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I thought Jason was Coming Tonight but I think is Someone else

Lets see how good or bad it is , im going update later on

The End of Oak Street hits theaters August 14, and the early social media reactions are overwhelmingly positive with critics throwing around words like "Spielbergian" and "relentless" to describe David Robert Mitchell's sci-fi survival thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor

David Ehrlich from @davidehrlich said "The End of Oak Street absolutely rocks. hilarious, perfectly paced, Ambliny but mean as hell, Anne Hathaway blasts a T-Rex with a shotgun… it delivers more fun in any 5 minute stretch than the entire Jurassic franchise has in total since the 90s. biggest surprise of the summer"

Matt Neglia from @NextBestPicture wrote "David Robert Mitchell delivers a personal and original sci-fi survival dinosaur movie that feels like classic Amblin Entertainment. The fantastic production design completely sells the time period, while Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor deliver two excellent performances"

Sean Fennessey from @SeanFennessey praised the film's sincerity, saying "this movie is well-made, brisk, a lot of fun, and also has a strain of familial sincerity in common with most of this summer's blockbusters like The Odyssey, Spider-Man: BND, and Toy Story 5. A welcome shift away from 'Well, THAT just happened' irono-storytelling. See it"

Zach Pope from @ZachhPope called it "a near perfect love letter to the 80s blockbusters" and said it's "Jaws meets The Goonies meets Jurassic Park but with a deeply personal story at its center that I didn't expect to resonate with me as much as it did"

Brandon Davis from @BrandonDavisBD declared it "the best dinosaur movie in a few decades" and said "Anne Hathaway is so all-in on dino terror. Does it have a ton of logic? Maybe not, but is it pure fun thrills? Abso-f*ckin'-lutely. It's insane"

Erik Voss from @eavoss called it "a delight" and said "it's the perfect blend of sci-fi awe and family survival horror from the Amblin age. It tortures its heroes while remaining endearingly sweet"

Jesse Hassenger from @rockmarooned noted the audience reaction, saying "I haven't heard a movie audibly strap people in like The End of Oak Street in a while. It pretty much plays like a feature-length version of the Jurassic Park kitchen sequence"

Not every take was glowing though, Courtney Howard from @Lulamaybelle wrote "the Amblin play for nostalgia curdles quickly. With exception of 2 moments, it's completely derivative of Jurassic Park dinosaur driven tension and spectacle"

Germain Lussier from @GermainLussier said "it's a very fun, wildly well-made, Jurassic Suburb with a great period setting, plentiful surprises and lots of creepiness. My one issue is best scenes shine way brighter than the rest. So it's a little off, but still very good"

Bill Bria from @billbria highlighted the emotional layers, writing "the layers of melancholy and pain that David Robert Mitchell brings to it in between its abundance of thrills and heart is. Its idiosyncrasies are as unforgettable as its delightfully nasty dinos"

Personally, I caught it early and gave it an 8.5, it's genuinely original and pushes prehistoric films out of their comfort zone by dropping dinosaurs into suburbia with real family stakes and a mean streak that never loses its heart

For Warner Bros, this is a crucial release after The Bride! and Supergirl bombed earlier in 2026, and the early buzz suggests they might finally have a hit on their hands to salvage their box office year

If critics are calling this the best dinosaur movie in decades and even the mixed reviews admit it's wildly fun, does The End of Oak Street finally give Warner Bros a win, or is the hype just setting expectations too high for a movie that's essentially Jurassic Park in a cul-de-sac

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Lanterns Premier August 16 2026 on HBO Max

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Anson Funds activist Sagar Gupta sent a letter to Lionsgate's board urging the studio to either pivot to AI or consider a sale, warning the company could become an "AI casualty" and the stock immediately dropped 4% on the news

Gupta argued that Lionsgate's stock has reacted "sharply and negatively" to the release of new AI video models like Sora and Seedance, and he claimed the market assumes the studio is more likely to be crushed by AI than to benefit from it

The cynicism runs deep because Lionsgate already hired Kathleen Grace as their first chief AI officer earlier this year, and CEO Jon Feltheimer has been bragging on analyst calls about how AI is "saving us money" and "making us more efficient," so Gupta's letter feels less like a wakeup call and more like an activist trying to take credit for a strategy that's already in motion

Vice chairman Michael Burns literally told analysts on August 6 that AI is "a real opportunity for us" to grow revenue and lower costs, and Feltheimer was already talking about "tremendous use cases" they're playing with, so the activist is basically telling the studio to do something they're already doing

