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Wes Anderson's needle-drop genius gets its due at his Hollywood Bowl tribute
Anderson’s score work is planned to exacting detail. But this three-night stand with Bill Murray, Beck, Jackson Browne and more was played in the spirit of the way fans revisit his beloved films.
Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland
Test your knowledge of entertainment with this quiz on celebrities, trends and headline-making moments. Featured this week: patriotic getaways, a stunning health transformation, Greek vacation photos ...
Legendary Television City may be be sold in further blow to Hollywood
Legendary Television City may be be sold in further blow to Hollywood
Tilly Norwood’s New Movie Rekindles Hollywood Concerns That AI ‘Actor’ Is Just Ripping Off Human Performances
The news of Tilly Norwood’s feature-length movie debut again brought out the digital pitchforks surrounding her existence, with commenters weighing in on everything from the concept of an AI actress l...
Scientists Say We May Need to Nuke Asteroids—But Not How You Think
A new study favors buried explosions over Hollywood-style head-on impacts.
Politics Puts a Spotlight on TV, Film Production Exodus From L.A.
On today's 'Strictly Business' podcast, Luminate analyst Tyler Aquilina details his report, 'Hollywood Exodus,' onthe production crisis in L.A.
Nicolas Johnson, Son of Entertainment Attorney Matt Johnson, Dies at 28
The Morehouse College graduate was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Sherman Oaks on July 1.
Nicolas Johnson Dead: Son of Hollywood Attorney Matt Johnson Was 28
The Morehouse College graduate was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Sherman Oaks on July 1.
Behind Christopher Nolan’s 6-country epic undertaking to bring ‘The Odyssey’ to the big screen
Christopher Nolan has taken on the epic challenge of adapting “The Odyssey” into a large-scale Hollywood film.
Chatbot Company Character.ai Is Entering the Microdrama Space
The fraught chatbot company is entering the crowded world of vertical videos — with an AI twist.
8 actors who walked away from Hollywood
From Grace Kelly to Leelee Sobieski, these eight actors traded Hollywood for a different life.
Actors’ Equity, IATSE, Local 802 AFM Endorse New York Gov. Hochul
Actors’ Equity, IATSE and AFM Local 802 are backing the Democratic incumbent for reelection, citing her support for the industry.
Katie Couric Suffered Amnesia in Health Scare
The veteran news anchor shared the experience in a Substack post titled 'The Day I'll Never Remember.'
Fathom Entertainment New CEO Is Jason Brenek
He succeeds Ray Nutt, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Explaining The Comcast and NBCUniversal Divorce
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July in America, celebrating the country’s 250th birthday. Frankly, I am bummed the 250th wasn’t a bigger celebration, but that’s a different topic for a different Substack. While it was generally a quiet week on the entertainment/streaming/media business fronts, we still had some interesting news stories. Actually, that kinda undersells one of the stories, a huge, huge, huge divestment that could upend the entertainment landscape... So let’s get right to it. In today’s column, I’ll cover Comcast spinning off the rest of NBCUniversal, an entertainment company investing in an LLM company and an LLM-owner investing in a movie studio, the latest round of threats of digital tariffs, and more. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Most: Comcast/NBCU Breakup!!!! If I had to describe my reaction to Comcast spinning out NBCUniversal, it feels like a relationship ending, either breaking up or divorcing. Comcast’s decision to spin off the rest of NBCUniversal, after spinning off some of its cable assets into Versant last year, really does feel like a family breaking up under “irreconcilable differences”. Of my stereotypes of the entertainment moguls, my go-to for Comcast CEO Brian Roberts—heir to the Comcast fortune, but a man who’s been at the helm for 24 years now, and president for twelve years before that—is that he likes building empires. He cut his teeth acquiring cable rivals in the 1990s and tried to buy Disney repeatedly, then settled for NBCUniversal after a long court battle. (Contrast this with Rupert Murdoch, a man who also loved to buy, but would also sell when the price is right. Murdoch made Fox out of nothing, but then sold 20th Century Fox to Disney, arguably at the top of the market. So I understood why he sold.) But I don’t understand Roberts’ motivation to sell now. I have some explanations but no single, super-satisfying explanation. Strategically, it would just make more sense to have kept NBCUniversal in-house, especially for a one-time empire builder like Comcast. Yet one powerful force—arguably the decider in modern capitalism—likely overwhelmed all other considerations. At first, I thought I’d arrange my thoughts as a “Five Why” analysis, digging through each layer of the puzzle. But instead, I found myself asking, “But…why?” (And I only ended up with four sections.) So let’s look at Comcast from that angle. Then, at the end, I’ll give my biggest strategic recommendation for every company in Hollywood. It’s obvious, but sometimes, the obvious strategy is the most ignored. But…Why? The Stock Market, Conglomerations, and Sum of the Parts Analysis We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Why Comcast could never get a “tech company” valuation The not-so-secret motivation for Comcast What Versant has to do with all of this The key strategic advice I think every entertainment exec should follow (though it’s really obvious) Some big AI investment news… Whether we’ll see digital tariffs… And more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
‘Love and Other Words’ Adaptation a Go From Magic Hour Entertainment
Max Siemers and Tanner Anderson are behind the new company, which will adapt Christina Lauren’s best-selling novel of the same of the name centered on childhood friends turned first loves who reconnect as adults.
