HBO Max U.S. General Manger Brad Wilson Exits Amid Warner Bros Discovery Shakeup

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav on Wednesday dropped his memo to staff about Toby Emmerich stepping down as Chairman of the Motion Picture Group and the three new studio divisions being put in place. It’s a slightly similar structure to the way Disney handles its franchise brands, with the hope that DC will have its own Kevin Feige maestro to exploit IP across all mediums.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterWarner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has finally committed to paper a new strategy for the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.In a Wednesday memo to his staff obtained by Variety, Zaslav told studio employees that he will create “three distinct film segments around Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJonathan Bing has left his post as director of communications at Netflix to take the role of chief communications officer at Vice Media Group, Variety has learned.Based out of Los Angeles, Bing will lead Vice Media’s communications strategy across its portfolio of brands, including Vice News, Vice TV, Vice Studios and Refinery 29. He will head up Vice’s communications, brand, and reputation strategy globally “to reflect and deliver against the new ambitions for the business,” per the company.Most recently, Bing was head of communications at Netflix and previously senior vice president of communications for Fox Network Group.

Toby Emmerich is out as the head of Warner Bros. motion picture studio. Replacing him are Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who recently exited the helm of MGM. This had been rumored since before they exited that studio (they’ll stay into the summer until their contracts expire). This is part of Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s grand plan to split Warner Bros into multiple labels, with Warner Bros proper/New Line, DC Entertainment and Animation.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Stranger Things” actor Brett Gelman is set to star in “Entitled,” a half-hour comedy series ordered at Showtime in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the U.K.Created by Matt Morgan (“Mister Winner,” “The Mimic”), the show follows Gabe (Gelman), an American widower who must get to know his British wife’s estranged family.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAlexis Bledel will not return for “The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 5, Variety has learned exclusively.Bledel, who has played the key character of Emily/Ofglen on the Hulu drama since its first season debuted in 2017, said in a statement Friday: “After much thought, I felt I had to step away from ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ at this time. I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support.”During her four-year run on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Bledel received four Emmy nominations and one win for her performance in the Bruce Miller-created TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s iconic novel.Aside from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Bledel is best known for her starring role as Rory Gilmore alongside Lauren Graham’s Lorelai Gilmore on “Gilmore Girls” and the revival “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” as well as her parts in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” franchise and “Mad Men.” Airing its fourth season from April to June 2021, “The Handmaid’s Tale” follows June (Elisabeth Moss) while she strikes back against Gilead as a fierce rebel leader, but the risks she takes bring unexpected and dangerous new challenges.

J.J. Abrams’ ambitious HBO sci-fi drama series Demimonde has hit a major roadblock in its long journey to the screen. The issues, related to the show’s price, come amid talk of a potential reevaluation of the massive deal J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has at Warner Bros. for film, TV, gaming and digital content as the new Warner Bros. Discovery is scrutinizing every aspect of the assets they took over.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHappy, hungry man Phil Rosenthal is back to travel all across the sea and the land for the fifth season of “Somebody Feed Phil.” Bringing fans to five new scrumptious locations — including Oaxaca, Maine, Helsinki, Portland and Madrid — the Wednesday release on Netflix will mark the first season to not include the “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator’s father Max Rosenthal, who died in June 2021.For the first four seasons of “Somebody Feed Phil,” Max appeared over video chat to talk with his son wherever he was in the world and to tell viewers at home a joke. Rosenthal’s mother, Helen Rosenthal, was there alongside her husband Max for the bits in Seasons 1 and 2.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe producers of “90 Day Fiancé” are cooking up a new reality series at Food Network and Discovery+ that follows four couples “trying to beat the odds of ending up in divorce court, while also navigating the unique challenges of the cutthroat restaurant industry,” Variety has learned exclusively.Premiering June 30 at 10 p.m. ET on Food Network and launching on Discovery+, “Me or the Menu” is described as a “new twist on the relationship docuseries” from Sharp Entertainment, the production company behind TLC’s mega-hit “90 Day Fiancé” franchise.Per its official description, “‘Me or the Menu’ shines a spotlight on some of the reasons that approximately 60% of restaurants fail and nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce, and while some of the featured couples have just opened the doors of their new restaurants, others are diving-in headfirst hoping to make it to opening day.

