X’s Unique Un-Sales Strategy: CEO Linda Yaccarino Woos Advertisers; Owner Elon Musk Drives Them Away

Over the last couple of years, we’ve been treated to several George Michael-focused features; from the posthumous Michael co-directed George Michael: Freedom Uncut to this year’s Netflix Wham! documentary. Here’s another chronicle of the pop icon from director Simon Napier-Bell who manages to peel away the gloss and offer a different angle.George Michael: Portrait of an Artist starts at the beginning: the Wham! years, where two school friends met and formed what would become one of the biggest bands of their time.

Bob Marley: One Love which will arrive in cinemas next February. Terence Winter & Frank E.

Masters of the Air, a new series set for Apple TV+ from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.The limited series comes to the streamer next year and stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, Academy Award-nominee Barry Keoghan, Josiah Cross, Branden Cook and Ncuti Gatwa.Apple TV+ will release the first two episodes of its nine-episode season on Friday, January 26, followed by one new episode every Friday through March 15, 2024.Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name, and scripted by John Orloff, “Masters of the Air” follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air. Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich, is at the heart of “Masters of the Air.” Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all.Ranging in location from the bucolic fields and villages of southeast England, to the harsh deprivations of a German prisoner-of-war camp, and depicting a unique and crucial time in world history, Masters of the Air is said to be enormous in both scale and scope.

Killers of the Flower Moon digital release has been confirmed and it is earlier than you may think with Martin Scorsese’s latest film arriving this very week. The Cannes-debuting period crime drama will be available to rent or buy digitally in over 100 countries from 5th December in collaboration with Paramount, reports Deadline.

Self Reliance. The film will land on the streamer soon with Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Natalie Morales, Andy Samberg, GaTa, Emily Hampshire, Mary Holland, Boban Marjanovi?, Christopher Lloyd, and Wayne Brady among the main cast.This one premiered at SXSW earlier in the year and will land on Hulu stateside on 12th January.

Marching Powder. The film is their fifth together following the likes of Outlaw’(2007), The Business (2005) The Football Factory (2004) and Goodbye Charlie Bright (2001), and will be released in cinemas in 2024.Marching Powder follows the story of Jack (Danny Dyer), a middle aged, drug taking football hooligan, who is arrested and given six weeks to turn his life around, or else face a long spell in prison. Juggling his marriage, his hard nut bully of a father-in-law and his wayward 25-year-old stepbrother, Kenny Boy, Jack tries to get his life back on track, but slowly his world starts to spiral hilariously out of control.On the film and reuniting with Nick Love, Danny Dyer commented: “I’m buzzing to be getting back on the horse with Nick, he’s the only f*cking idiot stupid enough. “Marching Powder” is class, we’re back in the world of The Football Factory with more violence, more drugs and lots of f*cking comedy, you’re going to love it.“Writer / Director Nick Love commented, “At this point in my career, it’s either ‘Marching Powder’ or the dole so thank God Danny Dyer said yes to playing the lead. It’s gonna be a blast and we can’t wait to share the film with the world, if they can handle it.”The Independent British feature film starts shooting in London in January 2024 and will be released in cinemas by new distributor True Brit Entertainment later that year.The film marks Dyer’s first film role since leaving hit soap Eastenders.More as it comes in.When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.@ THN - The Hollywood News 2023

Bob Marley: One Love.James Norton, Tosin Cole, Umi Myers, Anthony Welsh, Nia Ashi, Aston Barrett Jr., Anna-Sharé Blake, Gawaine “J-Summa” Campbell, Naomi Cowan, Alexx A-Game, Michael Gandolfini, Quan-Dajai Henriques, David Kerr, Hector Roots Lewis, Abijah “Naki Wailer” Livingston, Nadine Marshall, Sheldon Shepherd, Andrae Simpson, and Stefan A.D Wade are also among the cast.The film celebrates the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity. On the big screen for the first time, discover Bob’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music.

Saltburn, a firm fave on the festival circuit, and indeed here on the site, is set to arrive on Prime Video all around the world from 22nd December.Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan lead the cast of the film which is written and directed by Fennell.Academy Award winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.We reviewed the film recently describing it as ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley by the way of Rules of Attraction and Cruel Intentions.

Heartstopper‘s Joe Locke is headed to Broadway in Sweeney Todd!

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh‘s new series The Brothers Sun has its first trailer!

Benjamin Zephaniah, a famed and celebrated poet and actor in works including Peaky Blinders, has tragically passed away at the age of 65.

Nicolas Cage doesn’t really care if you know he’s related to Francis Ford Coppola. 

EXCLUSIVE: Heartstopper breakout star Joe Locke will make his Broadway debut next month when he joins the cast of the hit Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Keeley Hawes (It’s A Sin, Bodyguard) and Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Vigil) will star in Miss Austen, the television adaptation of Gill Hornby’s bestselling novel that’s in the works for Masterpiece. The BBC has acquired the series, which is distributed by Federation Studios.

Hollywood dealmaking is becoming more reliant on the international market. That’s the word from production execs from Universal International Studios, Fremantle, Anonymous Content and Studiocanal talking on an Asia TV Forum & Market panel in Singapore today. 

