News

Hulu's TV adaptation of A Court of Thorns and Roses is temporarily dead, with former showrunner Ronald D. Moore sharing why the planned series never happened.

Fantasy adaptations are as hot as ever right now, even after Prime Video canceled The Wheel of Time. It’s no wonder Hulu was eyeing a take on A Court of Thorns and Roses, one of the most popular fantasy sagas of the moment. Readers adore the books by Sarah J. Maas, which follow 19-year-old Feyre Archeron after she is brought into the faerie lands of Prythian. Feyre has to navigate both romance and survive the politics of the various faerie clans.

With five books in the saga and a sixth on its way, the series has a huge built-in fanbase that would lend itself well to a TV series. Hulu agreed, as in March 2021, they ordered a series with Moore attached, who...

NFL hall-of-famer and podcaster Shannon Sharpe is out at ESPN, just a few weeks after settling a $50 million lawsuit brought by a woman who had accused him of rape.

Sharpe, who had been a regular contributor to the popular First Take morning show, had temporarily stepped aside from his duties at ESPN earlier this year after the suit was first filed, with plans to return in time for the NFL season.

A source familiar with the matter confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that Sharpe will not return to ESPN. The Athletic first reported the news.

The former tight end had emerged as a media powerhouse in his retirement, first at Fox Sports, and later at ESPN. Sharpe had inked a new deal with ESPN just over a year ago, with Disney CEO Bob Iger personally getting involved in the discussions.

But he also built a large podcast following with Club Shay Shay,...

The chairman of the FCC has opened another inquiry into a major media company, this time over the relationship between Comcast’s NBCUniversal and its local broadcast affiliates.

Brendan Carr informed Comcast CEO Brian Roberts of the inquiry in a letter sent on Tuesday.

In the letter, first reported by Newsmax, Carr wrote that the “FCC has an interest in and the authority to promote the public interest and to ensure that local broadcast TV stations retain the economic and operational independence necessary to meet their public interest obligations. I want to ensure that Comcast’s relationships with local broadcast TV stations comply with all of the relevant federal regulations—again, regulations designed to ensure that local stations meet their public interest obligations.”

He wrote that he had heard “numerous reports that the approach that NBC and other similarly situated networks are taking in recent negotiations is an attempt to...

The new trailer for Zootopia 2 just dropped, and it looks like Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde aren’t exactly living the dream. The bunny and fox are back, but not everything is sunshine and teamwork. In fact, they’re in couples therapy. Well, kind of.

As shown in the teaser released by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Judy and Nick have been working as official police partners for just a week. But already, their clashing personalities are causing problems, so much so that Chief Bogo, voiced again by Idris Elba, sends them to therapy. The sessions are led by a therapist named Dr. Fuzzby, played by Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson.

Judy, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, seems frustrated but hopeful in the trailer, while Nick (Jason Bateman) stays his usual sarcastic self. The therapy isn’t optional, either. Chief Bogo makes it clear they need to fix their issues fast,...

“Zootopia 2” is heading to theaters on November 26, 2025, and fans are finally getting a look at what Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde have been up to since their first big adventure. Turns out, things between the bunny and the fox aren’t going as smoothly as you’d expect. In fact, they’re now in therapy. Yep, couples therapy… sort of.

The latest trailer shows the two police partners meeting with a therapist, played by Quinta Brunson. It’s not exactly romantic therapy, though. As Judy points out, they’ve only been official police partners for a week. Still, things are rocky enough that Chief Bogo (voiced again by Idris Elba) has forced them into partner counseling. If they don’t fix their issues, he’s ready to break up the team.

Judy and Nick are facing a new mystery involving a snake named Gary De’Snake. He’s voiced...

Ronald D. Moore reveals details as to why Hulu's A Court of Thorns and Roses TV series was cancelled, explaining the decision behind its shelving. A TV show adaptation for A Court of Thorns and Roses books was announced in 2021, with Moore and author Sarah J. Maas involved. However, the series' production was cancelled by Hulu in February 2025.

Speaking with Swooonduring San Diego Comic-Con, Moore explained that A Court of Thorns and Roses never came to fruition because of development issues at Disney. He cited the Covid-19 pandemic and changing leadership in the company, with him eventually departing the project due to a lack of progress:

It wasn’t really my decision. I mean, I was at Disney. I was in development. It was a chaotic period. The thing about it was [going] from Covid to the strikes to a lot of shakeup in terms of Bob Iger leaves, Bob Iger comes back,...

As promised last year by Disney CEO Bob Iger, Marvel Studios has scaled back to only 2-3 feature film releases each year, and with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in theaters, that’s it for the 2025 lineup. So, what’s left between now and Dec. 26, 2026, when Marvel’s next major “Avengers” film comes out? Not much.

