Film and TV Briefing: Friday 15 August 2025
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
David Ellison sets out plans for Paramount (The Hollywood Reporter)
NBCUniversal acquires rights for ‘Jason Bourne’ and ‘Treadstone’ series (Deadline)
Netflix secures Canada TV rights for 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups (The Hollywood Reporter)
Lionsgate boss says M&A likely to happen “down the road” (Deadline)
Channel 4 tapping into “new wave” of British comedy, says comedy boss (Deadline)
Paramount Skydance execs say cable channels will not be spun off into separate entity (The Hollywood Reporter)
‘Weapons’ with $70m global box office debut as ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ hits $800m (Screendaily)
‘The Batman 2’ preparing to start shooting in spring (The Hollywood Reporter)
YouTube testing AI age-verification technology in the US (Variety)
Netflix extends partnership with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Variety)
James Gunn discusses vision for new DC Universe (Deadline)
Sinéad O’Connor biopic is in development (Variety)
Features and commentary
53 must-see new movies to watch this autumn (IndieWire)
Industry announcements
BAFTA unveils changes for 2026 film award, including stronger eligibility criteria (Variety)
Resources
Directors UK agree to extend current agreement with Pact until end of September (Pact)
Legal updates
Former Paramount controlling shareholder sued over terms of Skydance deal (Deadline)
Lead actor in Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut film, ‘The Deb’, threatens legal action (The Guardian)
SAG-AFTRA settles lawsuit against Union Health Plan over data breach (The Hollywood Reporter)
