Would not have bet on "G.O.A.T." getting significantly better reviews than "Wuthering Heights"

Tiny note on season 4, episode 2 of "Industry": I have never known a severely depressed 40 year-old with ripped abs.

Today was the day every parent dreads: I had to tell my son "Goodfellas" didn't win best picture. He asked me why. Sometimes adults don't have the answers, kid. (Trying to explain to him what "Dances With Wolves" was, let alone why it won, didn't help)

A particularly great day of accountability reporting by my @wsj colleagues. First: How the Trump, Witkoff and Lutnick sons are enriching themselves via crypto and political connections. www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

Can't believe ABC News landed this "exclusive": A nine-minute interview by David Muir of Bob Iger and Josh D'Amaro. It ends with Muir congratulating D'Amaro and Dana Walden, who happen to be his new bosses, and saying to the camera, "We're in good hands." www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIkw...

At the end of the day every journalist with a shred of integrity is on the same team. I am most definitely on the team of outstanding journalists at the Washington Post, whether they still have a job today or not.

Today Bob Iger and Josh D'Amaro shook hands and posed for photos in the Disney employee commissary. How did we get here after literally 10 years of succession drama at the House of Mouse? Read on to find out: www.wsj.com/business/med...

Josh D'Amaro is the ultimate "optimizer" of theme park prices, a 28 year Disney veteran who colleagues describe as analytical, charismatic, and a guy who really likes to be liked. Yes, I did start working on this profile before today: www.wsj.com/business/med...

Josh D'Amaro and Dana Walden are both getting multi-million dollar one-time bonuses to stay with Disney, on top of lucrative new contracts. Running an entertainment company pays very well! www.wsj.com/business/med...

Our first take on Disney's new CEO Josh D'Amaro and president/CCO Dana Walden. Did I have this story pre-written? Wouldn't I have been a fool not to? www.wsj.com/business/med...

A withering retort from TD Cowan analysts to one of Bob Iger's lines on Disney's earnings call today:

When someone reschedules their meeting with you for the sixth time, you really start to question your life choices

The transaction, she said, “should be a five-alarm fire about the federal government being for sale.” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Amazon's very expensive "Melania" doc is on track for an $8 million opening weekend. Got an A CinemaScore from opening night audiences, which were 72% female and 72% 55 and over.

Disney's board will meet next week, where they're expected to vote on the company's next CEO. Bob Iger has told people he wants to step back from daily management soon after his successor takes over. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Universal has finally dated the long-delayed 11th (and possibly final, at least with this cast) Fast and Furious film, titled "Fast Forever," for March 17, 2028. I covered the major drama behind-the-scenes on this movie a few months ago: www.wsj.com/business/med...

I for one would prefer even slightly faster service than a "meaningful" sharpie message on my cup. www.wsj.com/business/hos...

25 new films selected by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry:

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" seemed like a slam dunk to be the top grossing movie released in 2025. Then "Zootopia 2" opened in China and a very different Disney film stole the crown. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Chart buried at the very bottom of the 10-K Disney just filed

If anyone's taking side bets, I'd put my money on @mattbelloni.bsky.social's box office draft

For a special issue that's part of the Journal's celebration of the U.S. 's 250th anniversary, I wrote an essay about the rise and fall of American monoculture. Which is probably both a very good and very bad development. www.wsj.com/business/med...

The least important but most amusing aspect of yesterday's Lucasfilm news is that Dave Filoni is "president" and Lynwen Brennan is "co-president." This is classic Hollywood job title insanity where two people are equal, but one is a little more equal than the other.

Lucasfilm's strategy is to make films the focus of its stories going forward, people close to the company told me. TV will take a backseat. There's the Mandalorian movie this year, Starfighter next year, a new trilogy being written by Simon Kinberg, scripts in the works from...

Dave Filoni has replaced Kathleen Kennedy as president of Lucasfilm. It's official. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Disney has named Asad Ayaz as its first chief marketing officer, with oversight of parks and consumer products on top of his existing film and TV portfolio. I wrote a big profile of Asad, the most powerful marketing exec in Disney history, last month: www.wsj.com/business/med...

Out with the new, in with the old! www.latimes.com/travel/story...

Matthew McConaughey has trademarked himself in a novel legal approach to fight AI misuse of his image and likeness. The star has gotten eight trademarks of his image and voice approved, including, of course, one saying "alright, alright, alright." www.wsj.com/tech/ai/matt...

This can’t be legal.

Small talk overheard at the Golden Globes: “When do you start shooting?… And when do you wrap?”

It’s a cliche that the real scene at the Golden Globes is at the bar. But also… yea.

I started the applause at the Globes when Stellan Skarsgard said people should see “Sentimemtal Value” in a theater. I may have already made my biggest impact on the world of 2026.

So excited for this story about Disney's Imagineers, the secretive group who design its theme parks and cruise ships. It's been a rough past decade, but Disney is counting on them to spend $60 billion that will drive the company's next decade of growth. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Zootopia 2 is now the highest grossing Hollywood movie of all time in China (excluding inflation, which is of course a big asterisk). $601.6 million there so far, which is more than 1/3 of its $1.6 billion global total.

Theme park-caliber experiences don't all have to be part of multi-billion dollar projects that cost a family thousands of dollars to visit. www.wsj.com/business/hos...

If you're interested in Disney, you should know Asad Ayaz: The most powerful marketing executive in the company's history, the immigrant son of a Pakistani general, and a leading candidate to be Disney's "next next" CEO. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Apparently the problem with China's economy is that they spend too MUCH on research and technology. www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Universal is in the early planning stages for a potential new theme park in Saudi Arabia that would be built by a state-backed enterprise. Scoop with Jessica Toonkel: www.wsj.com/business/med...

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" grossed $12 million in domestic previews Thursday. "Way of Water" grossed $17 million three years ago. Beginning of a softer opening for Avatar 3 vs Avatar 2?

This was a tough one to write, but I hope we captured something real about this tragedy. www.wsj.com/us-news/rob-...

Presented without comment.

"Ella McCay" opens to a truly awful $2.1 million. The fourth worst opening ever for a new movie in 2500-plus theaters, per box office mojo.

First deal of this size between a Hollywood giant and an AI giant. Notably Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter just one day before announcing its new partnership with OpenAI. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Last night at the "Marty Supreme" L.A. premiere, Josh Safdie said something so striking that I wrote it down. Very on point for the movie, but kind of thought provoking for life: "A dream is a heist pulled on fate."

We have entered a new golden age for Wall Street media industry analyst notes

This may be a particularly tough year for Netflix at the Oscars

First story for the WSJ by Harriet Ryan is, unsurprisingly, a barn burner. www.wsj.com/us-news/foot...

Now that final numbers are in, this year's 5-day Thanksgiving box office total squeaked past 2012 to be the fourth biggest ever at $292.8M, behind 2024, 2018 and 2013. Per Comscore.

"Zootopia 2" was huge in China again Monday, powering a $24 million international gross for the day. But interestingly it grossed $4.3 million domestically, slightly less than the original "Zootopia" on its first Monday.

I don't think I'd be breaking any embargoes to reveal that the number of times a character says "bro" in "Avatar: Fire and Ash" is 21.