Strategy: Last News

Universal Pictures on Tuesday morning announced its appointment of CAA veteran Matt Leaf as EVP, Head of Business Affairs.

Ethan Shanfeld As Nintendo takes its shot at the box office with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the first animated film featuring the iconic mustachioed plumber, the gaming company has been coy about revealing what’s next for the Super Mario video game franchise. But while Shigeru Miyamoto — the legendary video game designer, Nintendo fellow and self-proclaimed “Mario’s mom” — won’t say where Mario is running next, he is forthright about where he won’t be: your smartphone. Sitting down with Variety for this week’s cover story on the making of the film, Miyamoto said firmly, “Mobile apps will not be the primary path of future Mario games.” After two moderately successful but dwindling iOS games, plus another that shuttered after two years, Nintendo is pulling Mario away from the mobile market. Released in 2016, Super Mario Run grossed $60 million in its first year, while 2019’s Mario Kart Tour has generated $300 million (compared to Mario Kart 8’s $3 billion and counting). Without explanation, Nintendo removed 2019’s Dr. Mario World from app markets two years after its release.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Primary Wave Music has struck a partnership with multiple Grammy and Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan that sees the company acquiring a majority stake in her songwriting and recorded-music catalog. Further terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it includes such hits as “Angel,” “I Will Remember You,” “Hold On,” and more. Following the success of her 1993 breakthrough album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” the singer has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, received three Grammy Awards and twelve Juno Awards and has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Harry Potter book series.According to Bloomberg, each season of the series would be based on one of Rowling’s seven main entries in the Harry Potter series, potentially meaning a franchise that spans many years for the entertainment conglomerate.Bloomberg’s unnamed sources indicate that talks are still in a relatively preliminary stage, and Rowling has not yet signed off. As part of the deal, it’s believed Rowling would have some level of involvement in the series “to ensure it remains loyal to her original material”, but would not be its primary creator or showrunner.Warner Bros.

EXCLUSIVE: BET HER has greenlit Black Girl, Erupted from director and star, Vanessa Bell Calloway (This Is Us), and executive producer, Tressa Azarel Smallwood of MegaMind Media. The project is the first feature film under the BET Her Presents: The Couch franchise.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company has reached a new stage of its evolution in streaming and will consider “on occasion” licensing some titles to third parties.

EXCLUSIVE: Showtime has axed King Shaka, its upcoming epic drama series, executive produced by Antoine Fuqua, which tells the sweeping story of the Zulu Empire founder.

Selome Hailu 5.43 million people watched the CMT Music Awards on Sunday night, according to Paramount Global, a 5% increase when compared to the show’s 5.16 million viewers in 2022. This tally comes from a combination of the TK linear viewers who tuned in via CBS and the TK people who streamed on Paramount+. A finalized number including out-of-home-viewing is yet to come, though Paramount currently projects that it will land at 5.68 million total viewers in Live + Same Day. Additionally, the CMT Awards were the most-streamed program of the night on Paramount+, and on social media, Paramount says that the show brought in 2.6 billion potential impressions compared to last year’s 2.5 billion.

Regal owner Cineworld has entered into a restructuring support agreement and a backstop commitment agreement with lenders that will, if approved, see it emerge from bankruptcy.

Naman Ramachandran Debt-laden exhibition giant Cineworld group and its subsidiaries have entered into a restructuring support agreement and a backstop commitment agreement with lenders holding and controlling approximately 83% of the group’s term loans due 2025 and 2026 and revolving credit facility due in 2023. If implemented, the proposed restructuring is expected to reduce the group’s Chapter 11 companies’ funded indebtedness by approximately $4.53 billion, principally through lenders receiving equity in the reorganised group in exchange for the release of their claims. It is also expected to raise $800 million in aggregate gross proceeds, through a fully backstopped equity offering to the legacy lenders and a direct equity offering to them. In addition, it will provide $1.46 billion in new debt financing to the Chapter 11 Companies upon their emergence from the Chapter 11 cases.

battling strikes and increasingly violent demonstrations against plans to raise the retirement age by two years. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who is only the second woman to occupy the position, called Schiappa personally to tell her that it "was not at all appropriate, especially in the current period", an aide told AFP on Saturday. Schiappa is currently the minister for the social economy and French associations.

