Category Archives: Business

Disney and TikTok cut a Short-Form Content-Sharing Deal

Posted on by Leave a comment

Disney has been on a roll with cutting deals with terrible technology. In late 2025 the House of Mouse cut a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI. That deal lasted about 6 months as OpenAI shut down Sora and with it Disney’s investment in May 2026.

Now, Disney has a new collaborator in TikTok, the tech platform that was formally owned by a Chinese company but Donald Trump couldn’t have that and forced its sale to his buddies, including Larry Ellison who is currently helping fund the purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery by his son David and Paramount.

The Disney/TikTok deal will pilot in the US in the coming months and “will bring an expansive collection of thoughtfully curated Disney-centric fan-created content from TikTok to the Disney+ app.”

Participating creators who opt-in will see the content they create live on TikTok and in Verts on Disney+. They can feature characters and stories across Disney’s brands including Pixar, Marvel, Star Ears, and more.

TikTok will provide creators access to assets related to hundreds of films and series from Disney’s library.

Mentioned in the announcement is the ability to “unlock special rewards” as well as increase the visibility of creators. It also will feature exclusive events and “career development pathways.”

The deal, which the press announcement calls a “first-of-its-kind global deal” sounds similar to Disney’s deal with OpenAI which would have provided access to Disney IP while bringing the AI creations to Disney+.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority and Culture Secretary Approves Paramount’s Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery after Guarantees

Posted on by Leave a comment

A government again has laid down choosing not to protect consumers and workers as the UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy as well as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority have both cleared the deal for Paramount‘s $110 billion+ takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

To secure approval from Nandy, Paramount had to agree to some concessions.

  • Paramount’s Channel 5 will continue to operate as a public service broadcaster until the end of 2034. It will also retain editorial independence and remain separate from other news operations like Paramount’s CBS News and Warner Bros. Discovery’s CNN International.

Paramount has come under scrutiny for its takeover of CBS News removing its editorial independence for a more right-wing bent calling into question is history of quality journalism. Paramount owner David Ellison appointed Bari Weiss as the head of the news service as well as a conservative to act as its ombudsman, an “internal advocate for journalistic integrity and transparency.”

  • Paramount has also agreed that its linear and on-demand services in Britain would retain distinct editorial identities for five years, including its children’s TV content.
  • There’s also a guarantee that the deal would not reduce the number of people commissioning content in Britain, and Channel 5 would continue to back UK-originated content covering drama, factual, and entertainment shows.

The deal still faces multiple lawsuits in the United States including one from a dozen state attorneys general as well as the Writers Guild of America. Another case involves shareholders claiming the Ellisons promised “illegal private benefits” to President Trump in exchange for the government approval.

Paramount has received competition clearances in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Kuwait, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, and by the European Commission, and the COMESA Competition Commission.

It also has received foreign direct investment clearances in Australia, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, France, Italy, New Zealand, Romania, Spain, and Slovenia. The transaction was also unconditionally approved by European Commission under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation regime and by the Austrian Federal Competition Authority under its media merger control regime.

VIZ Media Signs with The Gotham Group to Expand VIZ Originals and RWBY for Film and Television Development

Posted on by Leave a comment
VIZ Logo

VIZ Media has signed a strategic partnership with The Gotham Group to develop film and television adaptations based on its growing portfolio of original intellectual property, including its acclaimed VIZ Originals graphic novel line and the globally recognized RWBY franchise.

The collaboration marks a significant expansion of VIZ Media’s entertainment business, bringing its creator-driven stories to the screen through one of Hollywood’s leading production and management companies. VIZ is the #1 destination for manga in America and home to some of the most prestigious anime brands driving the industry, including One Piece, Demon Slayer, Naruto, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Under the agreement, The Gotham Group—whose credits include Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Search for WondLa, Washington Black, the Maze Runner franchise and the Bruce Springsteen feature Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere—will identify and package projects drawn from VIZ Media’s expanding library of original IP.

At the heart of the collaboration is RWBY, the landmark animated franchise created by the late Monty Oum. Since its debut in 2013, RWBY has become one of the world’s most successful independently created animation properties, amassing more than 350 million views globally while expanding into publishing, video games, consumer products and multiple spinoffs, including RWBY: Ice Queendom and two Justice League x RWBY animated crossover films.

Widely recognized as the first anime series produced in the United States—and the first Western-produced anime to be dubbed and distributed in Japan—RWBY helped pave the way for a new generation of globally developed anime-inspired storytelling.

The deal also includes VIZ Originals, VIZ Media’s original manga imprint. Featuring works from acclaimed creators Rem and Bikkuri (Devil’s Candy), bestselling author Rainbow Rowell (Fangirl), best-selling Eisner nominee Sam Sattin (Lynx), and globally renowned artist Acky Bright (Galaxic Baseball League) among many others, VIZ Originals continues to champion the next generation of international storytellers shaping the future of manga

Consumer Lawsuit Challenging Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is Dismissed

Posted on by Leave a comment
Warner Bros. logo

A challenge to Paramount‘s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has been dismissed. The group of consumers failed to establish standing according to U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguin. They are allowed to file a revised complaint.

