The debt to finance data centers is so massive even Meta doesn't want it on its books. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/thre...

On today's episode of The Journal, I talk about why Los Angeles's entertainment economy is in a depression and interview the Oscar-winning sound mixer of "Whiplash" about how it's affecting behind-the-scenes workers like him. open.spotify.com/episode/0mQ7...

Very strong $40M domestic / $80M global opening for "Predator: Badlands," especially in the context of a dismal fall box office. Interestingly, despite the franchise-first PG-13 rating, only 6% of the domestic audience was under 18.

Nice to have an undeniably positive story to write about the movie business in 2025: www.wsj.com/business/med...

Why yes, Gemini, I have to agree that the last few question I've asked were "insightful," "important," "excellent" and "fantastic."

Former Disney live action film chief Sean Bailey is launching a new company, B5 Studios, with backing from Gerry Cardinale's Redbird Ventures. His goal: Make movies and TV shows and digital content faster and cheaper using tech like AI and game engines. www.wsj.com/business/med...

If the UK's production tax credit applies to podcasts, maybe they can work it into the season 6 plot. deadline.com/2025/10/only...

It's been a long time since Hollywood had a new mogul. Especially one under 60. www.wsj.com/business/med...

After every toy company passed on KPop Demon Hunters prior to release, two of the biggest sign a deal to start coming out with products next spring.

"Good Fortune's" dismal $6.2 million opening is more bad news for those of us who want to believe people will still pay to see comedies in theaters. Obviously nothing is impossible, but it's clearly gotten very, very, very hard.

If you're wondering what political movement is ascendant in California Democratic politics, this is the subject line of the latest release from Gavin Newsom's office.

KPop Demon Hunters sing-along returning to theaters Oct. 31-Nov. 2 for all the kids dressed as Rumi for Halloween. And this time AMC is playing it.

First time I've seen my work in a political ad (@austinforla.bsky.social's mayoral announcement) www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...

And on the same day he talked about the state of Hollywood on his podcast with me, Derek put out this super smart take on how social media is becoming TV. No wonder it's so hard for traditional TV to compete.

I loved chatting with the always-sharp @dkthomp.bsky.social about the catastrophic recent loss of work for Hollywood's middle-class and why AI may lead to a creative renaissance for the entertainment industry akin to 1970s cinema. open.spotify.com/episode/2P3w...

Fantastic/horrifying story about drug rehab centers exploiting poor people with addiction issues by signing them up for ACA plans, providing crappy services, then dumping them on the street. by Zusha Elinson and @wsjwernau.bsky.social www.wsj.com/us-news/drug...

Even Pam Abdy at the Bloomberg conference keeps calling it "Paul's movie." Nobody can say the title "One Battle After Another"! It's not a bad title IMO, but it is an un-sayable title

Warner Bros. film co-chief Mike De Luca says the average negative cost of his studio's movies have declined from $168M to either $126M or $108M (he didn't seem certain of the current number)

Kudos to the reader who sent me an email with this subject line

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"One Battle After Another" domestic ticket sales dropped 50% on its second weekend, dashing hopes that strong reviews and audience scores would translate to a long and profitable box office run.

This story started with a simple observation: 2025 is the first odd numbered year since *2007* without a Fast & Furious movie. Why is Universal in zero hurry to make the next sequel? And what does that tell us about the economics of franchise filmmaking? www.wsj.com/business/med...

The most important human story in the entertainment industry right now is the severe downturn in film and TV production in LA and how it's affecting middle-class crew workers. I spoke to dozens of them for this story about the depressed Hollywood economy. www.wsj.com/business/med...

OpenAI is risking pissing off a lot of Hollywood with the next update of Sora, which will allow you to generate videos with copyrighted content (Iron Man, Shrek, etc.) unless the owner specifically opts out. Scoop with @keachhagey.bsky.social and Berber Jin www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...

Disney has scheduled a Simpsons movie for release on July 23, 2027

"One Battle After Another" is Paul Thomas Anderson's biggest opening ever. But Warner Bros. greenlit it as a Leonardo DiCaprio action movie and this was one of his worst openings ever (particularly as an adult in a film that's not lower-budget Oscar bait)

Sometimes teen boys go looking for extremist content online. Often, it finds them. Julie Jargon and I spoke to young men who fell down dangerous Internet rabbit holes and came out the other side. www.wsj.com/tech/how-two...

California newspapers not exactly playing hard to get with Gavin Newsom in this ad in today's LA Times

It's not often graffiti taggers go after a CEO. But it's been that kind of month for Bob Iger. Here's our close-up look at why Disney's leader suspended and then reinstated Jimmy Kimmel and what the fiasco's done to his legacy and reputation for defending free expression. www.wsj.com/business/med...

It's rare a critic finds a new way to be mean clever enough to make me LOL

Whoever added me to this press list knows exactly why I get up in the morning.

I have literally not heard a single person in Hollywood say the words "One Battle After Another," including people closely involved in it. Everyone calls it "the PTA movie." Probably a sign it's not the most user-friendly title.

Ugh this is so much grimmer than I realized. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/t...

This chart says it all. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/wo...

Graffiti sighting in Hollywood

Disney is indefinitely pulling Jimmy Kimmel's late night show from ABC. Comes after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr criticized the comedian's remarks about the killing of Charlie Kirk. Several owners of ABC stations already told the network they were dropping the show.

Saw "Apollo 13" in Imax yesterday (review: great movie is still great) and was struck the credits are "Imagine Entertainment presents a Brian Grazer Production / a Ron Howard Film." Universal gets a logo, but no name in the credits. Wild. Talk about peak production company power.

Penske Media, publisher of Rolling Stone, Variety, etc., is the first major news company to sue Google over its AI overviews. It alleges they steal Penske's content and have severely diminished Web traffic to Penske sites. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/roll...

Hollywood excess isn't totally dead yet.

I totally agree. Us late Gen X-ers / early Millennials are very lucky (in this regard)

Get ready for HBOParaMax. And the Superman-Star Trek crossover I've personally been dying for. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Some directors can't help but say a lot to try and prepare the audience for their movie at a premiere. Paul Thomas Anderson's only comment on "One Battle After Another" last night was, "It's a long one."

It's real. And it's spectacular. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Can a movie made by AI be good enough to succeed at the box office? We'll get out first test next year: www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...

If the July 9 date for "Man of Tomorrow" holds, we'll get a second Superman movie before a second (Pattinson) Batman. The last Batman came out 3.5 years before this year's Superman.

The observations in this op-ed are undeniably true, but it ignores the fact that way more people want to go to Disney parks than 50 years ago. If Disney priced a visit the same way it did back then, the parks would be unbearably overcrowded. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

A lot of very smart people in Hollywood thought Netflix movies could never make a cultural impact on the scale of theatrical blockbusters like "Barbie" or "Frozen." "KPop Demon Hunters" blew a hole in that theory. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Amazing name for a podcast.

Never thought I’d be writing this: Netflix, yes *Netflix*, has the #1 movie at the box office this weekend. www.wsj.com/business/med...

It's been like a decade since I got as many reader emails in response to an article as I did for this on how Hollywood, led by Marvel, is abandoning a Georgia entertainment economy they helped build. That's thousands of middle-class jobs behind the scenes. www.wsj.com/business/med...