Warner Bros. Discovery Hires Canoe Ventures CEO David Porter as Head of Ad Sales Research

Fathom Events will partner with Warner Bros. Pictures in bringing filmmaker Daniela Völker’s documentary The Commandant’s Shadow to theaters across the U.S. on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, with an encore presentation the following day. Screenings will be available in 500+ theaters across the Fathom network of cinemas. Tickets go on sale from today at Fathom Events and participating theater box offices. 

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) South Asia has a sizzling summer slate lined up in the kids space including a mix of anime and homegrown IP. Launching on the Indian animation-focused Pogo channel in May is new Indian IP “Jay Jagannath.” The series portrays the friendship between the Hindu God Lord Jagannath, who has taken the form of a child, Jagan, and his devout follower Balaram.

Googlebox star Ellie Warner has shared a look inside her colourful baby shower, almost one year after giving birth.The 33 year old welcomed her first child with partner, Nat Eddlestone, in June last year. On Wednesday, April 17, Ellie finally gave fans a sneak peek into her colourful baby shower celebrations, months after celebrating.

Emanuel Okusanya Afrobeats has been one of the fastest-growing musical genres of the past decade, but if any further evidence were needed that it has reached new peaks, just look at Nigerian singer Davido: Not only was he nominated for the first-ever Best African Music Performance Grammy earlier this year, he’s headlining New York’s Madison Square Garden tonight (April 17). Born David Adedeji Adeleke, Davido has been riding a steady upward trajectory: His latest album, “Timeless,” broke multiple records in the days after its release: It scored the highest number of first-day streams by an African album on Spotify, 10 tracks landed in the Apple Music US Top 200 songs chart, and the album’s standout track, “Unavailable” (featuring South African producer Musa Keys) sparked a global dance trend.

Two top Congressman want Bob Iger, David Zaslav and Lachlan Murdoch to provide some solid answers about Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and Fox’s proposed sports streaming service.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is heading to the Discovery vault to adapt their Animal Planet series, Meerkat Manor, into a feature animated movie. Think Happy Feet. That George Miller hatched franchise which centered around tap-dancing penguins raked in over a half billion at the global box office.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Wonya Lucas, former president and CEO of Hallmark Media Networks, has joined Comcast‘s board as an independent director. Comcast announced Lucas’s addition to the board, effective as of April 15, in an SEC filing Monday. She has not yet been appointed to serve as a member of any board committee, according to the filing.

Led by Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Warner Bros has crossed the $1B mark at the international box office, becoming the first studio to reach the milestone this year. Getting there in just 15 weeks, this also sets a new speed record for WB, besting the 17 weeks it took in 2018. The full international estimate through today is $1.04B.

EXCLUSIVE: Mary Connelly will be departing as executive producer and co-showrunner of The Jennifer Hudson Show at the end of daytime syndicated talk show’s current second season. The daytime veteran is leaving The Jennifer Hudson Show‘s producer Warner Bros. Unscripted Television/Telepictures, her studio home of more than two decades, to pursue new projects. She made the announcement to the show’s staff and crew earlier today.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The trailer launch for “Joker: Folie à Deux” was no laughing matter for Warner Bros. The marketing for the studio’s upcoming DC sequel, headlined by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, got off to a stellar start with 167 million viewers in its first 24 hours. The teaser trailer went online right after it debuted at Warner Bros.’s CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas.

Warner Bros is getting back in business with The Color Purple director Blitz Bazawule, with the studio landing rights to the tentatively titled Black Samurai with Bazawule directing. He wrote the pic on spec and will also produce under his Inward Gaze banner.

Angelique Jackson In a competitive situation, Warner Bros. has landed “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule’s next project, which takes on the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai.

John Rood, a former longtime exec at Disney and Warner Bros, is joining consulting and research firm Magid as Chief Brand & Communications Officer.

LAS VEGAS – Warner Bros. made some very smart decisions for its 2024 CinemaCon presentation.

Warner Bros‘ first big splash at its 2024 CinemaCon presentation today was George Miller‘s Furiosa.

Comedian and TV presenter Jason Manford has joined Gail Porter and hit out at the price of accommodation in Edinburgh during the upcoming Festival Fringe.

K.J. Yossman Warner Bros. Pictures’ longterm head of physical production Kevin Trehy has exited the company after 21 years, Variety has exclusively learned.

The Roost Podcast Network, home to podcasts including This Past Weekend with Theo Von, has a new owner.

EXCLUSIVE: Jayme Lawson (The Batman) is the newest addition to the cast of the untitled event film, starring Michael B. Jordan, that Ryan Coogler is directing for Warner Bros.

Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker – which was pulled from TIFF in 2022 over “rights issues” — starts a theatrical debut today at the IFC Center, moving to LA’s Landmark’s Nuart next weekend and expanding thereafter with about 85 booking so far — a nice outcome for the mixed-media coming-of-age dark superhero parody that “had gone into into hibernation mode” until Outfest LA Film Festival, said Frank Jaffe, whose distribution company Altered Innocence acquired it then. It’s U.S premiere garnered a Special Mention in the North American Narrative Feature Competition.