Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Comcast’s split, Amazon’s Love and a Monster.
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THE INDUSTRY TLDR
Comcast plans to split NBCUniversal and Sky Media from its telecom business
Amazon MGM’s Love, Theoretically attaches Colleen Hoover to produce.
Netflix is developing a live-action Persona series with Shawn Levy attached to EP.
Paramount+ readies Texas Tech docuseries United from Skydance Sports.
Starz picks up the S.W.A.T. spinoff Exiles with Shemar Moore returning as Hondo.
Alicia Vikander joins Netflix’s Enigma Variations opposite Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Diane Lane joins Netflix comedy A Hundred Percent as a legendary self-help guru.
Krysten Ritter returns for Dexter: Resurrection Season 2.
John Oliver will guest star on General Hospital for a three-episode arc.
A Stan Winston documentary, Monster Maker, has begun production.
The BBC is developing a four-part docuseries about the life of Jesus Christ.
Yesterday’s correct answer: Sigourney Weaver was not in Supergirl (1984).
54% got it correct.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
In just 18 months, at least seven major U.S. media shakeups have been announced or completed, as Hollywood’s biggest companies split or sell in the streaming era.
Now, one of Hollywood’s biggest media empires is splitting in two. Comcast has announced plans to separate from NBCUniversal and Sky Media, dividing into two independent public companies.
Here’s the breakdown of what each entity will house:
NBCUniversal
Universal Pictures
Peacock
NBC
Sky
Studio TV operations
Theme parks
New President: Mike Cavanagh, the current Pres of Comcast
Comcast
Xfinity broadband
wireless
cable infrastructure
Comcast Business
CEO: Michael Angelakis (former CFO: Comcast)
The current Comcast chairman and co-CEO, Brian Roberts, will oversee both.
The restructuring comes just months after Comcast spun off its portfolio of cable networks into Versant Media (USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, E!). The new Comcast will return to its telecommunications roots, centering its business around broadband internet, wireless, cable infrastructure, and enterprise connectivity services.
The real question is: will this split allow a major buyer to come in, as the Ellisons did with Skydance and Paramount? Only time will tell.
The financial pressure on these studios, which have been bled dry post-COVID, is finally starting to crystallize. Comcast’s stock is down 30% YoY, and they carry $94bn in debt. Uncertainty lies in every corner. Traditional directors who guarantee big box-office results, like Steven Spielberg, are being outcompeted by first-time filmmakers like Curry Barker.
Tidbits:
YouTube launches the ad-free tier of Peacock on its channels, after a 2025 distribution deal with NBCUniversal. Peacock Premium Plus is now available on YouTube Primetime Channels. YouTube TV has become one of the most dominant video platforms for TV screens, accounting for roughly 12% of all American TV viewership. Notable Peacock titles like Love Island USA and The Real Housewives of Rhode Island are among what YouTube will offer.
Amazon MGM Studios’ newest book adaptation, Love, Theoretically, attaches the new queen of romance author Colleen Hoover to produce via her Heartbones Entertainment (It Ends With Us). Ali Hazelwood’s novel follows a broke, theoretical physicist moonlighting as a fake girlfriend who finds her life upended when she crosses paths with the arrogant man responsible for ruining her mentor’s career. Best known for adapting Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, director Sofia Alvarez is attached to the new romcom.
Netflix is developing a live-action series based on the Japanese video game franchise Persona. The original game series is one of Sega’s most commercially lucrative RPG names, selling 30 million copies globally over a span of five installments. It follows groups of high school students who live their everyday teenage lives while gaining powers to fight supernatural threats. Shawn Levy (Dir: Deadpool & Wolverine) is attached to EP the project.
Mini Tidbits:
Paramount+ is putting Texas Tech in the spotlight for a new four-part docuseries from Skydance Sports. The series has been in production since January, following the controversies surrounding the school’s football team and the world of sports betting.
Starz picks up the spinoff S.W.A.T. Exiles from the CBS series S.W.A.T. The new series will follow Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore), who is pulled out of his retirement when he is asked to train a team of young recruits and save the SWAT program.
Federal prosecutors have sentenced 47 Ronin director Carl Rinsch to 30 months in prison for defrauding Netflix of $11M meant for his $55M sci-fi series Conquest, which was never completed. Instead, Rinsch spent the funds on luxury purchases, crypto speculation, and legal battles. Rinsch claimed the payments covered his own production costs, but testimony from former Netflix execs undermined his defense.
Trailers:
Focus Features’ Werwulf
Dir: Robert Eggers
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe
Release: Dec. 25
Lionsgate and Prime Video’s The Devil’s Mouth
Cast: Lana Condor, Kathryn Newton, Gavin Casalegno
Release: Jul. 29
Angel Studios’ Hershey
Dir: Mark Waters (Freaky Friday)
Cast: Finn Wittrock, Alexandra Daddario
Release: Nov. 26
Paramount Pictures’ The Angry Birds Movie 3
Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride
Release: Dec. 23
Re-Release:
A24 will be re-releasing Kane Parsons’ $330M grossing horror Backrooms with an extended 15 minutes of new footage.
THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander is stepping into Enigma Variations, Netflix’s limited series adaptation of Call Me by Your Name author André Aciman’s bestselling novel.
Vikander will star as Claire, one of the main love interests of Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s sexually fluid Paul, whose life is shaped by a series of relationships over the course of ten transformative years.