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is the third Marvel Cinematic Universe film of 2025, following “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts*.” Meanwhile on Disney+, Season 1 of “Daredevil: Born Again” wrapped up in April, “Ironheart” streamed in June, and only a few more MCU TV shows are coming before the end of next year.

With this reduced slate, how will “Avengers: Doomsday” not only bring back a ton of characters, but set it all up to work story-wise? Obviously, it’s hard to say, other than knowing “Fantastic Four” set up Doctor Doom, their next major villain.

Lilo & Stitch (2025) transitioned from a planned Disney+ exclusive to a theatrical release that grossed $1 billion globally. Let’s take a look at how that happened.

What are the key details of Lilo & Stitch (2025)’s release journey?

Initial Plan: Announced in October 2018, the live-action remake was designated a Disney+ exclusive to strengthen the streaming platform.

Theatrical Pivot: Switched to theaters in August 2024, with a release date of May 23, 2025.

Budget Impact: The $100 million budget, initially for streaming, led to the exclusion of CGI-heavy characters like Gantu.

Strategic Influence: CEO Bob Iger’s return in 2022 shifted focus back to theatrical releases.

Box Office Success: Achieved $1 billion worldwide, marking it the first Hollywood film of 2025 to reach this milestone.

This article outlines the essential milestones, offering a clear starting point for understanding the film’s evolution.

Why was Lilo & Stitch (2025) initially planned as a Disney+ exclusive?

The live-action Lilo & Stitch remake was...

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is off on the right foot at the box office.

Marvel’s latest comic book adaptation has lifted off with $118 million from 4,125 North American theaters over the weekend. Those ticket sales were slightly ahead of expectations of $100 million to $110 million.

“Fantastic Four,” a retro-futuristic adventure starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn as the titular team, collected another $100 million at the international box office for a global total of $218 million. Directed by Matt Shakman, “Fantastic Four” follows the foursome of Mister Fantastic (Pascal), Invisible Woman (Kirby), The Thing (Moss-Bachrach) and Human Torch (Quinn) as they protect their world from a planet-devouring cosmic being.

Based on initial turnout, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is shaping up to be a needed win for Marvel Studios. The comic book empire, which has become Hollywood’s most reliable hit maker, has greatly struggled with commercial consistency over the past five years.

As the child of mega-famous movie stars, Jamie Lee Curtis witnessed the glamorous highs and soul-crushing lows that come with a career in Hollywood. In a lengthy interview with the Guardian published Sunday, Curtis admitted she’s been “prepping to get out” of the industry for years in part to avoid the same fate that befell Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

“I witnessed my parents lose the very thing that gave them their fame and their life and their livelihood, when the industry rejected them at a certain age,” she explained. “I watched them reach incredible success and then have it slowly erode to where it was gone. And that’s very painful.”

“I have been self-retiring for 30 years. I have been prepping to get out, so that I don’t have to suffer the same as my family did. I want to leave the party before I’m no longer invited,...

Spoiler Alert !!!Spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

After numerous rumors about his appearance, Robert Downey Jr.‘s Doctor Doom officially makes his MCU debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In the mid-credits scene, taking place four years later, fans see Doom crouching in front of Franklin Richards, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm.

The character holds his mask in his hand and dons his iconic green cape and hood. However, he faces away from the camera. Marvel has yet to confirm whether Downey Jr. actually made the appearance in the film. Nonetheless, the scene perfectly sets up Avengers: Doomsday.

Coming to Doomsday, Downey Jr. is super stoked about it, and he kind of expresses it on social media. On the morning of The Fantastic Four‘s worldwide release, Downey Jr. shared a post to Instagram where he was seen enjoying the newly released song, Change of Scenery.

Whenever Marvel Studios doesn’t show up at San Diego Comic-Con, it’s like pulling the brain out of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

Or, to put it in fanboy speak, it’s like pulling the brain out of Twiki the robot from NBC’s 1980s series Buck Rogers.

Twiki the Robot

For the most part, whenever a big Hollywood studio or two sit out — or when a buzzy project like 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: Fire & Ash, Lucasfilm’s Mandalorian & Grogu, Amazon MGM Studios’ mega-big Masters of the Universe or Netflix’s massively popular series Wednesday doesn’t show at the 135,000-attended confab — the media gets cynical. Does San Diego Comic Con still have any relevance for Hollywood?

The answer to that is studios, streamers and networks are extremely aware of the Hall H megaphone and the power it wields in an instantaneous social media environment. But,...

