| | | | | | What's news: David Zaslav sold more than 4m shares in WBD, with a value of just over $114m. Yellowstone spinoff Marshalls opened to 9.52m viewers. Netflix has renewed Little House of the Prarie before S1 drops. Apple has canceled Palm Royale. Ari Aster is looking to move into TV. And global film festival bosses have come out in support of Berlin's Tricia Tuttle. — Abid Rahman
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Banijay, All3Media Merge to Create Indie Giant ►🤝 It's a megadeal! 🤝 French production giant Banijay, the world's largest independent TV producer (Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, Big Brother, MasterChef, and Survivor) and U.K. production powerhouse All3Media (The Traitors, Squid Game: The Challenge, and Race Across the World ) have struck a deal with an enterprise value of $8b to merge their production businesses, creating a new industry juggernaut. All3Media, owned by the Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale-led venture firm RedBird IMI, is led by CEO Jane Turton. Banijay’s leader is Marco Bassetti, who will be the CEO of the merged firm. In the deal unveiled March 3, each company will hold a 50 percent stake in the combined firm. Zucker will be chairman of the board of the merged company. The companies expect the deal to close in the fall of this year. The story.
—"Consolidation is the name of the game." What's next for Banijay-All3Media? THR's Georg Szalai writes that British production giant ITV's production arm ITV Studios could be next, given past reports that Banijay had been looking at a bid. ITV Studios hit franchises include the likes of Love Island, Disney+ series Rivals, The Voice, and Netflix’s Fool Me Once. The story.
—"The most important thing is not really the number of companies, it’s the number of talent." After announcing the Banijay-All3Media megadeal, the combined company's new CEO Marco Bassetti as well as RedBird's Jeff Zucker spoke to THR's Erik Hayden about the pact. The interview. |
Newsom Likens Israel to "Apartheid State" ►No love for Netanyahu. California Gov. Gavin Newsom compared Israel to an “apartheid state” and questioned future U.S. military support for the country. Speaking on stage at an event to promote his new memoir, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery, Newsom, who is widely expected to enter the 2028 presidential race, was asked by Pod Save America host Jon Favreau about the U.S.-Israel relationship and whether it should be reconsidered. “It breaks my heart, because the current leadership in Israel is walking us down the path where I don’t think you have a choice about that consideration." The story.
—Colbert bump! Stephen Colbert's still got it. On Tuesday, James Talarico won the Democratic primary for the Texas Senate seat, beating Jasmine Crockett in a hotly contested race that’s drawn national attention. Talarico, you may remember, was at the center of a politcal firestorm last month, after his interview with Colbert on The Late Show was blocked by CBS’ lawyers from airing on broadcast due to the FCC’s new guidance for political candidates on talk shows. The story.
—👐 Zaz hands! 👐 Following nearly a year of dealmaking, a window for top Warner Bros. Discovery executives to sell their stock opened up after the company reported its last quarterly earnings. SEC filings show that most of those top execs, including CEO David Zaslav, took advantage of it. Zaslav filed to sell more than 4m shares in the company, with a value of just over $114m, on Tuesday. Other executives, including CFO Gunnar Weidenfels, streaming chief JB Perrette, chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell, and international chief Gerhard Zeiler, also filed to sell shares worth millions, per forms filed with the SEC on Tuesday. The story.
—That can't be good. Paramount Skydance has been put on a watch by S&P Global for a possible credit rating downgrade after the studio prevailed against Netflix with a $31 per share bid to merge with WBD. The ratings firm has revised its outlook for Paramount to negative, while affirming its BB+ credit rating, on grounds the studio will see its debt load likely grow beyond a red line for a possible downgrade. The story.
—"Domestic is our path." International TV viewers shouldn’t expect to stream Peacock anytime soon. Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh on Tuesday said Peacock is not pursuing a global strategy as it expands as a direct-to-consumer streaming platform, and will remain focused on the U.S. market. “I don’t see a reason in our construct why we are disadvantaged by not pursuing global,” Cavanagh told the Morgan Stanley Investors Conference. "Others are doing it. Clearly, they have different strategies for different players. But in our case, domestic is our path,” he added after Peacock recently got to 44m subscribers at the end of its Q4. The story. |
Berlin Boss to Accept New Board, "Antisemitism Code of Conduct" ►Clinging on. Beleaguered Berlinale boss Tricia Tuttle is staying on as head of the Berlin Film Festival but will be required to submit to new conditions, including a “code of conduct” with an “antisemitism taboo,” according to reports in the German media. Conservative German tabloid Bild, which has led the charge to get Tuttle fired, is reporting that the German Culture Ministry could not agree on terms for a separation deal with Tuttle, who has three years left on her five-year contract with the festival. Instead, writes Bild , citing unnamed government sources, Tuttle will remain Berlinale director but has agreed to accept a new advisory board and a code of conduct that all festival participants will be required to sign off on. The code will include "a taboo against antisemitism that applies to all participants." The story.
