Warners' Starry CinemaCon Pitch; Snap & BBC Layoffs; ABC Eyes Scripted Expansion

🏃‍♀️ Exclusives, Breaking News & Deadline Originals

View on web New reader? Subscribe SUBSCRIBE. IT'S FREE. WARNER BROS. PREVIEWS STARRY 2026 SLATE AT CINEMACON TOM CRUISE, TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET, ZENDAYA & SANDRA BULLOCK WERE IN THE HOUSE Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy took the stage at CinemaCon facing a potential crossroads for the storied studio amid the mega Paramount deal. They didn’t mention the pending deal but recalled how they’ve built up the Warners slate from just six releases in 2022 to 11 last year with major hits from Sinners to One Battle After Another to Weapons. “We have no intention of slowing down," De Luca said, noting that the studio will release 14 films this year and 17 in 2027. And with that, they showed exhibitors the goods. Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu offered a first extended look at Digger, the pair's dark comedy. Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve showed up to tease Dune: Part Three. To that, they unspooled the film’s first seven minutes.  The studio announced new castmembers for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum with Jamie Dornan playing Strider – an alias used by Aragorn — and Leo Woodall playing Halvard. Meanwhile, Milly Alcock, director Craig Gillespie and Jason Momoa took to the stage (the latter on his motorcycle) to offer a fresh look at DC's Supergirl. Additionally, Warner Bros. confirmed its new specialty film label. Warner Bros. Clockwork's first film acquisition is Ti Amo! from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sean Baker. Related: Warner Bros’ Tom Cruise Starrer ‘Digger’ Unlikely To Launch At A Fall Festival — The Dish Deadline Exclusives & Originals ABC Eyes Scripted Expansion - Amid the ongoing industry contraction and the gloom-and-doom predictions about the broadcast business: ABC is poised to expand its original scripted portfolio for a second year in a row. That is because the network appears likely to pick up at least one of its two pilots while also renewing all of its current scripted series. >>> Promising 'Rookie' Spinoff 'Fire Country' & 'Sheriff Country' Spinoff - The fictional Northern California location of CBS’ Fire Country and its spinoff Sheriff Country would also be the setting of a possible third series in the franchise, which is in the very early stages of development. >>>Centered On Medical Team Love & Tee Times - Julia Rae, who starred on ABC’s The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart, and country music star Russell Dickerson are hosting a new dating reality series set in the world of golf. It's called Score Love. >>>Cash Prize Angry Directors UK - Top British directors including Asif Kapadia, Andrew Haigh and Otto Bathurst have signed an open letter venting frustration at the streamers for failing to engage over residuals. The just-published letter organized by Directors UK and signed by nearly 150 comes more than 18 months after the trade body threatened to withhold its members copyright from the streamers. >>>Royalties Are A Lifeblood   THE DEADLINE INTERVIEW ‘Doc’ EP On Season 2 Finale's Shocking Death, Season 3 Time Jump, Amy’s Love Triangle Move, Covid Flashbacks & More Doc's Westside lost one of its own in the Season 2 finale. A deadly virus locked down the internal medicine floor of the Minneapolis hospital, with patients and the staff attending to them trapped inside. As the virus spread, both patients and medical personnel got sick, including doctors Amy (Molly Parker), Richard (Scott Wolf) and nurse Liz (Conni Miu). In the end, it was the nurse who was among the first to come into contact with Patient Zero, Lucy (Paulyne Wei), who passed away, along with a couple of patients. That is the first time we’ve seen a Westside staff member die. In an interview with Deadline, Doc executive producer Hank Steinberg explained the decision to go with Lucy.  >>>Read The Interview Related: Exclusive ‘Doc’ Actor Leaving As Series Regular, Felicity Huffman & Recurring Cast Member Exit As Blair Underwood Joins & Scott Wolf May Be Back CASTING ABOUT Exclusive Patrick Schwarzenegger is continuing his streak of landing high-profile roles opposite Phoebe Dynevor in Beach Read, 20th Century Studios’ adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel from Emily Henry.   Exclusive Gal Gadot and Isla Fisher have joined Casey Affleck and Pete Davidson in Doug Liman-directed thriller Bitcoin.   Exclusive Following her star turn on Season 3 of HBO’s The White Lotus, Michelle Monaghan has joined the Season 3 cast of another popular streaming drama series, Apple TV's Your Friends & Neighbors. She will be a series regular alongside star and executive producer Jon Hamm. Following a round of auditions last week, Adria Arjona has landed the role of Maxima in the upcoming Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow from DC Studios. Octet, the Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed film version of Dave Malloy’s stage musical has announced an eight-person cast that includes Jonathan Groff, Rachel Zegler, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Gaten Matarazzo, among others. RENEWALS, PICKUPS & CANCELLATIONS Taylor Sheridan’s ‘The Madison’ Renewed For Season 3 By Paramount+ Ahead Of Season 2 Debut ‘Young Sherlock’ Renewed For Season 2 At Prime Video MORE NEWS 📷 Social media company Snap Inc. is eliminating 16% of its full-time workforce, or about 1,000 positions, citing efficiencies made possible by artificial intelligence. 📺 The BBC is planning to cut 1,800 to 2,000 jobs, staffers were told today. Interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies announced the move, which is one of the news organization's broadest cost-cutting efforts to date. 🎭 Tony and Emmy Award winner Billy Crystal will return to Broadway this fall in 860, his new solo show named for the home he lost in the 2025 Palisades fires. Scott Ellis will direct. 🎸 The 25th anniversary Tribeca Festival will kick off on June 3 with Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World), Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s follow up to his 2025 doc on Sly Stone. ⛰️ Paramount has won the rights to a new feature film set in the universe of Longlegs, Deadline has learned. Nicolas Cage will star in and produce the follow-up film. Osgood Perkins, who wrote and directed the original film, will pen the script, direct and produce. 🎉 The topic of contract negotiations with studios and streamers was off the table Monday night as SAG-AFTRA leaders put the focus on unity and celebration at the union’s annual “Rock the City” event in New York. Among the SAG-AFTRA representatives in the room were New York Local President Ezra Knight; Executive Vice President Linda Powell and Rebecca Damon, Chief Labor Policy Officer and Executive Director, New York Local.    HIRINGS, PROMOTIONS & EXITS Marvel Undergoes Layoffs Amid Companywide Disney Cuts Film Independent Hires PBS SoCal Veteran Juan Devis As Its New President ON THE RADAR Wed - CBS unveils 2026-27 schedule; Universal & Amazon present at CinemaCon Thu - Disney & Paramount present at CinemaCon; Netflix earnings; Beef S2 debut Sat - Deadline Contenders TV: Docs; Eddie Murphy receives the AFI Life Achievement Award; NAB Show begins Mon - The Devil Wears Prada 2 world premiere PHOTOS OF THE DAY Third Time's The Charm - Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Denis Villeneuve promote Dune: Part Three at Warner Bros. Pictures CinemaCon presentation. 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. Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11355 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA, 90064 View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Rights | Ad Choices | Terms of Use | Unsubscribe