Cinemark Reports $99 Million Loss Despite ‘Avatar 2’ Box Office Success

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox has named John Hesling its new head of Alternative Entertainment, the broadcast network’s in-house unscripted studio. Responsible for overseeing the development and production of all unscripted series owned by Fox Entertainment (FAE), as well as programs FAE produces for third-party buyers in the U.S. and abroad, Hesling will be based in Los Angeles and report to Allison Wallach, president of unscripted programming at Fox Entertainment. “I am so excited for John to join FAE and lead the incredible team we have assembled,” Wallach said. “His creative vision and vast experience as both a producer and an executive working on a global scale will be key to our strategy of building FAE as a leading provider of innovative series and formats for Fox and third-party platforms throughout the world.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Zachary Quinto has been cast in the lead role of the NBC drama pilot “Wolf,” Variety has learned. The project was first ordered to pilot at the broadcaster back in January. It is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars” by Oliver Sacks. Per the official logline, “Wolf” will follow “a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist (Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.” Quinto’s character is named Dr. Oliver Wolf. He is further described as “head of neurology at Bronx General and an obsessive genius. He’s drawn to people that society has deemed “other” and helps them find hope and purpose. He embraces differences rather than suppressing them.”

Hi team,It’s been nearly a year since Amazon acquired MGM, and through that time I’ve had the opportunity to get to know the MGM team and their work. I’ve been so impressed by the creativity and innovation and by the quality of the MGM slate, including Orion Pictures.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer After months of speculation, Amazon Studios has made it official with seasoned movie executive Courtenay Valenti. While many expected her to take the top film job at MGM, acquired by Amazon for $8.5 billion last year, Valenti has hammered out a hulked-up role that will give her considerable influence in feature programming. Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke told staff on Tuesday that Valenti has been named head of film, streaming and theatrical at both Amazon Studios and MGM. She will report directly to Salke, and be responsible for delivering “a well-rounded selection of tentpoles, prestige films and genre fare,” according to a memo.

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second weekend in a row with £3.04 million ($3.6 million), according to numbers from Comscore. In its fourth weekend, Universal’s “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” collected £1.7 million in second place for a total of £20.4 million. Another Universal title, Elizabeth Banks’ “Cocaine Bear,” debuted in third position with £1.5 million. Studiocanal’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” debuted in fourth place with £1.08 million. Rounding off the top five was Warner Bros.’ “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” that earned £470,020 in its third weekend for a total of £4.9 million.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke feels about Warner Bros. making competing projects based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Salke, who has held the top content job at Amazon since 2018, walked a Monday red carpet for the premiere of Michael B. Jordan’s “Creed III” where she spoke with Variety about last week’s news that Warner Bros. had secured film rights to some of Tolkien’s books. One of Salke’s defining moves at Amazon was to secure television rights to the same literary works, which she achieved at great expense. The first season of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premiered in 2022 with a big global marketing push and critical acclaim — as well as a reported budget north of $450 million for the first batch of episodes. Previously, Warner Bros. pushed out two massively successful film franchises with auteur Peter Jackson beginning in 2001. Those films grossed over $5 billion at the worldwide box office and brought home a best picture Oscar for one of the entries.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN hopes it’s finally hit upon a way to solve a long-vexing puzzle: What should it be airing at 9 p.m.? The solution requires the network to fit together many pieces. Starting this week, the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet will fill the hour with a range of different special reports, all under the rubric of “CNN Primetime.” Future 9 p.m. hours could include one-on-one interviews with newsmakers; town halls that put government officials in direct contact with the people affected by policy decisions; and other programs that feature surprising “gets” and scoops. The programming gambit backs away from the tried-and-true practice of relying on a single anchor or opinion host in the time slot, home to Sean Hannity, Alex Wagner and Rachel Maddow, and banks instead on creative ways of analyzing the news cycle.

As both the WGA and DGA head into talks for contract negotiations with the AMPTP, producers at last night’s PGA awards had a wait-and-see attitude.

