Dispatches From The Picket Lines: Scribes Celebrate New Deal While Showing Solidarity With SAG-AFTRA

Refresh for latest…: Just as it came in lower than hoped for domestically, Universal/Blumhouse/Morgan Creek’s The Exorcist: Believer didn’t fully convert overseas audiences, summoning a $17.9M international box office debut for $45.1M global. The R-rated David Gordon Green-directed reboot/sequel did see some of its 52 launch markets give it a No. 1 start, while in like-for-likes, the bow is above M3GAN, Evil Dead Rise, Scream VI and Smile. (As regards the latter, recall that it legged out with terrific holds, so the comparison may not stick down the line since scores on Believer are not good, and Taylor Swift is on deck.) 

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Anonymous Content enacted a small round of layoffs on Friday, representing about 8% of the workforce at a company of around 170 people. The talent management and production shop reduced staff across all divisions, including representation, television, motion picture, literary, media rights and branded entertainment. Insiders familiar with Anonymous cited the Hollywood labor strikes and a volatile larger entertainment marketplace as reasons for the job cuts.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser was “devastated” when Warner Bros. announced that “Dune: Part Two” was shifting its release date from Nov. 2023 to March 2024.

This is Day 86 of the SAG-AFTRA strike. 

Rooster Teeth is moving its content from YouTube to its own website, a move designed to bolster revenue that will allow them to create more content.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Rooster Teeth has pulled some content off YouTube, claiming the video platform’s ad-supported economics don’t make sense. Rooster Teeth, Warner Bros. Discovery’s fandom, gaming and comedy entertainment brand, has removed some of its most popular animated shows, including “Red vs.

EXCLUSIVE: In addition to streaming on Disney+, all 11 live-action Star Wars movies will now also be available on Disney’s linear networks — including broadcast (ABC) and cable (FX nets, Freeform) — starting this month. The arrangement stems from Disney renegotiating the existing domestic licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Networks, which will continue to carry the full suite of movies.

After thirty-five years of development and waiting, Kevin Costner‘s Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” begins next year. And the first part of the long-gestating passion project for the actor-director arrives in theaters in two parts: Part One in June 2024, and Part Two in August.

Warner Bros. Discovery international boss Gerhard Zeiler has set a new leadership structure for his team following a spate of exits in the past few weeks.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Amid a widespread executive exodus, Warner Bros. Discovery’s international boss Gerhard Zeiler sent out a memo to the staff today laying out the company’s new global leadership structure. Following France boss Pierre Branco’s exit earlier this week, WBD has tapped Clément Schwebig to oversee France, Benelux, Afrique, Allemagne, Autriche and Suisse.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Barry Keoghan‘s latest profile in Esquire magazine reveals that he spent $10 to make his viral self-tape audition for Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” which introduced Robert Pattinson as the latest iteration of the Caped Crusader. Keoghan sent in a tape to play the Riddler, though Paul Dano ended up getting the role. However, Keoghan impressed Reeves enough to land a surprise role that wasn’t on his radar: Joker.

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

In the long history of horror films since the dawn of cinema, it would be hard to imagine any of them quite having the particular impact of 1973’s The Exorcist which became the first horror film ever to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, along with nine other nominations including Best Actress for Ellen Burstyn. It eventually won two Academy Awards for William Peter Blatty’s screenplay based on his 1971 novel, and for the bone chilling Sound work. When I saw it as a young kid in its original incarnation at the National Theatre in Westwood (now no longer existing), there were lines like you have never seen wrapping completely around the block. Warner Bros. even put a nurse on duty in the lobby for those who passed out, no mere gimmick because it actually happened. Nothing I have seen since in the genre has matched that one for me, but it wasn’t for Hollywood not trying. There are countless imitations, even a couple of failed direct sequels including the dreadful 1977 followup, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and the forgettable Exorcist III: Legion in 1990. There have been TV series attempts, an origin angle with Exorcist: The Beginning in 2004, and countless others using the come-on Exorcist in their title. Earlier this year we even had another film, based on the Vatican’s longtime real life demon slayer, The Pope’s Exorcist which thanks to a dedicated performance by Russell Crowe worked quite well on its own terms

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max turned in the highest total customer satisfaction rating among U.S. subscription-streaming services, according to the results of Whip Media’s 2023 Streaming Satisfaction Report.

In another latest salvo amid tensions between video providers and programmers, DirecTV sent a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery warning that offering CNN as part of its streaming package risks violating the contract between the two companies.