KJ Apa and Isabel May will NOT be starring as The Wonder Twins after all.

HBO Max has scrapped its plans for a live-action Wonder Twins film, based on the DC characters of the same name, Deadline can confirm.

to a report in the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery Head David Zaslav, “deemed its estimated $75 million-plus budget too high and its return too limited for a made-for-streaming movie.”According to an insider with knowledge of the project, the film was never greenlit.“Riverdale” star KJ Apa and “1883” breakout Isabel May were previously set to star, as first reported TheWrap.The “Wonder Twins” centers on an alien sibling duo – Jayna and Zan – who can activate their superpowers by touching hands and saying their catchphrase, “Wonder twin power, activate!” Jayna can transform into any animal, and Zan can transform into water.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe planned “Wonder Twins” live-action movie at HBO Max is no longer going forward, Variety has learned.The news comes just over a month after it was announced that KJ Apa and Isabel May had been cast in the lead roles in the DC film as the titular twins. It also arrives in the wake of the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger and Discovery boss David Zaslav’s pledge to cut approximately $3 billion in costs at the newly merged company.

Speaking at the Warner Bros Discovery upfront, new CNN boss Chris Licht delivered his most expansive public comments since taking over from Jeff Zucker, promising a morning show “disruptor” and a challenge to cable news norms.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, proclaimed the merged company as essentially the fifth broadcast network, and repeated his vow that the company would overcome any skepticism about its prospects.

Jennifer Hudson, host of the forthcoming eponymous Warner Bros. Unscripted TV daytime talk show kicked things off at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Upfront with some help from Discovery and CNN stars.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentJohannes Larcher and Luis Duran, respectively HBO Max’s general managers of international and Latin America, are set to exit the streamer as part of the ongoing shakeup at Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety has confirmed.The two top HBO Max execs are the latest layoffs to surface as a new leadership team is being put in place at the merged behemoth by JB Perrette previously Discovery’s president and CEO of streaming and international and now appointed CEO and president of Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBrett Weitz is exiting as general manager of TBS, TNT and truTV, Variety has learned.Weitz, who was appointed to the role in January 2019, was among the group of WarnerMedia execs that came over under the new David Zaslav-selected regime at Warner Bros. Discovery, following the close of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger in early April.Weitz was moved under Discovery lifestyle channels chief Kathleen Finch, who assumed a newly created role of chairman and chief content officer of U.S.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterLongtime Disney communications and marketing staple Charissa Gilmore has been promoted to senior vice president of corporate communications at the company’s TV content arm, Disney General Entertainment.Most recently vice president of global distribution communications for Disney/ABC Television, in her upped role, Gilmore heads up external and internal corporate communications strategies and execution across business operations and content brands, including 20th Television, ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC Signature, Disney Branded Television, Freeform, FX, Hulu Originals, National Geographic and Onyx Collective.Her responsibilities include strategy, corporate messaging, executive communications, internal communications, public relations, corporate social responsibility, issues management and the shared functions for events planning, promotions, visual communications, editorial and photo operations. Gilmore reports directly to Peter Rice, chairman of General Entertainment at Disney.“Charissa’s such an important and trusted partner to me and my leadership team, as well as to her colleagues throughout the company,” Rice said in a statement Tuesday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHBO’s “Winning Time” scored another series high viewership of 1.6 million viewers across multiple platforms Sunday. That audience tally was up 73% over the drama’s series premiere and 31% from the first season average.Based on the book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” by Jeff Pearlman, the fast-break series chronicles the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court.“Winning Time” Season 1 stars John C.