In a stunning twist in the months-long war between Netflix and Paramount over which company would purchase Warner Bros., the streaming giant has <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-backs-out-warners-deal-paramount-win-1236516763/">bowed out</a>.
After Warner Bros. released a statement on Thursday saying that the company’s board of directors viewed Paramount’s latest offer as a “<a href="https://ir.wbd.com/news-and-events/financial-news/financial-news-details/2026/Warner-Bros--Discovery-Board-of-Directors-Determines-Revised-Proposal-from-Paramount-Skydance-Constitutes-a-Company-Superior-Proposal/default.aspx">superior proposal</a>,” and that Netflix had four days to respond, the streamer backed out of the bidding war.
&#8220;Under the terms of the Netflix merger agreement, this notice triggers a four business day period during which Netflix has the right to propose revisions to the Netflix merger agreement so that the PSKY proposal would cease to constitute a &#8216;Company Superior Proposal,'&#8221; Warner Bros. stated in their <a href="https://ir.wbd.com/news-and-events/financial-news/financial-news-details/2026/Warner-Bros--Discovery-Board-of-Directors-Determines-Revised-Proposal-from-Paramount-Skydance-Constitutes-a-Company-Superior-Proposal/default.aspx">press release</a>.
Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters responded in a <a href="https://ir.netflix.net/investor-news-and-events/financial-releases/press-release-details/2026/Netflix-Declines-to-Raise-Offer-for-Warner-Bros-/default.aspx">statement</a> of their own.
“The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid,” Sarandos and Peters said.
The company heads added that they believe Netflix would have taken good care of the Warner Bros. IP (intellectual property) and “strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S.”
“But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price,” they concluded.
Paramount’s most recent bid raised the per-share price to $31, and featured a ticking fee, which would have paid shareholders if the deal took too long to come to fruition. Additionally, the company offered a $7 billion breakup fee, which would be paid if the deal were to fall through due to regulatory issues, and a nearly $3 billion fee that Warner Bros. owes Netflix as a result of their prior deal not materializing.
Netflix’s last offer was valued at $82.7 billion, and was aimed at purchasing Warner Bros.’ film and streaming divisions (HBO Max), as well as DC Comics. Paramount, on the other hand, would be purchasing all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its linear and cable TV networks.
There has been much consternation in Hollywood, especially following the Disney-Fox acquisition, over the Warner Bros. bidding war, with many in the industry voicing concerns that further media consolidation would do irreparable damage to the movie and TV business, with lost jobs and fewer options for creatives.
Though neither company (Paramount or Netflix) were favored by those in the industry, Netflix was viewed with a particularly skeptical eye as some questioned the streaming giant’s commitment to the theatrical experience. Others view Paramount CEO David Ellison&#8217;s apparently close relationship with the Trump administration as a reason for pause.

Netflix

There’s A Winner In The Netflix/Paramount Bidding War

Business

Hollywood

Movies

Paramount

U.S.

Actor Jonathan Majors will return to the screen for the first time in four years, and it will be for an as-yet-unnamed Daily Wire production.
The 36-year-old star, best known for his roles in “Creed III” (2023) and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023), will begin working on the project this week in South Carolina, per <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/02/jonathan-majors-movie-comeback-daily-wire-south-carolina-1236737180/">Deadline</a>. 
Not many details are immediately available about the movie beyond the fact that it’s an action film similar to 80s and 90s classics such as “Red Dawn” and “Toy Soldiers.” Kyle Rankin (“Run Hide Fight”) wrote the screenplay and will serve as director, while Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro and Dallas Sonnier of Bonfire Legend will be producing the project.
Travis Mills (“Frontier Crucible&#8221;), Lillian Campbell (“The Pendragon Cycle”), and Sydney Aucreman (“Terror On The Prairie”) will also serve as producers, the outlet noted.
TMZ founder Harvey Levin weighed in on the news, saying Majors was returning to movies after being &#8220;screwed&#8221; by Hollywood following a court case which resulted in the actor being found guilty of one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and one count of second-degree harassment against his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, but being acquitted of other more serious charges.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jonathan Majors is back on a film set more than two years after his assault case. <a href="https://t.co/66s9VArdgF">pic.twitter.com/66s9VArdgF</a>
— TMZ (@TMZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/2027115462463537383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The jury voted unanimously that it didn&#8217;t happen,&#8221; Levin said of the alleged assault in an Uber. The TMZ founder added that the Uber driver testified as well and suggested that Majors slightly pushed Jabbari into the vehicle but did not assault her in the car. &#8220;He won that case,&#8221; Levin added. &#8220;But Hollywood is so skittish that they basically banished him.&#8221;
&#8220;He&#8217;s back, and he&#8217;s a big star,&#8221; Levin said. &#8220;I gotta say, I always thought that Hollywood screwed him.&#8221;
The Daily Wire has made a notable push into entertainment through DailyWire+, releasing several feature films in various genres, including “Run Hide Fight” (2020), a thriller about a teenage girl who fights back against school shooters, which drew significant attention. 
The company also produced “Shut In” (2022), a survival thriller, and “Terror on the Prairie” (2022), a Western starring Gina Carano, who was fired from Disney’s “The Mandalorian” and ostracized from Hollywood after Lucasfilm objected to her social media posts. “Lady Ballers,” a sports comedy tackling men in women’s sports, was released in 2023.
There have also been several popular documentary films, including “What Is a Woman?” (2022), a documentary hosted by Matt Walsh that exposed the madness of left-wing gender theory. That was followed up with “Am I Racist?” (2024), another Matt Walsh documentary that dealt with affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
In 2026, “The Pendragon Cycle,” an adaptation of Stephen R. Lawhead&#8217;s beloved series of novels, was released on DailyWire+. This ambitious series was done with incredible scale and production value and has been getting tremendous buzz from viewers. “Pulp Fiction” screenwriter Roger Avary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pulp-fiction-writer-says-the-pendragon-cycle-left-him-completely-blown-away?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Pulp+Fiction%E2%80%99+Writer+Says+%E2%80%98The+Pendragon+Cycle%E2%80%99+Left+Him+%E2%80%98Completely+Blown+Away%E2%80%99">said</a> he was “completely blown away” during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast earlier this month. 
To access all DailyWire+ entertainment content, head to <a href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe">DailyWire.com/subscribe</a>.

