Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps Entertainment have signed a multi-year overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television after more than a decade at Netflix. Levy will develop and produce series for platforms and brands across the Disney Entertainment portfolio as Stranger Things approaches its conclusion.
Tomi Adeyemi says her distressing experience on the “Children of Blood and Bone” set has convinced her never to adapt another of her books for film. The author said she was left hyperventilating and sobbing during production and still does not plan to watch the finished adaptation when it reaches theaters Jan. 15.
Daisy Jelley and Connor Simos will lead Netflix’s series adaptation of Hannah Grace’s “Icebreaker” as figure skater Anastasia “Stassie” Allen and college hockey star Nate Hawkins.
“The Bear” star Ebon Moss-Bachrach says actors must “be a perennial,” finding inspiration and honoring their work even when the material falls short or motivation is imperfect. He says variety across film, television and theater, rather than wealth, continues to draw him to acting.
Disney and Marvel’s Avengers Endgame: Encore opened with $86 million worldwide, including $26 million domestically and $60 million overseas, an exceptional result for a theatrical re-release. The return engagement includes additional footage from Anthony and Joe Russo’s upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
Former Disney executive Kevin Mayer said a Paramount-Warner Bros. merger may be financially necessary as film revenues decline, but warned it could cause substantial job losses. Speaking at the Zurich Summit, the Candle Media co-CEO also said he expects Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to honor commitments to produce 30 movies annually for at least five years.
Anna Kendrick says she is “over the moon” to direct Netflix’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel. She also compared the enduring support among her Pitch Perfect co-stars, including Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp and Hailee Steinfeld, to “Avengers, assemble.”
Netflix’s “Godless” offers a seven-episode alternative to Taylor Sheridan’s Western dramas, with a character-driven story set in late-1880s New Mexico. The 2017 miniseries follows the women running the mining town of La Belle as fugitive Roy Goode’s arrival and Frank Griffin’s pursuit threaten its survival.
Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update mocked Paramount+, Taylor Sheridan’s television lineup and summer movies including The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Obsession. Michael Che opened the industry-focused run before Jeremy Culhane returned as Tucker Carlson to deliver culture-war riffs on the season’s blockbusters.
Annalisa Quinn’s viral Sept. 22 article about a western Massachusetts lesbian bar’s mask-policy controversy is drawing inquiries about possible scripted and documentary adaptations. UTA is fielding the Hollywood interest, though no adaptation has been confirmed.
YouTube and Meta have reversed their initial rejections and will allow Bleecker Street to run paid trailer ads for Alex Gibney’s upcoming Elon Musk documentary, Musk. TikTok and X continue to decline the advertisement.
AI actress Tilly Norwood said she would like to work with Tom Holland and Olivia Colman, but only with their digital twins in an AI production. Norwood made the comments at the Zurich Film Festival’s Summit, where creator Eline van der Velden also addressed the controversy surrounding the character.
Paramount plans to move its Class B shares from the Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange, ending Nasdaq trading on October 5 and beginning NYSE trading on October 6. The company could postpone or cancel the transfer depending on the timing of its pending $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Disney is seeking a director of AI enablement and legal engineering one week after warning employees that its legal and global affairs department will become “much smaller” in a technology-driven overhaul. The executive will redesign legal workflows using AI for contract review, legal research and regulatory analysis.
Florence Pugh says she was never afraid to publicly support Palestine, despite believing her advocacy cost her hundreds of thousands of social media followers. She also questioned Hollywood’s delayed response while continuing to share links for humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
Warner Music Group named Val Blavatnik managing director of Warner Music North America, U.K. and Corporate Development as part of a broad leadership shake-up. Elliot Grainge will become chairman of ADA, while Alejandro Duque has been promoted to president of Warner Music International.
The Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff is in advanced discussions to develop and executive produce Storm Dogs, a family adventure feature from Particle 6. Minkoff is expected to serve as creative lead on the live-action and photorealistic animation hybrid, currently slated for production in 2027.
Disney Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer Horacio Gutierrez warned that the division will become “a much smaller organization,” with staffing affected as it considers automation, self-service systems and outsourcing. The planned reductions are understood to be separate from another anticipated round of company layoffs.
Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s forthcoming memoir, “Behind the Castle Walls,” revisits his 2022 ouster and alleges that Bob Iger mounted a three-year campaign to force him out. The book also recounts Chapek’s 30-year Disney career and his handling of the company’s Florida political crisis.
Letterboxd could be valued at more than $300 million as A24 and The New York Times emerge as potential buyers of the film-review and social platform. Neither company has confirmed plans to pursue a deal for the service, which has more than 30 million members worldwide.
Paramount’s $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery could close within two weeks after two antitrust lawsuits were settled, although a federal judge postponed a hearing to review the settlement. Dealmakers said the combination could help traditional media compete with powerful technology companies in entertainment.