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Tag: netflix

  • Netflix drops $83 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, paving way for Paramount Skydance deal

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    Netflix said on Thursday that it will not match Paramount Skydance’s latest bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing the way for a massive merger that could shake up the entertainment and media industry. 

    Netflix agreed in December to buy part of Warner Bros. Discovery for $27.75 a share, or $82.7 billion. But Paramount Skydance had made a $30 a share all-cash offer to buy all of the company, and on Tuesday raised its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to $31 a share (Paramount Skydance owns CBS News.)

    Earlier on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s board of directors notified Netflix that Paramount’s $31 per share offer constituted a “superior proposal” for the company.

    “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said in a statement Thursday. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”

    Paramount Skydance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

    Warner Bros. Discovery owns streaming and film studios, along with cable channels including CNN, Food Network, HBO, HGTV, TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies.

    The merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery will require approval from federal antitrust enforcers. Paramount Skydance executives have said that combining the companies would benefit consumers and help boost the entertainment industry, which has struggled to recover from the pandemic. 

    Some entertainment industry groups and lawmakers have raised concerns that uniting two major Hollywood studios could undermine competition. 

    For its part, Paramount Skydance executives had argued that a union of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns streaming platform HBO Max, was likely to arouse antitrust objections.

    In enhancing its offer this week, Paramount Skydance said it would pay a $7 billion termination fee if its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery collapsed over regulatory concerns. 

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  • Netflix backs out of bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, giving studios, HBO, and CNN to Ellison-owned Paramount | TechCrunch

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    In a flurry of deal offers in the high tens of billions of dollars, the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery is over. David Ellison-owned Paramount will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

    On Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Paramount Skydance’s newest offer of $31 a share was a “superior proposal,” giving Netflix four business days to counter. Netflix then said it would not raise its $82.7 billion all-cash bid for the legacy studio, and would walk away from the deal.

    “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” said Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters in a statement Thursday. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”

    Per the terms of the original deal, Warner Bros. Discovery will have to pay a $2.8 billion termination fee to Netflix to end the existing agreement. Paramount’s renewed offer — backed by the world’s sixth-richest person, Oracle’s executive chair, and David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison — includes paying that breakup fee.

    The new deal will see Paramount, which was bought just last year by Ellison’s Skydance Media with heavy financial backing from his father, acquiring the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its studios, HBO, its streaming service, its games and entertainment divisions, and linear television networks like CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery, and HGTV.

    Ellison, whose Paramount already owns major studios, entertainment, and news businesses, has warned of significant job cuts. His ownership of news network CBS has also attracted controversy and has largely been seen as a sympathetic turn toward the Trump administration, with reporting critical of the administration shelved or facing increased scrutiny by Ellison and CBS’s editor-in-chief, the conservative provocateur Bari Weiss. Larry Ellison is a major donor and supporter of President Trump.

    Netflix had announced its intent to acquire WBD in December, offering nearly $83 billion for its studios and streaming service alone. Despite several hostile takeover bids by Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery reaffirmed to shareholders its belief that Netflix’s offer was superior to Paramount’s, which offered $108 billion for the full company including its linear television networks. Paramount’s newest bid, of $31 a share, values WBD at about $111 billion.

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    Paramount will take on the about $33 billion in debt held by Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the deal. Larry Ellison, whose net worth is $201 billion, according to Bloomberg, has agreed to supply the additional equity to fulfill Paramount’s bid. Paramount’s market cap is about $12 billion.

    The deal is also being financed by a $57.5 billion debt commitment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Apollo Global Management.

    Netflix shares jumped as much as 10% in after-hours trading in New York. Shares in Paramount were up 4.5%.

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    Graham Starr

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  • Netflix backs out of Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war

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    For anyone who has been following the soap opera unfolding between Netflix and Paramount Skydance over the past few months in their financial brinksmanship to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the saga may be nearing its end. Today, WBD said its board of directors have determined that the latest offer from Paramount Skydance amounted to the better proposal. The media outfit gave Netflix four business days to match Paramount’s terms, but the streamer didn’t waste any time in declining to raise its own bid.

    “We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the US,” the statement from Netflix  co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said. “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

    In addition to the purchase price of $31 per WBD share, Paramount’s latest offer also included a provision that it would cover the $2.8 billion termination fee that WBD would owe to Netflix for dissolving the existing merger agreement between the businesses. So rather than paying $82.7 billion to acquire the Warner Bros. part of the operation, it appears Netflix may walk away with no new content but padding its coffers with an extra nearly $3 billion.

    After Netflix’s initial offer, Paramount Skydance swooped in with a hostile takeover attempt of the entire Warner Bros. Discovery business. WBD rejected it, Paramount tried again. Several additional volleys between the involved parties occurred over the past few weeks. While WBD has not yet formally accepted Paramount’s offer — which will be subject to long-winded regulatory approvals sure to spark more drama — it seems the dust will soon settle for this chapter.

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  • French Family Drama ‘The Ties That Bind Us’ Beats Linklater’s ‘Nouvelle Vague’ at France’s Cesar Awards (Full Winners List)

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    Carine Tardieu’s family drama The Ties That Bind Us, based on Alice Ferney’s novel L’Intimité, beat out Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague to take best film at the 51st César awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, held Thursday night at the Olympia theater in Paris.

    The Ties That Bind Us also won for best adapted screenplay and the best supporting actress César for Vimala Pons.

    Nouvelle Vague, a French-language, black-and-white deep dive into the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 classic Breathless, won best director for Linklater, as well as best cinematography (David Chambille), costume design (Pascaline Chavanne) and editing (Catherine Schwartz).

    The love letter to the French New Wave cinema movement was the frontrunner going into this year’s Césars with 10 nominations. Netflix picked up Nouvelle Vague in Cannes, where it had its world premiere.

    Laurent Lafitte won best actor for his turn alongside Isabelle Huppert in Thierry Khifla’s comedy drama The Richest Woman In The World, loosely based on the 2010 Bettencourt Affair. Léa Drucker took the best actress honor for her starring role in Dominik Moll’s procedural Case 137.

