Tag: Netflix

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Oscars 2026: ‘One Battle After Another’ wins best picture while ‘Sinners’ makes history

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywood’s top honor to a comic, multi-generational American saga of political resistance.

The ceremony Sunday, which also saw Michael B Jordan win best actor and “Sinners” cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first female director of photography to win the award, was a long-in-coming coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short at age 18 and has been one of America’s most lionized filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar.

But “One Battle After Another,” the favorite coming in, won six Oscars, including best director and best adapted screenplay for Anderson, the Oscars’ first trophy for best casting and best supporting actor for an absent Sean Penn.

“I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world — we’re handing off to them,” said Anderson while accepting the screenplay trophy. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”

Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-set, blues-soaked vampire tale “Sinners,” which came in with a record 16 nominations, also landed some big and even historic wins. Coogler, the widely loved filmmaker, won the first Oscar in an unblemished career that started out with Jordan in 2013’s “Fruitvale Station.”

Jessie Buckley, left, winner of the award for best actress in a leading role for “Hamnet,” and Michael B. Jordan, winner of the award for best actor in a leading role for “Sinners,” pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Arkapaw was also the first Black person to win for best cinematography. Only the fourth female cinematographer ever nominated, her win was a long-in-coming triumph for women behind the camera.

“I really want all the women in room to stand up,” said Arkapaw. “Because I don’t feel like I get here without you guys.”

And Jordan, one of Hollywood’s most liked leading men, won best actor in one of the night’s closest races. The Dolby Theatre rose to its feet in the most thunderous applause of the night.

“Yo, momma, what’s up?” said Jordan after staggering to the stage.

The Oscar night belonged to Warner Bros., the studio of “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners,” which scored a record-tying 11 wins. It was an oddly poignant note of triumph for the fabled studio, which weeks earlier agreed to a sale to Paramount Skydance, David Ellison’s rapidly assembled media monolith. The $111 billion deal, which awaits regulatory approval, has Hollywood bracing for more layoffs.

But “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” — the much-acclaimed heavyweights of the season — were each Hollywood anomalies: big-budget originals born from a personal vision. In a year where anxiety over studio contraction and the rise of artificial intelligence often consumed the industry, both films gave Hollywood fresh hope.

Jessie Buckley won best actress for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare in “Hamnet,” making her the first Irish performer to ever win in the category. At an Oscars where no other acting award seemed a sure thing, Buckley cruised into Sunday’s Oscars at the Dolby Theatre as the overwhelming favorite.

“It’s Mother’s Day in the UK,” said Buckley on the stage. “I would like to dedicated this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”

From the start, when host Conan O’Brien sprinted through the year’s nominees as Amy Madigan’s character in the horror thriller “Weapons” in a pre-taped bit, Sunday’s ceremony was quirky, a little clunky and preoccupied with the shifting place of movies in culture. There was, of all things, a tie for best live-action short film.

Host Conan O’Brien performs during the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

As expected, the Netflix sensation “KPop Demon Hunters,” 2025’s most-watched film, won best animated feature, as well as best song for “Golden.” It was a big win for Netflix but a more qualified victory for the movie’s producer, Sony Pictures. Though it developed and produced the film, Sony sold “KPop Demon Hunters” to the streaming giant instead of giving it a theatrical release.

On Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters” became a cultural phenomenon and the streaming platform’s biggest hit. It has more than 325 million views and counting.

“This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere,” said co-director Maggie Kang.

Another Netflix release, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” picked up three awards for its lavish craft, for costume design, makeup and hairstyling and for production design.

Amy Madigan won best supporting actress for her performance in the horror thriller “Weapons,” a win that came 40 years after the 75-year-old actor was first nominated, in 1986, for “Twice in a Lifetime.” Letting out a giant laugh as she hit the stage, Madigan exclaimed, “This is great!”

Hosting for the second time, O’Brien began the Dolby Theatre show alluding to “chaotic and frightening times.” But he argued that the current geopolitical climate made the Oscars all the more resonate as a globally unifying force.

“We pay tribute tonight, not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today — optimism,” O’Brien said. “We’re going to celebrate. Not because we think all is well, but because we work, and hope, for better.”

