Latest news with #DawnChmielewski
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FCC license approval clears way for $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger
By Dawn Chmielewski and David Shepardson (Reuters) -The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, clearing the way for an $8.4 billion sale of some of the most prominent names in entertainment, including the CBS broadcast television network, Paramount Pictures, and the Nickelodeon cable channel. The FCC agreed to transfer broadcast licenses for 28 owned-and-operated CBS television stations to the new owners after Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump over a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired in October. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has said the agency's review of the proposed merger was not connected to the civil suit. The approval came after Skydance and its investment partner, RedBird Capital, assured the FCC of their commitment to unbiased journalism that represents diverse viewpoints. Skydance said it would appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias or other concerns about CBS in an effort to promote transparency and increased accountability. Paramount also eliminated its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to align with the Trump administration's view that such affirmative action policies are discriminatory.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Final 'Squid Game' season lifts Netflix above earnings forecasts
By Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The final season of global phenomenon "Squid Game" helped Netflix top Wall Street earnings targets for the second quarter, the streaming service said on Thursday as it raised revenue guidance for the year. Netflix posted diluted earnings per share of $7.19 for April through June. That topped the $7.08 consensus estimate of analysts polled by LSEG. The company raised revenue guidance for 2025 to $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion, citing the weakening of the U.S. dollar plus "healthy member growth and ad sales." Its previous guidance was up to $44.5 billion. For the just-ended quarter, net income came in at $3.1 billion, edging forecasts of $3.06 billion. Revenue totalled $11.08 billion, above the $11.07 billion analyst projection. Netflix released the third and final season of dystopian Korean drama "Squid Game" a few days before the second quarter ended in June. The show is the most popular non-English Netflix show in the streaming service's history. Season three racked up 122 million views, Netflix said. Other releases during the quarter included "Sirens," "The Four Seasons" and a third season of "Ginny & Georgia." The streaming video pioneer stopped disclosing quarterly subscriber numbers this year, instead urging investors to focus on profit as a measure of its success. It said member growth was ahead of its forecast but occurred late in the quarter, which limited the impact on second-quarter revenue. Netflix has been building an ad-supported service to increase revenue and reel in price-sensitive viewers. It also has added live events such as WWE wrestling to draw advertisers and viewers. Looking ahead, Netflix forecast revenue of $11.5 billion and net income of nearly $3 billion. Analysts had projected $11.3 billion and $2.9 billion. The company also has new seasons of two of its biggest shows coming later this year. "Wednesday" returns in August, and the final episodes of "Stranger Things" will be released in November and December. Netflix previously said it does not expect advertising to be a primary driver of revenue growth in 2025.
RNZ News
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Blood, guts and big bucks: Horror is slaying in cinemas
By Dawn Chmielewski , Reuters Sinners, an original story about Mississippi vampires, is the year's third highest-grossing movie in the US and Canada. Photo: Supplied / Warner Bros. Entertainment Vampires, zombies, and the Grim Reaper are killing it at the box office. At a time when superheroes, sequels and reboots have grown stale among audiences, horror has emerged as an unlikely saviour, entertainment industry veterans say. This year, scary movies account for 17 percent of the North American ticket purchases, up from 11 percent in 2024 and 4 percent a decade ago, according to Comscore data compiled exclusively for Reuters. Thanks to the box office performance of Sinners and Final Destination: Bloodlines , and new instalments of popular horror films hitting later this year, including The Conjuring: Last Rites and Five Nights at Freddy's 2 , cinema owners have reason to celebrate. "We have identified horror as really one of the primary film genres that we are targeting to grow," said Brandt Gully, owner of the Springs Cinema & Taphouse in Sandy Springs, Georgia. "It can really fill a void when you need it." Producers, studio executives and theatre owners say horror has historically provided a safe outlet to cope with contemporary anxieties. And there is no lack of material to choose from: the aftershocks of a global pandemic, artificial intelligence paranoia, the loss of control over one's body, and resurgent racism. "It's cathartic, it's emotional, and it comes with an ending," said film data analyst Stephen Follows, author of the Horror Movie Report, which offers detailed insights into the genre. "Horror movies give space to process things that are harder to face in everyday life." The often low-budget productions allow for greater risk-taking than would be possible with high-cost, high-stakes productions like Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning . The creative freedom has attracted such acclaimed directors as Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele, Danny Boyle and Guillermo del Toro. "Horror movies are an accountant's dream," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore senior media analyst. "If you're going to make a science fiction outer space extravaganza, you can't do that on the cheap. With horror films, a modest-budget movie like Weapons can be scary as hell." Audiences are responding. Coogler's Sinners , an original story about Mississippi vampires starring Michael B. Jordan, was the year's third highest-grossing movie in the US and Canada, according to Comscore. Movie theatres are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which broke the movie-going habit and increased viewing in the home. Mike De Luca, co-chair and Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, which released Sinners , said horror was a genre that manages to get people out of the house. "It's a rising tide that lifts all boats," he said. "You know, we're trying to get people back in the habit of going to the theatres." Fear knows no geographical bounds. Half of all horror movies released by major US distributors last year made 50 percent or more of their worldwide box office gross outside the US, according to London-based researcher Ampere Analysis. The breakout international hit The Substance , for example, grossed over US$77 million worldwide, with around 80 percent of that from outside the US. Streamers are also similarly capitalising on the appeal of the genre. AMC's post-apocalyptic horror drama series The Walking Dead became one of the most popular series when it was added to Netflix in 2023, amassing 1.3 billion hours viewed, according to Netflix's Engagement Report. Director Guillermo del Toro's film adaptation of Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein is set to debut in November. Horror films are ideally suited to watching in movie theatres, where the environment heightens the experience. "What you can't do at home is sit in a dark room with a hundred other people, not on your phone, and jump," said Blumhouse chief executive Jason Blum, producer of Halloween , Paranormal Activity and other lucrative horror franchises. "You can't really be scared when you watch a horror movie at home." Big-budget movies that the industry refers to as "tent poles," such as Captain America: Brave New World or A Minecraft Movie , remain the lifeblood of movie theatres. Over time, these blockbusters have elbowed out more modestly budgeted romantic comedies and dramas on movie screens. Against this backdrop, horror has been quietly gaining momentum. The genre broke the $1 billion box office barrier in the US and Canada for the first time in 2017, Comscore reported, buoyed by the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel, It , and Jordan Peele's exploration of racial inequality in Get Out . Announcements of new horror films from US producers have risen each year for the last three years, including in 2023, when the Hollywood strikes significantly impacted production, according to Ampere Analysis. The number of US horror films that went into production last year was up 21 percent over 2023, Ampere found. "While more arthouse fare and even some tentpole superhero franchises have had mixed fortunes at the global box office in the wake of the pandemic, horror remains one of the key genres that audiences still make a point of seeing in the theatres," wrote researcher Alice Thorpe in a report for Ampere's clients which she shared with Reuters. The researcher's own consumer surveys revealed horror is the favourite genre among two-thirds of movie-goers, ages 18 to 24. "Anytime a teenager graduates to wanting to take a date to the movies, horror gets popular really fast," said Warner Bros' De Luca. "It's a great film-going experience to take a date to because you get to huddle with each other and gasp and hoop and holler." Horror has been a cinematic staple from its earliest days, when Thomas Edison filmed Frankenstein on his motion picture camera, the Kinetograph, in 1910. The British Board of Film Classification introduced the "H" rating in 1932, officially designating the genre. But it didn't always get Hollywood's respect. "In the first half of the 20th century, it was seen as a freak show," said Follows. Perceptions began to change with the critical and commercial success of films like Psycho , The Exorcist, and The Shining. Director Steven Spielberg ushered in the summer blockbuster in 1975 with Jaws , a re-invention of the classic monster movie. In recent years, horror movies have become part of the Oscar conversation. Peele collected an Academy Award for best original screenplay in 2018 for Get Out . Demi Moore received her first Oscar nomination earlier this year for her portrayal of an aging Hollywood star who will go to any lengths to stay beautiful in The Substance . Not every horror movie connects with audiences. M3GAN 2.0 , a sequel to the 2022 low-budget film about a killer robotic doll that grossed $180m worldwide, brought in a modest $10.2m in the US and Canada in its opening weekend, according to Comscore. Theatre chains will have no shortage of horror movies to exhibit this summer. Seven films are slated to be released before Labour Day weekend, including Columbia Pictures's nostalgic reboot of the 1997 film, I Know What You Did Last Summer , which reaches screens on 18 July, and Weapons , which opens on 8 August. "The best types of these movies are ones that elicit an audible and visceral reaction, 'Don't go in there!'" said Screen Gems President Ashley Brucks, who has worked on such films as Sony's upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer as well as A Quiet Place and Scream. "You are either squirming or laughing or screaming and just really having fun with it." - Reuters
Hindustan Times
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Studios bet on horror films to reanimate cinemas