—"Supporting freedom of expression has never been more important." Global film festival bosses, including Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux and Sundance‘s Eugene Hernandez, have published a statement throwing their support behind Berlinale boss Tricia Tuttle. "We stand in support of Tricia Tuttle’s wish to continue as Berlinale Festival Director, in full trust and with institutional independence," began the letter signed by 32 execs at the helm of the world’s most prestigious film festivals, from London and Telluride to Toronto and San Sebastian. The story. |
Ari Aster Ventures into TV With Media Res Deal ►🤝 First-look pact. 🤝 Filmmaker Ari Aster is looking to expand his work to the small(er) screen. The Eddington and Midsommar auteur and his producing partner Lars Knudsen have signed a first-look deal with Media Res, the independent studio behind Apple TV’s The Morning Show and Pachinko. Under the two-year deal, Aster and Knudsen’s Square Peg company will develop and produce series projects for Media Res. The story.
—🤝 Extension. 🤝 Physical and Imperfect Women creator Annie Weisman is extending her relationship with Apple TV. Weisman has signed a first-look deal with the streamer. The multi-year agreement will give Apple the first shot at new series projects that Weisman develops. It also marks a return to Apple for Weisman, who had an overall deal with the outlet several years ago. The deal comes a couple weeks before Imperfect Women, starring Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara, premieres on Apple. The story.
—New banner just dropped. Mary Lisio and Fifth Season are launching Quite Contrary Pictures, which will house all of Fifth Season’s unscripted and documentary programming under a multiyear deal. Lisio will serve as Quite Contrary’s president, with executive producer Elissa Johnson joining her in the endeavor. Lisio’s résumé includes posts at Blumhouse Television, Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and R.J. Cutler’s Actual Reality Pictures. She won an Emmy for History Channel feature Gettysburg and was nominated for Emmys for both Nat Geo’s Killing Jesus and Killing Kennedy. The story. |
'Little House on the Prairie' Reboot Scores Early S2 Renewal at Netflix ►📅 Second harvest guaranteed. 📅 Netflix has set a premiere date for its reboot of Little House on the Prairie — and ensured that there will be at least one more season with the Ingalls family. The streamer has ordered a second season of Little House, several months ahead of the show’s debut. The series based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved novels will premiere on July 9. The new series will retrace the steps of the Ingalls family as told in Wilder’s semi-autobiographical books. The show stars Alice Halsey as Laura, Skywalker Hughes as Laura’s older sister, Mary, and Luke Bracey and Crosby Fitzgerald as Pa and Ma Ingalls. The story.
—Face Palm Royale. Apple TV's Palm Royale won’t be returning for a third season. The end for the Emmy-nominated comedy series, from creator Abe Sylvia, comes following the season two finale that released on Jan. 14. The show boasted an all-star cast of Kristen Wiig, Carol Burnett, Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Amber Chardae Robinson, Mindy Cohn, Julia Duffy and Kaia Gerber, who rounded out a high-society set of characters in Palm Beach, Florida. The underdog story followed Wiig’s Maxine Dellacorte as she endeavored to cut into Palm Royale‘s cutthroat world. The story.
—🎭 Boarding. 🎭 Elle actress Jessica Belkin has joined the cast of Fox and Freemantle's Baywatch reboot. Belkin has scored the series regular role of Charlie Vale, the biological daughter of Baywatch captain Hobie Buchannon, son of Mitch Buchannon (who was portrayed by David Hasselhoff in the original series). Stephen Amell was the first announced star of the Baywatch reboot as Hobie Buchannon. David Chokachi will also reprise his role of Cody Madison after previously hailing from seasons six through nine of the original series. The reboot will feature 12 episodes and debut in the 2026-27 season. The story.
—Woof! The first Yellowstone-verse series to premiere on a broadcast network has carried on the franchise’s winning track record. Marshals, a Yellowstone spinoff focused on Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), drew the biggest premiere audience for a scripted show of the 2025-26 season — and quite a few seasons before that. Excluding shows with football as a lead-in, Sunday’s debut episode had the largest same-day audience (9.52m viewers) for a broadcast scripted series premiere since FBI topped 10m viewers in September 2018. (One caveat: Nielsen has changed its ratings collection methodology a few times since 2018.) The ratings. |
'GOT' Movie Officially in the Works at WB ►Shut up and take my money! The world of Game of Thrones could finally be heading to the big screen. Warner Bros. is developing a movie set in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world with House of Cards and Andor writer Beau Willimon. The news was first teased in THR's recent cover story profile of Martin, which revealed that both HBO and the WB film division were working on rival versions of the story of King Aegon I Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros. As THR reported, the film version is being envisioned as a mammoth, Dune-sized feature film. The story.