Kevin Feige has shed new light on one of the most game-changing creative shifts in the MCU, namely Marvel's decision to pivot from Kang the Conqueror to Doctor Doom, with the big boss suggesting that Marvel Studios might have started to course correct before the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Jonathan Majors' legal troubles. After Majors' cameo in the Loki Season 1 finale, it became clear that his Kang the Conqueror would be the lead villain of what Marvel Studios was calling the Multiverse Saga, taking over from Thanos and concluding with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Yet, following the underperforming critical reaction and box office to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the arrest and later conviction of Majors, Marvel Studios announced that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU, now playing Doctor Doom as the lead of Avengers: Doomsday.

For the first time since firing Jonathan Majors,...

“Making less.”

If there’s a cure for superhero fatigue for Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, particularly in the wake of the brand’s string of bombs including Eternals ($402 million), Thunderbolts ($382M) and The Marvels ($206.1M), it’s that.

“Making two or three movies a year, some years it will be one, some years it will be three,” says Feige about the MCU’s curated output in the near future during a Friday press conference. “We’ll be down to a single live-action show a year.”

Also, for Feige, hope prevails in a rival studio’s Man of Steel recently crossing $407 million worldwide and counting.

“Look at Superman, it’s clearly not superhero fatigue,” asserts the Marvel Studios producer and president, who believes that comic book movies are poised for better days. In the wake of those films, the MCU is finally looking at its first $100M+ opener for 2025 in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Despite numerous false starts, Mahershala Ali’s debut as a vampire slayer in “Blade” is still in the works, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed.

“Mahershala is still attached,” Feige told a roomful of journalists gathered at Marvel Studios on Friday about the project, which would see the two-time Oscar winner assume the role originated onscreen by Wesley Snipes, who played the part in the late ’90s and 2000s, as well as in 2024’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.” “The obstacle was, Ryan Coogler called and said, ‘We’d love some costumes for ‘Sinners,’” he joked, referring to costumes created by Ruth E. Carter for an abandoned “Blade” film that Marvel commissioned, then sold back to Carter for Coogler’s vampire movie. “And we said, ‘Take ‘em man, no problem’ — he’s a good friend — ‘Take our costumes. We’ll hold off on the movie.’”

In all seriousness, Feige explained, the prolonged...

President Trump has sued the Wall Street Journal owner News Corp. for defamation over a report detailing a 2003 letter from him to Jeffrey Epstein in which he wrote that they share a “wonderful secret.”

With the lawsuit, filed on Friday in Florida federal court, the Journal becomes the latest media outlet targeted by Trump for adversarial reporting, joining ABC News and CBS News. It sets the stage for another legal battle in which media’s incentives to stay out of Trump’s crosshairs by settling will be questioned, this time featuring Journal parent News Corp., owned by close Trump ally Rupert Murdoch, who’s personally named in the complaint.

“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday. Earlier, he said he told the media tycoon “it was a Scam,...

Bruce Springsteen was “Born to Run” into the 2025 Oscars race.

As The Boss gears up for the release of his much-anticipated biopic “Deliver Me from Nowhere” later this year, the iconic singer is already set to be honored during the fifth annual Academy Museum Gala. The timing couldn’t be better: The Academy Museum Gala will take place October 18, with “Deliver Me from Nowhere” arriving in theaters in October 24. Springsteen will be portrayed by Jeremy Allen White, with Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham, Marc Maron, Gaby Hoffmann, and David Krumholtz also starring in the ’80s-set feature.

The Academy Museum Gala recognition further ushers in the presumed Springsteen mania of this upcoming awards season. Springsteen will receive the museum’s inaugural Legacy Award and is also set for a live performance at the ceremony. The Legacy Award “honors an artist whose body of work has inspired generations of storytellers and deeply influenced our culture,...

On July 17, 1955, Walt Disney officially opened the gates to Disneyland, turning what had been 160 acres of orange groves and farmland in Anaheim, California into a fully immersive theme park and resort, unlike anything that had existed before.

The Disneyland Resort has changed a lot since then. Rides and attractions have been added and torn down. New lands have been built, an entirely new theme park was constructed next door in the form of Disney’s California Adventure, but the core of what Walt Disney created remains the same: Taking the characters and stories people love, and letting visitors experience it for themselves.

And beginning Thursday, on Disneyland’s 70th anniversary, Walt Disney himself will join the park. Or at least an audio-animatronic version of Walt, which will be the centerpiece of a new show at the Main Street Opera House (narrated by Disney CEO Bob Iger!) called Walt Disney — A Magical Life.

