Entertainment
Paramount Considers Creating Oversight Board at CNN
As Paramount Skydance looks to close its pending $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, the David Ellison-led media giant has considered creating an oversight board at CNN to quell concerns about the network’s independence under the combined company.
The discussions, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, come as the deal is now on hold due to litigation from a group of 12 state attorneys general, which is headed to trial in March. Individuals familiar with the talks told WSJ that the discussions about the CNN board began prior to the state AGs’ lawsuit being filed.
“We always remain open to internal improvements to journalistic integrity,” Paramount said in a statement.
Ellison’s business partner and WME Group executive chairman Ari Emanuel previously floated the idea of a CNN editorial board during an interview on CNBC last week.
“That’s an easy solve and then they can get to the business of making movies and television, which has been difficult over the last six years,” Emanuel said at the time.
More to come…
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Entertainment
Aaron Sorkin Says Bari Weiss’ CBS News Actions Open the Door for ‘Second Blacklist’
Aaron Sorkin is worried Bari Weiss’ moves at CBS News are opening the door for “a second blacklist.”
In a conversation with Esquire published Wednesday, “The West Wing” and “Newsroom” creator was asked his thoughts on the multiple ousters at “60 Minutes” – including Scott Pelley’s firing after disagreements with Weiss. He said its a bad sign in general but worsened because it seems to have been done to curry favor with President Trump.
“Listen, it would be one thing if Bari Weiss came in and just fired some people who shouldn’t be fired and took ’60 Minutes’ segments off the air that should have aired,” Sorkin said. “But it is happening to curry favor with a president who is very easily bribable, and that’s terrifying. Being just a couple of generations removed from the blacklist, I’ll watch things about it and think, ‘I don’t get how these very powerful people – these studio and network heads – just fell in line and recognized a blacklist.’”
He added: “Now I see how. It happened just like this. So we have been, for a little while now, knocking on the door of a second blacklist. I just hope this time around the studio heads and the network heads won’t be so malleable, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case.
“60 Minutes” parted ways with Pelley back in June following the longtime correspondent clashing with editor-in-chief Weiss and accusing her of “murdering” the program.
“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” “60 Minutes” executive producer Nick Bilton wrote in a letter sent to Pelley at the time of his firing. “And I have heard you. I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated for cause effective immediately.”
In the Esquire interview, Sorkin also touched on how his work on HBO’s “The Newsroom” rankled real journalists. He explained that he wished he could approach the show in a new way and that the media was “rightly offended” by certain aspects of the series.
“I always felt like the real news media and I got off on the wrong foot with ‘The Newsroom,’” Sorkin said. “‘The West Wing’ took place in a parallel universe. ‘The Newsroom’ took place in this one. I did that so that I wouldn’t have to invent news stories. And I think that real newspeople felt like I was going to show them how it should have been done.”
He added: “They were rightly offended by that, though that wasn’t my intention. I also felt like we did the show for three seasons on HBO, and I was just never comfortable in my chair writing the show. I always felt like there was a pebble in my shoe. I just wasn’t getting it right. I could write a good scene—I could write a good couple of scenes—but I just could not put a good episode together of the show, and it was driving me nuts.”
CBS News did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
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Entertainment
Waller, Paradise Lost Series Not in Priority Development at DC Studios
Comic book television series “Waller” and “Paradise Lost” are no longer in primary development at DC Studios, TheWrap has learned.
While the series were initially announced a few years ago, James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios, have cautioned that plans for the DC cinematic universe would and could change as their new vision for the comic adaptations takes shape.
Viola Davis would reportedly reprise her role as Amanda Waller in a TV series focused on her character from the “Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker.” “Paradise Lost” would serve as a prequel series for “Wonder Woman.” But both series have taken a back burner to other series in the DC pipeline.
DC Studios is focusing on the upcoming release of TV series “Lanterns,” which premieres this Sunday, and the Jimmy Olsen series, which has cast Skyler Gisondo and Jimmy Tatro, according to a source with knowledge.
A writers room for “Lanterns” Season 2 has been opened with Chris Mundy and Christopher Cantwell as showrunners, but HBO has not yet officially ordered a second season.
And while the “Catwoman” series was one of several ideas that have been discussed in the last few years, an individual with knowledge said it was never officially pitched and turned down.
The news follows TheWrap’s exclusive report that “Booster Gold” will be revamped at DC Studios. Creator David Jenkins announced that his take on “Booster Gold” would not be moving forward at HBO Max, but the series will still move forward at DC Studios with a new creative team, TheWrap has learned.
The industry’s superhero obsession has rolled back specifcally for television series. “Wonder Man” was cancelled earlier this year, despite a Season 2 renewal from Disney+ and an Emmy nomination for Yahya Abdul-Mateen. This is a sudden change for the series, after Jenkins announced on June 15 that he had turned in his pilot script, calling it “one of my favorite pilot scripts” on BlueSky.
Adam Chitwood contributed reporting to this story.
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Entertainment
Alden Ehrenreich Joins ‘Miami Vice ’85’
Alden Ehrenreich has joined Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler in the cast of Joseph Kosinski’s “Miami Vice ’85,’ Universal’s upcoming film revival of the hit ’80s TV series.
Ehrenreich’s role is being kept under wraps, but the film, written by “Nightcrawler” Oscar nominee Dan Gilroy, will be based on the pilot of the original series. That 1984 episode saw the beginning of the partnership between Sonny Crocket and Rico Tubbs, now played by Jordan and Butler, as they take on drug lords and other criminals on the streets of Miami Beach.
Filming for “Miami Vice ’85” is set to begin later this year with a release scheduled for May 19, 2028. Dylan Clark is producing alongside Kosinski, who is best known as the director of hit Best Picture Oscar-nominated films “Top Gun: Maverick” and “F1.” Executive Vice President of Production Development Sara Scott and Creative Executive of Production Development Christina Hoffrogge will oversee the project for the studio.
Ehrenreich most recently received his first Tony Award for his Broadway debut in the play “Becky Shaw” and has recently been seen in Zach Cregger’s horror film “Weapons” and opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” He will next appear opposite Helen Mirren in Anton Corbijn’s “A Talent for Murder,” which will premiere at TIFF next month.
The actor is represented by CAA, Linden Entertainment and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trainer and Klein.
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