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[ad_1] Timothee Chalamet stars in Warner Bros.' "Dune." Warner Bros. LOS ANGELES – Warner Bros. has a sandworm-sized dilemma on its hands: Keep the fall release date for its highly anticipated "Dune: Part Two" and risk not having its star-studded cast promote it – or bump it into next year and potentially miss out on a dominant run at lucrative premium movie screens. As two Hollywood strikes rage on, movie writers and stars aren't permitted to hype their projects, due to strike rules. The longer the work stoppages keep going, the more likely it is studios will delay releases as production shutdowns choke the movie release pipeline. Already, a handful of titles – including Ethan Coen's "Drive Away Dolls," the sequel to "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" and the Emma Stone-led "Poor Things" – have moved to later dates due to the labor disruption. "Dune: Part Two," a science fiction epic based on Frank Herbert's semin...

[ad_1] NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 31: Rebecca Damon joins SAG-AFTRA members on strike during Halloween on October 31, 2023 in New York City. The strike, which began on July 14, entered its 100th day on October 21st as the actors' union and Hollywood studios and streamers failed to reach an agreement. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images) John Nacion | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images SAG-AFTRA actors aren't totally on board with Hollywood studios' latest labor agreement pitch. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said there were still "several essential items" that they couldn't agree with during their negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, including artificial intelligence guidelines. Studios put forth this "last, best and final offer" over the weekend, with top executives making clear that they would not make further concessions. SAG-AFTRA spent time Sunday and...

[ad_1] Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, pauses while speaking during an Economic Club of New York event in Midtown Manhattan on October 24, 2019 in New York City. Drew Angerer | Getty Images Disney has abandoned plans to open up a new employee campus in Lake Nona, Florida, amid rising tensions with the state's governor. Citing "changing business conditions" and the return of CEO Bob Iger, Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney's parks, experiences and products division, penned a memo to employees Thursday, announcing that the company will not move forward with construction of the campus and will no longer be asking more than 2,000 California-based employees to relocate to Florida. "This was not an easy decision to make, but I believe it is the right one," D'Amaro told employees. Many Disney employees balked at the company's relocation plans when they were first announced in July 2021 by former CEO Bob Cha...

[ad_1] The Mandalorian and the Child (Grogu) on Disney+'s "The Mandalorian." Disney The Walt Disney Company on Friday revealed its new theatrical schedule, which will feature a film about the Mandalorian and Grogu, a fifth "Toy Story" film, and another "Tron" flick before the end of 2026. The company's theatrical business has struggled in the wake of pandemic shutdowns and dual Hollywood labor strikes, as productions stalled and moviegoers' box-office habits shifted. All the while, Disney struggled to connect with audiences, which further exacerbated revenue woes. Since returning to the helm at Disney in late 2022, CEO Bob Iger has been working to right the ship. He's admitted that the quality of its films suffered in its bid to pump out a high quantity of entertainment content. He said brands such as Marvel, in particular, needed to be more selective about which sequels get made. Iger also said he would no longer tolerate his company...

[ad_1] Still from Universal and Dreamworks' "How to Train Your Dragon 2." Universal | Dreamworks Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation are taking a page out of Disney's playbook. For the last decade, the Walt Disney Company has been transforming its classic animated features into live-action theatrical and streaming features. Earlier this week, Universal said it would be doing the same for one of its own animated franchises: How to Train Your Dragon. The live-action adaptation based on the 2010 film about the friendship between a young man and his dragon is due in theaters March 14, 2025. Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed all three films in the animated trilogy, is on tap to write and direct the live-action version. The films' story was based on the best-selling book series by Cressida Cowell. Universal's decision to translate the successful animated franchise to live action has precedent. Since 2010, Disney has released 11 theatrical live-acti...

