Warner Bros: Last News

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “The Last of Us” has become the most-viewed title ever on HBO’s subscription streaming service in Europe. Warner Bros. Discovery announced on Tuesday that the first season of the nine-episode apocalyptic-drama has smashed HBO’s SVOD European viewer ratings. This result comes after the season one finale set another ratings high in the U.S. on Sunday night, delivering 8.2 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts, based on Nielsen and first party data. The series, which is based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation, has been a hit from the get go. “The Last of Us” is now averaging 30.4 million viewers in the U.S. across its first six episodes, according to HBO, with the first episode approaching 40 million viewers in the U.S. Outside of the U.S.. The show is now also the most-watched show ever on HBO Max in Latin America.

Tom Joyner, who was First AD on such notable titles as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, George Roy Hill’s Slapshot and Clint Eastwood’s Bronco Billy, died February 22 after a long battle with cancer and heart disease. He was 79.

Following Morgan Freeman’s onstage appearance at the 2023 Oscars, viewers took to Twitter sharing messages of concern over the actor’s glove worn on his left hand.

The Last of Us” closed its first season with yet another triumph. With an audience of 8.2 million people for Episode 9, the series broke its own viewership record — a significant feat, considering that the finale was released during ABC’s telecast of the Oscars. Provided by Warner Bros. Discovery, this number accounts for those who tuned into the Sunday night airing on HBO’s cable channel as well as streams on HBO Max through the night. This isn’t the first time that “The Last of Us” has outdone itself while competing with a major awards show. Episode 4, titled “Please Hold to My Hand,” brought in 7.5 million viewers when it aired at the same time as the Grammys, which was then a series high: When “The Last of Us” debuted in January, it trailed “House of the Dragon” to become the second-most watched HBO premiere in over a decade with 4.7 million viewers. Episode 2 marked HBO’s biggest ever increase between a series’ first and second episode with 5.7 million viewers. The series then brought in 6.4 million viewers with Episode 3.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Me want… nonfungible token? Sesame Workshop is introducing the first digital collectibles based on the iconic Sesame Street kids’ brand. The first NFTs from the initiative will feature Cookie Monster, the beloved blue cookie fiend from the show, with the initial drop scheduled for March 19 on the VeVe digital collectibles app. There will be one Cookie Monster NFT collectible with 5,555 editions for sale, priced at $60 each. According to Sesame Workshop, additional Sesame Street collectibles will be released later this year. NFTs are unique identifiers that verify ownership of digital content. The craze for NFT collectibles kicked off in earnest in early 2021 and has continued since. A number of studios, TV networks, sports leagues and athletes, actors, musicians, artists, gaming companies and more have launched NFT initiatives, looking to generate revenue and engage with fans.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Prime Video have set the launch date and pricing for their ‘Warner Pass’ offer in France to March 16. Priced at €9.99 per month, the offer will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels in France, and will boast all of HBO programs, along with 12 channels, including Warner TV, Eurosport, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network and CNN, as well as their associated on-demand services. Subscribers will benefit from a 30-day free trial until April 3. “The launch of Warner Pass exclusively as a Prime Video channel in France is the next step in our journey to become the destination for customers in France to find the best in storytelling, premium entertainment and sports,” said Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, Prime Video French Country Director.

The Oscars didn’t rain on Robert Rodriguez’s parade tonight as the filmmaker debuted his long-in-the-works Hypnotic at SXSW’s Paramount Theatre, with crowds being turned away.

Old Hollywood glam! Margot Robbie stunned on stage at the 2023 Oscars.

Surprise – Margot Robbie is at the Oscars!

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor CNN has scored its first Oscars win: “Navalny,” the harrowing film following Russian dissident and former presidential candidate Alexei Navalny, took the prize for documentary feature film at Sunday’s Academy Awards. The documentary, directed by Daniel Roher, gained new relevance after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The CNN Films/Warner Bros. documentary is a fly-on-the-wall account of the rousing populist who was once a presidential candidate — and posed such a threat to Putin that Navalny was poisoned in a botched assassination plot ordered by the Kremlin in 2020. Navalny was detained in January 2021 and currently is serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian gulag. He has spent much of the sentence in solitary confinement.

Refresh for latest…: Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VI has slashed its way to a franchise-record opening at the global box office with $67.1M, topping Scream 3 for the best in the bunch of this long-running Kevin Williamson-created series. At the international box office, it also set a franchise-best start with $22.6M from 53 markets, a whopping 60% above the 2022 Scream. Domestic, too, was a record launch.

“I have no breaking story about a Veep comeback,” Matt Walsh told us at Deadline’s SXSW studio, “I wish I did because it would blow up the internet.”

