Digital Advertising Slowed in 2022 but Was Still Up 10.8%

Gravitas Ventures, an Anthem Sports & Entertainment Company, has picked up North American rights to the post-apocalyptic thriller Stronghold, directed by Julia Camara. In addition to US & Canada; Gravitas wants to add Latin American territories in addition to Mexico including the Caribbean and sub territories.”

Gareth Edwards hasn’t directed a film in seven years. There could be a number of reasons why, but unfortunately for him, his last film, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” was shrouded in controversy as it was heavily reported that Edwards was effectively replaced midway through production by Tony Gilroy because the former’s first cut of the film was a mess.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In what may have been an highly unconventional job interview, NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino hosted a discussion with Elon Musk about Twitter’s content policies and approach to working with marketers at an industry conference one month before Musk announced that he’d hired her as the social network’s CEO. The April 18 keynote conversation was billed as a talk about Musk’s “Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships” at MMA Global’s Possible marketing event in Miami. Yaccarino told Musk that marketers want “protection for their ad campaigns,” with content moderation policies ensuring that “provocative speech” is properly labeled. She applauded Twitter’s announcement last month to promote “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” under which the company said it will limit the reach of tweets that violate policies concerning hateful conduct and violent speech.

Naman Ramachandran Gross box office in the European Union (EU) and the U.K. grew by 70% in 2022 compared with 2021 – from €3 billion ($3.27 billion) to €5.1 billion ($5.57 billion), down by 28% on pre-pandemic levels. The numbers were revealed in the 2023 edition of Focus – World Film Market Trends, a report which is prepared each year for the Cannes film market. Three U.S. films, “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” topped the European charts in 2022, selling 34.4 million, 30.6 and 30.2 million tickets throughout the calendar year respectively. Cinema attendance in the EU and the U.K. increased by 63% from 403 million tickets sold in 2021 to an estimated 657 million in 2022, representing 67% of the average pre-pandemic admission level registered between 2017 and 2019. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk claims he’s hired someone to replace him as CEO of Twitter. But for now, the tech tycoon isn’t revealing who that is. “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” the mega-billionaire tweeted Thursday. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.” Back in December, Musk said he would step aside as Twitter’s chief executive once he found “someone foolish enough” to take over the role. Even then, however, the billionaire will retain control of the social network and remain closely involved in running it. Musk closed a $44 billion deal for Twitter in October 2022, but he’s since said he now values the company at less than half that — at $20 billion.

A legend in the jungle – with viewers, at least – I’m A Celebrity South Africa’s Gillian McKeith, 63, is known for being one of the show’s most divisive, drama-prone celebs. During the current series, we’ve seen her rub her fellow stars up the wrong way with her sneaky stash of contraband – and who could forget her infamous ‘fainting’ episode back in 2010. Whatever your views on “Jungle Gill”, her quirky habits make for great telly.

HGTV’s dynamic duo, Jonathan and Drew Scott, recently sat down for an interview with ET Canada’s Morgan Hoffman to discuss their latest series, “Celebrity IOU”, and talked about one particular celebrity guest whose sheer perseverance left them in awe.

Emma Willis knew when she married her popstar husband Matt in 2008 that he was an addict - but she had no idea just how tough the road ahead would be. Busted star Matt, 39, was just three days out of rehab when they walked down the aisle and Emma had feared he wouldn’t make it to the ceremony at all. Fast-forward 15 years and they’ve got three kids and remain deeply in love despite Matt’s ongoing battles and the constant fear of relapse.

Nicole Kidman will not be receiving her AFI Achievement Award as planned – at least not just yet.

A man has been jailed after he arranged to commit child sex abuse online.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Coulda, woulda, shoulda? Ten years ago, Yahoo was looking for a “transformative” acquisition, former CEO Marissa Mayer said in a recent interview with Tech Brew. Among the targets the internet company was looking at: Netflix and Hulu. Yahoo ended up buying blogging site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in 2013 — which, to put it mildly, did not pan out as expected. “We looked at a transformative acquisition, and we bought Tumblr,” Mayer said. “At the same time, we were also considering whether it was possible to buy Hulu or, ironically, Netflix. And I think Netflix was $4 billion and Hulu was at $1.3 billion at the time. And either of those, with hindsight being 20/20, would have been a better acquisition.” (Netflix’s market capitalization in May 2013 was $12.7 billion; as of Friday, it was about $143.5 billion.)

