David Zaslav Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Fran Drescher is less concerned with meeting of several showrunners with WGA leadership this week and more concerned with studios and streamers getting back to the bargaining table to make a fair deal.

When it comes to Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchise filmmaker David Yates returning to the Max TV series, he tells Deadline, “Never say never.”

Welcome to the 19th installment of Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast. It is a task Oscar-nominated filmmaker Billy Ray took on at the beginning of the Writers Guild strike against AMPTP, and who knew he would be engaged in it longer than it would have taken him to shoot a picture.

Lee” to the Michael Keaton-directed thriller “Knox Goes Away”) given the uncertainty about what has been agreed to. Still, buyers seem impressed with what’s available to purchase.

At its Max streaming event earlier this year, 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.

David Zaslav said today that Warner Bros. Discovery had anticipated putting Hollywood strikes in the rear-view mirror this month, but with no end in sight, “We are really going to fight to get this resolved.”  

“I don’t know that much in particular about this dispute, but it feels like this is a moment,” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav about the current showdown between big cable provider Charter and the Disney.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery expects the ongoing Hollywood strikes to have a $300 million-$500 million negative impact on the company’s 2023 earnings.

It is possible that in his search for CNN’s next boss, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav simply checked back through the news network’s archives. 

California Treasurer Fiona Ma has sent letters to the CEOs of seven Hollywood studios urging a return to the bargaining table with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA to end a months-long double strike that’s shut down much of the entertainment industry and is taking a major toll on the California economy.

Barbie is set to land on streaming services very soon.Directed by Greta Gerwig, the fantasy comedy starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has become the highest-grossing film ever in Warner Bros. history. It’s also on track to beat The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the highest-grossing film of 2023 globally.While the film is largely defined by its two leads, it also boasts an impressive supporting cast, including America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Simu Liu and Will Ferrell.Barbie released on the same day (July 21) as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, creating the “Barbenheimer” phenomena which boosted both film’s at the box office.Barbie is set to be released digitally in the US on Tuesday September 5.

EXCLUSIVE: Amid growing speculation of internal divisions within the C-suites and a lack of any apparent path forward to end the writers and actors strikes, the chiefs of Hollywood’s biggest studios are set to gather today.

Mark Thompson, the former CEO of The New York Times Co. and director general of the BBC, is in line to be named the next head of CNN, according to multiple press reports.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery is widely expected to name Mark Thompson, the former New York Times Co. and BBC leader who has demonstrated a knack for guiding media into digital realms, as the latest executive to oversee CNN, according to a person familiar with the matter, putting in place the fifth executive structure around the news giant since early 2022.

A slew of series from AMC Networks including Fear The Walking Dead, A Discovery of Witches and Killing Eve will stream on Max as part of an unusual digital arrangement.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America told members Wednesday that the latest offer from the studios is “not yet good enough,” and said that it would continue to fight to address “existential threats” to the writing profession. In an email, the WGA picked out half a dozen areas where it believes the studio offer falls short. The guild noted that the studios are willing to enshrine the concept of a TV staff size in the contract for the first time.

Universal Studios Group Chair Pearlena Igbokwe has said there is determination from all sides to find an “equitable” solution to the Hollywood labor strikes.

CNN, whose brief foray into subscription streaming was snuffed out shortly after the close of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger in April 2022, is officially getting real estate on Max.

Just hours after the studios and streamers made public their latest “comprehensive package” towards a deal with the WGA, the guild has responded – and its seems the AMPTP and top CEOs may have strategically overplayed their hand.

WGA leaders met face-to-face with key CEOs on Tuesday evening as executives sought to pitch the guild on their most recent contract offer in the hopes of ending the nearly four-month-old strike. Late Tuesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released details of the contract offer presented to the WGA on Aug. 11.

Bob Bakish is to be honored with the Personality of the Year gong at this year’s Mipcom Cannes.

writers strike. The CEOs of the major studios — including Ted Sarandos of Netflix and David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery — are also expected to hold a joint call on Friday to discuss the next move in the talks.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Layoffs have hit the streaming marketing team at HBO and Max. A source close to the situation told Variety Wednesday that the cuts are in the double digits, but no specific number was available at the time of publication. The insider says the content division is not impacted by these layoffs.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Bleacher Report has a new type of game to analyze. Surf on over to the sports-commentary site that has been part of the Warner Bros. Discovery stable since 2012, and you’ll see the usual stuff: a ranking of the best superstar duos in the NBA; speculation over whether the Atlanta Hawks will trade for the Toronto Raptors’ Shams Chanria; and an aggregation of a story about the Kansas City Chiefs and defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Hit any picket line in Hollywood these days, and there’s a good chance you’ll see signs slamming the lavish paydays for entertainment chiefs like Disney’s Bob Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav. For the striking actors and writers who are holding out for a better deal from the major studios, these bloated compensation packages have become a very effective cudgel.

In a just-released clip from his Peacock show Hart to Heart, Kevin Hart asks Dwayne Johnson why, given what Hart sees as a successful opening and “an appetite from your fan base,” Black Adam didn’t get a sequel.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Discovery’s long-serving exec Alyson Jackson has exited after 14 years in David Zaslav’s stable.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery appears to have bigger digital plans for Charles Barkley and Anderson Cooper. Warner Bros.

Barbie has been in movie theaters just over 2 weeks, and the film has made over $800 million worldwide already. Now, fans are wondering when they’ll be able to stream Barbie at home.

Sports and news programming will be coming “soon” to Max, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.