Seven months after landing the highly coveted top jobs at Warner Bros. Motion Picture studios, Co-Chairpersons Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy were bestowed with the PGA Milestone award tonight and paid respect for their mega industry mentors, remembered emotionally their cinematic NYC and New Jersey youths, and gave a huge shoutout to their new boss, Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

said in a statement. “While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private-equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own.

Middle Earth is returning to the big screen.

The motivation for continuing to offer Discovery+ as a stand-alone streaming service after a combined offering with HBO Max debuts later this spring, is largely financial, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav says.

Call “2023 will be a year of building,” Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav made a point today on the company’s latest earnings call to sing the praises of CNN’s “more inclusive range of voices and viewpoints.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ added 1.1 million subscribers in Q4 to end 2022 with a total of 96.1 million worldwide. That’s up from the 95 million combined global streaming customers Warner Bros. Discovery hit from July 1-Sept. 30, the quarter during which the highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” debuted. During the Oct. 1-Dec. 31 quarter, “House of the Dragon” concluded its first season the second season of HBO’s hot Mike White drama “White Lotus” premiered. Details about the upcoming combined HBO Max-Discovery+ streamer — which does not yet have a name, launch date or pricing details — will be revealed at an April 12 press day.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery continued to work on making all its various pieces, merged together last year, into a cohesive whole. The New York owner of the TNT and TBS cable networks, the HBO Max streaming service and the Warner Bros. production studio reported a net loss of $2.1 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter after the company wrote down $1.85 billion in assets and faced nearly $1.2 billion in restructuring expenses. Revenue fell 9%, excluding the results of foreign exchange, and the company saw ad sales decrease 14% as its TV networks, even as it worked to add subscribers to its HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming outlets.

increasing by $1 to $15.99 per month, a change not reflected in the just-reported quarterly results. The hike came as Warner plans to launch a combined, ad-supported offering of HBO Max and Discovery+ later this year at a lower price point.

Warner Bros. Games Hogwarts Legacy, the open-world, action role-playing game has sold more than 12 million units and hit $850 million in sales globally and 280 million hours played in its first two weeks of launch, the company said, confirming a major hit as parent Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to release quarterly earnings shortly.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Hogwarts Legacy” has wingardium leviosa-ed Warner Bros. Games’ sales, earning $850 million in global sales and moving more than 12 million units in just its first two weeks post-launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. That marks the biggest global launch ever for the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned video game company, with the “Harry Potter” action role-playing game also setting the Twitch record for single-player games with 1.28 million peak concurrent viewers at launch. As Variety previously reported, “Hogwarts Legacy” opened with stunning player engagement, topping 267 million hours played from launch on Feb. 10 through Feb. 21. On Thursday, Warner Bros. Games revealed the game had broken company records with 280 million hours played to date.

UPDATED with TCM statement. Warner Bros Discovery’s TCM is officially discontinuing its Underground sub-brand, two months after laying off programmer Millie De Chirico.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max is officially moving forward with the “It” prequel series currently titled “Welcome to Derry,” Variety has learned. The show was first reported as being in development in March 2022, while Variety exclusively reported that the project had attached its co-showrunners in November. As previously reported, the series was developed for television by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs. “As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s ‘It’ until the thick paperback fell to pieces,” said the Muschiettis. “‘It’ is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our ‘It’ movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve’s novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity and horror.”

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas are set for a big honor at this year’s CinemaCon, the annual convention of movie theater owners.  Nolan and Thomas will receive the NATO Spirit of the Industry award, presented by the National Association of Theatre Owners, on April 27 at Las Vegas’ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. “I am deeply honored to present the Spirit of the Industry Award to our good friends Chris and Emma as my last official act as President of NATO,” noted NATO President and CEO John Fithian. “No one has done more to advance the theatrical experience than these two champions of cinema.”

Warner Bros/New Line/DC’s sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods hit early tracking Thursday and surprised many with a low projection of $35 million, which is under the first installment’s $53.5M opening in 2019.