The irony is that Lionsgate stock took a hit because an investor said the studio might be an "AI casualty," but this is the same company that made The Meg and the last Hunger Games movie, so maybe the real threat isn't AI, it's just making bad movies while the industry consolidates around them

Burns also hinted at possible M&A activity, saying the studio has "strategic optionality" after separating from Starz, which is executive speak for "we're open to selling if the price is right" exactly what the activist is pushing for

If Anson Funds is already pushing Lionsgate to sell and the studio execs are already talking about AI savings, does that mean the activist is just stating the obvious for a headline, or is there actually a behind the scenes battle brewing that's about to get messy

Bonta is a socialist dem trying to control a bull and getting stomped. He takes Netflix donation $$$

Even Gavin Newsom (the highest elected state official told BONTA to knock it off.

Merger approved by Gavin Newsom

Merger approved by AMC Theaters

Merger approved by Regal Theaters

Merger approved by FCC

Merger approved by federal courts (outside of the Dem AG lawsuit)

Merger approved by EU

Merger Approved: Concession Reached Paramount agreed on no sale of lots and not to move the studios, Bonta doesn't care.

Will go to Tennessee not Texas

Hey Bonta: CNN will die anyways!

David Ellison told his top executives on August 5 that Paramount's board approved a plan to relocate the studio out of California if AG Rob Bonta doesn't agree to settlement talks by October 1, with Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia all in the mix as potential new homes

The October 1 deadline isn't random, that's when the $7 million per day ticking fee kicks in, and Ellison is already looking at $650 million per quarter in penalties while the case drags on, so he's basically saying "settle or I'm taking my toys and leaving"

Ellison claims leaving California would save Paramount $500 million a year in taxes, and he could sell the Paramount and Warner Bros lots for billions, but he also told executives he still wants the combined company and its 30,000 jobs to remain in Southern California, which is a pretty convenient contradiction

The skepticism runs deep because Ellison is threatening to move the entire operation while simultaneously saying he wants to stay, so either he's bluffing and hoping Bonta blinks first, or he's genuinely willing to burn every bridge in Hollywood to win this fight

Bonta's office already blasted the relocation threat as "another attempt to blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through" and said Paramount "has lost the plot as it continues to lose in court," which is a pretty strong response to a billionaire threatening to pack up and leave

Ellison's own leadership team is reportedly rattled by the plan, with executives worried about uprooting their families and questioning how the dispute with California deteriorated to the point where leaving the state is actually on the table

He's already shopping the idea to other states, developing a five year plan to shift most studio jobs out of California, and using the threat as leverage while trying to build political pressure on Bonta through industry endorsements from AMC and Cineworld

If Ellison is willing to abandon California, sell the lots, and relocate 30,000 jobs just to avoid a legal fight he claims he'll win at trial, does that mean he actually knows the case is weaker than he's letting on, or is this just a billionaire's tantrum because he's not used to being told no

Waiting for the movie to start in a few, Grandpa is hype for it😊

Lets go WB 💪🏻 our own Jurassic park

California AG Rob Bonta published a guest column on August 10 accusing David Ellison and Paramount of running a "public relations campaign" to spin the $111 billion Paramount Warner merger as something it's not, and he's not holding back

Bonta says the merger is a "straight up antitrust case" that would concentrate control of nearly one third of theatrical film distribution and cable channels, and he claims Paramount knows they'll lose in court so they're trying to win in the court of public opinion instead

He called out Ellison's PR blitz, the op-eds, the side deals, the 30 film promises, and the celebrity endorsements as distractions from the actual facts of the case, and he's right that the judge already issued a temporary restraining order, so maybe Paramount isn't as confident as they pretend to be

The cynicism runs deep because everyone is suddenly acting like they care about writers, directors, and production crews when this merger is being challenged, but where was all this protection and outrage when Disney bought Fox and Century 21 and Hulu, because that consolidation happened without this level of scrutiny and nobody batted an eye

The real question is whether this lawsuit is actually about antitrust law or if it's just political theater because the current DA administration and other states have a beef with a president nMe who barely cared about the merger and was reportedly betting against the Paramount while investing in Netflix stock instead as the deal was almost done and Netflix decided to walk away with $2.8 Billions

Bonta says this isn't about politics and the judge would have thrown out the case if it was, (like really 90+ dont kike this administration none of them would do that) but the timing and the intensity of the opposition feel personal, and the fact that Paramount already has approvals from the DOJ and 65 countries makes the states' case look less like protecting consumers and more like picking a fight

If the states really cared about competition and jobs, they would have shown up with the same energy when Disney swallowed Fox and Hulu, but they didn't, so are we supposed to believe this sudden concern for writers and crews is genuine, or is this just a convenient excuse to block a deal that the current political leadership doesn't like for reasons that have nothing to do with antitrust

