Hasbro Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

EXCLUSIVE: Hasbro’s reshaping of eOne continues with multiple sources telling us that the latter will cease theatrical operations in the UK.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has established pole position to acquire the Hasbro-owned Entertainment One, sources tell Deadline.

EXCLUSIVE: Hasbro-owned Entertainment One is undergoing a round of layoffs sources tell Deadline. The reduction is said to impact about 20% of the indie studio’s film and television staff.

were first announced in late January as part of the company’s end-of-year and quarterly earnings reports, in which Hasbro reported a 9% year-over-year drop in revenue.“This workforce reduction is part of the ongoing transformational changes Hasbro announced in January to substantially reduce costs and increase growth rates and profitability,” said Hasbro spokesperson Roberta Thomson.Hasbro is also currently planning to sell off a majority stake in eOne, which co-produces films based on Hasbro IP as part of a production deal with Paramount including recent releases like “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” as well as TV shows like Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” Lionsgate and Legendary are among the contenders to purchase the majority stake, which was estimated by Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks to be sold by the end of this quarter.

Peppa Pig, the British cartoon character with a show for preschoolers, is coming to Audible by way of the upcoming Peppa Pig podcast. Further details on the podcast and where eager listeners can check it out will be revealed later in 2023.“We’re delighted to work with Hasbro to expand our family listening content with one of the most popular and impactful brands, Peppa Pig,” said Aurelie de Troyer, Head of Content UK and Canada at Audible.

Roy Trakin The son of Canadian country dance instructors “Sheriff Norm” and “Down the Line Sue,” in a way, MNRK Music Group president-CEO Chris Taylor was destined to become one of the most legendary executives in the country’s music history. He his start in the early ‘90s as lead singer for the reggae-ska-funk band One, which signed with Virgin Records while he was still in law school. Opting for the latter as a career, Taylor opened his Toronto-based law firm in ’97 and went on to represent some of the country’s top acts — from Drake and Avril Lavigne to Nelly Furtado and Sum 41 — and launched the influential Last Gang indie label (Metric, Death from Above 1979, Mother Mother, Crystal Castles and more). When he sold the label to Entertainment One in 2016, he also shuttered his legal practice to head the eOne Music Group, which was rebranded MNRK Music Group after parent company Hasbro sold the company to Blackstone in 2021 for a reported $385 million.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, released in UK cinemas last week, features an extended action sequence on Machu Picchu – and in an exclusive interview with NME, the cast revealed the strict guidelines they had to follow during filming on the sacred Inca mountain ridge.In the sixth film in the franchise, which is based on the successful Hasbro toy line of fighting robot aliens, Dominique Fishback (Swarm) and Anthony Ramos (In The Heights) play humans caught up in a war for space supremacy between the Autobots and their evil enemies the Terrorcons. The movie switches location half-way through to Machu Picchu, Peru, where production on the historic religious site dating back to the 1450s is closely controlled.“You definitely couldn’t eat or drink or anything on the mountain,” said Fishback. “And you had to hike back down in order to use the bathroom or anything.

EXCLUSIVE: After the Transformers was gearing down, filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. was able to put gas back into the tank of the storied Paramount Hasbro movie franchise with Rise of the Beasts this weekend which opened to $171M worldwide, stealing the crown from Sony Animation’s strong Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. On today’s episode of Crew Call, Caple Jr. tells us he’s in talks for another Transformers sequel — and much of that involves that cliffhanger scene between Anthony Ramos and Michael Kelly.

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the latest installment in the big-screen, live-action adaptation of the beloved Hasbro toy line. “Rise of the Beasts,” which is the planned start of a new trilogy, is the seventh film in the series. Chronologically, it comes after “Bumblebee,” which was a prequel to the first five films in the series.

Jordan Moreau SPOILER ALERT: This contains major spoilers about the ending of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” now playing in theaters. Is this the beginning of the Hasbro Cinematic Universe? After rumors of a crossover between the “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” franchises circulated online in recent months, it seems like the ultimate ’80s action-toy mash-up is officially happening. The ending of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” has a direct callout to the Joes, and director Steven Caple Jr. and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura spoke to Variety at the film’s premiere about what to expect next from the series.

