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A coalition of 12 Democratic attorneys general led by California filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the $110 billion merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance, despite the deal having been approved by the Trump administration. “The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. The legal challenge comes just days after reports that advisers close to...

Former “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens is reportedly writing a tell-all memoir about his 37 years at CBS News, taking aim at owner Paramount, its CEO David Ellison and editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, among others. In a proposal obtained by Breaker Media, Owens describes Paramount’s decision to settle President Trump’s lawsuit over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris as “perhaps the worst legal strategy ever employed by the worst-run media company in the history of America.” The proposed book would mark Owens’ most extensive public account yet of the turmoil that engulfed CBS News...

Why is nothing new happening in film? You’ve noticed. Sequel after sequel, unmemorable plots, films you don’t care about discussing the next day. Yeah, it didn’t use to be like this. Filmgoers in the 20th century had a bonanza of new genres or styles of film. Every decade birthed two or more. Film started in the 1910s with a big dose of Charlie Chaplin. Sound entered the picture in the ‘20s, and the films got bigger. The 1930s exploded with Gangster Films, Spectacle Films, Musicals, and Slapstick Comedy. In the 1940s came Power Women Films, Film Noir, and Italian Neorealism....

A group of states led by California and New York is preparing to sue to block Paramount Skydance from acquiring Warner Bros., Reuters reported on Friday. Last year’s merger between Paramount and Skydance already sparked criticism over concerns about antitrust issues and the impact of centralizing control of major media and entertainment companies. The criticism grew as Paramount settled a lawsuit President Donald Trump had filed against CBS News over a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which numerous legal experts had assessed as a fundamentally weak case on First Amendment grounds. It was widely speculated that political...

The filming of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers happened when the Paramount lot was ringed by a picket line, part of the 1945 strike by motion picture set decorators that led to the infamous Black Friday riot outside the main gate at Warner Bros. The strike is a movie history footnote today, and though it gets aired out whenever the industry endures another labour dispute, it's hard to imagine pickets full of writers or actors today in a melee with studio security and police with "tear gas bombs, fire hoses, brass knuckles, clubs, brickbats, and beer bottles" as Variety...

Over 200 journalists, academics, and filmmakers have signed a letter opposing the Paramount Skydance takeover of CNN following the former’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Letter from the Freedom of the Press Foundation argued that Paramount taking control of CNN will lead to “improper political meddling” from CEO David Ellison, per HuffPo, citing the reported changes at CBS. “News segments critical of Trump policies have been pulled; revered producers and reporters have quit rather than be censored; shows Trump dislikes, like ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ have been cancelled; and CBS Evening News has taken to airing flattering features...

Anchor Tony Dokoupil quickly halted Wednesday’s live broadcast of “CBS Evening News” after a cameraman suffered a medical emergency on set. Dokoupil was in the middle of reporting on President Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping from Taiwan when he noticed the cameraman was in need of assistance. Trump’s summit with the Chinese leader comes amid ongoing tensions over trade and Taiwan as well as the U.S. war with Iran. “And finally tonight from Taiwan as President Trump and [Chinese President Xi Jinping] prepare to meet, you will hear a lot about American decline and the rise...

Hollywood insiders and executives at Paramount Global are growing increasingly suspicious that Netflix is playing a behind-the-scenes role in efforts to prevent the proposed combination of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, a deal commonly referred to in industry circles as WarnerMount, according to a report from Puck News.The streaming giant, led by co-chief executive Ted Sarandos, has faced accusations of quietly supporting campaigns aimed at blocking the merger and potentially reaching out to regulatory authorities to voice concerns about the transaction. These allegations come amid a broader push within parts of the entertainment industry to halt further consolidation among...

An $81 billion Warner-Paramount mega merger has received shareholders’ stamp of approval, propelling a deal that could vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape closer to the finish line… That corporate drama may now be over, but the implications remain. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal, in a letter arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and movie goers… The merger would bring together two of Hollywood’s remaining five legacy studios. It would also join two major streaming platforms — Paramount+ and...

The Madison is a neo-Western television series created by Taylor Sheridan for Paramount+. The series follows the Clyburn family, originally from New York City, who relocate to the Madison River valley of southwest Montana for emotional recovery following a major life-changing tragedy that both shocks and permanently changes the family.

