John Malone, billionaire Liberty Media chairman and architect of the Warner Bros Discovery merger, believes WBD’s mix of ad-free and ad-supported streaming under CEO David Zaslav will succeed “if he makes good stuff.”
20.10.2022 - 13:31 / deadline.com
Warner Bros. Discovery has become the first major studio to sell a movie’s NFT bundle,with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring dropping tomorrow.
WBD has teamed with Web3 outfit Eluvio to develop the NFTs, a world first that could be about to set a trend.
Each NFT features a 4K copy of Peter Jackson’s debut 2001 Lord of the Rings film along with behind-the-scenes footage, lots of stills and exclusive assets inspired by the film. Eluvio is hosting the NFTs via its Ethereum-compatible blockchain and the tokens will go live on a website tomorrow.
“The core digital assets themselves, not just the token, are on the blockchain,” Eluvio CEO Michelle Munson told Decrypt. “They’re both owned and attested to and all of the streaming that you’ll see with the film is authorized and distributed from blockchain.”
The news comes a day after Lord of the Rings IP broker Thomas Dey took a Mipcom Cannes audience inside Embracer Group’s mega deal for the franchise’s IP, which completed a few weeks ago.
Dey said Lord of the Rings can become as big a franchise as Marvel or Star Wars and Embracer has big plans especially in the gaming sphere. Amazon Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings TV series, the most expensive of all time, aired its final episode last week.
John Malone, billionaire Liberty Media chairman and architect of the Warner Bros Discovery merger, believes WBD’s mix of ad-free and ad-supported streaming under CEO David Zaslav will succeed “if he makes good stuff.”
What does Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav have in mind for his studio’s near future? Deadline reports that on a Q3 earnings call yesterday afternoon, Zaslav detailed exactly what he envisions, and it’s all about big tentpole franchises.
In the near future, it’s pretty simple what the new Warner Bros Discovery will zero in on: “We’re going to have a real focus on franchises,” President and CEO David Zaslav said on this afternoon’s Q3 earnings call.
Warner Bros Discovery stumbled in the third quarter, falling short of Wall Street expectations due to a slowdown in advertising and merger-related restructuring charges.
Newly crowned Warner Bros Film Group Co-Chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will receive The Producers Guild of America’s 2023 Milestone Award.
One ring to rule them all! The stories of the Hobbits and their adventures have been around for decades.
Tomorrow, we hear is Courtenay Valenti’s last day as Warner Bros. President of Production and Development after we told you first that she was exiting the Burbank, CA lot after a 33-year run.
The Warner Bros Worldwide Marketing vet is in talks for the top Film & TV, Marketing post at Amazon Studios, sources tell us. The rumor has been around for a while, and we understand it’s becoming more real, and it really shouldn’t surprise as Sue Kroll has been a marketing consultant at Amazon Studios for six months. Sources tell us that the streamer and Kroll are still working out details.
Warner Bros. Discovery will take a hit of between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billon in pre-tax restructuring charges for the third quarter ended in September as part of the ongoing merge of its operations, primary from content write-downs.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fanatical collectors of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” will get the chance to buy limited-edition multimedia nonfungible token (NFT) versions of the fantasy epic. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is teaming with blockchain company Eluvio to launch “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (Extended Version) Web3 Movie Experience, which will be available in two different editions that drop Friday, Oct. 21 at web3.wb.com. It’s the first time a major studio is releasing a movie as NFTs, which are unique identifiers that verify ownership of digital content. “The Fellowship of the Ring” NFTs are the first ones to be available in the “WB Movieverse,” a new marketplace that will in the future include other titles from the studio. Jessica Schell, GM and EVP, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said future releases are yet to be determined. On the platform, fans will be able to buy, sell and trade movie NFTs.
Rooster Teeth, a gaming-oriented digital content creator and fan community owned by Warner Bros Discovery, has apologized for “hate and mistreatment” after complaints were lodged by a former staffer.
Ahead of tomorrow’s tipoff of the 2022-23 NBA season, Warner Bros Discovery announced contract renewals for the four hosts of TNT’s mainstay studio show Inside the NBA.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Amazon Prime Video has scored a pair of deals with Warner Bros. Discovery and Sony to bolster its programming in France with premium titles. The agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery gives Prime Video the first-window rights to exclusive TV series from Warner Bros. Discovery in France, including “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” the first two seasons of “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Ava DuVernay’s miniseries “DMZ” and “Peacemaker” Season 1. Also part of the pact are library TV titles, on a non-exclusive basis. These include “Legacies” (Seasons 1 through 3), “Pretty Little Liars,” “Fringe,” “One Tree Hill,” “The Originals” and “Shameless.”
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is behind a TV show telling real life stories of people overcoming severe medical conditions to show human bravery, with Netflix’s Amazing on the Inside producer Future Studios and distributor TVF International shopping Unbelievable Me at Mipcom Cannes this week.
Does the world need a reimagining of the 1990 comedy “House Party“? It’s not like that movie is terrible, and it’s an early role for Martin Lawrence, but who remembers it nowadays? And what kind of audience is there today for a remake? Well, LeBron James thinks the comedy needs a revamp three decades later whether anyone asked for it or not. He, Maverick Carter, and Warner Bros. Continue reading ‘House Party’ Red Band Trailer: LeBron James & Warner Bros.
according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Both Tricia and Jill will be here through the rest of the year, working with me as we realign the teams through this transitional period.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Discovery Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics chief marketing officer Tricia Melton is departing the company, along with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim senior VP of marketing and partnerships Jill King. Their exits rep the latest high-profile departures at the conglom as it continues to cut costs and downsize following the April acquisition of Warner Bros. by Discovery. Melton’s and King’s exits come just days after Warner Bros. TV Group’s animation division was hit hard by cuts — including the merger of development and main production teams for Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. Both shingles remain, but with a smaller, merged headcount.
shuttered as part of cost-cutting moves. WBD’s chief DEI officer Asif Sadiq will partner with Warner Bros. Television upon the completion of the current workshop class and will work to grow the program.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to end its long-running writers and directors training program, which the conglom announced Tuesday as part of a series of layoffs and budget cuts at Warner Bros. TV Group, drew a strong rebuke from different parts of the industry, including a stinging statement on Wednesday by the Directors Guild of America. But what Warner Bros. Discovery hadn’t followed up to explain — and quickly revealed on Wednesday — is that its Writers Workshop and Directors Workshop will live on (albeit it, in a somewhat different form, details TBD) but now move from Warner Bros. Television and be housed inside the conglom’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion unit.
Warner Bros. Discovery has performed a quick U-turn on its decision to close its Writers and Directors Workshops.