality of Artificial. A Vulture report, for instance, claimed that the movie required 'extensive reshoots' following 'all sorts of disasters' during production. 'Absolutely untrue and easy to check,' producer Jennifer Fox says." The story.
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"You can ask all the questions you want, you’re going to get no answers." — Michael Ovitz, in a June deposition in a CAA case after being asked about Epstein. A court said this week Ovitz "inappropriately terminated" the deposition.
"I got fired off it today. The reason I’ve been given is 'creative differences.'" — Gail Lerner, on being let go from her own NBC comedy Newlyweds.
"Joe has built something incredibly enduring." — Jordan Newman, head of content partnerships, Spotify, upon unveiling a nine-figure deal to keep Joe Rogan.
"It's very dangerous. And disgusting." — Sarah Mirkin, a Beverly Hills nutritionist, on Ari Emanuel's habit of starting every day by eating worms.
"I’m thrilled to produce Last Friday right here in Southern California, where our cast and crew lives." — Ice Cube, upon receiving $11.4 million in tax credits to shoot the New Line Cinema sequel in state.
Next Big Thing
TV’s newest Scream Queen Summer H. Howell has been preparing for Carrie her whole life. The young actress has been working in the horror space for over a decade. Now, at 22, she's stepping into one of the genre's most iconic roles.
Logline of the Week
[Scarlett Holmes / Roku ]
"Scarlett may be an expert at solving everyone else’s romantic problems, her own love life proves far more difficult to decipher. When she falls for Ollie Moriarty — a charming podcast producer secretly planning an exposé on her methods — she’s faced with the toughest case of all: her own. Each episode’s storyline draws inspiration from a beloved romantic comedy."
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "As Digger Sinks, Hollywood’s Three Amigos Close Ranks"
2) "DWTS Mariah Carey Night Ends With Unexpected Elimination"
3) "Reggie McFadden, In Living Color Actor-Comedian, Dies at 57"
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Pixar’s Toy Story 5 debuted at No. 1 on Nielsen’s streaming charts in its first week of release, beating out strong showings for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story and Neagley. Two Netflix shows, Wonka’s The Golden Ticket (854 million minutes) and A Different World (751 million), made the overall top 10 in premiere weeks. Outside the top 10, Reacher (707 million) hung on a week after the end of its fourth season and Paramount+’s MobLand (364 million) arrived following its season two premiere. More.
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She has spent years turning heartbreak into hits — and wrestling with the fame that followed. But with a massive new album, sold-out tour and her very own feminist music festival, the 23-year-old pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo is finally enjoying the view from the top: "The blessing and the curse of my job is that I don't really live anywhere — I'm never in a place longer than two or three months." Ethan Millman's cover story.
*Print, honestly, is the better way to read any true magazine. And THR delivers. There's a 45% off deal now, too. Subscribe!
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Universal Music CEO Lucian Grainge has survived Napster, piracy, Kanye, and a $64 billion hostile takeover bid. AI is just the next disruption to tame: “Seen it, done it, got the T-shirt.”
He also gave a notably fun quote about competing with his son, Elliot Grainge, who's now CEO of rival Atlantic Music Group: "The biggest pain in the ass about it is that when we're together as a family, I've had to get one of those privacy screens for my phone — I don't want that little fucker to see who's calling me or anything that I'm up to. I'm sure that's reciprocated." The Q&A.
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"When #Emmyssowhite began trending after white actors swept the lead and supporting acting categories during the ceremony, it unearthed a reality deeper than the demand for equal acclaim: Actors of color can’t win accolades for roles that don’t exist," Brande Victorian writes, adding: "More perplexing is the industry’s retreat despite evidence that diversity is in its economic interest." The report.
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"The film festival circuit is drowning in bloody genre fare and ideological theater. Whatever happened to indie cred?" asks Joseph Kahn. "The problem is when the self-importance of festival political activism crosses wires with these horror nerds. As these dopamine chasers inflict their limbic systems on every film, cheering for lizard-brain human suffering, the Olds scramble to give all that bloodlust a higher purpose, laundering it into political statements right there in the Q&A." The column.
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Upcoming Releases
Notable movies heading to theaters
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Mariska Hargitay and Este Haim paid a visit to NBC's Dun Dun Diner at Rockefeller Center. The Daily Show's Desi Lydic emceed the annual Hilarity for Charity Comedy Night in NYC. Issa Rae was among the speakers at Advertising Week New York. Anthony Ippolito was honored at the annual Hamptons International Film Festival. Kenan Thompson joined Cathy Applefeld Olson for a conversation at the Hollywood & Mind NYC Summit at iHeartMedia HQ. Jason Blum, Jessica Chastain and Jay Duplass walked the carpet at a special fan screening of Other Mommy at Universal CityWalk Hollywood. Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe and Daisy Edgar-Jones brought Sense and Sensibility to L.A. Cinespia held a screening of Corpse Bride at Hollywood Forever Cemetery with Minka Kelly among guests. All 67 photos from this week's events and premieres.
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One-liners from THR's team of critics
Zoe Kazan's East of Eden Netflix series is "rich, morally complex and packed with memorable performances, notably by star and executive producer Florence Pugh." Mike Flanagan's Prime Video adaptation of a Stephen King classic is "not your father's Carrie, for better or worse." Catherine Zeta-Jones' AMC+ actioner Kill Jackie is a "drab misfire of a thriller." Russell T. Davies' Starz drama Tip Toe is "breathlessly and tragically of the moment." Mackenzie Crook’s Apple TV comedy Small Prophets is "charming, amusing and unexpected." Robert and Michelle King tackle Big Tech in Cupertino, a "broadcast winner" for CBS. Josh Hartnett battles a sea creature in Netflix’s Below, a "likably silly Newfoundland-set thriller."
And finally:
A Hollywood Flashback...
15 years ago today, Mike White and Laura Dern's Enlightened premieres on HBO — "makes you happy there's a home for shows that don't fit the mold."
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