All posts tagged "Hollywood"

A state attorney general brushed off a "blackmail" attempt by a media executive amid a lawsuit against a Trump-backed merger.

During an interview with former CNN anchor Jim Acosta, California Attorney General Rob Bonta talked about how David Ellison, the head of Paramount Skydance, threatened to pull out of Hollywood if his merger with Warner Bros. Discovery gets blocked. The Trump Department of Justice greenlit the merger earlier this year, paving the way for Paramount to take over the major Hollywood studio.

"That just felt like a desperate last-ditch effort to try to blackmail my office and the other AGs who have a job to do," Bonta said. "A duty to regulate and to blackmail us into allowing an illegal merger to go through, which we can't do, we won't do, we didn't do, we will never do."...

Hollywood blockbuster director Christopher Nolan showed he's unbothered by the MAGA uproar about his new movie with his latest comments.

MAGA has been upset about Nolan's casting choices for his adaptation of the ancient Greek epic, "The Odyssey," including Lupita Nyong'o, whose parents are Kenyan, as Helen of Troy, and transgender actor Elliot Page, who was erroneously speculated to be playing Achilles.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Nolan dismissed the backlash as "irrelevant," adding that it "comes with the territory." An article by Variety noted that even prominent right-wing voices like X owner and former Trump aide Elon Musk and conservative commentator Matt Walsh had been vocal critics....

MAGA is having another meltdown over a Hollywood casting choice, this time concerning an adaptation of a classic cartoon.

The latest meltdown is sparked by news that Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson will star as Betty Boop in a live-action film, according to reporting by the Daily Beast.

MAGA accounts called it "race swapping," though Brunson's defenders noted her resemblance to Betty Boop, the iconic, big-eyed cartoon character from the early 20th century. ...

A merger between two major Hollywood studios could be one step closer as they begin "palm-greasing" the president by greenlighting a Rush Hour sequel.

Donald Trump's love of the buddy cop movies, which starred Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, was made evident earlier this year when the president made clear his wishes to see a fourth installment in the franchise. It appears the president will get his wish, but a much more lucrative reason is behind the decision, according to The Bulwark's Catherine Rampell.

The movie, which has reportedly been greenlit and will be distributed by Paramount Skydance, could be a box office bomb — but could affect the hopeful merger of the distributor and Warner Bros. Discover, Rampell wrote....

Donald Trump has reportedly leaned on his Paramount producer friends to revive "mentally tough" Hollywood movies.

The president has, according to Semafor, "personally pressed the Paramount owner" to revive Rush Hour, the buddy-cop comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Trump had previously announced ambassadors to the "great but very troubled" Hollywood and is still seemingly pushing for more changes in film.

Trump called on Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone to be ambassadors for Hollywood earlier this year, with a Truth Social post confirming the surprise appointments. He wrote, "It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform....

From the beloved children’s show “Bluey” to the blockbuster “Harry Potter” films, directors and producers have warned that President Donald Trump’s proposed 100 percent tariff on movies made in “foreign lands” would damage the U.S. entertainment industry’s ability to produce hit shows.

But Lamont Pete, a veteran reality TV producer, told Raw Story “nobody should really pay this much mind,” because Trump’s May 4 Truth Social post isn’t grounded in “reality.”

“When he came out and said this I don't think he really thought it through, but surprise, surprise, that would not be the first,” Pete said. “Honestly, I think nobody should really pay this much mind … that’s the most ridiculous s-–t I’ve ever heard.”...