As we enter the Sacred Triduum, Hollywood is celebrating Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956), if not always the underlying message contained on those two ancient stone tablets Moses received at Mount Sinai c. 1446 BC. The American biblical epic, starring Charleton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Pharaoh Ramses II, was a filmmaking masterpiece three years in the making. Narrated by DeMille himself, it tells the story of Moses as an infant, as related in Exodus 2:5, rescued by Pharoah’s daughter, played by Nina Foch, who, discovering the crying babe lying in a papyrus basket in the...

CNN staffers are freaking out after learning that their left-leaning network’s owner Warner Bros. Discovery will be acquired by Paramount Skydance — even as insiders confirmed that the new owners plan to take a more politically centrist approach to news, The Post has learned. Top talent and low-level producers alike are apoplectic that CNN is being acquired by Paramount Skydance, the media giant that scooped up CBS last year – and which subsequently tapped 41-year-old newshound Bari Weiss to root out liberal bias at the network. Now, CNN staffers are so panicked that the network’s president Mark Thompson was forced...

Paramount/Warner Bros is not a done deal. These two Hollywood titans have not cleared regulatory scrutiny — the California Department of Justice has an open investigation, and we intend to be vigorous in our review.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY) emerged as the likely winner in a m, after streaming giant Netflix (NFLX), on Thursday refused to raise its bid for the storied Hollywood studio. "We've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," Netflix said in a statement. Netflix confirmed to Reuters that it was walking away from bidding for Warner Bros Discovery. The Warner Bros board still has to terminate the Netflix deal and adopt Paramount Skydance's offer. "Once our board votes...

The statement came after Warner Bros. Discovery's board of directors described Paramount Skydance's latest offer to acquire the company as "superior" to Netflix's current bid. Netflix said it would not submit a higher offer for Warner Bros. Discovery after the company's board described Paramount Skydance's latest offer as "superior." The stunning twist leaves Paramount Skydance, headed by David Ellison, as the remaining bidder and in position to take control of the storied media giant. Paramount's bid was for the entire company while Netflix was seeking to acquire only its streaming service, HBO cable channel and film studio business.

CBS News’ 60 Minutes is about to lose another high-profile star under the chaotic reign of the network’s editor in chief Bari Weiss following the shock exit of Anderson Cooper, according to a report. CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote in his Reliable Sources newsletter that “at least one other correspondent” is on the way out after it was reported Cooper would not be renewing his contract after becoming disillusioned with the direction of the now Donald Trump–friendly CBS News under Weiss. (snip) The official reason Cooper gave for not renewing his contract at CBS News was to spend more time with...

2025 began with the devastating fires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, which destroyed the homes of many in the industry and stymied production and livelihoods for others. Then there were the ups and downs of the theatrical box office — And, of course, there were the big industry shakeups. Just in this year, we saw the completion of the Paramount-Skydance merger followed by Paramount’s initial bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, and then the potential acquisition of Warner Bros.’ studios, HBO and HBO Max by Netflix. About the only thing I can predict with certainty is that 2026 is going...

Paramount has officially launched a tender offer for current WBD shares at $30 per share, all cash. That bid is backed by $41 billion in equity financing. The remainder will be money from RedBird Capital and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. Paramount also has $54 billion in debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo Global Management. Paramount’s tender offer will be open for 20 business days, Paramount Chief Strategy Officer Andy Gordon said during a conference call for investors Monday. Warner Bros. Discovery has 10 days to respond, and after the 20 business days are up, Paramount has the...

PBS fired two diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) executives and scrapped the department after Bari Weiss’ online publication Free Press was tipped off that the broadcaster was ignoring President Trump’s executive order eliminating the controversial initiative. On Monday, PBS CEO Paula Kerger informed staff that it was parting ways with Cecilia Loving, senior vice president of DEI, and Gina Leow, director of DEI. In the email, Kerger explained that the departures were necessary in order to adhere to Trump’s executive order from Jan. 20, which mandates the elimination of DEI-focused positions and funding in federally supported organizations. “I know you...

Accused murderer Tyler Robinson 'clearly' had 'leftist ideology,' Utah gov has said CBS News has quietly deleted a tweet of an interview in which an anchor claimed that the motive of Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, "remains elusive," even though Utah governor Spencer Cox (R.) has revealed that Robinson "clearly" had a "leftist ideology." "Five days after Charlie Kirk's murder, the shooter's motive remains elusive—no writings left behind, vague, secondhand testimony," CBS Evening News Plus anchor John Dickerson said Monday, according to a video included in the now-deleted X post. Dickerson went on to describe Kirk's assassination "may share...