SAG-AFTRA Contract Talks Kick Off; Paramount Sweetens WBD Offer; Nicole Kidman Circling Erotic Thriller

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View on web New reader? Subscribe SUBSCRIBE. IT'S FREE. SAG-AFTRA & STUDIOS KICK OFF 2026 CONTRACT TALKS CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S DGA LINKS ARMS WITH ACTORS' GUILD IN PURSUIT OF "SUSTAINABLE CAREERS" SAG-AFTRA is back at the bargaining table with the Hollywood studios, hoping to avoid a repeat of the historically long actors strike of 2023. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met with union leadership Monday to formally begin talks on a new TV/Theatrical minimum basic agreement. Deadline understands the two parties have been communicating informally for several months to signal priorities and prime the pump ahead of time. On Saturday, the SAG-AFTRA national board approved the union’s official proposal package. Health care is the top priority for all three guilds. The DGA, WGA and SAG-AFTRA health and pension plans have all operated at deficits the last few years due to rising costs and a dramatic decrease in employment. >>>Media Blackout EFM PREVIEW   EXCLUSIVE The Pool Films Boards Gael García Bernal’s ‘Hombre Al Agua’; Reveals First Image & Ensemble Cast Keira Knightley, Alicia Vikander & Jamie Dornan Set For Dark Comedy ‘The Worst’ Michel Gondry’s ‘Little Fears’ Sets Distribution & Sales With The Jokers Films & Logical Pictures International Catherine Zeta-Jones To Star in Twisted Marriage Counselor Thriller ‘Cupid’; Upgrade & CAA Media Finance Launching At EFM ‘Blue Lock’ Live-Action Manga Adaptation Sets Sales With Goodfellas-Mediawan Sports Label Round 12 EXCLUSIVE Christmas Title ‘The Holiday Hitman’ Lands U.S. Distribution Deal Ahead Of EFM EXCLUSIVE Sundance Documentary Competition Title ‘Joybubbles’ Heading To EFM With Visit Films Deadline Exclusives & Originals From Brit List To Hollywood - A spec script by a twentysomething British actor with one produced episodic writing credit triggered a heated bidding war among top TV producers, networks and streamers, landing at A24 in a seven-figure deal with Nicole Kidman among A-listers in talks to star. >>> Bidding War S.W.A.T. Spotlight - Filming is slated to wrap today on S.W.A.T. Exiles, Sony Pictures Television’s spinoff of its long-running crime drama that aired on CBS for eight seasons. The offshoot, which is headlined by S.W.A.T. star Shemar Moore, has yet to lock in a network or platform in the U.S. and most of the world. The recent success of Heated Rivalry and The Hunting Wives  , acquired after their first seasons were in the can, offer plenty of reason for optimism. >>> Pool Of Buyers Growing Google Backs Down - Google appears to have backed down in its AI dispute with Disney. The Hollywood studio issued Google with a cease and desist letter in December, complaining that the tech giant’s AI products were behaving like a “virtual vending machine” for the Mouse House’s IP. >>> Prompts Now Blocked Sony Taps Comms Exec - Veteran communications executive Stephanie Clark has been named SVP, Corporate Communications at Sony Pictures. In her new role, she will work with Sony Pictures Television's U.S. scripted, nonfiction, and kids businesses. >>> Moves From Paramount Mackintosh Fits - Fremantle’s Red Planet Pictures has beaten out competition to land the option for ‘It’s Not What You Think’, the upcoming novel from bestselling author Clare Mackintosh. Kam Odedra, whose writing credits include Hijack, will adapt the novel for TV. We hear there was a lot of competition for this one, with Mackintosh’s books hot property after her seven previous Sunday Times bestsellers. >>> Book Publishes Next Month To The Point BAFTA-winning comedy writer James Menzies and ad agency creative director Rob Bovington are launching a studio focused on comedy-led entertainment. Based out of the UK, Pointy Stick will make content for brands, broadcasters and streaming services. The founders say the company will operate “where advertising and entertainment now increasingly collide.” >>> Plans For Film & TV THE DEADLINE INTERVIEW Warriors Coach Steve Kerr On Executive-Producing ‘All The Empty Rooms,’ School Shooting-Themed Oscar Nominee When 19 grade schoolers and two adults were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022, some responded by offering thoughts and prayers. