Entertainment
Paramount Asks FCC to Approve Middle East’s WBD Investment
Paramount Skydance is asking the Federal Communications Commission to approve the Middle East’s equity investment in its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
According to a public notice by the FCC on Monday, the David Ellison-led media giant is asking the agency to “permit existing and prospective foreign investors to indirectly hold equity and voting interests in Paramount, in the aggregate, in excess of the 25% statutory benchmarks.”
It also asked the regulator to “specifically approve certain foreign investors to indirectly hold equity and/or deem voting interests of greater than 5% in Paramount” and “grant advance approval for the non-controlling prospective foreign investors to increase their indirect equity and/or voting interests up to 20% in Paramount.”
The media giant’s petition specifically asks for approval for foreign investors “in the aggregate to indirectly hold up to 100 percent of its equity and/or voting interests in light of routine fluctuations in publicly held equity interests and to account for potential future investments.” However, it notes that the “indirect foreign ownership of equity interests in Paramount will be approximately 49.5 percent” and that it will “not result in a transfer of control of Paramount.”
A Paramount spokesperson told TheWrap that its filing is “completely standard for investments such as this and is not a condition to closing Paramount’s acquisition of WBD.”
“When the transaction and equity syndication close, the Ellison family and RedBird will collectively hold the largest equity stake in the combined company and continue to be the sole owners of Class A Common Stock, representing 100% of the voting shares, with no other equity syndication party having any governance rights, voting shares, or Board representation,” the spokesperson added. “The combination of Paramount and WBD’s complementary assets will enhance competition while creating a strong champion for creative talent and consumer choice.”
According to the petition, the three Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds will own a total of 38.5% of the non-voting equity in Paramount. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will own 15.1% after the deal closes, while L’Imad Holding Company will own 12.8% and the Qatar Investment Authority will own 10.6%.
Other foreign equity owners include “passive limited partner investors” in funds managed by RedBird Capital Partners, who will own approximately 5.2%. The funds managed by RedBird will hold approximately 9% of the equity of Paramount Skydance in total.
In addition, foreign investors will include entities that have acquired Paramount shares and have filed a Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Paramount is also submitting responses to standard questions directly to the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector, also known as “Team Telecom.”
“Reducing barriers to further investment in Paramount, including by allowing the company to pursue additional capital from non-U.S. investors, will enable it to allocate additional resources to preserve and enhance the legacy and broad reach of the Licensees’ television broadcast operations,” Paramount chief legal officer Makan Delrahim wrote in the filing. “In turn, Paramount’s ability to compete in the television broadcast and broader video marketplaces will improve, thereby promoting the strength of the industry overall. The new equity investment, leveraged on the efficiency gains resulting from the Paramount-Skydance transaction, will better position the company to weather continuing challenges facing broadcasters and operators of linear pay-television networks.”
The FCC’s notice states that the petition has been accepted for filing upon initial review and that Paramount may be required to submit additional documents or statements. It will also be “referred to relevant Executive Branch agencies for their views on any national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, or trade policy.”
The public can file comments until May 27, with replies due by June 11.
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American Idol might be moving to a new location but it will have the same judges and host as before.
Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood are returning as judges for Season 25 of the music competition show alongside host Ryan Seacrest.
Bryan announced the news on stage at a show in Nashville, Tennessee.
It marks the third year that the trio of Bryan, Richie and Underwood will judge the contestants together; Seacrest has hosted since the start and has been the sole host (he co-hosted with Brian Dunkleman in Season 1) since 2003.
Idol was renewed for Season 25 or Season 10 on ABC in July but the judges deals always take a couple of months after that.
Auditions kicked off last month with the traditional Idol Across America tour, a virtual search for singers taking place across the country.
However, the big news in Idol-land is the move to Georgia. Bryan and Underwood both live in Tennessee, so it’s closer for the pair of them but Richie lives in LA and Seacrest splits his time between LA and New York.
Richie recently underwent a heart procedure for atrial fibrillation and canceled some tour dates but is expected to begin a residency in Las Vegas next month.
The show is produced by Fremantle and Sony Pictures Television’s 19 Entertainment with Megan Michaels Wolflick as showrunner.
Idol introduced a number of changes last season including social voting for the first time, moving Hollywood Week to Nashville, Tennessee, premiering on a new night in Monday (rather than Sunday) and started streaming live on Disney+.
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EXCLUSIVE: Here’s what’s cool about this weekend.
Without any wide entry opening to north of $30M, it’s going to be a fantastic late September frame at the box office. It wouldn’t be shocking if the marketplace sees the best late September weekend since 2018 when all films totaled $106.4M. From a pure box office standpoint –forget about budgets for a minute and marketing costs– we’ve got four wide openings aimed at various demos in Disney/Marvel Studio’s Avengers: Endgame: Encore (fanboys), A24’s Primetime (Gen-Z and Robert Pattinson fans), Paramount’s Brad Pitt dog movie Heart of the Beast (flyover states and men/women adults), and Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island (families).
Heading into this weekend, it was believed that No. 1 could be a fight between Avengers: Endgame: Encore and the second weekend of Sony/Constantin’s Resident Evil, respectively at $25M-$30M and $21M-$24M.
