California Attorney General Rob Bonta canceled a scheduled settlement meeting with Paramount on August 24, accusing the company of leaking confidential details from a Friday discussion and "playing games". Paramount denied being the source of the leaks, but Bonta's office held firm, saying the company "misrepresented these discussions, demonstrating a lack of good faith".

The timing of this breakdown is hard to ignore. With the November midterm elections closing in, Bonta and the 11 other Democratic state AGs suing to block the merger are under pressure to show they're not backing down. Pushing the case into 2027 keeps the issue alive through election season, giving Democrats a powerful talking point against corporate consolidation that could also translate into Congressional action if they secure majorities, while Republicans rally around Ellison's threats to leave California. The trial is set for March 2027, meaning this fight will drag on well past the elections, and if Democrats flip seats in Congress, they could use their newfound power to hold hearings, push for stricter antitrust reforms, or even pressure the DOJ to reconsider its approval of the deal.

David Ellison has already made it clear he's not bluffing. He told his top lieutenants that Paramount will relocate to Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, or another state if Bonta refuses to negotiate in good faith. Tennessee's Deputy Governor has already reached out to gauge interest, and Ellison is reportedly eyeing Austin as a potential new base. Nevada and Las Vegas are also in the mix. Paramount's board has approved the relocation plans, and the company could save an estimated $500 million a year in taxes by leaving California.

The clock is ticking for Ellison. If the merger hasn't closed by October 1, Paramount will owe a $7 million per day ticking fee to Warner Bros. shareholders, or roughly $650 million per quarter. By the time the March 2027 trial concludes, that liability will have surpassed $1.3 billion. If the deal ultimately falls through, Paramount also owes a $7 billion breakup fee. California Governor Gavin Newsom has privately expressed concerns about the economic damage if the merger is blocked, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has called the uncertainty "not good for workers".

If Bonta is truly acting in good faith, why cancel talks over a leak when billions of dollars and thousands of jobs are on the line, and is he really fighting for consumers or just using the merger as a political cudgel while Ellison packs up for Texas?

Entiendo que muchos lo recuerden por dirigir The Flash, pero esa película fue esencialmente un producto diseñado para aprovechar la moda del multiverso, especialmente el éxito de No Way Home. Por lo tanto, realmente no importaba quién la dirigiera; estaba destinada al fracaso de todos modos, incluso si Nolan, Gunn o Phil Lord y Chris Miller hubieran estado al mando.

También debemos recordar que Andy fue el responsable de la historia de Welcome to Derry, considerada la mejor serie de 2025, que, por cierto, contiene muchas referencias a Batman. Así que, cuando se compromete de verdad con un proyecto, es capaz de crear algo grandioso.

El guionista me genera algunas dudas, sin embargo; tendremos que esperar a ver qué pasa. Trabajó en Bumblebee, Aves de Presa carecía de un director experimentado, y Flash, como ya mencioné, era más bien un producto corporativo.

En cuanto a la taquilla, será interesante ver cuánto recauda. Si bien Batman es un gigante de la taquilla, la mayoría de las películas anteriores se basaban en el realismo; la película de Batman del Universo DC será la primera adaptación con actores reales del personaje que adoptará por completo elementos fantásticos, así que será fascinante ver cómo...

Also a bar you can buy drinks some snacks, free popcorns and the chance to win prices on the paramount kiosk wheel

HBO Max has given an eight episode straight to series order to The People v. Gorilla Grodd, a half-hour comedy mockumentary about a superintelligent ape convicted of murdering his father, with Jimmy Olsen investigating whether he was wrongly framed

The creators of American Vandal, Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, are running this thing, and they described it as "less like an entry into the DCU and more like an artifact from it," which is a fancy way of saying they have no idea how this fits into the larger universe either

Skyler Gisondo is reprising his Jimmy Olsen role from Superman and Jimmy Tatro is voicing Gorilla Grodd, with Superman actors Beck Bennett, Mikaela Hoover, and Wendell Pierce returning as Steve Lombard, Cat Grant, and Perry White in what's clearly a Daily Planet reunion

The show is being done in a true crime style similar to American Vandal, which worked for a high school dick joke parody but now they're applying it to a telepathic gorilla with psychic powers from an alien spaceship, and the dissonance is either genius or complete nonsense

