‘Clue’ TV & Film Rights Snapped Up By Sony Pictures In Hasbro Deal

It’s May 4th, and you know what that means. In honor of the annual “Star Wars” fan holiday (“May The Force”), Lucasfilm has revealed the new trailer for “The Acolyte,” and if you were maybe a bit underwhelmed by the secretive nature of the first teaser, well, this trailer rips off the mask, unveils secrets and looks pretty damn great.

Katcy Stephan Hollywood’s next bidding war is about to erupt. “Eruption,” the much-discussed upcoming volcano disaster novel from the late Michael Crichton and James Patterson, is about to be brought to auction, attracting a large group of suitors keen on landing the sought-after film rights.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran Sony Pictures Television (SPT) executive Steve Kent is leaving his role to focus solely on The Young and the Restless.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In the latest twist in Paramount Global‘s M&A saga, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management reportedly have made a bid to take Paramount private with an all-cash buyout offer of $26 billion. Sony and private-equity giant Apollo submitted an offer letter Wednesday to Paramount Global, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The report comes as Paramount Global board’s special committee established to consider M&A proposals is evaluating the best and final offer from Skydance Media to merge Paramount and Skydance, while keeping Paramount Global public.

Sony Pictures Television has brought on Kate Gill as SVP, Comedy Development. In her new role, she will focus on developing new comedy series for all platforms for the U.S. scripted division. Reporting to Colin Davis, EVP, Comedy Development, Gill will be based in SPT’s Culver City, CA headquarters and starts her new role on May 13.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Meryl Streep will receive the honorary Palme d’Or on the opening night of the 77th edition of Cannes Film Festival, Variety has learned. Luring the Oscar winner is yet another feat for this Cannes edition, which will bring together a flurry Hollywood legends. Notably, George Lucas will receive the honorary Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony; Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” are playing in competition; and George Miller‘s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon, an American Saga” are playing out of competition.

EXCLUSIVE: Wednesday and Elvis producer Gail Berman, founder and CEO of The Jackal Group, has signed a three-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. Under the pact, which starts today, the industry veteran will develop and produce scripted series for cable and streaming platforms.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has signed a one-year deal that is a mix of exclusive and non-exclusive library titles for the Pakistan market with streamer Begin. Backed by venture accelerator Z2C Limited, Begin is an SVOD platform that serves the Southwest Asian region, with licensed deals in live sports and entertainment.

There was a fleeting moment in the early and mid-00s when being selected for the Slamdance Film Festival could mean something for a filmmaker’s career. Sure, it wasn’t the same as being part of the more prestigious and larger Park City, Utah film festival, but the edgier offshoot event gave a voice to independent films that didn’t have an industry connection or agency influence to make the Sundance cut.

EXCLUSIVE: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice writers and creators of the smash hit Netflix series Wednesday, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, have signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures to develop films through the duo’s Millar Gough Ink banner, Deadline has learned.

Sony’s SVP of Corporate Communications for the Motion Picture Group, Tahra Grant, has been upped to EVP, Chief Communcations Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has hired Jill Ratner as their EVP and General Counsel, overseeing all of the studio’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external matters, and corporate social responsibility teams. 

William Earl Variety and Sony Pictures Television will host an invite-only FYC Showcase in Los Angeles on May 7 featuring activations and three panel conversations with creatives from “Gen V,” “For All Mankind,” “Justified: City Primeval,” “Platonic,” “Twisted Metal,” “Outlander” and “The Wheel of Time.” All conversations will be moderated by a Variety editor and available on Variety.com following the event. Programming includes: Building a Television Universe A conversation between showrunners and key below-the-line talent on how to successfully build a universe in the competitive television landscape.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney deputy general counsel Jill Ratner has exited the Mouse House to join Sony Pictures Entertainment as executive vice president and general counsel. Beginning in her new role May 28, Ratner will be overseeing all SPE’s legal functions, compliance and labor relations, SPE music affairs, government/external affairs and corporate social responsibility teams. She will report directly to CEO Tony Vinciquerra.

EXCLUSIVE: The new 28 Years Later trilogy from director Danny Boyle and Sony Pictures is gaining momentum, and some serious star power. Sources tell Deadline that Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes have boarded the first pic, a sequel to the original 28 Days Later.

EXCLUSIVE: Nina Lederman, Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) global scripted boss, is exiting amid the slowdown.

The subject of a timely new Variety profile praising his versatility, British actor Dan Stevens is having a moment. The actor is currently competing with himself at the box office with two different films: MonsterVerse installment “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” for Warners and directing duo Radio Silence’s new vampire movie “Abigail” for Universal.

K.J. Yossman Victoria Asare-Archer has been tapped to adapt C.M. Ewan’s “The House Hunt” for Sony Pictures Television-backed Eleventh Hour Films.

Let’s catch up on all things Cannes Film Festival. For one, if you haven’t seen it, Cannes recently revealed its 2024 poster, featuring a scene from “Rhapsody in August,” directed by the great Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, 81 at the time (see it below in full).

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management are considering a possible joint bid for Paramount Global. News of the discussions was first reported by the New York Times. Sources close to the situation confirmed the conversations but cautioned that there are numerous obstacles that would need to be overcome before the sides could formally submit an offer.