Ari Emanuel On M&A: Endeavor Won’t Use Stock For Big Deals, UFC Parent Still In Debt-Reduction Mode

EXCLUSIVE: Rising British actor Emilia Jones has signed with Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

EXCLUSIVE: Roadside Attractions and Vertical have nabbed North American rights to the futuristic fable The Pod Generation, starring 4x Emmy nominee Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave), which opened this year’s Sundance Film Festival and claimed its Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. It’s slated for release exclusively in theaters this summer.

Matt Damon told Variety‘s Marc Malkin Monday night that Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” runs a hefty three hours long. On the red carpet for “Air,” in which he co-stars, Damon also talked about Nolan’s upcoming historic drama in which he appears alongside Cillian Murphy. “It’s three hours. It’s fantastic,” Damon said, revealing that he’s seen “Oppenheimer.” “Cillian is phenomenal. He’s everything you would want him to be,” Damon told Malkin. “I think it’s almost three hours. It goes so fast, it’s great.” Directed by Ben Affleck, “Air” stars Damon as Sonny Velasco, who led Nike to pursue the endorsement of Michael Jordan and the creation of the Air Jordan basketball sneakers. “Air” opens April 5 and co-stars Affleck, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman and Chris Messina.

Saturday Night Live has a bunch of exciting names coming to Studio 8H!

EXCLUSIVE: Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to the indie drama Midday Black Midnight Blue, starring 2x Emmy winner Merritt Wever (Godless), slating it for a day-and-date release in June.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures‘ new Mean Girls film, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway show and the classic film comedy that inspired it, has found its Kevin G. in up-and-comer Mahi Alam (American Born Chinese), with veteran comedic actor Connor Ratliff (Search Party) also coming on for a role.

The stars are stepping out in style!

Eva Longoria is getting ready to release her feature directorial debut “Flamin’ Hot”, which is set to have an unprecedented release debuting on both Hulu and Disney+ on June 9, 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the movie’s world premiere at SXSW, Searchlight Pictures’ Eva Longoria feature directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot, will stream on both Hulu and Disney+ on June 9. It’s the first time that a new movie has been made available on both of the Disney-owned OTT services stateside. The pic will stream on Disney+ overseas.

Roger Federer is investing in young tennis talent!

EXCLUSIVE: Joaquina Kalukango (Lovecraft Country), Lonnie Chavis (This is Us), Rob Morgan (Mudbound), Ryan O’Nan (Queen of the South), and Justin Hurtt-Dunkley (Mare Of Easttown) have been tapped for key recurring roles opposite David Oyelowo and Dennis Quaid in Bass Reeves, from Yellowstone co-creator/showrunner Taylor Sheridan.

EXCLUSIVE: Almost 16 years ago Denzel Washington and Ridley Scott wowed audiences with their hit crime drama American Gangster, and now it looks like the the two A-listers are ready to get back together in a big way. Sources tell Deadline that Washington is in final negotiations to co-star in Scott’s sequel to his Oscar Best Picture winner Gladiator for Paramount.

BreAnna Bell Garrett Hedlund has been cast in a recurring guest role in Taylor Sheridan’s forthcoming “Bass Reeves” series set at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. He’ll portray Garrett Montgomery, a so-called posse man of the era who Bass hires for his riding know-how and expertise of the area. She joins previously announced stars including lead and executive producer David Oyelowo, and series regulars Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck and Barry Pepper. Dennis Quaid and Grantham Coleman will also appear in recurring roles. Hedlund can currently be seen in Paramount+’s “Tulsa King” and will next star in the film “The Tutor,” which is scheduled March 24th theater release. He recently completed production on the films “Desperation Road” opposite Mel Gibson and “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” co-starring Ben Mendelson and Daisy Ridley. His other credits include Lee Daniels’ “Mudbound,” “On the Road,” “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” “Mojave,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Pan,” “Unbroken,” “Tron: Legacy,” and “Country Strong.”

Kyle Richards’ ongoing family feud with big sister Kathy Hilton has prevented her from meeting her great nephew.

Roger Deakins, legendary cinematographer and knight of the British realm, cut to the chase: In his view several of the best examples of cinematography are missing from this year’s Oscars list.

Baz Luhrmann says it would be “an amazing historical moment” if Elvis cinematographer Mandy Walker were to triumph at Sunday’s Academy Awards. To quote Lizzo, “It’s been too long,” the filmmaker tells me last night at the Australian Oscar nominees soirée held in the Chateau Marmont’s penthouse suite.

Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the media giant would of course consider alternative proposals for its stake in Hulu but they’d have to top its longstanding agreement to sell its remaining stake in the streamer to Disney next year.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Though Showtime is being rebranded into Paramount+ With Showtime, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish says the Showtime brand is alive and well and more projects based on the cable channel’s most iconic series, including “Ray Donovan,” are in the pipeline for the integrated platform. “We’re not just doing that streaming, we’re doing that linear as well,” Bakish said during a Morgan Stanley-hosted investor conference. “So come sometime this year, when you turn on Showtime linear, it’s going to be Paramount+ With Showtime. And it’s what I call a win-win-win. It’s a win for consumers, because the product is going to be fundamentally better than Showtime. You’re going to get ‘1923’ on it, you’ll get ‘Tulsa King,’ as part of your Showtime subscription. It’s just going to be a bigger, broader product. We fundamentally believe in a broad thesis. So that will work at the consumer level and as part of that, we’re leaning into the Showtime franchises. So you could think about the slate as smaller, which will be less expensive, but also really giving the people what they want — which is more Showtime, maybe more ‘Dexter,’ maybe more ‘Ray Donovan,’ and really leaning into that. And we have some exciting plans there.”

Elon Musk prodded advertisers “to use Twitter yourselves, and believe what you see on Twitter, not what you read in the newspapers.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nexstar is still dark on internet streamer FuboTV on Tuesday, the TV station group giant’s president and chief operating officer explained why. “We are in a dispute with CBS right now over the Fubo situation,” Tom Carter said during a Morgan Stanley-hosted investor conference. “But keep in mind that virtual MVPDs contribute less than 10% of our distribution revenue and our distribution revenue is about half of our total revenue and Fubo is the smallest vMVPD we deal with. So we’re talking about a relatively minor amount of money, quite honestly, to both us and CBS. So it’s kind of easy to pick Fubo as a fight to have.” Nexstar executive vice president and chief financial officer Lee Ann Gliha noted: “We view this as a CBS-only issues and it’s just driven by the specific issues that surround the CBS situation.”