Hasbro has narrowed the field for its eOne subsidiary to a handful of suitors, sources tell Deadline. We hear fellow indie studios Lionsgate, Fremantle and Legendary (with Apollo) are in the running to acquire a majority stake in eOne.
We hear there also may be one or two additional bids from private equity players; Hasbro previously sold eOne’s music business to private equity firm Blackstone in 2021 for $385 million. (Blackstone and company-backed Candle Media are not believed to be in the mix for eOne.)
A round of presentations is scheduled for the upcoming week as potential buyers home in their final pitches, we hear. According to sources, the process has been robust, with solid bids for the assets that have been put up for sale by the toymaker. >>>Deal Timing |
|
| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
|
"Fire And Brimstone" - There was said to be “fire and brimstone” at Wednesday night's WGA membership meeting – the last to be held before the start of contract negotiations with the AMPTP on Monday. Per one attendee, WGA West president "Chris Keyser was fire and brimstone, rallying the troops. Stats were shown that the companies are making more money than ever, but we were making less than ever. He talked about the 7,000 replies they got from their surveys." >>> Horror Stories
Book 'Em - Indie filmmaker Drake Doremus (Like Crazy) is moving into television with the series One Day in December in development at Netflix. Project is based on the Josie Silver novel of the same name, which was both a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pickwhich. Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) is attached to exec produce and star. >>> Limited Series With Potential For More
Animating Principals - Animation studio ShadowMachine and director Mark Gustafason picked up the Oscar for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio on Sunday night and they’ve wasted no time setting up their next project. The company — co-founded by Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico — and Gustafason are now developing Milepost 88, an animated mystery series. >>>Stop Motion
In Brief - Fox is developing No. 1 Supreme Citizen of America, a single-camera/hybrid comedy from comedian Peter S. Kim… Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scribe Michael Waldron is launching feature film and TV production company, Anomaly Pictures, with producing partner Adam Fasullo... Momentum Pictures has acquired U.S. and Canada rights to Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s feature directorial debut War Pony which won the Camera d’Or in Cannes. |
|
Regarding where viewers find the show's titular character in the Season 3 premiere of Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis says, “Like most of us, Ted contains multitudes. So that might be where he’s at when we first see him, but I feel like we find him in a different headspace by the end of that same episode.” He continues, “Ted’s in a space of questioning what he’s doing, why he’s there, and what’s going on? Is this the best decision for him and his heart; for his son and his son’s heart? That’s definitely questions that Ted wrestles with, all while still having to coach this team in the Premier League." >>>Spoiler Alert |
|
Exclusive Guillermo del Toro is getting closer to finding his next live-action film. Sources tell Deadline that Andrew Garfield, Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth are in early talks to star in del Toro’s Frankenstein at Netflix.The Oscar winner will write and direct the pic. Exclusive Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson will lead horror reboot Return To Silent Hill. Filming is due to get underway next month in Germany and Eastern Europe on the project, which will mark a return for the original Silent Hill director Christophe Gans. Exclusive Jack Black and brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the team behind the 2001 comedy Shallow Hal, look to be reuniting for the holidays. Sources tell Deadline that Black is set to star in Christmas comedy Dear Santa with Bobby Farrelly directing and Peter Farrelly on board to produce with Bobby and Jeremy Kramer. Exclusive Reid Scott and François Arnaud are set as the male leads opposite Sarah Shahi in Judgement, ABC’s drama pilot from former Charmed showrunner Joey Falco and 20th Television. Exclusive With Mayans M.C. coming to an end, star Danny Pino has lined up his next series role — the lead in Hotel Cocaine, MGM+’s upcoming crime thriller from creator Chris Brancato. In Brief - Michaela Conlin has been cast as a series regular opposite Ellie Kemper in ABC’s Drop-Off (w/t) comedy pilot… Jennifer Simard and Adam Godley have joined the cast of Broadway’s upcoming Britney Spears musical Once Upon A One More Time. |
|
BY THE NUMBERS
$1.35 billion - The value of a deal for T-Mobile to buy the direct-to-consumer prepaid wireless brand Mint Mobile, which counts Ryan Reynolds among its owners |
|
More News
⭐ Sean "Diddy" Combs said it is "time for BET to be Black-owned again," elaborating on earlier reports that he has approached Paramount Global about the property. Combs joins Tyler Perry and Byron Allen on a list of interested parties in the multi-billion-dollar TV and streaming asset.
