Welcome to ON THE LOT, a weekly newsletter with fresh reporting and analysis on Hollywood’s biggest storylines.
Today’s issue: The endless twists and turns in Warner Bros. Discovery’s bid, an uninvited guest at the Scream 7 premiere, riding shotgun with stunt driver Dee Bryant, and this week’s picks.
Any tips (on how to use the $82.7 billion Netflix is saving in its deal with Warner Bros., or how to make my hair look like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy)? Contact rebecca.keegan@nbcuni.com or thatrebecca.82 on Signal.
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From Tudum to Womp Womp
If Warner Bros.’ Battle for Ownership of Discovery were a streaming show, we’d be around episode 7 by now, squealing at the plot twists. The latest cliffhanger, with Netflix ceding the bidding war to Paramount late Thursday, has troubled Hollywood and the media world.
And while the entertainment industry may have initially scoffed at Netflix, they’re not particularly excited about the possibilities for the Ellison family’s corporate behemoth.
“The worst deal for business is over,” said one entertainment industry lawyer. “Hello to the other person.”
Any industry consolidation is greeted as a grim prospect, but Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ charm offensive in recent weeks has turned many Hollywood skeptics to his side.
There was growing optimism at beleaguered Warner Bros. about its deal with Netflix. And sources at two different talent agencies told me that Sarandos had productive conversations with agents there, promising, among other things, that the streaming giant would allow the combined company’s divisions to bid against each other for projects. Sarandos also expanded on claims he has made in the media, arguing that the Netflix deal would result in more job cuts than the deal with Paramount, and vowing to maintain traditional theatrical release slots for Warner Bros. films.
Netflix still appeared to be involved in acquiring WBD as of 4pm ET on Thursday, when Sarandos arrived for a meeting with White House officials. But something has changed. And that changed quickly. By 6 p.m., Netflix issued a news release saying the deal was “no longer economically attractive.”
Democrats in Washington quickly pounced on the news, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asking, “What did Trump officials say to the CEO of Netflix at the White House today? A handful of pro-Trump billionaires are trying to control what you watch and charge whatever they want.”
Whether it was regulatory conversations that soured the deal or financial prudence, as Netflix’s statement suggests, the streamer’s stock price soared in response, and the stomachs of the entertainment and media industries sank.
There has been a particularly funereal atmosphere at CNN, which is owned by WBD, and staffers are watching with caution as CEO David Ellison changes to CBS News, which is owned by Paramount under new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. As one broadcast anchor told my colleague Chloe Melas: “We all expected Netflix to win,” said another staffer. “Nobody wants to work at Ellisons. If Bari is going to run CNN, people are going to quit.”
One executive told Chloe: “We’re all worried about what this means. Are we going to lose our jobs?”
If the Justice Department approves the deal with Paramount, Mr. Ellison’s next hurdle will be regulators in Europe and states such as California, where Attorney General Rob Bonta has promised to “vigorously” review the deal.
In a post on X, actor Mark Ruffalo called on state officials to “stand up” and said the deal “will reduce wages and product quality for consumers. Hollywood is full of agents who can tell you how past mergers and consolidations have hurt their customers and businesses.”
Many in the industry are frustrated that Warner Bros. may need to merge again just four years after its acquisition by CEO David Zaslav’s Discovery. Zaslav would earn hundreds of millions of dollars if the deal with Paramount goes through.
At WBD’s town hall on Friday, Zaslav acknowledged the burden of the process but told employees they were “the envy of everyone in this industry,” two people on the call confirmed.
One thing is clear: everyone in Hollywood plans to watch Episode 8.
protest over shouting
Actors wearing Ghostface masks lurk near the DJ booth. On the dessert table is a blood-red cake that has been stabbed with a butcher knife. Neve Campbell, the original “Final Girl,” welcomed guests. Wednesday’s “Scream 7” premiere had everything a die-hard fan of the 30-year-old horror series could want. Well, almost anything.
For those protesting outside the Paramount venue, it was a revelation that a key figure in the series, actor Melissa Barrera, was missing from the extravagant event. Activists holding signs that read “Stand Up for Free Speech” and “Cancel Paramount” told me they were boycotting the film because of its star’s 2023 firing.
Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind “Scream,” parted ways with Barrera after he made comments on Instagram about the Israel-Hamas war that seemed to reflect anti-Semitic tropes against Jews.