Several Marvel Studios projects have stalled in the development process, but there may still be hope for one shelved Disney+ series. Earlier in the year, reports showed that Marvel had paused three projects it was planning for Disney+: Strange Academy, Nova, and Terror, Inc. According to a new report, one of these shows has a chance at a new life, as Marvel Studios considers transitioning it to become a film instead.

Industry insider Daniel Richtman reports that Marvel Studios is considering reworking the Nova Disney+ show into a movie instead. Richtman revealed the studio is debating the best format for some of its shelved concepts, including Nova and Strange Academy. Nova's shelving was particularly surprising as steam was building behind the Disney+ project. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige had publicly said to expect the show by 2028, and the studio had hired Ed Bernero as a showrunner in late...

It took three decades for fans of the Sanderson sisters to get their second slice of witchy goodness in the Disney+ legacy sequel,Hocus Pocus 2. The success of the movie’s streaming debut instantly made it seem likely that another film would be heading down the line, and stars, including Bette Midler, were very positive about getting back in the spooky groove for a third time. However, in a recent interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Midler’s costar Sarah Jessica Parker has made the chances of Hocus Pocus 3 happening a little less likely.

Parker plays Sarah Sanderson in both Hocus Pocus movies, and while it is clear that she, like her other costars, would be more than happy to return to the role for a third time, whether that happens seems to depend on things actually getting moving at Disney. So far, there doesn...

Disney’s ABC News is accelerating a cost-cutting and consolidation drive that began with a six-percent workforce reduction in March and has now reached its daytime lineup, where GMA3: What You Need to Know faces a staff exodus and an uncertain format.

Co-anchors Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco Morgan left the network last week—Pilgrim to host Inside Edition and Morgan to pursue opportunities outside Disney—prompting management to absorb the program into the flagship Good Morning America production unit and weigh further changes to its on-air team.

The shake-up follows a turbulent spring in which ABC News cut roughly 200 positions, shuttered data-journalism site FiveThirtyEight and merged its 20/20 and Nightline staffs under ABC News Studios, moves outlined in an internal memo first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Production roles on GMA3 were hit especially hard, with executive producer Catherine McKenzie among those let go, leaving a leaner team now...

It’s a bird… it’s a plane… it’s a box office hit!

At least that’s how Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is touting the initial results for “Superman,” which climbed to $125 million domestically and $220 million globally in its opening weekend.

The comic book adaptation, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, marks a vital reset in the DC Universe. After its last iteration of superhero adventures combusted with four major money losers in “The Flash,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” and “Blue Beetle,” Zaslav hired Gunn and Peter Safran in 2022 to overhaul DC Studios. The duo has outlined a 10-year-plan of interconnected stories and spinoffs, including 2026’s “Supergirl” and “Clayface,” as well as a new take on “Wonder Woman” that is being developed.

“Three years ago, I hired James Gunn and Peter Safran to...

Disney is preparing its next big step in the sports streaming wars. During an earnings call back in February, CEO Bob Iger emphasized that the House of Mouse had plans to expand the availability of its sports network, ESPN, through linear channels, streaming bundles, and, most importantly, a standalone app coming this fall. The goal is to get the platform in front of as many eyes as possible, especially by utilizing recently debuted packages like those from DirecTV and Comcast that are built for sports fans. Since then, we've learned much more about the flagship app, including what it offers, how it integrates into the Disney bundle, and what it brings to the company in the long term.

The new standalone service is billed as a one-stop shop for all things ESPN for cord-cutters, complete with more features than the linear model can offer. Iger teased that it would lean...

In the Beginning, There Was WandaVision

Wandavision was released way back in 2021. It marked the beginning of a new era — or experiment — in the MCU: long-form television series directly connected to the movies. This slate came out swinging, and I think Marvel knew what they had on their hands. Wandavision released confidently and holds a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. It had an interesting premise, a stellar cast, and — most importantly — it gave the spotlight to a character who hadn’t starred in her own movie yet. Remember that one. With Wandavision out and generating buzz, Marvel and Disney must have been thrilled about the dozens of other shows they had lined up for the future.

Similar to Wandavision, Loki premiered in 2021 to both critical and fan acclaim. It was a smart sci-fi series that introduced new characters and concepts to the MCU, wrapped in beautifully designed sets and stylish cinematography.

More,...

Disney CEO Bob Iger recently met with White House officials to talk about serious concerns over artificial intelligence and how it might misuse Disney’s characters and intellectual property. People close to the discussions say Iger, along with Disney’s legal chief Horacio Gutierrez, expressed worries about AI models using Disney’s work without permission in harmful ways.

This conversation is part of a larger battle happening in Hollywood and Washington. Many creators and companies are fighting against AI companies that train their models on copyrighted films, TV shows, and performances without paying or asking permission.