😱 James Gunn will direct his own script for Superman: Legacy, a linchpin project that will kick off the the multiplatform connected DC universe – “Chapter One, Gods and Monsters“ – which he and his DC Co-Chairman & CEO Peter Safran are launching.
🎶 The upcoming Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez will play its first performance at the Hudson Theatre on Tuesday, September 19, producers announced.
👎 The conclusion of the NFL season led to an expected decline in TV usage in February. According to Nielsen’s monthly report, average TV viewership was down 5.1% overall, led by a 9.2% decrease in broadcast viewing. While streaming usage was down overall, it actually increased its share of total TV usage, making up 34.3% of all viewing for the month, a record high.
🎉 The 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival will celebrate the enduring legacy of Warner Bros. as the studio marks its 100th anniversary. In conjunction with Warner Bros. Discovery’s centennial WB100 campaign "Celebrating Every Story," the festival will shine a spotlight on some of the studio’s landmark creations including a 4K restoration of Howard Hawks' classic Rio Bravo.
In Brief - Homeland co-creators/executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are plotting a return to Showtime with Gattaca, a series based on Andrew Niccol's 1997 movie... Idris Elba and Mo Abudu have partnered on a landmark initiative to "empower and uplift talent from Africa and the Diaspora." |
|
Renewals, Pickups & Cancellations Exclusive
There will be no second season of Willow, Disney+’s live-action original series based on the 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard. The news comes two months after the eight-episode first season of the show ended its run on the streaming platform.
Exclusive
Netflix is exploring the story of the Boston Marathon bombing in a new docuseries, ordering three-part series American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing from director Floyd Russ and exec producer Tiller Russell.
Peacock has ordered Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, starring Tony Shalhoub in a reprisal of his titular role from the USA series, along with original cast members Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Melora Hardin and Hector Elizondo.
In Brief - There will be more sand through the hourglass as Peacock has picked up Days of Our Lives for an additional two seasons… Two-time NBA champion J.R. Smith, who’s changed his focus from basketball to golf, will be the subject of a four-part docuseries for Amazon. |
|
Trending  The March 8 episode of Vanderpump Rules was the most-watched in nearly three years with 2.2M viewers after three days of multi-platform viewing. The episode also scored a nearly three-year high in the ad friendly 18-49 demographic.
🔻 The Biden Administration is demanding the Chinese parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, divest the hugely popular video-sharing app in the U.S. According to the WSJ, Biden is threatening a ban if that doesn’t happen. |
|
Obituaries
🕯 Session drummer Jim Gordon, who was a part of a core group of studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew who played on scads of hit records for dozens of acts, died Monday at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA. He was 77. Gordon joined Eric Clapton in writing “Layla” for their band Derek and the Dominos and later was convicted of murdering his mother. He had been in prison for 40 years and struggled with mental health issues. 🕯 Bobby Caldwell , the soulful singer-songwriter who scored a Top 10 hit with “What You Won’t Do for Love” and wrote “The Next Time I Fall,” a No. 1 hit for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera, died Wednesday at his home in New York City after a long illness. He was 71. 🕯 Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries |
|
On the Radar
Thu - March Madness tips off; Taylor Swift kicks off The Eras Tour
Fri - St. Patrick's Day
Sun - Lucky Hank premieres
Mon - WGA & AMPTP contract talks begin |
|
(Un)smooth Criminals - Deadline has an exclusive clip from Americana, a film starring Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser and singer Halsey — making her big screen debut — at SXSW.
The film follows waitress Penny Jo (Sweeney) and lonesome cowboy Lefty (Hauser) as they plan to steal a mythical Native American artifact called the Lakota Ghost Shirt from criminals. Complications arise when the lead criminal’s long-suffering girlfriend Mandy (Halsey) decides to take the artifact.
"It’s one of my favorite scenes because none of these characters are smooth, experienced criminals in the slightest, and I love how Sydney, Paul and Halsey all play their desperate intentions and discomfort to quietly comedic effect," filmmaker Tony Tost tells Deadline. |
|
|
