J.J. Abrams inks new first-look deal with Warner Bros.
Filmmaker J.J. Abrams and Warner Bros. Television are starting a new chapter in their nearly 20-year relationship, according to Deadline. The new agreement follows months of negotiations and could have a major impact on TV and film projects.
Bad Robot, Abrams’ production company, has secured a deal after its previous $250 million agreement in 2019. The 2019 deal came at the height of the peak TV era, when studios were eager to secure big-name creators. However, it didn’t fully meet expectations.
One of Abrams’ most anticipated projects, the sci-fi drama “Demimonde,” was pulled by HBO in 2022 before it could go into production. The ambitious series was canceled due to high production costs, especially after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger that same year.
Another setback came when plans for a “Justice League Dark,” universe, including a “Constantine,” reboot, were scrapped during restructuring at DC Studios.
Despite these setbacks, some of Abrams’ projects made it through development, like docuseries “The Yankees Win.” The HBO Max series, “Duster,” was also green lit early last year.
This new deal could signal a fresh start for both sides. In addition to his current projects, Abrams revealed he has several other projects in development, including the science fiction film “Flowervale Street,” which is slated for release in 2025. He’s also directing his first feature film in years, a mystery movie, with production set to begin in early 2025.
The new two-year deal is a first-look, non-exclusive agreement. This means Warner Bros. has the first opportunity to develop and produce Bad Robot’s new projects. However, if the studio passes, Abrams is free to pitch those projects to other studios. This flexible collaboration could pave the way for more diverse opportunities.
Neither Bad Robot nor Warner Bros. has commented on the details of the new agreement yet. As more information becomes available, it’s clear Abrams’ company isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
New ‘Harry Potter’ series receives greenlight for production in 2025
The “Harry Potter” franchise is set to return with a new TV series. Warner Bros. Discovery has announced a new television series, promising to revisit the franchise like never before.
The series will be filmed at Leavesden Studios in England, the same location as the original movies, and is set to span an entire decade. During a presentation at the Leavesden headquarters on Thursday, Dec. 5, showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod revealed updates about the show’s production.
The search for the new cast is in full swing. So far, 32,000 children have auditioned for lead roles, with the casting team reviewing between 500 and 1,000 tapes daily.
Paapa Essiedu is reportedly in talks to play Professor Snape. Mylod acknowledged that while Alan Rickman is irreplaceable, the team is excited to discover a new generation of talent to bring these beloved characters to life.
Mylod shared that the new series will allow more in-depth exploration of characters and Hogwarts’ history while staying true to the original film’s legacy.
Controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling
Controversy continues to surround Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. Since 2020, Rowling has faced backlash for her outspoken opposition to transgender rights. Many cast members of the original films, including Daniel Radcliffe, have publicly expressed support for transgender rights, distancing themselves from Rowling’s views.
According to Variety, Rowling has posted or reposted about trans-related issues more than 200 times between September and November 2024.
HBO responded to the ongoing controversy in November, stating:
“J.K. Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.”
A long wait for fans
HBO Chief Casey Bloys confirmed that Rowling has been involved in selecting the series’ writer and director. HBO Max ordered the series in April 2023, but filming isn’t expected to begin until the summer of 2025, with a potential premiere in 2026.
“Harry Potter” fans will have to wait a bit longer for their next magical adventure, but this series promises to bring new layers to this beloved world of magic.
Families of Tulsa Race Massacre survivors meet with DOJ Cold Case Unit
The families of the last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre met with federal detectives from the Department of Justice’s Cold Case Unit the week of Oct. 14, seeking justice and accountability. The meeting marks the first-ever federal review of the massacre that destroyed the Black community of Greenwood, also known as “Black Wall Street.”
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Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle, both over 100 years old, are the last known living survivors of the massacre. While they could not attend the meeting, their attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, along with their family members, urged the DOJ to pursue a full investigation.
“Everyone wants actual accountability for the massacre,” Solomon-Simmons said. “They want those who perpetrated this harm that started in 1921 and continues to today, to be held accountable.”
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The DOJ launched the review under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which allows the reopening of civil rights cases before 1979. The attack began after a Black teenager, Dick Rowland, was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman, leading to two days of destruction and death as a white mob burned and looted the prosperous Black neighborhood.