Throughout the show, O’Brien hit a number of targets, like Timothée Chalamet — who again missed out on winning his first Oscar, this time for “Marty Supreme” — for his diss of opera and ballet. But the ceremony seldom wasn’t shadowed by politics, whether in references to changes under U.S. President Donald Trump or the recently launched war in Iran.

Joachim Trier, whose Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” won best international film, quoted James Baldwin in his acceptance speech: “All adults are responsible for all children,” he said. “Let’s not vote for politicians that don’t take this seriously into account.”

Presenter Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night show last year was suspended after comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s killing, was among the most blunt.

“There are some countries that don’t support free speech,” said Kimmel. “I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”

Shortly after, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” a film about a Russian primary schoolteacher who documents his students’ indoctrination to support Russia’s war with Ukraine, won best documentary.

“’Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ is about how you lose your country,” co-director said. “And what we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless, small, little acts of complicity.”

“We all face a moral choice,” he added, “but, luckily, a nobody is more powerful than you think.”

Elegy also marked the Oscars. Producers expanded the in memoriam segment following a year that featured the deaths of so many Hollywood legends, including Keaton, Robert Duvall and Redford. Barbra Streisand spoke about Redford, her “The Way We Were” co-star.

“Bob had real backbone,” said Streisand, who called Redford “an intellectual cowboy” before singing a few bars of “The Way We Were.”

Billy Crystal paid tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner, who were killed in their home in December. Crystal, a close friend of Rob Reiner’s who memorably starred in 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally…” and 1987’s “Princess Bride.” In his moving remarks, Crystal quoted the latter.

“All we can say is: Buddy, how much fun we had storming the castle,” said Crystal.

Yet again, the night’s final award again didn’t go to a streaming release; Apple’s “CODA” remains the only streaming film to achieve that distinction. “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” were both theatrical releases shot on film.

Apple’s top contender this time, the Formula One race drama “F1,” a movie that it partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute theatrically, won for best sound. The lone blockbuster of the year to go home with a win was “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” for visual effects.

Some of O’Brien’s best digs came at the expense of the streamers. Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, he joked, was in a theater for the first time. The host also lamented the lack of nominees for Amazon MGM: “Why isn’t the website I order toilet paper from winning more Oscars?”

“I’m honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards,” said O’Brien. “Next year it’s going to be a Waymo in a tux.” (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Netflix okays sequel of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

Netflix has confirmed that a sequel to the ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ animation feature is in the works, with Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans returning to write and direct the second adventure of the Huntrix Girl Group singers.

Speaking after the news, Kang said, “I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters. There’s so much more to this world we have built, and I’m excited to show you. This is only the beginning.”

“These characters are like family to us; their world has become our second home. We’re excited to write their next chapter, challenge them and watch them evolve – and continue pushing the boundaries of how music, animation and story can come together,” added Appelhans.

Released on Netflix on June 20, 2025, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ became an instant global hit, and is in the race for the Oscars for the Best Animation, and Best Original Song score ‘Golden’ for the film’s soundtrack written by Ejae and Mark Sonnenblick, and sung by Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami.

The animation had won the Golden Globes in both categories, and recently swept the Annie Awards and topped the animation contenders at the VES Awards. It has also been recognized by numerous critics’ circles, including the Critics’ Choice Awards.

The sequel is set to release in the year 2029. (Leadership)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Netflix stock surges as it walks away from Warner Bros deal

Netflix’s stock is surging as investors applauded its decision to exit the race for Warner Bros Discovery, a months-long bidding war with Paramount Skydance for some of Hollywood’s most prized assets.

The stock jumped more than 10 percent on Friday. That came on the heels of Netflix’s decision on Thursday evening that it would not match Paramount’s latest $31 per share bid or raise its offer of $27.75 a share for Warner Bros’s studio and streaming assets, stating that the deal was “no longer financially attractive”.

Warner had given Netflix four business days to come up with a counteroffer for Paramount’s latest bid — but Netflix, instead, responded less than two hours later, declining to raise its proposal. It said the new price it would have to pay made the deal “no longer financially attractive”.

“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros′ iconic brands,” Netflix’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a joint statement. “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

The decision was welcomed by investors. Shares of the streaming giant had shed more than 18 percent since Netflix announced its deal with Warner Bros on December 5.