    Stéphane Demoustier’s biographical drama The Great Arch, starring Claes Bang, picked up Césars for production design and visual effects.

    Pauline Loquès’s Nino, a drama about a young man navigating a cancer diagnosis, picked up a César for best first feature and the best male newcomer prize for the film’s lead, Canadian actor Théodore Pellerin.

    Ugo Bienvenu’s Oscar-nominated Arco, produced by Natalie Portman, won best animated feature and best score for Arnaud Toulon.

    Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar frontrunner One Battle After Another took the César for best international film, beating out The Secret Agent, Black Dog, Sirāt and Sentimental Value.

    Canadian funny man Jim Carrey received this year’s honorary César for lifetime achievement. Speaking in thickly anglo-accented French, Carrey said his “great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather, Marc-François Carré,” was born in France, in Saint Malo, some 300 years ago and emigrated to Canada. “Tonight with this magnificent honor, this square (carré in French) has come full circle,” he said.

    The ceremony also paid tribute to French icon Brigitte Bardot, who died on Dec. 28, with a retrospective reel of her career highlights, including scenes from French classics And God Created Woman (1956) and Contempt (1963).

    Full list of 2026 César winners below

    Best Film

    The Ties That Bind Us

    Best Director

    Richard Linklater, Nouvelle Vague

    Best Actress

    Léa Drucker, Case 137

    Best Actor

    Laurent Lafitte, The Richest Woman in the World

    Best Supporting Actress

    Vimala Pons, The Ties That Bind Us

    Best Supporting Actor

    Pierre Lottin, The Stranger

    Best Female Newcomer

    Nadia Melliti, The Little Sister

    Best Male Newcomer

    Théodore Pellerin, Nino

    Best Original Screenplay

    Franck Dubosc, Sarah Kaminsky, How to Make a Killing

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    Carine Tardieu, Raphaëlle Moussafir, Agnès Feuvre, The Ties That Bind Us

    Best International Film

    One Battle After Another, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

    Best Original Score

    Arnaud Toulon, Arco

    Best Sound

    Romain Cadilhac, Marc Namblard, Olivier Touche, Olivier Goinard for Whispers in the Woods

    Best Cinematography

    David Chambille, Nouvelle Vague

    Best Editing

    Catherine Schwartz, Nouvelle Vague

    Best Costume Design

    Pascaline Chavanne, Nouvelle Vague

    Best Production Design

    Catherine Cosme, The Grand Arch

    Best Visual Effects

    Lise Fischer, The Great Arch

    Best Female Newcomer
    Nadia Melliti forThe Little Sister

    Best Male Newcomer
    Théodore Pellerin for Nino

    Best First Film
    Nino, dir. Pauline Loqués

    Best Animated Feature
    Arco, dir. Ugo Bienvenu

    Best Documentary
    Whispers in the Woods, dir. Vincent Munier

    Best Animated Short Film
    Fille de l’eau, dir. Sandra Desmazières

    Best Short Documentary
    Au bain des dames dir. Margaux Fournier

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    Scott Roxborough

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  • Netflix Declines To Raise Its Offer To Buy Warner, Says Deal Is ‘No Longer Financially Attractive’ – KXL

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    The Warner Bros. water tower is seen at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

    NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix is declining to raise its offer to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, in a stunning move that effectively puts Paramount in a position to take over the fellow storied Hollywood giant.

    On Thursday, after Warner’s board announced that Skydance-owned Paramount’s offer was superior to the agreement it had previously struck with Netflix, the streaming giant said the new price that would be required to buy Warner would make it a deal that is “no longer financially attractive.”

    Unlike Netflix’s bid, Paramount wants all of Warner’s operations, including networks like CNN and Discovery. That would put CNN under the same roof as Paramount’s CBS and combine two of Hollywood’s last five remaining studios.

    The owner of HBO Max, DC Studios and popular titles like “Harry Potter” had backed Netflix’s proposal for months. But after Skydance-owned Paramount upped its rival bid for the entire company to $31 per share, in addition to other revisions, Warner’s board on Thursday said that the offer “constitutes a ‘company superior proposal.’”

    A Paramount buyout Warner’s business would vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape. Paramount’s CBS has seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss at CBS News, under new Skydance ownership. And if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner is successful, many expect the reach of those changes to only grow.

    A Paramount-Warner combo would also combine two of Hollywood’s five legacy studios that remain today, in addition to their theatrical channels. Beyond “Harry Potter,” Warner movies like “Superman,” “Barbie,” and “One Battle After Another” — as well as hit TV series like “The White Lotus” and “Succession” — would join Paramount’s content library.

    Today, Paramount’s lineup of titles include “Top Gun,” “Titanic” and “The Godfather.” And beyond CBS, it owns networks like MTV and Nickelodeon, as well as the Paramount+ streaming service.

    Executives at Paramount have argued that merging will be good for consumers and the wider industry. But lawmakers and entertainment trade groups have sounded the alarm — warning that a Warner takeover would only further consolidate power in an industry already run by just a few major players. Critics say that could result in job losses, less diversity in filmmaking and potentially more headaches for consumers who are facing rising costs of streaming subscriptions as is.

    Combined, that raises tremendous antitrust concerns. The U.S. Department of Justice has already initiated reviews, and other countries are expected to do so, too.

    Netflix, Warner and Paramount have spent the last couple of months in a heated, public back and forth over whose deal has a better regulatory path — and offers more value for Warner shareholders. Thursday’s announcement arrived shortly after Paramount upped the ante on its offer.

    Beyond increasing its proposed purchase price for Warner, the company also agreed to a regulatory termination fee of $7 billion. And Paramount pledged to move up a previously-promised “ticking fee.” The company initially said it would pay 25 cents per share for every quarter the deal drags on past the end of the year. Now it’s agreed to pay that amount if the deal doesn’t go through by the end of September, Warner said.