‘Love and Other Words’ Adaptation Set With the Newly Formed Magic Hour Entertainment (Exclusive)
Max Siemers and Tanner Anderson are behind the new company, which will adapt Christina Lauren’s best-selling novel of the same of the name centered on childhood friends turned first loves who reconnec...
Kentucky Science Center announces line-up for summer Hollywood Movie Series
The Kentucky Science Center is bringing a mix of family favorites and blockbuster action with this summer’s Hollywood Movie Series.
Ohio agency looks to ban sports bettors from using credit cards to gamble
The Ohio Casino Control Commission is finalizing its rule to ban credit card transactions for sportsbooks, an agency spokesperson said.
Comcast's Sky to Acquire ITV Networks, Streaming Unit
The ITV Studios production arm will become a standalone business after the planned transaction.
PENN Entertainment (PENN) Opens New Aurora Casino As Valuation Debate Heats Up
Index moves and a new Illinois casino put PENN in focus PENN Entertainment (PENN) has just opened its US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora in Illinois, while also moving from the Russell 1000 family into several Russell 2000 indices. See our latest analysis for PENN Entertainment. The recent opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora and PENN Entertainment’s move into several Russell 2000 indices comes alongside a 50.17% 3 month share price return and a 19.13% 1 year total...
Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland
Test your Taylor Swift knowledge with this quiz celebrating the pop superstar's headline-making romance with Travis Kelce. Featured this week: wedding details, memorable moments from their love story ...
For the 2014 film Interstellar, director Christopher Nolan hired Caltech physicist Kip Thorne as his science consultant — and the visual simulations Thorne helped design for the film's black hole were so mathematically accurate that they generated two peer-reviewed scientific papers and became the model for how astrophysicists visualize black holes today
In late 2012, when the American film director Christopher Nolan formally took over the production of a Warner Brothers science-fiction project that had been drifting through Hollywood development since approximately 2005 (originally intended for Steven Spielberg, based on a screenplay concept the film producer Lynda Obst had developed jointly with the Caltech theoretical physicist Kip […]
13 Actors Who Made the 1970s the Golden Age of Movies
Few eras in Hollywood history feel as iconic and packed with talent as the ’70s, when a group of boundary-pushing stars captured the imagination of movie lovers with unforgettable performances. From b...
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
Madonna Returns With Long-Awaited ‘Confessions II’
The much-anticipated release is the culmination of a months-long rollout that included a surprise Coachella performance, a pop-up show in Times Square and "taking over the Gayborhood" on Grindr.
'Ferris Bueller' star Mia Sara stepped away from Hollywood — but still lives in L.A. for this reason
'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' star Mia Sara stepped away from acting in Hollywood, but still lives in Los Angeles to ride horses.
Morgan Fairchild has one word to describe Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor
Morgan Fairchild was brief when describing her interactions with the Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor, with whom she worked in a 1980s miniseries.
How Investors May Respond To PENN Entertainment (PENN) Aurora Casino Opening And Russell 2000 Shift
PENN Entertainment recently celebrated the grand opening of its new US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora in Illinois, while also being moved from the Russell 1000 family of indices into the Russell 2000, Russell 2000 Value, and Russell 2000 Dynamic indices as part of the latest rebalancing. This combination of a large-scale brick-and-mortar investment and a shift toward small-cap and value-oriented index inclusion reshapes how both fundamental and index-tracking investors may...
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
Dwayne Johnson Faces Backlash for Staying Quiet on Politics
Dwayne Johnson is being called out by George Takei, Wil Wheaton and other Hollywood voices for his decision to stay quiet on politics.