* Studios bet on horror films to reanimate cinemas Horror films provide alternative to superhero movies, reboots * Lower-budget films allow greater creative freedom, attracting acclaimed directors * Horror's global appeal and theatrical experience drive box office success By Dawn Chmielewski LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, - Vampires, zombies and the Grim Reaper are killing it at the box office. At a time when superheroes, sequels and reboots have grown stale among audiences, horror has emerged as an unlikely savior, entertainment industry veterans say. This year, scary movies account for 17 percent of the North American ticket purchases, up from 11 percent in 2024 and 4 percent a decade ago, according to Comscore data compiled exclusively for Reuters. Thanks to the box office performance of 'Sinners' and 'Final Destination: Bloodlines,' and new installments of popular horror films hitting later this year, including 'The Conjuring: Last Rites' and "Five Nights at Freddy's 2,' cinema owners have reason to celebrate. 'We have identified horror as really one of the primary film genres that we are targeting to grow,' said Brandt Gully, owner of the Springs Cinema & Taphouse in Sandy Springs, Georgia. 'It can really fill a void when you need it.' Producers, studio executives and theater owners say horror has historically provided a safe outlet to cope with contemporary anxieties. And there is no lack of material to choose from: the aftershocks of a global pandemic, artificial intelligence paranoia, the loss of control over one's body, and resurgent racism. 'It's cathartic, it's emotional, and it comes with an ending,' said film data analyst Stephen Follows, author of the Horror Movie Report, which offers detailed insights into the genre. 'Horror movies give space to process things that are harder to face in everyday life.' The often low-budget productions allow for greater risk-taking than would be possible with high-cost, high-stakes productions like 'Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning.' The creative freedom has attracted such acclaimed directors as Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele, Danny Boyle and Guillermo del Toro. "Horror movies are an accountant's dream," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore senior media analyst. "If you're going to make a science-fiction outer-space extravaganza, you can't do that on the cheap. With horror films, a modest-budget movie like 'Weapons' can be scary as hell." Audiences are responding. Coogler's 'Sinners,' an original story about Mississippi vampires starring Michael B. Jordan,was theyear's third highest-grossing movie in the U.S. and Canada, according to Comscore. Movie theaters are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic which broke the movie-going habit, and increased viewing in the home. Mike De Luca, co-chair and Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, which released 'Sinners,' said horror was a genre that manages to get people out of the house.'It's a rising tide that lifts all boats,' he said. 'You know, we're trying to get people back in the habit of going to the theaters.' Fear knows no geographical bounds. Half of all horror movies released by major U.S. distributors last year made 50 percent or more of their worldwide box office gross outside the U.S., according to London-based researcher Ampere Analysis. The breakout international hit 'The Substance,' for example, grossed over $77 million worldwide with around 80% of that from outside the U.S. Streamers also are similarly capitalizing on the appeal of the genre. AMC's post-apocalyptic horror drama series 'The Walking Dead,' became one of the most popular series when it was added to Netflix in 2023, amassing 1.3 billion hours viewed, according to Netflix's Engagement Report. Director Guillermo del Toro's film adaptation of Mary Shelley's gothic novel, "Frankenstein," is set to debut in November. DATE NIGHT Horror films are ideally suited to watching in movie theaters, where the environment heightens the experience. 'What you can't do at home is sit in a dark room with a hundred other people, not on your phone, and jump,' said Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum, producer of 'Halloween,' "Paranormal Activity" and other lucrative horror franchises. 'You can't really be scared when you watch a horror movie at home.' Big-budget movies that the industry refers to as 'tent poles,' such as 'Captain America: Brave New World' or 'A Minecraft Movie,' remain the lifeblood of movie theaters. Over time, these blockbusters have elbowed out more moderately budgeted romantic comedies and dramas on movie screens. Against this backdrop, horror has been quietly gaining momentum. The genre broke the $1 billion box office barrier in the U.S. and Canada for the first time in 2017, Comscore reported, buoyed by the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel, 'It,' and Jordan Peele's exploration of racial inequality in 'Get Out.' Announcements of new horror films from U.S. producers have risen each year for the last three years, including in 2023, when the Hollywood strikes significantly impacted production, according to Ampere Analysis. The number of U.S. horror films that went into production last year was up 21 percent over 2023, Ampere found. 'While more arthouse fare and even some tentpole superhero franchises have had mixed fortunes at the global box office in the wake of the pandemic, horror remains one of the key genres that audiences still make a point of seeing in the theatres,' wroteresearcher Alice Thorpe in a report for Ampere's clients which she shared with Reuters. The researcher's own consumer surveys revealed horror is the favorite genre among two-thirds of movie-goers, ages 18 to 24. 'Anytime a teenager graduates to wanting to take a date to the movies, horror gets popular really fast,' said Warner Bros' De Luca. 