Warner Bros’ Oscar triumph a bittersweet moment as Paramount deal looms
BNN Bloomberg
Warner Bros emerged as the biggest winner at the Academy Awards on Sunday, though the mood was clouded by its pending US$110 billion sale to Paramount Skydance, a deal reshaping Hollywood’s studio landscape.
The studio received 11 Oscars, led by “One Battle After Another,” a tale of violent resistance in a dystopian America, which received six awards, including for best picture, director and supporting actor. “Sinners,” Warner Bros’ genre-defying fantasia set in the Jim Crow South, collected four Academy Awards, including lead actor.
“I want to thank Warner Bros,” said Michael B. Jordan, who won the best actor Oscar for playing twin brothers in “Sinners,” lauding the studio for “betting on original ideas and artistry.”
Warner Bros became the focus of a months-long bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix for the studio’s corporate parent, Warner Bros Discovery. Paramount CEO David Ellison prevailed with a higher bid, backed by his billionaire father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
The deal will merge two of Hollywood’s storied studios, narrowing the ranks of major film players at a time of accelerating consolidation and mounting pressure from streaming rivals, labor unrest and higher costs.
“It will be impossible to ignore that we will be celebrating the achievements of filmmaking with one less studio on the horizon,” said veteran Hollywood marketing executive Terry Press. “It’s gut-wrenching.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei says that the leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used and that Iran’s attacks on Gulf Arab neighbours will continue. His first statement since his appointment was read on state television Thursday by a news anchor.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is again heading overseas, this time to Norway to observe NATO Cold Response exercises as Canada deepens ties with Nordic countries.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says the threat level in Canada from Iran or its proxies has not changed since the war in Iran began nearly two weeks ago, while adding that threat-related activities are “likely to continue.”
Ottawa is letting an unnamed automaker import a higher quota of U.S.-made vehicles without tariffs because the company is selling and making more cars in Canada than first expected.
World shares tumbled on Monday, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunging more than 5%, after oil prices spiked at nearly $120 a barrel, casting a shadow over economies heavily dependent on imports of oil and gas from the Middle East.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Sunday the date for three upcoming byelections.
The price of oil surged higher and showed no signs of halting its rapid climb a week after the U.S. and Israel launched major attacks on Iran that escalated into a war in the Middle East.
Scott Moe says Canada needs to separate its trade talks from its national security concerns when dealing with certain countries if it is serious about diversifying trading partners beyond the United States.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has landed in Japan on the final stop of a 10-day trip that also included Australia and India.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has landed in Japan on the final stop of a 10-day trip that also included Australia and India.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has landed in Japan on the final stop of a 10-day trip that also included Australia and India.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has landed in Japan on the final stop of a 10-day trip that also included Australia and India.
As Iran continued to exchange airstrikes with Israel and U.S. bases on Thursday, Canada’s top military commander said its Armed Forces are in talks to possibly help defend Persian Gulf states against bombing from Iran.