Universal Pictures Strikes Historic Deal with Movie Theaters, Which Could Change Release Dates Forever

With movies, as with marriages, it’s always best to dwell on the best moments: Cringing at Get Out, convulsing at Borat, wiping tears at A Dog’s Journey. As a confirmed ticket buyer, I’ll never forget seeing Parasite with a mostly Korean audience, hearing their laughs at jokes I’d missed.

Usually, when a film sees its release date bumped from 2020 and into 2021, we’re talking about a blockbuster. At the very least, it seems to almost always be a movie designed to make a bunch of money.

will drop on its fledgling streaming service HBO Max and in traditional movie theaters simultaneously. And the internet reacted like FDR had just announced the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Rachel Kaplan is heading back to Warner Bros. Television after striking an overall deal with the studio via her new production company.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterAbout 60% of the movie theaters in the country — though not the major chains — would be in line for several billion dollars in grants if Congress can agree on a coronavirus stimulus package.Negotiations on a bill were jumpstarted on Tuesday, when a bipartisan group of senators offered a $908 billion plan.

Amblin Partners has signed a new multi-year film distribution partnership with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, as well as a series of new agreements that chart a clear course for the next phase of growth for one of the world’s leading independent film and television studios.

Faizon Love sued Universal Pictures today, accusing it of violating California’s fair employment and civil rights laws with the international poster for its 2009 comedy movie Couples Retreat, calling it an “act of racism.” It also claims the studio reneged on a promise to get Love future roles when they originally sought to placate him over the controversy.

NEW YORK -- “No New ‘Movies’ Till Influenza Ends” blared a New York Times headline on Oct. 10, 1918, while the deadly second wave of the Spanish Flu was unfolding.A century later, during another pandemic, movies — quotes no longer necessary — are again facing a critical juncture.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterWarner Bros. has unveiled global release dates for “Wonder Woman 1984.” As the studio announced last week, the superhero sequel — spotlighting Gal Gadot’s female heroine — will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.In the U.S., “Wonder Woman 1984” is hitting the big screen on Dec.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFrance, which has been on lockdown since Oct. 30 to curb the second wave of the pandemic, will see its cinemas, theaters and museum reopen on Dec.

Rebecca Davis editorPixar’s “Soul” and video game adaptation “Monster Hunter” are set to hit the big screen in China in December.The hotly anticipated “Soul” may have decided to skip cinemas in the COVID-19-ravaged U.S. for Disney Plus, but it will screen in Chinese theaters from Christmas Day, Dec.

Peter White Television EditorDee Harris-Lawrence, who is co-showrunner of CBS legal drama All Rise, is staying in the Warner Bros. family after striking an overall deal with the studio.Harris-Lawrence, who is also showrunner of OWN’s David Makes Man, has closed an exclusive multi-year deal with the company – first studio overall pact.She came on board All Rise, which is produced by Warner Bros.

Freaky is on top of the box office.

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: Human rights activist and author Kimberly Latrice Jones is moving into television after striking an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.Jones is the co-author of I’m Not Dying With You Tonight, alongside attorney Gilly Segal, a YA novel that focuses on prejudice and the racial tension in America.

Another major movie theater chain has struck a deal with Universal Pictures to allow for shorter exclusive theatrical windows.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorMore news on the Monster Hunter and Wonder Woman 1984 fronts with China dates now set for both films. The former, starring Milla Jovovich, has landed a December 4 release in the Middle Kingdom while Warner Bros/DC’s Gal Gadot sequel is due on December 18.

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media AnalystOver the course of the global pandemic, Universal Pictures was the first studio to bypass theaters and release select films via streaming, strike the only deals with major exhibitors to shorten the theatrical window, and introduce a new hybrid window that straddles theaters and homes.That’s why 2020 will be remembered as a year full of bold moves for the trio of Universal marketing executives Variety is honoring with this year’s Marketing