The consumer lawsuit was filed in April and included five subscribers to pay-tv and streaming services who argued the merger would increase prices and decrease the diversity of viewpoints. The lawsuit also was seeking the divestiture of Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount last year.

The group of consumers challenged the merger but the judge wrote:

Plaintiffs’ standing theory amounts to little more than the assertion that they are consumers who watch television and go to the movies, and therefore a merger between entertainment companies would injure them.

Another issue in the case is that the plaintiffs’ injury was a single, historical price increase by Paramount+ but that injury wasn’t suffered in the same way by all five of the plaintiffs.

Martínez-Olguin is also presiding over two other antitrust cases over the same deal. One is the lawsuit brought by a dozen attorneys general and the other is the case brought by the Writers Guild of America. The attorneys general case has a trial date of March 2027. Another case involves shareholders claiming the Ellisons promised “illegal private benefits” to President Trump in exchange for the government approval.

Saudi Arabia, Jared Kushner, and other Private Equity Purchase Electronic Arts

Posted on by Leave a comment
Electronic Arts

The deal to purchase Electronic Arts by a rogues gallery of villains has officially been completed. Announced in September 2025, Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, and Affinity Partners teamed together like the Legion of Doom to complete the deal. Affinity Partners is run by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Stockholders approved the deal on December 22, 2025.

PIF is the largest insider stakeholder in EA and is rolling over its existing 9.9%. The Saudi PIF has been investing in the video game market since 2022 with minority stakes in numerous companies. They are an investor in Nintendo as an example.

The deal will end EA’s 36-year history as a publicly traded company that began trading with its shares ending its first day of trading at a split-adjusted 52 cents. EA stockholders will receive $210 in cash for each share of EA common stock they owned as of the closing. EA’s common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from NASDAQ.

One of the partners in this, Silver Lake, is also part of the TikTok takeover deal that’s headed by Oracle. Oracle founder Larry Ellison is helping fund the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by his son David Ellison and Paramount Skydance.

As the son-in-law to President Trump, Kushner has been a part of numerous horrible policies including the much discussed redevelopment of Gaza by Trump. Under the first term, Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump reported between $172 million and $640 million outside income while they served in unpaid roles un the White House. Affinity Partners received billions of dollars from Middle Eastern investors, including $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s PIF six months after he left the White House.

Saudi Arabia is regularly accused of attempting to wash away the criticism of the regime over human rights abuses, funding of terrorism, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The PIF invested $1 billion in Embracer Group, the owner of Dark Horse among numerous other geeky things. A rumored larger investment in Embracer fell through.

Date Set for Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery Trial

Posted on by Leave a comment
Warner Bros. logo

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguin has set a trial date for March 2, 2027 for the antitrust lawsuit regarding Paramount‘s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The trial will conclude by March 19.

On July 13, a dozen attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance. The lawsuit raised antitrust concerns and a decrease of competition. On July 20, a temporary restraining order was granted that prevented the deal from “closing” or “consummating” or taking any steps that would integrate or consolidate the operations. That temporary restraining order was extended an additional two weeks and then on July 24 Paramount agreed to halt its acquisition while the court case played out, possibly to June 2027.

The delay is a big one because if the deal isn’t completed by September 30, the price increases 25 cents per share per quarter it’s not approved. That would add $627 million to the cost of the overall deal each quarter, or roughly $7 million per day. That means this will increase the cost roughly $1.3 billion if the trial goes the entire time.

Ethics Complaints Raised over FCC Commissioners Gifts from Paramount

Posted on by Leave a comment
Warner Bros. logo

Paramount Skydance‘s attempt to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery has even more stink surrounding it. Two government watchdog groups have requested for an investigation into ethics violations by Federal Communications Commission members. Members accepted luxury gala tickets while Paramount was working to get government approval for its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Democracy Defenders Fund and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have cited an investigation by ProPublica about how CBS or its parent company (which is now Paramount) have given tickets to FCC commissioners to the Kennedy Center honors gala. CBS sponsors the event. That gift acceptance included while the Paramount/Warner Bros. deal was going through the government approval process as well as other major business from Paramount, including multiple mergers.

Commissioner Olivia Trusty‘s financial disclosure lists two tickets to the December 2025 gala worth more than $12,000. Trusty voted to approve Paramount’s merger with Skydance.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr‘s financial statements shows he accepted tickets eight times since 2017 which is over $75,000 in gifts. He sat in a private skybox at December’s gala with Paramount’s CEO David Ellison and other Paramount and CBS executives. Carr voted for the Paramount-Skydance merger.

According to ProPublica, seven of the ten commissioners who have served since 2016 accepted tickets with a value of more than $260,000.

Federal ethics rules ban employees from taking gifts from any entity that does business with, is regulated by, or seeks action from the agency.