‘Minions & Monsters’ scores series-best reviews for Illumination’s animated franchise: ‘Weird, willful popular entertainment’
The latest installment drops the Minions down in Old Hollywood with cameos from Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin.
9 former child stars who found success outside Hollywood
These former child stars found impressive careers outside the spotlight. See which of your favorites became lawyers, teachers, veterinarians, CEOs, and more.
Morgan Fairchild 'knew what it was' when Rock Hudson got sick with AIDS: 'Everybody in Hollywood knew Rock was gay'
Morgan Fairchild looks back on the death of actor Rock Hudson and reveals she 'knew what it was' when he got sick with AIDS in 1984: 'Everybody in Hollywood knew Rock was gay.'
The Hollywood Reporter Tops 2026 SoCal Journalism Awards With 20 First-Place Wins, More Than Any Other Outlet
Among its awards are best website, journalist of the year honors for Gary Baum and Seth Abramovitch, best film critic for David Rooney, and best audio anchor/host for Scott Feinberg. Overall, THR nabb...
Hollywood celebrates Mel Brooks' 100th birthday
Mel Brooks' 100th birthday is being celebrated by friends, fans, and the whole of Hollywood.
Ann Blyth, teen star of 'Mildred Pierce,' dead at 98
LOS ANGELES — Ann Blyth, a versatile Hollywood star who received an Oscar nomination at 17 as Joan Crawford’s wayward daughter in “Mildred Pierce,” sang opposite Mario Lanza and Howard
Gracie Abrams understands nepotism discourse about her, admits Hollywood parents provided 'a safety net': 'I get it'
Gracie Abrams understands why she's frequently brought up in conversations about nepotism, and said that her parents' success in Hollywood provided 'a safety net': 'I get it.'
Tony Goldwyn recalls Hollywood 'people that were mean' changing their attitude toward him after this hit film
Tony Goldwyn said that Hollywood colleagues treated him as if he 'had the plague' when he was an unemployed actor, and those same 'mean' people changed their tune after this hit movie.
Nia Long explains why she turned down Prince's advances
Nia Long explained why she once shut down Prince's advances when she was young, and said that she later met the musician again when she'd gained more notoriety in Hollywood.
How PENN’s US$360 Million Aurora Resort Shift At PENN Entertainment (PENN) Has Changed Its Investment Story
PENN Entertainment has opened the US$360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora, replacing its former Fox River riverboat with a 388,500-square-foot, 24/7 land-based resort featuring over 1,000 slots, 50 table games, a sportsbook, 226-room hotel, spa, event center, and extensive dining options. The Aurora project, which created around 700 permanent roles and mirrors PENN’s broader shift into higher-amenity land-based properties, highlights how the company is reinvesting heavily to refresh...
Hollywood gets into the microdrama race as mobile-first storytelling draws stars and major studios
Mobile-first serialized storytelling is rapidly becoming one of entertainment's fastest-growing businesses.
Hollywood gets into the microdrama race as mobile-first storytelling draws stars and major studios
While much of Hollywood was consumed by the streaming wars, Issa Rae was studying a different mode of entertainment thousands of miles away: microdramas. No stranger to creating a successful online s...
Ann Blyth, Oscar-nominated 'Mildred Pierce' actress, dies at 98
Ann Blyth, Golden Age Hollywood star and Oscar-nominated 'Mildred Pierce' actress, has died at 98.
Digital-Only 'Grand Theft Auto VI' Is a Car Crash for Physical Media
Not all progress is progress.
Scientists uncover terrifying 19-meter sea monster that once ruled ancient oceans - Futura-Sciences
When the Deep Was Ruled by Monsters For decades, Hollywood has served us ferocious tyrannosaurs and sneaky raptors on a silver screen. But let’s not forget: the oceans of the prehistoric world had their own undisputed terrors lurking below. So move over, land-based giants—it’s time for a real-life kraken to...
New Media Event Jupiter Festival Planned from Art Basel Company
MCH Group, in which the Fox scion is the largest shareholder, is launching an event titled the Jupiter Festival with an eye toward becoming a stop on the thought leader circuit.
Hollywood production house closes, citing entertainment industry struggles
Hollywood production house closes, citing entertainment industry struggles
Measles exposure reported at Hollywood Burbank Airport, county health officials say
Los Angeles County health officials announced Wednesday they are investigating a confirmed case of measles involving a traveler who may have exposed people to the highly contagious disease at Hollywood Burbank Airport and elsewhere in the county.