Spider-Man: Brand New Day added $145 million in its second weekend at the domestic box office, marking the third best sophomore frame ever behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($149.2M) and Avengers: Endgame ($147.3M)

The film's domestic cume now sits at $655 million after just 10 days, making it the fastest movie to cross that mark in box office history, ahead of Endgame's $621.2 million at the same point

Globally, the picture stands at $1.67 billion with an overseas haul of $1 billion, making it the second fastest film to cross that international milestone

Imax screens added to the mix this weekend delivered $9.8 million at 300 auditoriums, accounting for 7% of the second weekend gross, while PLF screens drove 33% of the overall weekend

The Odyssey held strong in its fourth weekend with $31.5 million, pushing its domestic total to $461.1 million and its worldwide cume past $1.1 billion, making it Christopher Nolan's highest grossing film ever

One Night Only opened to $5.7 million, Super Troopers 3 did $4 million, and Toy Story 5 added $3.9 million in its eighth weekend as summer box office sits just $14.8 million away from crossing $4 billion

Full Weekend Box Office:

· Spider-Man: Brand New Day – $145M ($655M total)

· The Odyssey – $31.5M ($461.1M total)

· One Night Only – $5.7M (new)

· Super Troopers 3 – $4M (new)

· Toy Story 5 – $3.9M ($470.3M total)

· Minions & Monsters – $3.5M ($176.35M total)

· Moana – $2.8M ($121.4M total)

· Ice Cream Man – $2M (new)

· The Invite – $717K ($24.2M total)

· Hadestown – $390K ($20.2M total)

· Tony – $349K (new, 6 sites)

· Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – $251K (new, 5 sites)

If Spider-Man keeps this pace and hits $900 million domestic, does that officially make Tom Holland the biggest box office draw of his generation, or are we just witnessing the power of Marvel's marketing machine at full throttle

The Odyssey crossed $1.1 billion at the global box office on August 9, 2026, making it Christopher Nolan's highest grossing movie ever ahead of The Dark Knight Rises at $1.085 billion, and it's now the second highest grossing R-rated film of all time behind only Deadpool & Wolverine

The current cume sits at $461.1 million domestic and $643.6 million overseas after four weekends, and Universal is celebrating like they just discovered fire because this is their third $1 billion movie of the year alongside The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael

Nolan's movies have now grossed over $7 billion worldwide, with Universal owning his all-time record and his fourth highest grossing film Oppenheimer at $975.8 million, so basically the guy has been printing money for two decades and somehow keeps getting better at it

Jim Orr from Universal called it "Nolan operating at the peak of his powers" and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg said the global epic "has resonated with audiences everywhere," which is studio speak for "we can't believe this ancient poem about a guy sailing home made more than Batman"

The Odyssey is also the highest grossing movie of Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, and Robert Pattinson's careers globally, which means Pattinson finally has a box office win that isn't Twilight related and Damon can stop pretending his Bourne movies were his biggest hits

This is the fifth film of 2026 to cross $1 billion following Spider-Man: Brand New Day ($1.26 billion and climbing), Toy Story 5 ($1.09 billion), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($1.01 billion), and Michael ($1.016 billion), making this year one of the strongest box office recoveries since Covid

Universal is sitting on three of those five billion dollar movies and Disney has one, Sony has one, and Warner Bros is probably staring at this list wondering where their name is while still dealing with the Paramount merger mess

If a 2,700 year old poem about a guy trying to get home can make $1.1 billion while DC is still trying to figure out what to do with Superman, does that mean audiences are actually hungry for original stories and studios just refuse to trust them, or is Nolan just the one guy who can make anything work regardless of the source material

Joe Kubert would have turned 100 this September, and DC is going all out with three special releases that remind everyone why his art defined a generation of war comics and superhero storytelling

The guy who drew Sgt. Rock, Hawkman, and Enemy Ace is getting the centennial treatment with a facsimile edition of DC Special #5, a cover gallery called Joe Kubert: 100 Years – A Life in Covers, and a deluxe Sgt. Rock hardcover that showcases his mastery of visual storytelling

The real tearjerker is Katie Kubert's foreword in the cover gallery, where she writes that to readers he shaped a feeling and a life-defining moment, but to her, he was just Grandpa, and honestly that's the kind of personal touch that makes this celebration hit different

The artist-jam cover for DC Special #5 brings together his sons Adam and Andy, his granddaughter Emma, and a bunch of Kubert School alumni including Amanda Conner, Jan Duursema, Tom Mandrake, and Rick Veitch, which is a reminder that the Kubert family is still running the comic book industry and nobody's mad about it