    But Paramount is taking on billions of dollars in debt to finance its offer. And David Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is heavily backing the bid for his son’s company. Foreign sovereign wealth funds have also provided equity for the offer, drawing scrutiny.

    The Ellisons also have a close relationship with President Donald Trump — bringing more politics into question. Trump previously made unprecedented suggestions about his involvement in seeing a deal through, before walking back those statements and maintaining that regulatory approval will be up to the Justice Department.

    The push to acquire Warner also arrives just months after Skydance closed its own buyout of Paramount — in a contentious merger approved just weeks after the company agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle a lawsuit over editing at CBS’ “60 Minutes” program. Still, Trump has continued to publicly lash out at Paramount and “60 Minutes” since.

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    Jordan Vawter

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  • Netflix Backs Out of Warner Bros. Deal, Paving Way for Paramount Assimilation

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    The tide has seemingly turned on one of the biggest Hollywood deals in recent memory. While Netflix had been positioned as the most likely company to take over Warner Bros., the persistence of Paramount has apparently paid off.

    On the heels of Paramount submitting a higher bid—one that the Warner Bros. Discovery board deemed a “superior proposal” earlier today—Netflix has responded by announcing it will not be raising its own offer.

    Netflix released a statement on its website, explaining the decision. The response comes from co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.

    “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid,” the CEOs wrote.

    After some praise for Warner Bros., which the statement calls “a world-class organization,” and for its board, which ran “a fair and rigorous process,” the Netflix bosses expressed some regret the deal didn’t work out. But they also explained why.

    “We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

    So far there’s been no response or comment from Paramount or Warner Bros. about what will come next.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Cheryl Eddy

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  • Warner Bros. officially deems Paramount’s bid ‘superior’ and Netflix withdraws | Fortune

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    Warner Bros. Discovery has formally declared Paramount Skydance’s latest takeover proposal a “superior” offer to its existing deal with Netflix, escalating one of the most dramatic bidding wars Hollywood has seen in years. The determination prompted Netflix to withdraw from the bidding, handing the victory to Paramount.

    In a statement Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery said its board concluded that Paramount’s revised all‑cash offer to buy the entire company qualifies as a “Company Superior Proposal” under the terms of its merger agreement with Netflix. The bid values Warner Bros. Discovery at around $111 billion, or $31 a share, up from Paramount’s earlier $30‑per-share proposal and well above the economics of Netflix’s $83‑billion pact announced in December.

    Warner Bros. Discovery notified Netflix that Paramount’s offer is now deemed superior, formally triggering a contractual window during which Netflix could submit changes to its deal in an attempt to reclaim that status.

    Richer price, heavier protections

    Paramount’s bid stands out not just on headline price but on the protections it has offered to reassure Warner Bros. Discovery and its investors. The package includes a $7 billion reverse termination fee if regulators block the transaction, a commitment to pay Warner Bros. Discovery’s multibillion‑dollar breakup fee owed to Netflix if that agreement is terminated, and a “ticking fee” of 25 cents per share per quarter if closing drags beyond the fall.

    Paramount has also stripped away earlier conditions tied to the performance of Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable portfolio and pledged to inject additional equity if needed to satisfy lenders, moves intended to reduce execution risk. Backed by David Ellison and a financing package combining roughly $45 billion–$46 billion in equity with more than $57 billion of debt, the bid represents an aggressive push to seize one of Hollywood’s crown jewel studios outright.

    Netflix investors had expressed concern about the size, strategic fit, and regulatory overhang of the Warner Bros. Discovery transaction. Seen by the market as a “deal stock,” as S&P Global’s Melissa Otto previously told Fortune, Netflix stock has actually been trading up since Paramount raised its bid, as investors cheered the prospect of Netflix losing the deal and not saddling itself with legacy Hollywood assets.

    Regulatory risk looms large over Paramount’s offer, structured as a more traditional studio‑and‑networks consolidation, but it would still create a media giant that rivals Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal in scale.

    The battle has also attracted political attention, with President Donald Trump at first saying he would be involved while praising Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos as a “fantastic man,” then saying he wouldn’t be involved, and recently angry about stray comments made by former Obama official and Netflix board member Susan Rice. The Ellison family, meanwhile, is reportedly close to Trump at the moment, although he insisted in December that he would hate to see his enemies if the Ellisons are to be considered his friends.

    This report has been updated with news of Netflix’s withdrawal.

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    Nick Lichtenberg

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  • Download this: Subscribing to digital apps has gotten a lot more expensive

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    The pain of higher prices today isn’t limited to things like food and health care costs. Americans now pay nearly 20% more for TV, music, news and other digital apps than they did in 2020.

    So concludes a recent analysis from DepositAccounts, an online platform owned by LendingTree that allows users to compare bank accounts. Researchers looked at 15 widely used subscription services, ranging from streaming platforms like Hulu and Spotify to online video tool Zoom Pro, to assess how their prices have changed over the last six years.

    Some Americans are pulling the plug. A January survey of 2,000 people by DepositAccounts found that one-third said they had cancelled at least one paid digital subscription in the last six months due to cost.

    On average, subscribers pay for 4.5 services, which amounts to $84 a month, or $1,008 annually, according to a separate analysis by DepositAccounts.

    Big hikes for Disney+ and Apple TV subscribers

    Subscribers to Disney+ are now being charged $18.99 a month for an ad-free plan, more than double what they were paying six years ago, the analysis found. Disney upped the price for the streaming platform’s ad-free tier, while bundling plans with Hulu and ESPN, in September 2025.

    Apple TV subscription costs have also surged, with the cost of a standard plan for the online video service jumping 108% from 2020 when adjusted for inflation, according to DespoitAccounts. 

    Streaming now accounts for the largest share of TV viewership, at around 48%, outpacing broadcast and cable, according to Nielsen.

    Not all digital platforms have gotten pricier. For example, subscription costs for Apple’s iCloud storage platform are down nearly 20% since 2020, while Apple Music prices have sunk more than 12%, according to DepositAccounts.