The Democracy Defenders Fund says that Carr and Trusty broke the rules on accepting gifts or even criminal laws from accepting illegal gratuities. Carr and Trusty should be required to repay Paramount the “fair market value” for their gifts and their annual disclosures should not be certified until they do so. The organization is also requesting Carr to be disqualified from any decision concerning the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Paramount had announced it was making a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery hours after the gala and Carr endorsed the deal three months later.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal is on hold while a court case plays out between the company and a dozen attorneys general. The business deal is also facing other litigation as well as unknown decisions from other governments.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day looks like it has beaten Avengers: Endgame Domestic Opening

Posted on by Leave a comment
Spider-Man: Brand New Day

When we ran our weekend box office report earlier today, the numbers were Sunday’s estimates which are the initial numbers, and those numbers can be adjusted. Well, the adjustment for Spider-Man: Brand New Day looks to be one that’s for the record books.

Initially, Spider-Man: Brand New Day was projected as opening with $355 million but those estimates have been adjusted and it is now believed the movie has earned $360 million, making it the biggest opening for a domestic film ever.

It beats Avengers: Endgame which opened with $357.1 million when it debuted in April 2019. Endgame will still hold the record for best global opening weekend with $1.2 billion.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day also holds the record for biggest Thursday previews and top Friday opening domestic sum.

The numbers have been staggering beating Sony’s initial projection which was $195 million domestic opening and $465 million global gross.

The film has a $225 million budget, so when using the “double the budget” rule, the film has made back its budget and marketing and then some, like double what it needed, in just one weekend.

The film should have a very healthy and long run in the theater with an “A” CinemaScore and a 98 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes which also has a 90 score from critics.

The movie is such a big deal that Imax has shifted its plans and will split screens with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey, another film rocking the movie box office.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Delivers a Massive Opening

Posted on by Leave a comment
Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of keyboard prognosticators figuring out how to justify saying there isn’t “superhero fatigue” at the box office after beating the drums about it for months. Spider-Man: Brand New Day delivered the second best worldwide opening ever and it’s already the fourth highest grossing film worldwide of 2026 after 1 weekend.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day grossed $355 million domestically and $572 million at the international box office for a worldwide total of $927 million.

That’s the second highest domestic opening weekend behind Avengers: Endgame which opened with $357.1 million in 2019. Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s opening weekend might be adjusted still and could put it closer to breaking the record. It also delivered the second highest global debut again behind Avengers: Endgame’s $1.22 billion.

The Odyssey slipped to second place, after being in first for its first two, with $51 million domestically to bring its domestic gross up to $395.5 million. Over the week, it grossed $162.6 million at the international box office which now stands at $515.9 million. Worldwide, the film has grossed $911.4 million in three weeks.

Toy Story 5 improved one spot moving up to third with $6.3 million domestically. It has grossed $461.7 million since its debut. Internationally, the movie added $30.7 million over the week and that total is now $604.2 million. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $1.066 billion and is the top grossing film of the year but that will likely end this week.

Minions & Monsters also improved one spot coming in fourth with $5.8 million. Domestically the movie has grossed $168.4 million. Internationally, the movie has grossed $24.7 million over the week and that total gross is $281.2 million. Worldwide, the movie has done $449.6 million.

Moana dropped from second place to fifth grossing $5.3 million, a 50.2% drop from the previous week. It has grossed $114.8 million at the domestic box office. Internationally, it grossed $20.6 million over the week and that total is $146.3 million. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $261.1 million. It’s hard to call the film anything but a flop for Disney.

In comic related movies…

Supergirl grossed around $450,000 domestically and is just under $72 million. Internationally, the movie grossed $800,000 over a week to bring that up to $53.8 million. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $125.8 million.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu grossed an estimated $19,000 over the weekend to bring its domestic gross to $177.7 million. Internationally, the movie’s gross is $167.1 million. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $344.8 million.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity has grossed $4.3 million domestically. Internationally, the movie has grossed $763,798 which makes a little over $5 million worldwide.

Numbers have 25 movies grossing $429,572,594 from 22,801 theaters for an average of $18,840.08. That is compared to last week’s 55 movies grossing $146,638,349 from 31,444 theaters for an average of $4,663.48.

Dark Horse Workers United announces a Rally Against Union Busting

Posted on by Leave a comment

Dark Horse Workers United have announced a rally against union busting. It takes place at the Milwaukie Waterfront Park on August 3rd from 5pm to 6pm.

While Dark Horse has recognized the union, they’ve entered the difficult process that comes after. Dark Horse is insisting that Senior Editors are management and not eligible to join the union. If the Senior Editors don’t accept their “management” designation they’ll be demoted and receive a pay cut.

Dark Horse Workers United are rallying to prevent this and support the editors who wish to be a part of the union at their current titles and salaries.

Attendees are encouraged to dress up as their favorite heroes from comic books or elsewhere for a costume contest.

Dark Horse Workers United rally poster
« Older Entries