Nate Bargatze — one of the world’s top-selling stand-up comedians — wants to make his upcoming family movie The Breadwinner affordable for everyone to watch on he big screen.

The TriStar and Sony release opens in theaters on May 29, and marks his most high-profile project since hosting the Emmy Awards ceremony in September.

Based on an original script he wrote with Dan Lagana and directed by Eric Appel, The Breadwinner stars Bargatze as salesman Nate Wilcox and Mandy Moore as Katie, who is the ultimate mom. But when Katie’s household invention leads to a once-in-a-lifetime deal on Shark Tank and takes her on a prolonged business trip, Nate has to figure out how to keep the house from (literally) falling apart. He and his kids soon learn that while he may not do it like mom, he can figure out how to do it his way.

Studios can’t dictate pricing policies, but Bargatze is hopeful that cinema operators will treat The Breadwinner the same way they supported discounted pricing for showing of 80 for Brady.

Soon after Bargatze announced the “Nate Rate” on Instagram, insiders say AMC Theatres, the largest chain in the country, are among a number of circuits that have already agreed to use matinee pricing for showings of The Breadwinnner, while Cinemark may discount prices by as much as 25 percent. Pricing and availability will vary, so audiences will need to check their local listings.

“Hello, everybody! My movie The Breadwinner is coming out May 29 and I’ve got something very exciting that I wanted to let you know,” wrote Bargatze in his post. “So the Nate Rate is a special kind of lower ticket price because we want everyone to come out to this movie. This movie is for your grandparents, grandkids, aunts, uncles, friends, sister…anybody. Your dog. Cats I think will love this movie, specifically. Anybody that wants to come out.”

When interviewed for The Hollywood Reporter’s 2025 cover story on Bargatze — hailed as the “Nicest Man in Standup” — TriStar Pictures president Nicole Brown discussed The Breadwinner’s appeal for the Sony label. “The idea of his first film being so personal and authentic to him and his comedy felt like the perfect foray, and he’d really identified a space,” she said. “He was like, ‘I want to be able to watch a film with my whole family. We can go watch animation now, but there’s nothing with real people in it.’”  

A re-configured multi-million settlement of sorts between Village Roadshow & Warner Bros over The Matrix: Resurrections seems prophetic and very much of the matrix in its own special way.

With the once big league film co-financier paying out $57 million to the likely soon-to-be David Ellison-owned studio, the words of Matrix: Resurrections‘ Smith to Neo of “after all these years, to be going back to where it started,” really nails the legal tussling the past four years between WB and the now bankrupt VR.

Which is to say, you might want to pop that red pill now

Earlier this week, lawyers for Warner Bros Discovery pulled the plug on their own attempt to secure a previously awarded $125 million judgement from Village Roadshow. With that “without prejudice” (which means it could be resurrected) move in LA Superior Court, WBD attorneys revealed they had scored $57 million from the 2025 Chapter 11’d VR. That money was scheduled to be in WBD’s account within days – which has happened, I hear.

Warner Bros had no comment on the resolution, and lawyers for Village Roadshow did not respond to Deadline’s request Friday for comment. However, having all started when WB releasing the fourth film in the Wachowskis‘ franchise simultaneously in both theaters and on subscriber hungry streaming during the last gasps of the Covid-19 pandemic, things aren’t quite as blue pill or red pill as they seem.

For one thing, that $57 million is less a new figure in the dispute that went to court in the 2002 breach of contract lawsuit from Village Roadshow against the then Jason Kilar-run Warners, and more some updated accounting with an appeals court thrown in. For another thing, Village Roadshow now has a zero stake in Matrix: Resurrections – which is a long way from where things appeared to stand just a year ago.

Let’s jump back a bit, shall we?

Moved fairly quickly behind closed doors to arbitration, VR’s February 7, 2002 launched lawsuit seemed to shuffle off with the company actually found on the hook for the nearly $100 million in co-financing it never actually ponied up for the Lana Wachowski-helmed Resurrections. Under appeal, the portion of that $125 million that Village Roadshow would have been paying for 50% of Matrix: Resurrections was deemed an overreach. An appeals panel concluded Village Roadshow North America, who had long hit the skids financially, couldn’t be forced to purchase half of MR in the hopes of half of the waterfalled profits.

