Casey Bloys. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery)
On Monday, Paramount’s David Ellison laid out plans to investors to combine HBO and Paramount+ upon completion of the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition. Two days earlier, “Heated Rivalry” star Connor Storrie hosted “Saturday Night Live,” having vaulted to near-overnight stardom thanks in part to HBO Max, and HBO chief Casey Bloys’ foresight in scooping up the Canadian gay hockey series.
After weeks of uncertainty surrounding WBD’s fate, Ellison’s slap shot ricocheted through the ranks of HBO employees, who were still reeling from Netflix’s decision to withdraw from the WBD bidding, thrusting the prospect of a different corporate parent—their fourth in the last decade—into the prestige platform’s future.
The pending Paramount takeover represents the latest challenge for HBO, which has enjoyed a recent string of successes under Bloys’ stewardship. According to company insiders who spoke to Status…
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The latest episode of Power Lines just dropped.
In this week’s episode: MAGA Media’s biggest stars are waging war with one another over Donald Trump’s Iran war, dividing his most loyal mouthpieces. We discuss what it means for the fracturing coalition that put Trump into office. And at CNN, Scott Jennings is facing blowback from the network’s own reporters for parroting the administration’s bogus war claim.
Plus, Trump’s stunning decision to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is being met with alarm and dread inside the group, with some reporters fearing it will be used to “bash the press to our faces.”
Finally, Bari Weiss is hard at work tinkering with “CBS Mornings.” We take you behind the scenes and break down our reporting on the MAGA-friendly former ESPN host Weiss expressed interest in, along with the former “GMA” host now being considered for the show.
You can watch on YouTube—or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoy the program, subscribe so you never miss an episode!
Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in "The Bride!" (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)
No Bouquets for ‘The Bride!’: So far, Warner Bros. has spent the early part of 2026 letting writer-directors run wild with literary classics, with decidedly mixed results. After a revisionist “Wuthering Heights,” here comes “The Bride!,” which turns Maggie Gyllenhaal loose on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” with an indie-film sensibility on a studio budget. Despite amped-up performances by past and likely near-future Oscar winners in Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley, the stitched-together concept proves too bizarre and disjointed to catch lightning in a bottle.
Give Gyllenhaal credit for the ambition of her vision, which weaves in arresting visuals and unleashes Buckley in a split-personality role as Shelley and her creation. But the various plot threads—including an homage to the movies and a strong feminist strain—never…
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