The latest move is a “tick in the box” for discipline, said Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot.

“What you want from a management team is an ability to look at acquisitions, value them, pay what they think is a fair price, but to not overpay.”

Analysts and investors had questioned whether Netflix’s bid was a defensive attempt to block a future competitor or an offensive shift away from its historically disciplined build-versus-buy approach.

“A positive turn of events in our view, as we believe NFLX’s withdrawal from the race will leave it free to refocus on its business, while its closest competitors grapple with long and distracting regulatory approval and merger integration processes, and with PSKY saddled with sizable deal debts,” HSBC analysts said.

Shares of the David Ellison-led Paramount, meanwhile, were up 17 percent.

Paramount’s deal, valued at $110bn, including debt, represents nearly 13 times Warner Bros’ EBITDA – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or core profits – this year, according to estimates from LSEG. That is well above what Paramount is worth on the same basis, which is 7 times its estimated earnings.

A tie-up with Warner Bros would allow Paramount’s storied Hollywood studio to tap into Warner’s deep trove of intellectual property – including franchises such as Fantastic Beasts and The Matrix – across film, television and streaming.

“WBD’s largest asset is declining, and the company is still under debt from its last failed merger. But this deal is more about Ellison taking over Hollywood and ego than it is about good business sense,” said Ross Benes, senior analyst at Emarketer.

For Paramount’s streaming unit, a combination with HBO Max and Discovery+ would reshape its position in a streaming era long dominated by Netflix.

“Paramount was the streaming market laggard, and it needs Warner Bros’ content and capabilities to play catch-up. It will need more than Harry Potter for the deal to work its magic and enable Paramount to fight off Netflix, Disney and Amazon in the streaming wars,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

In the fight for Warner Bros, the Paramount consortium – backed by Larry Ellison, billionaire and ally of United States President Donald Trump, and led by his son, Paramount CEO David Ellison – also boosted its termination fee to $7bn and expanded its financing commitments, including $45.7bn in equity.

“There is a right price and wrong price for any acquisition, and the pressure is now on Paramount to prove the big financial outlay is worth it,” said Coatsworth. (AlJazeera)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Netflix debated launching a theatrical movie business before Warner Bros. deal, Co-CEOs Say

Netflix has never been against putting its movies in theaters, according to the streamer’s top execs — but before it agreed to buy Warner Bros., it was too busy managing the fast-growing streaming business.

Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, speaking on the company’s Q4 2025 earnings interview, said the company had in the past internally debated whether or not to launch a business to distribute original Netflix films in theaters. But that always fell short of Netflix’s priorities list as the streaming side of the company continued to grow quickly.

Of course, the perception that Netflix doesn’t think theatrical is a great business was crystallized by Sarandos’ comments last year that moviegoing was “outmoded.” At the Time100 Summit in April 2025, Sarandos called the communal moviegoing experience “an outmoded idea.”

But that was then, and this is now, Sarandos told analysts Tuesday. “We were not in the theatrical business when I made those observations,” Sarandos said. “Remember, I’ve said it many times, this is a business, not a religion. So conditions change. Insights change. And we have a culture that we reevaluate things when they do.” He called out Netflix’s prior “pivots” around advertising, sports rights and live events — areas the company had previously said it had no interest in developing.

According to Sarandos, “we debated many times over the years whether we should build a theatrical distribution engine or not. And in a world of priority-setting and constrained resources, it just didn’t make the priority cut.”

When the WB deal closes, he said, “We will have the benefit of a scaled, world-class theatrical distribution business with more than $4 billion of global box office. And we’re excited to maintain it and further strengthen that business.” Sarandos, as part of his campaign to win over opponents to the megadeal, has committed to keeping Warner Bros. movies in a 45-day theatrical window.

Netflix’s default position going into talks with Warner Bros. Discovery was that “we were not buyers,” Sarandos said. “We went into this though with our eyes open, and our minds open. And when we got into, we both [Sarandos and Peters] got very excited about this amazing opportunity.”

Peters said that, based on Netflix’s film output deals, it already knew that the theatrical model is an “effective complement to the streaming model.” But when it came to recurring the question of building a theatrical distribution business, he said, “we were busy investing in other areas.”

