Rob Bonta’s cold water on the Paramount-WBD fireworks comes a week after the CA Department of Justice opened a probe into any deal to take over WB — be it Netflix or Ellison’s team. - Deadline
The prominence of movies featuring nonprofessionals is no surprise: directors may make movies what they are, but actors are what viewers see, and these movies, with their casting of nonprofessionals, offer flavors of performance that differ drastically from what can be achieved with a uniformly skilled cast of professionals. - The New Yorker
Wearing a pink dress and cardigan, Kaley told the jury that she started watching YouTube videos at age 6 and made an Instagram account at age 9. She and her attorneys said she uploaded more than 200 YouTube videos before she turned 10—and had created 15 Instagram accounts before she turned 15. - Wall Street Journal
Wesley Morris: “Why wouldn’t I have wanted this? A six-episode show that’s exemplary as romance, as physical intimacy, as banter, as athlete psychology, as conversation, confession and comedy, as just good television that involves a few of my favorite things: sex, sports, men, ... So why? Let’s start with wariness.” - The New York Times
Netflix said that it would not raise its offer to counter a higher bid made earlier this week by Mr. Ellison’s company, Paramount Skydance, saying in a statement that “the deal is no longer financially attractive.” - The New York Times
There’s a phrase that’s used around the Magic Kingdom to describe this phenomenon: “the Josh Effect.” D’Amaro — tall, slender and silver-haired — has a politician’s ability to make anyone he encounters feel seen and heard. - Variety
“Podcasts have officially overtaken AM/FM talk radio as the more popular medium for spoken-word audio in the United States, according to Edison Research’s Share of Ear survey.” - TechCrunch
In the last quarter of 2025, as Netflix and Paramount Skydance began their attempts to buy it, WBD lost $252 million. Overall revenue was down 6% from the fourth quarter last year; that figure ought to satisfy Wall Street’s expectations, but an unprofitable company is generally not considered a good thing. - The Hollywood Reporter
For the company’s Q4 2025, which ended on December 31, AMC reported total revenue of $1.28 billion. That’s a drop of 1.4% from the $1.3 billion the company reported for the same quarter a year earlier. - Fast Company
“We, the undersigned Attorneys General, write to express our concerns that the proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Brothers will likely result in undue market concentration that stifles competition and therefore creates higher prices, lower reliability, and less innovation for one of America’s major industries." - Deadline
“As Bari Weiss seeks to reimagine CBS News, staffers are preparing for … 60 Minutes, arguably the most influential news program in all of TV, to be ‘revolutionized’ along with it. … Recent months have seen a flurry of events that portend a very different 60 Minutes in the not-too-distant future.” - The Hollywood Reporter
New studio mogul David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has increased its unsolicited offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery from $30 to $31 in cash per share — increasing the total value of the offer (including assuming $33 billion in debt) to $111 billion. - Variety
Oscar-nominated İlker Çatak’s film about a Turkish theater couple persecuted by the government, Yellow Letters, took the Golden Bear for best feature. The number-two award, the Grand Jury Prize, went to Emin Alper’s Salvation; the third-place Jury Prize went to Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea. Sandra Hüller won Best Leading Performance honors for Rose. - Variety
“If you wanted to write a scabrous, over-the-top satire on liberal attitudes, you could hardly do better than use this weekend’s BAFTA ceremony. … Of course, it is complicated. A case of competing sensitivities and the now livewire issue of omissions, snubs and complicity-through-silence.” - The Guardian
The heavy-handed adaptation of Vineland won six awards, including Best Film and Best Director — and best adapted screenplay. Hamnet won best British film (& Jesse Buckley best actress), which, sure. Wunmi Motaku took home the sole acting award from Sinners, and Ryan Coogler won for best original screenplay. - BBC
