| OFFER OF $30 PER SHARE FOR WHOLE COMPANY AIMS TO THWART NETFLIX'S PLANNED TAKEOVER OF STUDIO & STREAMING UNIT |
Paramount this morning launched an all-cash offer for all of Warner Bros. Discovery for $30 per share, a proposal it says equates to an enterprise value of $108.4 billion. The aggressive, though not entirely unexpected, move is an attempt to pry Warner Bros. out of the arms of Netflix. “The Paramount offer for the entirety of WBD provides shareholders $18 billion more in cash than the Netflix consideration. WBD’s Board of Directors recommendation of the Netflix transaction over Paramount’s offer is based on an illusory prospective valuation of Global Networks that is unsupported by the business fundamentals,” the company said.
The hostile offer, which takes the case directly and publicly to WBD shareholders, follows a contentious auction that saw the media giant headed by CEO David Zaslav reject successive bids from the David Ellison company and, last Friday, announce a deal with an equity value of $72 billion (and enterprise value of $82.7 billion) to sell the Warner Bros. assets to Netflix for $27.75 a share in cash and stock. The would-be partners said that, pending regulatory approval, the transaction would happen after WBD spins out its linear television business into a separate public company in Q3s of 2026. The process is expected to take 12 to 18 months to close. >>> Sixth Bid In 12 Weeks
Related:
Mike Cavanagh Says Comcast Bid For Warner Bros. Was Light On Cash Versus Rival Offers – “We Didn’t Expect That We Had A High Likelihood Of Prevailing”
Donald Trump Lashes Out At Paramount Owners In Rant About Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Appearance On ’60 Minutes’ |
Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
Stranger Things Have Happened - If the shocking merger between Warner Bros. And Netflix goes through, it will bring together two companies with a fundamentally different approach to the business, philosophy and culture. >>>Key Factors
Related:
WBD’s David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels Break Down Split That Will See Standalone Companies “Free And Clear” For M&A
How Netflix-WB Deal Could Impact A-List Festivals Cannes, Venice & Berlin
Hollywood Hot For Erotic Thrillers - A slew of high-profile erotic thrillers — in both TV and film — have been set up over the past couple of months, some with big-name talent attached. The trend has been accelerating, with about half of these projects announced in the last few weeks.
>>>New Mandy Moore Project
Wild Weekend For 'Freddy's - Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opened to $63M domestic and $109M worldwide. In North America, that’s the second biggest horror opening of the year from Blumhouse-Atomic Monster after Conjuring: Last Rites ($84M). >>>Great Saturday Hold |
In the 12 years since they first worked together on Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan haven’t missed the mark once, teaming on a series of hit films covering a broad spectrum. Since the Sundance sensation drama about the police killing of 22-year-old unarmed Bay Area man Oscar Grant, they moved into boxing with Creed, followed by hatching a billion-dollar franchise, Black Panther, the first and only Marvel superhero franchise to garner a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
They’re squarely in the awards season conversation this year with elevated genre film Sinners, in which vampires try to crash the opening night of a deep South juke joint, a setup that turns out to have much deeper meaning.
Both Coogler and Jordan have become entrepreneurial since their first meeting. Coogler sold his script to Warner Bros. and made a deal that gives him back an ownership stake years down the road, while Jordan has his own thriving production company, made his directorial debut with Creed III, and is currently directing, producing and starring in The Thomas Crown Affair. Here, these close collaborators explain their dynamic. >>>Q&A |
exclusive The upcoming second season of NBC's The Hunting Party will welcome Kelsey Grammer, Elizabeth Gillies (Dynasty) and Jefferson White (Yellowstone) to its cast.
exclusive Peacock and the NFL's Sunday Night Football simulcast, Reality Hot Seat, will get a little cabaret and high fashion as Real Housewives stars Luann de Lesseps and Bronwyn Newport board the show.
exclusive Coming off his Emmy win for The Pitt, Shawn Hatosy has signed on to star opposite Olivia Colman and Brie Larson in Cry Wolf, FX's limited series created by Sarah Treem.
NCIS: Origins has completed its mission to reunite the Fed Five task force in the 11th episode of Season 2, with the addition of Adam Kulbersh (Law & Order: SVU) and Mark Deklin (Blue Bloods) playing NIS Special Agent Felix Betts and NIS Special Agent Dan McLane, respectively.
In Brief - Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Russell Hornsby & DeVon Franklin joining Tis So Sweet… Foster Dade rounds out series regular cast... MobLand sets new & returning cast for Season 2 |
QUOTABLE "It f***in’ sucks" - Matthew Lillard reacting to Quentin Tarantino's criticism of his acting |
MORE NEWS
📺 The U.S. pay-TV bundle added 303,000 subscribers in the third quarter, its first upswing since 2017, according to Wall Street research firm MoffettNathanson.
👀 Adrien Brody revealed that he has yet to accept a new role in the wake of his Best Actor Academy Award last March for his performance in The Brutalist. “I’ve not taken a film since The Brutalist. It’s not because I have not had interesting opportunities, but it didn’t feel quite right,” he said.
👍 President Donald Trump gushed over Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos calling him “fantastic” and more but also noted that a combined Netflix-Warner Bros. would “have a very big market share.” That’s “for some economists to tell. And I’ll be involved in that decision too,” he told Deadline’s Ted Johnson.
🏆 NBC is interested in becoming the future home of the Oscars. Deadline confirmed with sources last month that NBCUniversal has had conversations with the Academy. NBCU joins YouTube, which threw its hat into the Oscar ring over the summer. Amazon also had been rumored as a potential candidate |
BY THE NUMBERS $8B - Domestic B.O. total thus far this year |
OBITUARIES
🕯️Frank Gehry, the legendary L.A.-based Canadian American architect who designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and campuses used by Google and Facebook, has died at his home in Santa Monica, according to multiple reports. He was 96. 🕯️ Chad Spodick, who appeared on the LGBTQ dating series Finding Prince Charming, has died. He was 42. 🕯️ Martin Parr (CBE), the acclaimed British documentary photographer whose vivid, intimate, and often satirical images captured the absurdity of contemporary life and leisure, has died. He passed away at his home in Bristol on Saturday, December 6, at the age of 73. 🕯️ Hollywood Deaths Photo Gallery |
ON THE RADAR
Mon - UBS Global Media & Communications Conference begins
Tue - David Letterman on Kimmel
Wed - Percy Jackson and the Olympians S2 premiere
Fri - F1 hits streaming
Sat - Dick Van Dyke turns 100; Josh O'Connor hosts SNL
Sun - Rachel Maddow L.A. 'Burn Order' event |
Class Photo - Honorees Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss of Kiss; Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, Gloria Gaynor and Michael Crawford pose together at the 48th Kennedy Center Honors Medallion Reception |
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