Jonathan Majors

Jonathan Majors Returns To The Screen In Daily Wire Action Movie

Celebrities

DailyWire+

Entertainment

<div>
Welcome to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
The Romans branded their capital Urbs Aeterna — the Eternal City — on the conviction that Rome would endure forever. Lovers harbor a similar optimism, believing their own destinies equally permanent and inextricably intertwined.
It is precisely this assumption of permanence that Matt Taylor (played by the eminently charming Kevin James of King of Queens) sees shattered at the altar in Solo Mio, the latest film from Angel Studios, when his fiancée leaves him heartbroken and blindsided mid-wedding in the Italian capital.
The ancient city serves as the rich and vibrant backdrop against which Taylor, mourning the untimely demise of his relationship, reluctantly proceeds with his honeymoon plans, unable to get a refund on such short notice. The absurdity of solo tandem bike rides and lonesome candlelit dinners soon piques the interest of fellow honeymooners on his tour: Julian (Kim Coates), now in his third marriage to the same woman (Alyson Hannigan, whose comedy talents are criminally underused in the film), and Neil (Jonathan Roumie), a newlywed married to a controlling therapist.
Their eccentricities, presented as comic relief to help Taylor overcome his depressive rut, serve as a study of relationships, highlighting that there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. As Taylor catalogues his and his ex-fiancée&#8217;s many incompatibilities, he realizes his own mistake: “We were perfect — we never fought. So why aren’t we still together?” The film’s answer is that peace and pacifism are not necessarily proof of love or compatibility.
Taylor recalls Paul Giamatti’s Miles in Sideways (2004): Both men travel through wine-country melancholy after romantic collapse. Yet where Miles retreats into bitterness and misanthropy, Taylor remains open and optimistic; he is visibly wounded but not cynical to the broader pursuit of engagement and having children. Among the triumphs of the screenplay, co-written with James and the Kinnane Brothers, is its ability to convey the belief that love and marriage are perennially meaningful and worth pursuing, even after enduring failure.
That belief is manifested in a serendipitous encounter with Gia (Nicole Grimaudo), an extroverted café owner still recovering from her own betrayal by a habitual philanderer. They share an unmistakable chemistry. “It actually says zu-chero on my app, you see,” Taylor awkwardly tries to correct the Italian local’s pronunciation of zucchero (sugar), in an early scene together in her café. Wielding the warm and genial personality stereotypical of Italians, she draws him out of his comfort zone and teaches him to take risks.
Beneath the banter, the ethos of Solo Mio posits that people are naturally drawn to relationships. None is without its complications or turbulence (and some are simply not meant to be, as in the case of Taylor’s first proposal), but finding love and starting a family requires risk and opening yourself up for failure. And that is something worth fighting for.
Modern courtship, filtered through apps and optimization, seeks an imagined ideal partner and avoids emotional danger. The film argues the opposite: Love is inherently irrational and shouldn’t be curated like a playlist — a sentiment I can agree with, as someone who met his significant other on such an app. Even the film’s recurring musical motif, the great Puccini aria “Nessun Dorma” from “Turandot,” is about a prince who risks near-certain death to pursue a princess he loves.
The film’s highlight comes when Gia invites Taylor to her family villa in Tuscany. Nestled among picturesque vineyards and verdant rolling hills, it is practically a tourism ad (and an effective one at that). Surrounded by Gia’s exuberant family, Taylor encounters Andrea Bocelli casually seated at the piano, in one of the better cameos I have seen to date. It is a testament to Kevin James’s lowbrow and lovable sensibilities that upon meeting the venerable tenor, his first instinct is to exclaim, “Wow, you must know Ed Sheeran!”
Solo Mio is a refreshingly funny and heartwarming romantic comedy centered on genuinely decent people who know what they want and pursue marriage and family as life’s ultimate commitments, rather than the romantic ambiguity and sardonic indifference that so often suffuse the genre. It is a reminder that love is not made permanent because it never falters, but because we choose it again after it does.
</div>
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<div>***</div>
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<div>Harry Khachatrian (<a id="m_841129851355104574OWA41aeb1bf-6dc5-3156-64fa-cfcc846b75e5" href="https://x.com/harry1t6" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/harry1t6&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1771510966122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw12lF-3FC0o3K5DH1oxgMx-">@Harry1T6</a>) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at <a id="m_841129851355104574OWA6b2182eb-08ab-0cfd-e19d-d421fac55cea" href="https://www.betweenbottles.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.betweenbottles.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1771510966122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0e3N-rS06PK8WIUMDAx_pa">BetweenBottles.com</a>.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.</div>