EXCLUSIVE: Gersh Agency bosses have backed a new African streamer with a seven-figure investment.

Andrew Garfield shared insights into his early days in Hollywood, experiences working on the Spider-Man franchise and thoughts about Red Sea International Festival Festival during his masterclass at the festival today. 

EXCLUSIVE: Tubi has acquired North American rights to Spanish and English-language thriller Upon Entry from French sales firm Charades and Anonymous Content Independent.

Staffers of The Washington Post picketed in front of the media outlet’s K Street headquarters on Thursday, staging a 24-hour walkout to protest the lack of a new agreement with the newsroom union and the terms of a buyout offer.

Blood from transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, who was stabbed 28 times in a "frenzied" knife attack, was found on the trainers and jacket of a boy accused of her murder, a jury heard.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After Elon Musk last month decided to banish article headlines from posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, he’s bringing them back — but in a different format. In early October, Musk said the removal of headlines under posts of links on X would “greatly improve the esthetics.” On Wednesday, the tech mogul said, “In an upcoming release, X will overlay title in the upper potion of the image of a URL card.” He noted in a follow-up that the headlines would appear overlaid on the image of an article, not below it: “Every pixel matters,” Musk wrote.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The top executive of Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision defended the company’s recent decision to interview former President Donald Trump in a non-confrontational manner and suggested the media conglomerate was shifting some of its long-held political attitudes “We made a decision to adopt a strategy that is different than what some other major networks are using, which has been labeled as partisan,” said Wade Davis, CEO of the company and one of its financail architects, in a statement. Davis, a former Viacom CFO, purchased a majority stake in Univision in 2020, then merged it with Mexican TV provider Televisa in 2022. “Univision’s news strategy is one that is non-partisan and objective, and we serve our audience by being welcoming of competing issues, ideas, candidates and parties.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Middle East streamer OSN+ is joining forces with Anghami, the Arab world’s rival to Spotify, in what is being touted as a landmark deal. The combination of OSN+ and Anghami will become the first platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to provide customers premium movies, TV series and music.

It wasn’t exactly the “split second” the courthouse opened this morning as promised, but Elon Musk has now filed his self-described “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After a spate of major advertisers said they were halting spending on X over owner Elon Musk’s support of an antisemitic conspiracy theory, the tech mogul said he plans to file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against a research group that had claimed to find ads on X/Twitter running against pro-Nazi and white nationalist posts. On Friday, Disney, Warner Bros.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney has joined a growing list of blue-chip advertisers who are pulling advertising and promotions from the social-media outlet X in the wake of a recent antisemitic remark posted by the venue’s owner, Elon Musk. A Lionsgate spokesperson said Friday that the entertainment company “has suspended advertising on X because of Elon Musk’s recent antisemitic tweet.” The move comes as Lionsgate is marketing the release of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” the latest film in its “Hunger Games” franchise.

Jordan Moreau More Harlivy is on the way. Max has renewed “Harley Quinn” for Season 5, just a couple months after Season 4 finished its run. The animated DC series starring Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn and Lake Bell as Poison Ivy has proven to be a hit for Max, and it even has its own spinoff, “Kite Man: Hell Yeah,” coming in 2024.

Media, entertainment and tech companies held their own in the top 25 ranking of overpaid CEOs in 2022 by nonprofit As You Sow. Live Nation’s Michael Rapino ($139 million pay package) topped the list, which also included Netflix, Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery, as well as Charter, Apple and Alphabet.

William Earl The Variety Entertainment Summit returns to CES on Jan. 10 at the Aria featuring a day of panels and keynote conversations.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav‘s name graced many a picket sign during the Writers Guild of America’s 148-day strike, with everything from his exec comp to content-cutting choices called out in writers’ anti-Hollywood studios jokes. Now that the work stoppage is over, the writers might consider reexamining their opinion of Zaslav, who concedes the WGA was “right about almost everything.” In a profile published by Wednesday by The New York Times Magazine, Zaslav said he does not regret the concessions that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) made to finally close that tentative deal with the writers union Sept.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The newest surprise at Fox’s “Masked Singer” isn’t tied to an appearance by a mysterious celebrity. On Wednesday night, the popular reality-competition program will bring an advertiser into its format for the first time since launching in 2019.

A record number of international distributors will be at the London TV Screenings in 2024.

Friends fans and coffee afficionados alike will soon be able to honor Matthew Perry and the show all in one swoop! Or one scoop, we guess?

Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump’s older sister, passed away at age 86, as reported by outlets such as CNN and The New York Times. The former federal judge was found dead on November 13th at her Upper East Side home in Manhattan, according to the New York newspaper, citing sources close to the deceased.As reported by NBC, Maryanne was receiving palliative care at her residence in New York.

John Cena Coyote Vs. Acme film has reportedly been uncancelled following an online backlash.The film, which completed production last year, was confirmed last week to have been shelved by studio Warner Bros.“With the re-launch of Warner Bros.

Four days after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Netflix rolled out the blue carpet for the first post-strike Hollywood premiere of a major studio production attended by talent, Season 6 of the streamer’s British royal drama The Crown.