Sony Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In the latest twist in Paramount Global‘s M&A saga, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management reportedly have made a bid to take Paramount private with an all-cash buyout offer of $26 billion. Sony and private-equity giant Apollo submitted an offer letter Wednesday to Paramount Global, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The report comes as Paramount Global board’s special committee established to consider M&A proposals is evaluating the best and final offer from Skydance Media to merge Paramount and Skydance, while keeping Paramount Global public.

J. Kim Murphy The summer box office isn’t exactly starting with a bang. Universal’s action-romance “The Fall Guy,” starring Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stuntman courting a rising director played by Emily Blunt, earned $10.4 million from 4,002 locations on its opening day, a figure that includes $3 million and change from preview screenings.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer When Amazon‘s “The Boys” debuts its fourth season next month, things are shaping up to be crazier than the time they blew up a whale and that other time they blew up a giant penis, as it seems Butcher (Karl Urban) and Homelander (Antony Starr) are ready to burn their whole lives down — and take everyone else with them. In “The Boys” Season 4 trailer, Butcher reveals to Hughie (Jack Quaid), Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and the rest of the Boys that time is running out for him, and with the few numbered days he and his weakened heart have left, he’s looking to unleash a deadly virus on the supe community.

Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament is back. While studios during Covid wildly embraced the theatrical day-and-date model when cinemas were closed, they soon realized there’s nothing more profitable than a theatrical release and the downstreams that come with it. If anything, theatrical is the advertisement for a movie’s longevity in subsequent home entertainment windows. Entering the conversation in 2023 were the streamers, such as Apple, who have also realized the necessity of theatrical to eventize their movies. The financial data pulled together here for Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament is culled by seasoned and trusted sources.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor UPADTED: After months of M&A talks, Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone might be going it alone after all — for now. Insiders tell Variety that the expectation at the company is that neither of the two offers in play — Skydance Media-RedBird Capital Partners and Sony Pictures Entertainment-Apollo Global Management — will come to fruition. And Redstone is said to have reluctantly concluded that a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, a longtime partner of Paramount Pictures, will not be possible.

The clock is ticking down to midnight, the end of a month-long exclusive negotiating window between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. The David Ellison company has been circling Paramount for months and lobbed several offers to buy out Shari Redstone‘s controlling stake, backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Sony Pictures Television (SPT) executive Steve Kent is leaving his role to focus solely on The Young and the Restless.

Partners Sony and Apollo have formally reached out to Paramount‘s special board committee asking to discuss a potential $26 billion offer, Deadline has learned. It comes as Par’s exclusive negotiating window with David Ellison‘s Skydance is set to expire.

Sony Pictures Television has brought on Kate Gill as SVP, Comedy Development. In her new role, she will focus on developing new comedy series for all platforms for the U.S. scripted division. Reporting to Colin Davis, EVP, Comedy Development, Gill will be based in SPT’s Culver City, CA headquarters and starts her new role on May 13.

Naman Ramachandran Some of the Sony Music Group‘s top European artists are backing a voter participation campaign. Sony has launched what it describes as a “non-partisan campaign,” titled Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote, to encourage voting in the June European Union elections, with a focus on young people and underrepresented groups.

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV for defamation.Schneider, who wrote and produced many popular kids TV shows in the ’90s and early ’00s – including Kenan & Kel, Drake & Josh and The Amanda Show – is claiming that the documentary falsely implied that he sexually abused child actors on the shows.According to TMZ, Schneider’s lawsuit alleges that the documentary series, which was created by Warner Bros.

Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament is back. While studios during Covid wildly embraced the theatrical day-and-date model when cinemas were closed, they soon realized there’s nothing more profitable than a theatrical release and the downstreams that come with it. If anything, theatrical is the advertisement for a movie’s longevity in subsequent home entertainment windows. Entering the conversation in 2023 were the streamers, such as Apple, who have also realized the necessity of theatrical to eventize their movies. The financial data pulled together here for Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament is culled by seasoned and trusted sources.

EXCLUSIVE: Wednesday and Elvis producer Gail Berman, founder and CEO of The Jackal Group, has signed a three-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. Under the pact, which starts today, the industry veteran will develop and produce scripted series for cable and streaming platforms.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Crunchyroll, the Sony-owned anime streaming service, is raising prices for its two top tier packages in select countries — the first pricing hike in five years. The pricing is increasing for Crunchyroll’s Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan subscription tiers in select countries. “The price change reflects the increase in content on Crunchyroll in recent years, expanding its catalog to more than 45,000 episodes via 1,400 series and films,” the company said in a blog post.

EXCLUSIVE: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice writers and creators of the smash hit Netflix series Wednesday, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, have signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures to develop films through the duo’s Millar Gough Ink banner, Deadline has learned.

Sony’s SVP of Corporate Communications for the Motion Picture Group, Tahra Grant, has been upped to EVP, Chief Communcations Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Fans of the Spider-Man character Kraven the Hunter will have to remain patient for the next few months. Director J.C.

