Warner Bros Motion Picture Group Hires Katie Martin Kelley As EVP Communications

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery streaming comms senior vice president Chris Willard is exiting the company to pursue other interests after 14 years working with the HBO team, Variety has learned.

Warner Bros. Film Group is apologizing for their support of some insensitive “Barbenheimer” content.

Warner Bros. U.S. has deleted “Barbenheimer” tweets after being criticized by Warner Bros. Japan.

Barbenheimer memes that feature atom bomb images.The apology follows Warner Bros. Japan calling its US counterpart’s behaviour “extremely regrettable”, and also said sorry to fans on its behalf.The Barbenheimer craze, which has resulted in millions around the world watching the two blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer back-to-back in an ironic double bill dubbed “Barbenheimer”, has drawn criticism in Japan for making light of the mass destruction caused by the atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.The Barbie US Twitter account (@barbiethemovie) responded to one Barbenheimer fan art poster that depicts Margot Robbie’s Barbie sitting on the shoulders of Cillian Murphy’s J.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran communications executive Kim Page has departed Warner Bros. Discovery where she served as SVP Internal Communications and was a member of WBD Chief Corporate Communications Officer Nathaniel Brown’s senior executive team.

“Barbie” continues to heat up the box office after a blockbuster opening weekend that soared far beyond initial predictions.

EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Collins is Warner Bros. Discovery’s new Group Vice President, overseeing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employee initiatives across North America. She will report to Chief DEI Officer Asif Sadiq.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Come on, Barbie, let’s go make (more) box office history. Greta Gerwig’s plastic, fantastic “Barbie” added $26 million on Monday, resulting in the best Monday gross in Warner Bros. history.

As the SAG-AFTRA strike begins its second week, there’s no indication that negotiations will resume between that guild or the WGA with AMPTP any time soon. And that’s bad news for studios, as actors on strike will begin not only to affect the production of new work, but the premieres of upcoming schedule films.

The studios are putting on a united front when it comes to the striking scribes and actors, but Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global dust-up over who really has the streaming rights to Eric Cartman and the South Park gang shows no signs of settling down.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The dark prince of the unscripted world is plotting his next chapter: Mike Darnell is exiting Warner Bros. Television Group after a decade with the studio, a move he decided to make after a restructuring would have altered his role at the company. Darnell, who had served as president of unscripted television for Warner Bros., and Warner Bros. Television Group chairman/CEO Channing Dungey were set to announce the change on Thursday. As part of the new structure, Darnell won’t be replaced; instead, the alternative and unscripted divisions that reported to Darnell will now report directly to Dungey. Darnell had a year left in his current contract with the studio.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has appointed Katie Martin Kelley as executive VP of communications. Martin Kelley, who joins from MGM, will lead media relations and corporate communications for the film group, including Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and the newly rebranded Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. DC Studios will fall under the purview of Candice McDonough, who previously led communications for Warner Bros. Film Group and has been newly hired to oversee publicity efforts for the company’s comic book division. Martin Kelley will report to Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced a renewal of their multi-year content and platform agreement in New Zealand, securing Sky as the continuing home of HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros. and Discovery. WBD says that the deal keeps open its options on how and when to launch the HBO Max streaming service in the country. The agreement includes a continuation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s eight channel portfolio (Discovery, Discovery Turbo, Living Channel, TLC, ID, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network and CNN International); current and future seasons of HBO series such as “House of The Dragon,” “The Last of Us” and The White Lotus; returning series “True Detective: Night Country,” “Euphoria” “Game of Thrones,” “Sex & The City,” “Chernobyl”; Max Original series including “Peacemaker” and “The Flight Attendant,” future Warner Bros. blockbuster movies and a library titles including the “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings” and “DC Universe” movies.

Vietnam’s decision to ban the movie has been making headlinesNow Warner Bros. is attempting to clarify its intention.The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, was set to hit theaters in the country on July 21, aligning with its big-screen release in most countries around the world.However, Vietnam announced the movie will not be released due to a scene that includes a map using the “nine-dash line” — a set of line segments that represents China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea — which Vietnam claims violates its sovereignty.But the studio rejects the need for controversy.“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros.

reinstated at Warner Bros. Discovery after widespread outcry over his dismissal from the classic movie network, thanked fans for their continued support on Tuesday. “The support for TCM, and for me, has been wonderful,” he tweeted.“I just want to say that it’s always taken a true team to make it work,” he added.

Brian Cox is weighing in on the future of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) after executive changes at the cable network made Hollywood worry Warner Bros. Discovery was ready to pull the plug.

Jesse Armstrong and Danny McBride will have some individual independence to celebrate this holiday weekend.

Warner Bros Discovery has finalized the creative-side structure at Turner Classic Movies, a week after directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson called an emergency meeting with WBD chief David Zaslav about restructuring plans at the channel.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery has walked back its decision to cut longtime Turner Classic Movies programming exec Charles Tabesh following a PR black eye over dramatic cost-cutting changes at the beloved cable network, and announced a partnership with filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson to help curate content at TCM. Tabesh, a 25-year TCM executive who had been slated to leave as part of the downsizing of TCM staff, will now stay in his post and report to Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who Variety previously reported were slated to take oversight of the operations at the network.

Naman Ramachandran Top global talent paid homage to director Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale,” ”Goldeneye”) and special effects supervisor Chris Corbould (“Inception,” ”The Dark Knight,” “No Time to Die”) at the second London Action Festival, which concluded Sunday. The duo, who were honored with the festival’s Moving Target Award for their outstanding contribution to action cinema, were surprised with a range of video messages from people who had worked with them. Daniel Craig described Campbell and Corbould as “two people who have had a major influence on my career.” On Campbell, Craig said: “It gave me incredible security knowing you were steering the ship [Casino Royale]. I have so much to thank you for. I’m incredibly proud of the film we made together.” On Courbould, Craig added: “I don’t know what to say. You’ve blown me up, you’ve set me on fire – but what has been so incredible in working with you is to have had the privilege of getting inside your imagination. Those have been some of the most joyous experiences on a film set that I have had in my fairly long career.”