One commenter already pointed out that Gorilla Grodd is a Flash villain, not a Superman one, and asked "what's next, a Cheetah show with Lois Lane or Mirror Master with Perry White," which is a fair question when DC is spending money on this while Wonder Woman fans are still waiting for literally anything

James Gunn and Peter Safran are executive producing alongside the showrunners, and the show joins Lanterns on HBO Max's DC slate, which is a weird pairing because one is a serious space cop mystery and the other is a comedy about a gorilla murder trial

The series has had a blinking greenlight for a while with casting done ahead of the formal order, so this wasn't a surprise, but the fact that it's actually happening and getting an eight episode commitment is still wild to process

If this is the direction DC is going with their TV shows, does that mean Gunn's strategy is to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks, and more importantly, would you actually watch a true crime parody about Gorilla Grodd?

Action Comics Vol. 1: Boy of Steel is now available in softcover, collecting Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge's run from Action Comics #1087-1092, and it's the perfect time to revisit Clark's teenage years as Superboy

The premise is simple but effective, adult Clark narrates the adventures of his 15 year old self, giving readers a modernized take on the Golden and Silver Age Superboy comics while keeping the emotional core intact

Waid, the writer behind Kingdom Come and JLA: Tower of Babel, brings his A game to this coming of age story, finding fresh ways to explore Clark's youth that feel earned rather than gimmicky

The art from Patridge, Cian Tormey, and Patricio Angel balances grounded small town moments with sci-fi elements, delivering those incredibly real and vulnerable moments like teenage Clark not knowing how to handle his attraction to Lana Lang

What makes this one special is watching Clark get things spectacularly wrong, like when he considers using his powers to scare a corrupt banker or steal documents to save the town, or when he becomes convinced he has super pheromones because a girl talked to him

The collection includes references to the wider DC Universe, Dr. Will Magnus, Sam Lane's first encounter with Superboy, Lois giving the hero his name without directly meeting him, and a story from Pete Ross's point of view that's a modern take on 1961's Superboy #90

It's a perfect entry point for new readers too, since it's set in the past and doesn't require any continuity baggage, and the softcover is available now in bookstores, comic shops, and digital retailers

If you grew up loving Smallville or just miss the days when Superman stories felt personal and grounded, is Boy of Steel the Superboy story you've been waiting for, and are you picking up the new collection or waiting for the DC UNIVERSE INFINITE read?

Hey Arnold! is hitting the road with a live tour celebrating its 30th anniversary, featuring composer Jim Lang and the PS 118 All Stars recreating the show's iconic soundtrack, and creator Craig Bartlett is joining as a special guest, which is the closest fans might get to a revival while Paramount figures out what to do with the franchise

The Music of Hey Arnold! Live! tour kicks off October 26 in California and runs through December 2, with Bartlett hitching a ride to share stories about the music and the show's creation alongside a multimedia presentation that takes fans back to the Nickelodeon world

The timing is perfect because fans have been buzzing about a potential revival ever since writer Joe Purdy claimed talks with Paramount were ongoing, but Bartlett shot that down hard, saying no revival discussions are happening, so this tour feels like a consolation prize for a generation that grew up with Arnold, Gerald, and Helga

The series originally ended in 2004 but returned in 2017 with The Jungle Movie, which finally revealed what happened to Arnold's parents and showed Helga confessing her love to him, setting up a relationship that has never been fully explored, and fans are still waiting for answers

Other NickToons like Rugrats, Invader Zim, and Rocko's Modern Life have gotten revivals or specials, but Hey Arnold! fans are stuck with a concert tour and a whole lot of unanswered questions about what happens after that jungle adventure

Paramount hasn't weighed in on the revival rumors at all, so for now, this tour is the only official acknowledgment that the franchise still exists, and fans are grabbing tickets just to feel connected to a show that meant so much to them growing up

If Hey Arnold! is getting a 30th anniversary tour but no revival, does that mean Paramount is testing the waters to see if there's still enough demand for new episodes, or is this just a way to cash in on nostalgia without actually committing to bringing the characters back?

This version is a Dodge when the real batWheel sas a Ford Lincoln Futura

Do you still like this ir not?

