Paramount's Trump Offer; 'Karate Kid' Heating Up Box Office; 'The Penguin' Showrunner Interview

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View on web New reader? Subscribe SUBSCRIBE. IT'S FREE. PARAMOUNT MAKES TRUMP AN OFFER  MEDIA CONGLOM PUTS MILLIONS ON TABLE IN HOPES OF MAKING SKYDANCE MERGER ROADBLOCK DISAPPEAR In the waning days of last year’s bitter election, Trump went after longtime foil CBS over the way that its 60 Minutes had edited a wide-ranging interview with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. A deal to resolve the subsequent $20 billion lawsuit is not in place yet but the Shari Redstone-controlled media company has put millions of dollars on the table in the hopes of clearing the path for the long-gestating merger with Skydance.  Sources told Deadline that while it is "early days," an "eight-figure discussion" is currently taking place. Skydance and Paramount have repeatedly projected that the $8 billion merger will close by June 30. The Federal Communications Commission has yet to weigh in on the transaction.>>>"More Negotiations Underway" Deadline Exclusives & Originals Strong Show On Hold - Three weeks after Skydance paused new spending on a series starring and executive produced by Jeremy Strong and written and executive produced by Tobias Lindholm and Frank Pugliese, the high-profile drama has been put on hold, sources tell Deadline. The move comes as the regulatory approval process of Skydance‘s proposed $8 billion Paramount takeover drag ons. >>> Targeting 2026 Start Dojo Mojo - The big new box office draw this weekend is Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends, which was made for a thrifty net $45M before P&A and is a complete homage to the Karate Kid of yore. It’s expected to do $25M-$30M at 3,600 locations. With Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning on track for strong sophomore frames, the Kid should provide a great second- or third-place haul for exhibitors. >>> Wax On Sight Unseen - Around one hour's drive from Stockholm in the Swedish countryside, the small town of Strängnäs has recently found its place on the cultural map as the home of numerous versions of Netflix’s Love is Blind. The streamer's EMEA chief Larry Tanz chatted to us about how Netflix executes one of its biggest international franchises. >>>Cultural Differences  Milli Vanilli 'Monsters' Scene - Before covering brutal murders and courtroom showdowns, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story spends some of its opening minutes on something less dramatic: the memorial service held by the brothers. Director Carl Franklin and editor Peggy Tachdjian told us how they established the tone. >>>The Process Steady Eddie - Decorated Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne entered the small screen world recently with a fine turn in Peacock's' The Day of the Jackal. He joined us for The Actor's Side to talk about playing an assassin and dive deep into an award-winning career. >>>Versatile Star London Town - Producer Graham King and The Gentlemen star Ray Winstone, are tapping into their London roots for It’s a F*cking Liberty, a decades-spanning crime drama series currently in the works. The family saga from GK Films marks King and Winstone’s first television collaboration. >>>Capturing The East End Murder From Finland To Japan - The latest big international drama series to hit the market is Blood & Sweat starring Anne Watanabe and Jasper Pääkkönen. The eight-part series follows the pair as detectives from different cultures, whose shared sense of justice drives them to embark on a joint investigation. >>>Partners From Three Continents In The Studio - Charlie Polinger and Joel Edgerton popped into the Deadline Cannes Studios to talk themes of conformity and cruelty in their coming-of-age psychological thriller The Plague. >>>Un Certain Regard Title A New Experience - Joe Marchese, veteran ad exec and investor who once headed up sales at Fox Networks Group, has joined the board at live entertainment firm Breakaway. He plans to shepherd an upfront process aimed at experiential marketers. >>>2026 Upfront Earmarked A Lifetime Together - Garcelle Beauvais is staying booked and busy in her post-Housewives career, now focused on producing and advocating for meaningful representation. She's now expanding her partnership with Lifetime with two original movies she'll star in and exec produce. >>>"Putting Women At The Center"              The Deadline Q&A ‘The Penguin’ EP & Showrunner Lauren LeFranc On Season 2 & Subverting The Gangster Trope On Crew Call, we speak with The Penguin EP and showrunner, Lauren LeFranc who reveals how she zigged from the gangster genre’s zag. “I never wrote a