EXCLUSIVE: Following months of going through dozens of audition tapes, Warner Bros and DC Films look to be getting closer to finding the stars of their Superman: Legacy movie as a second round of testing looks to be imminent.
22.05.2023 - 17:47 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is set to undergo another round of layoffs in its television business.
Deadline understands that the company is expected to cut some roles in its cable TV business, which includes the Discovery-branded cable networks.
It’s been described as “pockets of refinement” rather than wholesale cuts and sources have told Deadline that cable staffers have been bracing themselves over the last couple of weeks.
The timing is yet to be confirmed. Sources originally told Deadline that the cuts were expected over the next few weeks, but it’s more likely later this summer.
Warner Bros. Discovery operates cable networks including Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Science Channel and Animal Planet as well as the former Scripps networks such as Food Network and HGTV. It also operates the former Turner-branded networks such as TNT, TBS and truTV.
The division is run by Chairman and Chief Content Officer, US Networks Group Kathleen Finch.
In February, at a Deadline-moderated keynote at the Realscreen conference in Austin, Texas, Finch was candid about the challenges of merging the businesses, which she called “tough”.
“When you go through a merger, you do sort of figure out how many layers we need. How much staff do we need? I’m not really running these networks as 30 individual teams, they’re clustered together, they’re put together with leaders at the top who really live and breathe that content,” she said. “That’s not to say that the people that we lost aren’t amazing people, they are, we just had to have a restructure that has less people doing the jobs.
Earlier this year, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said “we’re done with that chapter” of cuts, which also included axing a number of series and
EXCLUSIVE: Following months of going through dozens of audition tapes, Warner Bros and DC Films look to be getting closer to finding the stars of their Superman: Legacy movie as a second round of testing looks to be imminent.
blog post announcing the launch.Jansen did not name a date but said the News Showcase would launch “later this summer.”The effort was first announced by Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in 2020, when he promised a “new kind of news experience” that would benefit both readers and news organizations. Since then, Google has signed more than 2,300 publications worldwide to the licensing program and expanded to 22 countries globally, but efforts to negotiate with some publishers delayed the U.S.
Five-time Emmy winner and Grammy Award nominee Wayne Brady will play the title character in The Wiz revival when it lands on Broadway in spring 2024, producers announced today, with Doom Patrol’s Alan Mingo Jr. (Kinky Boots) taking the role during many of the production’s pre-Broadway tour dates.
Former Warner Bros. President of Sales and Distribution, D. Barry Reardon, passed at the age of 92 on May 27 in Vero Beach, Florida.
Given the anxious vibes in the entertainment business of late, the NBA and NHL playoffs have been a welcome throwback to happier times.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Pluto TV is reprising its summer movie event with a rotating batch of more than 200 films coming to the streaming service — all for the low price of free. The titles include installments of fan-favorite franchises ahead of their upcoming new releases in theaters this summer, including the first four movies in the Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible series, plus “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.” Pluto TV’s Popcorn Summer Movies 2023 slate, the third year of the programming event, also includes popular films such as “Titanic,” “Gladiator,” “Old School,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” The additional movies are on top of Pluto TV’s existing catalog of several thousand free films.
Jennifer Lopez never fails to make a fashion statement, both on and off the red carpet. Spanning 25 years in the spotlight, the singer turned actress has garnered some memorable looks - including her effortless beachside style. Stepping out whilst holidaying in St.
EXCLUSIVE: Up-and-comers Kue Lawrence (Beautiful Boy), Kai Cech (Dear Santa) and Max Malas (New Amsterdam) are set to star opposite Corbin Bersen (White House Plumbers) in the sci-fi horror mystery Marshmallow from director Daniel DelPurgatorio, which is heading into production in a couple of weeks.
according to Variety, which reported on the deal in October 2020. The agreement was meant to draw on Cullors’ experience as a leader of the movement which started in the courtyard of her Los Angeles home in 2013, according to a statement from the studio at the time.The value of the deal was not disclosed at the time, Variety reported.A spokeswoman for Warner Bros, now part of Warner Bros.
So many stars stepped out to celebrate Warner Bros. Studios’ 100th Anniversary during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival!