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr joined those demanding more concrete action. “We have children murdered at school,” he said emotionally at an NBA Conference Finals press conference usually reserved for talking basketball. “When are we going to do something?!” The nation may have largely turned its eyes away since then, but Kerr hasn’t. He’s continued to be outspoken on the issue of gun violence and in that spirit signed on as an executive producer of the Netflix film All the Empty Rooms, which has earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Short. The film directed by Joshua Seftel takes us into the rooms of children killed in school shootings across the country, rooms preserved by their parents just as the kids left them on their final day off to school. “It's beautiful. It's heartbreaking. It's moving,” Kerr tells Deadline. “And I think the reason it's so important is that it cuts through all the political BS that we are all living through. And it cuts right to the core of the issue, which is loss and grief.” >>>Q&A CASTING ABOUT Exclusive Oscar winner Colin Firth has been cast opposite Jack Lowden in Apple TV‘s untitled drama based on Metropolis from Philip Kerr’s bestselling book series Berlin Noir.     Exclusive Kelly Hu has joined the recurring cast of the Netflix drama series Untamed, from Warner Bros Television and studio-based John Wells Productions.   Exclusive Writer/director Blaise Beyhan has set an all-star cast for his sophomore feature, New England Toys, with Willa Fitzgerald (Strange Darling) and Ruby Cruz (The Threesome) tackling the lead roles. Others set include Paul Sparks, Jason Schwartzman, Jim Gaffigan and Jennifer Jason Leigh.   Exclusive Lukas Gage has boarded Wonderland Sound and Vision and Amazon MGM Studios’ movie Clashing Through the Snow. God of War has found its Atreus. Callum Vinson (Chucky) has been cast as Atreus, the 10-year-old son of Kratos (Ryan Hurst), in Prime Video's series adaptation of PlayStation’s ancient mythology-themed video game. QUOTABLE   "They need to create their own safe space alternative" - Jon Stewart on the Turning Point USA Super Bowl Halftime Show MORE NEWS 💵 Paramount has added a sweetener to its hostile offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. While it did not boost the bid's price, leaving it at $30 per share in cash, the David Ellison-led company promised a new "ticking fee" of 25 cents per share, would be paid to WBD shareholders for each quarter its transaction has not closed. Netflix currently has an accepted offer to buy WBD's studios-and-streaming division for almost $83 billion. 👋 Chappell Roan has left Casey Wasserman‘s music agency over the L.A. Olympics chief’s recently-revealed connection to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. “I refuse to passively stand by,”  the “Pink Pony Club” superstar posted online.  🏈 YouTube TV has announced pricing and other details about its lineup of slimmed-down bundles organized around specific programming like sports, news and entertainment. The sports bundle will cost $64.99 a month, $18 less than the regular subscription plan.  🌴 Love Island producer Lifted Entertainment has restructured and hired an entertainment commissioning editor from the BBC, along with making Richard Cowles CEO. ⚖️ E.W. Scripps, which relaunched Court TV in 2019, has sold the network to Dan Abrams-run studio Law & Crime. Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed.    BY THE NUMBERS   $148.8M - Worldwide B.O. to date for 'Marty Supreme,'making it A24’s highest-grossing movie ever OBITUARIES 🕯️ Blake Garrett, a former child actor known best for his role as Plug in the family comedy How To Eat Fried Worms, has died in Oklahoma. He was 33. 🕯️  2026 Deaths Photo Gallery ON THE RADAR Tue - Oscar Nominees Luncheon Wed - Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni expected in court Thu - Berlin FF & EFM begin Sun - Last Week Tonight returns; NBA All-Star Game; Spirit Awards PHOTO OF THE DAY Hollywood By The Sea - Leonardo DiCaprio and Deadline's Pete Hammond, at left, attend the Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Hammond Cinema Vanguard Award ceremony. The honor was named for Hammond and his wife Madelyn, longtime friends of SBIFF. 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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