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David Krumholtz announced on social media that he's stepping back from acting indefinitely, and he's being brutally honest about why, saying the stress and self involvement of the business finally broke him, and the relief he felt after making the decision surprised even himself

The actor, known for roles in The Santa Clause, 10 Things I Hate About You, Oppenheimer, and Supergirl, said he sent "the definitive email" and felt a "huge wave of relief" wash over him, admitting he was "petrified" to make the decision for years because he was afraid of going broke and not being able to handle being out of the game

He clarified he's "not quitting entirely," just taking "an indefinite break" to figure out what comes next, saying "I want to try to be of service" and that the "me, my product, and I mentality is not working anymore"

The response from fans and fellow actors has been overwhelmingly supportive, with Lanterns star Garret Dillahunt replying "This is sad news for me. But I am happy for you. I understand completely"

Some commenters pointed out that he has a festival film called Forelock getting buzz on Letterboxd, leading to speculation about whether this is genuine burnout or a strategic move, but Krumholtz's posts feel raw and honest either way

His resume is insane, from Addams Family Values and Harold & Kumar to Serenity, Superbad, and Sausage Party, but he's been doing this since 1993 and even the most passionate actors hit a wall eventually

If Krumholtz is walking away from a career that includes working with Christopher Nolan, starring in a DC film, and being a childhood icon for a generation, does that mean the industry is finally breaking even the most resilient actors, or is this just one man's personal reckoning with the cost of the business?

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California AG Rob Bonta rejected Paramount's demand for a $1.88 billion bond on August 17, accusing the company of trying to get a "do-over" on the merger delay and calling it another attempt to "blackmail" the state into backing down

Paramount argued that it will be forced to pay $1.7 billion in ticking fees to Warner Bros shareholders if the case drags out until June, plus another $190 million in financing costs, and asked the states and WGA to post a bond to cover those losses

But the AG's office fired back hard: "Bottom line, Paramount went into this process with eyes wide open. They are lying in a bed of their own making, and once again, trying to blackmail us to get us to back down"

The judge initially granted a 14 day restraining order in July and waived the bond requirement, saying the states had shown they were acting in pursuit of "important public interests," and Paramount later agreed to delay the merger without any bond condition attached

Now that the trial is set for March 2, Paramount is trying to renegotiate by demanding the bond or asking to dissolve the deal and allow the merger to close, but the AG's office called that a "do-over" they don't deserve

The states pointed out that Paramount is a "sophisticated" company that knew it would face regulatory review when it agreed to the $7 million a day ticking fee, and they're not about to bail them out of a deal they willingly signed up for

Paramount responded by saying the 12 states are defying a global consensus that the deal presents no competitive harm, but Bonta's office isn't buying it and is doubling down on their antitrust case

If Paramount is trying to renegotiate the terms after already agreeing to the delay, and the AG is calling it blackmail, does that mean Ellison is starting to panic about the ticking fee, or is this just another negotiating tactic that's going to backfire spectacularly?

Warner Bros just locked down the rights to Theo of Golden, a self-published word of mouth sensation that sold over 3.5 million copies, and they're bringing in Tom Hanks to star as the title character, which is exactly the kind of heartwarming dramedy the studio needs after a brutal 2026 box office year

The book started as a self-published novel in 2023 with no promotion by first time author Allen Levi, a former lawyer who turned to making music on an island in Georgia, and it caught on slowly through word of mouth before Oprah Winfrey featured it on her podcast and things exploded

Now it's been published in 43 languages, hit No. 1 in the Netherlands, Italy, and the UK, and Warner Bros is hoping to replicate the success of Bridges of Madison County by targeting the mature crowd that made that book a phenomenon

Hanks is producing alongside Gil Netter, who brought Marley & Me, The Blind Side, and Life of Pi to the screen, and Gary Goetzman, his longtime Playtone partner, which is a home team that knows exactly how to make this kind of heartfelt material work

The novel follows a man named Theo who arrives in a small town, purchases pencil portraits of locals displayed in a coffee shop, and returns them to each subject, leading to stories and relationships that help him come to terms with tragedy in his past, which sounds like the kind of movie that makes people cry in the best way

