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Amblin Partners and Universal Pictures have set a new film partnership that builds on the companies’ longstanding creative collaboration. The new multi-year deal revealed Tuesday will continue to deliver Universal with first-look status on all Amblin theatrical film projects, while evolving Amblin’s film production model to give the company more creative and financial flexibility.

The news Thursday about Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley’s ascent to bring TV content under her domain doesn’t just speak to the greater NBCUniversal plan to have a more unified strategy across theatrical, TV and streaming.

Donna Langley is a dame in waiting no more. The veteran movie executive, with deep ties to Hollywood filmmakers and a knack for shepherding blockbusters to the screen, ascended to NBCUniversal’s content throne on Thursday, one of the big winners in a sweeping reorganization made by company CEO Mike Cavanagh. In her new role as chief content officer, Langley won’t just be overseeing Universal’s slate of films. She will also take ownership of its TV and streaming creative strategy. It’s an elevation that many industry players saw as inevitable – after all, how much longer could the company keep the in-demand executive without expanding her portfolio?

David Zaslav should be sending a fruit basket right about now to Comcast President Mike Cavanagh.

Anyone looking for a sign of Comcast President Mike Cavanagh’s strategy as the recently installed overseer of NBCUniversal got a bright one Thursday.

NBCUniversal is going through another restructure.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic What’s NBC nowadays? Even before the ongoing writers strike scrambled the network’s fall schedule, its identity — historically quite strong as a place for chewy, grown-up dramas and chic, cerebral sitcoms — had seemed hazy. Promising comedies, the sort that might have grown to fulfill the role recently played by “30 Rock” or “Superstore,” got unceremoniously booted from the air after barely a chance to thrive; new dramas, from “Ordinary Joe” to “The Thing About Pam,” seemed painfully undistinguished.  It’s been a tough few years. And as much as the departure of former NBCUniversal chairman Susan Rovner, a career TV executive previously known for her work at Warner Bros. Television, is just latest bit of media industry consolidation, it’s also a moment to observe that the legacy network and its corporate siblings have struggled to find a way forward. (Rovner’s replacement, Donna Langley, will oversee both film and television for the company.) In the years since Rovner came into the job in 2020, there have been limited bright spots — the “Night Court” revival on NBC, “Poker Face” on streamer Peacock. But there’s been a general tone of a lack of faith in the core of what NBC is and does, one that makes today’s news feel like less of a surprise than it otherwise might.

Donna Langley is set to take control of content and creative ops across NBCUniversal’s portfolio of brands, as TV chief Susan Rovner exits the company. The shakeup in leadership is the first major restructuring move made by Mike Cavanagh since he took over ousted Jeff Shell’s position atop the Comcast-owned media company. In a memo to staff Thursday, Cavanagh announced NBCUniversal will be reorganized into four key units: NBCUniversal Studio Group, led by Langley, NBCUniversal Media Group, run by chairman of TV and streaming Mark Lazarus, NBCU News Group, run by existing news boss Cesar Conde, and the Universal Destinations and Experiences Group headed up by parks boss Mark Woodbury.

The guest list for the White House State Dinner for Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi includes a number of entertainment and media figures, including Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, Universal’s Donna Langley, director M. Night Shyamalan, Wasserman Media Group’s Casey Wasserman and James Murdoch.

William Earl Over five low-budget box office hits and a two-season TV series, “The Purge” saga — which portrays a not-too-distant-future America where all crimes, including murder, are legal for one night a year in order to satiate a bloodthirsty public — swelled into a $450 million franchise. But the first chapter was almost never made. While the film became the defining hit of writer and director James DeMonaco’s career, he says the script was passed over “40-50 times” for being seen as “too anti-American.” “I had this little, strange, dark indictment of American gun culture,” he said. “I hate guns. To me, the scariest thing in the world would be a night where everyone was armed and it was legal to use these firearms. To me, there was nothing scarier than that notion.”

The upfronts may be an annual ritual steeped in TV and streaming advertising, but NBCUniversal gave film more than a fleeting moment in the spotlight during its pitch to media buyers Monday morning.

