Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery announce deal
In this photo illustration, the logo of Warner Bros. Discovery is displayed on a computer screen in Ankara, Turkiye, on August 12, 2025. (Photo by Omer Taha Cetin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Warner Bros Discovery has agreed to a deal with Paramount Skydance, the two companies confirmed Friday in a news release.
According to the release, under the terms of the agreement, Paramount plans to pay “$31.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of WBD.”
“The merger unlocks innovative and compelling storytelling opportunities across the combined company’s best-in-class film and television studios, streaming and linear platforms,” the release stated.
According to the release, the board of directors of both companies approved the deal unanimously.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, “subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances and approval by WBD shareholders, with a vote expected in the early spring of 2026.”
Rose Byrne may be fresh off her first Oscar nomination for her performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, but she already has another movie in theaters.
The actress stars in Tow, which follows the true story of Amanda Ogle, an unhoused woman living in her car on the streets of Seattle, Washington. After her Toyota Camry is stolen and impounded, she fights a relentless legal battle to reclaim her car and, in turn, her life.
Byrne told ABC Audio she got the chance to meet with the real-life Ogle while preparing for the role. They spent a few days together exploring neighborhoods in Seattle and seeing all of the locations that made her who she is.
“She’s extraordinary,” Byrne said of Ogle, noting “her stubbornness, her perseverance” and most of all her “self-respect and her value of wanting to fight this fight.”
“Which is really what it’s about. Less so the car, but about that drive,” Byrne said, pun not intended.
Byrne continued, “She was really struggling for the basic things and yet she was driven to make sure that she went up against this unbelievable monolith, this corporate monolith who couldn’t care less about this complaint.”
Her story “was very inspiring and unbelievable,” Byrne said. If she had to pick one thing about Ogle that speaks to her the most, Byrne said it was her unyielding dedication.
That stubbornness “was a thing I was fascinated with,” Byrne said, “her unwillingness to let it go.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ (Getty Images)
The previously-announced Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is no more.
Sarah Michelle Gellar took to Instagram on Saturday to reveal that Hulu has decided not to move forward with the reboot Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale.
“I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me. Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale,” Gellar said.
Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman were going to write and executive produce the reboot, which would have been directed and executive produced by Chloé Zhao. Gellar was attached to executive produce and star in the new series.
“I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots, and thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her, and how much she means not only to me, but to all of you. And this doesn’t change any of that,” Gellar said in her video. “And I promise, if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”
Gellar captioned the video with the same parting line, which is a reference to a quote her character, Buffy Summers, said in the original show.
While on the red carpet for the 98th Oscars on Sunday, Zhao told Variety and CNN that she was “not surprised” by Hulu’s decision.
“I had an incredible, incredible time with Sarah, with all the cast and crew doing this,” Zhao said. “Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans. So, things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery. And what this might lead us to.”
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
ABC’s The Oscars hosted by Conan O’Brien. ((Disney/Mark Seliger)
The 98th annual Academy Awards went down in Hollywood Sunday, with host Conan O’Brien kicking things off with a taped segment set to Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” which had him made up to look like Amy Madigan’s character in Weapons and dropping into Oscar-nominated films.
He opened his monologue by saying he was honored to be the “last human host of the Academy Awards,” before joking, “Last year when I hosted Los Angeles was on fire, but this year everything’s going great.”
Noting that security was tighter at the Oscars this year, he joked it was because of concerns over “attacks from both the opera and ballet communities,” a reference to Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments, adding “they’re just mad you left out jazz.”
There were also cracks about the Oscars getting political, joking there’s an alternate Oscars hosted by Kid Rock at Dave & Buster’s, as well as jokes about it being Netflix’s Ted Sarandos’ first time in a theater and several about the nominated films, including Hamnet and Bugonia sounding “like off-brand lunch meat.”
But it wasn’t all jokes, with Conan then getting serious about why the Oscars are important.
“Everyone watching around the world is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times,” he said. “It’s at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant.”
“Every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages, working hard to make something of beauty,” he added. “We pay tribute tonight, not to just film but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today, optimism.”
Finally he noted, “So let us celebrate not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better in the days ahead.”