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  • Netflix Stock Is the Cheapest It Has Been in 3 Years Following Its 41% Plunge — But Is It a Buy?

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    Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) operates the world’s largest streaming platform for movies and television shows. The company ended 2025 with a record number of subscribers, a record amount of revenue, and record earnings, yet its stock has plummeted by 41% from its all-time high from last June.

    Netflix is in a fierce bidding war to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD). The deal would add an entire slate of high-quality content to the Netflix platform, but it could come at a hefty cost of $82.7 billion (or more), and it’s already facing intense scrutiny from regulators. Investors don’t like uncertainty, which might explain why many of them are waiting on the sidelines for now.

    Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »

    Netflix stock is currently the cheapest it has been in three years, and it’s even trading at a discount to the Nasdaq-100 technology index. If we zoom out, the stock is still sitting on a whopping 73,400% gain since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2002. Since its business continues to fire on all cylinders, the recent dip might be a small bump in the road ahead of further gains in the future. Investors rarely get the chance to buy this stock at such a steep discount, so is it time to make a move?

    Image source: Netflix.

    Netflix ended 2025 with a record 325 million paying subscribers, so it’s miles ahead of its nearest rivals, Amazon Prime and Disney‘s Disney+, which have 200 million and 131.6 million members, respectively. Netflix owes its dominance to its industry-leading content budget, but also to its diverse subscription tiers, which appeal to consumers of all income levels.

    In late 2022, Netflix launched a new membership option with a heavily discounted price, which is supplemented by advertising. At just $7.99 per month, it’s much cheaper than the platform’s Standard ($17.99 per month) and Premium ($24.99 per month) tiers.

    While a cheaper tier sounds bad for Netflix’s financial results, each member in this category actually becomes more valuable over time, because the company can charge more money for ad slots as the subscriber base grows. Additionally, Netflix has invested heavily in live content like boxing matches, National Football League (NFL) games, and even weekly World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) programs, which attract premium ad prices.

    Netflix generated $45.2 billion in total revenue during 2025, and although advertising accounted for just $1.5 billion of that figure, it grew by a whopping two and a half times compared to 2024. Management expects ad revenue to double again in 2026 to around $3 billion, so it’s quickly becoming an important part of the business.

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  • Paramount Skydance raises bid for Warner Bros. Discover to $31 per share

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    Warner Bros. Discovery said on Tuesday that Paramount Skydance had raised its bid to acquire the entertainment and media company to $31 per share.

    The revised offer raises the heat on streaming giant Netflix, which in December agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery deal for $27.75 per share, or $82.7 billion, to match Paramount Skydance’s bid or abandon the deal. 

    Still, Warner Bros. Discovery said in a news release that its board of directors has not determined whether Paramount Skydance’s latest offer is superior to Netflix’s deal. 

    “WBD will engage further with [Paramount Skydance] to determine if a proposal that constitutes a ‘Company Superior Proposal,’ as defined in the Netflix Merger Agreement, can be reached,” Warner Bros. Disovery said.

    Paramount Skydance’s revised offer includes a $7 billion termination fee if the deal fails to close because of regulatory concerns, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Skydance would also cover a $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. Discovery would be required to pay if it ends the Netflix deal. 

    The sweetened bid comes a week after Warner Bros. Discovery said it would resume talks with Paramount Skydance, the owner of CBS News, to discuss its previous $30 per share bid.

    Earlier in the day, Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement that its merger agreement with Netflix remains in effect and that its board of directors ” continues to recommend” the deal.

    The latest development raises the stakes in the contest over Warner Bros. Discovery, which, along with its streaming and film studios, also owns cable channels including Food Network, HBO Max, HGTV, TBS and TNT. 

    Paramount Skydance has said that its bid represents a superior financial offer for Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders, while also describing Netflix’s bid as likely to run afoul of U.S. antitrust laws. 

    Netflix’s deal is only for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming business, with the takeover slated to occur after Warner spins off its television networks. Paramount Skydance is bidding to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets.

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  • Emily Blunt Netflix Movie Adds Award-Winning Actor to Cast

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    Netflix has welcomed three new actors to the cast of the upcoming Walk the Blue Fields movie, which will be led by Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer). The project will be based on author Claire Keegan’s short story of the same name.

    Who is joining Emily Blunt’s Walk the Blue Fields movie?

    According to Deadline, BAFTA winner Andrew Scott (Fleabag), Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey), and Golden Globe nominee Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) have tapped to join the upcoming Netflix movie. Further details about their roles are still under wraps, but it is expected to center around “a woman on her wedding day being confronted with a heart-wrenching decision as a love triangle from her past threatens to be revealed.”

    Walk the Blue Fields will be directed by John Crowley (Brooklyn), with Tony-nominated playwright Conor McPherson writing the screenplay. Filming will take place in Crowley’s home country of Ireland. In addition to leading the cast, Blunt is also producing through her Ledbury Productions banner, along with Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Fremantle Company. Compelling Pictures‘ Denis O’Sullivan and Jeff Kalligheri will produce and finance the film, while Ori Allon, Matthew Gallagher, Dennis Casali, Steven Garcia, Crowley, McPherson, Keegan, and Edmund Sampson are set to executive produce.

    This marks Scott’s latest collaboration with Netflix, after starring in 2024’s acclaimed miniseries Ripley. He also recently starred in Netflix’s latest Benoit Blanc movie, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Scott will next be seen in the upcoming World War II movie Pressure with Brendan Fraser, as well as in the A Place in Hell movie with Michelle Williams.

    (Source: Deadline)

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    Maggie Dela Paz

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  • ‘Wednesday’ Season 3 Adds Four to Cast as Production Begins

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    “Wednesday” Season 3 is officially in production, with the show bringing in four new additions to its cast.

    Chris Sarandon (“Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Princess Bride”), Noah Taylor (“Peaky Blinders,” “Game Of Thrones”), Oscar Morgan (“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Gotham Knights”), and Kennedy Moyer (“Task,” “Roofman”) are all set to appear in the hit show’s third season. The new castings come just after it was reported that Winona Ryder would be guest starring in Season 3, while it was previously reported that Eva Green would play Morticia Addams’ sister.