Solo Mio Special Screening

A Romantic Comedy That Actually Believes In Marriage

Upstream

It&#8217;s opening weekend for &#8220;I Can Only Imagine 2&#8221; — the sequel to the faith-based smash hit &#8220;I Can Only Imagine,&#8221; which raked in $83 million in 2018, paving the way for more Christian entertainment.
&#8220;I Can Only Imagine 2&#8221; highlights the real story of Tim Timmons, a Christian singer who joins the hit-making band MercyMe at the height of the group&#8217;s career.
Timmons&#8217; own challenges helped MercyMe lead singer, Bart Millard, to face problems of his own.
MercyMe&#8217;s &#8220;I Can Only Imagine&#8221; was the song behind the first film, while the second film&#8217;s foundation is the song &#8220;Even If,&#8221; written by Timmons about his terminal cancer diagnosis.
Diagnosed with stage four cancer 25 years ago and given five years to live, he still has tumors on his liver today &#8212; but his battle with the disease and how he leaned on his faith, all while inspiring his bandmates to get through their hardships, is on full display in &#8220;I Can Only Imagine 2.&#8221;
&#8220;My story isn&#8217;t cancer; my story is finding joy through it. I think cancer is the dumbest story I know, but how we get through it is the beautiful story,&#8221; Timmons told The Daily Wire at the Nashville premiere. &#8220;For me to have this shown to the whole world and to invite the world to be grateful in the midst of grief is really powerful.&#8221;
When Timmons joined MercyMe, the band was selling out arenas and inspiring a generation, but you will see in the sequel that much was going on behind the scenes.
Millard, who grew up with an abusive father, is threatened by his past demons in the second film, which affects his already fragile relationship with his son, Sam. It&#8217;s Timmons who brings a new perspective to Millard&#8217;s life as the leading man learns about his bandmate&#8217;s hardships and health battles, which help Millard repair the relationships in his own life.
&#8220;At the height of our career, when things seemed to be going great, is when we were struggling the most at home,&#8221; Millard told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I appreciate the fact that this movie tapped into that because it&#8217;s real. If people can walk away saying &#8230; I&#8217;m not in this alone, then it&#8217;s worth it.&#8221;
Timmons is portrayed by actor Milo Ventimiglia, who said &#8220;I Can Only Imagine 2&#8221; will help others find their inner strength.
&#8220;For me, it just reaffirms the way of being out in the world,&#8221; Ventimiglia told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We all go through those tough times in life; put your faith to work.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/LyndenBlake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LyndenBlake</a> interviews the cast, crew, and special guests on the red carpet for I Can Only Imagine 2, out today! ✨
Watch the original film, I Can Only Imagine, now streaming on DailyWire+. <a href="https://t.co/XaQB1y1MwN">pic.twitter.com/XaQB1y1MwN</a>
— DailyWire+ (@dailywireplus) <a href="https://twitter.com/dailywireplus/status/2024977990375850133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
At the red carpet rollout for the movie in Nashville, The Daily Wire&#8217;s own Reagan Conrad joined other big names from the Music City, including Amy Grant, to celebrate the film&#8217;s release.
Conrad said the sequel is proof there is a desire in the culture for more Christian movies.
&#8220;It is really encouraging because I know it is going to reach so many people with the word of Jesus,&#8221; Conrad said.
&#8220;I Can Only Imagine 2&#8221; is now playing in theaters everywhere. The original film, &#8220;I Can Only Imagine,&#8221; is now playing on DailyWire+.

Credit: Jason Kempin via Getty Images

After The Original Smashed The Box Office, There Is More Story To Tell In ‘I Can Only Imagine 2’

