Giphy Sold by Meta for $53 Million to Shutterstock

EXCLUSIVE: As the Writers Guild strike enters its second month and the Directors Guild’s talks with the studios come down to the wire with looming SAG-AFTRA negotiations set to start next week, the under the radar battle between the Teamsters and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers could get explosive.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta — still trying to make the metaverse happen — unveiled its next-generation VR and mixed-reality headset, the Meta Quest 3, which will ship this fall for a price point starting at $500. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg announced the Quest 3 in an Instagram post Thursday. The headset is “the first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality” capabilities, according to Zuckerberg. It’s 40% thinner than the Quest 2 and “more comfortable” than its predecessor, he added. Meta’s announcement comes ahead of Apple’s 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference next week, where Apple is expected to introduce its own mixed-reality headset.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Pluto TV is reprising its summer movie event with a rotating batch of more than 200 films coming to the streaming service — all for the low price of free. The titles include installments of fan-favorite franchises ahead of their upcoming new releases in theaters this summer, including the first four movies in the Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible series, plus “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.” Pluto TV’s Popcorn Summer Movies 2023 slate, the third year of the programming event, also includes popular films such as “Titanic,” “Gladiator,” “Old School,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” The additional movies are on top of Pluto TV’s existing catalog of several thousand free films.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Harrison Ford revealed in a new interview with Esquire magazine that the most common question “Star Wars” fans ask him is who would win a fight: Han Solo or Indiana Jones? It’s a question that has provided fodder for many Reddit discussions and social media debates, but it’s not one Ford ever wants to entertain. As Ford said about his fans: “Well, they usually ask me, ‘If there was a fight between Han Solo and Indiana Jones, who would fuckin’ win?’ And I say [voice rising, fingers drumming], ‘Me, asshole! I don’t want to fucking make shit up like that. I mean, what are you asking me that crap for?’” Ford has played Indiana Jones in five movies, including the upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” while his filmography with Han Solo also consists of five movies, including an uncredited cameo appearance in 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” That film marked the end of his Han Solo run, while “Dial of Destiny” will mark the same for Indiana Jones. Despite these iconic characters, Ford often stresses to fans that he is Harrison Ford and not Han Solo or Indiana Jones.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Disney+ is now streaming the first four Indiana Jones movies, starring Harrison Ford as the legendary snake-hating archeologist action hero. The media company is looking to whip up interest in the theatrical release of the franchise’s fifth and final installment, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Starting May 31, Disney+ subscribers can stream “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” as well as the TV series “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.” The upcoming “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this month, opens exclusively in theaters June 30; Disney hasn’t announced a premiere date for the film on Disney+.

Taylor Swift’s famous former Cornelia Street rental property in New York City is up for sale.

Someone paid a LOT of money for a painting of Leonardo DiCaprio during a live auction at a Cannes Film Festival charity event!

When it comes to nailing down Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren’s looks for the hit show "1923," Emmy Award-winning costume designer Janie Bryant has got it covered.  During an interview with Fox News Digital, Bryant detailed what it was like creating a historic look for Ford and Mirren’s characters -- married couple Cara and Jacob Dutton. "I'll never forget, I had my first fitting with [Ford] and he was like, ‘Janie, do you have a three-way mirror?’ I said, ‘Of course, Harrison … let me show you.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor DirecTV announced a multiyear deal to sell the NFL’s Sunday Ticket out-of-market games package to commercial venues in the U.S., starting with the 2023 season. Under the pact with the NFL’s EverPass Media, DirecTV will continue to offer the Sunday football games to customers including casinos, restaurants, bars, hotel lounges and retail shops. The announcement comes after DirecTV lost its 28-year hold on Sunday Ticket for consumers, with Google securing a seven-year deal with the NFL to sell the package via YouTube. The satellite TV operator didn’t announce pricing for Sunday Ticket — which includes all Sunday day games broadcast by CBS and Fox — under the new commercial agreement. In past years, DirecTV’s pricing for the package has been tiered based on fire code occupancy (FCO) rates starting at $650/season for establishments with a certified FCO of 1-100, stepping up to $6,000/season for establishments with capacity of 101-200 and even higher for larger venues.