BBC Studios is gearing up for next week’s Showcase event by signing a global first-look deal with former Warner Bros. Australia TV boss Shaun Murphy.

threadbare release slate and decades-low grosses in August and September. The premium format company reported earnings of $2.6 million or 19 cents per share, an improvement from last quarter’s loss of 3 cents per share and beating projections of 15 cents per share.While Imax’s total box office only reached $177 million in Q3, “Avatar: The Way of Water” alone nearly eclipsed that total with $160 million grossed in Q4.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer After struggling to re-create the magic of the “Harry Potter” film franchise with the lackluster spinoff trilogy “Fantastic Beasts,” Warner Bros. has finally struck galleons anew with its latest piece of Wizarding World IP: video game “Hogwarts Legacy.” The action role-playing game, produced by Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software, has clicked with Potterheads since its Feb. 10 release. Sales figures are yet to come, but it’s clear from the buzz factor and other measures — including sales charts in Japan, the U.K. and Europe — that fans are engaged. For one, the arrival of the game spurred the highest traffic in the “Harry Potter” community on fan platform Fandom in more than seven years.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Just days after Warner Bros. announced the cancellation of “Judge Mathis” after 24 seasons, Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group has scooped up the services of Judge Greg Mathis to host a new first-run one-hour strip for fall 2023. “Mathis Court with Judge Mathis” has been given a “firm go” by Allen Media Group, which is now pitching the show for broadcast, cable and distribution platforms.In addition to broadcast syndication, the show will join Allen Media Group’s eight court series are carried on its television network Justice Central, available in more than 50 million U.S. homes. Allen Media Group’s “America’s Court with Judge Ross” (which premiered in fall 2010), as well as “Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez,” “Justice with Judge Mablean,” “Supreme Justice with Judge Karen,” “The Verdict with Judge Hatchett,” “We the People with Judge Lauren Lake” and “Equal Justice with Judge Eboni K. Williams.” (“Equal Justice” also premieres in fall 2023.) “Judge Greg Mathis is an outstanding, charismatic, and iconic television host, and we are extremely confident that our eighth and newest court series with Judge Mathis will be very successful for years to come as he joins our outstanding roster of talent, including Judge Kevin Ross, Judge Mablean Ephriam, Judge Christina Perez, Judge Karen Mills-Francis, Judge Glenda Hatchett, Judge Lauren Lake, and Judge Eboni K. Williams,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, which produces and distributes globally.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, Music Veteran music publicists Luke Burland and Bobbie Gale are teaming up to form a new firm, 2b Entertainment. The two share more than 30 years experience working with artists, music companies and brands. Both previously served in senior media relations positions at Warner Bros. Records (now known as Warner Records) and as in-demand indies — Burland, most recently at BB Gun Press (founded by Brian Bumbery, currently a top communications executive at Apple Music); Gale at her own MixedMediaWorks. Based in Los Angeles, 2b Entertainment’s client roster includes Jojo Siwa, Danny Elfman, Mike Dean, Holly Humberstone, Josh Groban, Julian Casablancas, Justin Tranter, Maggie Lindemann, Meghan Trainor, My Chemical Romance, OK Go, Shania Twain and Steve Earle, among other artists. Corporate accounts run across entertainment, lifestyle and fashion, representing such brands as CITI, +1 Records, Laylo, Dad Grass, Muserk and Cosm. (See the full roster here.)

