Film and TV Briefing: Friday 14 August 2026
Welcome to this week’s round-up of news, commentary and industry announcements that you may have missed from the past week.
If you are looking for advice in relation to any of the issues mentioned, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
In the news
Paramount's David Ellison threatens to move studio out of California amid issues with Warner Bros. Discovery merger (The Hollywood Reporter)
Sky releases teaser trailer for divorce drama starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller, 'War' (Royal Television Society)
UK indie and co-production movie spend increases while feature production spend falls 6% (Screendaily)
RTL Group profits soar due to Fremantle subsidiary (Broadcast)
Escapes initiative supported by BFI makes cinema free and accessible across the UK (BFI)
Inside the $6B acquisition of theatre owner ATG Entertainment by Ari Emanuel's Mari (The Hollywood Reporter)
Inside the Disney+ and IHeartMedia video podcast deal (Screendaily)
Biggest summer box office since COVID (Variety)
Alex Cooper's Unwell, including podcast, 'Call Her Daddy' takes first outside investment from Patrick Whitesell's WTSL (The Hollywood Reporter)
Disney+ wins global streaming rights to Formula E racing events (Variety)
First images released for film adaptation of Graham Norton's novel, 'Forever Home' starring Denise Welch (Royal Television Society)
Disney follows Universal to hit $4bn in 2026 global box office (Screendaily)
‘Barbie’ sequel hanging by a thread (Variety)
New Anne Hathaway film, 'The End of Oak Street' targets Spider-Man success (The Hollywood Reporter)
Sony and Netflix team up on 2027 international release of ‘Charlie vs. The Chocolate Factory’ (Screendaily)
Features and commentary
A deep dive into whether film sequels actually make more money (IndieWire)
The surprising mature consumer product that is a growth business for Disney (The Hollywood Reporter)
Guardian readers' happiest TV endings of all time (The Guardian)
Industry announcements
Museum of Colour celebrates people of colour in TV but Diamond Report shows there is more work to be done (Directors UK)
Broadcast announces its search for TV's top employers (Broadcast)