Christian Movies

The Daily Wire

Lights! Camera! How-dee!
The city of Los Angeles is losing film and TV productions at an alarming rate. That opens up new opportunities for cities to prove that La La Land can hunker down just about anywhere.
Take Nashville, for instance. Other non-L.A. destinations have made their mark as production hubs — think Atlanta, Georgia, and Toronto. Now, it may be Nashville’s turn in the spotlight.
The Tennessee locale is known as a country music Mecca. More recently, it’s welcomed a growing group of filmmakers who clamor for its talented locals, rich cultural history and, yes, a lower price tag than the City of Angels.
Think “9-1-1: Nashville,” Showtime’s “George &amp; Tammy,” Nicole Kidman’s “Holland” and the upcoming “Scarpetta” (Prime Video), Netflix’s “Ruth &amp; Boaz,” and a film opening Feb. 20, “I Can Only Imagine 2.”
<div id="attachment_1047423" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047423" class="size-large wp-image-1047423" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-864x576.jpg" alt="Ryan Murphy Television. User Error Productions. 20Th Television." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Nashville 911. Ryan Murphy Television. User Error Productions. 20th Television.</div>
The sequel to the sleeper 2018 hit revisits how MercyMe became a Christian music sensation, and the struggles lead singer Bart Millard (John Michael Finley) had following his breakthrough hit.
Co-Founder of Kingdom Story Co. and co-director of the film Andrew Erwin, a pioneer in the faith-based film space, tells The Daily Wire why he tackled the sequel.
“It’s the movie that you didn’t know you needed,” he says. The first film appeared to wrap Bart Millard’s story up, but the singer and his fellow musician Tim Timmons — played by Milo Ventimiglia in the film — suffered subsequent tragedies that made a follow-up film make sense.
<div id="attachment_1047439" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047439" class="size-large wp-image-1047439" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-865x576.jpg" alt="Photo by Jake Giles Netter/Lionsgate/Jake Giles Netter/Lionsgate - copyright 2026 Lionsgate" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Jake Giles Netter/copyright 2026 Lionsgate</div>
And Nashville has proven to be particularly welcoming to Christian artists. That wasn’t the case back in Los Angeles, Erwin said.
“There’s a group of us that started doing faith stories 15, 20 years ago, and we were all struggling to get our feet under us,” Erwin says. “We could literally end any dinner party in L.A. by saying we were faith film guys. They would instantly get a fake phone call and walk out of the meeting.”
Entertainment culture started to swing in their spiritual direction.
“Something has shifted in the past 10 years, particularly in the last five … there has been an appetite for hope. Stories of faith were considered cheesy. Now, they’re counter-culture, rebellious. It’s kind of punk rock.”
<div id="attachment_1047343" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047343" class="size-large wp-image-1047343" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233-384x576.jpg" alt="NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 12: Andrew Erwin attends the &quot;I Can Only Imagine 2&quot; Nashville Premiere at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on February 12, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233.jpg 683w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Jason Kempin/Getty Images</div>
What better place than Music City to sing from their storytelling hymnals?
“There’s been a real freedom here,” says Erwin, who even bumps into fellow filmmakers at church. “You don’t have to apologize for us being able to do things that we believe.”
“For whatever reason, a group of actors and writers and directors and producers are all finding (Nashville),” he continues. “I can’t give a reason why … we just feel like we’re supposed to be here.”
“I Can Only Imagine 2” filmed exclusively in Nashville, save a critical sequence shot at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater. The veteran filmmaker was initially hesitant to lean so heavily on Nashville, but the film’s team assuaged those fears.
“We had been worried if the crews were strong enough … it was the best crew I ever had … the most cheerful, the most team-oriented, the least amount of divas, blue collar, everything you aspire to,” he says.
He still wants the state to beef up its incentive programs to grow that crew base and keep it steadily employed.
Nashville has an Oscar-winning benefactor on its side: Kidman is eager to make movies closer to her <a href="https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/nicole-kidman-keith-urban-kids-divorce-custody-home/">Tennessee home</a>. 
<div id="attachment_1047431" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047431" class="size-large wp-image-1047431" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-1024x425.jpg" alt="Photo by Courtesy of Prime/Courtesy of Prime - copyright Amazon Content Services LLC" width="1024" height="425" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-1024x425.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-300x125.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-768x319.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-1536x638.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Courtesy of Prime/Courtesy of Prime &#8211; copyright Amazon Content Services LLC</div>
Plus, newer studio space is helping smooth this transition. <a href="https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts_culture/coverstory/nashville-film-industry/article_b76671a9-cee1-44e5-84cb-6f30cf4fa99a.html">Recent Nashville-area additions</a> include Vu Studios in West Nashville, Worldwide Stages in Spring Hill, and Skyway Studios.
Erick Goss, CEO of the Christian streaming platform Minno, says Nashville has a cultural advantage.
“People recognize there’s a real creative community here in Nashville [already] with Christian and country music, a real appreciation of the arts,” says Goss, who established his kid-focused company in the city seven years ago.
“It’s not like institutions have moved here, but talent has moved here,” Goss says. “It’s different than Seattle or L.A. There’s a real sense of pride and civic nature here … people love what Nashville stands for and want to be a part of it.”
Some pieces of the Hollywood-like puzzle are still missing, he says.
“There are really world-class storytellers here in Nashville. They don’t necessarily have access to capital in the way they need,” he says.
Goss brings a wealth of experience to Minno, including time spent at Amazon and in the U.S. Military. He praises Nashville as having the “highest caliber” of talent he’s seen. What’s missing? Major tech companies that can complement the city’s blossoming production.
<div id="attachment_1047341" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047341" class="size-large wp-image-1047341" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-864x576.jpg" alt="NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 13: (L-R) Tim Timmons, Milo Ventimiglia, Bart Millard, John Michael Finley and Trace Adkins attend Lionsgate's &quot;I Can Only Imagine 2&quot; Night at The Grand Ole Opry on February 13, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Lionsgate)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Lionsgate</div>
“What company will aggregate and bring that talent together?” he asks. “We need more talented operators coming into the systems, creating companies that execute really well,” he says, noting that Erwin’s “I Can Only Imagine 2” arrives courtesy of his partnership with Lionsgate, an established film studio.
The key to creating the next L.A.-style production hub is simple, Goss says.
“Get the best projects, the best people, and the best money together. That’s happening. We’re beginning to see these things coalesce [in Nashville],” he says.
Erwin says it helps to believe in both the city and a Higher Power.
“There’s an emboldening that happens when you realize you’re not alone. I can really stay true to the stories I’ve felt called to tell and not have to apologize for it because there are a lot of others who believe what I believe,” Erwin says. “It’s been amazing to see people of faith just find Nashville.”
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
This article has been updated for clarity.