For the past few years, Universal has focused its CinemaCon presentation showing off both the sheer size of its slate and the wide variety of films it has on offer. 2023 was no different.

Refresh for updates The studio that owns the highest grossing movie of the year so far, Universal with its billion bound Super Mario Bros Movie, brought the stars and filmmakers to CinemaCon. Could we expect anything less?

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that Warner Bros Discovery CEO and President, David Zaslav, will be teeing off Warner Bros studio presentation at CinemaCon on Tuesday AM, April 25.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Louis Leterrier is staying in Dominic Toretto’s family. The “Transporter” helmer will serve as director of the next film in the grand finale of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. The new project will serve as a companion film to “Fast X,” the 10th title in the Vin Diesel series which opens May 19. Leterrier replaced Justin Lin as director on “Fast X” last May, a breakneck substitution that clearly resulted in something meaningful for the team – which includes producer-star Diesel and legacy cast Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson and Charlize Theron.

chatter over the last year as to whether Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had burned bridges with the longtime WB icon over whether he would have greenlit Eastwood’s commercially unsuccessful “Cry Macho,” this new movie is indeed set for Warner Bros.

Imagine Entertainment co-founders, Oscar winners and USC School of Cinematic Arts alums Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will deliver the school’s commencement address in May, the university said Thursday.

Julia Garner is remaining optimistic that the scrapped Madonna biopic will happen — eventually.

Julia Garner is remaining optimistic that the scrapped Madonna biopic will happen — eventually.The star spoke with ET's Denny Directo at the Oscars party on Sunday, where she addressed the current status of the project, which was to be directed by Madonna. The film, which was to star Garner as the music icon, was put on hold in January after Madonna announced a world tour.«Yeah, yeah,» she told ET when asked if she was hopeful the movie would come to fruition down the line.«I don't want to tell too much. I want to keep things… yeah, fingers crossed,» Garner said of the potential biopic.In July 2022, ET reported that Garner was the top choice to play Madonna in the movie. Per  at the time, the film was to follow the early days of Madonna's career and how she became a legend. Amy Pascal was producing the project, with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley nabbing the script after a bidding war.Madonna had said her hope for the biopic was to «convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer -- a human being, trying to make her way in this world.

Ramin Setoodeh Co-Editor-in-Chief At 11:30 p.m., Daniel Kwan was ready for a late dinner. The movie that he co-directed — “Everything Everywhere All At Once” — had swept the 95th annual Academy Awards, winning a historic seven statues, including best picture and best director. But he hadn’t had a bite to eat in hours. So at Vanity Fair’s annual Oscars party, he grabbed an In-N-Out burger from a tray to refuel. But before he could dig in, he was greeted by one of his many fans — named Steven Spielberg. The man who saw his cinematic memoir, “The Fabelmans,” get crushed by the Daniels (as Kwan and his collaborator Daniel Scheinert are called) didn’t seem the least bit upset.

USC School of Cinematic Arts alums Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Fruitvale Station) and Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Little) have joined the school’s Board of Councilors.

Filmmakers Ryan Coogler and Tracy Oliver are the newest and youngest members of the USC School of Cinematic Arts Board of Councilors.“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” director Coogler graduated from the program in 2011. “Girls Trip” writer Oliver is an alum of the Class of 2010.The Board of Councilors oversees strategic planning, development, and fundraising efforts for the film school.

EXCLUSIVE: Usually content to let their logo on the front end of films speak for them, Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner spoke to Deadline in a prolific moment and a series of anniversaries that go beyond the 20th for their holiday classic Love Actually. They reached 30 years together at a company that turns 40 next year. The duo scored a big hit in the George Clooney-Julia Roberts romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise, and have Matilda the Musical playing in UK theaters, and opening on Netflix elsewhere for Christmas, with the Lena Dunham-directed Catherine Called Birdy released by Amazon and The Swimmers by Netflix. After playing the Toronto and Zurich festivals, it has ranked near the top of Netflix’s most watched films globally since its release.