So close. Pete Davidson was set to make his Saturday Night Live hosting debut on Saturday, May 6, but his episode with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert has been canceled.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeff Shell, the former chief executive of NBCUniversal, forfeited stock grants and options worth $43.3 million after he was fired for cause earlier this week, according to a Comcast regulatory filing. Shell was terminated as CEO of NBCU over the past weekend after an internal investigation into his relationship with Hadley Gamble, an international correspondent for CNBC. “As previously disclosed, Mr. Shell’s employment was terminated with cause on April 23, 2023. As a result, he did not receive any supplemental payments or benefits in connection with his termination,” Comcast said in its 2023 proxy statement. “He will receive only his accrued but unpaid base salary and vacation time, vested employee benefits and reimbursement for any unreimbursed business expenses in accordance with his employment agreement.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Charlie Collier, who joined Roku last fall as president of its newly created media division, had a compensation package worth $53.3 million last year — more than twice as much as his boss, CEO Anthony Wood, took home. Collier left his post as CEO of Fox Entertainment to head up Roku Media, where he now oversees content and ad sales for the Roku Channel. Roku’s recruitment of the high-profile TV exec — who brought such hits as “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” to AMC — signaled that the company plans to spend more on original content. That said, Roku has been taking steps to cut costs, including laying off about 400 employees, after its revenue growth slowed dramatically in the last two quarters.

Jerry Springer and he's still in shock that the man who changed his life is gone. While reflecting on Springer's legacy, Wilkos tells ET that their get-together about a month ago now all makes sense. Wilkos says Springer was saying «goodbye» without officially saying goodbye.Wilkos, a longtime fixture on as head of security before his own spinoff show, spoke to ET's Kevin Frazier and recalled that fateful afternoon when he said Springer called him about getting together for cigars.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney+ subscribers will be able to jump into the Quantum Realm next month when “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” hits the streaming service. The film, starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Jonathan Majors, will come to Disney+ worldwide on May 17. That’s 89 days after “Quantuamania” opened wide in the U.S. on Feb. 17. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” has been one of the worst-reviewed Marvel movies to date. It hauled in $213 million at the domestic box office during its theatrical run and grossed $261.6 million worldwide; the movie had an estimated production budget of $200 million.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In today’s podcast news roundup: Buzzy Cohen gives “Jeopardy!” fans an insider’s look at the popular game show; “Real Housewives” alum Ramona Singer launches a podcast with her daughter, Avery; CNN Audio debuts “The Prince Mixtape,” exploring the Purple One’s life and legacy; the New York Times’ The Athletic preps a deep dive on LeBron James’ basketball career; OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network renews its SiriusXM podcast deal; Tribeca Festival sets 2023 podcast programming lineup; and more. Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television launched “This Is Jeopardy! America’s Favorite Quiz Show,” a new podcast that goes behind the scenes of the long-running game show hosted by former “Jeopardy!” champion and guest host Buzzy Cohen. The podcast, which premiered Wednesday (April 26) promises listeners “an exciting journey through the history of the quiz show,” featuring notable guests including contestants and producers. “I am so excited for the opportunity to give listeners a never-before-seen look at the show,” Cohen, who won the “Jeopardy!” 2017 Tournament of Champions, said in a statement. “This is Jeopardy!” is produced by Somethin’ Else and Sony Music Entertainment. Lizzie Jacobs, Tom Koenig and Sarah Kramer are the executive producers; Mia Warren is senior producer; and Julia Doyle and Sylvie Lubow are producers.

Denzel Washington is stepping into some familiar shoes for his new project. The 68-year-old reprises his role as the justice-driven Robert McCall for “The Equalizer 3”, the final entry in the film adaptation of the ’80s television series of the same name.

, Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning are reuniting onscreen.Fanning stars alongside Washington as he reprises his role as the justice-driven Robert McCall for , the final entry in the film adaptation of the '80s television series of the same name.  films star Washington as a retired U.S. Marine and former DIA officer, whose desire to dole out justice in his own way and help those being oppressed often pulls him back into dangerous missions.

Reports have emerged that claim the Duchess of Sussex reached out to father-in-law King Charles III following she and husband Prince Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan Markle reportedly wrote a letter to the then-Prince Charles regarding the alleged unconscious bias in the monarchy - in it, naming the individual accused of speculating about her unborn son Archie's skin colour, but went on to claim the person wasn't racist.