Only Imagine

Hollywood Heads South: Music City’s Faith-Based Film Boom

Bible

Faith

Film

Nashville

Tennessee

When I ponder the deeper aspects of love and intimacy, I sometimes like to consult the wisdom of our left-wing thought leaders, in the same way I sometimes like to stick a pencil in my ear to see if I can make it come out the other side of my head, then slam the ball-peen of a hammer down on my kneecap with full force before finally jamming a lit stick of dynamite between my buttocks and blowing my own ass off.
For far too long, stodgy conservative influencers like Matt Walsh and God have defined human love as that relationship in which a man and a woman come to realize that the jigsaw complementarity of male and female bodies has become a fleshly symbol of the harmonic convergence of their individual souls, so that they seek to come together through the sacrament of an indissoluble lifelong marriage, in which she submits to the authority of a member of that gender with some semblance of a capacity for reason, while he includes within the circle of his own happiness the happiness of a member of that gender that can never be made happy or if they can it just costs an absolute fortune.
But unlike the sluggish thought of conservatives, the wisdom of leftism never allows itself to become mired in the stagnant tar pit of moral and physical reality. Leftism is progressive, like emphysema or one of those horrible degenerative diseases that you don’t even want to think about because it’s so much like leftism, it makes you wonder how a good God could ever allow such a thing to exist. No. Leftists have now moved beyond restrictive, outdated categories like the essential nature of the human condition, and they’ve discovered all kinds of new wrinkles to human love that past generations never even conceived of without getting arrested.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/hosts/andrew-klavan?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Hosts&amp;rowType=Hosts+Portrait+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
For instance, through the brilliant writings of leftist academics who have dedicated their lives to the selfless work of saying ridiculous crap that only some idiot like a journalist could possibly fall for, we now know that your gender is not determined by what gender you are. That wouldn’t be fair. You didn’t ask to be born. And if you did ask to be born, you sure didn’t ask to be born with every cell of your body evolved over slow millennia to either create and nurture the next generation, or to drag your ass to work so the next generation and their mother don’t starve to death while they’re home playing Candy Land or whatever the hell they do all day when you’re slaving away to keep them in onesies with maybe a few bucks left over for a date night at the Olive Garden so you don’t go out of your freaking mind.
NOW, leftists tell us, you can change your gender by simply lopping off the relevant body parts, then bullying all the sane people into pretending that did the trick, until the gnawing suspicion that everyone is lying to you causes you to spray a crowded room with gunfire before blowing your head off.
And for those people who aren’t into meaningless self-mutilation — for some reason — leftists are also able to assist you in intimacy by recommending some fruitless sexual fetish that is sure to improve your love life if your love life currently consists of lowering baskets of lotion into an oubliette.
As an example, there’s a new movie out called &#8220;Pillion&#8221; which charts the sado-masochistic affair between two gay bikers. The Wall Street Journal calls it a “classic rom-com with warm and fuzzy feelings.” The Washington Post calls it a “surprisingly sweet BDSM romance.” And the New York Times hasn’t reviewed it yet, because their reviewer is still in the theater watching it over and over again. 
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against defining love as a man submitting to wearing a dog collar for another man, any more than I’m against defining dinner as repeatedly smacking a sirloin steak into your forehead. I just wish our leftist cultural overlords would occasionally heap such praise on a movie about, say, a wife submitting to the authority of a husband who makes her happiness his own. But they can’t. Because no one ever makes that movie.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.
The views expressed in this satirical piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Modern love