The Tulsa Race Massacre is alleged to have been heavily suppressed in American history education, with many citing first learning about it just recently in an episode of HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ series.
In a joint statement read by Solomon-Simmons, the survivors’ families emphasized that secrets about the massacre remain hidden in unshared documents and records. They expressed hope that the DOJ’s review will reveal the full extent of the massacre and the plot to destroy Greenwood.
“This community will never stop fighting for reparations,” Solomon-Simmons said, echoing the families’ demands for restitution.
US sending troops, anti-missile system to Israel as war escalates
The United States is sending troops and an anti-missile system to Israel. And an incredible landing has SpaceX cheering and thinking about future missions. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Oct. 14, 2024.
US sending troops, anti-missile system to Israel as war escalates
Iran has now warned Washington to keep American military forces out of Israel.
“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on X.
This comes as Israel said at least four of its soldiers were killed in a drone attack by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah Sunday, Oct. 13. At least 60 other people were injured in the attack on an army base in central Israel, including seven soldiers.
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Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes on Beirut last week that left 22 people dead.
An attack this deadly in Israel is unusual. Its advanced air defense systems usually spot a threat well beforehand. Israel has said it’s investigating how the drone entered the country without triggering an alert.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes left at least 40 people dead in Gaza Sunday, including 13 children, according to local officials. One of those strikes was at a hospital in central Gaza, where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
The Israeli military said it was a precise strike on a Hamas command center “embedded inside a compound that previously served as the ‘Shuhadah Al-Aqsa’ hospital.” Israel’s military also said it took steps to limit harm to civilians in the attack.
Authorities said the Nevada man had a shotgun, a loaded handgun, ammunition and several fake passports with him when he was stopped near where the rally was being held in Coachella.
Deputies assigned to the rally said they stopped the 49-year-old suspect as he was driving an unregistered vehicle with a “homemade” license plate. They said the man claimed to be a journalist.
The man passed an outer security boundary before being stopped at an inner perimeter, patrolled by local deputies. Authorities said former President Trump was not yet at the rally when the arrest happened, and he was “not in any danger.”
The suspect has since been released on $5,000 bail. Court records show his next appearance is scheduled for Jan. 2.
Biden approves $612 million to support Florida’s hurricane-ravaged communities
As hundreds of thousands remain without power and flooding continues to be an issue, President Biden visited Florida on Sunday for the second time in less than a week. This time it was to get a firsthand look at communities ravaged by Hurricane Milton.
On Saturday, Biden approved a disaster declaration to give federal funding to people affected by Milton, including grants for temporary housing, home repairs and loans. Biden said more than 250,000 Floridians have already registered for help, which he said was “the most in a single day ever in the history of this country.”
Trial begins in mysterious murders of 2 Indiana teenagers
Investigators arrested Allen in 2022 in connection to the deaths of 14-year-old Libby German and 13-year-old Abby Williams, five years after the girls disappeared while walking on a trail in the town of Delphi near an abandoned bridge. Searchers found their bodies a day later.
SpaceX pulled off an incredible feat on Sunday, successfully launching its fifth test flight of its unmanned Starship spacecraft. However, it was the return of the Super Heavy rocket booster that wowed the crowd, as well as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
For the first time, after breaking off from the Starship, the 232-foot-tall booster returned to Earth but didn’t land in the ocean like the spacecraft would. Instead, it returned to the Texas launch pad, caught by two mechanical arms which SpaceX calls “chopsticks.”
Elon Musk called the moment a “big step towards making life multiplanetary.”
SpaceX is hoping its Starship system will one day take people to the moon and Mars — with plans to use the capsule to transport NASA astronauts to the moon as soon as 2026.
‘Game of Thrones’ Iron Throne sells for $1.49 million
One “Game of Thrones” fan is sitting pretty, or at least powerfully, after taking the iconic “Iron Throne.” Unlike the characters in the HBO drama, the winner didn’t have to go through eight seasons of fighting, just a six-minute bidding war and $1.5 million.
This 310-pound plastic version of the throne was used during promotional and touring events for the series.
In total, Heritage auctions said its three-day auction in Dallas raked in more than $21 million dollars, making it the company’s second biggest entertainment event ever — behind the $22.8 million record set in 2011 by the Debbie Reynolds sale.
