STX Plots Relaunch; BBC Boss Search Narrows; Fifth Season's New TV Boss

🏃‍♀️ Exclusives, Breaking News & Deadline Originals

View on web New reader? Subscribe SUBSCRIBE. IT'S FREE. STX ENTERTAINMENT TO RELAUNCH WITH NEW INVESTOR ROBERT SIMONDS AND NOAH FOGELSON WILL EXIT Beleaguered STX Entertainment is attempting another reset with a new owner. Crown Productions, the film financing subsidiary of diversified insurance platform A-CAP, will lead the recapitalization and own 100% of STX. The CEO is Peter Coleman, a board member and chief executive of Film Services International (FFI), a holding for historic completion bond company Film Finances, the global leader in the space, and a group of production and post-production firms, which will all become sister companies of STX. A-CAP is a 50% partner in FFI. Deadline hears that STX founder and chairman Robert Simonds and chief executive Noah Fogelson are exiting. Sam Brown, President of STX Film & Television, remains in place. STX films include Gerard Butler’s disaster thriller  Greenland 2: Migration, which opens this weekend via Lionsgate with STX handling international. >>>Slate Plans Deadline Exclusives & Originals BBC Boss Search Narrows - The BBC’s hunt for its next director general is about to enter crunch time, with frontrunners starting to surface from a wide pool of names linked to the biggest job in British media. The BBC’s official job application process closed late last month. Formal interviews are expected to take place in the coming weeks. >>>List Of Contenders A 'Stranger Things' Song Bump - In the week since Stranger Things ended with a two-plus hour S5 and series finale, many of the needle drops selected for the final episode have surged in listening. Prince’s “Purple Rain” spiked to a 1,341% increase in global Gen Z streams on Spotify between Dec. 31 when the finale came out and Jan. 7. >>>More Big Movers Fifth Season's New TV Boss - Peter Traugott, a veteran TV executive with more than three decades of experience, is departing Keshet Studios where he has been President since the company’s 2015 launch, sources tell Deadline. He is expected to be named President of TV for indie studio Fifth Season. >>>Long-Vacant Post THE DEADLINE INTERVIEW Golden Globes Host Nikki Glaser Teases Potential "Heated Rivalry" Bit & Says DiCaprio, Roberts and Clooney Have All Been A "Tough Nut" To Crack In Joke Writing Will it be a sophomore slump or comeback of the year for comedian and returning Golden Globes hostess Nikki Glaser? When talking to Deadline at the Golden Globes red carpet preview event on Thursday, Glaser is certainly hoping for the latter.  Admitting that she was “too prepared to fail,” the comedian-actress highlighted that she’s been practicing (“at least 75 times”) and showcasing her material for Sunday night’s 83rd annual Golden Globes ceremony all across various comedy clubs in L.A. “These are some of my favorite jokes I’ve ever written,” Glaser said.>>>Read The Interview      QUOTABLE   "It doesn't sit right." - Comedian John Mulaney on postponing his Minneapolis shows after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent  CASTING ABOUT exclusive Billy Bob Thornton and Ariana Greenblatt are set to star in Somedays, a feature film that Brian Klugman is writing and directing.   exclusive A wish from the internet is coming true: Kathryn Hahn is in talks with Disney to play Mother Gothel in the studio’s live-action take on Tangled. Jim Parsons will return to Broadway in the upcoming musical comedy Titanique, producers announced today, with other new cast members including Deborah Cox, Frankie Grande and the show’s co-creator Constantine Rousouli.   exclusive Apple Original Films and Platinum Dunes’ psychological thriller Sponsor has added SAG Award winner Justine Lupe to the pic, which stars and was co-written by Jason Segel. BY THE NUMBERS   201 - Number of films eligible for the Best Picture Oscar this year MORE NEWS   📜 On the day that Warner Bros. Discovery‘s board announced its rejection of Paramount‘s latest bid, the David Ellison-led company took its argument to Capitol Hill. In a letter  filed with a House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee on Wednesday, Paramount’s chief legal officer, Makan Delrahim, wrote to lawmakers that the Netflix-WBD combination was “presumptively unlawful.” 🏆 Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another leads the 2026 BAFTA Film longlists with a record 16 mentions. 🤖 X has stopped its AI chatbot Grok from generating images for most users amid a furious backlash over sexualized pictures of women and children and threats of a ban in the UK. 💅 Hulu has acquired the rights to all seasons of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. It brings together the entire library of Kardashian-fronted reality shows in one place – Hulu original The Kardashians recently wrapped its seventh season. 🍏 Apple CEO Tim Cook's total compensation held steady at $72.3 billion in 2025 compared with 2024. The pay figure was disclosed Thursday in the tech giant’s annual proxy statement. HIRINGS, PROMOTIONS & EXITS 🕯️ Donald C. Rogers, who worked sound on films like Rocky (1976), The Goonies (1985) and Little Shop of Horrors (1986), has died. He was 94. 🕯️ Danielle Scott-Haughton, the BBC drama executive behind shows including the upcoming Peaky Blinders series and Agatha Christie adaptation Towards Zero , has died. She was in her 30s. 🕯️ Chef Elle Simone Scott, the first Black woman to appear as a regular host on PBS’ America’s Test Kitchen, who fought tirelessly for diversity and inclusion in the food industry, died January 5 from ovarian cancer. She was 49. 🕯️ Richard Dimitri, the actor who played twins Bertram and Renaldo in Mel Brooks’ short-lived 1975 sitcom When Things Were Rotten and later appeared opposite Michael Keaton in 1984’s Johnny Dangerously and Richard Dreyfus in 1989’s Let It Ride, died December 18 in Los Angeles following a decades-long battle with heart and lung illnesses. He was 83. 🕯️ 2026 Deaths Photo Gallery ON THE RADAR Sun - The Golden Globes Mon - Oscar nomination voting begins Tue - National Board of Review gala; Ben Affleck & Matt Damon on Fallon PHOTO OF THE DAY Oh Mercy - Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson at a photocall for Mercy at Claridge's Hotel in London. This email was sent to punjabsvera@gmail.com by Deadline. Please add email@email.deadline.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11355 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA, 90064 View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Rights | Ad Choices | Terms of Use | Unsubscribe