‘The First Purge’ Helmer Gerard McMurray To Adapt ‘Black’ Comic Book For Warner Bros., Studio 8

EXCLUSIVE: Having already landed an A-list ensemble for its upcoming Barbie pic, Warner Bros. and Mattel have upped the anty by rounding out the cast with some high level talent. Sources tell Deadline that Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rhea Perlman, Ncuti Gatwa, Oscar winner Emerald Fennell, Sharon Rooney, Scott Evans, Ana Cruz Kayne, Connor Swindells, Ritu Arya and Jamie Demetriou. They join a cast that includes Margot Robbie, who will star in the titular role, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrara, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu, Ariana Greenblatt, Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Hari Nef and Will Ferrell.

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and other top execs are meeting with employees in a town hall this morning on the Warner lot in Burbank. It’s the first large-scale staff meeting since last Friday’s close of the $43 billion merger.

AT&T’s stock price on Monday jumped 8%, to $19.67, as a probable result of Friday’s closure of the deal. The Warner Bros. Discovery share price dipped to $24.48 in after-hours trading, but the start and finish were close enough that the day could hardly be called a roller coaster.Monday was the first day of public trading for Warner Bros.

The newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery will host its first Upfront event on Wednesday, May 18 at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, showcasing its combined portfolio of content, brands, franchises and talent, ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf said Monday.

Will Ferrell has rounded out the all-star cast of the Warner Bros film Barbie centered on the iconic doll line starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. America Ferrara, Kate McKinnon and Simu Liu are also on board with Greta Gerwig directing. Robbie is on board to play Barbie with Gosling set to play Ken. It is unknown who Ferrell will be playing.

David Zaslav will be pounding the Diet Cokes, his soft drink of choice, this week as he sprints across the country to Warner Bros. Discovery’s various outposts.Monday, the first day the new company begins trading on the Nasdaq under the “WBD” ticker, will kick off with a visit to Hudson Yards for a series of informal meet and greets with WarnerMedia employees before he heads to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with senior executives and CNN anchors at roughly 6 p.m.

The final bow has been placed atop the $40 billion merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, forming one of the largest pure content players in the media business.

Jon Steinlauf, one of a small number of Scripps Networks Interactive execs to rise through the Discovery ranks after the company bought Scripps, is rising again in the new Warner Bros Discovery.

Many a mom has thrown out the comics left behind when their students headed off into the world. They didn’t know they were throwing away a future fortune.

Among the leadership announcements, Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich, HBO/HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys, and Warner Television chairman Channing Dungey will continue in their respective roles, reporting to Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

The hello tour for the Discovery and WarnerMedia merger is set to begin as early as Monday, Deadline hears, with multiple meet and greets planned across the country that will culminate with a town hall later in the week.

The wild story of how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton was able to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI is being turned into a TV series for Apple.

David Zaslav will have a tight grip on the operations of Warner Bros. Discovery under the management structure unveiled for the new company that is set to emerge on Monday, Variety has learned.Zaslav, as longtime observers predicted, has opted to have a direct-report relationship with the leaders of the businesses he doesn’t know as well as he does cable channels and advertising sales, per individuals close to the situation.

Warner Bros. executives are apparently working at light speed to decide Ezra Miller’s fate following the actor’s recent antics.

Ezra Miller‘s arrest may be coming with more repercussions.

EXCLUSIVE: Tamir Muhammad is extending and expanding his relationship with WarnerMedia. Muhammad, executive producer of HBO’s Peabody Award-winning late-night series Random Acts of Flyness, has entered exclusive first-look deals with Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and HBO Max. The parallel pacts follow his previous multi-year overall television production and first-look feature deals, which Muhammad signed in 2018 when he launched his Populace production company. He is now extending the first-look feature deal with Warner Bros. Pictures while also adding a separate exclusive first-look TV deal with HBO and HBO Max.

We’re hearing that the Basic Instinct actress will be playing Victoria Kord.

Production designer Patrice Vermette and set decorator Zsuzsanna Sipos took home statuettes for their work on Dune at the Academy Awards on Sunday. Both Vermette and Sipos are first-time winners, though the former had previously been nominated for his work on the films The Young Victoria and Arrival.

Warner Bros. has revealed its new centennial logo in advance of the studio’s 100th anniversary on April 4, 2023.

Shakira is madly in love with Gerard Piqué! The Colombian singer took to social media to share how proud she is of the soccer player for his work ethic and always putting his team first.“Gerard won’t let me say these things publicly. But only he, with his heroism, can play like this going through any injury or pain and always giving his best. It’s not because he’s my husband, but he’s the best center back in the world; I’ve said it!” she posted on Twitter.Gerard no me deja decir estas cosas públicamente.