| FIRST ROUND OF OFFERS COME IN AS MEDIA LANDSCAPE IS REDRAWN |
It's official. Paramount, Comcast and Netflix have submitted bids to acquire all or part of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), ushering in what will likely be a dramatic period of evolution for the media business.
Multiple sources familiar with the sale process confirmed the bidding to Deadline. There will be another round, after the particulars are hashed out, when bidders will be asked if they want to submit final, binding offers. WBD has also set plans to split into two companies and could still turn down outside offers and pursue the separation plan.
While the three bids had been expected, the reality is starting to set in that the WBD chase promises to remake Hollywood at a time of deep uncertainty about the tech sector, AI and the rapidly changing habits of audiences. >>>Timeline
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Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
Netflix's Holiday Play - Leighton Meester and Jared Padalecki are leading a Netflix holiday rom-com based on The Bodyguard, the bestselling novel by Katherine Center. Andie MacDowell is also aboard. >>>Seeking Fan Input
Chiwetel Ejiofor's Passion Project - Chiwetel Ejiofor has joined the creative team of Royal Shakespeare Company show The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – a project close to his heart because his directorial debut was a Netflix movie of the same title. >>>Baz Bamigboye's Column
Zach Cregger: Crew Call - “It’s a very personal movie,” says Zach Cregger about his auteurish horror blockbuster Weapons. “Weapons is autobiographical in a lot of ways,” he tells us on the latest episode of Deadline’s Crew Call podcast. “The Alex chapter, the final chapter,” explains the comedy guy turned genre maestro, “he’s very much how I felt as a kid. Anyone who grew up in a household of addiction can smell what’s going on in that chapter.” >>> Listen |
When Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) met and fell in love in the hit Starz series Outlander, they broke many rules of time and space to be together. They were simply meant to be.
But to understand who they are as individuals and as a couple, fans can now dive into the franchise’s first prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, which introduces Claire and Jamie’s parents — and their love stories — to the world. Hermione Corfield stars as Julia, and Jeremy Irvine as Henry, the parents of Claire, as well as Harriet Slater as Ellen and Jamie Roy as Brian, Jamie’s parents.
At our Deadline cover shoot in collaboration with Starz, we sat down with Slater, Corfield, Roy and Irvine to discuss the rollercoaster events of Season 1. >>>Partner Content |
QUOTABLE "I’m a writer. Please don’t ask me what I wrote." - 'It Ends with Us' author Colleen Hoover on wanting to distance herself from the book amid the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle |
exclusive Gretchen Mol has joined Taylor Sheridan’s hit Paramount+ drama series Tulsa King as a series regular opposite Sylvester Stallone for the upcoming fourth season, which recently started production. Mol will play Amanda Clark, a Tulsa politician. EXCLUSIVE NCIS: New Orleans alumna Necar Zadegan is returning to CBS as a series regular on the network’s upcoming CIA, headlined by Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss. Zadegan will play one of the leads in the FBI offshoot, the Chief of Station role originally played by Michael Michele who departed the series earlier this month. EXCLUSIVE Emma Corrin, Hunter Schafer, Havana Rose Liu and Sophie Wilde are set to join an untitled A24 horror pic from Arkasha Stevenson and Tim Smith. Josh Hutcherson, Frank Dillane, Caleb Landry Jones and Whitmer Thomas are also in discussions. |
BY THE NUMBERS 9.2M - Number of viewers for the 'Landman' S2 premiere in its first two days on Paramount+ |
MORE NEWS
🧙♀️ Wicked: For Good took in $30.8 million in total preview box office revenue from Monday through Thursday night. That’s the best overall preview take for any movie in 2025 to date, topping Disney/Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four: First Steps, which collected $24.4M.
🏛️ Fox News said that Bill Melugin was being promoted to congressional correspondent in Washington, D.C. Melugin is relocating from Los Angeles, where he has been correspondent with an emphasis on the border and immigration.
🍏 Pluribus is Apple TV‘s most viewed drama launch of all time. According to the streamer, the series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan broke the record previously held by Severance Season 2 for the biggest global drama series launch across Apple TV’s plus-100 territories.
🌊 Qatar has launched its first official film and TV incentive as part of its drive to become a major media and entertainment hub. Unveiled at the Doha Film Festival and branded one of the most generous incentive schemes in the Gulf region, the incentive offers up to 50% cash rebate on qualifying Qatari production expenditure. |
OBITUARIES
🕯️Robert Pietranton, a longtime Warner Bros. Television veteran who was most recently SVP of Publicity & Communications for the studio's TV group, died suddenly on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home. He was 56. Friends and colleagues are still in shock and disbelief as Pietranton had been in the office working as usual the day before his passing. The cause of death was unknown as of Thursday night. 🕯️ Canadian actor Spencer Lofranco , known best for his starring roles in the films Gotti and Jamesy Boys, died Tuesday, his brother Santino Lofranco revealed on Instagram. He was 33. 🕯️ Gary “Mani” Mounfield, bassist for influential British band The Stone Roses who later joined Primal Scream, has died. He was 63. His brother Greg Mounfield announced the news on social media but did not provide a cause or date of death. 🕯️ 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery |
ON THE RADAR
Fri - Wicked: For Good opens
Sat - Las Vegas Grand Prix
Mon - International Emmy Awards
Wed - Stranger Things S5, Part 1 premieres; Zootopia 2 opens
Thu - Thanksgiving |
In Memoriam - A photo of Chadwick Boseman and a pair of his shoes, brought by his widow, were placed on the actor's newly revealed Hollywood Walk Of Fame star. |
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