Netflix has seen upside from special event releases of its originals in movie theaters, including the New Year’s Eve run of the “Stranger Things 5” finale (which generated more than $25 million at the box office) and the company’s limited runs of smash hit “KPop Demon Hunters.”

According to Netflix CFO Spence Neumann, the company sees the WB deal as an accelerant to its existing business. Roughly 85% of the revenue of the combined Netflix-WB, on a pro-forma basis, will come from the core streaming business with the added benefit of the Warner Bros. films and TV studios, he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Netflix announced it was switching the $83 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and HBO Max streaming business to an all-cash offer. That was driven by pressure from Paramount Skydance, which has been pursuing a hostile takeover attempt of Warner Bros. Discovery with what it alleges is a superior deal for WBD shareholders. Netflix and WBD expect the transaction to close in 12-18 months, but right now it’s unclear how much resistance the deal with face from regulators. (Variety)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

KPop Demon Hunters wins Golden Globes for best animated film

Netflix mega-hit KPop Demon Hunters has won a Golden Globe for best animated feature, while its breakout anthem Golden was named best original song.

The animated film, which centres on a girl band Huntr/x that uses music to save the world from evil forces, has scored many chart-topping achievements since it premiered in June.

“Through this film we really wanted to depict female characters the way that we know women, which is really strong and bold,” director Maggie Kang said.

Fellow director Chris Appelhans, who accepted the best animated feature award with Kang, called the film a “love letter to music”. “To the power it has to connect us, to make us see some kind of shared humanity,” he said.

Fans have spoken of how the film’s empowering themes of self-acceptance, community, and fighting against inner “demons” resonated with them.

Singer-songwriter Ejae, who co-wrote and performed Golden, accepted the award for best original song along with Mark Sonnenblick and Lee Hee-joon.

In a tearful speech, she recalled her “tireless” pursuit early in her career to become a K-pop idol had ended with rejection and disappointment.

She dedicated the award to “people who have [had] their doors closed at them”. “It’s never too late to shine like you were born to be”, she said, quoting the song’s lyrics.

“I’m so part of a song that is helping other girls, other boys and everyone all get through their hardship to accept themselves,” she said.

KPop Demon Hunters quickly became an animated sensation since its release in June.

It became Netflix’s most-watched film of all time within two months, with Golden clinching the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 just weeks after it dropped. Another track, Your Idol, made it to number eight on the Hot 100.

Sunday’s Golden Globe accolades come after the film was named best animated feature and Golden named best song at the Critics Choice Award early this month.

Ejae earlier told the BBC that the film’s success “feels like a dream”.

“It’s like I’m surfing for the first time and a big wave just came through,” she told BBC Newsbeat. “I’m trying my best to get through it.

Korean-American actress Arden Cho, who voiced the main character Rumi, said her life mirrored Rumi’s journey.

“I can honestly say that at different points in my life, I hated a lot of myself and I wanted to be someone else,” she told BBC Global Women.

“I hated that I looked Asian, that I didn’t have blue eyes and blonde hair, because that’s what was beautiful at the time.”

Cho said the film was a tribute to people in underrepresented communities – it’s a film that brings “hope and joy and love to all these different communities”.

The film’s success at the Golden Globes – often seen as a prelude to the Academy Awards – will likely stoke Oscar buzz.

KPop Demon Hunters is one of 35 film features eligible for the animated feature category at this year’s Oscars. However the films shortlisted for this category has not yet been announced. (BBC)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Golden Globes 2026: “One Battle After Another” and British series “Adolescence” win big

The stars of film and TV gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday for the 83rd Golden Globes ceremony, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another and Netflix miniseries Adolescence emerged as the big winners on the night, earning four Globes apiece.

One Battle After Another won Best Film (Comedy or Musical), Best Supporting Actress for Teyana Taylor, Best Director and Best Screenplay, both for Anderson, who has become only the second filmmaker after Oliver Stone to collect Best Director, Screenplay and Film (as a producer) at the Globes.

Loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s postmodern countercultural novel “Vineland”, Anderson’s tenth feature centers around a dishevelled revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is forced out of retirement when a former enemy (Sean Penn) threatens his daughter (Chase Infiniti) in a bid to revive an old grudge. Euronews Culture ranked it our Number 1 Movie of 2025 and it is the clear front-runner this awards season.

