| | | | | | Mea culpas, elusive moguls, eye-popping deal figures and weird media narratives are on offer in this edition of The Weekender, a pre-Oscar week niche-cast of our own. — Erik Hayden
+ Ticker: Meghan Markle loses backing; Byron Allen bets on Starz; Jeff Shell fights a whistleblower; Gayle King makes a deal with Bari Weiss.
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The Last Laugh 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. Alex Weprin's story.
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Megan Is Hiring The sibling of Hollywood’s resident M&A king David Ellison is quietly rebuilding after a splashy Sundance sale and the hiring of co-heads of film, Chelsea Barnard and Matthew Budman. Megan Ellison, the auteur-loving producer behind Annapurna, is gearing up for an industry reemergence. Mia Galuppo's report.
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Why Not Timothée? The 30-year-old superstar markets himself like nobody else. This has helped open his movies to major box-office success — but Oscar voters may take more convincing. The merits of his approach have drawn scrutiny for going on two years now. David Canfield's column. |
Brutally Honest Ballot As Academy Awards voting ends, THR's often copied, never matched anonymous Oscar voter series is back. For Ballot #1, a female member of the Academy’s 719-person documentary branch who has no connection to any of this year’s nominees, granted a cloak of anonymity in return for candor, speaks about her ballot. Scott Feinberg's feature.
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He'd Like a Word Former Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton is out with a new book, which has him talking about his disastrous decision to greenlight Seth Rogen's The Interview and the infamous cyberattack that followed. "I buried it all," he says, "the anger, the embarrassment, the shame, the pain my family endured." Lacey Rose's Q&A.
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Affleck's AI Bet Netflix is getting into the AI business with Ben Affleck. This isn’t an output deal, it’s a business deal, with the streaming giant set to acquire an AI-powered filmmaking technology company that Affleck quietly founded a few years ago. Crucially, its focus is on filmmaking technique, not the performance of the actors. Alex Weprin's report.
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They Said It "Few places have shaped my sense of L.A. as an enchanted Shangri-La more than this place." — Designer Ken Fulk, creative director for a Beverly Hills Hotel revamp project. "Los Angeles is not clinging to outdated systems." — L.A. councilmember Adrin Nazarian, upon passing proposals to streamline the city's production system. "If you have world-class IP, you’re gonna be in great shape." — Jeff Zucker, on an $8 billion deal to unite 170 production banners in a Banijay-All3Media merger. "Our visual approach to the show is going to feel different - a warmer sort of tone." — AMPAS president Lynette Howell Taylor, in previewing the Oscars. "Today the concert industry is broken." — David Dahlquist, an attorney for the DOJ, during the opening kick off of the Live Nation antitrust trial. "The creative differences were becoming untenable." — Scott Patterson, on why he left Sullivan’s Crossing after three seasons. |
Renewal Scorecard It's that time of year again. What's renewed, canceled or still in limbo? Welcome back to THR’s annual, live updating guide to what’s returning, what’s not and what’s new at the networks. Stability is the play across the big four broadcasters. Rick Porter's tracking guide. |
Niche-casting Online creators are launching talk shows about the narrowest of topics, from trucking logistics to advertising to, well, the business of Hollywood. In the livestream landscape, could smaller be better? "This is how people are getting content today." Andrew Zucker's report. |
MAGA Media Split With her new multipart series Candace Owens has trained her sights on the Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk and exposed a fault line running through the heart of the American right. The backlash from within conservative media has been unusually sharp. Kevin Dolak's feature. |
The Skeptic Michael Tracey, a Substack-based indie journalist known for his contrarian instincts, thinks the Epstein case may have broken our brains. Having long ago escaped the confines of a courtroom, the saga has metastasized into what he calls a “conspiratorial everything theory,” swallowing presidents and princes, financiers and Hollywood executives, intelligence agencies and late night punchlines. Seth Abramovitch's profile. |
Mark Your Calendar Oscars week always brings a jam-packed schedule of events and this year is no different. In the lead-up to Hollywood’s biggest night on March 15, there are plenty of happenings each day, from lunches and cocktail parties to galas and more awards. And on Oscar Sunday, once the statues have finally been handed out, there are plenty of options to let loose. The full parties guide. |
Around Town Keri Russell celebrated her Actor Awards win at the Netflix afterparty in LA. Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis paired up at the premiere of their new Prime Video series Scarpetta in NYC. Ang Lee received a special honor at the annual Eddie Awards. Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Lily Collins and Charlie McDowell attended the Desert Smash Celebrity Pickleball Challenge in Palm Springs. Margaret Cho, Roz Hernandez and Matteo Lane took part in Lambda Legal's Stand Up For Equality event in Beverly Hills. All 35 photos from this week's premieres and events. |
The Bottom Line Snapshots from THR's team of critics: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! is "best left at the altar." Pixar's Hoppers is "clever, funny and visually appealing." Olive Nwosu's neo-noir first feature Lady marks a "vivid debut." Netflix's Alan Ritchson sci-fi actioner War Machine is "hopelessly basic." HBO's Steve Carell college comedy Rooster "can't figure out what it wants to be." Guy Ritchie’s Amazon series Young Sherlock is "dumb fun that’s more dumb than fun." ABC's Scott Speedman crime procedural RJ Decker has "plenty of sun, not enough scruff." |
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