Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront Focuses on Big Franchises Like ‘Harry Potter’; David Zaslav Confident NBA Will Return to TNT Sports

Lord Of The Rings film focusing on Gollum.Last month, it was confirmed that Warner Bros. is working on a number of projects set in Middle-earth, the first of which is a 2026 film tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.Mortensen, who played Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy of films, has now addressed the possibility of returning as the character in the new film, saying he would do it if it was “right for the character”.“I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually,” he told GQ.“I like playing that character.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Games has hired video game company 2K’s chief marketing officer Melissa Bell as its new executive vice president of global marketing. In her new role, Bell will oversee all aspects of the Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Fallout 76″ has found a whole new world of players thanks to the popularity of Amazon’s “Fallout” TV series. The Bethesda Game Studios title, which first launched in October 2018, crossed 20 million downloads and plays as of Wednesday.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who started talking about more deals shortly after inking a massive merger, irritating Wall Street, has been publicly quiet on that front for a bit. Today said he sees opportunities in M&A with the company on a stronger financial footing and rolling streamer Max out globally to achieve necessary scale.

Max‘s TV remake of the “Harry Potter” series won’t hit the streamer until 2026, which gives fans of the character plenty of time to speculate about the show. For instance, beyond rehashing a successful IP in a blatant cash-grab maneuver, why should this series exist? That’s a topic for another piece, however.

Lord of the Rings IP owner Embracer Group has seen net sales at its Entertainment & Services division fall by 15%, but is betting big on Middle-earth in coming years.

UPDATED with latest: At its Max streaming event in April 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed a new era is coming for Harry Potter fans. The company announced a TV series based on all seven books about the boy wizard written by J.K. Rowling. See below for the most current answers to the most important questions about the project.

Daniel Radcliffe has said that he does not want to appear in the upcoming television adaptation of the Harry Potter series.The news of a version of J.K. Rowling’s book saga was first confirmed by HBO Max last April, with reports that each of the seven books will get its own season.But now, Radcliffe, who played the eponymous wizard in the eight-film series from 2001 to 2011, has revealed that he does not think “it would work” for him to make an appearance in the new reboot.Speaking to E!, he said: “Like the rest of the world, [I’m] very excited to watch as an audience member.”But when asked if he would consider a cameo role, he replied, “No, I don’t think so. I don’t know if it would work to have us do anything in it.”He was coy about whether HBO Max had already approached him to be a part of the project, saying: “I’m going to be a politician about this and not deal in hypotheticals.”“Your Hogwarts letter is here,” a tweet from the streaming company read when they first announced the series.

Now that the upfronts are over, it’s time to hand out much-deserved accolades to those who made this year’s presentations truly unforgettable.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Microsoft‘s Activision has launched a new internal, standalone studio with one mission: creating a new narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise. Titled Elsewhere Entertainment, the studio will be headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, with additional staff in the United States.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The actors behind the iconic Weasley Twins will be around to stir up trouble on Food Network‘s new “Harry Potter“-themed competition, “Wizards of Baking.” Variety has learned exclusively that James and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley throughout Warner Bros.’ eight-film “Harry Potter” franchise, will be hosting “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.” The project, which will air on Food Network and be available to stream on Max, was announced by Warner Bros Discovery U.S. networks chief Kathleen Finch during the company’s upfront presentation in New York City Wednesday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Food Network has a new magical treat in store for viewers this holiday season: The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cable channel has ordered a baking competition inspired by the beloved “Harry Potter” franchise.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The theme of Disney‘s 2024 upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday was “connections” — and not just because of the running bit started by “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney, which involved their constant replaying of a five-second ad spot that said “Connections!” with a Disneyified logo and voiceover. No, the symbol of unity across Disney’s brands was made up of a slew of announcements from Marvel, and about such other high-wattage projects as “Star Wars,” “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” the “Wizards of Waverly Place” sequel series, “9-1-1,” Ryan Murphy’s new slate of FX titles and more franchises with intersecting talent. Disney kicked off the event when Oscar-winning “Poor Things” star Emma Stone introduced the Mouse House’s big boss, Bob Iger — a job like that would traditionally go to a top ABC star.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A sequel to Amazon’s “Road House” movie is in the works with Jake Gyllenhaal reprising his leading role as Dalton. While Amazon is keeping quiet on any other details for now, it still made sure to give the news of the high-profile project it’s due with Amazon MGM Studio chief Jennifer Salke revealing it at the top of its first-ever upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday.

The traditional pilot process may be dying out but that’s not stopping the glitz and glamor of the TV Upfronts in New York.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer When NBCUniversal kicks off TV’s traditional week of upfront presentations on Monday, picket-free sidewalks outside Radio City Music Hall will be a sight for sore eyes following last year’s noisy protests in the first weeks of what proved to be the nation’s “hot labor summer.” Hosting a programming presentation at a megawatt New York City venue like Radio City or Javits Center is stressful enough. Executives are eager to return to business as usual in wooing Madison Avenue.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director A 15-year-old “Lord of the Rings” fan film titled “The Hunt for Gollum” is back online and streaming on YouTube after it was temporarily blocked in the aftermath of Warner Bros. revealing its next “Rings” movie has the same title (via Entertainment Weekly). The fan film, which centers on Gandalf tasking Aragorn with hunting down Gollum before the latter can find Frodo and the One Ring, has earned 13 million views since its debut more than a decade ago.

EXCLUSIVE: Willy Wonka, the eccentric founder of the Wonka Chocolate Factory from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has been played by Gene Wilder, Johnny Depp and Timothée Chalamet on the big screen.

Warner Bros. is set to release a new Lord Of The Rings film in 2026, featuring help from Peter Jackson.The news of the upcoming film arrived earlier today (May 9), during a conference call about Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Creator of “The Walking Dead” franchise Skybound Entertainment has tapped Activision Blizzard vet Kaleb Ruel as vice president of marketing for its in-house video game studio. During his tenure at Activision Blizzard, Ruel was a key part of the record-breaking launch of “Diablo IV,” which marked the fastest-selling game in Blizzard’s history at $666 million in sales within its first five days.