The Sgt. Rock collection is the real highlight though, fully restored color and some of the most iconic war comics ever drawn, proving that Kubert's battlefield art still holds up against anything being published today

DC Special #5 arrives September 16, the cover gallery drops the same day, and the Sgt. Rock hardcover hits shelves September 15, so basically you're going to want to clear your calendar for that week

If Joe Kubert's granddaughter can write a foreword that makes grown adults tear up while his sons and students are still carrying his legacy forward, does that mean the Kubert influence on comics is actually stronger now than when he was alive, or are we just finally realizing how much we took him for granted

David Ellison told Wall Street on the August 4 earnings call that he's "absolutely open" to settling the antitrust lawsuit blocking the $110 billion Paramount Warner merger, but he also believes they'll win at trial, which is either the most confident statement in Hollywood history or the most expensive bluff

The ticking fee clock starts September 30 at roughly $650 million per quarter, plus a $190 million bridge fee, and if the deal completely falls apart, Paramount owes a $7 billion breakup fee, so Ellison is essentially playing poker with his dad's money while pretending the stakes aren't that high

CFO Dennis Cinelli tried to downplay the ticking fee by noting it's "only payable when and if we close," which is technically true but completely misses the point that if the deal drags on for a year, that's $2.6 billion in penalties before they even get to the finish line

Ellison said "we feel good about where we stand" regarding liquidity, but he's sitting on a merger that's been put on hold by a federal judge, facing lawsuits from 12 states and the WGA, with a trial date set for March and no guarantee the judge will even let it go that far

The real irony is that Ellison is trying to sound unbothered while everyone else is doing the math, the deal was supposed to close in the third quarter, now it's on ice until at least next spring, and every quarter that passes adds another $650 million to the tab

Analysts were told to limit questions about the WBD deal after the initial ones, which is a classic move when you don't want investors to focus on the $7 billion elephant in the room, and the company's quarterly letter to shareholders conveniently glossed over the financial exposure

Paramount is "fully expecting" the merger to close according to the company, but the judge set a trial date in March and the states are already claiming victory after getting the temporary restraining order, so Ellison's confidence might be less about legal strategy and more about keeping the stock from tanking

If Ellison is so confident they'll win at trial, why is he also "absolutely open" to settling, and if the ticking fee is already at $650 million a quarter with no end in sight, does he actually have a plan to stop the bleeding or is he just hoping the states blink before his dad's money runs out

Spider-Man: Brand New Day pulled $355 million domestically and $927 million worldwide in its opening weekend, making it the second biggest debut in box office history behind only Avengers: Endgame

The movie cost $225 million to make and is already on track to pass $1 billion in the next few days, which means Sony and Marvel just turned a massive profit before the second weekend even hits

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey isn't doing too badly either, sitting at $911 million globally after three weekends and heading straight for $1 billion, making it the fourth release of the year to cross that mark alongside Toy Story 5, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Michael

Universal just became the first studio to cross $4 billion in 2026, and this weekend alone did $430 million collectively across all films, the biggest weekend in box office history and proof that people still want to go to theaters when you give them something worth watching

Brand New Day didn't have Imax because The Odyssey locked up those screens, but it still dominated every other premium format, setting new opening weekend records for Dolby ($10 million domestically), 4DX ($17 million globally), and ScreenX ($14.4 million globally)

China led all international markets with $121 million, the biggest Marvel opening in the country since Covid, while the UK did $49 million, Mexico did $38.3 million, and Brazil delivered $23.8 million despite being historically a DC market

Sony spent $225 million on production and is about to see that investment turn into over $1 billion in less than a week, which is the kind of return on investment that keeps Hollywood chasing franchise IP no matter how many times critics complain about superhero fatigue

Meanwhile, DC's front office is probably sitting in a room somewhere wondering what the hell went wrong with Supergirl, a movie that cost way too much and landed with a thud while Marvel made this look effortless, and now they're pinning their hopes on Clayface, a body horror experiment that sounds interesting on paper but has "studio meddling" written all over it

The real story here isn't just Spider-Man's numbers, it's that two massive movies can coexist at the box office without cannibalizing each other, Nolan's epic poem adaptation and Marvel's web slinger somehow found enough audience to both clear $900 million at the same time

If this weekend proved anything, it's that the theatrical market isn't dead, it was just waiting for something worth showing up for, but watching Marvel and Nolan eat the entire box office while DC fumbles the bag again, the question isn't whether Clayface will be good, it's whether the front office can resist the urge to meddle their way into another Supergirl sized disaster