crime drama before,” the former Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. producer confesses, “I knew I wanted to subvert tropes.” “I loved that Oz was just a man.” >>>Read The Interview RELATED It Starts On The Page (Limited): Read 'The Penguin' Finale Script "A Great Or Little Thing" With Foreword By Lauren LeFranc Casting About exclusive Oscar winner J.K. Simmons has been tapped as the lead of The Westies, MGM+‘s upcoming period crime drama series from co-creator, executive producer and showrunner Chris Brancato. Simmons will play Eamon Sweeney, the charismatic but ruthless leader of The Westies whose old-school charm and neighborhood loyalty mask fierce criminal ambition and calculated brutality. exclusive Olivia Cooke is set to star in the Neon thriller Brides from Watcher director Chloe Okuno. The film follows Sally Bishop (Cooke) and her husband, who travel to a remote Italian villa whose owner, a mysterious count, takes a peculiar interest in Sally. Patrick Walker and Charlotte Fountain-Jardim have been upped from recurring to series regulars on the Fox medical drama Doc for Season 2. Walker portrays Dr. TJ Coleman, a first-year resident at the start of the series. Fountain-Jardim portrays Katie Hamda, Dr. Amy Larsen and Dr. Michael Hamda’s (Omar Metwally) daughter. William Catlett (A Thousand and One) has landed a major role opposite Linda Cardellini in Crystal Lake, the Friday the 13th expanded prequel series from Peacock and A24. We hear the actor will play the part of Levon Brooks. Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville and Maya Jama, the host of the British version of Love Island, have joined Season 2 of Guy Ritchie's Netflix drug empire drama The Gentlemen. Quotable   “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” -  Elon Musk bids farewell to the Trump administration More News 👩‍⚖️ Donald Trump's tariffs have been blocked by the Court of International Trade. A trio of judges at the Manhattan-based court ruled that Trump’s use of emergency law to impose the tariffs was not legal. Within minutes, the White House said it would appeal.  🚓 Five protesters have been arrested after reportedly targeting the central London set of Gal Gadot‘s upcoming film The Runner. London's Metropolitan Police said three people were arrested for harassment and another two were arrested over previous protests, while sources told Deadline the protests have not impacted the production’s schedule. 💲 In a $500 million defamation and elder abuse action of their own, Smokey Robinson and his wife are now going after the four former employees who have accused the Motown legend of rape in a $50 million lawsuit. Self-described “living legend” Robinson and his attorney Christopher Frost claim that the women tried at first to get $100 million out of the singer and his spouse for their silence on the “fabricated” claims. ⚽ Wrexham FC recently secured promotion to the English Championship, the second tier of British soccer. The Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney-owned team's efforts to reach the Premier League alongside the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City will be documented in Season 5 of Welcome to Wrexham after FX renewed the series. by the numbers   $1.89B  -  Broadway ticket sales for the 2024-2025 season, the highest-grossing in the industry's history. Hirings, Promotions & Exits Brent Weinstein Joins Senior Leadership Team At CAA Maria Kyriacou Confirmed For Key ProSiebenSat.1 Role Netflix Co-Founder Reed Hastings Joins Board Of AI Firm Anthropic Obituaries 🕯️ Presley Chweneyagae, who broke out in Oscar-winning South African movie Tsotsi, has died aged 40. 🕯️ Ed Gale, the actor and stunt performer known for roles in Child’s Play and Howard the Duck, has died. He was 61. 🕯️  Peter Kwong , a martial artist and actor who played one of the Three Storms in Big Trouble in Little China and a henchman in The Golden Child during a prolific acting career and was active in actors union politics and the movie and TV academy leadership, has died. He was 73. 🕯️ 2025 Hollywood & Media Obituaries Photo Gallery On the Radar Thu - Hacks finale; ATX TV Festival begins Fri - Lester Holt's last broadcast as NBC Nightly News anchor; Your Friends and Neighbors finale Sat - Netflix's Tudum Live event; Produced By Conference Mon - Gotham TV Awards Wed - Tribeca Festival begins Photo of the Day Reunited - Antonia Gentry and Brianne Howey attend a special screening of Ginny & Georgia Season 3 at Netflix Home Theater in L.A. This email was sent to punjabsvera@gmail.com by Deadline. Please add email@email.deadline.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. 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