Sky Clinches ITV Deal; Noah Wyle's L.A. Production Solution; Minions' Diminishing Returns

🏃‍♀️ Exclusives & Breaking News

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ View on web New reader? Subscribe SUBSCRIBE. IT'S FREE. SKY TO TAKE OVER ITV IN $2.1B DEAL  LANDMARK MOVE DRAMATICALLY RESHAPES BRITISH TELEVISION Sky has finally sealed a £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) deal to acquire ITV's television network operations. ITV confirmed to shareholders on Monday morning that it will sell to its pay-TV rival, meaning a crown jewel of British broadcasting becomes part of the NBCUniversal entertainment empire.   The agreement, described as "historic" by the CEO of ITV, follows a forensic courtship that has lasted nearly nine months.   NBCU and Sky are due to separate from parent Comcast in 2027 in a corporate maneuver announced last week. >>>What's Not Part Of The Deal   RELATED:    Sky Chief Dana Strong Says ITV Will Remain “Deeply British” As Hollywood Tightens Grip On UK Media   ITV Studios Will Not Need A “Transformational Acquisition” After Splitting With ITV Network, Claim Bosses Exclusives & Originals 'The Pitt' Blueprint For LA Production - In a piece written for Deadline, actor-producer Noah Wyle writes, "The Pitt’s phenomenal success has marked it both an artistic achievement and potentially viable production model and I’ve been asked to explain how we do it." >>>Guest Column   Minions' Diminishing Returns - Illumination/Universal's Minions had the franchise’s lowest opening with $36.4M 3-day in North America. Attendance for Illumination’s latest, per EntTelligence, was a mere 4.4M people. >>>Overseas Better   Secrets Of The World Cup Ratings Surge - For Fox's Mike Mulvihill, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has put a final exclamation mark on the answer to the decades-old question of whether soccer can ever become mainstream in the U.S. >>>"Like Having A Second NFL Season"   Spielberg's YouTube Horror Play - Anyone wondering where the next big YouTube horror feature is coming from following the mega success of Backrooms and Obsession, well, United Artists' Scott Stuber, Amblin's Steven Spielberg and Amazon MGM Studios have it: The Mandela Catalogue. >>>11-Studio Bidding War QUOTABLE "Does he not like what we’re doing?" - Tom Holland's reaction when Christopher Nolan kept cutting scenes short on the 'Odyssey' set, not knowing Imax film magazines only last for three minutes THE DEADLINE INTERVIEW The Three-Time Oscar Winner Robert Richardson On Working With Oliver Stone, Predicting Tarantino’s Next Move, And The Wildest Shoot He Ever Worked On Robert Richardson, christened “Big Bad Bob” by Brad Pitt, took time of his insanely busy schedule to spend his July 4 weekend in the Czech Republic. The occasion was the world premiere of Robert Richardson: The White Devil, an eye-opening documentary directed by Czech filmmaker Jana Hojdová.  Now 70, Richardson has mellowed with age — assuming some of the more brutal anecdotes about his tendency to fire at will are true — but he retains the edge that separates him from his contemporaries. As Quentin Tarantino puts it in the movie, “There’s Bob Richardson and there’s everybody else.” >>>Q&A MORE NEWS     🎮 Microsoft‘s Xbox video game division is laying off 3,200 workers, about 20% of its workforce, in “the most significant restructure” in its 25-year history, CEO Asha Sharma announced this morning.   🏌️ Versant Media Group has acquired sports tech firm Full Swing for $530 million in cash, expanding its portfolio of businesses operating outside of traditional linear TV.   💰 Angel Studios posted its best opening for a live-action feature with Jon Erwin’s historical period pic, Young Washington, which conquered its $15M forecast with a $20.8M debut. The company also announced a sequel titled 1776.   ⚽️ European soccer body UEFA is the latest to weigh in on FIFA‘s controversial decision to overturn U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension. In a remarkable message just posted to its site, UEFA tore into world soccer body FIFA, saying it had "crossed a red line" and described the move as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”   ✋ Netflix has published an op-ed in which it lays out why it is challenging proposed new spending obligations on the streamer in France and why it wants to introduce an investment cap on streamer obligations in the territory.   ☑️ There’s change afoot at Arcade, the creator management company that represents The Sidemen. Former Vice Media EMEA boss Matt Elek has been named CEO, with current boss and co-founder Jordan Schwarzenberger stepping away from the day-to-day running of the company.   🎭 Michelle Dockery is returning to the London stage after a seven-year absence to star in playwright Ava Pickett’s new Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy.   🤝 Netflix has hired Mohammed Adnan, a development producer on HBO Max’s Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, as manager of documentary series in the U.S. BY THE NUMBERS 1B - Number of guests Disneyland had welcomed as of last Friday OBITUARIES   🕯️ Moritz Borman, a veteran producer whose credits include several Oliver Stone movies along with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Crow: Salvation and others, died July 1 in Munich, where his upcoming film was being shot. He was 71. 🕯️ Kjell Nilsson, the Swedish born weightlifter and actor best known for playing the villainous masked marauder Lord Humungus in the classic 1981 Mad Max film The Road Warrior, died in Queensland, Australia, Thursday, July 2, following a four-year battle with kidney disease. He was 76. 🕯️ Joby Baker, whose presence on television and in film throughout the 1960s and ’70s made him one of the era’s more familiar faces in both drama and light comic fare, died June 22 of natural causes in Mount Kisco, New York. He was 92. 🕯️ Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries ON THE RADAR   Mon - U.S. vs. Belgium World Cup game Wed - Emmy nominations Thu - Little House on the Prairie reboot debuts PHOTO OF THE DAY Epic Journey Begins - Co-stars Lupita Nyong'o, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya and Samantha Morton set forth on what is likely to be a considerable campaign of premieres, appearances and photocalls leading up to The Odyssey's July 17 release. This email was sent to punjabsvera@gmail.com by Deadline. Please add email@mail.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 | Ad Choices | Terms of Use | Unsubscribe