Warner Bros: Last News

Another possible role for Henry Cavill in the DC Universe movie franchise has been nixed by James Gunn.

Elon Musk prodded advertisers “to use Twitter yourselves, and believe what you see on Twitter, not what you read in the newspapers.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in a $44 billion, debt-laden deal a little over four months ago, said advertising revenue has dropped as much as 50% since he took over. But the mega-billionaire tech mogul said a few large advertisers have continued to spend with Twitter, and he specifically called out — and thanked — Disney and Apple as remaining two of the biggest marketers on the social network, speaking Tuesday at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. According to Musk, Twitter is improving its ability to serve timely and relevant ads. He said he was speaking with David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, who asked Musk why Twitter couldn’t put an ad with the trailer for HBO hit show “The White Lotus” next to every tweet that mentions “White Lotus.” Musk responded affirmatively, describing it as basic keyword-based ad buys that Twitter is now selling: “It’s just Google AdWords but applied to tweets.”

Nicolas Cage has provided a concise reason why he “doesn’t need” to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.The actor discussed the current state of superhero movies while accepting the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the Miami Film Festival on Sunday (March 5).“I’ve gotta be nice about Marvel movies, because I named myself after a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage,” the actor said (via Variety). “What am I going to do, put Marvel movies down? Stan Lee is my surrealistic father. He named me.”He added: “I understand what the frustration is.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s ties with Malaysian financier turned fugitive, Jho Low, have been detailed in new FBI documents.According to a report on Bloomberg, DiCaprio was interviewed as a potential witness by the FBI in 2018 about his relationship with Low, who is accused of embezzling $4.5billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB).DiCaprio is said to have first met Low at a New York nightclub in 2010 and went on to establish a close relationship.Low is said to have showered the actor with gifts – including a first edition of The Great Gatsby and Marlon Brando’s Oscar for On The Waterfront – and helped finance 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring DiCaprio.“I was working for him… and that business also translates into being social,” DiCaprio told a grand jury, according to the report. “And so we saw each other more, and there was more interaction.”According to the FBI documents, Low called DiCaprio “L-Dogg”.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Middle East satellite and streaming platform OSN Group has extended its relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery forging a new multi-year licensing deal under which it will become the exclusive home for HBO content in the region. In addition to HBO shows, such as “Succession,” the renewed agreement has been expanded to cover additional content and channel offerings from Warner Bros. giving OSN premium access to recent blockbuster movie hits such as “The Batman,” “Dune,” “The Matrix Resurrections,” and “The Suicide Squad.” The deal was announced in Dubai with “Succession” star Brian Cox on hand.

EXCLUSIVE: As his directorial debut Creed III was cresting toward a $100 million global opening weekend and setting numerous records — top opening for the Creed franchise and biggest sports film opening ever and a knockout victory for MGM, new parent Amazon & United Artists Releasing as the company embraces the theatrical release, and Warner Bros (which launched the film overseas) — Michael B. Jordan sat down with me Sunday night as those numbers were piling higher. It was the first in person interview for us since I met him and Ryan Coogler at Cannes for the launch of Fruitvale Station. Trying to rebound from my own family tragedy months earlier, that film was cathartic for me because it was the first time I grieved the death of my father in Hurricane Sandy. I shared that with them, and spent a lot of time with both, and especially Jordan. He was just stepping into stardom and we talked about everything from navigating such a famous name to how much he was obliged to give of himself in interviews and in public. This was at a surreal moment when he was still a little uneasy walking down the Croisette and hearing a person or two calling out “Where’s Wallace,” the meme line about his young character from the series The Wire. I recall walking away from Coogler and Jordan hoping they continued to make strong followup creative choices because all the potential was there. Who knew it might happen so quickly for each of them?

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery and Japan’s U-Next have announced an extension of their relationship with a renewed deal to supply content to the SVOD platform. The agreement sees U-Next continue as the streaming home of HBO in Japan. Featuring exclusive content rights for HBO, HBO Original and HBO Max Original series, the strengthened agreement includes: current and future seasons of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us” and “Succession” as well as returning HBO Original and HBO Max Original series “True Detective: Night Country,” “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and “And Just Like That…”

EXCLUSIVE: As his directorial debut Creed III was cresting toward a $100 million global opening weekend and setting numerous records — top opening for the Creed franchise and biggest sports film opening ever and a knockout victory for MGM, new parent Amazon & United Artists Releasing as the company embraces the theatrical release, and Warner Bros (which launched the film overseas) — Michael B. Jordan sat down with me Sunday night as those numbers were piling higher. It was the first in person interview for us since I met him and Ryan Coogler at Cannes for the launch of Fruitvale Station. Trying to rebound from my own family tragedy months earlier, that film was cathartic for me because it was the first time I grieved the death of my father in Hurricane Sandy. I shared that with them, and spent a lot of time with both, and especially Jordan. He was just stepping into stardom and we talked about everything from navigating such a famous name to how much he was obliged to give of himself in interviews and in public. This was at a surreal moment when he was still a little uneasy walking down the Croisette and hearing a person or two calling out “Where’s Wallace,” the meme line about his young character from the series The Wire. I recall walking away from Coogler and Jordan hoping they continued to make strong followup creative choices because all the potential was there. Who knew it might happen so quickly for each of them?