    Taylor previously worked with “Wednesday” director and executive producer Tim Burton on the film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” while Sarandon voiced Jack Skellington in Burton’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas.”

    “It’s our dark delight to fling open Nevermore Academy’s gates once more as we begin production on Season Three,” series creators and showrunners Al Gough & Miles Millar said. “We thank our invincible cast and crew for their continued commitment to doom and gloom. To the fans, we appreciate your patience and ravenous online commentary – your twisted theories have inspired nightmares. This season we welcome new students, new teachers, and excavate some long-rotting Addams Family secrets. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

    As with past seasons, the third is being shot in Dublin, Ireland. Jenna Ortega will return in the role of Wednesday Addams, who viewers last saw riding off with her Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) to attempt to rescue her friend and roommate Enid (Emma Myers) from being trapped as an alpha werewolf.

    “I’m so excited to be back for Season 3 and it’s great to be reunited with all of the original cast,” Burton said. “The addition of some dear friends and past collaborators of mine – Winona, Eva, Chris, Noah…makes this season extra special. I feel very lucky.”

    Aside from Ortega, Myers, and Armisen, the cast of “Wednesday” includes: Hunter Doohan, Joy Sunday, Moosa Mostafa, Georgie Farmer, Isaac Ordonez, Billie Piper, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Victor Dorobantu, Evie Templeton, with Luis Guzmán, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Joanna Lumley.

    The show is based on characters created by Charles Addams. Gough, Millar, and Burton are all executive producers. MGM Television is the studio.

    “Wednesday” Season 2 was released in two parts in August and September 2025. Like the first season, the second went on to become a massive hit for Netflix, where it currently ranks as the streamer’s fifth most-watched English language season of TV ever. Season 1 is the most-watched season ever.

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    Joseph Otterson

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  • ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Singing Voice Stars Get BAFTA Awards Grooving With “Golden”

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    Netflix‘s KPop Demon Hunters singing voice stars took the stage at the BAFTA Film Awards in London on Sunday evening, getting a game crowd grooving. In their first-ever live performance outside the U.S., EJAE, who provides the singing voice for Rumi, Audrey Nuna, who sings Mira’s lines, and Rei Ami, who stars as the singing voice of Zoey, performed their Grammy-winning hit “Golden” at Britain’s biggest movie awards night.

    Cameras showed audience members nodding along, shaking their shoulders and otherwise getting into the music.

    “Performing at the EE BAFTA Film Awards is a golden moment that our younger selves could never have imagined,” the trio had said when they were unveiled as performers. “We’re so proud to represent Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters and spread the film’s positive message to fans around the globe.” The movie tells the story of three women who are demon hunters and use their singing voices to create a magical barrier against demons called the Honmoon.

    Emma Baehr, executive director of awards & content at BAFTA, highlighted at the time that the Sony-produced KPop Demon Hunters has had a “phenomenal impact on the hearts and minds of audiences of all ages around the world” since its release last summer. “We are thrilled the talented singers behind HUNTR/X will bring their K-pop energy to the EE BAFTA Film Awards next month.”

    Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ animated musical has become Netflix’s most popular film of all time and is nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature film. “Golden,” the headline track, also scored an Academy Award nom for best original song. It also became the most-streamed song globally last year.

    On Saturday, KPop Demon Hunters swept the Annie Awards, the animation honors handed out by the L.A. Branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood. The film won 10 honors, including for best feature, best FX, best character animation, best character design and best production design.

    The BAFTA Film Awards, hosted by Alan Cumming, were taking place at the Royal Festival Hall at London’s Southbank Center. Find the full winners list here.

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    Georg Szalai

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  • ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Sweeps Annie Awards

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    KPop Demon Hunters is unstoppable.

    Netflix‘s come-from-nowhere global animation phenomenon swept this year’s Annie Awards, the animation honors handed out by the L.A. Branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, taking 10 prizes, including best feature.

    The pop musical, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, also won best direction, best music, best writing, best editorial and best voice acting for Arden Cho, who voices Rumi. It also swept the technical categories at the Annies, winning best FX, best character animation, best character design and best production design.

    Netflix launched the Sony-produced KPop Demon Hunters last summer with little promotion or fanfare, but it became an overnight sensation and the streamer’s most-watched movie of all time, with a reported 481.6 million views worldwide in the second half of 2025.

    KPop indie competitor at the Oscars, Ugo Bienvenu’s hand-drawn French feature Arco, won the prize for best independent feature at the Annies.

    A number of past Annie Awards winners have gone on to win the best animated feature Oscar. The last Annie best feature winner to also triumph at the Academy Awards was Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio in 2023. Last year, the Annie Awards’ top prize went to The Wild Robot. The Oscars opted for Annie best independent winner Flow.

    In the television categories, notable winners included Adult Swim’s Common Side Effects, which won in the best TV/media mature category; Hulu’s The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, winner of the best TV/media children honor; and Disney+’s Win Or Lose, which took the best limited series prize. Wow Lisa, a Spanish-language Chilean show, which combines 3D characters placed within scale-model, crafted backgrounds, won the Annie for best preschool series.

    ASIFA-Hollywood presented its lifetime achievement honors, the Winsor McCay Award, to Dutch writer and director Michaël Dudok de Wit (The Red Turtle), The Lego Movie and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs writer-directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord and writer-director Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, Wild Robot).

    Sandy Rabins, an animation and live action producer, who was a driving force behind ASIFA-Hollywood’s AnimAID, which provided assistance and support for those in the animation industry who were affected by the L.A. wildfires, received the June Foray Award for “significant and benevolent impact to the animation community.”

    The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry went to Japanese company Wacom, manufacturer of the Cintiq graphics tablet, which has become the industry standard for professional 2D animation, storyboarding and concept art.