The Golden Bachelor is truly golden for ABC and Hulu. The series premiere of The Bachelor spinoffranks as the highest-rated premiere on Hulu for any series in The Bachelor franchise (The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise), and as thenetwork’s No. 1 series premiere ever on the streaming platform in Live+3 with 1.76 million views.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor At least one of the big companies that distribute CNN via cable or satellite is unnerved by how closely the company’s new live-streaming service looks like its TV network. Big satellite distributor DirecTV has let executives at Warner Bros. Discovery know via letter that its executives believe the similarities between the two products violate the carriage contract between the two companies, according to a person familiar with the matter.

EXCLUSIVE: Amidst one of the most creatively fertile periods in his career to date, actor Michael Cera has taken on new agents at CAA.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery is hiking the price of Discovery+ by nearly 30% in the U.S. and Canada, effective immediately.

Naman Ramachandran Disney sci-fi epic “The Creator” and Lionsgate U.K.’s horror franchise entry “Saw X” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office — and the race was almost too close to call. “Saw X” won the three-day total with £1.92 million ($2.31 million), while “The Creator” was just behind with £1.89 million ($2.27 million).

Late-night talk shows are returning after a five-month absence brought on by the Hollywood writers strike, while actors will begin talks that could end their own long work walk-off.

One down, and more to come.

This is Day 82 of the SAG-AFTRA strike. 

EXCLUSIVE: Following major roles in everything from Netflix’s Sex/Life to the hit Prime Video pic Red, White & Royal Blue and New Line/Warner Bros’ Black Adam, actress Sarah Shahi has signed with agency Independent Artist Group, at the same time inking with Untitled Entertainment for management.

SAG-AFTRA is set to sit down with the studios today to restart talks on a deal for the actors.

Back at the bargaining table Monday for the first time in more than two and a half months, SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood studios and streamers have a long way to go to make a deal – even with the momentum gained by the end of the writers’ strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor AI, streaming residuals and minimum rate hikes will be among the key issues on the table when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers sit down Monday for the first formal bargaining talks since the performers union went on strike July 14. SAG-AFTRA and negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to meet around midday at the union’s Miracle Mile headquarters at SAG-AFTRA Plaza. The talks follow the settlement the AMPTP reached last week with the Writers Guild of America after a 148-day strike.

“Gangs of New York.”“I realized that I couldn’t work if I had to make films that way ever again,” Scorsese told GQ in a profile published last week.“If that was the only way that I was able to be allowed to make films, then I’d have to stop,” he said. “Because the results weren’t satisfying. It was at times extremely difficult, and I wouldn’t survive it.

“I have a deep, deep fear of humiliation. And also, you sort of know it’s down to you. You can say it’s a s**tty script or the director’s a d**k or blah, blah, blah, but at the end of the day, no one’s going to care about the reasons. You’re the one who everyone’s going to say is lame. And the vast majority of people will say you’re lame even when you tried your best.”

BreAnna Bell ABC‘s “The Golden Bachelor” seems to have reenergized “The Bachelor” audience as the show opened to solid ratings on Thursday night, delivering the strongest debut performance from a “Bachelor” franchise series since 2021. Produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in conjunction with ABC, the more mature take on the dating show debuted to an audience of 4.36 million total viewers.

It’s staffing season in September. A number of new series picked up right before or during the writers strike are assembling their writers rooms. And, picking up where they left off, a number of writers rooms that were either shut down or delayed by the WGA strike in May are ramping back up and are expected to be up and running early next week.

It was everything everywhere all at once Thursday in New York City: Striking actors getting ready for contract talks were joined by writers who have just wrapped up theirs at a rally in Manhattan that also highlighted Asian American Pacific Islander culture in film and television. 

Now that the Writers Guild of America strike is officially over, deals that were suspended are in the process of being reinstated.

was unceremoniously shelved by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav last year, and actor Henry Cavill was fired from the role of Superman shortly after.

K.J. Yossman Rachel Griffiths has been cast as the lead in “Madam,” a new dramedy series about an escort agency. Griffiths, best known for her roles in “Six Feet Under” and “Brothers & Sisters,” stars as McKenzie ‘Mack’ Leigh, who sets up an ethical brothel in New Zealand after her philandering husband and mountain of debt leave her struggling to provide for her family.

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media Analyst While “Barbie” may have been a huge opening salvo in Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz’s plan to turn toy brands into media IP, it’s just the beginning of a versatile long-term strategy that will extend far beyond the cinema to TV and gaming for the likes of “Monster High” and “Hot Wheels.” That was Kreiz’s message at his keynote Q&A at the Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit last week in Los Angeles, where he celebrated the big win the Warner Bros. movie delivered for the toy company’s iconic doll — but put it in a broader context.