EXCLUSIVE: If some of film executives have looked a bit distracted at the agency Oscar parties tonight, it’s because they were waging a rather breathtaking auction for I Am Not Alone, a 22-page short story that is an ideal template for a major genre film. The dust is just settling, but I am hearing that Netflix is closing up a high-six figure deal for an outright buy of the story, with mid-seven figures pledged to Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green to write the script and direct as a star vehicle for Oscar winner Jessica Chastain.

Julia MacCary editor “Abbott Elementary” and “Top Gun: Maverick” received top honors at the 60th annual International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) Publicists Awards luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Friday. The awards honor individual publicists, unit still photographers and entertainment journalists who further publicity campaigns for film and TV. Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay and senior entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson each earned nominations from ICG. Quinta Brunson of “Abbott Elementary” received the TV showman of the year honor, and the producers of “Top Gun: Maverick” (Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, David Ellison and Christopher McQuarrie) received the honor on the film side, with Bruckheimer accepting on behalf of all four.

The 60th annual ICG Publicists Awards Luncheon is underway at the Beverly Hilton, and Deadline is posting the winners as they’re announced. Check out the list below. 

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is moving forward with The Flintstones spinoff series Bedrock.

Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is reportedly in talks to reunite with Tim Burton for a role in Beetlejuice 2.A sequel to Burton’s 1988 film, starring Michael Keaton, has been in discussion for a decade, with Keaton declaring his interest back in 2014 before the script was rewritten in 2017.As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the film now looks set to shoot in London this May and June, with Burton and Keaton likely to return.Ortega, star of the hit Netflix Addams Family spin-off from Burton, is now reportedly in talks to join the film.Sources say that she would likely play the daughter of Lydia (played by Winona Ryder in the original) in the film.Neither studio Warner Bros. nor representatives for Ortega responded to requests for comment.Elsewhere, Ortega is presenting tomorrow’s (March 11) episode of Saturday Night Live, with musical guests The 1975.Ahead of the show, Ortega said in a video posted to social media that she doesn’t want to do the viral Wednesday dance in an SNL promo.Appearing alongside the Please Don’t Destroy crew, Ortega is seen raising her concerns about her and the crew doing the dance – before some hilarity ensues.The skit (see below) was posted to the SNL YouTube on Wednesday (March 8), and begins with Ortega saying: “Honestly, this is really well-written, I just don’t feel like I want to do the Wednesday dance for promo because we’ve seen so much of that already and I think it’s time to do something new.”Today (March 10) saw the promo arrive, with cast member Bowen Yang says he “feel[s] so old” after Ortega introduces The 1975.“I don’t understand any of your generation’s slang,” Yang adds before asking the band: “Are you guys getting any of this”.

Disney Advertising has sold all inventory for Sunday night’s Oscar telecast on ABC, but with pricing slightly down from 2022 levels.

Tatiana Siegel One year after the slap that shook the industry, Will Smith is getting ready to return to acting. While the “Men in Black” star has kept a mostly low profile in the 12 months since slapping presenter Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars ceremony, he is now prepping for his first acting gig since the incident that sparked headlines around the world and a still-simmering news cycle. Sources say Smith is looking to reestablish his commercial bona fides and is poised to shoot Sony’s “Bad Boys 4“ and Netflix’s “Fast and Loose” back to back. That strategy would mark a pivot from his last two movies — Warner Bros.’ “King Richard” and Apple’s “Emancipation” — which were viewed as awards-season plays rather than studio tentpoles. Although “King Richard” drummed up moderate box-office business ($39 million worldwide), it earned less than Smith’s ultimate payday including back-end ($40 million). Smith’s paycheck ballooned after Warner Bros. decided to release “King Richard” in theaters at the same time it debuted on HBO Max, with the studio opting to give the star his full bonus as a make-good for the change in distribution plans.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director New “Lord of the Rings” movies are officially on the way from Warner Bros., and Andy Serkis is the first original cast member to say he’s ready to return to Middle-Earth. Serkis gave an iconic motion capture performance as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and reprised the role in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” “Look, [producers] Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens are sort of a second family that I have become part of and have gone on to make so many films with,” Serkis told BroBible’s Post-Credit Podcast. “And — let me tell you — they are the best and most incredible people to work with. I think that there are so many other potential Middle-Earth projects which could come about, and if they’re doing them, I would, of course, jump at the chance to have that relationship rekindled.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Nexstar Media has spent months assembling a massive roster of TV stations; acquring TV’s CW network; and building the NewsNation cable-news oulet. Now comes the hard part: Getting Madison Avenue to buy ads across all of it. The nation’s largest owner of local TV outlets is ready to make its pitch to advertisers and has already scheduled a presentation for media buyers in New York for April 25. The goal, says Michael Strober, the company’s chief revenue officer, is to showcase the company’s reach among both national and local media. “We can bring local and national to our clients in ways that have never been replicated across the country,” he says in an interview. “The CW, NewsNation, TheHill, Nexstar Digital and over 200 local stations — that to me is our differentiator in the marketplace.”