EXCLUSIVE: After launching the first original court show on streaming with Judy Justice on Amazon Freevee, Judy Sheindlin could make history again with the first streaming show to sell in broadcast syndication. Former CBS executive Scott Koondel’s Sox Entertainment, which distributes Judy Justice, is actively exploring selling the show’s library — approximate 260 episodes — to TV stations for fall 2023 or fall 2024, sources tell Deadline. Additionally, cable syndication also is a possibility, I hear.

An incredible bond. Starring in the most prominent boxing movies of the past generation, many moviegoers might be stumped by the question of if Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson are dating IRL because their on-screen chemistry is so believable.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor All four of this year’s original song Oscar nominees have been confirmed to perform at the ceremony on March 12 — except for Lady Gaga. Gaga, who was deemed a frontrunner early in the race, landed her fourth career nomination for the “Top Gun: Maverick” song “Hold My Hand,” but has yet to be confirmed for the show. In Oscars tradition, all nominated songs are sung during the ceremony. Rihanna (“Lift Me Up”), Sofia Carson and Diane Warren (“Applause”), Stephanie Hsu, David Byrne and Son Lux (“This Is a Life”) and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (“Naatu Naatu”) will all be making appearances this year.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Marc Guggenheim has been a staple of DC Entertainment on television for over a decade as the co-creator of The CW’s Arrowverse, which launched in 2012 with “Arrow” (Guggenheim developed the series with Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg) and continued through “The Flash,” “Supergirl” and more. In a February 2023 blog post that’s now circulating online (via Entertainment Weekly), Guggenheim lamented over not being included in the new DC Universe that’s taking shape at Warner Bros. under DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran. Guggenheim admitted in his blog post that friends had told him Hollywood would come calling after he pulled off The CW’s ambitious “Crisis On Infinite Earths” storyline. That crossover event, which aired in December 2019 and January 2020, brought together six different superhero series for a story that ran through five hours of television. It was no easy feat, and Guggenheim said he even put up thousands of dollars of his own money to pull it off.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the success of Netflix’s Wednesday and Oscar contender Elvis, Andrew Mittman has renewed his overall deal with MGM Television.

Warner Bros. Discovery has tweaked its CEO’s employment contract, granting a bigger pot of restricted stock units but linking them to free cash flow targets.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery, which is struggling with billions of dollars in debt, is willing to pay more money to executives who might be able to help reduce it. The owner of HBO, Discovery Channel and Food Network said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would pay out new rewards to CEO David Zaslav, six senior staffers and an unspecified group of others if they could meet certain goals of new generation of free cash flow. “The changes to the Warner Bros. Discovery executive compensation program are designed to further incentivize Company employees, including members of its leadership team and others whose efforts are critical to achieving the key near-term financial objectives of increased free cash flow and reduced leverage,” said WBD board chairman Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr. in a prepared statement.“The WBD board is confident that these additional incentives offer a more competitive package against the backdrop of ongoing industry-wide transformation and economic headwinds, and better position the company to advance core drivers of shareholder value.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Seven of the biggest media-buying agencies on Madison Avenue and Roku have joined a media-industry effort that aims to count TV audiences in new ways. Dentsu, WPP’s GroupM, Horizon Media, Interpublic Group’s IPG Mediabrands, Omnicom Group’s Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Media and RPA have all lent counsel to the U.S. Joint Industry Committee, a consortium formed in January led by Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, TelevisaUnivision, and Warner Bros. Discovery and their Open AP joint venture that hopes to vet and certify a dizzying array of audience-measurement technologies that have come to market in recent months.  Along with Roku, Hallmark Media and the industry group Video Advertising Bureau, the companies have issued a new set of minimum requirements for acceptance of several new measurement technologies that TV networks would like to implement more quickly.

A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once won a pair of awards as did Rob Lowry for his music supervision on both Cha Cha Real Smooth and Do Revenge on Sunday at the 13th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards.

The power of a wide theatrical release was realized this weekend by streamer Amazon in its pivot back to the big screen with MGM/United Artists Releasing’s Creed III. It easily minted the best opening ever for the Seattle-based parent, as well as for the Rocky franchise, with $58.6M domestic, $100.4M worldwide.

Refresh for latest…: MGM’s Creed III is enjoying a knockout opening weekend, punching up $100.4M globally. Of that, $41.8M is from 75 international box office markets. Domestically, the Michael B Jordan-directed movie opened to a franchise record and the best debut ever for a sports title.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After better-than-expected starts at the domestic and international box office, “Creed III” has already surpassed the $100 million mark globally. Directed by Michael B. Jordan in his feature filmmaking debut, the latest “Creed” movie has collected $58.7 million in North America and $41.8 million overseas to land the biggest opening worldwide in the trilogy. The $75 million-budgeted “Creed III” is the most expensive film in the trilogy (its predecessors cost $35 million and $50 million, respectively), but it already appears to be well-positioned in its theatrical run.