If you focus on recent press reports, you might figure Warner Bros Pictures co-chairs/CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy would have spent this weekend boxing up their belongings. Based on a couple of flops and some risky upcoming films, this narrative has had their Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav scouting replacement candidates (which he denies in a tepid manner).
The fuss quieted down after A Minecraft Movie did way better than anyone imagined, and quickly joined another surprise blockbuster, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, as top-priority sequels to go with other IP revivals The Matrix, Practical Magic, Gremlins and Goonies.
De Luca and Abdy spoke with Deadline, answering every question they were able to, painting a picture full of hope that they will be at the studio a good long time, and maintaining that Minecraft was no fluke. >>>'The Bodyguard' Revamp |
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Lilo, Stitch & Tom Cruise - Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch and Paramount/Skydance’s finale Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning have hit six weekend-in-advance tracking, with Lilo & Stitch eyeing a $100M+ 3-day opening and M:I 8 eyeing a record 3-day for the franchise, well north of 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout's $61M. >>> 'Thunderbolts*' Tracking 'The Last Of Us' Creators Q&A - Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin explain their methods of establishing an emotional connection with the audience in just seven episodes of television. Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Abby, says she was a fan of the video game well before she was cast and spoke positively of changes being made this season. >>>Interviews
AI Collaboration - Fabula, the company founded by Pablo and Juan De Dios Larrain, is injecting AI technology into its production pipeline via a partnership with Runway. The pact marks the latest collaboration for Runway, which last fall set an agreement with Lionsgate and last week got into business with Harmony Korine’s multi-media studio and tech boutique Edglord. Founded in 2018, Runway earlier this month announced $308 million new funding, at a valuation in the range of $3 billion. >>> Sundance Winner's New Film Using Runway
For The HAL Of It - The impact of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey will be explored in an upcoming documentary that’s being made in partnership with the legendary filmmaker’s estate and the Stanley Kubrick Film Archive. The documentary, titled Monolith, and expected to be released in 2026, begins production this month. >>>Medavoy, DiCaprio Among Producers
Karma Chameleons - Propagate, the indie studio founded by Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, has wrapped production on Boy George & Culture Club, a documentary on the iconic New Wave band of the same name and its frontman, from director Alison Ellwood (Laurel Canyon). >>>Charts Rise, Split, Reunion
Live From London, It’s ‘Saturday Night’ - It’s the talk of the British comedy entertainment community — and now Deadline can reveal that Saturday Night Live UK is already looking to assemble an eye-catching production team. Industry sources said Sky and Universal Television Alternative Studio want to appoint James Longman, the executive producer of The Late Late Show with James Corden, as showrunner. >>> Lorne Michaels Involved
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Warner Bros Television is 2-for-2 in 2025 launches, with both of its new series to debut so far this year, Max’s The Pitt and Netflix’s Running Point, scoring with critics and audiences to earn quick renewals. The studio also has landed early broadcast renewals for hit comedies Abbott Elementary at ABC and Georgie & Maddy’s First Marriage at CBS while awaiting word on six bubble scripted shows and a comedy pilot across CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW.
Additionally, WBTV has found itself at the center of a pop culture frenzy as the studio behind some of the most anticipated new series and returns.
In an interview with Deadline, Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group | WBD US Networks, spoke of the pressure of tackling beloved titles and provided updates, including whether Ted Lasso could tell the story of a women’s soccer team over a three-season arc as it did with the men’s. >>>Read The Interview |
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Max’s Harry Potter series has officially cast four series regulars and two recurring roles, including four actors Deadline previously revealed: John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
Exclusive
Emma D’Arcy has joined Tom Cruise in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s untitled feature that’s shooting at Pinewood Studios in the UK. Said D’Arcy, “I’m delighted to be working with such extraordinary and exacting artists as Alejandro and Tom. They are the masters of their craft, and witnessing them in combination has been a privilege.”
