THIS WEEK’S BANTER

David Ellison of Skydance Media has purchased Paramount Global, resurrecting the merger from the dead and ending the saga that’s gripped Hollywood for months — as long as the deal closes. Plus, CNN lays off 100 workers as it enters the digital era under a new chief, Mark Thompson, and Kevin Costner’s second Horizon film is shelved indefinitely. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni break down a whirlwind week in Tinseltown.

Does Horizon have a future? The first installment of Kevin Costner’s Horizon saga was released in June, with a lackluster rollout. Now the second, which was supposed to be released in August, is being pushed back indefinitely — and he’s already shooting the next film. “He went into production on the third movie before the first one came out,” says Belloni, “So he didn't know if there would be audience appetite for a third one. The fourth one — who knows what will happen.” 

Pushing back the second movie is intended to give the audience more time to hop on the saga. It supposedly will get a theatrical release, but there is no set date on the… horizon. 

CNN pivots to digital? CNN announced layoffs of 100 employees as part of a network overhaul by new chief Mark Thompson. Though most of CNN’s monetary gain comes from broadcast journalism, TV viewership numbers are on the decline for CNN and other broadcast channels. CNN is combining its TV and digital newsrooms, preparing a CNN product for streaming on Max, and launching a digital subscription product. “I don't think that's the answer to the CNN problem, which is essentially that linear TV is going down and down and down. But at least they're doing something,” says Belloni. 

Is the Paramount saga coming to a close? Though there’s always potential for the deal to go downhill in the final stretch, Paramount’s merger with Skydance seems to be coming to a close. Tech scion David Ellison is fashioning his role at the legacy studio as “the bridge between arts and technology,” says Belloni. “Paramount is a 100-year-old legacy studio and media company. Its entire business is threatened because it is a primarily linear television company. If he can reinvent this as a tech company, that is a tall order."

But wait, there’s more! Get the full scoop on this week’s audio edition of The Banter.

Inside Out 2 screenwriter on self-awareness and emotional intelligence

Inside Out 2 has become the first movie since Barbie to surpass $1 billion at the box office in just a few weeks. This Disney/Pixar animated feature is the sequel to the 2015 original, which took viewers inside the mind (“headquarters”) of an 11-year-old girl named Riley, whose emotions — Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear — were the central characters. Riley, now a 13-year-old high school freshman, navigates new challenges like making friends with older kids and earning a spot on a hockey team. The story introduces new emotions like Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui. Screenwriter Meg LeFauve joins Press Play to advocate why anxiety is worth being grateful for (sometimes).

David Krumholtz channels his inner curmudgeon for Lousy Carter 

Prolific actor David Krumholtz has built his decades-long career around a fondness for disappearing into his characters. Equally comfortable on screens both large and small, his notable projects include a lead role in the CBS drama Numb3rs, his finely tuned ensemble work in the HBO series The Deuce, an iconic turn as Bernard The Elf in The Santa Clause franchise, and (of course) his portrayal of real-life physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi in 2023’s Oppenheimer. In 2022, he found the time to flex his chops on Broadway, playing Hermann Merz in the Tom Stoppard-penned  Leopoldstadt. 

Krumholtz’s latest role is as a professor who learns he only has six months to live in the comedy Lousy Carter, now streaming. Krumholtz tells The Treatment about the uncomfortable experience of looking inward to play the curmudgeonly lead role in Carter. He gives director Christopher Nolan much of the credit for his Oppenheimer performance. And he talks about initially butting heads with the director of Leopoldstadt around his approach to the role.

MoviePass, MovieCrash follows the company's rise and fall through the eyes of its Black founders 

When MoviePass launched in 2011, the subscription film ticketing service seemed like a dream for movie lovers. But for investors, it quickly turned into a nightmare. 

When documentary filmmaker Muta’Ali set out to tell that tale, he wanted to center the overlooked story of Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, the two Black founders of MoviePass — and how their business got taken over by former president of Redbox Mitch Lowe and financier Ted Farnsworth, who subsequently tanked their company and got in trouble with the law.

Muta’Ali joins The Business this week to take us behind the scenes of the making of his HBO documentary Moviepass, Moviecrash.

Weekend film reviews: Fly Me to the Moon, Longlegs, Sing Sing, Sorry/Not Sorry

This week brings a diverse lineup of films. Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson star in Fly Me to the Moon, a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of NASA's historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969. A24’s latest release, Longlegs, is a horror flick that centers around a young FBI agent (Maika Monroe) who gets pulled into a manhunt for a devil-worshipping serial killer (Nicolas Cage). Colman Domingo heads to the slammer in Sing Sing where he takes on the role of an innocent inmate who finds purpose in a theater group. And finally, Lewis C.K is back in the headlines. In Sorry/Not Sorry documentary filmmakers Cara Mones and Caroline Suh examine the sexual misconduct allegations that led to the downfall of the comedian through the eyes of his victims and his controversial return to the stand-up stage, revealing how he managed to regain favor with some of his fans.

Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture, and Witney Seibold, senior staff writer at SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed have you covered.