Sony Pictures Invests in Cosm Dome Venues in Major Deal
Cosm venues feature a unique dome shape, delivering a fresh experience for live events and theatrical screenings.
Sony Pictures Invests in Cosm Dome Venues in Major Deal
Cosm venues feature a unique dome shape, delivering a fresh experience for live events and theatrical screenings.
Hollywood and Big Tech Are at War: Fight for Attention Underway
Meta wants to steal TV viewers, Amazon and Apple are meddling with content, and traditional media companies are pursuing megadeals to try and survive.
PENN Entertainment Celebrates Grand Opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora
PENN Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) (“PENN” or the “Company”) today celebrates the grand opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora, the all-new, $360 ...
PENN Entertainment Celebrates Grand Opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora
WYOMISSING, Pa. & AURORA, Ill., June 24, 2026--PENN Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) ("PENN" or the "Company") today celebrates the grand opening of Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora, the all-new, $360 million state-of-the-art casino and hotel. PENN’s latest land-based property replaces the former riverboat property that operated on the Illinois shores of the Fox River since 1993.
Ari Emanuel Is in Talks to Buy ATG Entertainment, FT Reports
Hollywood superagent Ari Emanuel is in advanced talks to buy the theater group ATG Entertainment Ltd. for £4.5 billion ($5.9 billion), the Financial Times reported.
Hollywood is bending the knee to OpenAI
Buy Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman film, you cowards.
Roku May Help Fox Avoid Aggregeddon
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Scrolling through links over the last week, I stumbled across this fun headline: Wow. Formula 1 (the sport, not the docu-series) is the perfect “dog not barking”. As a reminder, each week in my Streaming Ratings Report, I call out the shows that miss every viewership chart. I dub them “dogs not barking”—like the Sherlock Holmes mystery—because without any data, we forget they even exist. This is in contrast to something like, say, a film flop—cough The Mandalorian and Grogu cough—where even underperforming at the box office is widely discussed here, there and everywhere. In the US, Formula 1 is now in “no public viewership data, so not discussed” territory. After moving to Apple TV from its former home of ESPN, basically no one talks about it. Apple did publish an initial, unsourced, unsubstantiated, (dare I say unserious) datecdote claiming more folks are watching Formula 1 on Apple than ESPN, but we haven’t gotten any updates since. This stands in contrast to when the sport streamed on ESPN, and ESPN PR provided weekly viewership figures. Formula 1 was, at best, a niche sport in America—averaging 1.3 million viewers in the Big Data Plus era—but now it’s basically anonymous. (And yeah, after moving to Apple, I very, very, very much doubt its ratings increased.) Unfortunately, that story isn’t quite big enough to warrant a section in today’s “Most Important Story of the Week” column, but I wanted to call it out, because otherwise, no one else will! Certainly, no one will write articles about the silence/ratings decline, unlike when they wrote breathless articles connecting the rise in viewership to Netflix’s Drive to Survive, including Reuters just last month. (This is a topic I’ve tried to provide a moderate/nuanced/non-hyped take since 2022.) Anyway, on to this week’s issue. I was a bit worried I didn’t have a juicy topic, then the Murdochs went out and did their Murdoch thing: buying Roku. So that’s the story of the week, and it happens to touch on quite a few themes of the streaming wars and the disruption therein. I’ll cover that, plus why more consolidation in Hollywood media looks likely, more good news on the Hollywood labor front, whether we’ll see an uptick in production in Los Angeles, some Broadway and theme park news, cellphone prices going up in the third world (and possibly everywhere), and more. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Another Big Media & Entertainment Merger The story of the week is clearly Fox is buying Roku for $22 billion. I read a lot of good strategy takes on why Fox bought this streaming TV device maker—and I’ll have mine below—but what fascinates me more is how this deal connects to quite a few themes of the streaming wars, linking to everything from the pace of M&A to “aggregeddon” to Netflix’s recent M&A actions/inactions to the shift to advertising from pure play streaming and more. The only topic I can’t really connect it to is my old theory, “never bet against Rupert Murdoch” because he isn’t the one who did this deal; his son Lachlan inked it. (Do I think he provided advice, even at his 95 years of age? Sure.) That plus I have one additional piece of strategy for all entertainment players, inspired by this deal. So let’s dive into all those topics, starting with why I like this deal. Roku is a Great M&A Buy
Cannes Lions Feels More Hollywood Than the Film Festival This Year
With creators increasingly at the center of entertainment, the fest built on brand marketers is gaining even more weight now ("I've never seen anything like it," one attendee notes).