Actress and director Natasha Lyonne described staying up all night texting and calling Hollywood friends like Cate Blanchett and Ron Howard, urging them to sign her letter to the Trump administration. She said, “At one point my phone started smoking.” Lyonne managed to collect over 400 signatures. She wants artists to be paid fairly for...

Disney CEO Bob Iger has been talking with the White House about growing concerns over artificial intelligence and how it could misuse Disney’s characters and stories. According to people familiar with the meeting, Iger and Disney’s legal chief Horacio Gutierrez met with officials to raise red flags about AI models possibly copying Disney’s intellectual property and using it in harmful or inappropriate ways.

Disney isn’t alone in this. Actress and director Natasha Lyonne also took action. In March, when she heard the White House was preparing an official AI policy, she stayed up all night texting and calling everyone she knew in Hollywood, asking them to sign a letter to the Trump administration.

She ended up with over 400 signatures. Lyonne is part of a new film and TV studio called Asteria, which only uses AI tools trained with approved material. She wants that approach to become standard.

Summer shined on the Sun Valley Lodge for the Allen & Company’s annual gathering of media, finance and tech titans this week.

But the storm clouds brewing over an entertainment industry facing unprecedented disruption from AI and other tech innovations means possible M&a deals are certain to be raised in Idaho among power brokers at the annual Sun Valley Conference during the usual hiking, golf and rafting on their schedules.

The invite-only Allen event, nicknamed “summer camp for billionaires,” had Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav captured by photographers as they arrived at the Sun Valley lodge for the annual gathering.

Iger recently turned thumbs down to following Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast in splitting off some legacy TV assets from future-facing streaming platforms. But Sun Valley watchers will be looking to see how Iger gets to grips with extracting most...

At Sun Valley 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav predicted a surge of media M&a and said he didn’t care who became president as long as deals got done.

Four months later, Donald Trump won the White House and purged the watchdogs of the former regime, as many executives had hoped. With 2025 now past the halfway point, mergers have been muted, and Trump is laying legal siege to media companies as his hand-picked FCC launches investigations into their journalism or Dei practices. That stark reality gives moguls nestling in the woods at this year’s Allen & Company annual retreat much to ponder as they gather around campfires, take hikes and – symbolism alert! – paddle the rapids.

Sun Valley is typically associated with deals, given the number of potentates it draws, and a handful of notable M&a moves have indeed originated there over the decades. But it’s more about the schmooze.

The sale would include popular cable networks such as A&e, History, and Lifetime.

The Great Cable Sell-Off is shaping up to be a big one. Companies like Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery have already announced or carried out plans to divest themselves of their cable channels, and now it’s Disney’s turn to consider a similar move. According to an exclusive report from Variety, Disney and its partner Hearst Communications are in the process of putting A+E Global Media up for sale.

Key Details: Get on the wagon: Disney and Hearst have enlisted Wells Fargo to handle the sale process. No sure thing: There’s no certainty that A+E Global Media will be sold. Mixed strategies: Disney looked to be preparing to sell off all linear networks at one point, but changed course. Sign Up Now $9.99+ / month disneyplus.com

Get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for just $16.99 a month ($14 savings).

According to Variety,...

A+E Global Media, parent of long-established cable networks A&e, History and Lifetime, is exploring a potential sale.

The company, a joint venture of Disney and Hearst which rebranded earlier this year from A+E Networks, has retained Wells Fargo to help it look at various strategic options, a person familiar with the situation told Deadline. An outright sale may not end up being the ultimate plan, and a transaction possibly might not occur at all if the terms don’t turn out to be favorable.

The initiative comes as no major surprise, given that cable networks are experiencing steady declines in viewing and ad spending. While they still throw off significant cash, the networks are being separated from their corporate parents across the media industry. Comcast is spinning out Versant, a collection of NBCUniversal cable assets, later this year. Warner Bros. Discovery has also announced it is splitting its cable channels...

A+E Global Media is going on the auction block.

The parent company of A&e Network, History and Lifetime is joining the growing list of cable channels that are being sold or divested by their studio parent company. NBCUniversal is preparing to divest MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network and four more linear channels. Warner Bros. Discovery also plans a similar separation from a clutch of linear cable assets: CNN, TNT, TBS, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, TruTV and more.

A+E Global Media (which was formerly known as A+E Networks) is owned as a 50-50 joint venture by the Walt Disney Co. and Hearst. Disney and Hearst recently tapped the investment banking arm of Wells Fargo to handle a sale process.

Sources stressed that there’s no certainty that A+E Global Media will be sold entirely or in part. But with the market conditions that have developed in recent months, Disney and...