'It's a great film-going experience to take a date to because you get to huddle with each other and gasp and hoop and holler.' FREAK SHOW Horror has been a cinematic staple from its earliest days, when Thomas Edison filmed 'Frankenstein' on his motion picture camera, the Kinetograph, in 1910. The British Board of Film Classification introduced the 'H' rating in 1932, officially designating the genre. But it didn't always get Hollywood's respect. 'In the first half of the 20th century, it was seen as a freak-show,' said Follows. Perceptions began to change with the critical and commercial success of films like 'Psycho,' 'The Exorcist' and 'The Shining.' Director Steven Spielberg ushered in the summer blockbuster in 1975 with 'Jaws,' a re-invention of the classic monster movie. In recent years, horror movies have become part of the Oscar conversation. Peele collected an Academy Award for best original screenplay in 2018 for 'Get Out.' Demi Moore received her first Oscar nomination earlier this year for her portrayal of an aging Hollywood star who will go to any lengths to stay beautiful in 'The Substance.' Not every horror movie connects with audiences. 'M3GAN 2.0,' a sequel to the 2022 low-budget film about a killer robotic doll that grossed $180 million worldwide,brought in a modest $10.2 million in the U.S. and Canada in its opening weekend, according to Comscore. Theater chains will have no shortage of horror movies to exhibit this summer. Seven films are slated to be released before Labor Day weekend, including Columbia Pictures's nostalgic reboot of the 1997 film, 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' which reaches screens on July 18, and 'Weapons,' which opens on Aug. 8. 'The best types of these movies are ones that elicit an audible and visceral reaction … 'Don't go in there!'' said Screen Gems President Ashley Brucks, who has worked on such films as Sony's upcoming 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' as well as 'A Quiet Place' and 'Scream.' 'You are either squirming or laughing or screaming and just really having fun with it.' This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement
By Dawn Chmielewski LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters. The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission "innumerable" copies of characters such as Darth Vader from "Star Wars," Elsa from "Frozen," and the Minions from "Despicable Me". Spokespeople for Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Horacio Gutierrez, Disney's executive vice president and chief legal officer, said in a statement: "We are bullish on the promise of AI technology and optimistic about how it can be used responsibly as a tool to further human creativity, but piracy is piracy, and the fact that it's done by an AI company does not make it any less infringing." NBCUniversal Executive Vice President and General Counsel Kim Harris said the company was suing to "protect the hard work of all the artists whose work entertains and inspires us and the significant investment we make in our content." The studios claim the San Francisco company rebuffed their request to stop infringing their copyrighted works or, at a minimum, take technological measures to halt the creation of these AI-generated characters. Instead, the studios argue, Midjourney continued to release new versions of its AI image service that boast higher quality infringing images. Midjourney recreates animated images from a typed request, or prompt. In the suit filed by seven corporate entities at the studios that own or control copyrights for the various Disney and Universal Pictures film units, the studios offered examples of Midjourney animations that include Disney characters, such as Yoda wielding a lightsaber, Bart Simpson riding a skateboard, Marvel's Iron Man soaring above the clouds and Pixar's Buzz Lightyear taking flight. The image generator also recreated such Universal characters as "How to Train Your Dragon's" dragon, Toothless, the green ogre "Shrek," and Po from "Kung Fu Panda." "By helping itself to plaintiffs' copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters -- without investing a penny in their creation -- Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism," the suit alleges. "Midjourney's infringement is calculated and willful," it said. 'BIG SCRAPE OF THE INTERNET' Disney and Universal asked the court for a preliminary injunction, to prevent Midjourney from copying their works, or offering its image- or video-generation service without protections against infringement. The studios also seek unspecified damages. The suit alleges Midjourney used the studios' works to train its image service and generate reproductions of their copyrighted characters. The company, founded in 2021 by David Holz, monetizes the service through paid subscriptions and generated $300 million in revenue last year alone, the studios said. This is not the first time Midjourney has been accused of misusing artists' work to train their AI systems. A year ago, a California federal judge found that 10 artists behind a copyright infringement suit against Midjourney, Stability AI and other companies had plausibly argued these AI companies had copied and stored their work on company servers, and could be liable for using it without permission. That ruling allowed the lawsuit over the unauthorized use of images to proceed. It is in the process of litigation. The cases are part of a wave of lawsuits brought by copyright owners including authors, news outlets and record labels against tech companies over their use of copyrighted materials for AI training without permission. In a 2022 interview with Forbes, Midjourney CEO Holz said he built the company's database by performing "a big scrape of the Internet." Asked whether he sought consent of the artists whose work was covered by copyright, he responded, "there isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from." (Additional reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Sam Holmes and Bill Berkrot)