EXCLUSIVE: We might be getting somewhere after it emerged that the writers and studios could hold more talks over the next two weeks.

The White House won’t pay for staffers to have Twitter’s blue verification checkmarks, as platform owner Elon Musk implements a plan to remove them unless users pay for the service.

Charna Flam Revolution Entertainment Services, a payroll and production services company, appointed industry veteran Josh Anthony as the organization’s new executive vice president of production, development and strategy. Anthony will take over the production service’s business, assisting with streamlining the script-to-screen process and overseeing the scalable software suites, from payroll, to labor relations, crew onboarding and film incentives for the talent and production teams. Anthony has more than 20 years of industry experience, previously serving as a producer, director, writer and executive across development, finance, production, payroll and labor relations. Previously, Anthony served as GreenSlate’s senior vice president of studio sales and business development. During his tenure, he supervised both the live action and animation business for Netflix as well as productions for A24, Amazon, Hulu, Hello Sunshine, Skydance, Fifth Season, Apple and Paramount+.

The opening of the first San Carlo in Alderley Edge at the former Gino D'Acampo Luciano restaurant has been delayed - as bosses have decided to create an entirely new design for the huge site. The family-run Italian restaurant group took the keys for the site off celebrity chef Gino on February 15.

EXCLUSIVE: The ongoing changes at Showtime have reached the network’s development slate which has been cut down significantly, with a slew of projects getting a pass, I hear.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Universal Music Group announced on Wednesday that its Board of Directors has extended the contract of Lucian Grainge, the company’s chairman and CEO, until May 1, 2028. According to the announcement, the “extended and amended” agreement transitions Grainge from an all-cash compensation package to one that is a combination of equity and cash and includes an equity compensation program with “a broad set of performance-based objectives aligned with shareholders’ interest and corresponding to the company’s long-term growth strategy. To assure the compensation program is aligned with shareholders’ interest, the majority of the compensation package’s economic value will be paid in UMG equity and UMG performance-based stock options.” Grainge’s annual salary under the new agreement will be reduced by more than two-thirds from his current salary, to $5 million, the announcement continues. Subject to the achievement of performance criteria, he will be eligible for an annual bonus with a target of $10 million. The EBITA bonus from his prior employment agreement has been eliminated and Grainge will only be entitled to the contingent bonus under his prior employment agreement on a pro rata basis until March 31, 2023. The equity components of the program include annual grants of $20 million, comprised of as much as 50% Performance Share Units (PSUs) — with annual PSU goals set by the Board of Directors — and the remainder comprised of Restricted Share Units (RSUs). 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Lauren Probyn Aouad has joined UTA as a marketing executive, marking the company’s first senior hire in its newly opened Atlanta division. As an executive, Aouad will be responsible for growing the division’s presence within the community and developing new partnerships with brands at the intersection of entertainment and advertising. She will report to Julian Jacobs and David Anderson, UTA partners and co-heads of the entertainment and culture Marketing division. She will work closely with Steve Cohen, partner and co-head of UTA’s Atlanta office. “We’re excited to welcome Lauren to our team,” said Anderson, “Our group has expanded substantially over the past few years, both domestically and globally, and we look forward to having her help us grow the business.”

The BBC has announced that it is scrapping 1,000 hours of content as the corporation's savings target increased by 40 percent.

ABC News underwent a round of staff reductions on Thursday, with about 50 positions impacted as part of parent Walt Disney Co.’s companywide cuts.

Audio systems to announce approaching stops will be installed on buses in a move welcomed today by disability groups and charities. The Department for Transport announced local bus services in Britain will provide audible announcements and visual displays to improve accessibility.