[ad_1] NYT Columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and C.E.O. of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger speak during the New York Times annual DealBook summit on November 29, 2023 in New York City.  Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the third annual anonymous media and entertainment executive predictions list! In honor of the 12 days of Christmas, I asked 12 past and current executives at the world's biggest media and entertainment companies for one industry-shaking prediction for 2024. And then I asked one more because this is the holiday season, and I was feeling generous. A baker's dozen! Actually, I asked a few more, but some overlapped. Quite a few of last year's predictions were accurate . Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger did extend his contract . Christine McCarthy stepped down as Disney's chief financial officer. Paramount Global hasn't sold, but controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is now in talks to sell Natio...

[ad_1] Members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild walk the picket line outside of Disney Studios in Burbank, California, on July 18, 2023.  Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images Disney posted mixed results for its fiscal third quarter despite ongoing streaming woes and massive restructuring costs resulting from pulling content from its platforms. Subscriber losses continued over the last three months, with the company reporting 146.1 million Disney+ subscribers during the most recent quarter, a 7.4% decline from the previous quarter and a larger loss than Wall Street expected. The majority of subscriber losses came from Disney+ Hotstar, where the company saw a 24% drop in users after it lost out on the rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches. Facing dwindling users and falling revenue in its media and entertainment distribution segment, Disney announced Wednesday it would raise the price on its ad-free streaming tier in October and that it would crack...

[ad_1] SportsCenter at ESPN Headquarters. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images The blackout fight between cable giant Charter Communications and Disney appears to be coming to a close. Hours ahead of "Monday Night Football," which airs on Disney's ESPN, the companies are expected to reach a deal that would allow millions of Charter cable customers to watch the game, CNBC's David Faber reported Monday, citing sources. Charter and Disney's stocks, as well as media peers including Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global traded higher on Monday morning. Representatives for Disney and Charter didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Terms of what the deal would entail were unclear Monday morning. The dispute has been ongoing since late August when carriage renewal negotiations broke down between the two companies and left millions of customers without Disney TV channels, including ESPN, FX and Disney Channel. At the time...

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos attends Netflix's FYSEE event for "Squid Game" at Raleigh Studios Hollywood on June 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix) Charley Gallay | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images The main takeaway from Netflix 's second quarter earnings is business is ... good. That's right. A large media and entertainment company's fundamental business is just fine. Netflix added 5.9 million subscribers in the quarter, a sign that its two primary 2023 initiatives — cracking down on password sharing and launching a cheaper $6.99 per month advertising tier — are bringing in new subscribers. Netflix added 1.2 million subscribers in the United States and Canada in the quarter — its largest regional quarterly gain since 2021. This is not the story for the rest of the media industry. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have spent the year slashing content f...

[ad_1] Chris Pratt and Charlie Day voice Mario and Luigi in Universal and Illumination's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." Universal LOS ANGELES — It's the billion-dollar question: Why are mega blockbusters in short supply this year? Universal's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is the only movie released in 2023 to so far eclipse the $1 billion mark at the global box office. It doesn't look like there could be another one, even with some big titles on the calendar. related investing news "If you would have given 10 people a release schedule at the beginning of the year and said, 'We will have just one billion-dollar movie out of all of these and can you pick which one it will be?' I don't think anyone would have taken 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' as the one," said Mike Polydoros, CEO at cinema marketing firm PaperAirplane Media. The lack of billion-dollar grossers marks a dramatic change in the industry. In years before...

[ad_1] Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images LOS ANGELES — The 2023 box office is inching closer to pre-pandemic levels, but inconsistent performances from blockbuster features in the first six months of the year will put a lot of pressure on second-half releases. While the domestic box office has tallied $4.46 billion in ticket sales through June 30, a nearly 20% increase over the same period in 2022, it still lags behind 2019, the benchmark of a time before the pandemic, according to data from Comscore. Ticket sales are down 21% from four years ago, but that's not the only thing that's down. So, too, is the number of wide releases. From January to June 30 in 2019, 57 films were released in 2,000 theaters or more. In 2023, there have been only 45 releases during that same period. "It really isn't a fair comparison just going dollars to dollars," said Mike Polydoros, CEO at PaperAirplane Media. And quantity matters. While blockbusters and franchise films can draw big...