WGA & Studio CEOs Near Deal Finish Line, Working On Fine Print

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.

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.

Just as studios were quick to start suspending overall and first-look deals just days after the start of the WGA strike, several began to restore suspended pacts right after the strike ended Wednesday morning.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Lead negotiators for SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will head back to the table on Monday, Oct. 2, after a bitter concurrent strike led by the Writes Guild of America was resolved on Tuesday. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume negotiations for a new TV/Theatrical contract on Monday, Oct.

During an interview with GQ, director Martin iScorsese revealed that Warner Bros. asked him to alter the ending of his film The Departed so that a sequel could be birthed.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros Discovery’s JB Perrette warns that the global streaming market faces pain and consolidation over the next three to five years, but he says that the merged group has what it takes to be among the big five groups that pull through. And, to win the war of attrition and consolidation, WBD may choose not to fight every battle. Perrette, WBD’s CEO and president of global streaming and games, said that the company’s Max streaming product is to be rolled out in a largely pre-determined sequence, one that arrives in Latin America and Europe before arriving in parts of Asia. But, speaking on Wednesday at the APOS conference in Indonesia, Perrette said that in some markets Max may never happen, and that WBD may favor local partnerships instead. “If we think we’re going to have success and profitability, if our market differentiation is viable enough to make a go of it and have a profitable business over a three-to-five year timeline [then we will launch Max.] If the answer is ‘no’ because the market has ARPUs that are just too low or it is way over-served by a ton of other players, who are spending on a ton of content and losing a ton of money, we may say this is not the right time,” said Perrette. “If we think we can be successful based on the three metrics that we have [profitability, market share and scale] then, yes, great, we’ll go and figure out how best to tackle it.

This is Day 76 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Naked Attraction, a British reality series that features a form of full frontal nudity, has been making headlines after it was added to streaming service Max.

Media entrepreneur Byron Allen, one of many parties interested in acquiring ABC and other linear TV assets from Disney, said he has “access to plenty of capital,” and Disney’s internal deliberations are the next hurdle to be cleared.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Martin Scorsese revealed in an interview with GQ magazine that Warner Bros. wished to turn his Oscar winner “The Departed” into a franchise, much to his disagreement. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a Massachusetts State Police officer and Matt Damon as a Boston gang member who go undercover to infiltrate each other’s organizations.

This is Day 76 of the SAG-AFTRA strike. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A new trade group — the Streaming Innovation Alliance — brings together Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and other players to promote their interests to politicians and government entities. It marks the first time competing streaming-video providers have banded together in a unified lobbying front.

Emiliano De Pablos European production-distribution giant Studiocanal is teaming with Spain’s Mr. Fields and Friends and Bambú, both led by producer Ramón Campos, on dramatic comedy “Rondallas,” written-directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (“BlueDarkAlmostBlack,” “Cousinhood,” “Seventeen”).

Brent Lang Executive Editor Shares of major media companies fluctuated on news that studios and streamers have reached a tentative agreement with the writers’ union on a new contract, potentially ending a strike that started in May. There are also hopes that a possible deal with the Writers Guild of America could set the stage for a similar pact with actors, who have been on the picket lines since July. The dual strikes have brought production to a standstill and could mean that several high-profile movies and shows are delayed.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached a tentative agreement with the major Hollywood studios to end their strike!

After 146 days on the picket line, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has struck a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to end the writers’ strike.

according to Variety and other outlets. They called the new contract “exceptional” and said it would have “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”“What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” part of the email from the WGA Negotiating Committee states, Variety reported.“It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”The likely deal comes as both sides took part in intensive bargaining over the weekend.There were signs last week that the strike, which brought Hollywood to a halt for 146 days, appeared to be nearing the end when the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers issued a joint statement that they were back in talks.The Alliance represents studios, streaming services and producers in the negotiations.Union leaders met Wednesday with top studio bosses including Disney CEO Robert Iger, Warner Bros.

EXCLUSIVE: The roller coaster ride of the Writers Guild and the Hollywood studios trying to seal a deal to end the writers’ nearly 5-month-long strike isn’t over yet.

WGA and Hollywood’s major studios are in the final phase of hammering out a three-year contract that will bring an end to one of the longest strikes in Hollywood history. Legal representatives for labor and management were said to be huddling on the fine print of language in complicated contract issues such as the use of generative artificial intelligence and groundbreaking elements for the WGA’s minimum basic agreement, such as a formula for a minimum staff guarantee for episodic TV and a “success-based” residual from subscription platforms that is designed to funnel more money into the WGA’s pension and health funds. The nitty gritty details of the terms around the AI proposal has been one of the final hurdles to overcome, multiple sources said.

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy has revealed that studio bosses wanted to cast Leonardo DiCaprio as a key villain.David S Goyer wrote the three Batman adaptations alongside Nolan. He’s now explained how, at the premier of The Dark Knight, the head of Warner Bros studio put forward the suggestion of DiCaprio as an actor to appear in The Dark Knight Rises.Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Goyer said the boss suggested that DiCaprio should play The Riddler in the final film in the trilogy.

The Writers Guild brass and studios CEOs were working tonight to close a deal to end the scribes’ strike , but it seems they aren’t quite there yet.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Hollywood studios continued into Friday night as questions swirled around town regarding whether a deal had been reached or if talks had once again broken down. There is no word yet on a potential deal, but insiders with knowledge of ongoings in the room say there is momentum on both sides to find a resolution that will end the 144-day writers strike. Friday’s talks are said to have begun at approximately 11 a.m.

This is Day 144 of the WGA strike and Day 71 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Jake Gyllenhaal almost played Batman in Christopher Nolan‘s trilogy!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director David S. Goyer is the co-architect of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. The director recruited Goyer to help him flesh out the story and co-write 2005’s “Batman Begins,” before Nolan and his brother Jonathan penned the scripts for 2008’s “The Dark Knight” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” based on stories cracked by Goyer.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Max fans who don’t relish the idea of coughing up $9.99 per month more to access the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer’s upcoming live sports tier might not realize that they’ve been making out like bandits with seemingly “free” sports content on other platforms for years, according to WBD global streaming chief JB Perrette.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Viewers of landmark series on Amazon Prime Video like “The Boys” or “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” will soon be offered something never made available on the service before: TV commercials. Amazon Prime Video, one of the last mainstream streaming services to eschew the injection of regular commercial breaks into its movies and shows, plans to start letting them run early next year.

WGA and [Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers] met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow,” the WGA said in a negotiations update message sent to members late Thursday. “Your Negotiating Committee appreciates all the messages of solidarity and support we have received the last few days, and ask as many of you as possible to come out to the picket lines tomorrow.” The WGA has been out since May 2.

The WGA is heading back to the bargaining table with the CEOs of Netflix, Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros Discovery on Friday.

EXCLUSIVE: A second day of direct negotiations between the Writers Guild and studio CEOs has concluded this evening.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery is giving DC Studios a primary production hub at its U.K.-based TV and film studio Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the home of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” amid a sprawling plan to expand the location by more than 50% capacity and 10 sound stages.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A major transition at the top of a big company typically spells significant change. Just ask anyone who has worked for CNN while parent company WarnerMedia passed along to AT&T and then the new Warner Bros. Discovery.