| FORMER NEON EXECS CHRISTIAN PARKES, JASON WALD & SPENCER COLLANTES TO LEAD EFFORT |
There was some earth-shattering news earlier this week when Neon's Chief Marketing Officer and Longlegs and Parasite campaign architect Christian Parkes left the arthouse distributor — but now we know where he, and two of his Neon colleagues Jason Wald and Spener Collantes are going: Warner Bros.
The trio are part of a new contemporary film label that Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are starting. Parkes will lead it, we hear, with the new brand focusing exclusively on smartly budgeted global theatrical releases with innovative marketing campaigns. De Luca and Abdy have a history of championing burgeoning filmmakers and this label provides an opportunity to discover new cinematic voices. In addition, the venture looks to meet exhibition’s demand for more product and diverse title offerings beyond blockbusters.
Wald will be Head of Acquisitions & Production with Collantes as VP, Marketing & Creative. Wald most recently served as EVP, Acquisitions & Production at Neon, and Collantes was most recently the VP of Creative Marketing at Neon. >>>Smartly Priced Projects |
Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
Oscar Winners In Italy - Matthew McConaughey and Zoe Saldaña are in negotiations to star in the upcoming Netflix pic Positano. The film is in development with Tuner director Daniel Roher on board to direct from a script by Alessandro Tanaka and Brian Gatewood. Working Title founders Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan will produce. >>>Romantic Caper
'Ash' Kicking - Avatar: Fire and Ash collected $12M in previews last night, registering a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Global so far is $72M — that includes $17M out of China in day one and $43M abroad. Disney's release is projected to take in between $340 million and $380 million globally in its first weeked. >>>Hitting Targets
Mubi Leadership Shuffle - Indie studio Mubi is restructuring its content leadership and is also shedding around a dozen staff, Deadline can reveal. The Substance and Die My Love distributor’s longtime Chief Content Officer Jason Ropell is moving out of the day to day and going forward will work with founder Efe Cakarel on company strategy. >>>A Dozen Staff Leaving
Sign Of The Apocalypse? - Regardless of whether Netflix or Paramount ends up winning the battle to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, producer, film financier and former studio executive Joseph M. Singer expects the deal to be highly problematic. In a guest column for Deadline, Singer lays out his case for why he believes the deal will be destructive to Hollywood, to consumers and even to the broader U.S. economy. >>> Read The Column
YouTube Vs. AI Trailers - YouTube has terminated two prominent channels that used artificial intelligence to create fake movie trailers. The Google-owned video giant has switched off Screen Culture and KH Studio, which together boasted well over 2 million subscribers. >>>More Than A Billion Views
‘Sinners’: Read The Screenplay - Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the awards season’s most talked-about movies continues with Warner Bros' Sinners, written and directed by Ryan Coogler who reteamed with Michael B. Jordan for the genre-bending blockbuster. >>>The Script |
On the eve of Avatar: Fire and Ash’s premiere, in conversation with Deadline, Cameron and Worthington discuss their longtime collaboration and what lies ahead for the franchise. Plus, how they handle the pressure of following up the preceding two films in the series, Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water — two of the box office’s highest-grossing movies of all time — in an era in which more and more people eschew the theater experience for their living room couch. >>>Q&A |
QUOTABLE "There’s still a lot of homophobia and hatred" - Ben Whishaw on heteronormative pressure in Hollywood |
exclusive Jason Isaacs is the latest addition to the cast of Amazon MGM’s live-action Tomb Raider series. It’s not yet clear who Isaacs is playing. As previously announced, Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner is set for the lead role of Lara Croft.
exclusive Nearly a decade on from their work together on the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars, Lucy Hale and Ian Harding are reuniting on The Twelve Dates of Christmas, a holiday rom-com.
exclusive Maddie Ziegler (My Old Ass), Rob Lowe, Graham Phillips (Scarpetta) and Elias Kacavas (Euphoria) have signed on to star in In a Holidaze , a new Netflix rom-com from writer-director Tiffany Paulsen. |
BY THE NUMBERS $340M-$380M - Projected worldwide opening for James Cameron's 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' |
MORE NEWS
📱 TikTok CEO Shou Chew said Thursday the long-awaited deal to create a joint venture to run the U.S. part of the China-based video platform finally is about to close. The JV will take effect on January 22, Chew said.
✊ A number of technicians have walked off the West Virginia set of the U.S. gun crisis drama The Gun on Second Street after production refused to recognize the crew’s union, IATSE said Thursday.
🏆 Harrison Ford will be the recipient of the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award, the guild’s highest honor recognizing career and humanitarian accomplishments. The award will be bestowed in March during the 32nd annual The Actor Awards.
🦖 Toho, the Japanese anime company behind Godzilla Minus One, is setting up a regional European headquarters in the UK for its overseas business division, Toho Global. | OBITUARIES
🕯️ French producer Claude Berda, whose AB Groupe was one of the founding acquisitions of European media group Mediawan, has died at the age of 78. 🕯️ Eddie Sotto, the former Senior Vice President of Concept Design at Walt Disney Imagineering who worked on key parts of Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland, died Wednesday afternoon, according to his son, Brian. He was 67. 🕯️ 2025 Media Deaths Photo Gallery |
ON THE RADAR
Fri - Avatar: Fire and Ash opens
Sat - Ariana Grande hosts SNL with musical guest Cher
Wed - Christmas Eve; It's a Wonderful Life on NBC
Thu - Christmas Day; NFL tripleheader |
Tale Of The Tape - At their Thursday weigh in, Jake Paul, 6' 1", faces off with the 6' 6" Anthony Joshua, whom Paul predicts he will knock out in their fight tonight on Netflix. |
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