Charlize Theron says studio executives still treat women-driven action pictures as a gamble, telling the New York Times that male heroes “get a free ride” when comparable budgets and marketing plans are discussed. She spoke while promoting Netflix’s The Old Guard 2, released 2 July, which she headlines opposite Uma Thurman.

The performance of recent theatrical releases informs her view. Marvel’s The Marvels lost an estimated $237 million, the deepest shortfall in Disney’s 2023 slate, after debuting at $47 million domestically — the weakest opening in franchise history. Warner Bros.’ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, fronted by Anya Taylor-Joy, is tracking below a $40 million domestic launch against a production spend near $168 million, a ratio analysts call unsustainable.

Theron counters that streaming data show steady appetite for action led by women. The first Old Guard reached 78 million Netflix households in four weeks, positioning it among the service’s most-viewed originals. Spanish outlet Meristation...

On June 7, months into Paramount’s negotiations to settle a $20 billion lawsuit over CBS’ 60 Minutes, President Trump was spotted ringside at an UFC event in Newark, New Jersey. All the usual suspects came to greet him, including Marco Rubio, Mike Tyson and Joe Rogan. So did Hunter Campbell, UFC president Dana White’s lieutenant who later brokered a meeting for Skydance CEO David Ellison to talk with Trump.

Just a few feet away from the ring, Ellison bowed his head to hear Trump as the announcer blared introductions for the bout’s fighters. Campbell, sandwiched between the two, wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders, his head swiveling as he acted like something of a conduit for the back-and-forth. At one point, he gave up his seat to allow for a second round of talks that ended with Ellison extending his arm for a handshake with Trump, who...

After the latest Indiana Jones movie didn’t do well at the box office, Lucasfilm seems ready to start fresh with the whole franchise. According to DisInsider, the studio plans to reboot Indiana Jones, but they’re waiting a bit before making anything official.

The big reveal could come at the D23 Expo in 2026. Even though the last film didn’t perform as hoped, Disney and Lucasfilm still see value in the iconic character and don’t want the series to disappear.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came out in 2023 and was meant to be the final adventure for Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones. The story takes place in 1969, with Indy now teaching at Hunter College in New York City. He’s dealing with a lot, his son Mutt died in the Vietnam War, and his marriage to Marion fell apart.

Then his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge,...

After Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny didn’t perform well at the box office, it looks like Lucasfilm might be ready to hit the reset button. According to a report from DisInsider, the studio is planning a full reboot of the Indiana Jones franchise, but not right away. They’re apparently letting it rest for a bit before making any official announcements.

The reboot might be revealed at the next D23 Expo in 2026. Even though the last movie struggled financially, Disney and Lucasfilm still believe in the power of the Indiana Jones name. It’s a legendary series, and they don’t want it to fade away.

Dial of Destiny, the fifth movie in the franchise, came out in 2023 and was meant to close the book on Harrison Ford’s version of the character. It was set in 1969, with Indy now living in New York City, working as a professor at Hunter College,...

It's unfortunate, but it doesn't look like Pixar's "Elio" will be another "Elemental" and surprise everyone with a shockingly great box office run. No, "Elio" is a flop, which sucks because the movie is actually rather fun. It's got great alien designs, an entertaining story, and a Carl Sagan quote designed that will make you quite emotional about the possibilities and power of science while also just reminding you of one of the most fascinating minds to walk this planet in the last century.

Sure, it's easy (and not unfair) to blame the marketing for the failure of "Elio" at the box office, combined with the competition from other, higher-profile films. Still, that doesn't change the fact that this simply wasn't Pixar's best. What's more, reports have surface that the movie suffered heavily behind-the-scenes, undergoing creative changes that resulted in a vastly different film hitting theaters than the one...

Those who worked at Pixar while its latest film release, Elio, was in production were delighted by footage they saw roughly two years ago. Among the moments cited as favorites by those at the animation studio at the time included a sequence in which the titular boy collected trash on the beach and turned it into homemade apparel that included a pink tank top; the movie’s team would refer to Elio showing this off to a hermit crab as his “trash-ion show.”

But if you bought a ticket to Elio and don’t remember seeing this, it’s not just that you chose the wrong time to refill your soda. According to multiple insiders who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character, reflecting original director Adrian Molina’s identity as an openly gay filmmaker. Other sources say that Molina did not intend the...

Exclusive: Jon Favreau’s new Disney+ series, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, has set three of its leads: Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Mykal-Michelle Harris and Ryder Allen.

From writer, producer and director Favreau for Walt Disney Studios, the animation/live-action hybrid is about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a saucy, self-absorbed bunny.

Cabot-Conyers will play Jake, a hardworking middle school student with a big heart.