Mia Sara reveals why starring in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' wasn't a 'good experience'
Mia Sara has largely given up Hollywood, appearing in only one film in the past decade, and when asked about her biggest credit, in 'Ferris Bueller's Day off,' she's afraid she may disappoint fans.
Molly Shannon honored with star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: 'Dreams do come true'
As she accepted the honor, Shannon gave a heartfelt speech about her experience coming up in Hollywood — and how supportive her late father, James F. Shannon, was.
Xbox at 25: Gaming giant seeks to level up play and Hollywood adaptations
Xbox enters a new era with its 25th anniversary. Key figures from inside the gaming giant, including the new CEO, talk new ways of play and Hollywood adaptations.
Xbox at 25: Gaming giant seeks to level up play and Hollywood adaptations
Xbox enters a new era with its 25th anniversary. Key figures from inside the gaming giant, including the new CEO, talk new ways of play and Hollywood adaptations.
California Gothic bus tour from New Theater Hollywood haunts the city
New Theater Hollywood's 'California Gothic: A Bus Tour' periodically invites riders to meet ghostly street performers and ponder the death of the California dream.
James Burrows: Warren Littlefield Pens Tribute (Exclusive)
The NBC exec who first met Burrows in 1979 and presided over NBC Entertainment from 1991 through 1998 describes the legendary TV director, who died Friday, as "America’s greatest and most prolific exporter of the world of laughter and joy."
Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland
Test your knowledge of entertainment with this quiz on celebrities, trends and headline-making moments. Featured this week: a music icon's glamorous appearance, a surprise soccer sighting, a bikini-cl...
12 Women Who Redefined Hollywood and Entertainment
Few industries reflect societal transformation and the persistence of creative vision quite like Hollywood. Across generations, a trailblazing group of women have shattered expectations, defined genre...
George Lucas comes out of retirement for voice role in upcoming Hollywood blockbuster
George Lucas is coming out of retirement to provide a voice role in the first Hollywood blockbuster to directly involve him in over a decade —and it's not a 'Star Wars' or 'Indiana Jones' project.
Why Jamie Lynn Spears left Hollywood for 'the middle of nowhere' to raise daughter as a teen mom
Jamie Lynn Spears explained why she left Hollywood for 'the middle of nowhere' to raise her daughter as a teen mom.
Commentary: ‘Disclosure Day’ underscores a Hollywood marketing dilemma
From "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and "War of the Worlds," a UFO-themed blockbuster from Steven Spielberg has long been a can’t-miss event, and last
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer on 'Grinch' Sequel, YouTube Filmmakers
The Imagine Entertainment partners sat down with THR editor-in-chief Maer Roshan for a keynote conversation at the UCLA Entertainment Symposium, where they also touched on AI fears and their (lack of) retirement plans.
Hollywood Warns California Against Sabotaging Film Incentives
The entertainment industry is seeking an exemption from a new limit on corporate tax credits, saying it will undercut production incentives.
Grinch Movie Sequel in the Works with Jim Carrey in Talks to Return
Universal and Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer are in development on the sequel to the 2000 film.
Fox News and Donald Trump's Divorce
For a decade, the network and the president have fueled each other’s rise. As the midterms approach, both are learning who really owns the Republican base.
Amazon Bets APAC Future on Building the "Entertainment Hub"
At Asia's leading media conference, held this week in Bali, Amazon regional entertainment leaders touted its radical localization strategies, 600-plus distribution partners, and the new ad-supported tier in India built on Amazon MX Player.
'24' star Elisha Cuthbert explains why she took years-long break from acting
'24' and 'Girl Next Door' actress Elisha Cuthbert opens up about her Hollywood return after a years-long break from acting.
Fantasy Football Sleepers, Busts & Predictions: 2026 Philadelphia Eagles
This year promises to be a big year of transition in Philadelphia. A.J. Brown is gone, and Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks and Hollywood Brown are here now. Kevin Patullo and Jeff Stoutland are gone as offensive coordinator and offensive line…
Amazon Hires Matt Schwimmer to Lead Creator Business Development
The exec joins after working at sports podcast company Better Collective as the chief executive of Playmaker, a sports media platform.
Deadline Hollywood
Sony Pictures Entertainment will handle the international theatrical release of Greta Gerwig’s 'Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.' Read more below.