In one of the evening’s best speeches, singer and actress Teyana Taylor sent a message to “my brown sisters and little brown girls watching tonight”.

“Our light does not need permission to shine,” she told them. “We belong in every room we walk into. Our voices matter and our dreams deserve space.”

While many were betting on Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners to take Best Film in the Drama section, Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, a speculative drama about William and Agnes Shakespeare based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel, pulled off an upset by winning the Best Film (Drama). Its star, Jessie Buckley, also won Best Actress in a Drama.

At the Oscars, Buckley will have to compete against Rose Byrne, who was rewarded for her lead performance in Mary Bronstein’s punishing parental drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

Sinners – another one of our 2025 favourites – did end up winning Best Score and the Cinematic and Box-office Achievement award, beating the likes of Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1, Weapons and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Other big winners of the evening include Timothée Chalamet, who nabbed his first Golden Globe for Marty Supreme, beating George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio. The 30-year-old is poised to win his first Oscar for his role in Josh Safdie’s first solo outing behind the camera. Loosely inspired by the life and career of US ping-pong player Marty Reisman, Marty Supreme is a coming-of-age film about scheming and whatever-it-takes determination in the face of adversity.

“My dad instilled in me a spirit of gratitude growing up: Always be grateful for what you have,” said Chalamet. “It’s allowed me to leave this ceremony in the past empty handed, my head held high, grateful just to be here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say those moments didn’t make this moment that much sweeter.”

Elsewhere, Brazilian actor Wagner Moura was the surprise winner in the Drama category for his role in the political thriller The Secret Agent, becoming the first Brazilian to win the award. His win follows Fernanda Torres’ success last year for I’m Still Here.

“This is a film about memory – or the lack of memory – and generational trauma,” Moura said. “I think that if trauma can be passed along generations, values can too. So this is to the ones that are sticking with their values in difficult moments.”

The Secret Agent also won Best Film (Non-English language), beating favourite Sentimental Value.

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, 74, did win Best Supporting Actor for Sentimental Value. He joked that he hadn’t prepared a speech “because I thought that I was too old”, before making an impassioned plea for people to see films like his on the big screen.

“Cinema should be seen in cinemas,” he said to cheers from the audience. (EuroNews)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Warner Bros favours Netflix offer over $108bn Paramount bid

Warner Bros Discovery has told its shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance’s $108.4bn (£80.75bn) takeover bid.

Paramount had said its offer was”superior” to a $72bn deal that Warner Bros struck with Netflix for its film and streaming businesses.

But in a dramatic plot twist in the story of who will take control of one of Hollywood’s oldest and most famous movie studios, Warner Brother’s board “unanimously” recommended rejecting the offer and agreed the deal with Netflix was in the firm’s best interests.

The media giant put itself up for sale in October after receiving “multiple” expressions of interest from potential buyers, including approaches from Paramount Skydance.

On 5 December, Warner Bros Discovery said it had agreed to sell its film and streaming businesses to Netflix.

In a lengthy legal filing, Warner Bros Discovery’s board said the offer from Paramount poses numerous and significant risks, and strongly rejects the idea that the Ellison family – one of America’s richest – is financially supporting the bid.

Paramount is backed by the billionaire Ellison family, which has close ties to the president.

In a reflection of where power now lies in the entertainment industry, the Warner Bros board says the offer from streaming giant Netflix is well financed and offers better long term value to shareholders.

Netflix welcomed the recommendation from Warner Bros. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-chief executive, called the company’s merger agreement “superior” and “in the best interest of stockholders”.

In a letter to Warner Bros shareholders, Netflix reiterated its stance that its bid for Warner Bros involves a clearer funding structure and less regulatory risk.

Paramount could still come back with another offer, meaning the take-over saga gripping Hollywood isn’t over yet.

The are considerable differences between the Netflix and Paramount offers.

Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros. movie studio and its HBO streaming service, which would also give it access to Warner Bros’ rich library of content and secure access to those movies and shows for its subscribers.