Love, Leftism, And The Tar Pit Of Physical Reality

Andrew Klavan

Dating

Gender

Humor

Marriage

Relationships

Satire

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Romance movies are getting weird. Cheekily marketed with quotation marks around the title, the new adaptation of &#8220;Wuthering Heights&#8221; promised to be a swoon-worthy and sexually explicit retelling of Emily Brontë’s gothic romance. What it delivered was something rather different: a film remarkable in its ability to pair so much sexual content with so little chemistry, turning a twisted romantic tale not just into a piece of sentimental smut but also a surrealistic fever dream that revels in its own ickiness.
In the book, anti-heroes Cathy and Heathcliff grow up together on the English moors and fall in love, though Cathy chooses to marry for money as Heathcliff was adopted and is of low social status. Cathy is petulant and spoiled; Heathcliff is tempestuous and cruel. The two try to rekindle their relationship years after Cathy’s marriage only for her to die shortly after giving birth to her daughter. The second half of the novel follows that new generation, which finds some redemption in the end. There is no happy ending for the star-crossed lovers.
Director Emerald Fennell has a great talent for taking compelling stories and so completely bastardizing them that even comparing them to their predecessors is to insult them. Before Fennell wrote and directed &#8220;Wuthering Heights,&#8221; she created &#8220;Saltburn,&#8221; a film critics compared to &#8220;The Talented Mr. Ripley&#8221; for its exploration of class dynamics and romantic obsession.
But instead of incisive commentary, &#8220;Saltburn&#8221; settles for shock value. As an example, one viral scene involves the main character attempting to have sex with a grave.
Unfortunately for classic literature fans, Fennell has turned her creative sights on &#8220;Wuthering Heights,&#8221; which was released this Valentine’s Day weekend to much media hype. Starring heartthrobs Margot Robbie as leading lady Cathy and Jacob Elordi as love interest Heathcliff, the film was marketed as a sexed-up, not-very-faithful adaptation of “the greatest love story of all time.” But the movie was not quite the steamy romance it had promised to be.
The film’s opening moments set the tone: A dark screen lets the audience guess at what they are about to see as they listen to grunting and heavy breathing. Viewers are then surprised to find the sounds come from a person dangling from a rope. The public hanging of the man, who has a visible erection, delights a boisterous and horny crowd of onlookers.
“This is a deeply felt romance. But I also wanted people to understand that it would be surprising and darkly funny and perhaps stranger than they would expect,” Fennell <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2026/02/13/wuthering-heights-opening-scene-hanging-spoilers/88553688007/">said</a> of her rationale for the unsettling scene. “It was important to acknowledge early on that arousal and danger are kind of the same thing — that is what the Gothic is.”
She’s certainly entitled to her opinion. This scene and the rest of the film, however, indicate that Fennell doesn’t actually understand much of what the Gothic is. After all, she cuts the supernatural elements of the book — namely, Cathy’s ghost. Instead, she fills the void with an impressively eerie set: plaster hands that hold candles, cavernous hallways, and bedroom walls made to look like human skin. Fennell thus substitutes style for substance, letting the uncanny setting and the admittedly gorgeous costuming elicit emotions the script can’t muster.
Fennell’s &#8220;Wuthering Heights&#8221; isn’t a cautionary tale. But it isn’t a love story, either. It’s a dark and self-indulgent narrative that bodes poorly for future romantic dramas if this is what Hollywood considers entertainment. Other icky moments involve characters running their fingers through various viscous substances such as egg yolks (one outlet took it upon itself to <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/wuthering-heights-sexy-goos-ranked.html">rank</a> “The Sexiest Goos of Wuthering Heights”). In another disturbing scene, Heathcliff has his wife, Isabella, chained to the hearth with a dog collar on her neck as she barks. This, we’re told, is entirely consensual — as if that makes it any better.
Somehow, the film still resonated. After it came out in theaters, viral videos showed women (three-quarters of ticket <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/powered-women-wuthering-heights-digs-348-million-box-office-no-1-debut-rcna259219">buyers</a>) leaving showings with tears in their eyes. Fennell <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/ask-penguin-podcast-why-i-wanted-to-adapt-wuthering-heights-emerald-fennell">argued</a> that the physical response to &#8220;Wuthering Heights&#8221; is “you cry and you recoil and you&#8217;re aroused.”
Fennell isn&#8217;t the only one who seems to enjoy disgusting her audience. Yorgos Lanthimos’s &#8220;Poor Things&#8221; <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2910329/poor-things-perverted-daliesque-misadventure/">came out</a> in 2023 to much acclaim from mainstream critics despite its revolting plot: A mad scientist puts the brain of a baby in the body of a woman, who decides to go on an adventure, see the world, and become a prostitute. The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/01/yorgos-lanthimos-poor-things-fuels-speculation-of-sex-scene-return-to-cinema#:~:text=But%20with%20superhero%20movies%20dominating,death%20of%20the%20sex%20scene.">claimed</a> the movie was fueling &#8220;speculation of sex scenes’ return to cinema.&#8221; But, like &#8220;Wuthering Heights,&#8221; it wasn&#8217;t ushering in the return of romance — just sex.
Strong box office numbers for &#8220;Wuthering Heights&#8221; suggest that moviegoers are interested in more romantic films, something Hollywood seems incapable of producing these days. But what fans of the genre don’t need are adaptations of classic novels that have little to do with their source material and that rely on ickiness just to get people talking. Give us real Gothic romance, or at least give us something normal people can enjoy.
***
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Have an idea for Upstream? We welcome submissions; interested writers can send pitches to upstream@dailywire.com.

“Wuthering Heights” Australian Premiere – Arrivals

Hollywood Promised A Love Story — What It Delivered Was Something Else

romance

The new “Toy Story 5” trailer has the internet buzzing as the popular animated franchise will take on the growing problem of children having too much screen time.
As the teaser trailer, which was released in November, indicated, the villain this time around is a new tablet called “Lilypad,” which steals main character Bonnie’s attention as she forgoes playing for screen scrolling. This recognizable storyline is resonating with parents and justifying the idea of yet another “Toy Story” sequel.
The voice cast includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack, who return to their roles of Woody, Buzz, and Jessie. Greta Lee voices Lilypad.
The official synopsis says, &#8220;The toys are back and this time, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang&#8217;s jobs are challenged when they come face-to-face with Lilypad (voice of Greta Lee), a brand-new tablet device that arrives with her own disruptive ideas about what is best for their kid, Bonnie. Will playtime ever be the same?&#8221;
In the trailer, Jessie says to Lilypad, &#8220;Me and the toys have been working all summer to try and get Bonnie to make friends, but then YOU had to ruin it.&#8221; She decides to call Woody, who tells her, &#8220;Toys are for play but tech is for everything.&#8221; 
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The full trailer was released on February 19. “Toy Story 5” hits theaters June 19. 
“I’m generally opposed to milking these franchises dry until they’re nothing but a shriveled husk, but if this movie is going to villainize iPads and scold parents who use screens to babysit their kids then I wholly support it. This may be the only &#8216;part 5&#8217; movie that has ever had a valid reason to exist,” Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/2024561411423109343">wrote</a> in response to the trailer.
“Finally, a movie calling out the iPad baby epidemic,” another X user <a href="https://x.com/KingZahyd/status/2024570820375236820">agreed</a>. “It’s about time we admit that parking a kid in front of a screen 24/7 isn’t parenting, it’s just surrendering. Woody and Buzz are basically fighting for the soul of childhood at this point.”
“Facts, if Part 5 is finally calling out iPad parenting and the screen babysitter culture, I’m in. Make Hollywood preach something useful for once,” another person <a href="https://x.com/Joe1Awe/status/2024562945691123748">agreed</a>.