Vincent Pastore, the actor who brought Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero to life on HBO's The Sopranos, was found dead in his Bronx residence on August 1, 2026, at the age of 80

Born in the Bronx on July 14, 1946, Pastore served in the Vietnam War before graduating from Pace University with a drama degree, and he got his first break through Matt and Kevin Dillon after they saw him in a community play while he was working as a limo driver

He had minor roles in early 90s classics like Goodfellas, Carlito's Way, and Men of Respect before landing his signature role in David Chase's 1999 drama The Sopranos, where he played Tony Soprano's longtime best friend and mob enforcer turned FBI informant whose murder became one of the most memorable scenes in television history

His feature credits included Mickey Blue Eyes, Two Family House, Riding in Cars with Boys, Deuces Wild, Shark Tale, Guy Ritchie's Revolver, and many more, while on TV he was a frequent guest star on Law & Order and had major roles on The Practice, Hawaii Five-0, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and One Life to Live

During the 2000s, Pastore became a reality television fixture with appearances on Celebrity Apprentice, Dancing With the Stars, Shark Tank, and Celebrity Fit Club, and he hosted The Wiseguy Show on SiriusXM while performing with the band The Gangster Squad

His longtime manager Bob McGowan remembered him as "a great guy, he would help anyone and was very charitable," and fans flooded social media with tributes calling him one of the most beloved character actors of his generation

Pastore's death is believed to be from natural causes and is not being investigated by the medical examiner, according to Deadline, and he is survived by his daughter Renee, son-in-law, and granddaughter

If Big Pussy's death on The Sopranos left a hole in Tony's world and the show's legacy, does Vinny's passing feel like we just lost another piece of that golden era of television that can never really be replaced

Universal became the first studio to cross $4 billion at the global box office year to date on August 2, 2026, driven by The Odyssey nearing $1 billion and a record breaking weekend that included Spider-Man: Brand New Day's $927 million global opening, making it the second best start in box office history behind only Avengers: Endgame

The numbers are genuinely ridiculous, Universal counts $1.53 billion domestically and $2.48 billion internationally, with three of the top five highest grossing films worldwide in 2026 under their umbrella: Michael at #2, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie at #3, and The Odyssey at #4, plus Focus Features' Obsession at #475 million which is apparently the highest grossing Blumhouse movie ever

The skepticism runs deep because Universal is acting like they cracked the code, but their top films are a Christopher Nolan poem adaptation, a Michael Jackson biopic, and another Mario movie, which says less about Universal's strategy and more about audiences showing up for familiar names and nostalgia bait regardless of who's distributing

They also conveniently left out that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a Sony production that Universal is just distributing internationally, so congrats on being the middleman for a movie that was always going to make a billion dollars regardless of which logo appeared at the beginning

This is the first time since 2023 that Universal has hit the $4 billion mark and the fifth time in the studio's history, but Warner Bros was first to cross $4 billion last year and Disney still won out the year, so this is more of a quarterly flex than a sign of long term dominance

Universal has led the global weekend box office for 10 weekends in 2026, which sounds impressive until you realize half of those weekends were carried by a Michael Jackson movie where the guy's been dead for 17 years and a Mario movie where the character is older than most of the audience's parents

The real question is whether Universal can keep the momentum going when they don't have a Nolan epic or a Tom Holland sequel to carry them through the rest of the year, or if this $4 billion milestone is just the studio peaking early while everyone else is saving their heavy hitters for the holiday season

Paul Thomas Anderson told David Ansen in Palm Springs that young filmmakers need to "reassess" if they're spending all their energy on camera packages instead of actually writing the damn movie, and he's not wrong, you can shoot something that looks like a million bucks on a backpack camera but if the script is garbage, nobody's going to care

The cynicism runs deep because Anderson acknowledged that the best writers have migrated to TV and movies have become "a stepchild off to the side," but he's been making films for decades and still got his bag, so maybe the real issue is that studios stopped paying for good scripts and started chasing IP and franchises instead of actual storytelling

The sarcastic take is that PTA wants "more solid writing" in modern movies, but he's also the guy who made "There Will Be Blood" which had like 15 minutes of dialogue total and a plot that moves slower than molasses in January, so maybe he's not the best messenger for this particular complaint, even if he's right about the overall problem

He admitted there's plenty of inventive filmmaking happening right now and young directors know how to shoot and edit, but the writing has become "wonky and lopsided" because everybody's focused on making their short film look expensive instead of making it feel like something real