Housemarque Studios has set social media ablaze with a mysterious teaser, with many fans speculating that a Returnal sequel is due to be announced in the coming days.Returnal was originally released in 2021 for the PlayStation 5, while a PC version was shared in 2023. Housemarque Studios’ roguelike third-person shooter quickly became a beloved, critically acclaimed title and now fans are convinced a follow-up is due to be unveiled.Earlier today (April 29) Housemarque Studios shared a black and white teaser image of broken glass and a pair of eyes alongside the word “tomorrow”, with many assuming a proper announcement is due on Tuesday, April 30.pic.twitter.com/F4R6TYFyZ1— Housemarque (@Housemarque) April 29, 2024While many fans are simply embracing the unknown, a number are speculating that the image hints at a follow-up to Returnal.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Amid the M&A drama enveloping Paramount Global, Bob Bakish is about to step down as CEO after eight years at the helm of Shari Redstone’s media empire. Bakish is expected to resign under pressure as early as Monday.

Kraven the Hunter has seen its release delayed again.

Sony has pushed its reboot of Karate Kid from December 13 this year to May 30, 2025. This has created a bit of a backward domino effect but won’t rob the year of theatrical releases.

Katcy Stephan Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” is being pushed back from its August release, moving to Dec. 13, 2024. It will screen in IMAX and premium large formats.

Katcy Stephan Keke Palmer and SZA are set to star in an untitled buddy comedy film for TriStar Pictures. Lawrence Lamont (“Rap Sh!t”) is set to direct with the screenplay, written by “Rap Sh!t” showrunner Syreeta Singleton. HOORAE’s Issa Rae and Sara Diya Rastogi, ColorCreative’s Deniese Davis and MACRO Film Studios’ Charles D.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bob Bakish may be out at Paramount Global before any sale or merger deal for the media company is completed. The board of directors of Paramount Global, including controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, have discussed a plan to oust Bakish as CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources. Instead, the company would form an “Office of the CEO” comprising Paramount Global’s division heads to run operations on an interim basis, per the report.

Skydance and Paramount are deep into hashing out a complicated deal that would see the David Ellison’s studio and its backers take control of the storied film and television company owned by Shari Redstone. The exclusive month-long negotiating period through May 3 is likely to be extended perhaps by a few weeks, Deadline hears, given the complexity of the transaction.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Emily Blunt is staunchly opposed to algorithms making any decisions in Hollywood. Ahead of the release of her summer tentpole “The Fall Guy,” the Oscar nominee joined co-star Ryan Gosling for a Vanity Fair Italy cover story in which she expressed frustration over algorithm-driven decision making.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has hired Jill Ratner as their EVP and General Counsel, overseeing all of the studio’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external matters, and corporate social responsibility teams. 

William Earl Variety and Sony Pictures Television will host an invite-only FYC Showcase in Los Angeles on May 7 featuring activations and three panel conversations with creatives from “Gen V,” “For All Mankind,” “Justified: City Primeval,” “Platonic,” “Twisted Metal,” “Outlander” and “The Wheel of Time.” All conversations will be moderated by a Variety editor and available on Variety.com following the event. Programming includes: Building a Television Universe A conversation between showrunners and key below-the-line talent on how to successfully build a universe in the competitive television landscape.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney deputy general counsel Jill Ratner has exited the Mouse House to join Sony Pictures Entertainment as executive vice president and general counsel. Beginning in her new role May 28, Ratner will be overseeing all SPE’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external affairs and corporate social responsibility teams. She will report directly to CEO Tony Vinciquerra.

EXCLUSIVE: The new 28 Years Later trilogy from director Danny Boyle and Sony Pictures is gaining momentum, and some serious star power. Sources tell Deadline that Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have boarded the first pic, a sequel to the original 28 Days Later.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Angelina Jolie‘s scrapped “Cleopatra” movie was part romance epic and part “political thriller with assassinations and sex,” according to the movie’s original screenwriter Brian Helgeland. The Oscar-winning actor was set to play the Egyptian queen in a tentpole for Sony Pictures that once courted director David Fincher to helm. It never got off the ground.

EXCLUSIVE: Nina Lederman, Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) global scripted boss, is exiting amid the slowdown.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Clue” could soon be heading back to the screen. Hasbro Entertainment has closed a deal with Sony‘s TriStar Pictures and Sony Pictures Television for the film and TV rights for the beloved board game. “Sony is the perfect partner to adapt a property as culturally impactful and mystery-defining as ‘Clue,'” said Hasbro Heads of Film and TV Zev Foreman and Gabriel Marano.

Clue is set to get another crack at the remake treatment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line,” a documentary feature about the veteran Australian rock band Midnight Oil, has been set as the opening gala title at the Sydney Film Festival. It will have its world premiere at the State Theatre on June 5, kicking off the festival that runs until June 16. The film is written and directed by Paul Clarke and produced by Carolina Sorensen. It was executive produced by Mikael Borglund, Paul Clarke and Martin Fabinyi. It is a Blink TV and Beyond Entertainment feature documentary with principal production funding from Screen Australia and Australian Broadcasting Corporation in association with Screen NSW.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “A Knight’s Tale” director Brian Helgeland revealed in a career retrospective interview with Inverse that his efforts to make a sequel to his 2001 medieval action-comedy classic were apparently thwarted by the Netflix algorithm. “When we finished ‘A Knight’s Tale,’ we were already thinking about making the sequel as a pirate film,” Helgeland said. “The plot revolved around Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) kidnapping Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon) and taking her to Constantinople.