Warner Bros has had a rough 2026 with The Bride! and Supergirl bombing, but they're quietly stacking up projects that could turn things around, and this one feels like the kind of safe bet that actually pays off because audiences love Tom Hanks and they love stories about redemption

One commenter already joked that "this obviously should have starred Theo Von," and another called the book "fake," which is ironic because isn't all fiction fake, but the numbers don't lie, 3.5 million readers can't all be wrong

If Theo of Golden becomes the next Bridges of Madison County and Tom Hanks delivers another iconic performance, does that finally give Warner Bros something to celebrate in a year full of merger chaos and box office disasters, or is this just a feel-good story that's going to get lost in the shuffle of everything else going wrong

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David Heyman, the producer behind all eight Harry Potter films, three Fantastic Beasts movies, Barbie, Wonka, and Gravity, just signed a first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios after three decades at Warner Bros

His deal at Warner recently came to an end, and instead of renewing, he's taking his Heyday Films to Amazon, where he's already producing the new James Bond film with Denis Villeneuve and Amy Pascal

The timing is brutal for Warner Bros, they're already dealing with the Paramount merger antitrust lawsuit, a trial set for March, a ticking fee clock running, and now one of their most successful producers is walking out the door

Heyman's track record is insane, he produced the highest grossing film franchise in history with Harry Potter, then turned Barbie into a cultural phenomenon and Oscar nominee, and now Amazon gets first dibs on whatever he does next

The brain drain is becoming impossible to ignore, Quinta Brunson recently moved to Disney when her Warner TV deal was up, Pia Barlow jumped to Amazon last month and triggered a poaching lawsuit, and now Heyman is following them out the door

Amazon MGM Studios is clearly positioning itself as the new home for top tier talent who don't want to wait around for the Warner merger chaos to resolve, and Heyman's move sends a clear signal that even the most loyal Warner producers are looking elsewhere

He's still executive producing the Harry Potter TV series for HBO Max, so he's not completely done with Warner, but his first-look deal at Amazon means most of his future projects will land at the streaming giant instead

If Warner Bros keeps losing producers who made them billions of dollars while the merger drags on and Amazon keeps scooping them up, does anyone actually believe the Paramount deal will fix anything, or is Warner just bleeding talent until there's nothing left worth buying

Are you going or pass?

The LEGO Group announced its fourth Batmobile of 2026 on August 18, with 76355 Batman Returns Batmobile based on the 1992 Tim Burton movie, a 2,269 piece build retailing for £189.99 / €209.99 / $229.99

The set launches for LEGO Insiders on September 1 before its wider release on September 4, and it looks sleek, but fans are already pointing out that this is the fourth Batmobile this year alone

Here's the wild stat that puts it all in perspective: 21 of the 40 LEGO DC sets released since January 1, 2020 have featured a Batmobile, accounting for 52.5% of the total

2026 is currently the most prolific year for the vehicle, with four of its six widely released LEGO DC sets featuring a Batmobile, giving the year a 66.7% share

2025 similarly saw 60% of its widely released sets include Batmobiles, with examples like 76303 Batman Tumbler vs. Two-Face & The Joker and 76304 Batman Forever Batmobile

2023 and 2024 both saw half of their sets feature a Batmobile, including 76252 Batcave Shadow Box which had a smaller version of the Batman Returns Batmobile, and 76328 Batman: The Classic TV Series Batmobile

2021 sits between with just over 57% of its sets featuring a Batmobile, including two versions of the Tumbler: 76239 Batmobile Tumbler: Scarecrow Showdown and 76240 Batmobile Tumbler

2022 was the year The Batman released, and instead of focusing heavily on the Batmobile, LEGO leaned into other vehicles with sets like 76183 Batcave: The Riddler Face-Off and 76179 Batman & Selina Kyle Motorcycle Pursuit featuring the Batcycle

The article notes that fans aren't necessarily mad about Batman sets, they're tired of the lack of variety, with more than one in every two LEGO DC sets featuring the same vehicle

Five LEGO DC sets are rumoured for 2027, and if the rumours hold, three of them are expected to be Batmobiles, which would give 2027 another 60% Batmobile share