A platoon of titles hits the specialty circuit this weekend, getting in ahead of steamroller Avatar: Way of Water and the year-end deadline for Oscar eligibility. This is a soul-searching, what-lies-ahead moment for a market still much too inconsistent for comfort, but that can be pondered later. At the moment, indie distributors are quite busy “with all these movies, and these plans to release theatrically. We are not going anywhere,” said one executive.

Snoop Dogg is set to produce a biopic about his own life. The 51-year-old rap legend has joined forces with Universal Pictures, director Allen Hughes and writer Joe Robert Cole to make the upcoming biopic. Snoop - who will produce alongside Allen and Sara Ramaker - said in a statement: "I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind.

In what would be the first definitive biopic of the legendary hip-hop star and pop culture icon, Universal Pictures is developing a film about the life of Snoop Dogg. The film marks the first project under Snoop’s newly formed Death Row Pictures with Allen Hughes on board to direct and Joe Robert Cole set to write the script. Snoop will produce along with Hughes and Sara Ramaker.

Incorporating music from his vast catalogue, Universal Pictures is developing the definitive biopic of entertainment industry mogul and icon of gangsta rap, “Snoop Dogg,” that will mark the first film from Snoop’s Death Row Pictures, the studio announced on Wednesday.Joe Robert Cole (“Black Panther” films) will write the screenplay. Allen Hughes (“Menace to Society”) is attached to direct.Snoop Dogg will produce with Sara Ramaker for their Death Row Pictures, alongside Hughes.“I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind,” Snoop Dogg said in a statement to TheWrap.

Newly crowned Warner Bros Film Group Co-Chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will receive The Producers Guild of America’s 2023 Milestone Award.

Tom Cruise has ambition too grand for this world.

Tom Cruise is out of his mind… And this world!

 The Bourne Identity director Doug Liman on a movie pitch that involves filming in space, which was first tabled in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic halted plans.Cruise and Liman are said to have reached out to Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG) on an idea which will see the actor take a rocket up to the International Space Station.“I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space, he’s taking the world to space,” UFEG Chairman Donna Langley said, per BBC News.“That’s the plan.

Tom Cruise may be headed for a new mission, and this time it’s in space.  The "Mission Impossible" actor and "The Bourne Identity" director Doug Liman have reportedly reached out to Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Chairman Donna Langley for a movie that will be out of this world.  The movie pitch included Cruise taking a rocket up to the International Space Station.  "I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space, he’s taking the world to space," Langely said, according to BBC News. "That’s the plan.

EXCLUSIVE: It’s a fairy-tale ending for Universal Pictures, which emerged from a heated auction to win Fairy Tale, an adaptation of the new Stephen King bestseller that Paul Greengrass will adapt and direct.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Hillary Clinton and Universal’s Donna Langley praised U.S. director, producer and social justice activist Ava DuVernay for being “a pathbreaker, a change-maker, a historical filmmaker,” as Clinton put it, during the 13th DVF Awards. The gala was held Thursday on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival by fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg to honor extraordinary women.  The former U.S. secretary of state noted that DuVernay – who is among this year’s DVF honorees – “became the first African American woman ever nominated for an Academy Award as director [for “Selma”]. “Yes, her visionary works about Black histories and experiences are more relevant today than ever,” Clinton added. But Clinton went on to further praise DuVernay for “opening doors not just for herself, but for so many others.”

Universal Pictures continues to build on its strong relationships with filmmakers as it has closed a deal for an exclusive five year pact with directing duo, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, and their producing partner Jonathan Wang.  Daniels unique brand of award-winning storytelling across visual media platforms has spanned music, television and film, most recently with the breakout success of Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has grossed more than $100 million globally becoming indie studio A24’s biggest film ever.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDaniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the directing duo known collectively as Daniels, signed an exclusive five-year partnership with Universal Pictures.The agreement, which includes their producing partner Jonathan Wang, comes shortly after their latest film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” cleared a major box office milestone, crossing $100 million in global ticket sales. It’s the first A24 movie, as well as the first independent movie in pandemic times, to hit that box office benchmark.“Daniels are creators who have evolved their craft with a distinct vision and singular voice that is unmistakable across the spectrum of content vying for viewers’ attention,” said Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.