Woody and Buzz

Buzz And Woody Team Up Again To Battle Big Tech In New ‘Toy Story 5’ Trailer

'Toy Story 5' Targets Too Much Screen Time With New Trailer

Parenting

Actor Ted Levine apologized recently for his iconic turn as cross-dressing serial killer Jame Gumb in the 1991  horror classic &#8220;The Silence of the Lambs,&#8221; saying that it was &#8220;f*cking wrong&#8221; that the film had &#8220;vilified&#8221; the apparent gender confusion of his character.
Levine told The Hollywood Reporter that his intent had always been to play Gumb — nicknamed &#8220;Buffalo Bill&#8221; — as a &#8220;f*cked-up heterosexual man&#8221; despite the fact that the character dresses in women&#8217;s clothing, wears makeup, and skins his female victims in an effort to make himself a suit of female flesh.
&#8220;There are certain aspects of the movie that don’t hold up too well,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We all know more, and I’m a lot wiser about transgender issues. There are some lines in that script and movie that are unfortunate.&#8221;
Levine said that when they were making the film — based on the 1988 Thomas Harris novel by the same title — he had not been particularly concerned, but that &#8220;over time and having gotten aware and worked with trans folks, and understanding a bit more about the culture and the reality of the meaning of gender — it’s unfortunate that the film vilified that, and it’s f*cking wrong. And you can quote me on that.&#8221;
&#8220;I didn’t play him as being gay or trans. I think he was just a f*cked-up heterosexual man. That’s what I was doing,&#8221; Levine explained.
Director Jonathan Demme offered a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/silence-of-the-lambs-lgbt-criticism_n_5609372">similar take</a> on Buffalo Bill&#8217;s motivations, arguing during a 2014 interview that the character was drowning in self-loathing and that turning himself into a woman was a means of escape from who he was rather than an effort to become something he specifically wanted to be.
&#8220;He didn&#8217;t wish to be another gender. He didn&#8217;t really have a sexual preference. He loathed himself — he wanted to transform himself so that there was no sense of him in the &#8216;new&#8217; him [and] becoming a woman &#8230; that was his method of doing it.&#8221;
&#8220;We were really loyal to the book. As we made the film, there was just no question in our minds that Buffalo Bill was a completely aberrant personality — that he wasn’t gay or trans,&#8221; producer Edward Saxon <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/02/16/celebrity-news/silence-of-the-lambs-star-ted-levine-denounces-his-legendary-villain-role-after-transgender-criticism/?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_campaign=pagesix&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1771222232">added</a>. &#8220;He was sick. To that extent, we missed it. From my point of view, we weren’t sensitive enough to the legacy of a lot of stereotypes and their ability to harm.&#8221;
&#8220;There’s regret, but it didn’t come from any place of malice. It actually came from a place of seeing this guy. We all had dear friends and family who were gay. We thought it would just be very clear that Buffalo Bill adapts different things from society, from a place of an incredibly sick pathology,&#8221; he continued.
Despite the confusion surrounding Buffalo Bill, &#8220;The Silence of the Lambs&#8221; became the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/awards/">third film</a> in Academy history to sweep all five major awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director (Demme), and Best Screenplay (adapted). The other two films to do so were &#8220;It Happened One Night&#8221; (1934) and &#8220;One Flew Over the Cuckoo&#8217;s Nest&#8221; (1975).

“Child Of Grace” – Los Angeles Premiere

‘Silence Of The Lambs’ Actor Apologizes To ‘Trans Folks’ For Iconic Cross-Dressing Role

'Silence Of The Lambs' Actor Apologizes To 'Trans Folks' For Iconic Cross-Dressing Role