Developer denies HBO documentary claim he created Bitcoin
A new HBO documentary claims to have identified the creator of Bitcoin, a mystery that has captivated the cryptocurrency world for over a decade. But the man named in the film, Canadian developer Peter Todd, is rejecting the claim, calling it “ludicrous.”
In “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” filmmaker Cullen Hoback names Todd as the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous figure behind the launch of Bitcoin in 2009.
Hoback’s conclusion is based on several pieces of evidence, including a forum post that he claims links Todd to Satoshi and Todd’s own comment about destroying a large number of digital coins.
However, Todd firmly denied the claim.
“I am not Satoshi Nakamoto,” Todd said on social media.
He explained that he was too busy with school and work during Bitcoin’s early development to have been involved.
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has long been a topic of speculation. Whoever they are, they are thought to control a Bitcoin wallet holding 1.1 million coins, now worth around $69 billion. If that fortune could be accessed, it would make Satoshi one of the 20 richest people in the world.
Peter Todd, a respected developer in the Bitcoin community, has never been widely regarded as a primary candidate for being Satoshi until now.
Ahead of the documentary’s release, over $44 million in bets were placed on the crypto market platform Polymarket, wagering on who the film would identify as Bitcoin’s creator.
This is not the first time someone has been accused of being Satoshi. In 2014, Newsweek named Dorian Nakamoto, a Japanese-American man living in California, as Bitcoin’s creator. Nakamoto denied the claim and the theory has since been debunked.
In 2015, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi, but his evidence was rejected by the cryptocurrency community, and a U.K. High Court later ruled that there was “overwhelming” evidence he was not.
For now, the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains one of the great mysteries of the cryptocurrency world. Whether the documentary’s claims hold any truth may never be known, as Todd and many others continue to deny any involvement.
Streaming looking more like cable with price hikes, bundling
Streaming services were once seen as the modern alternative to cable. The services were cheaper, ad-free and tailored to specific interests for viewers looking to cut the cord.
But with rising prices and streamers putting their attention to ad-supported tiers, it is getting more difficult to tell the difference between streaming and cable. Some even began calling the streaming industry “Cable 2.0.”
According to research from the online platform Bango, the average American has 4.5 total subscriptions, including audio, fitness and news apps, as well as these streaming services.
Subscriptions to these streaming platforms cost the average customer in the U.S. $1,000 per year. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported the average cable plan costs around $83 per month, or $996 a year.
Price hikes for streaming seem to be just part of the process nowadays. NBC Universal recently announced a price hike for its Peacock service will go into effect just before this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Analysts at UBS Securities said Netflix users should prepare for another price hike this year following one last October.
Bloomberg reported Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to hike the price of its Max platform soon, as well.
As more media companies look to make a profit on their streaming services — and battle the reigning king of streaming, Netflix — they are turning to each other for help.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced their Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services will soon be offered in one bundle.
All the three streamers’ offerings — including content from HBO, HGTV, ABC, CNN and more — will be packaged together.
Sounds like a cable TV package, doesn’t it?
The bundle will be available in the U.S. starting in the summer, though the streamers have not shared a price yet. There will be versions with ads and without.
Reports: Warner Bros., Paramount in talks about potential merger
According to multiple reports, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount are in talks of a potential merger. As first reported by Axios, sources say the CEOs of the two companies met over lunch on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at Paramount’s New York City headquarters for several hours, where they discussed the possible deal. The merger between the two media giants would mean combining their streaming services, Max and Paramount+, to compete better with Netflix and Disney+.
Warner Bros.’ Max currently has 95 million subscribers, and Paramount streaming service Paramount+ has 63 million subscribers. A merger between the two media conglomerates would give them a better chance to compete with the more popular streaming services Disney+, with 105 million subscribers, and Netflix, with 247 million subscribers.
“The mere reality of two major players being driven by mutual challenges and competitive forces to entertain a merger is an indication that collaborations, mergers and acquisitions at all levels may be needed to survive today’s market pressures,” Erickson said.
Paramount would bring its TV assets like CBS and Nickelodeon to join WBD’s operations, which include CNN and HBO. On the movie front, Warner Bros. Pictures has the DC Universe and Lord of the Ring film franchises. Paramount’s properties include Mission Impossible and Star Trek.
The deal could mean WBD buying Paramount or its parent company, National Amusements. Sources said both options are on the table.