Summer’s tentpole rumble continues this weekend with Paramount’s seventh Transformers movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is heat-seeking $155 million at the worldwide box office for its opening frame, $100M of that offshore.

When it comes to “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the latest installment in the Hasbro franchise of shape-shifting robots-cum-vehicles known as Autobots and Decepticons, it’s perhaps wise to share a bit of good news first. If you’ve ever been intrigued about this agile collection of cling-clang-kabooming cars and trucks, but have been too intimated by all the homework involved—there are, after all, six former “Transformers” movies and a whole lot of other iterations out there— fear not.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Wordle, the popular online word-guessing game from the New York Times, is now available to play as a board game. Hasbro, maker of popular games like Monopoly and Clue, have introduced Wordle: The Party Game.

Dear Team:These days, success in our industry, and the excellence we aspire to, hinges on our ability to evolve and balance an ever-changing landscape with the desire to make exceptional movies and support artists on the winding path to reach audiences. As eOne’s relationship with Hasbro moves to its next chapter, I have decided to end my tenure as eOne’s President of Film when my contract ends next month. It has been an epic run, starting with the founding of Sierra with Marc in 2009 through the subsequent mergers with eOne and Hasbro.

EXCLUSIVE: Nick Meyer has just informed his staff that he’s exiting as eOne’s President of Film when his contract ends next month.

Paramount has pushed back the release date for Transformers One, the newest animated feature in the Transformers franchise that was unveiled at CinemaCon in April. The origin story from director Josh Cooley, previously set to open on July 19, 2024, will now bow nationwide on September 13, 2024.

Paramount Animation, Hasbro and eOne are teaming on the first-ever animated Transformers movie, now titled Transformers One. Directed by Josh Cooley and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the origins story’s key voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm and Laurence Fishburne. Release is scheduled for July 19, 2024.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson will lead the voice cast of “Transformers One,” an animated prequel about the epic rivalry between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Hemsworth is playing young Optimus Prime, Henry is voicing young Megatron in the origin story about how the brothers-in-arms turned into sworn enemies. Additional cast members include Johansson as Elita, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion. “Toy Story 4” filmmaker Josh Cooley is directing the film from a screenplay by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. It’s set to release in theaters on July 19, 2024.

The robot in disguise are going to the ’90s in “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”.

Here is the latest I hear on eOne. Lionsgate and Legendary (with Apollo) are still in contention to acquire a majority stake in the indie film and TV studio, which has been put up for sale. I hear there are two other suitors, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and distributor GoDigital Media Group. Deadline reported a month ago that Fremantle also was among the bidders. According to sources, the indie is no longer pursuing eOne as the target price has climbed up beyond what they were willing to pay for the assets.

National Board Game Day. Celebrated on April 11, the holiday aims to elevate tabletop games to the lofty heights of appreciation they deserve. Historical evidence suggests we’ve been playing games since time immemorial, or at least since survival gave way to spare time.

Paramount and Hasbro eOne with the greatest of intentions have created an extremely fun, broad-audience appealing feature take on the classic roleplaying game, entitled Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which already is 90% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes –not an easy feat with a genre movie of this caliber– and 94% with moviegoers.

EXCLUSIVE: Hasbro has narrowed down the field for its eOne subsidiary to a handful of suitors, sources tell Deadline. We hear fellow indie studios Lionsgate, Fremantle and Legendary (with Apollo) are in the running to acquire a majority stake in eOne. We hear there also may be 1-2 additional bids from private equity players; Hasbro previously sold eOne’s music business to private equity firm Blackstone in 2021 for $385 million. (Blackstone and company-backed Candle Media are not believed to be in the mix for eOne.) A reps for Hasbro said that the company has no update at this time; Fremantle, Lionsgate and Legendary had no comment.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Some folks have it easy, and others make life difficult for themselves. Guess which type “Problemista” is about. The perpetually unsatisfied title character, a demanding New York art critic played by Tilda Swinton as a hag with hair the color of hibiscus tea, is obsessed with archiving the life’s work of her late husband (RZA), who left behind a series of egg paintings no one seems to understand. Swinton feels like a future Halloween costume in search of a movie in writer-director Julio Torres’ overly kooky and all-too-quixotic debut — another attention-deficit comedy from the studio that made “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” except that Torres lacks the technical experience to pull off even a fraction of the ideas to which he aspires.