—📅 On the move. 📅 The sixth film in the Scary Movie franchise will slash its way into theaters a bit earlier than expected. Following Monday’s online trailer release for Scary Movie, Marlon Wayans — who wrote, produces and stars in the new title — took to Instagram the next day to announce that Paramount will now release the film theatrically on June 5. The latest installment in the revived property was previously slated to hit theaters June 12. The movie is now set for release on the same weekend that will also see the launches for Amazon's Masters of the Universe, Warner Bros.’ Animal Friends and Lionsgate’s Power Ballad. The story. |
How Korea's CJ ENM Became a Regular Oscars Contender ►"Now everything spreads through social media, and younger audiences are gathering recommendations and discovering content from all over the world, instantly." Bong Joon Ho's Parasite dominated the 2020 Academy Awards, winning best picture, best director, best screenplay and best international feature. As well as a huge success for the Korean film industry, the film's awards haul was a quick vindication for studio CJ ENM's global expansion plans. Since Parasite, the Korean studio has found further Oscar recognition with Celine Song's Past Lives and Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia. THR's Patrick Brzeski writes that following the playbook that led to success with Bugonia — that is, mining its library of cult Korean hits — CJ ENM is currently developing a remake of crime blockbuster The Veteran with Michael Mann, as well as Hollywood reimaginings of Park Chan-wook’s Lady Vengeance and Thirst. The story. |
TV Review: 'Young Sherlock' ►"A promising beginning and end sandwich a slog of a middle." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Amazon Prime Video's Young Sherlock. Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes and Dónal Finn is James Moriarty in this period action drama. Also starring Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone and Colin Firth. Created by Matthew Parkhill. Developed by Guy Ritchie and Peter Harness. The review.
—"Plenty of sun, not enough scruff." THR's Angie Han reviews ABC's RJ Decker. Adapted by Rob Doherty from a novel by Carl Hiaasen, the series follows a Tampa photojournalist who reinvents himself as a private investigator after a stint in prison. Starring Scott Speedman, Bevin Bru, Adelaide Clemens, Kevin Rankin and Jaina Lee Ortiz. Created by Rob Doherty, based on the novel Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen. The review.
In other news...
—Mike Myers to receive honorary Canadian Screen Award
—Alanis Morissette, Ella Langley to perform at Spotify’s SXSW showcase
—Alan Cumming, Bowen Yang help launch Necessary Foundation to support LGBTQ filmmakers
—Marc DeBevoise named OverDrive president
—Maria O’Brien, Protocol and Matlock actress, dies at 75
What else we're reading...
—In dystopian news, Drew Harwell reports that prediction-market site Kalshi is refusing to pay out $54m in bets wagered on Khamenei’s death [Washington Post]
—Frightening story from Guy Chazan, as he reports Trump has been calling far-right bigot Laura Loomer for pep talks and positive affirmation as his war with Iran tanks with the MAGA base [FT]
—Jessica Bennett and Katie Ryder profile Peggy Siegal, the powerful New York publicist who is all over the Epstein files [Intelligencer]
—Rukmini Callimachi reveals why Billy Joel’s dream Long Island home finally sold for $35.7m, $14m under the asking price [NYT]
—Berber Jin, Marcus Weisgerber and Amrith Ramkumar report that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is feeling the heat from staffers after his controversial deal with the Pentagon [WSJ]
Today...
...in 2011, Paramount released Gore Verbinski's Rango in theaters. The animated feature, which featured the voices of Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina and Bill Nighy, was a big critical and commercial hit. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Patricia Heaton (68), Paul W.S. Anderson (61), Sam Taylor-Johnson (59), Len Wiseman (53), Adrian Lyne (85), Garth Jennings (54), Bill Milner (31), Mykelti Williamson (69), Kay Lenz (73), Patsy Kensit (58), Jamie-Lee O'Donnell (39), Dominique Pinon (71), Daniel Roebuck (63), Steven Weber (65), Amanda Collin (40), Chaz Bono (57), Margo Harshman (40), Zach Hadel (33), Paula Prentiss (88), Tamzin Merchant (39), Vinette Robinson (44), Josh Bowman (38), Jenna Boyd (33), Park Min-young (40), Andrea Bowen (36), Scott Michael Foster (41), Stacy Edwards (61), Ronn Moss (74), Audrey Esparza (40), Will Keen (56), Brittney Powell (54), Miya Cech (19), Sam Marin (42), Lilli Cooper (36), Christine Baumgartner (52), Laura Michelle Kelly (45), Will Hochman (34), Adam Deacon (43) |
| Annabel Schofield, the Welsh-born model who went from being a defining face of 1980s London fashion to playing Laurel Ellis opposite Larry Hagman on the popular Dallas primetime soap, has died. She was 62. The obituary. |
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