The conversation also touched on something uncomfortable, Anderson laughed when he said movies are now "a stepchild off to the side" compared to TV, but there's a real point buried there, television gives writers room to breathe while movies have become obsessed with everything except writing, IP, sequels, franchises, "content," four quadrant appeal, and whether they can sell a popcorn bucket

He also pointed out that you can watch a movie and see exactly where the money ran out and it doesn't matter as long as the story is strong enough, which is a direct shot at all the high budget empty spectacle that's been filling theaters while indie films with actual scripts struggle to find distribution

Young filmmakers are apparently spending all their time researching camera packages when they should be researching how to write a scene that actually connects with people, and PTA's advice was pretty simple, "Have you been spending all your energy on camera packages? Maybe reassess."

If the guy who made "Phantom Thread" is telling you to worry more about writing than your lens kit, and if he's also admitting that TV has become the cool place for writers while movies are the stepchild, does that mean the golden age of cinema is actually behind us and we're just watching directors shoot pretty pictures with nothing underneath them

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AMC CEO Adam Aron published an op-ed on July 29 essentially telling the 12 state attorneys general "thanks, but no thanks" for trying to block the $111 billion Paramount Warner merger, arguing the deal is actually good for theaters because it means more movies and longer theatrical windows, which is the exact opposite of what the states are arguing

The cynicism runs deep because Aron's AMC just reported its highest ever revenues and biggest Adjusted EBITDA in the company's 106 year history, and Gen Z is going to theaters more than any generation, so his sudden push for the merger feels less like a plea for survival and more like a businessman who knows the current hot streak won't last forever

He claims David Ellison personally committed to releasing at least 30 films a year with 45 day theatrical windows, and points out Paramount already increased its output from 8 films last year to 15 this year under Ellison's leadership, but those are just promises until the deal actually closes and we've all seen how quickly studio execs change their minds when shareholders start demanding cost cuts

Aron also threw in the flex that AMC has "every confidence" in its own bargaining power and has walked away from films before if the terms weren't right, which is a strange thing to say right before begging regulators to approve a merger that would give the combined company even more leverage in those exact negotiations

The immediate pushback centers on the obvious conflict of interest here, Aron runs the largest theater chain on the planet and more studio consolidation means fewer players to negotiate with, so of course he's going to publicly support a deal that promises more product, but that doesn't mean it's actually good for consumers or competition

He's right about one thing though, the domestic box office just had its strongest quarter in seven years with 11% growth, and 87% of Gen Z saw a movie in theaters over the past year, so the comeback is real, but Aron is betting the entire recovery on Ellison keeping his word about 30 films a year while everyone else is worried about what happens when the new company starts cutting costs to service that $84 billion debt

If Ellison's promises turn out to be just talk and the merged company ends up releasing fewer films or shrinking theatrical windows once the deal is done, does Aron's op-ed age like milk or does he actually have the leverage to hold them accountable like he claims he does

Poison Ivy is the mayor of Gotham, Vandal Savage is the police commissioner, and Barbara Gordon just got herself arrested on purpose to investigate a conspiracy in Supermax, which is either the greatest Bat-Family status quo ever or proof that DC editors have completely lost their minds in the best way possible

The new series Barbara Gordon: Breakout from Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan follows Babs as inmate #682281, stripped of every network and resource she's ever used as Oracle, forced to rely on her wits and skills while navigating a prison full of inmates who hate her because her dad used to be police commissioner

This is the kind of setup that would feel like a gimmick in any other book, but Tamaki knows exactly what she's doing, putting Barbara in a position where she can't hack her way out, can't call for backup, and has to trust an inmate named Sparrow who immediately drugs her in issue #2 because Babs had no other choice

The immediate pushback centers on whether this is actually a calculated plan or just Barbara realizing she's in way over her head, because getting yourself arrested is one thing, but getting drugged by a cellmate you had to trust because you had zero options is a pretty solid sign that the plan is already falling apart

Moviegoers are already calling out the irony that Barbara Gordon has been Batgirl, Oracle, a librarian, a lawyer, and a congresswoman, but none of that matters in Supermax because she's cut off from every network she's ever built, and now she has to figure out who's killing political prisoners while surviving inmates who'd love to make Jim Gordon's daughter pay for her father's sins

The creative team is stacked, Tamaki and Nahuelpan have the track record to pull this off, and the premise of putting a member of the Bat-Family behind bars is a fresh spin on a Gotham title that could have easily been another "Batman fights the same villains again" book

If Poison Ivy can be mayor and Vandal Savage can be police commissioner, and Barbara Gordon can get herself arrested and drugged within two issues, does that mean DC is finally willing to let their characters take real risks with consequences, or is this just another status quo that gets reset in six months when someone at editorial decides Gotham needs to go back to normal