Harris will play Jen, an artistic middle schooler who is always ahead of the game.

Allen will play Taylor, a middle school student who is cautious but avoids turning down his friends.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as a character is very important to the Walt Disney Co. The cartoon, which bears a close resemblance to Mickey Mouse, has a fractured history with the company and played a pivotal role in the creation of Disney’s most famous animated character. Oswald...

Chris Pine will always be known for his roles in the Star Trek and Wonder Woman franchises, but 16 years ago, he starred in a sci-fi horror thriller that’s infecting a new streamer’s top 10. Pine stars alongside Emily VanCamp (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Svu) in Carriers, the 2009 film following four friends who seek haven after a lethal virus spreads globally, leaving dangerous infected and humans all over the world. Carriers is currently streaming on Paramount+, and it’s one of the most popular movies on the platform in America, sitting at #9 at the time of writing. The film earned a 62% score from critics and a 39% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes after grossing only $5 million at the box office.

The streaming success of Carriers all these years later can likely be attributed to the recent release of 28 Years Later, the legacy sequel to 28 Days Later,...

In the olden days, before streaming, the end of May would mark a critical period in which studios would order new shows. That’s changed in recent years, at least in terms of the significance of that time frame. Now, there’s indefinite shelf space. And against that backdrop, much of the conversation has turned to a key question: Who has greenlight authority.

At Disney, that authority is carved up by brands. That may sound simple, but it’s a philosophy that Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment at the Walt Disney Co., attributed to the company’s recent success.

“The teams are small enough to specialize in different types of stories,” she said at the 49th UCLA Entertainment Symposium on Friday. The longtime TV exec, a popular and well-known figure within the talent community, stressed that she relies on her brand leaders to curate programming.

Last year, Walden, who...

When the highlight of a discussion between Dana Walden and Ken Ziffren is how to pronounce the series name 9-1-1, you know the keynote at the UCLA Entertainment Symposium is not going to be a big newsmaker.

But at least the Disney Entertainment co-chair got to show off her wry sense of humor when correcting Ziffren, who referred to the Ryan Murphy drama as “9/11” when asking about Disney/ABC franchises.

“9-1-1,” she responded with a little smile. “Different show.”

Walden also generated laughs when she explained how FX’s John Landgraf encouraged her to filibuster during the Q&a that was part of this year’s “Hollywood ’25: Survive or Thrive” symposium at UCLA. She really didn’t have to; Ziffen had plenty of softball questions to fill the hour that covered green lighting, short-form content, O&Os, and linear ratings. Walden, who clearly recognized that her...

Since its founding 137 years ago, National Geographic has endured many shifts in the media landscape, transitioning from a print-focused magazine to a diversified digital media entity. Now, as audiences have become fragmented more than ever with the rise of streaming, NatGeo’s content president, Courteney Monroe, says the company’s secret to enduring through the latest shift is taking a “platform agnostic” approach.

“We spend a lot of time thinking less about linear versus streaming versus editorial, but rather across the board how do we differentiate ourselves in today’s marketplace and even within the Walt Disney Company?,” Monroe told TheWrap’s Office With a View. “It really goes back to the brand, which is always our North Star. That yellow border is our filter for decision making and the brand sits at the heart of everything we do. The strategy is really to tell gripping, factual stories that entertain...

“Tell me everything,” Barbara Walters used to urge her TV guests. She believed she could coax the truth out of anyone, whether revered or disgraced, and so did her viewers.

Her confidence would be challenged today when every fragment of news, even neighborhood trivia, disappears in a blur of distrust. Since viewers no longer believe what they hear, she’d wonder, might her interviewees become too constrained about what they say?

President Trump distrusts the news media so intensely he limits his announcements to his website, even when they’re nakedly bogus (“lasting disarmament”?) .

If that revered truth-teller Walter Cronkite were alive today it’s doubtful whether even he could cast a clear focus on Gaza or Tehran, on Zelenskyy or Netanyahu. Frustrated, he might even unleash AI on Ice just to see what emerges.

Media reporting on immigration purges is so distrusted that entire new layers of fact-finders have...

Barbara Walters spent 50 years on television, interviewing some of the most famous men and women in America. She had had conversations with everyone from the Kardashian sisters to the incarcerated Menendez Brothers. However, there was one Hollywood celebrity who was able to throw her off her game a bit during one of these interviews.

The recent trailer of the documentary, Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything, featured a clip of her interview with Clint Eastwood. The interview, which had a setting resembling a date, turned quite flirtatious, and Walters was seen blushing before she asked for a break. Walters died in 2022 at the age of 93.