Hollywood's Problems Collide with California Politics: Daily Variety
On today's 'Daily Variety' podcast, Variety's Gene Maddaus unpacks why Hollywood's problems have collided with California politics like never before.
“The Five Star Weekend” cast on how women are 'siloed' away from each other in Hollywood — but not on their show
Jennifer Garner, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, D'Arcy Carden, and Chloë Sevigny star in the upcoming Peacock series based on Elin Hilderbrand's best-selling novel.
From YouTube to Hollywood: Digital creators are remaking the movie business
Some of the most promising young filmmakers in the movie business are arriving in Hollywood already experts at entertaining audiences and going viral. The twin sensations of “Obsession” and “Backrooms”
Sally Field couldn’t understand this classic Hollywood actor on set: 'I don’t know if he was stoned or what'
Sally Field is revealing the classic Hollywood actor who she just couldn't understand at all whenever they interacted on set.
PENN Entertainment opens hotel at Hollywood Casino Columbus
$100 million, 203-room property PENN Entertainment opens hotel at Hollywood Casino Columbus
Stephanie Ruhle on Money, Power, Politics and New MS NOW Morning Show
"We're living in unprecedented times," Ruhle tells The Hollywood Reporter.
PENN Entertainment opens $100m hotel at Hollywood Casino Columbus
PENN Entertainment has officially opened a new hotel tower at its Hollywood Casino Columbus site in Ohio, following a $100m investment.
Commentary: ‘Scary Movie’ cements Hollywood’s spoof comedy renaissance
When "Scream 7" arrived in theaters in February, the Ghostface turning heads wasn’t from the horror hit itself but from "Scary Movie." The trailer for the long-running parody series’ sixth
Banff: Muse Entertainment Expands in Unscripted Series Adaptations
'The Kennedys' miniseries producer has inked a first-look deal with The Walrus for potential documentary projects to be shopped in the Canadian Rockies this week.
Muse Entertainment Expands in Unscripted Series Adaptations
'The Kennedys' miniseries producer has inked a first-look deal with The Walrus for potential documentary projects to be shopped in the Canadian Rockies this week.
50 of the oldest actors who are still working in Hollywood
Stacker manually curated a list of 50 of the oldest actors who are still working in the entertainment industry.
50 of the oldest actors who are still working in Hollywood
Stacker manually curated a list of 50 of the oldest actors who are still working in the entertainment industry.
Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland
Test your knowledge of entertainment with this quiz on celebrities, trends and headline-making moments. Featured this week: a country music comeback, a surprising celebrity romance, standout red carpe...
How Do PENN Entertainment's US$460 Million Property Bets Reframe Its Omni-Channel Strategy? (PENN)
PENN Entertainment has opened a new US$100 million, 203-room hotel tower at Hollywood Casino Columbus and is preparing to shift Hollywood Casino Aurora from its longtime riverboat site to a new US$360 million land-based complex opening on June 24, 2026, pending regulatory approvals. These twin property projects highlight PENN’s ongoing push to upgrade its brick-and-mortar footprint with larger gaming floors, upscale hotels, and expanded non-gaming amenities that could influence how its...
Paramount's $111-billion Warner Bros. acquisition clears key hurdle
As expected, the U.S. Justice Department gave its consent for the blockbuster merger expected to reshape Hollywood
Penn Entertainment officially opens new hotel tower in Ohio
The hotel is part of the company’s Hollywood Casino Columbus.
Where to Visit in West Hollywood 2026: West Hollywood Travel Ideas
West Hollywood is one of the best travel destinations for music lovers, culture enthusiasts, and everyone looking for a summer getaway. Book your trip here
PENN Entertainment Opens $100 Million Hotel Tower at Hollywood Casino Columbus
PENN Entertainment (Nasdaq: PENN) has officially opened a new $100 million hotel tower at Hollywood Casino Columbus, marking the latest... Read More
PENN Entertainment Celebrates the Official Opening of New Hotel at Hollywood Casino Columbus
WYOMISSING, Pa. & COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 12, 2026--PENN Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) ("PENN" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the new hotel tower at Hollywood Casino Columbus ("Hollywood Columbus") has officially opened.
Matt Damon is ready to wake up the 'Bourne' franchise and is looking for ideas
After 10 years, Matt Damon is ready for more Jason Bourne. The Hollywood titan says he's up for another film in the 'Bourne' franchise any time, but is looking for input on what shape it might take.