Friday: Paramount Dealing With FCC; Lesbian Space Princess; Are Movies Recession Proof; Comcast Pay Cuts; YouTube Ad Strength; Why Yoda Talks Backwards
The FCC is setting conditions on the merger between Paramount and Skydance. Is the movie biz recession proof? And here's why Yoda talks backwards.
Happy Friday, April 25th. Here's what you need to know.
Today's Headlines
The FCC has reportedly contacted Paramount Global about the necessary steps for its merger with Skydance to be approved, including a requirement to maintain its abstention from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, in line with Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr's recent comments on making DEI abolition a condition for merger approvals. (Source: TheWrap)
Blue Finch Films secured several international deals for the animated feature Lesbian Space Princess, including U.S. distribution rights with Cineverse's Fandor, which plans a theatrical release later this year following its Teddy Award win at Berlinale. (Source: Variety)
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and President Mike Cavanagh experienced nearly 5% declines in their 2024 compensation, with Roberts earning $33.9 million (down from $35.5 million) and Cavanagh earning $28.3 million (down from $29.6 million), according to the company's SEC filing. (Source: Deadline)
Alphabet's Q1 earnings for 2025 exceeded expectations, with $90.23 billion in revenue, $2.81 EPS, and a 46% increase in net income to $34.24 billion, driven by strong performance, including $8.9 billion from YouTube ads despite the absence of a U.S. presidential election. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
Are movies recession proof? Hollywood thinks so. At the Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit, senior marketing executives from major studios and streamers expressed confidence that Hollywood could withstand a potential recession. (Source: Variety)
At the opening night of the TCM Classic Film Festival, Star Wars director George Lucas explained why Yoda talks backwards. “Because if you speak regular English, people won’t listen that much. But if he had an accent, or it’s really hard to understand what he’s saying, they focus on what he’s saying. He was basically the philosopher of the movie. I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen — especially 12-year-olds.” (Source: Variety)
Box Office Rankings
Tuesday, April 22nd
1) Sinners - $7,116,336
2) A Minecraft Movie - $2,239,619
3) Pride & Prejudice - $944,815
4) The King of Kings - $1,298,816
5) The Amateur - $603,471
Source: Box Office Mojo
MNP Studio Index
Friday, April 25th (Market Close)
Mixed day for the Studio Index. Paramount popped (up 2.6%) on news that talks with the government are underway. Sony was down .6%.
MNP Streaming Index
Friday, April 25th (Market Close)
Outstanding day for the Movie News Pro Streaming Index, as every stock was in the green. The index was up 1.3% on the day, but is down 2.87% since the index was created on March 17th.
MNP Theater Index
Friday, April 25th (Market Close)
Mixed day for the theaters, however Imax should be happy with a 2.6% gain on the day.
Film Festivals/Conferences Today
Atlanta Film Festival, US - April 24-May 4
BCN Film Fest, Spain - April 24-May 2
Canneseries, France - April 24-29
Far East Film Festival, Italy - April 24-May 2
HotDocs, Canada - April 24-May 4
JFilm Festival, US - April 24-May 4
Milwaukee Film Festival, US - April 24-May 8
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, US - April 24-29
Sands: International Film Festival of St Andrews, UK - April 25-27
Upcoming Film Festivals/Conferences
MubiFest Chicago - April 26-27
Screen Forever online market, Australia - April 29-30
Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea - April 30-May 9
Watch This Tonight
High and Low (1963) Directed by Akira Kurosawa
CEO power plays. Kidnapping. This Kurosawa classic is slow, yet intense.
Disclaimer/Transparency
MovieNewsPro is a film industry news monitoring service. All stories have been previously reported elsewhere and are not exclusive stories to MNP. All information is believed to be accurate at the time of reporting. MovieNewsPro uses a full array of technology to gather information, including machine learning, automation and artificial intelligence throughout its business monitoring, editing and reporting process. MovieNewsPro sector indexes (Streaming, Studio and Theater) are virtual indexes - there are no actual funds invested. Sector index total value dollar amounts are based on an initial hypothetical investment of $100,000 on March 17th, 2025. We are not licensed investment advisors and our information should not be used as investment advice.