    Animation fair LightBox Expo received a special achievement award for bringing “the creative animation community of filmmakers together with animation students and fans.” The ASIFA-Hollywood Merit Award is given by the board of directors to individuals for current and on-going service to the organization and the animation industry went to Jeffrey New and Haley Mirren Douthit.

    Full list of 2026 Annie Award Winners:

    BEST FEATURE
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST FEATURE – INDEPENDENT
    Arco
    Remembers, MountainA France, France 3 Cinéma

    BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
    Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
    WildBrain Studios in association with Apple

    BEST SHORT SUBJECT
    Snow Bear
    The Art of Aaron Blaise

    BEST SPONSORED
    Olipop Yeti
    Screen Novelties & Passion Pictures

    BEST TV/MEDIA – PRESCHOOL
    Wow Lisa
    Episode: Rainy Day
    Punkrobot

    BEST TV/MEDIA – CHILDREN
    The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
    Episode: The Rewrite
    Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe

    BEST TV/MEDIA – MATURE
    Common Side Effects
    Episode: Pilot
    Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment and Williams Street Productions

    BEST TV/MEDIA – LIMITED SERIES
    Win Or Lose
    Episode: Home
    Pixar Animation Studios

    BEST STUDENT FILM
    A Sparrow’s Song
    Tobias Eckerlin
    Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH

    BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
    Edward Ferrysienanda, Kevin Christensen, Guy Schuleman, Benedikt Roettger, Kevin Tarpinian
    Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
    Episode: The Big Freeze
    BBC Studios Natural History Unit
    FX: Framestore

    BEST FX – FEATURE
    Filippo Macari, Nicola Finizio, Simon Corbaux, Naoki Kato, Daniel La Chapelle
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix
    FX: Sony Pictures Imageworks

    BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
    Alli Sadegiani
    Win Or Lose
    Pixar Animation Studios

    BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
    Ryusuke Furuya
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation, Netflix

    BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
    Kayn Garcia, Jean-Denis Haas, Meena Ibrahim, Nathan McConnel, Nick Tripodi
    How To Train Your Dragon
    DreamWorks Animation
    FX: Framestore

    BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
    Mike Jungbluth, Sebastien Dussault, Vincent Schneider, Remi Edmond
    South of Midnight
    Compulsion Games

    BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
    Robert Valley
    Love, Death + Robots
    Episode: 400 Boys
    Blur Studio for Netflix

    BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – FEATURE
    Scott Watanabe, Ami Thompson
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST DIRECTION – TV/MEDIA
    Vincent Tsui
    Common Side Effects
    Episode: Cliff’s Edge
    Productions

    BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
    Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
    Ramin Djawadi, Shane Eli, Johnny Pakfar
    Win Or Lose
    Episode: Episode 6, Mixed Signals
    Pixar Animation Studios

    BEST MUSIC – FEATURE
    KPop Demon Hunters Music Team
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
    Gigi Cavenago
    Love, Death + Robots
    Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
    Blur Studio for Netflix

    BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
    Helen Chen, Dave Bleich, Wendell Dalit, Scott Watanabe, Celine Kim
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
    Edgar Martins
    Love, Death + Robots
    Episode: How Zeke Got Religion
    Blur Studio for Netflix

    BEST STORYBOARDING – FEATURE
    Anthony Holden, Young Ki Yoon
    The Bad Guys 2
    DreamWorks Animation

    BEST VOICE ACTING – TV/MEDIA
    Dan Mintz (as Tina Belcher)
    Bob’s Burgers
    Episode: Don’t Worry Be Hoopy
    20th Television Animation

    BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
    Arden Cho (as Rumi)
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST WRITING – TV/MEDIA
    Joe Bennett, Steve Hely
    Common Side Effects
    Episode: Pilot
    Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions

    BEST WRITING – FEATURE
    Danya Jimenez, Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
    Tony Christopherson, Joie Lim
    Common Side Effects
    Episode: Raid
    Green Street Pictures, Bandera Entertainment, and Williams Street Productions

    BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
    KPop Demon Hunters Editorial Team
    KPop Demon Hunters
    Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix

    WINSOR McCAY AWARD
    Michaël Dudok de Wit
    Christopher Miller
    Phil Lord
    Chris Sanders

    JUNE FORAY AWARD
    Sandy Rabins

    UB IWERKS AWARD
    Wacom

    SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
    LightBox Expo

    ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD MERIT AWARD
    Jeffrey New
    Haley Mirren Douthit

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    Scott Roxborough

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  • Mark Ruffalo Questions James Cameron’s Criticism of the Netflix-Warner Bros Deal

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    Photo-Illustration: Images: Getty Images, Illustration: Vulture

    Mark Ruffalo isn’t buying into James Cameron’s plea to Congress to reconsider the Netflix-Warner Bros deal. Cameron wrote a letter to Senator Mike Lee, who’s on the antitrust committee, claiming that if Netflix bought Warner Brothers, it would destroy the film industry. But Ruffalo questions whether Cameron would have a different viewpoint if Paramount were buying WB. “So… the next question to Mr Cameron should be this…’Are you also against the monopolization that a Paramount acquisition would create? Or is it just that of Netflix?’,” Ruffalo shared on Threads, alongside a link to an article about Cameron’s letter. “I think the answer would be very interesting for the film community to hear and one that should be asked immediately. Is Mike Lee against the Paramount sale as well? Is he as concerned about that as he is the Netflix sale?”

    Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, also had some words for Cameron as well. “I respect Mr. Cameron enormously and I love his work. But his letter to you knowingly misrepresents ourposition and commitment to the theatrical release of Warner Bros. films,” Sarandos began. He then explains that he met with both Cameron and Lee and reiterated his promise of a 45-day distribution window. He also claimed that if Paramount Skydance bought Warner Bros instead of Netflix, it would cut about $16 billion from the film industry to offset the purchase. Right now, Paramount Skydance is still in its 7-day window of discussion with Warner Bros to try to make another offer, and shareholders still have to vote to approve the deal in March. But right now, it seems like the only ones happy with the current deal are Netflix.