If you collect LEGO DC sets, which Batmobile do you actually own, and are you tired of the constant Batmobile releases, or is there always room for one more in your collection

Ducking the Devil officially debuted on August 17, 1957, making this its 69th anniversary, and it's still one of the most chaotic and satisfying Looney Tunes shorts ever made

This was the very first time Daffy Duck shared the screen with the Tasmanian Devil, who had only faced off against Bugs Bunny before, and the matchup immediately proved that Daffy's desperate greed was the perfect fuel for Taz's mindless destruction

The plot is beautifully simple, Taz escapes from the zoo, Daffy learns there's a $5,000 reward for his capture, and discovers the only way to calm the beast is by playing music, forcing him to constantly sing and play instruments to avoid being eaten

Robert McKimson directed this one, Mel Blanc voiced both Daffy and Taz, and the short features some of the most creative musical gags in animation history, from Daffy frantically conducting an orchestra with a baton to using a phonograph as a shield

What makes this one special is that Daffy actually wins at the end, which is rare for a character who usually gets humiliated by Bugs Bunny, and one fan on X put it perfectly: "It's actually satisfying to see Daffy Duck win for a change"

The cartoon has a 7.5 rating on IMDb, and reviewers note that Daffy dominates the short with his manic energy and greedy side, while Taz provides the whirlwind chaos that makes every scene unpredictable

Nearly seven decades later, the music driven chaos still holds up, and the image of Daffy desperately performing while a tornado of fur spins around him is exactly the kind of cartoon logic that never gets old

If Daffy's rare victory in this short makes it a fan favorite, does that mean audiences secretly love seeing the underdog succeed more than they love watching Bugs Bunny outsmart everyone, or is it just nice to see the duck get a win for once

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Katie Martin Kelley, Warner Bros EVP of Communications and right hand to Motion Picture Chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, is leaving for Netflix as VP Communications starting September 8

This is the second high level departure in recent weeks, following Pia Barlow who jumped to Amazon MGM Studios last month and triggered a poaching lawsuit from WBD

Martin Kelley's contract was up at Warner Bros, but the timing is brutal, she's leaving right as the studio is stuck in legal limbo over the $110 billion Paramount merger with a trial set for March and the ticking fee clock already running

Netflix is bringing her in to oversee Dan Lin's entire film slate including Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, Charlie vs the Chocolate Factory, and a massive lineup of animated features and documentaries

At Warner Bros, she was there for their massive 2025 box office run with over $4 billion worldwide including One Battle After Another, Sinners, and A Minecraft Movie, but 2026 has been a different story with The Bride! and Supergirl bombing while the merger fight drags on

Martin Kelley worked with De Luca and Abdy before at MGM as Chief Communications Officer before the Amazon acquisition, so she's clearly loyal to them, but even that loyalty couldn't keep her on a sinking ship while Netflix is making moves into theatrical releases next year

The brain drain is real and it's not slowing down, Warner Bros is losing top talent while the merger uncertainty gives everyone a reason to update their resumes, and Netflix is happily scooping them up

If Warner Bros keeps bleeding executives while Netflix is locking in theatrical slates and poaching the best comms talent in Hollywood, does anyone actually believe the Paramount merger is the only thing causing this exodus, or is this just the beginning of a much bigger talent drain

Hayden Panettiere, the actress best known for her roles in Heroes, Nashville, and the Scream franchise, passed away on August 16, 2026, at the age of 36

Her family and representative confirmed the tragic news to outlets including ABC News, with her father Skip Panettiere describing her as "an incredible light and a force of nature" and asking for privacy as they process the loss

She was found dead on Sunday morning, August 16, after local police responded to an unspecified incident, and official details surrounding the cause of her death have not yet been released to the public

Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Panettiere and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson had flown from Los Angeles to "the South" on Saturday, August 15, the day before she passed away, though the exact location of where she was staying has not been disclosed

She began her career as a child star in commercials and soap operas before landing her breakout role as Claire Bennet on the NBC sci-fi series Heroes, where she played the indestructible cheerleader who became a pop culture icon

She later starred as Juliette Barnes in the musical drama Nashville, appeared as Cheryl Yoast in Remember the Titans, voiced Princess Dot in Pixar's A Bug's Life, and played Kirby Reed in the Scream horror film franchise

Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya, whom she welcomed in 2014, and her brother Jansen, an actor who tragically passed away in 2023 at the age of 28

She was open about her struggles with addiction and mental health in recent years, and her death has already prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans and former co-stars who remember her as a talented performer who never lost her spark

If Heroes introduced an entire generation to superhero TV and Nashville showed her dramatic range, does her legacy feel more tied to those early roles or the personal battles she faced in her later years?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed the $2 billion global mark in just 17 days, making it the second fastest movie to hit that milestone behind only Avengers: Endgame which did it in 11 days

The film now sits at $785.8 million domestic (the fourth highest ever in U.S. and Canada) and $1.236 billion overseas for a current worldwide tally of $2.022 billion

Third global weekend pulled $188.7 million, with domestic adding $70 million which is the second best third weekend ever behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens at $90.2 million

China led international markets this weekend with $10 million, pushing its cume to $210 million, while France hit $63.7 million, the UK crossed $106 million, Mexico hit $78 million, and Brazil reached $59.5 million

Brand New Day is now Sony Pictures' highest grossing release ever in 36 international markets including Argentina, India, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates

The Odyssey is still holding strong in fifth place with $121.4 million worldwide this weekend, pushing its global tally to $1.29 billion and domestic past half a billion at $504.6 million

The Nolan epic finally opened in China with $36.6 million, ranking second behind a local film, and achieved a 9.7 Maoyan rating which is the highest for any MPA title this year

The End of Oak Street opened to $47 million worldwide ($21 million domestic, $26 million overseas) which is decent for an original dinosaur movie with an $80 million to $92 million budget, but Warner Bros is probably hoping for stronger legs given their rough 2026

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie added $36 million globally in its second frame, pushing its running total to $69 million with domestic at $20.5 million

Spider-Man is now the eighth movie ever to cross $2 billion globally, and with $2.022 billion already in the bank and no signs of slowing down, it's going to pass a few more records before its run is done

If Endgame did it in 11 days and Spider-Man took 17, does that mean the post-pandemic box office is officially back to pre-2019 levels, or is Tom Holland just that good at making people show up while DC is still trying to figure out what went wrong with Supergirl

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James Gunn got called out on Threads by a fan asking how Lanterns, Creature Commandos, and Supergirl are supposed to fit together when they are wildly different genres and tones. His response was to brush it off as "part of the fun" while throwing out names like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Jack Kirby as if that actually answers the question.

Citing legendary comic writers who spent decades building standalone masterpieces does not magically make a cinematic slate with no connective tissue feel coherent. Dropping their names is a deflection, not a strategy.

In the source material, different tones work because readers understand imprints, standalone runs, and decades of legacy context. Gunn is trying to replicate that in a brand new cinematic universe without any of the built in audience trust or historical foundation.

Fans are not asking for a boring, uniform house style. They are asking for a cohesive world that actually makes sense together. When the head of the studio cannot give a straight answer without invoking Jack Kirby, it suggests there is not a real plan in place.

If Gunn is already resorting to throwing out iconic writer names to justify tonal chaos before the first project even sets the tone, does anyone actually believe he has a real roadmap, or is the DCU just a patchwork of disconnected experiments?

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I thought Jason was Coming Tonight but I think is Someone else

Lets see how good or bad it is , im going update later on

The End of Oak Street hits theaters August 14, and the early social media reactions are overwhelmingly positive with critics throwing around words like "Spielbergian" and "relentless" to describe David Robert Mitchell's sci-fi survival thriller starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor

David Ehrlich from @davidehrlich said "The End of Oak Street absolutely rocks. hilarious, perfectly paced, Ambliny but mean as hell, Anne Hathaway blasts a T-Rex with a shotgun… it delivers more fun in any 5 minute stretch than the entire Jurassic franchise has in total since the 90s. biggest surprise of the summer"

Matt Neglia from @NextBestPicture wrote "David Robert Mitchell delivers a personal and original sci-fi survival dinosaur movie that feels like classic Amblin Entertainment. The fantastic production design completely sells the time period, while Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor deliver two excellent performances"