Barbara Walters was thrown off her game by Clint Eastwood’s charm Clint Eastwood with Barbara Walters during their 1982 interview | Credits: ABC News/Hulu

As her journalist friend Cynthia McFadden mentioned in the trailer of her documentary, no one really ever got out unscathed from a Barbara Walters interview.

The election of Shari Redstone and three other directors to Paramount Global’s board of directors should be blocked by shareholders at the company’s upcoming annual meeting, a leading proxy firm says.

The recommendation Tuesday from Institutional Shareholder Services, however eye-opening, is largely symbolic as Redstone is the controlling shareholder of Paramount. She is up for re-election to the board at the company’s July 2 annual shareholder meeting.

The meeting has been scheduled as Paramount’s long-gestating $8 billion merger with Skydance remains in legal and regulatory limbo. Paramount shareholders are not required to approve the deal given Redstone’s control of the company, but they do get a chance to evaluate board nominees and determine whether they gain one-year terms to serve on the governing body.

Redstone is nominated for re-election along with Barbara Byrne, Linda Griego and Susan Schuman. They are on the ballot along with the newly...

Jake Schreier knows it's exactly what fans are hoping for — but he’s not confirming anything just yet. At the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta, the Thunderbolts* director took part in a panel — attended by Collider's Steve Weintraub — and he was asked whether he’d do anything differently with Marvel’s long-awaited X-Men reboot. Schreier kept it brief, if cryptic, adding that he was not confirmed to take on the job at this moment in time, despite fervent media speculation to the contrary. However, Schreier did concede that he would start the project from the ground up and focus on what made the X-Men so compelling from the very beginning — their characters.

“Even if I were confirmed on that movie, I don't think I would be allowed to answer that question. I guess what I would say is that it always starts from character and working with great writers and collaborators,...

The stumble out of the gate by Elio, which had the worst box office opening of any Pixar film ever at just $21 million, highlights a “concerning trend,” in the view of one Wall Street analyst.

Despite a Rotten Tomatoes score of 84%, which placed it in the top 30% of all reviewed films annually, the Disney-Pixar release wound up a poster child for the times, as Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro has analyzed.

Doug Creutz, who covers the media sector for Td Cowan, says the gap between original animation and sequels or derivative properties has grown “enormously wide” since Covid. And that divide likely will have consequences.

“We expect movie studios to react to this clear trend by greenlighting fewer original IP animated films,” Creutz wrote. “The issue, of course, is that without new hit properties, a studio cannot grow its IP portfolio. This could be particularly problematic for Disney,...

Annecy, France – Somehow, this year was Jared Bush’s first time at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Last fall, Bush was named the chief creative officer for Walt Disney Animation Studios — arguably the most important job in animation. He was no stranger to Disney; for the past 10 years he’s served as part of the studio’s creative leadership, advising on new projects and helping out when things go astray. He wrote and co-directed “Zootopia,” wrote “Moana,” co-wrote and directed “Encanto,” and co-wrote “Moana 2.” Next up, he co-wrote and directed “Zootopia 2” (out this Thanksgiving) and co-wrote the live-action “Moana” (for next summer).

The man with the most important job in animation was, before that, one of the busiest people in animation. Still, his appearance at Annecy in France this month was a critical showing as he steps more fully into the leadership role at an inflection point for Walt Disney Animation,...

As more Ice raids hit Los Angeles this Juneteenth holiday, the Bob Iger and Willow Bay-owned Angel City Fc has taken a stand for immigrants while most others have remained silent and afraid of the Donald Trump administration.

Less than a year after Iger and spouse Bay dropped around $100 million to became the controlling owners in the $250 million-valued National Women’s Soccer League team, Acfc has come out in strong opposition to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in L.A. and waved the flag proudly for “Immigrant City.”

While individual stars and showrunners have been vocal in their opposition the past few weeks to cruel Ice raids in L.A. and Trump deploying thousands of troops in the City of Angels, studios, streamers, social media platforms, many sports teams and other Hollywood corporations have been as quiet as church mice. Today the feds have swarmed Dodger Stadium,...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps doesn’t hit theaters until July, but it seems Marvel Studios already knows what it has. As noted by Variety, a sequel to the upcoming MCU reboot is already in development — and Disney may have subtly confirmed it. In a surprise scheduling move, the studio dated an untitled Marvel movie for December 15, 2028, making it the fourth feature film on Marvel’s calendar for that year. That alone is a bit eyebrow-raising. Disney CEO Bob Iger has spent much of the past year publicly vowing to slow down Marvel’s output after acknowledging the studio had “lost a little focus by making too much.”

In an investor call this May, he admitted, “We turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more… we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus. By consolidating a bit and...