Hollywood’s Saudi Caper & The Daily Wire’s Free Fall

E.L.C.-Puig Revelations, Texas G.O.P. Panic Attack, Imax Sales Rumors

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to Puck’s best new reporting. Here’s what you need to know… and stick around for more on Hollywood’s financing drama in Saudi Arabia.

What I’m Hearing: At Cannes, Saudi Arabia tried to lure filmmakers to the region with a production rebate as high as 60 percent—but many Hollywood takers are still waiting for their money. Kim Masters chats with producers about Riyadh’s bureaucratic disaster, and the new “concierge service” trying to find a solution. [Read More]
In the Room: The Daily Wire—Ben Shapiro’s conservative media empire—has spent months mired in internal dysfunction, leadership infighting, and strategic drift. Dylan Byers gets to the bottom of former C.E.O. Caleb Robinson’s departure, the audience erosion, and the scuttlebutt that a former co-founder is preparing to launch a competitor. [Read More]
The Best & The Brightest: After Sen. John Cornyn’s 28-point rout at the hands of Trump-blessed Ken Paxton, Texas Republicans are spiraling. Abby Livingston talks to G.O.P. insiders about whether James Talarico can pull off a Lone Star upset in the midterms. [Read More]
Dry Powder: Long before Wall Street rushed for the exits, Diameter Capital co-founder Scott Goodwin warned investors that A.I. would “ruthlessly eliminate” the software companies underwriting much of the sector. Bill Cohan chronicles how the hedge funder saw the crisis coming, and the opportunities he’s now hunting in the wreckage. [Read More]
Line Sheet: Following the collapse of the Estée Lauder–Puig megamerger, Charlotte Tilbury’s billion-dollar change-in-control clause has emerged as the public scapegoat. Rachel Strugatz has fresh intel on what really sank the deal, and the next dominoes to fall in prestige beauty. [Read More]
Wall Power: Sotheby’s day sales notched almost $172 million last week, demonstrating that the auction market’s depth runs well beyond the evening fireworks. Marion Maneker sits down with Sotheby’s Caroline Seabolt and Ashkan Baghestani to discuss the return of the middle market, the role of estates, and the significance of a $4.1 million Edward Hopper. [Inner Circle Exclusive]

Meanwhile, on the pods…

The Town: Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw assess the potential buyers for Imax after news of an exploratory sale—and whether Netflix putting David Fincher’s latest film in theaters is a stunt or something more. [Listen Here]
The Powers That Be: Peter Hamby and Marianna Sotomayor discuss the aftermath of the Texas Senate runoff, the G.O.P. backlash over Trump’s $1.8 billion legal slush fund, and the midterm warning signs the party may be ignoring. [Listen Here or Watch Here]

And now, a little more on Hollywood’s Saudi rebate caper…

HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood’s Saudi Tax Rebate Problem

At Cannes this year, Saudi Arabia announced it would increase its rebate to as much as 60 percent for movie and television projects filmed in the country—seemingly the most generous incentive program in the world. After all, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is apparently a movie buff, and Hollywood’s growing desperation for capital has made his overtures hard to ignore. But the announcement landed less like a champagne moment than a punchline among those who had already tried filming in the kingdom under the previous 40 percent regime. “We started laughing,” one producer who shot a low-budget film there told Kim. Many months later, the money still hasn’t appeared.

As Kim reports, the rebate backlog is only one piece of a broader pattern of Saudi disappointments: shifting eligibility rules, audits run by officials who don’t always understand the filmmaking process, financing that fails to materialize, and a string of high-profile project implosions—from aborted Neill Blomkamp thriller They Found Us to the $170 million Anthony Mackie–led epic Desert Warrior, which grossed just $742,066 worldwide last month. But producer Greg Silverman (burned on his own Saudi-backed film deal) is attempting to find a fix with Caravan, a concierge firm that arranges financing against Saudi rebates and incentives. The intent, one source told Kim, “sounds right,” but there’s sound reasoning to remain skeptical: “The bureaucracy is so bad.”

Click here to read Kim’s full story.

MEDIA

Dylan Byers

Last Action Shapiro

Apart from the many distractions and side projects of The Daily Wire’s now former co-C.E.O.—cigars, a D.T.C. razor business, and a big-budget fantasy series—his biggest business obstacle at Ben Shapiro’s media empire might have been Shapiro himself.

WASHINGTON

Abby Livingston

Texas Hold ’Em

John Cornyn’s humiliating 28-point wipeout has Republicans spiraling over donor flight, Senate math, and whether scandal magnet Ken Paxton just handed Democrats their dream matchup.

WALL STREET

William D. Cohan

Goodwin Hunting

Long before Wall Street rushed for the exits, Diameter Capital co-founder Scott Goodwin warned that A.I. would “ruthlessly eliminate” software companies. Now, amid a market correction, he’s buying the panic.

FASHION

Rachel Strugatz

Lauder Ship Down

News, notes, finger-pointing, and post-deal recriminations stemming from the failed combination of The Estée Lauder Companies and Puig.

ART

Marion Maneker

Condition Report: Sotheby’s Caroline Seabolt & Ashkan Baghestani

A joint interview with the heads of Sotheby’s day sales on the depth of last week’s sales, the importance of estates in driving them, and the enduring thrill of selling another Hopper.

HOLLYWOOD

Matthew Belloni

Imax Suitors & Why Netflix Put Fincher in Theaters

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to consider who might buy Imax after news broke last week that it is exploring a sale, and get into the details behind how Imax works as a business. They also discuss Netflix putting David Fincher’s new movie, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, in theaters with an exclusive two-week run in Imax and whether this is just another Netflix movie theater stunt or something more meaningful. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the box office performance for the breakout horror phenomenon Obsession.

WASHINGTON

Peter Hamby

Marianna Sotomayor

The Powers that Be Daily, Starring Peter Hamby

The Great Texas Shake-Up

Marianna Sotomayor joins Peter to discuss Ken Paxton’s blowout victory over John Cornyn in the Texas Republican Senate runoff—and whether Trump’s endorsement tipped the scales. Then they turn to the Republican backlash over the president’s $1.8 billion legal slush fund, his D.C. building spree, and the possibility that the party is throwing away the midterms.

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