“We have zero tolerance for incitement to hatred in any form, including false references to anti-Semitism, genocide, ethnic cleansing, distortions of the Holocaust, or anything that blatantly crosses the line of hate speech,” the company said in a statement at the time.
In response, Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in two Scream films, condemned anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, but said he would continue to speak out as needed. Her supporters argue she deserves better.
“We love this movie. We love this series, but what we’re saying is that you shouldn’t fire people for speaking out against genocide,” said Nino Testa, one of the organizers. “We cannot accept censorship by Spyglass or its distributor Paramount.” Representatives for Spyglass and Paramount did not respond to requests for comment.
Despite the public backlash, “Scream 7” still seems poised to be a hit. That’s largely due to fan nostalgia for Campbell and director Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original “Scream” screenplay. The film is expected to gross more than $40 million at the domestic box office this weekend.
Late Wednesday night, in what many interpreted as Barrera’s acknowledgment of the boycott, Barrera shared an Instagram Story that simply read, “We met,” along with a heart emoji.
Beep beep
Good news for Hollywood stunt drivers! At least I’m not here for your job.
This week I learned how to drift from Dee Bryant, a master stunt performer who has stood in for actors like Angela Bassett (9-1-1), Kerry Washington (Shadow Force), and Regina King (American Crime). While it was exhilarating to purposefully lose traction in a 500 horsepower Mustang Dark Horse, it was also clear that the most ambitious stunt I personally would attempt was merging onto the 101 during rush hour.
Bryant, on the other hand, represents more than a century of Hollywood sophistication, and has only recently begun to be recognized for it. Historically, stunt performers have been instructed to keep a low profile, with actors wanting to preserve the illusion of their athleticism and daring. But in 2028, the Oscars will have a new category for stunt design.
“We are the red-haired stepchildren of this company, and we have always been taught to hide our faces and hide who we are,” Bryant told me as we chatted over the smell of burning rubber. “For us, it’s just visualization. It’s so nice to finally be able to say, ‘Give us flowers.'”
Bryant, who owns 16 motorcycles and boats, has performed all kinds of stunts, including an elaborate high-speed boat chase as Washington in “Shadow Force,” which is nominated for several other stunt awards this year.
But even she said L.A. has seen production work come to a standstill after a series of shocks to the entertainment industry, from the coronavirus to guild strikes. The next potential threat looming is AI.
“We’ve had to fight CGI for years, and CGI has cost us a lot of jobs,” Bryant says. “But AI right now is like CGI on crack. It’s scary. We don’t know what the future holds.”
Luckily, Bryant is good at getting out of traffic. If you want to see her try to teach me some of these tricks, check out the video on the NBC News app, which is behind the subscriber paywall.
hype
Why get recommendations from an algorithm when you can get them from a music icon, the president of the Producers Guild, or a movie buff from NBC News?
Songwriter Diane Warren, who received her 17th Oscar nomination this year for her original song “Dear Me,” sung by Ke$ha in the documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless,” said she has been watching “Oscar movies “Rivals” and “Hacks.”
Stephanie Alleyne, co-president of the Producers Guild of America, said she listens to Thandiwe Newton read “Jane Eyre” on Audible and watches “The Pit” because she appreciates Newton’s “mesmerizing performance.” “It makes me feel more connected to my own body and to the brave people who save lives and witness deaths with dignity.”
NBC News culture and trends editor Saba Hamedi also said she watches FX and Hulu’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” and is jealous of the people who lived in New York in the ’90s. (Also a fan? Check out Chloe Melas’ fun stories on the show).
dialogue
“My tics are not intentional, chosen, or reflective of my values.” — Tourette activist John Davidson in an interview with Variety in the aftermath of the BAFTAs, where one of his tics included an outburst of racial slurs while Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage.
“Listen, I get it, and it’s adorable, and he breaks my heart. But with that being said…who are we to doubt the wisdom of the tribe?” — “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart takes a hot look at the latest animal the internet is obsessed with: Punch the Monkey.
“For 25 years, while witnessing the journeys of others, I was quietly shaping my own.” — “Survivor” host Jeff Probst and “The White Lotus” creator/“Survivor” alum Mike White in conversation.
That’s it. See you next week.