So they didn’t and they don’t have to pay for something they aren’t going to own any of ..A.K.A. – WB fully owns 100% of The Matrix: Resurrections now. The remaining sum, that $57 million, was reframed as damages.

Not that The Matrix isn’t still pretty valuable in many people’s eyes and spread sheets.

Despite the less than stellar returns and reviews for the cash-in vibed Matrix: Resurrections, Alcon Media Group was awarded derivative rights in November last year to the Matrix franchise and most of the other titles it snared from Village Roadshow Entertainment Group‘s film library in summer 2025.  “Alcon looks forward to working collaboratively with Warner Bros, as we have for over a quarter-century, to partner in the exploitation of the derivative rights to these many great films across multiple platforms,” AMG bosses Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson asserted late last year.

All of which means, under a joint Paramount and WBD umbrella or via siloed studios or whatever, Groff’s Agent Smith also had it right in Matrix: Resurrections when he quipped “that’s the thing about stories …they never really end do they?”

Never in the matrix of Hollywood — IP, bottom line, or otherwise.

The world is celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th birthday.

Huge names as wide ranging as King Charles III, Leonardo DiCaprio, Camila Cabello and Paddington Bear have just delivered virtual birthday messages to Attenborough in a celebration of his life that took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall and aired on the BBC. Others to have sent their love included Nile Rodgers, Judi Dench, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and UN Secretary General António Guterres.

The scale of these rockstar tributes is testament to Attenborough’s seismic impact. The British centenarian is without a doubt the most famous naturalist of all time and is showing no signs of slowing, with the BBC just revealing that he will narrate the upcoming Blue Planet III landmark.

All week, the British press has been awash with tributes to Attenborough, who has been making and presenting nature documentaries for decades.

“His extraordinary talent for storytelling has shaped the way generations of audiences understand and connect with the natural world, and his voice remains synonymous with the very best of the BBC’s natural history output,” said Jack Bootle, Attenborough’s commissioner at the national broadcaster.

Attenborough is one of the UK’s greatest cultural exports and the nation has delighted in celebrating him. Across his career, which kicked off with a stint running BBC Two, he has hosted documentary powerhouses that have changed the shape of wildlife TV including Planet Earth, Life on Earth, Zoo Quest and Our Planet, winning numerous gongs along the way. He has mainly worked for the BBC but in recent years also turned to streamers like Netflix.

Attenborough’s oeuvre has become ever more crucial as global warming has come to the fore of worldwide conversation. He is now seen as a key asset in the battle against climate change. “He has taught me so much about the craft of storytelling which resonates with millions of people,” Tom Macdonald, Nat Geo’s EVP of Content, told Deadline. “As he turns 100, we celebrate a legacy that has not just profoundly shaped documentary making for the better, but the natural world around us.”

“Attenborough takeover day”

Today in London has been “Attenborough takeover day,” with a two-minute special birthday message delivered at the Piccadilly lights honoring his contribution.

Over the past 90 minutes, the BBC has been hosting the live celebration show titled David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth, which included a teaser for Blue Planet III.

It just concluded with an emotional reading by the man himself of “What a Wonderful World” accompanied by glorious shots from the natural world.

Hosted by Kirsty Young, the night mixed birthday messages with celebrations of Attenborough’s biggest shows and greatest moments. The Life on Earth section came with a message from Felix Ndagijimana at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Karisoke research center in Rwanda, who updated on how the famous gorillas are doing since Attenborough visited 50 years ago. The evening moved on to celebrate Planet Earth with a performance from Icelandic band Sigur Rós, the creators of the iconic soundtrack. Blue Planet then took the focus, with broadcasters Steve Backshall and Liz Bonnin discussing the importance of the franchise on plastics and environmental awareness of our oceans.

The show ended on a happy note as the crowd and those watching at home were given the message that Attenborough ain’t going anywhere.

Blue Planet III, which airs later this year, will “build on the groundbreaking legacy of the previous two series, redefining the realm of possibility in underwater wildlife film-making,” the BBC said. As he enters his eleventh decade, Attenborough will be as central to the project as ever.