But it doesn’t want the media giant’s pay-TV channels. If Warner Bros. goes with the Netflix deal it would leave Warner Bros to sell off its television networks, such as CNN and TNT, into a separate company before the takeover is completed.

Paramount, on the other hand, wants to buy Warner Bros in its entirety, which would mean acquiring competitors to its own TV channels such as CBS, MTV and Showtime.

Regulators might raise questions about an erosion of consumer choice, as the entertainment industry continues to consolidate ownership. (BBC)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses for $72bn

Netflix has agreed to buy the film and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery for $72bn (£54bn) in a major Hollywood deal.

The streaming giant emerged as the successful bidder for Warner Bros ahead of rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance after a drawn-out battle.

Warner Bros owns franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and the streaming service HBO Max.

The takeover is set to create a new giant in the entertainment industry, but the deal will still have to be approved by competition authorities.

Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos said the streamer was “highly confident” it would receive the regulatory approval it needs and it was running “full speed” towards this.

He said that by combining the library of Warner Bros shows and movies with the streaming platform’s series such as Stranger Things, “we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling”.

“Warner Bros have defined the last century of entertainment, and together we can define the next one,” he said.

Asked whether HBO should remain a separate streaming service, co-chief executive Greg Peters said Netflix believed the HBO brand was important for consumers, but added: “We think it’s quite early to get into the specifics of how we’re going to tailor this offering for consumers.”

Netflix estimates it will find $2bn to $3bn in savings, mostly through eliminating overlaps in the support and technology areas of the businesses.

Films made by Warner Bros will continue to be launched in cinemas, it said, and Warner Bros television studio will continue to be able to produce for third parties. Netflix will keep producing content exclusively for its own platform.

Labelling it a “big day” for the companies, Mr Sarandos acknowledged the acquisition may have surprised some shareholders but it was a “rare opportunity” to set Netflix up for success “for decades to come”.

David Zaslav, president and chief executive of Warner Bros, added the agreement would combine “two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world”.

“By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come,” he said.

The cash and stock deal is worth $27.75 per Warner Bros share, with a total enterprise value – which includes the company’s debts and the value of its shares – of about $82.7bn. The equity value, or cash price, is $72bn.

The boards of directors from each company unanimously approved the deal. (BBC)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul to fight two-time world champion Anthony Joshua on Dec. 19

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul will fight recent world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a professional bout on Dec 19.

The heavyweight bout, which will consist of eight three-minute rounds, will take place at Kaseya Center in Miami and will be streamed live on Netflix.

It will be the toughest fight yet for the 28-year-old Paul, who has a 12-1 record (7 KOs) and last fought in June when he beat former middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr. by unanimous decision.

“This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day,” Paul told Netflix. “A professional heavyweight fight against an elite world champion in his prime.

“When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears, and no one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. To all my haters, this is what you wanted.”

Joshua is a two-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist, but the 36-year-old hasn’t fought since losing to Daniel Dubois in an IBF title fight in September 2024.

“Jake or anyone can get this work,” Joshua said. “No mercy. I took some time out and I’m coming back with a mega show. It’s a big opportunity for me.

“Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst keeping cool, calm and collected … I’m about to break the internet over Jake Paul’s face.” (JapanToday)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Demon-hunting HUNTR/X to debut live performance on ‘The Tonight Show’ next week


The singing trio behind HUNTR/X, the fictional music group at the center of the summer’s massively popular animated film “KPop Demon Hunters,” is scheduled to perform live for the first time Oct 7 on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

The NBC show announced that Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami will perform their smash hit “Golden” from the Sony Pictures/Netflix film that gave Netflix is first No. 1 box-office title in the streaming company’s 18-year history. The film’s soundtrack topped the charts.

The three will also join Fallon on the couch for interviews. Their appearance will stream the next day on Peacock. Jennifer Lopez is also a guest.

The film centers on Huntr/X, the superstar K-pop trio who double as demon hunters. The members, Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zooey (Ji-young Yoo), must protect their fans and face their biggest enemy yet: a rival boy band made up of demons in disguise.

Fans have flooded the internet with art, covers, cosplay and choreography in response to the movie, which continues to be a mainstay on Netflix’s weekly Top 10 list since its launch 14 weeks ago. (JapanToday)