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    Alejandra Gularte

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  • In Oscar-Nominated Documentary ‘The Perfect Neighbor,’ Police Catch—But Never Stop—a Killer

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    When Ajike Owens was alive, she dreamed of becoming a famous entrepreneur. “You laugh at me,” she’d tell her mother, Pam Dias, “but one day the whole world’s going to know my name.” Years later, filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir thought about Owens’s avowal while sifting through the 30-plus hours of police body-camera footage and audio recordings that make up The Perfect Neighbor, her Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary about the two years leading up to Owens’s killing.

    The documentary tells the story of Susan Lorincz, who regularly called police to the otherwise tight-knit Florida community where Owens was raising her four children to complain about neighborhood kids playing near her rented property. On June 2, 2023, Lorincz rang authorities over a dispute involving Owens’s children, roller skates, and a missing iPad. Minutes later, the white 58-year-old Lorincz fatally shot her Black neighbor, 35-year-old Owens, through her closed front door.

    Susan Lorincz tells her side of a neighborhood dispute, as captured in police body-cam footage that fuels much of The Perfect Neighbor.Courtesy of Netflix

    As the case against Lorincz was coming together, attorneys for Owens’s family gained access to hours of police body-camera footage through the Freedom of Information Act. Reviewing it alongside her producing partner and husband, Nikon Kwantu (whose cousin was Owens’s best friend, Kimberly Robinson-Jones), Gandbhir said it “reminded us of films like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. The community had lived a real-life horror film. So we wanted to create something that placed you in the community.” To raise both media awareness around Owens’s killing and money for the family, Gandbhir and her editor, Viridiana Lieberman, made a film in which cops inadvertently serve as cinematographers.

    Image may contain Adult Person Face Head Photography Portrait Senior Citizen and Hair

    Geeta Gandbhir is a double Oscar nominee for The Perfect Neighbor (best documentary feature) and The Devil Is Busy (best documentary short).Bryan Derballa/Getty Images

    Some have argued that watching a film told largely through the very same system that failed Owens could make viewers identify too closely with law enforcement. “We were really not that concerned with the perspective of the police. They were just the vehicle to showcase this community as they were. When the police come into communities of color, surveillance can be used to criminalize,” Gandbhir tells Vanity Fair in response. “We wanted it to humanize.”

    She doubles down on the belief that “our society essentially failed this community. [The police] didn’t see them as worth protecting. Susan was able to weaponize her race and privilege. And by not realizing she was a danger to the community and probably herself, her life is ruined too,” Gandbhir continues. “She’s ostensibly spending the rest of her life in jail. And as an abolitionist at heart, I really wish that on no one.”

    Lorincz attempted to utilize Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law as a defense, arguing that she was legally allowed to use deadly force because she feared for her life when Owens banged on her door demanding to speak after her son said Lorincz threw a pair of skates at him. This was also the successful legal tactic of Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in 2013. In 2024, Lorincz was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison. She has appealed her conviction.

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    Savannah Walsh

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  • ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Cast on How They Slayed Their Own Demons

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    Just when you thought every angle on KPop Demon Hunters had been covered—until the much-anticipated sequel drops, whenever that may be—a new perspective arrives. For the first time since the Netflix movie’s release last summer, across record-setting viewing and soundtrack numbers and awards nominations galore, the six performers behind Rumi, Mira, and Zoey did an interview all together.

    Variety gathered together EJAE (singing voice of Rumi, also one of the movie’s songwriters); Arden Cho (speaking voice of Rumi); Audrey Nuna (singing voice of Mira); May Hong (speaking voice of Mira); Rei Ami (singing voice of Zoey); and Ji-young Yoo (speaking voice of Zoey). Many shared their audition stories, which go back several years in some cases and include anecdotes like Cho originally going out for the supporting character of Celine rather than the main character of Rumi.

    But of particular interest are the cast’s insights into how the movie’s story—about pop-music superstars who secretly keep the world safe from demons—has parallels in their own careers. Several of the women mentioned they had to do some (metaphorical) demon-slaying along the way, and how gratifying it is to see the success of KPop Demon Hunters reflect that hard work.

    “We’ve been told we were too little, too much. Every step of my career,” Ami said. “All the demons I have to personally fight and be like, ‘You know what? You are the bitch. You are that girl. You are that shit.’ I had to tell myself every single fucking day, even when I didn’t believe it.”

    Cho agreed. “We grow up feeling that there’s this expectation of how we should be, and there’s a responsibility of how we should act. But this movie gets to show so many different types of personalities and characters and boldness and fearlessness, and these super-hot, badass women who are also goofy, silly, and cute … It just plays that you can be badass, beautiful, soft, and you can still be vulnerable. I love all of that, and I feel all of us in some realms have found some healing in it as the world has. I think that’s what keeps bringing people back to the movie, is that the story is incredibly healing and a connector for everyone.”

    EJAE felt especially connected to Rumi, as you might expect. “It was very interesting to see everyone come together and work on this incredible story. We had to fight a lot, and I think every single person can understand that part. But because of that struggle, and all the demons that we had to deal with, that’s what made the movie so beautiful and genuine. I think that struggle was needed,” she said.

    “I think all those demons were needed for this film, because through that, we were able to find depth in our writing and acting. It hit home. Looking at what Rumi is going through, I was able to relate to that. I think it was really about knowing that your demons will be there no matter what, and just knowing how to navigate, and not to hide that anymore.”

    Head to Variety to read the full interview with the KPop Demon Hunters cast.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Cheryl Eddy

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  • Get Your AI Off Our ‘Stranger Things’ & ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ Netflix Tells ByteDance In Latest Hollywood Cease & Desist Letter

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    Netflix “will not stand by and watch ByteDance treat our valued IP as free, public domain clip art,” the streamer told the TikTok owner tonight. In a short and stern cease and desist letter over Seedance 2.0, Netflix want generated AI videos of Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters, Squid Game and Bridgerton shut down now.