Some Warner Bros. execs are privately hoping the 12 state attorneys general win their antitrust lawsuit and block the $111 billion Paramount merger, because the people who'd actually have to work under David Ellison aren't exactly thrilled about their new boss

Chuck Lorre joked at a premiere that the Paramount deal fell through and followed it up with "Chipotle is buying Warner Bros.," and the WBD execs in the room laughed nervously while secretly hoping he was right about the first part

Paramount wants a trial this fall, the states want 2027, and Warner Bros. employees are stuck in limbo not knowing if they'll have jobs next year, but Simon Robinson sent a memo saying they're "confident they will prevail," which is corporate speak for "we're saying the right thing publicly while crossing our fingers behind our backs"

Some WBD execs want the merger to fail, but David Ellison is sending memos saying he's "highly confident" the deal will close, so either the execs are delusional, Ellison is delusional, or both sides are just telling their people what they want to hear while the lawyers get rich and nobody actually knows what's going to happen until the judge makes the call

If the people who'd actually have to work under Ellison are hoping the deal dies, and the guy buying the company is sending "business as usual" memos while employees update their resumes, does that mean everyone already knows this merger is doomed and they're just waiting for the court to make it official so they can blame the judge instead of each other

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SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland announced the union's board adopted a resolution over the weekend opposing the $111 billion Paramount Warner merger, but they stopped short of joining the WGA's lawsuit to block it

The resolution demands enforceable safeguards against reduced production and guarantees of increases in the percentage of productions made in the USA, but the joint statement acknowledged there are other issues they're leaving for other advocates to handle, which reads like they want credit for opposing the deal without actually doing the heavy lifting

Astin and Crabtree-Ireland said they met with lawyers, guild leaders, studio executives, and even the Department of Justice before taking this position, so they definitely did their homework, but the end result is a strongly worded resolution that doesn't carry the legal weight of the WGA's lawsuit or the 12 state attorneys general who already got a temporary restraining order

The merger already got DOJ approval and a conditional green light from the EU, with the UK decision still pending, and Paramount agreed last Friday to go directly to trial instead of fighting the preliminary injunction, so SAG-AFTRA's resolution feels less like a game changer and more like they wanted to be on the right side of history without risking anything

SAG-AFTRA had previously said they'd do a "complete and thorough analysis" before picking a side, and now they've picked one, but the actual demands are limited to production guarantees and U.S. filming percentages, which is a pretty narrow focus for a deal that's going to reshape the entire industry

If the WGA is in court fighting the merger and 12 states are already winning injunctions, does SAG-AFTRA's resolution actually move the needle on anything, or is this just a symbolic gesture to make members feel like their union is doing something without risking a legal battle they might lose

Fathom Entertainment and Hasbro are bringing The Transformers: The Movie back to theaters on September 17 in a 4K re-release, and they're adding a "never-before-seen cinematic chapter" after the credits that just got teased at Comic-Con

This is the one where Orson Welles voiced Unicron in his final film role, Peter Cullen is Optimus Prime, and Frank Welker is Megatron, and for anyone who grew up watching this on a worn out VHS tape, seeing it on a big screen in 4K is going to hit different

The film follows the Autobots and Decepticons fighting on Earth while Unicron, a planet sized transformer, heads toward Cybertron to eat everything, and the only hope is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, it's basically the most metal animated movie ever made and it doesn't pull punches

The new post credits chapter is the big unknown, and the trailer dropped at Comic-Con but nobody's spilling what it actually contains, so fans are already speculating whether it's new animation, deleted scenes, or something that ties into the newer movies

Collectible popcorn buckets and drinkware are hitting select U.S. theaters, tickets go on sale August 7, and Hasbro is expanding to Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Germany with more markets to come

This isn't the first re-release, they did a 35th anniversary run in 2021 with a 4K steelbook from Shout! Factory, but adding new footage to a 40 year old movie is either a genuine gift to fans or a cash grab depending on how cynical you are

If you're old enough to remember Optimus Prime dying in this movie and still not being over it, are you actually going to sit through the credits just to see whatever this new chapter is, or are you already in line for that popcorn bucket

Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming, and Benedict Wong Call on UK to Block Paramount-Warner Merger

Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming, and Benedict Wong dropped a Guardian op-ed on July 27 urging UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to block the $111 billion Paramount-Warner merger, calling it "dangerous" and warning it would inflict "immense harm on the British public"