Just Max: Streaming wars heat up as HBO tries climbing this top 5 list
The streaming wars are heating up with more and more competition entering the chat, even though most streaming services still fail to turn a profit. The streaming audience, at least, can’t get enough content. The majority of streamers have at least three subscriptions, according to tracking data from CivicScience. Here are the top streaming platforms fighting for your downtime in this week’s Five For Friday.
#5: Hulu
Hulu is one of the old guards in streaming, created in the olden times of 2007. It was initially launched as a joint venture between NBC and Fox to stream their programming online. At the time, skeptics dubbed it Clown Co. Who’s laughing now? Disney is the current majority stakeholder in the service and it has built up 48 million subscribers. Hulu has acclaimed originals like “The Handmaid’s Tale.” It’s also paving the way for a new cable age with Hulu + LiveTV, which is a big step for those looking to cut the cord and still maintain access to live sports.
#4: Max
Warner Bros. Discovery made moves in the streaming space this week by combining HBO Max with Discovery+. The two platforms have a combined 96 million subscribers. Starting in May, the final season of “Succession” can sit in your list right next to “Dr. Pimple Popper.” The new service is simply called Max. It’s been hard for anyone to squeeze out a profit in the streaming game, but Warner Bros. Discovery thinks this family combo could help them break even sometime next year.
#3: Disney+
Disney+ has been around for less than four years but has amassed more than 160 million subscribers, though it sheds a few million subscribers at the start of the year. Originals in the Star Wars and Marvel universes helped make it a major player. Disney+ also shook things up by releasing blockbusters like “Black Widow” straight to streaming, which resulted in a lawsuit. The platform is wading into live content with “Dancing with the Stars” and animated ESPN hockey in an effort to get kids interested in the sport – shaping them into future ESPN viewers, which Disney also owns.
#2: Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video may have the most subscribers of any streaming platform, according to at least one firm. But the company’s latest tally in 2021 showed it has 200 million users, which puts it squarely in second place. That said, its service is bundled with Prime 2-day shipping, so there’s always an asterisk next to its name in the streaming wars. Prime Video has original content like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and has the most movies of any service. The only problem is analytics firm Reelgood say less than 6% of those films are actually good.
#1: Netflix
Netflix is still the king of streaming. It may have started business by mailing DVDs, but the world’s biggest streamer has 230 million subscribers. Netflix made headlines when it lost customers last year but growth is coming back. There’s no shortage of content on the platform with hits like “Stranger Things” and comedy specials. They’ve also made multi-movie deals with superstars Adam Sandler and Ryan Reynolds. Netflix is the only profitable player in the game but with more competition, it’s taking a page out of its competitors’ books by offering a lower-tier subscription for those willing to deal with ads.
Jan. 6 attack anniversary marked with ceremony, documentaries
This week marks two years since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. There are plenty of ways to make sure you don’t forget it.
The Jan. 6 panel of the House of Representatives dissolved, but not before releasing its findings. In December, the bipartisan group said former President Donald Trump should face criminal charges for his role in sparking the deadly attacks. Five people died and more than 140 police officers were injured defending the Capitol.
A slew of new documentaries are providing a number of perspectives from that fateful day. HBO’s “This Place Rules” follows journalist Andrew Callaghan. Callaghan gained notoriety online for interviewing people at political rallies and other events. Callaghan captured the events leading up to and on Jan. 6 from the point of view of some of the people fomenting the chaos.
“January 6th” from Discovery+ touts itself as the definitive story of the siege of the Capitol. The story is told from the perspective of some of the law enforcement officers and lawmakers at the Capitol that day.
HBO also has another documentary called “Pelosi in the House“, which tells the story of the Capitol attack from then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s point-of-view. Alexandra Pelosi, an accomplished documentary filmmaker and daughter of Nancy Pelosi, shot the film over the course of three decades.
Away from the lights and cameras, on Monday the U.S. Capitol police chief said his force is prepared for any possible future attacks on Congress. Chief Tom Manger said the current threat climate against elected officials requires “continued and heightened vigilance.”
President Joe Biden, who condemned the riot as a threat to democracy, will attend a ceremony at the White House to mark the two year anniversary. The president’s schedule said the ceremony would take place in the East Room of the White House, but didn’t elaborate on what the ceremony would entail.