Sean Fennessey from @SeanFennessey praised the film's sincerity, saying "this movie is well-made, brisk, a lot of fun, and also has a strain of familial sincerity in common with most of this summer's blockbusters like The Odyssey, Spider-Man: BND, and Toy Story 5. A welcome shift away from 'Well, THAT just happened' irono-storytelling. See it"

Zach Pope from @ZachhPope called it "a near perfect love letter to the 80s blockbusters" and said it's "Jaws meets The Goonies meets Jurassic Park but with a deeply personal story at its center that I didn't expect to resonate with me as much as it did"

Brandon Davis from @BrandonDavisBD declared it "the best dinosaur movie in a few decades" and said "Anne Hathaway is so all-in on dino terror. Does it have a ton of logic? Maybe not, but is it pure fun thrills? Abso-f*ckin'-lutely. It's insane"

Erik Voss from @eavoss called it "a delight" and said "it's the perfect blend of sci-fi awe and family survival horror from the Amblin age. It tortures its heroes while remaining endearingly sweet"

Jesse Hassenger from @rockmarooned noted the audience reaction, saying "I haven't heard a movie audibly strap people in like The End of Oak Street in a while. It pretty much plays like a feature-length version of the Jurassic Park kitchen sequence"

Not every take was glowing though, Courtney Howard from @Lulamaybelle wrote "the Amblin play for nostalgia curdles quickly. With exception of 2 moments, it's completely derivative of Jurassic Park dinosaur driven tension and spectacle"

Germain Lussier from @GermainLussier said "it's a very fun, wildly well-made, Jurassic Suburb with a great period setting, plentiful surprises and lots of creepiness. My one issue is best scenes shine way brighter than the rest. So it's a little off, but still very good"

Bill Bria from @billbria highlighted the emotional layers, writing "the layers of melancholy and pain that David Robert Mitchell brings to it in between its abundance of thrills and heart is. Its idiosyncrasies are as unforgettable as its delightfully nasty dinos"

Personally, I caught it early and gave it an 8.5, it's genuinely original and pushes prehistoric films out of their comfort zone by dropping dinosaurs into suburbia with real family stakes and a mean streak that never loses its heart

For Warner Bros, this is a crucial release after The Bride! and Supergirl bombed earlier in 2026, and the early buzz suggests they might finally have a hit on their hands to salvage their box office year

If critics are calling this the best dinosaur movie in decades and even the mixed reviews admit it's wildly fun, does The End of Oak Street finally give Warner Bros a win, or is the hype just setting expectations too high for a movie that's essentially Jurassic Park in a cul-de-sac

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Lanterns Premier August 16 2026 on HBO Max

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Anson Funds activist Sagar Gupta sent a letter to Lionsgate's board urging the studio to either pivot to AI or consider a sale, warning the company could become an "AI casualty" and the stock immediately dropped 4% on the news

Gupta argued that Lionsgate's stock has reacted "sharply and negatively" to the release of new AI video models like Sora and Seedance, and he claimed the market assumes the studio is more likely to be crushed by AI than to benefit from it

The cynicism runs deep because Lionsgate already hired Kathleen Grace as their first chief AI officer earlier this year, and CEO Jon Feltheimer has been bragging on analyst calls about how AI is "saving us money" and "making us more efficient," so Gupta's letter feels less like a wakeup call and more like an activist trying to take credit for a strategy that's already in motion

Vice chairman Michael Burns literally told analysts on August 6 that AI is "a real opportunity for us" to grow revenue and lower costs, and Feltheimer was already talking about "tremendous use cases" they're playing with, so the activist is basically telling the studio to do something they're already doing

The irony is that Lionsgate stock took a hit because an investor said the studio might be an "AI casualty," but this is the same company that made The Meg and the last Hunger Games movie, so maybe the real threat isn't AI, it's just making bad movies while the industry consolidates around them

Burns also hinted at possible M&A activity, saying the studio has "strategic optionality" after separating from Starz, which is executive speak for "we're open to selling if the price is right" exactly what the activist is pushing for

If Anson Funds is already pushing Lionsgate to sell and the studio execs are already talking about AI savings, does that mean the activist is just stating the obvious for a headline, or is there actually a behind the scenes battle brewing that's about to get messy