Politics

Transgender

Woke Culture

Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall died on Sunday, a Facebook post from his wife confirmed on Monday. He was 95 years old.
Luciana Duvall, 54, an Argentine actress and director who has been married to the actor since 2005, shared the news in a post including a photo of them in days past.
&#8220;Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,&#8221; she wrote in a statement.
&#8220;To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all. Thank you for the years of support you showed Bob and for giving us this time and privacy to celebrate the memories he leaves behind.&#8221;
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After a short attempt at the military life, Duvall made a go at acting — and eventually became friends with a few others who were also struggling to break into the business around the same time — Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and James Caan.
Duvall won the coveted Best Actor Oscar in 1984 for &#8220;Tender Mercies,&#8221; and was nominated in the same category for 1980&#8217;s &#8220;The Great Santini&#8221; and for &#8220;The Apostle&#8221; in 1997. He was nominated for Academy Awards for supporting roles in 2014&#8217;s &#8220;The Judge,&#8221; 1998&#8217;s &#8220;A Civil Action,&#8221; 1979&#8217;s &#8220;Apocalypse Now,&#8221; and 1972&#8217;s &#8220;The Godfather.&#8221;
Duvall&#8217;s acting career ran for well over half a century, from episodes of &#8220;Alfred Hitchcock Presents&#8221; in the early 1960s to &#8220;The Pale Blue Eye&#8221; in 2022, that latter of which also featured a cameo from Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yes-thats-john-fetterman-in-christian-bales-new-movie-thats-a-face-that-fits-in-the-1830s">John Fetterman</a> (D-PA). His first big-screen role was the reclusive Boo Radley in the 1962 film &#8220;To Kill a Mockingbird.&#8221;
Although he tried to keep his distance from politics in more recent years, Duvall was well-known in Hollywood for his conservative views. A lifelong Republican, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts by former President George W. Bush in 2005.

CANADA-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-CINEMA-FESTIVAL

Robert Duvall, Star Of ‘Apocalypse Now’ And ‘The Godfather,’ Dead At 95

Academy Awards

Warner Bros Discovery is considering reopening sale talks with rival Hollywood studio Paramount Skydance after receiving its hostile suitor&#8217;s most recent amended offer, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Members of Warner Bros&#8217; board are discussing whether Paramount could offer the path to a superior deal, the Bloomberg report said, adding that the board has not decided how to respond and may stick to the current deal with Netflix.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Paramount, Warner Bros and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.
Paramount had enhanced its Warner Bros bid last week by offering shareholders extra cash for each quarter the deal fails to close after this year. It also agreed to cover the breakup fee the HBO parent would owe Netflix if it walked away, even though the CBS owner did not raise its per-share offer.
Paramount said it has offered shareholders a 25-cent-per-share quarterly &#8220;ticking fee&#8221; (about $650 million) in cash starting in 2027 until closing and agreed to cover Warner Bros’ $2.8 billion breakup fee to Netflix. However, it did not raise its $30-per-share offer, valuing the deal at $108.4 billion including debt.
Both Netflix and Paramount covet Warner Bros for its leading film and television studios, extensive content library and major franchises such as &#8220;Game of Thrones,&#8221; &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; and DC Comics superheroes Batman and Superman.
Activist investor Ancora Holdings, which has built a nearly $200 million stake, last week said it plans to oppose the Netflix deal, arguing the board did not sufficiently engage with Paramount over its rival bid, which includes cable assets like CNN and TNT.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)

In this photo illustration, the Warner Bros Discovery logo

Warner Bros Weighs Reopening Sale Talks With Paramount, Bloomberg Reports

Media

Warner Bros

Actor James Van Der Beek, best known for his starring role in the 1990s teen drama “Dawson’s Creek,” has died at the age of 48.
His wife, Kimberly, announced the news on Instagram Wednesday. “Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” the mother of six shared.
“There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend,” the post said. 
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The actor was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in 2023 and has been candid about sharing his experiences since publicly revealing his diagnosis the following year. Last September, he had to cancel an appearance at a scheduled “Dawson’s Creek” reunion event due to his ongoing illness.
Van Der Beek was born in Connecticut in 1977. As a child, he had dreams of becoming a professional athlete, but changed focus after an injury. He scored his career-making role on “Dawson’s Creek” in 1998 alongside up-and-comers Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson.
The actor had several other television roles, including a fictionalized version of himself on the cult classic sitcom “Don&#8217;t Trust the B&#8212;- in Apartment 23” (2012–2013), and an FBI agent in “CSI: Cyber.” He also had recurring guest roles on “How I Met Your Mother” and “Pose.” 
Van Der Beek’s film credits include “Varsity Blues” (1998), “Texas Rangers” (2001), “The Rules of Attraction” (2002), “Formosa Betrayed” (2009), “Labor Day” (2013), and “Bad Hair” (2020).
Last year, Van Der Beek reflected on what his cancer battle had taught him, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dawsons-creek-star-reflects-on-cancer-battle-i-am-worthy-of-gods-love">reported</a>. 
“I could define myself as a loving, capable, strong, supportive husband, father, provider, steward of the land that we’re so lucky to live on,” he told Instagram followers at the time. “And for a long time, that felt like a really good definition of the question, ‘Who am I? What am I?&#8217;”
“And then this year, I had to look my own mortality in the eye,” Van Der Beek continued. “I had to come nose to nose with death. And all of those definitions that I cared so deeply about were stripped from me. I was away for treatment, so I could no longer be a husband who is helpful to my wife.”
“So often we define ourselves by our roles in life or by what we do, but what if those things change? Who are we when it’s just us, alone, with nothing external to anchor us to a particular identity? And I meditated and the answer came through,” Van Der Beek went on. “I am worthy of God’s love, simply because I exist. And if I’m worthy of God’s love, shouldn’t I also be worthy of my own? And the same is true for you.”
Van Der Beek is survived by his wife of 15 years and their six children.

James Van Der Beek

‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star James Van Der Beek Dies At 48

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