Film & TV Briefing: Friday 1 May 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
Biggest ever music biopic ‘Michael’ tops UK and Ireland box office (Screendaily)
Global box office sales over $175m projected for ‘Devil Wears Prada 2' (Variety)
38.5% Middle Eastern fund ownership for Paramount-Warner Bros (Variety)
Dementia-friendly cinema screenings launch in St Albans (BBC)
$22million of California state funding confirmed for ‘Simpsons Movie 2’ (Variety)
‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ crowns seventh jackpot winner (BBC)
Solid start to 2026 for French television channel Canal+ (Broadcast)
Full Story initiative relaunch by CAA and GLAAD (Variety)
Apple announces ‘Ted Lasso’ season 4 streaming from August (Indiewire)
Laura Dern to join cast of ‘The White Lotus’ after Bonham Carter pulls out (BBC)
Germany streaming service launched by content creation group Banijay (Broadcast)
Features and commentary
How sanitised biopics came to rule Hollywood (The Guardian)
David Attenborough and the gorillas - exploring an iconic moment in TV (BBC)
72 Films and BBC urge UK documentary makers to be less safe (Broadcast)
Industry announcements
4-year film and TV deal ratified by WGA members (Indiewire)
Festivals and markets calendar for 2026 (Screendaily)
Legal updates
Actor and presenter Stephen Fry sues tech conference for fall (The Independent)
MrBeast vehemently denies harassment lawsuit claims (Deadline)
Former Channel 5 presenter withdraws Dan Walker employment tribunal claims (BBC)
