THIS WEEK’S BANTER

A Nevada commissioner has blocked Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to shake up his family trust in favor of his son, Lachlan. What led the commissioner to block the move and rule that the Fox head acted in “bad faith?” Kim Masters and Matt Belloni dive in. 

Family feud? 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to update the family’s irrevocable trust comes as a play to keep Fox News conservative for the foreseeable future. “He wanted to ensure that Lachlan Murdoch, his ‘eldest boy,’ his fair-haired child — only metaphorically — would continue to run Fox News as the Conservative mouthpiece that it is.” Masters says. “The oldest child Prudence has stayed out of the business, mostly. James and Elizabeth are believed to be less conservative and could potentially move the channel in a different direction and Rupert didn't want that.”

In bad faith? Nevada commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr.’s decision to block Murdoch has been described as a “scathing ruling,” and attempts to overrule the decision will be a challenge for the Fox News founder. “The commissioner overseeing this called it a bad faith effort. He said it was a charade to install and enshrine Lachlan atop the company.” Belloni explains. “I mean, this was a very, very negative opinion for Rupert Murdoch. … That's important, because this will inevitably be appealed, and this judge has made findings of fact in this case, and it's going to be very tough to get this thing overruled.”

Life imitates art? Finding parallels between the Murdoch family and the Roy family from Succession takes no stretch of the imagination, and the family drama continues to resemble the beloved HBO series. “It's very interesting, because this entire trust exists as part of a settlement with Murdoch's second wife.” Belloni says. “They had the four adult children at the time, and they made this trust so that the four of them would have to work together to ensure the future of the company after Rupert dies. Now, this is all out war. You have the two siblings who are in the business who are clearly not aligned with Lachlan. You have this fourth wild card with Prudence, who seems to be on the side of the children that are objecting to Fox, and not just Fox, the other media properties as well.”

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

But wait (again), there’s still more! Kim Masters & Matt Belloni want your questions for The Business’ special year-end mailbag show. Click here to send ‘em over.

Rainn Wilson, most notably known as Dwight in The Office, is returning to his first love — theater. He portrays Vladimir in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. The play is running now through December 21st at Westwood’s Geffen Playhouse.

He sits down with Madeleine Brand on Press Play, to make the case that Waiting for Godot is one of the most brilliant works ever written. He also reveals a personal connection to the play: it was the catalyst for his relationship with his wife. The two met while studying at the University of Washington, where he played Didi and she played Gogo in a scene study class. Talk about a meet cute.

Marco Perego on making his new short film Dovecote with wife Zoe Saldaña

Director Marco Perego’s first film The Absence of Eden starred his wife Zoe Saldaña; centering on Saldaña’s character’s attempts to flee violence and cross the border from Mexico into the United States. His newest project, the short Dovecote, also stars Saldaña. This time, she’s taking on the role of an inmate about to be released from prison in Venice, Italy. 

Perego tells The Treatment about filming inside an actual prison with inmates who were serving time. Plus, he speaks on the influence he’s derived from Italian neorealist directors and some films that he wants to share with his children… eventually. 

Documentarian Nic Stacey on his film, Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy

The holidays are upon us and what better way to get into the spirit than with documentarian Nic Stacey, whose new film Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy tackles over-consumption. 

The London-based filmmaker tells The Business how he managed to pull together an impressive list of whistleblowers from Amazon, Adidas, and Apple. He also says that working with Netflix’s U.K. team was a breeze, despite the documentary’s focus on tech giants. Stacey also explains why he chose to use an AI narrator named “Sasha” to guide viewers through the film.

For Your Consideration: The Penguin

For your awards consideration, Max presents the HBO Original Series The Penguin. A thrilling crime drama that follows Oswald “Oz” Cobb’s quest for control in Gotham City. Picking up soon after the events of Matt Reeve’s The Batman (2022), with the city in peril following the seawall’s collapse, Oz (Oscar® nominee Colin Farrell) seeks to fill the power vacuum left by the death of Carmine Falcone and finally give his mother Francis (Deirdre O’Connell) the life he’s always promised. But first, Oz must confront his enemies, including Carmine’s children, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) and Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen); the Maroni family, led by their imprisoned patriarch, Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown); and Oz’s own demoralizing reputation as “the Penguin.” Don’t miss the series Variety is calling “Mesmerizing & Masterful.” Now streaming on MAX.

Weekend Film Reviews: Kraven the Hunter, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, The End, September 5 

Weighing in this week for our film reviews are Alison Willmore, a film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture, and Witney Seibold, senior staff writer at SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed. 

Watch Aaron Taylor-Johnson transform as he takes on the role of Kraven, a notorious supervillain and Spider-Man adversary, in Kraven the Hunter. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, directed by Japanese filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, is an animated prequel to the original The Lord of the Rings series. Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon star in The End, a musical about the only remaining family in a post-apocalypse world. And finally, September 5 is a historical drama that shows how ABC News covered the events of September 5, 1972, when terrorists captured and killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the Munich Olympics. 

LAST CHANCE: This sweepstakes ends at midnight!