The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
Beyoncé Every single song on Renaissance — 16 — makes the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as the LP takes No. 1 on the albums chart from Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. Bob Bakish Despite hitting nearly 64 million subscribers, the Paramount chief’s team forecasts that streaming losses will grow from $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion in 2022. Stephen Cooper The Warner Music CEO grew revenue for its latest quarter to $1.43 billion amid a big jump in music publishing, as well as growth in recorded music and streaming. Strauss Zelnick The chief of Grand Theft Auto gaming giant Take-Two lowered financial guidance for the next year as the firm adds Zynga into its results and shifts title release dates. Showbiz Stocks $27.54 (+14.8%) NIELSEN (NLSN) Shares of the analytics…
In 2015, David Zaslav compared the industry’s rush to scripted TV to a kids’ soccer game — the players are clumped around the ball, while the rest of the field is wide open. “It’s quite crowded, it’s pretty expensive, and it’s looking more and more like the movie business,” the then-Discovery CEO said, explaining why his executive team wouldn’t join the Peak TV fray. Fast-forward to 2022, and Zaslav, as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is running a scripted powerhouse and betting on movies as a key content engine. But — along with CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels — he still vows to zag where the industry zigs. “We have no intention of being beholden to anyone in particular or to a specific business model,” Zaslav said in an Aug. 4 earnings…
We’ve done a reset.” That’s how Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav described DC on Aug. 4, days after he made the call to shelve the $90 million HBO Max film Batgirl. The mogul said there’d now be a team that would create a “10-year” plan for DC, although who’s on that team is unclear. And Zaslav took digs at former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar’s strategy of developing straight-to-streaming films. Zaslav added: “DC is something we can make better.” The remarks were not well received inside DC, according to multiple insiders who used the same word to describe members of the film division: “pissed.” And DC Films president Walter Hamada nearly exited after learning of the shelving of Batgirl before being convinced to stay on at least until the Oct.…
Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey are producing their first podcast with Audacy’s C13Originals. Launching Aug. 10, The Sunshine Place is a docuseries about the cult Synanon. Google is suing Sonos, led by Patrick Spence, over its speaker and voice control tech, alleging that the audio hardware firm is infringing on seven of the tech giant’s patents. (Sonos has sued Google for infringing on its patents.) After iHeartMedia’s Aug. 4 earnings report, Wall Street analysts see its upside. B. Riley Securities’ Daniel Day reiterated a “buy” rating while a Guggenheim team saw “resiliency” in its podcast unit.…
AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron is known for his rhetorical flourishes, whether in interviews with CNBC, appearances at CinemaCon or on earnings calls. But for the company’s second-quarter 2022 investor call on Aug. 4, he went full Braveheart. “Today, we pounce,” Aron declared, a reference to retail investor questions about when the company would make its next move. “It is now time for us to take decisive and even valorous action,” he added, encouraging listeners to look up the word in the dictionary. As he has before, he framed his latest move as part of a larger battle between the good guys of AMC and unnamed “prophets of doom who may be rooting against us.” And what was this “bold, decisive” move, one that could “transform” the company? It was…
Gov. Gavin Newsom is seizing on the passage of laws restricting abortion access in Republican states to appeal to companies in high-production areas to come to California. On Aug. 3, Newsom urged Hollywood to “walk the walk” on progressive values by pulling back from states such as Georgia and Oklahoma that he says have waged a “cruel assault on essential rights.” The statements escalate the governor’s blitz on right-leaning states, calling out their positions on civil rights, guns and abortion. They were accompanied by his endorsement of a proposal that will provide a $1.65 billion, five-year extension to California’s film and TV tax credit program. It’s the second time in as many months that Newsom has used legislation to condemn GOP leaders, pressuring corporations — particularly those filming in states…
