Allen Media Group’s Byron Allen Reaffirms His Plan to Bid $10 Billion for Disney Linear TV Assets

So what’s up next for James Wan after “Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom” finally hits theaters this December? According to EW (via THR), Wan’s Atomic Monster banner will produce a live-action “Gargoyle” series for Disney+. And while Wan won’t direct the series, one of his close cohorts will: Gary Dauberman, who’s worked with Wan on several installments in “The Conjuring” cinematic universe.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Eva Longoria and Cris Abrego have known each other for 20 years. As two of entertainment’s most prominent Latino figures, they have developed a strong friendship around shared experiences and a similar passion for nurturing creative talent.

EXCLUSIVE: Byron Allen’s Freestyle Digital Media has picked up the North American VOD rights to Emmy winning filmmaker Kern Konwiser’s documentary, Still a Black Star about Japanese artist and environmental activist Mago Nagasaka.

Jaden Thompson After making it known in September that he’s interested in acquiring ABC from Disney for a price tag of $10 billion, Byron Allen assures Variety he still has his eyes set on ABC and promises he’s ready play ball when Disney is ready to sell. “I think ABC’s a real possibility. They say they’re not ready,” Allen said at the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery’s Visionary Ball on Wednesday night.

President Joe Biden plans to sit down with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley for an interview to air Sunday, with the war in Israel expected to be the main topic.

EXCLUSIVE: Allen Media Group has acquired North American rights to the period action-adventure pic The Oath, from actor-filmmaker Darin Scott (Yellowstone), slating its release via their division Freestyle Releasing. The film will hit over 650 theaters across the country on Friday, December 8, emerging on digital and VOD March 26, 2024.

BreAnna Bell Ebony Media Group, the company behind Ebony Magazine, has teamed up with Lionsgate to announce the launch of their joint venture, Ebony TV by Lionsgate. With access to Lionsgate’s expansive library of titles, the FAST channel will be available on Samsung TV Plus starting on Oct.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Raffaele Annecchino, the former president of Paramount Global who left the company last year, is launching a consultancy firm called Blue Ocean Media Partners. In its first deal, he has forged a partnership with Spain’s Mediapro Group, which is looking to expand its footprint in the Middle East.

The God of Mischief is taking over Disney+ once again.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz, who dropped a long battle with Disney early this year, has amassed a large stake in the media giant and is said to be seeking board seats.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Multinational studio Dori Media Group (DMG), founded in Israel in 1996 by Yair Dori and with outposts in Israel, Switzerland, Argentina, Spain and Singapore, is presenting more than a dozen new series at Mipcom, led by two notable action-drama series, “Amia” and “Indal.” Led by Nadav Palti, CEO & President of Dori Media Group, the studio’s contingent of sales execs and reps will be presenting a slate of both scripted and unscripted series spanning multiple territories, languages and cultures at the annual confab in Cannes. “Amia” was filmed in Uruguay and is inspired by the terror attacks of 1992 on the Israeli embassy and in 1994 against the Argentinian Jewish community while “Indal” is a high-octane series that follows the kidnapping of a police officer by a group of Ethiopian Israeli youth.

EXCLUSIVE: In addition to streaming on Disney+, all 11 live-action Star Wars movies will now also be available on Disney’s linear networks — including broadcast (ABC) and cable (FX nets, Freeform) — starting this month. The arrangement stems from Disney renegotiating the existing domestic licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Networks, which will continue to carry the full suite of movies.

Apparently, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce already have big plans for their first spooky season together!

Callum McLennan Witscript and Hyperrate.io took home the prizes at San Sebastian’s 5th Zinemaldia Startup Challenge on Thursday afternoon. Each received €10,000 ($10,600) and access to incubation to nurture their fledgling companies, with the potential to vie for €500,000 ($530,000) in funding. Speaking with Variety following her win, Hendrikje Wagner CEO of Hyperate.io was delighted with the validation: “Other people think it’s a really good idea and it enables us to move discussions forward.” The startup integrates heart rate data into live streams, events, and games.

Disney Branded Television announced today that Danny Glover will play Santa Claus in its forthcoming original movie, The Naughty Nine. The teaser for the project, which will be released on the Disney Channel annd Disney+, and the first photo of Glover in character were also released. See below for those.

Media entrepreneur Byron Allen, one of many parties interested in acquiring ABC and other linear TV assets from Disney, said he has “access to plenty of capital,” and Disney’s internal deliberations are the next hurdle to be cleared.

What a difference a week makes.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were all smiles at the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf not so very long ago – the perfect loved-up power couple making touching speeches, mingling with competitors and packing on the PDAs. But a potential new project that Meghan’s working on threatens to overturn their rekindled popularity.

James Argent has hit the beach in Marbella to show off the dramatic effects of his 13-stone weight loss, proudly displaying his newly-toned body. He looked more confident than ever following "the hardest challenge of his life" - taking part in the new series of Celebrity SAS, which comes back to our TV screens next week.The Only Way is Essex star Arg had battled drug addiction, but in moving on from substance abuse he had turned to comfort eating and saw his weight rocket to 27 stone.

The force remains strong with Star Wars, which beat out Marvel as the top franchise in a new survey of U.S. and UK gaming and entertainment fans by online community and data firm Fandom.

EXCLUSIVE: Wrigley Media Group, which is looking to bolster production opportunities in Kentucky, has named Joe Livecchi as CEO.