When I saw the poster for Problemista, I wondered why Tilda Swinton–who stars in the film–was on the poster. After seeing this, I now understand. Written and directed by Julio Torres, the movie tackles issues of immigration, and isolation, all packaged in a sweet surrealist bow. Alongside Torres, the film stars Tilda Swinton, Rza, Isabella Rossellini, Catalina Saaverdra, and James Scully. 

K.J. Yossman The first panels and guests for Star Wars Celebration London have been unveiled. The official fan event, which switches each year between the U.S. and an international location, is headed to London, U.K. From April 7-10, the Force is set to take over the ExCel exhibition center in London. Among the highlights are the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase on Friday, April 7, which promises the “current crop of live-action filmmakers” as well as special guests to discuss “Star Wars” projects including “The Mandalorian, “Andor” and more. On Saturday, the Lucasfilm team will give fans a sneak peak at the upcoming “Ahsoka” series, with exec producers Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau on hand to share some secrets while on Monday Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Indira Varma will make an appearance to discuss “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Atlas V, the Emmy-award winning VR company, is expanding into the U.S. with the strategic appointment of Michael Masukawa. The banner has just been signed by CAA and is aiming to build a presence in the U.S. Atlas was just nominated for three Emmy awards and won one with its interactive animation “Madrid Noir.” Atlas V’s track record in the North American festival circuit also includes multiple selections at Sundance’s New Frontier, Tribeca and SXSW (where it won two awards). The company also previously won two Peabody prizes and two Webby awards. Masukawa is joining Atlas V from Secret Location, an immersive content studio owned by Hasbro and eOne. At Atlas V, he will be in charge of developing partnerships, raising project financing, producing projects and negotiating distribution deals for Atlas V’s content. He will also find opportunities for sister companies Astrea and Albyon, the first being focused on distribution and the second one on development of immersive experiences.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said the toymaker is seeing “strong interest” from bidders on the company’s eOne subsidiary, a majority of which was put on the block last fall amid a host of financial and strategic challenges.

Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has become the latest Hollywood film to be granted access to China. The studio’s Weibo account posted the news early Monday local time, noting the adaptation of the iconic Hasbro role-playing game will debut March 31, day-and-date with North America. 

Paramount dropped its game-day spot for “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” a little early Friday.The 30-second clip has a few new bits of footage, but otherwise works as a nice summation of the film’s plot — Chris Pine gathers an eclectic group of warriors, magicians and thieves to defeat a supernatural villain — while giving brief spotlight moments to each member of the film’s stacked cast. That cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis and Hugh Grant, all of whom also got character posters this morning in conjunction with the commercial debut.

Hasbro, which has been reeling from a series of economic and corporate shocks, plans to cut 15% of its global workforce this year, or about 1,000 positions.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount+ has given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order to an adaptation of Hasbro’s wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game franchise. Red Notice filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote the pilot script and is set to direct the first episode of the series which will be a co-production between eOne and Paramount Pictures.

After more than a year and a half of development, eOne recently started shopping its Dungeons & Dragons live-action TV series. Shepherded by Red Notice filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber, it is based on Hasbro’s wildly popular fantasy role-playing game franchise.

Hasbro said its board has authorized a sale process for the part of its eOne TV and film business not directly supporting its branded entertainment strategy following a review of the company’s business initiated by new CEO Chris Cocks.

EXCLUSIVE: Australia’s Princess Productions is acquiring Irish firm Boulder Media from toy giant Hasbro, we’ve learned.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Joe Manganiello, the actor who moonlights as a “Dungeons & Dragons” official ambassador, will direct a documentary about the popular tabletop fantasy game with Kyle Newman. The film, backed by Hasbro and eOne, is billed as “the definitive documentary feature about the world’s greatest roleplaying game” and is timed to the 50th anniversary of “Dungeons & Dragons” in 2024. In addition to co-directing the untitled film, Manganiello will serve as a producer with his brother Nick Manganiello, Anthony Savini and Cecily Tyler. Tara Long and Geno McDermott are executive producing for eOne alongside leading “Dungeons & Dragons” scholar Jon Peterson, Adam F. Goldberg and Newman.