A candid conversation concerning the latest headaches at Disney in the second Iger era, with former M&A banker Bill Cohan and Hollywood insider Matt Belloni.
The Iger Sophomore Slump
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Latest Articles from Hollywood
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
Can ‘Melania’ Open?
On top of the $40 million Amazon ponied up for Brett Ratner’s docu-hagiography, the studio is spending another $35 million to open it in 27 countries, including a splashy Kennedy Center premiere to be attended by top executives. But for all the expense, Melania is for an audience of one.
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
Movie Theaters Want a Ted Sarandos Blood Oath
Regal’s Eduardo Acuna goes public with his pitch for Netflix to sign a 10-year binding pledge with the Trump D.O.J. (and other ideas), ensuring Sarandos won’t go back on his recent promise to give Warner Bros. movies a 45-day window. Offering Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ a wide release would help, too.
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
How Netflix’s Sony Deal Explains Its Warners Pursuit
The streamer's new global agreement with the studio, valued at up to $8 billion, puts a public value on its slate. Now apply that math to its potential Warners takeover.
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
Kathleen Kennedy’s Final Episode
As president of Lucasfilm, the producer oversaw five Star Wars films, a wave of TV shows…. and a galaxy’s worth of abandoned projects and jilted filmmakers. With her exit finally official, is the franchise better off now than it was 14 years ago?
Julia Alexander
•
June 23, 2023
The Math Behind Combining Hulu and Disney+
The long-ordained integration of Disney’s two streaming services is being heralded inside Burbank as a transformational moment for both. But will the merged platform really be more than the sum of its parts?
Eriq Gardner
•
June 23, 2023
Kevin Spacey’s $80M Legal House of Cards
The disgraced actor is soon expected to sit for a brutal cross-examination in the rare Hollywood insurance dispute that has actually made it to trial. A potentially huge payout hinges on whose version of House of Cards’s ending prevails.
Kim Masters
•
June 23, 2023
Can John Landgraf’s Slow TV Model Survive?
The oracle of Peak TV is at an inflection point as Disney+ absorbs Hulu and the chase for prestige gives way to the tonnage model.
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Latest Articles from Hollywood
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
20 Surefire, 100 Percent Probable Hollywood Predictions for 2026 (Part Two)
StrikeWatch ’26, a bizarre Michael Jackson record, and the future of Disney’s Dana Walden (if she’s C.E.O. or not) in the second act of the town’s favorite prognostication of the year ahead.
Scott Mendelson
•
June 23, 2023
It Was One Box Office Battle After Another in 2025
With Hollywood’s annual output back to resembling its pre-pandemic levels, some clear trends emerged: Kids showed up, horror hit more often than it didn’t, and the superhero slump is real. How might it all apply to 2026 and beyond?
Eriq Gardner
•
June 23, 2023
Netflix’s Game of Antitrust Chicken
If the streaming giant wins Warner Bros., the feds will almost certainly present their next hurdle. And the Trump Justice Department might ask some questions that Netflix would like to avoid.
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
20 Surefire, 100 Percent Probable Hollywood Predictions for 2026 (Part One)
The town’s favorite year-ahead forecast returns, with input from some of my best sources—plus a few celebrity Puck friends. The future of ‘Star Wars,’ Instagram Reels, ‘Rush Hour 4,’ and Sydney Sweeney foretold in the first of two parts…
Eriq Gardner
•
June 23, 2023
The CAA-Range Finale, Zaz’s $500M Beef & Trump’s Media Damages Calculator
A look ahead at the most consequential media lawsuits and legal crises that will come to their conclusion in 2026.
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
Hollywood’s Heroes of the Year Are… The Warner Bros. Duo
In 2025, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy went from dead executives walking to a six-month stretch of blockbusters and Oscar contenders that silenced the town and offered a middle finger to their boss, David Zaslav. In an era when I.P. has taken over Hollywood, and their studio has been sold to Netflix (or Paramount?), they decided to go out swinging…
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
Hollywood’s Villain of the Year Is… Sam Altman
A year before the OpenAI C.E.O. gets the ‘Social Network’ movie treatment, the slop-ification of entertainment took a major leap in 2025 thanks to a copyright infringement hub called Sora 2 and Altman’s brazen courtship of Disney.
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Latest Articles from Hollywood
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
The Oscars-YouTube Brand Problem
The streamer’s bold bid to host the Academy Awards offers maximum reach for a show that was becoming minimally niche, but mixing prestige and base populism has its potentially problematic downsides.
Kim Masters
•
June 23, 2023
Does Anyone Believe Ted Sarandos on Theaters?
As the streamer’s winning bid to secure WBD faces regulatory scrutiny and a hostile offer from Paramount, Ted Sarandos insists that Netflix is committed to a standard theatrical window for Warner Bros. movies. Is it enough to earn Hollywood’s loyalty?
Eriq Gardner
•
June 23, 2023
Disney’s Sora Wager & Hollywood’s Next A.I. Legal Battles
A field guide to the A.I. cases and deals that will shape 2026, including Disney’s recent peace treaty, the Elon-Altman feud, the next round of labor negotiations, the whole ScarJo voice issue, and many more…
Matthew Belloni & William D. Cohan
•
June 23, 2023
Who Wants Warner Bros. More?
Battle lines have been drawn over David Zaslav’s Warner Bros. Discovery, and both Netflix and Paramount think they have the winning formula. Will the Ellisons get to $34 a share? Can Netflix counter? Is Larry really “backstopping” all the equity? Or is the game already rigged?
Kim Masters
•
June 23, 2023
Alan Horn Remembers Rob Reiner
The longtime exec paid tribute to Reiner, his onetime partner in Castle Rock Entertainment, and explained why the director dedicated their first movie together to his father.
Julia Alexander
•
June 23, 2023
Why Netflix Needs Warner Bros.
Prior to its $83 billion deal to acquire the studio and HBO Max, the streamer had never spent more than $700 million on an acquisition. But Netflix saw an opportunity to own, not license, a significant chunk of its content—and, perhaps more importantly, to block David Ellison from taking it away.
Matthew Belloni
•
June 23, 2023
Can Media Coverage Buy an Oscar?
Every year, awards contenders and pretenders have been mounting unbridled and financially unchecked press campaigns in the hopes of boosting their chances. A new data analysis reveals that they maybe shouldn’t have bothered.