    With their two-page correspondence and potential legal action to follow, Netflix have linked arms and attorney arsenals with Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount (their rivals to buy WBD), and the still Bob Iger-run Disney to stop the user created content that has been bastardizing their top shows, films and other moneymakers. While Amazon, Apple, Sony and Comcast-owned Universal have yet to join the party, it is clear now with the Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters-led Netflix in the C&D house, this is serious stuff.

    How serious?

    Well, Netflix litigation chief Mindy LeMoine isn’t making as personal as WBD’s Wayne M. Smith did earlier Tuesday with his predecessor and now ByteDance Global General Counsel John Rogovin. Then again, LeMoine does cut to the chase with very specific citations:

    “Current forensic evidence indicates that Seedance is being used to generate unauthorized derivative works including, but not limited to:

    ● Bridgerton: Unauthorized depictions of Season 4 content, specifically featuring characters in a masquerade ball setting. These outputs mirror specific, narratively important costumes like Sophie Baek’s “Lady in Silver” gown. ByteDance has even promoted this content using #Bridgerton tags via its own official social media channels, such as @BytePlusGlobal.

    ● Stranger Things: High-fidelity reboots of the series finale, which feature detailed reproductions of the iconic cast as well as the monsters from the series, including Demogorgons and the Mindflayer.

    ● Squid Game: Seedance has generated recreations of the “Red Light, Green Light” sets and the iconic Young-hee doll. These include unauthorized crossovers, such as inserting real-world figures like Elon Musk into the Squid Game environment.

    ● KPop Demon Hunters: Seedance has reproduced the specific visual style and character designs from our animated musical feature, including the lead character Rumi.”

    ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

    Netflix

    The C&D letter goes on to state: “Netflix has never authorized ByteDance to use our content to generate these images or videos. ByteDance’s activities are willful, and constitute direct and secondary copyright infringement. The use of copyrighted works to create a competing commercial product, especially one that regurgitates the original, is not protected by fair use.”

    Unlike Disney, Paramount and WBD, Netflix are in full FAFO-mode here and give the Chinese tech company three days to set things straight. This comes one day after ByteDance swore they are “taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users.” 

    Netflix isn’t buying it.

    “To avoid immediate litigation, Netflix demands that ByteDance:

    1. Cease Generative Output: Immediately implement technological guardrails to prevent Seedance from generating any content that resembles Netflix’s protected characters, titles, or settings.

    2. Remove Infringing Content: Remove all unlawfully obtained Netflix-owned content from training datasets, and also scrub all existing Seedance-generated videos featuring Netflix IP from all ByteDance-controlled platforms.

    3. Identify All Infringements: Provide an accounting of all instances where Seedance has generated content based on prompts related to Netflix’s IP.

    4. Revoke Third-Party Access: Revoke access for any commercial partners or API users currently utilizing Seedance to generate unauthorized Netflix derivative works.”

    So, as Netflix awaits ByteDance’s response later this week, will it be Amazon, Apple, Sony or Universal sending the next letter? Stay tuned.

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    Dominic Patten

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  • Terminator Zero showrunner confirms the Netflix anime has been canceled after one season

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    If you’ve been wondering what’s next for Netflix’s Terminator Zero in the time since its first season, we finally have an update, and it’s a bummer. Responding to a fan on social media, showrunner Mattson Tomlin said this weekend that the show has been canceled. Despite being generally well received, Tomlin noted that “at the end of the day not nearly enough people watched it.”

    Season one of Terminator Zero was released in August 2024 and focused on the events around Judgment Day — August 29, 1997, as established in Terminator 2 — and its aftermath, jumping forward to 2022, more than two decades into a war between humans and machines. In the post about the show’s cancellation, Tomlin wrote, “I would’ve loved to deliver on the Future War I had planned in season’s 2 and 3, but I’m also very happy with how it feels contained as is.”

    Tomlin went on to praise the marketing team in additional replies for “trying to really make the show work,” as well as the hundreds of people who worked on the show. Offering a bit of insight, Tomlin wrote, “Generally speaking, anime audiences skew younger. Terminator audiences skew older. Terminator Zero asked them to meet in the middle, and they didn’t in the way the corporation needed to justify the spend to continue. I’m extremely grateful to the people who have watched it.”

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    Cheyenne MacDonald

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  • New Netflix Releases This Week Include Zac Efron’s Sports Biopic & More

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    Netflix‘s upcoming TV and movie release schedule for February 16 to February 22, 2026, includes new Netflix releases like The Night Agent Season 3, as well as films like The Iron Claw, The Addams Family, and The Expendables.

    On February 19, The Iron Claw will be available on Netflix. The sports drama follows the life of a professional wrestling family, the Von Erichs. However, the path to success is filled with struggles and tragedy.

    The Night Agent Season 3 also premieres on the streaming platform on the same day, picking up the story of agent Peter Sutherland after the events of Season 2, which premiered in January last year.

    On February 20, both 2019’s The Addams Family and its 2021 sequel will be added to the streaming platform. The animated family comedy movies follow the exploits of the iconic spooky family, featuring the voice talents of stars like Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron.

    All four of Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables movies will also be added to Netflix that day. The movies follow a shifting roster of mercenaries led by Stallone’s Barney Ross and his right-hand man, Lee Christmas, played by Jason Statham.

    New Netflix releases for February 16- February 22, 2026

    Below are all the new TV shows and movies being added to Netflix from February 16 to February 22, 2026.

    Tuesday, February 17

    Wednesday, February 18

    Thursday, February 19

    • Life After Beth
    • The Iron Claw
    • The Night Agent Season 3
    • The Swedish Connection
    • Wakefield

    Friday, February 20

    • The Addams Family
    • The Addams Family 2
    • The Expendables
    • The Expendables 2
    • The Expendables 3
    • The Expendables 4
    • Firebreak
    • Laggies
    • Mike & Molly Seasons 1-6
    • The Orphans
    • Pavane
    • Strip Law

    For more Netflix content, find out which four seasons of a classic Disney sitcom are leaving the streaming platform. Also, check out the release date and first-look photos of XO, Kitty Season 3.

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    Ritika Singh

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