In addition to streaming on Disney+, all 11 live-action Star Wars movies will now also be available on Disney’s linear networks — including broadcast (ABC) and cable (FX nets, Freeform) — starting this month. The arrangement stems from Disney renegotiating the existing domestic licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Networks, which will continue to carry the full suite of movies.
The development comes as the seven-year term of TNets’ deal for the first six Star Wars movies, consisting of the two George Lucas trilogies, expired at the end of September, with the windows on the newer films staggered and set to expire at different times over the next couple of years.
The new co-exclusive multi-year deal aligns the terms of the 11 films for both the Disney and the Turner networks, which will end at the same time. The fate of the slate’s domestic linear TV rights beyond that has not been determined. >>>Complicated History |
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'Fear' Factor - A producer on Shudder’s Queer for Fear series has sued the streaming service, AMC Networks and executive producer Bryan Fuller for sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and retaliation. In response, a new suit for defamation and malicious prosecution could be coming soon, an attorney for Fuller says. >>>Sexual Assault Allegations
Chris Rock & MLK - Universal Pictures is gearing up to tell a definitive cinematic biopic about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. The studio has optioned the rights to adapt Jonathan Eig’s critically acclaimed biography King: A Life. Chris Rock is in final talks to direct and produce, and Steven Spielberg will be executive producer. >>>A Big Step Up
Shiny Floor Despite War - Talpa Studios entertainment format The Floor is in production in Ukraine, as a response to the devastating war that continues to cripple the Eastern European country. Novy Channel and Netherlands-based Talpa are co-producing the remake of the shiny floor show as part of a relief effort designed to “offer a form if distraction from the news and contribute to the positive well-being of Ukrainian viewers,” they say. >>> Set To Air Next Spring
The Ax Falls At Amazon - Layoffs happened yesterday across Amazon communications divisions domestically and in several other countries, sources tell Deadline. More than 5% of the workforce is said to be impacted in the communications divisions of Amazon Studios, Prime Video and Music. Across the entire company, the cut represents less than 1% of Amazon’s global communications staff. >>>Severance Packages Offered
A Real American Horror Story - Hulu is preparing to launch a documentary film about McKamey Manor, widely regarded as the world’s most haunted house. Cash Cab producer Lion Television US is behind Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House, which will launch next week as part of Hulu’s Halloween Season and follows the story of Russ McKamey, the Navy veteran turned master of horror who invites adrenaline junkies to the house and puts them through their paces to the extreme. >>> Controversial Events |
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We talk with Marvel executive and Loki season 2 EP Kevin Wright, who is with the series from start to finish, script to post, about the daunting task of regaining Season One form. >>> Read The Interview |
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Exclusive
Scott Bakula will return to the New York stage this winter in an Off Broadway, world premiere production of the new musical The Connector, conceived and directed by Daisy Prince with music and lyrics by Tony winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade) and a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman.
Exclusive
Shane West (A Walk to Remember) and Nikki Roumel (Ginny & Georgia) are currently in production in Illinois on You Don’t Belong Here, a supernatural thriller from director Chris McGowan, which has been granted a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement.
American Idol winner Nick Fradiani will take over the role of Neil Diamond this month from the departing Will Swenson in Broadway‘s bio-musical A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical, producers Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio announced today. |
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More News
🤠 Kevin Costner is staking his claim. The Oscar winning filmmaker's self-funded, two-part western epic Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 and 2 will open in theaters on June 28 and August 16.
✌ “Theaters and streamers need to coexist,” Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts, concluded during a keynote this morning in London. “For our Academy,” he continued, “the theatrical experience is extremely important." He added, “We are going to be constantly assessing how theatrical and streaming connect as we move forward. But I don’t think one will dominate the other for us.”
🏁 The upcoming third season of Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo’s Max comedy series Sort Of will be its last. Co-creators Baig and Filippo announced the news, stressing in their statement that it was their decision to end the series. "We feel in this coming season that story came to an end in a way that felt right for us," Baig and Filippo wrote. |
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Trending  Suits has again landed in the No. 1 spot on the overall Nielsen Streaming Top 10 for a 12th week, surpassing Ozark for the most No. 1 finishes on the overall chart ever.
🔻 Amazon has shut down live audio service Amp about 18 months after it launched in beta. Live audio gained traction as a digital category during Covid, but even the leader in the space, Clubhouse, announced in April that it was laying off 50% of its staff. |
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OBITUARIES
🕯 Dick Butkus, a Hall of Famer who was among the greatest, most respected and most feared players in NFL history and also had a long acting career in TV, film and commercials, died overnight in his sleep at his Malibu home. He was 80. 🕯 Paul Noble, a veteran executive who served as co-head of global theatrical marketing at Sony Pictures Entertainment since 2021, has died. He was 51. 🕯 Keith Jefferson, whose acting credits included Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the about-to-debut The Burial, has died of cancer at 53. Jefferson announced on Instagram Aug. 9 that he had been diagnosed with the disease. On Thursday, actor Jamie Foxx took to Instagram to mourn his longtime friend. 🕯 Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries |
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On the Radar
Fri - Darren Aronofsky's Postcard from Earth debuts at the Sphere
Sat - Deadline’s Contenders London
Mon - Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day; WGA membership vote on tentative agreement closes; Deadline’s For the Love of Docs series kicks off
Tue - NHL season opens
Wed - Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour world premiere in L.A. |
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'Air' Show - Apple TV+ released the first photos from its World War II drama Masters of the Air. Austin Butler leads the cast of the nine-episode limited series, which hails from Band of Brothers and The Pacific producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. The project will premiere on January 26. |
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