Exclusive
Ahead of his new Max series Duster‘s May premiere, Josh Holloway has inked a deal to star in Flint, an adaptation of the Western novel by Louis L’Amour.
Exclusive
Netflix's hit series The Lincoln Lawyer has added Kyle Richards (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Jason Butler Harner (Ozark) and Scott Lawrence (Paradise) to its Season 4 guest cast.
Exclusive
Hit Israeli drama Fauda has landed one of its biggest casting coups to date. Inglourious Basterds star Mélanie Laurent has joined the fifth season of the spy thriller.
The Young and the Restless alum Daniel Goddard is heading to General Hospital to play a professor. Goddard, who played Cane Ashby from 2007 to 2019 on Y&R, will show up in Port Charles starting April 15. His new character, Henry Dalton, works at Port Charles University. |
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More News
📱 An attorney for the Federal Trade Commission told a judge that Facebook, fearing the competitive threat of Instagram posted to their social media network, acquired both as a way to “neutralize” the rival. The FTC's antitrust suit against the tech giant, which could result in its breakup, kicked off Monday in Washington, D.C.
✍️ The Writers Guild of America West on Friday publicly announced disciplinary action against six members for alleged unauthorized work during the union’s 2023 strike, as well as one additional member for an alleged violation of the guild’s constitution.
🥊 Donald Trump again lashed out at 60 Minutes, this time angry over two segments the newsmagazine ran on Ukraine and Greenland.
✏️ Cannes Film Festival sidebar Critics’ Week unveiled its lineup today, which includes tragicomedy Left-Handed Girl from longtime Sean Baker collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou. Anora Oscar winner Baker produced, co-wrote and edited the feature.
⚖ Ahead of an upcoming and much delayed resentencing hearing that could see the Menendez brothers out of prison after decades, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is being blamed for an octogenarian relative being in critical condition in hospital after photos of the siblings’ father mutilated dead body were shown in court last week. |
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Trending
 Ahead of Easter, three faith-based films from two independent distributors — The King Of Kings and The Chosen: Last Supper (Season 5) Parts 2 & 3 — made the Top 10 at the domestic B.O.
🔻 The Writers Guild of America has revealed that the number of TV writing jobs fell by 42% for the 2023-2024 season. |
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Obituaries
🕯️ Ted Kotcheff, the versatile, two-time Palme d’Or nominee who directed more than two dozen movies including First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s, Fun with Dick and Jane, North Dallas Forty and Wake in Fright, and exec produced hundreds of episodes of Law & Order: SVU during a six-decade career, died Thursday. He was 94. 🕯️ Don Mischer , one of the preeminent live event directors of the past six decades, died peacefully in his sleep on April 11, in Los Angeles. The 15-time Emmy winner was 85. 🕯️ Peruvian Nobel laureate and Latin American literary giant Mario Vargas Llosa died in Lima at the age of 89. 🕯️ Actor Nicky Katt , a go-to guy for Richard Linklater and a coterie of filmmakers that includes Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan, Robert Rodriguez and David Gordon Green, passed away at age 54. He is also remembered for his role as Harry Senate in several seasons of Boston Public. 🕯️ Jean Marsh, the Emmy-winning actress and co-creator behind the acclaimed ’70s ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, has died at the age of 90. 🕯️ E. Jay Krause , the Emmy-winning art director and set designer whose work has colored the golden age of variety television, died in Los Angeles at the age of 98. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries |
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On the Radar
Mon - Sarah Snook on Colbert
Tue - Daredevil: Born Again finale
Wed - Abbott Elementary season finale; David Letterman on John Mulaney
Thu - Netflix earnings; NHL Playoffs begin
Sat - NBA Playoffs tip off
Sun - Easter |
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Class Reunion - For the first time in four decades and just a little past the 1985 classic film’s 40th anniversary, all five stars of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club reunited. Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy all took the stage during a panel conversation with moderator Josh Horowitz at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. |
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