Warner Bros Takes Stephen King Bestseller ‘Billy Summers’, Bad Robot & Appian Way To Produce

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As the fourth-quarter earnings cycle for Big Media closes today with Warner Bros. Discovery results after the market close, Wall Street will be eagerly looking for green shoots to confirm that the worst is truly over for the newly minted conglomerate. Warner Bros. Discovery shares have been gaining slowly but steadily since the beginning of this year as Team Zaslav hammers the point to investors that the worst of its integration and restructuring pain is behind them. WBD CEO David Zaslav has been ahead of the curve in preaching a return to the business fundamentals that have powered Hollywood for more than a half-century. Disney and Paramount Global delivered results earlier this month that came with sober warnings about streaming losses hitting a peak this year. Zaslav and WBD chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels have promised analysts that the heaviest gusher of investment in HBO Max came in 2022 and that they are now on the path to taking the streamer to the promised land — profitablity — next year.

For those headed to CinemaCon in Las Vegas this April, take notice: Variety reports that Warner Bros. will screen its upcoming DCEU blockbuster “The Flash” at the event.

The incoming Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)/ BT Group UK sports streaming JV will be named TNT Sports, the U.S. media giant has revealed.

EXCLUSIVE: Argentinian crime thriller A Singular Crime (Un Crimen Argentino), directed by Lucas Combina, has landed a series of international distribution deals on the third day of the EFM.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The verdict is in: Syndicated court staples “Judge Mathis” and “The People’s Court” will both end their run at the end of this season, Variety has confirmed. “Judge Mathis” will wrap after 24 seasons, while this most recent iteration of “The People’s Court” wraps after its 26th season. Season 24 and Season 26, respectively.  Both shows come from Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Telepictures Productions and are distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. According to insiders, the decision was made due to the declining nature of the daytime syndication landscape. As local TV stations shrink their syndication dollars and the advertising marketplace shrinks for daytime syndication, first-run syndication has become a trickier landscape. At the same time, station groups have been expanding their local news broadcasts, also in a bid to save money.

Once upon a time, you’ll remember that filmmaker J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot productions signed a massive deal with Warner Media, reportedly worth over $500 million (though later reports said closer to $200 million) to create content for Warner Media, HBO, and HBO Max.

Reuters reported. It’s working with a financial advisor, and putting the value of the company between $2 billion and $2.5 billion. The process was at an early stage and a deal is not certain, the report said.That would be in line with the $2.2 billion, Paramount, then known as Viacom CBS, had agreed to sell Simon and Schuster for in November 2020 to Penguin Random House for $2.2 billion.But the plan, which would have combined the No.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery has extended its rights to show the U.S. Open in 45 markets across Europe, including exclusive access in 42 territories, after reaching a new five-year agreement with the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Territories excluded from the deal are Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and Ireland. The deal includes live and highlights rights with every match on every court available to stream on discovery+ and the Eurosport app in addition to live television coverage during the tournament on Eurosport 1 and 2. Markets including the Nordics will also have the option to showcase the best matches on Warner Bros. Discovery’s free-to-air channels.

Unless you’re a hardcore horror fan, you’re probably not aware that Stephen King’s story, “Children of the Corn,” not only spawned a popular 1984 original film but would go on to inspire a franchise that includes a series of nine films and a made-for-TV remake back in 2009. And now, it’s got a second remake arriving in theaters in March.

“If that’s a joke, I love it. If not, can’t wait to unpack that with you later,” said Ted Lasso, perhaps accidentally highlighting two varying differences of comedy – the darker dramedy side and the laugh out loud variety.

Clement Schwebig, Warner Bros Discovery President, India, Southeast Asia and Korea, has taken over the honorary role of Chair of the 2023 Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA), which are traditionally hosted in Singapore in December. 

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Pictures Vice President of Production Peter Dodd is joining Netflix as a Director on the film team. He’ll be part of VP Niija Kuykendall’s group focused on mid-sized features.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a competitive bidding war, Warner Bros. TV has landed the Mac Smullen spec pilot Souvenir, Alaska. Carly Wray will exec produce and oversee the development while Lee Toland Krieger will exec produce and direct the pilot (both have overall deals with WBTV). WBTV had no comment on the project.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Kathleen Finch broke a lot of science producers’ hearts in Austin, Texas last week when she said that Science Channel was “not very high on our priority list”.

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Bateman is set to direct The Pinkerton, a supernatural revenge-western hybrid that Warner Bros. and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot acquired two years ago. Pic was sold as a spec by F9’s Daniel Casey.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Jackson will be played by the late icon’s 26-year old nephew Jaafar Jackson in the Antoine Fuqua-directed film biopic for Lionsgate. Fuqua just posted a confirmation on Instagram. The singer and songwriter is the son of Jermaine Jackson, who is the brother of Michael and member of The Jackson 5. Jaafar has been singing and dancing since age 12, and has showcased himself singing tunes from Sam Cooke to Marvin Gaye, along with originals.

Leave the lights on tonight. The trailer and poster for 20th Century Studios’ and 21 Laps’ horror-thriller The Boogeyman has arrived.

Stephen King horror films and his macabre I.P. have always done well in Hollywood— “The Shining,” “Carrie,” “Firestarter,” “Misery,” “Cujo,” “Pet Sematary,” and more—but there’s no denying a new King resurgence has happened in the last fifteen years with a lot of remakes (“Firestarter,” “Carrie,” “Pet Sematary”) some of them incredible successful (the “IT” franchise), some sequels to classic works (“Doctor Sleep”), and much-anticipated adaptations that didn’t quite work (“The Dark Tower”).

EXCLUSIVE: As Warner Bros Pictures continues to find its footing under new management, the studio on Thursday secured the services of a cornerstone filmmaker, signing a first-look deal with its Elvis director-writer-producer Baz Luhrmann. 

Kevin Fortson, the Executive Vice President of Production & Administration for Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, will retire this summer after three decades with the studio.