Tuesday: Paramount Deal Extended; Mark Waters Hershey Movie; Werner Herzog To Be Honored; Shout Buying Gravitas
Paramount/Skydance gets a merger extension and Werner Herzog is a living legend. MNP fave Mark Waters is set to helm a Hershey biopic.
There is so much going on this Tuesday, April 8th. Let's get to it: here's the news you need to know.
Today's Headlines
The Paramount/Skydance merger deadline has been extended, according to Reuters. The companies will receive another 90 days under the terms of the agreement. Our take: The merger is still awaiting the approval of the FCC and despite hiccups, there is still nothing apparent to stop the deal.
The Origin story of Hershey chocolate is being helmed by Mark Waters, the director of Mean Girls, Freaky Friday and our personal favorite, The House of Yes, Variety reports. Entitled Hershey, the film is set to begin production next month with a 2026 target release. Our take: With Finn Wittrock and Alexandra Daddario attached this has great potential.
Shout! Studios is Buying Gravitas Ventures, according to IndieWire. The brands will remain separate and intact, however. Our take: Nice addition for the Shout! Studios team as Gravitas film library is extensive.
The Hollywood Reporter posts that Sony Pictures Entertainment has Hired former Hartbeat CEO Jay Levine as their Chief Strategy Officer. Our take: Levine was previously at Warner Brothers, where he was in charge of corporate development. Look for a similar role here.
Legendary director Werner Herzog will be Honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, reports Variety. Our take: Great to see this, and even better to hear that the auteur has two new films in the works: Ghost Elephants and Bucking Fastard with Kate and Rooney Mara.
Imax is Expanding its partnership with Toho for six more locations in Japan, according to the Investing.com. Our take: Great idea, but perhaps bad timing as global trade deals are getting pummeled on Wall Street. Imax stock closed down 7.6% today.
Box Office Rankings: Sunday, April 6th (No Updates Since Sunday)
1) A Minecraft Movie
2) A Working Man
3) Snow White
4) The Chosen: Last Supper
5) The Woman In The Yard
MNP Studio Index (Tuesday April 8th - Market Close)
Studio Stocks Recap: We purchased Warners today, adding to the index midway through the trading day today. We sold off equal percentages of the other holdings to bring everything to an equal weight. Sony was the only stock that rose today, up less than a half percent.
Current Holdings: Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Warner Brothers Discovery
Our Take: Another crazy day for the studio stocks. The markets opened much higher on rumors that a tariff deal was forthcoming, then lost momentum as the day progressed.
MNP Streaming Index (Tuesday April 8th - Market Close)
Streaming Stocks Recap: Warners and Apple were both down almost 5% today. Netflix was the sole riser, barely ending in the positive.
Current Holdings: Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Fox, Alphabet, Netflix, Paramount, Roku and Warner Brothers Discovery
Our Take: Weird that Warner Brothers can have the biggest hit of the year in A Minecraft Movie and yet the stock still is taking a beating.
MNP Theater Index (Tuesday April 8th - Market Close)
Theater Stocks Recap: Red across the board. Imax was clobbered today on news of its expansion in Japan.
Current Holdings: AMC, Cinemark, Cineverse, Dolby, Imax, Marcus
Our Take: Bad news across the board for theater stocks, but at least the Minecraft Movie shows that audiences are eager for new intellectual property.
Film Festivals/Conferences Today
Miami Film Festival, US - April 4-13
Qumra, Qatar - April 4-9
Visions du Reel, Switzerland - April 4-13
Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, Poland - April 7-14
New Directors, New Films (MOMA), New York City - April 2-13
Upcoming Film Festivals/Conferences
Boston International Film Festival, US - April 10-15
Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival, Brazil - April 10-27
Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong - April 10-21
Istanbul Film Festival, Turkiye - April 11-22
Qumra (online), Qatar - April 12-14
San Francisco International Film Festival, US - April 17-27
Watch This Tonight
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), Directed by Maya Deren
Let's get weird. Check out Meshes of the Afternoon, a true masterpiece of surrealist filmmaking and probably the greatest short film of all time. Streaming on Kanopy for free.
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.