However, Vikander could never just be some throwaway love interest. In her career-defining, near-perfect performance in Ex Machina (2014), she transformed what initially seemed like a romantic counterpart into the film’s most calculating and unforgettable presence, just one of the many times the actress has proven that she brings far more than a cold cerebralness.
Tidbits:
Diane Lane joins the cast of Netflix comedy A Hundred Percent. The show follows a group of stars who are famous for their videos of self-optimization, while in reality, they each live a life quite far from perfect. Lane plays Suzanne, a legendary self-help guru. Tiffany Boone (The Chi) and Lisa Gilroy (The Studio) also join as recurring cast members.
Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Paramount Pictures’ highly anticipated Paranormal Activity adds Mythic Quest actor Chase Yi in a lead role. Known for supporting comedic roles in shows like The Rehearsal and Hacks, Yi’s character remains under wraps, but the jump to fronting a major studio horror franchise marks an exciting change of pace. The next Paranormal Activity installment is slated for a summer 2027 premiere.
Krysten Ritter refuses to stay buried. The Jessica Jones actress is returning to Dexter: Resurrection for its second season. Fans will remember Ritter portrayed the chilling Lady Vengeance in the first season, who (spoiler) yet in the Dexter universe, death is not always the end of a character’s story. Whether she’s somehow reprising the role or playing someone new is unknown, but season two premieres on Paramount+ this October.
Brian Tee (The Wolverine) and Ben Feldman (Superstore) join the cast of Prime Video’s The Probability of Miracles. Based on the book of the same name, the series follows a teenager dying of cancer who moves to the town of Promise, where miracles are said to happen. Tee appears as a soft-spoken head chef of a town restaurant, and Feldman stars as Dr. Handsome, a good-looking oncologist.
Mini Tidbits:
Joely Richardson joins Apple TV’s untitled thriller series, created by Alex Cary (EP: Homeland). The show follows an undercover treasury agent (Dakota Fanning) embedded within a multi-billion-dollar international conglomerate. Richardson plays Syd, Brant’s (Stellan Skarsgård) wife.
CBS’s Fire Country casts Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) as a new series regular for Season 5. The show follows Bode Donovan (Max Thieriot), a young convict seeking redemption by joining a volunteer firefighter program in Northern California.
Late night takes daytime. Last Week Tonight host John Oliver just scored his dream role as a guest star on soap opera General Hospital. Oliver’s character will have a three-episode story arc beginning Jul. 2nd.
Penelope Keith, most known for her BAFTA-winning performance as Margo Leadbetter in BBC sitcom The Good Life, dies at 86. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honors.
Actor and longtime SAG-AFTRA board member Tom Ligon has died at 85. He famously sang the cowboy ballad “Streets of Laredo” (scene) alongside Robert De Niro’s terminally ill baseball player in the poignant sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly (1973).
FESTIVALS AND DOCS
Ahead of the official program at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Italian pop art murder mystery Deadly Sweet (1967, trailer) will have a special pre-opening screening.
From Tinto Brass (Caligula), the internationally renowned “master of erotic cinema,” the film (aka I Am What I Am) follows a man who discovers a blackmailer’s corpse beside a young woman. Believing she’s been framed, he goes on the run with her through London’s criminal underworld as they try to uncover the real killer.
Returning to Venice nearly six decades later, the restored classic serves as both a celebration of Italian cinema and a fittingly bold film to kick off the festival festivities.
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Running Man, South Korea’s longest-running broadcast variety show, might come to the U.S. An L.A. media company, Hellcat, is working closely to adapt the format for American viewers. The series from Korean broadcaster SBS has been one of the nation’s most loved shows for 16 years, garnering immense popularity in Southeast Asia and creating spinoffs like Running Man Philippines. The show is a character-driven competition series with celebrity guests, large-scale chase sequences, and strategic board games.
A documentary about four-time Oscar-winning Stan Winston, the legendary special effects artist behind The Terminator and Predator franchises, has begun production. Monster Maker will follow Winston’s amazing creations through his career, from the xenomorph in Aliens (1986) to the velociraptor in Jurassic Park (1993).
The BBC takes on its biggest subject yet, Jesus Christ. From Wonderhood Studios (The Kidnap of Angel Lynn), the upcoming untitled docuseries will use archaeological discoveries, technological innovations, and expert testimonies from major Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders to paint a visceral, detailed portrait of the life of Jesus. The four-part series is set to broadcast sometime next year.
ON THIS DAY
1993. Disney buys Miramax.
Written by Gabriel Miller, Madelyn Menapace, and Tony Jaeyeong Jeong.
Editor: Gabriel Miller.
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I'd argue the answer is no buyer, and the deal structure itself tells you why. Because this is a tax-free spin, NBCUniversal is effectively barred from being acquired for roughly two years after close...sell it too soon and the IRS claws back the tax benefit, which no board would risk. So the Paramount/Skydance playbook is off the table until 2029 at the earliest.
But here's the more interesting prt: the constraint only runs one way. NBCU can't be bought, but it can buy, as long as it's the majority partner in any deal. That makes it a predator, not prey. My bet is you see creative partnerships, licensing arrangements, and JVs to extend Peacock's reach before you see anything transformational.. the YouTube Primetime Channels deal you flagged is exactly the template. Structure explains strategy here, and the structure says NBCU goes shopping, not shopping itself around.