As NBA Eyes Streaming Future, WBD Could Bounce Some Games To HBO Max/Discovery+ In “Creative” Deal

EXCLUSIVE: Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty; Love, Victor) is finalizing a deal to lead the cast of the HBO Max drama pilot More, from Amy Chozick, Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Ortiz, who will star alongside Christian Serratos, replaces Veronica Falcón, who originally was tapped for the role. The recasting decision was made after the table read, I hear.

Liberty Media chairman John Malone slammed AT&T, praised Reed Hastings and affirmed his faith in the Warner Bros. Discovery team led by David Zaslav amid the drama and red ink of today’s streaming wars.

Veteran PR executive Karen Jones is stepping down as EVP and Head of Communications for HBO and HBO Max. She will be leaving HBO — and likely the entertainment business — early next year and is exploring opportunities in educational access.

David Zaslav channeled his inner John Dutton today: “We have an awful lot to do, and an awful lot to undo,” he said, crediting the line to Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone patriarch in the Season 5 premiere, with a shoutout to the Paramount show. Zaslav’s hard-to-wrangle ranch is a merged Warner Bros. Discovery.

Steven Spielberg‘s latest movie, “The Fabelmans,” is all about the power of film and the theatrical experience. But in a new interview with The New York Times in the leadup to the film’s release, Spielberg argued the magic of moviegoing took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Warner Bros.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is not saying troubled Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is anti-semitic.

Since it launched in May 2020, HBO Max has quietly boasted some stellar original programming, including “Tokyo Vice,” “The Flight Attendant,” “And Just Like That…” and more. But there’s plenty of more original series on the way.

EXCLUSIVE: David Iacono (The Flight Attendant, The Summer I Turned Pretty) has been tapped for a key recurring role opposite George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri and Kassius Nelson in Dead Boy Detectives, HBO Max’s upcoming drama series based on the DC Comics characters created by Neil Gaiman. The series hails from The Flight Attendant’s Steve Yockey, Doom Patrol’s Jeremy Carver, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline hears that a global zoom meeting was held for Warner Discovery employees this morning, on which CEO David Zaslav introduced the new DC Studios Co-Chairmen and CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran. This was their first appearance together before the company since being named to their posts on Oct. 25.

Steven Spielberg‘s latest movie, “The Fabelmans,” is all about the power of film and the theatrical experience. But in a new interview with The New York Times in the leadup to the film’s release, Spielberg argued the magic of moviegoing took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Warner Bros.

Director Steven Spielberg hates the way streaming services – and HBO Max in particular – are treating filmmakers.

Travis Fimmel has been tapped as the male lead opposite Emily Watson and Shirley Henderson in HBO Max’s series Dune: The Sisterhood (wt), from Legendary Television.

On Friday, Lakers forward LeBron James finally addressed the Kyrie Irving situation, a day after the Brooklyn Nets guard and former teammate on the Cleveland Cavaliers was suspended for anti-semitic comments.

After four seasons, HBO’s ambitious series “Westworld” from showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan is officially ending. “Westworld” was mainly about sentient robots, aka hosts, created for a lavish theme park for the extremely rich where “anything goes.” Eventually, after killing a heap of humans, they make their way outside the park into a dystopian future society.

What does Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav have in mind for his studio’s near future? Deadline reports that on a Q3 earnings call yesterday afternoon, Zaslav detailed exactly what he envisions, and it’s all about big tentpole franchises.

NBA star Kyrie Irving has been suspended from playing basketball for his failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.”

In the near future, it’s pretty simple what the new Warner Bros Discovery will zero in on: “We’re going to have a real focus on franchises,” President and CEO David Zaslav said on this afternoon’s Q3 earnings call.

By the time HBO Max merges debuts next spring as a fortified offering encompassing Discovery+, it will have gone three years without any adjustments to its price or the ad experience on the cheaper subscription tier. Get ready for that to change, with Warner Bros Discovery streaming and games CEO JB Perrette indicating prices will head “north” and the ad load could potentially double from its current level.

The combined HBO Max and Discovery+ service is coming sooner than expected.

Warner Bros Discovery stumbled in the third quarter, falling short of Wall Street expectations due to a slowdown in advertising and merger-related restructuring charges.