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” debuted in pole position at the U.K. and Ireland box office with £8.8 million ($10.6 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. In its third weekend, Universal’s “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” collected £3.1 million in second place for a total of £17.1 million. In third place, Warner Bros.’ “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” earned £888,435 in its second weekend for a total of £3.8 million. Disney blockbuster“Avatar: The Way Of Water” continued to chart with £531,213 in its 10th weekend in fourth place for a mighty total of £75.5 million.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Don Lemon will be absent from “CNN This Morning” for a second consecutive broadcast as CNN continues to grapple with backlash to comments he made last week about the abilities of women over 40 — a crucial demographic for any morning-news program. Three people familiar with the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed network say CNN staffers got word around 3 p.m. on Sunday that Lemon, who had been expected to return to his morning duties after taking a previously-scheduled day off on Friday, would not be on air Monday. Sara Sidner, an anchor who has been getting more screen time over the past year, is expected to fill in for him, sitting alongside co-anchor Poppy Harlow while the third member of CNN’s morning show team, Kaitlan Collins, will report from Poland. Some CNN staffers have begun to wonder, according to these people, whether the network may be considering a shake-up of the “CNN This Morning” team.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor A pair of Oscar bellwether ceremonies took place this weekend, heralding uncertainty and unpredictability to an awards season where no one agrees on what contenders will end up taking home Academy Awards. The DGA Awards, which has historically matched up best with the eventual winner of best director, chose the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. They’re the third directing team to win in the DGA’s 75-year history (after Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for “West Side Story” and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men”). Only eight DGA winners have failed to walk away with the Academy Award in the same season, with the last instance being Sam Mendes (“1917”), who won at DGA but lost to Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) at the 2020 Oscars.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The verdict is in: Syndicated court staples “Judge Mathis” and “The People’s Court” will both end their run at the end of this season, Variety has confirmed. “Judge Mathis” will wrap after 24 seasons, while this most recent iteration of “The People’s Court” wraps after its 26th season. Season 24 and Season 26, respectively.  Both shows come from Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Telepictures Productions and are distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. According to insiders, the decision was made due to the declining nature of the daytime syndication landscape. As local TV stations shrink their syndication dollars and the advertising marketplace shrinks for daytime syndication, first-run syndication has become a trickier landscape. At the same time, station groups have been expanding their local news broadcasts, also in a bid to save money.

Warner Bros. Pictures Group has signed a multiyear first-look directing and producing agreement with two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker M.

Angelique Jackson M. Night Shyamalan has inked a new multi-year, first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, with the Oscar-nominated filmmaker switching his allegiance from Universal. The announcement was made Thursday by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy. News of the pact comes as the director celebrates his latest release “Knock at the Cabin,” which marks his seventh No. 1 opening at the box office — he has a No. 1 film in each of the last four decades — and further contributes to his more than $3 billion haul at the global box office, beginning with his breakout hit, “The Sixth Sense.” “Where I write and direct is my home,” Shyamalan said in a statement announcing the new deal. “Disney and Universal, where I’ve made most of my films, will always be home and family to me. Warner Bros. has a storied history of cinema. Through its recent experiences, the company has rediscovered its love and appreciation for filmmakers, and the impact of the theatrical experience. We all win when movies succeed in theaters. I believe David Zaslav, Michael De Luca, and Pam Abdy have dedicated themselves to unique filmmakers, and to filling theaters all around the world for years to come.”

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Pictures Group has inked a multi-year first-look directing and producing agreement with two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, whose movies have grossed $3.3 billion at the box office.

Selome Hailu “The Last of Us” has debuted on Nielsen’s weekly streaming Top 10 rankings with 837 million minutes watched from Jan. 16-22, the first full week that Episode 1 was available on HBO Max. And as Nielsen’s viewing window ends on Sunday nights, which is when the show debuts, this number also includes viewership of Episode 2 in its first few hours of streaming. This is the series’ first time making the chart, though Nielsen did previously report that Episode 1 was viewed for 233 million minutes during the Jan. 9-15 window, which only included the episode’s first few hours of availability. To contextualize that major accomplishment, 233 million is more than one-third of the viewership achieved by that week’s No. 10 title, which had been streaming for an entire week.

Warner Bros Discovery chief executive David Zaslav earned $232 million in excess compensation in 2021, according to As You Sow’s latest annual ranking of the most overpaid CEOs among S&P 500 companies. Amazon, Apple, Disney and Netflix are also high up in the group’s ninth report that looks beyond total pay in its own attempt to quantify overpay and draw attention to some pressing issues in the space.