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was met with heavy jeering while delivering a commencement speech at Boston University amidst the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in Hollywood.During the graduation ceremony at Boston University – where he received his law degree in 1985 – Zaslav was invited back to receive an honorary degree, as well as to deliver a commencement speech to the graduation cohort.Per reports from The Hollywood Reporter, the jeering began even before Zaslav’s speech, when he was being introduced. Throughout his 20-minute speech, Zaslav was met with loud, angry boos and chants including “pay your writers”, “we don’t want you here” and “shut up, Zaslav” in support of the ongoing strike.Footage of the boos and “pay your writers” chants were captured and shared on Twitter by striking Late Night with Seth Meyers writer Mike Scollins.
William Earl Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav felt the effect of the WGA strike while delivering a commencement speech at Boston University, getting jeered and facing chants of “pay your writers” while he was trying to speak. “Late Night with Seth Meyers” writer Mike Scollins posted a video of one moment during the address in which the chant was loud enough to make Zaslav pause in the middle of his speech. Scollins captioned the video “Zaslav getting hit with a Pay Your Writers chant in Boston. This is so good.”Zaslav getting hit with a Pay Your Writers chant in Boston. This is so good. pic.twitter.com/00pL4ahAqZ In a statement after the speech, Zaslav expressed gratitude to the university where he earned his law degree in 1985. He didn’t reference the Writers Guild of America strike at the commencement, but he did afterward.
Us Weekly has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services.
In “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the sturdy lark, positioned precariously in the liminal space between commerce and taste, there are the familiar callbacks, the big set pieces, the cracking bullwhip, dashing fedoras, nefarious Nazis, exotic locales, old friends and new faces. Something, however, is missing.
McKinley Franklin editor Max has revealed the rollout plans for its four original documentary specials narrated by Morgan Freeman in honor of Warner Bros.’ 100th anniversary. The first two specials will make their debut at Cannes on May 24 as 2023 Official Cannes Classics Selections, followed by a May 25 debut on Max. The remaining two specials will be available to stream on Max on June 1. The “100 Years of Warner Bros.” docuseries pays homage to the output of Warner Bros. over the past century. Featuring interviews with directors, actors, executives, journalists and historians, the specials highlight everything from the studios’ early beginnings to its presence in the modern day.
“Republicans are back on the air. Republicans weren’t on the air,” on CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told a media conference Thursday as he said the storied brand is moving to become less of an “advocacy network” under new leadership.
The Lazarus Project, a British drama series starring I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu, doesn’t launch until next month on TNT.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As Amazon Freevee’s hoax reality series “Jury Duty” is currently garnering huge amounts of attention, the format originator is staging a comeback. TBS is set to announce Wednesday that it has ordered a revival of “The Joe Schmo Show,” which will air next year on the cabler. The original “Joe Schmo” premiered in 2003 on Spike TV, with a follow-up in 2004 and then a third season revival in 2013. Created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (both of whom went on to a successful screenwriting career, including the “Deadpool” films), “Joe Schmo” made waves when it first debuted for parodying the then-relatively new and white-hot reality competition genre.
Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Food Network has ordered two new series hosted by Selena Gomez as part of its upcoming programming slate. The first show from the “Only Murders in the Building” star, who also hosts cooking series “Selena + Chef” at HBO Max (soon to just be Max), will be a “celebration-focused series” debuting during the holiday season later this year. In 2024, Gomez will launch a show that sees her going to other chefs’ kitchens for a change. The untitled project will feature Gomez “meeting up with some of the best chefs in the country in a quest to cook their most popular dishes when she visits their kitchens.” A source tells Variety these new shows are unrelated to “Selena + Chef,” which has not yet been renewed for a fifth season at Max.
Charna Flam Netflix announced the return of “Is it Cake?” and the addition of its latest “Nailed It!” spinoff, “The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge,” with both to premiere on the platform this summer. “Is It Cake, Too?” will premiere on June 30. It will keep deceiving celebrity judges as some of the world’s most talented bakers compete to create hyper-realistic cakes that look exactly like everyday objects. As they compete with cash on the line, judges and audiences will ask, “Is it real?” or… “Is it cake?” The eight-episode game show is hosted by Mikey Day and executive produced by Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Nan Strait, Dan Volpe, Andrew Wallace and Cat Sullivan.