Just a few hours shy of the deadline set in late July by hundreds of top female writers and showrunners on abortion safety protocols, most of Hollywood’s biggest studios and streamers today opted to side step specifics.
22.07.2022 - 21:09 / deadline.com
The future of HBO Max’s European originals team has appeared bleak ever since it emerged Warner Bros Discovery was stopping production in the continent, and it now looks to be facing the end.
Most of the unit, overseen by EMEA content chief Antony Root, are understood to be in talks over their futures, though several productions from the unit will continue across Europe in coming months. All staff will either have exited or be redeployed in coming months, with Root’s future unclear.
Sources say almost all European shows in development have now been scrapped, while some are understood to have been stopped just before they went into production in Eastern Europe.
For example, Romanian unscripted show One True Singer’s second season has been cancelled, having been set to start shooting this month, while scripted series Ruxx season two is also gone. In other parts of Europe, several shows are understood to have been dropped.
A handful remain in production and are expected to be licensed to other broadcasters or streamers.
This comes after it emerged WBD was cutting back on production in Europe, as David Zaslav and his team attempt to find $3B in cost savings following the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery.
The move primarily affects operations in Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Turkey. France and Spain were unaffected, though the picture in those territories remains unclear. The news was a shock to HBO Max commissioners.
Many producers are in mourning over the loss, with HBO Europe considered a trailblazer in the continent for setting up shop there in the mid-2000s when other U.S.-owned studios were focused elsewhere. HBO Europe had been headquartered in Romania, where shows such as a local version of
Just a few hours shy of the deadline set in late July by hundreds of top female writers and showrunners on abortion safety protocols, most of Hollywood’s biggest studios and streamers today opted to side step specifics.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s European operation continues to take shape, with Hannes Heyelmann today unveiling his German management team. The shake-up sees the departure of Discovery Communications Deutschland Deputy Managing Director Alberto Horta.
John Oliver took his first major swipe at his new “business daddy” Warner Bros. Discovery.
scrapping “Batgirl,” but it was a welcome nonetheless.The moment came during Oliver’s main show segment, which this week was monkeypox. In addressing how health officials fumbled the prevention of a widespread outbreak, Oliver noted that the U.S.
Kevin Smith has weighed in on Warner Bros. Discovery scrapping the movie starring Leslie Grace. The move made by the conglomerate has caused shockwaves in the industry and Smith, who is a comic book aficionado and writer, shared his thoughts on his YouTube series Hollywood Babble-On.
Warner Bros. Discovery Friday detailed its charges for the second quarter that included a combined $825 million hit on the content side, including $496 million for content impairment and $329 million for content development write-downs, as well as $208 million for employee terminations for the three months ended June.
Cynthia Littleton Business EditorWarner Bros. Discovery shares were battered Friday on the heels of its after-market second-quarter earnings report on Thursday that revealed the depth of the financial and operational pressures that the newly enlarged conglomerate is facing.WB Discovery shares were down more than 17% at midday to the $14.50 range.
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarner Bros. Discovery is looking to pull a FAST one — telling investors the company is mulling the launch of a free, ad-supported TV (FAST) service stocked with content from its portfolio of brands to complement its premium subscription biz.The first strategic priority on the streaming side of the house is to merge HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single platform.
Warner Bros. Discovery is doubling down on HBO and HBO Max.
Kids and animated content are set for a broad swath of cuts across Warner Bros. Discovery.
Warner Bros. Discovery expects to launch its combined HBO Max/Discovery+ streaming service in the U.S. next summer.
In a complete about-face from the business strategy employed by former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav made it firm today that the new merged entertainment conglomerate “will fully embrace theatrical.” Period.
The Flash” movie starring Ezra Miller is still a go, despite the actor’s numerous scandals this year.“We have seen ‘The Flash,’ ‘Black Adam’ and ‘Shazam 2,'” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav during the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday. “We are very excited about them.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav addressed why the “Batgirl” was killed and will not be released, saying bluntly during the company’s earnings call that they are focused on quality and will not put out a film that doesn’t meet those standards.
Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment WriterWarner Bros.
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarner Bros. Discovery is not going to say how many HBO and HBO Max customers it has.In the second quarter, the media conglomerate said HBO Max, HBO and Discovery+ subscribers combined were 92.1 million, up about 1.6 million from 90.4 million the prior quarter. That’s up 22% 75.8 million on a pro-forma basis versus a year earlier.However, WBD’s streaming businesses lost subscribers domestically in Q2, dropping 300,000 — falling from 53.3 million in the first quarter to 53.0 million as of June 30.For Q1, AT&T — the prior owner of WarnerMedia and HBO Max — had reported 76.8 million total HBO and HBO Max subscribers worldwide, including 48.6 million domestically.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCombining the former WarnerMedia with the company once know as Discovery Communications took a lot of work. Executives at the newly combined Warner Bros.
major restructuring of its content divisions, and the entertainment conglomerate added 1.7 million global subscribers to both HBO Max and reaching 92.1 million global subscribers. However, Warner Bros.
Newly minted Warner Bros. Discovery posted hefty losses and $9.8 billion in revenue at its landmark first earnings report since Warner Media and Discovery formally tied the knot.