But there are curveballs: It’s the year of Pattinson in The Drama and beggers getting out of here memes in The Odyssey, and though A24 is eyeing $12M-$16M for his latest movie Primetime about To Catch a Predator‘s Chris Hansen and his case gone wrong, the $15M net production has a shot at a $20M opening in North America at 2,814 theaters.
“It could be a three way fight for No. 1,” says one distribution source.
We’re hearing that previews tonight for the first feature narrative title from documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheimer are chasing Avengers: Endgame: Encore‘s $3M+ previews with a figure between $2M-$3M. Previews for the R-rated Primetime began at 4PM today and Rotten Tomatoes reviews and critics are great at 86% certified fresh and 85%. Encore‘s showtimes began today at 2PM.
Those previews for Primetime are ahead of Pattinson pics The Drama ($1.7M, $14.3M opening), and possibly Mickey 17 ($2.5M, $19M opening), in addition to the Gen-Z summer horror surprise Obsession ($2.6M, $17.1M opening). The A24 financed-by-foreign sales-movie is bowing abroad this weekend in France, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, Iceland, India, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Meanwhile, Avengers: Endgame: Encore, boosted by four extra minutes of the Russo Brothers’ upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, has preview cash that could possibly surpass that of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith‘s re-release last which was $3.4M, and turned into a $25.4M opening. We heard presales for Encore were ahead of Revenge of the Sith‘s re-release. The asterisk here is that sometimes these re-releases could be front-loaded, so we’ll see how Encore plays out. The Russo Brothers Encore is booked in around 3,000 theaters, boosted by Disney/Marvel Studio’s new certification on 1,300 premium large format screens, Infinity Vision, plus 390 Imax hubs. Encore will share Imax and PLFs with Resident Evil.
Overseas outlook for Encore is $25M in what’s bound to be a $50M WW weekend give or take. While James Cameron’s Avatar remains the No. 1 movie of all-time at $2.92B worldwide, Avengers Endgame is No. 2 with $2.799B WW (and Spider-Man Brand New Day No. 3 with $2.5B). There is a $124M WW box office gap between Avatar and Avengers Endgame. Disney is in wait-and-see mode to see if Endgame could reclaim the all-time spot before Doomsday‘s Dec. 18 opening. Unlike Revenge of the Sith‘s one week play, there’s no endgame for Encore at the fall box office.
Paramount’s Heart of the Beast leaves audiences moved and crying, including Deadline critic Pete Hammond. Film reviewers aren’t shrugging it at 89% certified fresh on RT. Tracking outlook is $17M-$20M at 3,400 theaters. Previews began today for the PG-13 David Ayer directed movie at 2PM and we hear from sources they’re around $1.8M (that includes Monday Mystery screenings). That figure is just north of what Pitt’s fall 2019 sci-fi drama Ad Astra did in previews at $1.5M ($19M). The movie cost a net $82M before global marketing. with dueling edits by Ayer and Pitt’s (Ayer’s won). Internationally, the film will open this week in 63 markets (or 95% footprint) including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Expectation abroad is $15M for what could be a $35M WW opening. The hope is that older men and women find the film. Like Primetime, this survival tale about a Special Forces officer and his combat dog who are stranded in the Alaskan wilderness, sells itself upon viewing.
Forgotten Island from Puss in Boots: Last Wish filmmakers Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado is looking at $13M-$15M at 3,500 sites. Typically, late September is home to a family animated movie, i.e. Abominable, Cloudy With a Chance With Meatballs, The Wild Robot, the list goes on. Blurb for Forgotten Island: Two best friends become stranded on the mystical world of Nakali, where their only escape might cost them their shared lifetime of memories. Previews today stateside began at 2PM and are between $800K-$1M, we hear. Pic has a staggered offshore rollout. Last weekend, $1.5M was made in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. An additional 31 markets this weekend will bring Forgotten Island‘s count to 34 markets with an additional $10M in store.
Resident Evil‘s cume through Wednesday stands at $76.8M.
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As Jimmy Kimmel returns to his late-night post, he’s ready to take the show across the river for Brooklyn Week once again.
On Thursday, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will head to Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House for the eighth Brooklyn Week, which will kick off next Monday with an all-star lineup.
This year’s guests for Brooklyn Week include New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Mahershala Ali, Billy Crystal, Pete Davidson, Robby Hoffman, Paul McCartney, Seth Meyers, Tom Morello, John Oliver, Bernie Sanders, Bruce Springsteen and Howard Stern, with musical guests De La Soul, Goose, TV On the Radio, and Springsteen & Tom Morello.
All five shows will tape in front of a live studio audience at BAM, to air every weeknight at 11:35pm ET on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
Jimmy Kimmel Live is produced by 12:05 AM Productions LLC, in association with Kimmelot and 20th Television. Kimmel, Erin Irwin, Molly McNearney, Jennifer Sharron and David Craig serve as executive producers, with Douglas DeLuca and Danny Ricker as co-executive producers.
Brooklyn Week comes after ABC denied “inaccurate” reports that Jimmy Kimmel Live! is ending in 2027 after 24 seasons.
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