Film and TV Briefing: Friday 20 June 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
Chinese studios announce plans to use AI to remake classic movies (The Hollywood Reporter)
James Gunn attributes struggling film industry to making movies with unfinished scripts (Variety)
‘How to Train Your Dragon’ makes £8.1m at UK and Ireland box office in opening weekend (Variety)
Stormzy discusses debut short for newly launched production company #MerkyFilm (BBC)
Warner Bros. Discovery shuts down various cable networks (Deadline)
Rotten Tomatoes launches mobile app (IndieWire)
Warner Bros. Games to restructure around core IP (The Hollywood Reporter)
Trump indicates support for pending takeover of Paramount Global (The Hollywood Reporter)
Box office preview – how will '28 Years Later’ fare? (Deadline)
Sony CEO says UK still “very significant destination” for productions despite tariff threats (Screendaily [subscription required])
Features and commentary
Will Disney’s AI lawsuit dictate whether studios survive? (The Hollywood Reporter)
Disney and NBCUniversal’s lawsuit is about AI precedent, not money (IndieWire)
Is PG now Hollywood’s hottest rating? (Variety)
Is Hollywood training for jobs that don’t yet exist? (IndieWire)
Industry announcements
Netflix unveils “innovative” deal with French broadcaster TF1 to grow its live and on-demand broadcast offerings (The Hollywood Reporter)
Resources
UCLA diversity report shows female filmmakers are still underrepresented in big budget features (IndieWire)
Legal updates
Government passes Data Bill on copyright and AI, refusing House of Lords’ proposed amendment (BBC)
Paramount Global and Trump in settlement discussions over “heavily tampered” ‘60 Minutes’ interview (The Hollywood Reporter)