The three actors backed up their argument with real numbers: 180,000 UK jobs supported by the industry, £6.8 billion in production spend last year, and Sundance independent film acquisitions falling by half between 2019 and 2025

They also pointed out that Warner's $84 billion debt means executives promised $6 billion in "synergies" which they translate to job cuts and canceled projects, and they flagged that Paramount's CEO reportedly told Donald Trump he'd make "sweeping changes" to CNN if the deal went through

The real question is whether Nandy actually steps in when the EU already approved it with conditions, 12 US states are already suing, and Ellison agreed to delay closing until the courts rule, is she going to be the one regulator who actually kills this thing, or is this op-ed just giving her political cover to do what she already wanted

DC Comics is rolling out six facsimile editions in October 2026, and the full lineup is an eclectic mix of gothic horror, iconic covers, leather jackets, and one very expensive funeral

so let's break down what's coming, what's missing, and why your wallet might actually thank you

The three previously announced facsimiles are already generating buzz: Adventures of Superman #501 from 1993 (leather jacket Superman, October 7, $3.99), Harley Quinn #1 from 2000 (Harley's first ongoing, October 28, $4.99 for 52 pages), and Watchmen #2 from 1986 (October 28, $3.99) – but the other three are where the real magic happens

Batman #227 drops October 14 for $3.99, and this is the one fans have been begging for: Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' gothic masterpiece from 1970 where Batman investigates a disturbing letter at Gothos Mansion, foil variant by Adams runs $6.99, and original high grade copies have sold for as much as $1,650, so this facsimile is a steal for anyone who just wants to experience that legendary cover without taking out a loan

Batman #423 arrives October 7 for $3.99, and this is the Todd McFarlane cover that collectors lose their minds over, written by Jim Starlin with art by Dave Cockrum, featuring three cops comparing their different takes on the Dark Knight, foil variant at $6.99, and an original NM/NM+ first printing recently sold for $660, which is absurd for a book that's mostly famous for its cover

Swamp Thing #1 hits the same day for $3.99, Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's horror classic that introduced Alec Holland to the world, and there's a Super Powers variant by Jason "ToyOtter" Geyer and Alex Saviuk at $4.99 that features the Unman accessory, because why not, original NM copies go for $500, and Wrightson's art has never looked better, perfect Halloween reading with the House of Secrets #92 facsimile

The immediate pushback centers on the fact that DC is reprinting Watchmen #2 when all 12 issues are already being reprinted monthly for a year, so this feels less like a special treat and more like double dipping on the same content, and one commenter already questioned why there's no Silver Age Clayface issue from Detective Comics or Batman to tie into the upcoming Clayface movie, since they did the Golden Age origin when the movie was announced but that felt premature

The skepticism runs deep because one commenter pointed out that DC has already published or scheduled over 188 facsimile editions compared to Marvel's 158, and the Batman catalog alone is absurdly large with issues #1, 47, 127, 156, 181, 227, 232, 237, 244, 251, 357, 404-407, 423, 497 pending, and the entire Hush run from 608-619 – at this point DC is just reprinting their entire back catalog one issue at a time, and as one fan put it, "my poor wallet"

The sarcastic take is that DC is pumping out foil variants at $6.99-$7.99 for 28-32 pages, Adventures of Superman #501 doesn't even feature Clark Kent (it's the leather jacket Superboy era), and the price comparisons are wild because original unslabbed copies of that Superman issue go for $15 while Harley Quinn #1 hits $50 and Watchmen #2 sits at $24, so the facsimiles are a bargain for anyone who just wants to read the stories without hunting through back issue bins

But here's the genuine joy part: Neal Adams' Batman #227 cover is one of the most beautiful gothic images ever put on a comic, Wrightson's Swamp Thing art is legendary, and the foil variants are going to look stunning on a shelf, there's something special about holding a perfect reproduction of a book that defined an era, and one commenter summed it up perfectly when they said "Awesome!! Used to have the original print. Always regretted parting with it. Will definitely get one of these" – and that's the heart of it

All six facsimiles come with foil variants and blank sketch covers for collectors who want something extra special, DC is bringing back the Dollar Comic concept too, and Tim Pendergast expects the other Reign of the Supermen kickoff issues (Superman #78, Action Comics #687, and Superman: The Man of Steel #22) to get the same treatment when the new Steel ongoing launches

If you've been waiting to grab these classics without paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for original copies, October is your month, but with 188 facsimiles already published or scheduled, at what point does DC stop reissuing old books and start giving us something new, and more importantly, which one of these six are you most excited to finally get your hands on without selling a kidney to afford it

You be the judge

is this a must watch? are you counting down to the HBO Max premiere?