Ramin Setoodeh Co-Editor-in-Chief There was Gatsby. At 11:30 p.m. at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, the amfAR Cannes gala quietly welcomed one of the biggest movie stars in the world to a tent off the Mediterranean Sea. Leonardo DiCaprio had been missing for several years at the glitzy charity auction that marks the end of partying at the Cannes Film Festival, but this year, he not only stopped by, he brought a date — his mom, Irmelin Indenbirken.  At Table 15, near the stage where celebrities tried to wrangle nepo babies and oligarchs for hundreds of thousands of dollars for lavish pieces of arts, vacations and even a car, DiCaprio tried to go incognito (as if that was possible). He wore a baseball cap to the black-tie dinner and kept his head down. (Though baseball caps are part of DiCaprio’s typical uniform, this festival, he’s been all over Cannes, sans hat, for the premiere of his film, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”)

amFAR, the organization founded by the late Dr. Mathilda Krim and Dame Elizabeth Tayler (the International founder), dedicated to funding AIDS research since 1985, held its annual Cannes Gala at the Hotel du Cap tonight as it has always done for the past 29 years tied to the end dates of the Cannes Film Festival each May.

Wow! Could we be seeing the light at the end of this tunnel!?

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has officially launched his battle with Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. On Wednesday, the conservative politician filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his candidacy. That came ahead of DeDantis’ scheduled interview with Twitter owner Elon Musk on the social media platform’s Spaces live-audio feature, set for 6 p.m. ET. DeSantis, 44, has gained national prominence for pursuing an “anti-woke” agenda as governor of the Sunshine State. That has included his very public fight with Disney, ignited by the media conglomerate’s opposition to Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Semafor, the digital new startup launched last fall, announced that it has raised $19 million in a new financing round, bringing its total raised to $34 million. The New York-based company was co-founded by Ben Smith, previously media columnist for the New York Times and editor in chief of BuzzFeed News, and Justin B. Smith, former CEO of Bloomberg Media Group. (The two are not related.) Semafor said the additional investments are an extension on the same terms of the company’s previous financing round. The new total also takes into account the repurchase of the approximately $10 million in funds from Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency company FTX whom federal prosecutors have charged with fraud, money laundering and campaign finance offenses. The funding from Bankman-Fried will be returned to FTX creditors as directed by officials, according to Semafor.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s the big launch day for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max — and the newly revamped streaming service appears to encountering some technical problems right off the bat. On Wednesday morning, subscribers took to social media to complain that they were having logging in to Max, which is replacing the three-year-old HBO Max service. As reported by users, the issues spanned the Max.com website as well as mobile apps including iOS and connected-TV apps on Roku and Samsung TV. Of course, there are bound to be some problems in migrating millions of customers over to a new streaming platform. A Warner Bros. Discovery rep declined to specify how widespread the issues that users are encountering may be. The May 23 conversion from HBO Max to Max covers only the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok says Montana’s newly enacted law that would criminalize usage of the short-form video app is unconstitutional — and the app company has taken legal action to fight the state’s ban. TikTok filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana seeking to have the law reversed. It was signed into law last week by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who said it would “protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.” TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a China-based internet conglomerate. “We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” the app maker said in a statement. “We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”

Beyonce and JAY-Z just bought themselves a picturesque view of the Pacific Ocean — and, on a clear day, quite possibly heaven — after reportedly dropping a whopping $200 million for an opulent compound in Malibu.

Beyonce and JAY-Z just bought themselves a picturesque view of the Pacific Ocean — and, on a clear day, quite possibly heaven — after reportedly dropping a whopping $200 million for an opulent compound in Malibu.According to, who first broke the news, the power couple plunked down the small fortune (by their standards, anyway) for the 30,000-square-foot home in an area known to rich folks as Billionaire's Row. The outlet reports the purchase price makes the sale the most expensive real estate ever sold in California, surpassing the previous record of $177 million.For the record, the most expensive piece of real estate ever sold belongs to the state of New York, where someone bought a New York City apartment for $238 million.As for Bey and Jay's new digs, it's a beaut designed by Japanese master architect Tadao Ando, whom the outlet also reports is currently designing Kanye West's house, which is a stone's throw away from Jay and Beyonce.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is mostly encouraging. The fifth Harrison Ford-starring Indy flick doesn’t open theatrically until the week of June 30, but Cannes audiences got the first look. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” debuted at the 2008 Cannes Festival, however, that was days away from its Memorial Day weekend launch.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Proving that people can’t resist the offer of getting something for nothing, startup Telly said more than 100,000 people registered to get a free 4K TV set that displays a continuous rotation of ads on a second screen within the first 36 hours of launch. Telly CEO and founder Ilya Pozin, who previously co-founded free-streaming company Pluto TV, said the interest in the offer surpassed “even our most optimistic expectations.” The 100,000-plus signups, averaging nearly one per second, came without Telly having to spend “a single dollar on marketing,” he continued, “and we’re just getting started!” Two thirds of those signing up for a Telly are Gen Z and millennial households, according to Pozin, “and are eager to have a TV in the living room that matches their lifestyle.”