Ben Fritz

Disney’s Succession Race Enters Final Stage as Iger’s Reign Draws to End The company is widely expected to promote from within, with parks chief Josh D’Amaro and television head Dana Walden considered leading contenders.

Disney parks chief Josh D’Amaro and TV/streaming chief Dana Walden are the finalists to replace Bob Iger as CEO. Both met with Disney’s board of directors in Orlando recently to discuss their visions for the company. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Avatar 3 to every other movie premiere: FAFO

"Just casually writing down a few notes as we talk, NBD." Then the meeting ends and I frantically run to a computer and translate those notes into something that'll make sense to me later before I forget everything.

This ending to our profile of Cursor was always one of the most interesting issues on my mind during my stint editing AI coverage. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/mill...

I kind of want this Zune sweater. But $80???

‘Zootopia 2’ Opens to More Than Half a Billion Dollars Globally Disney’s blockbuster sequel posted big numbers in China, which has been a challenging market for Hollywood films.

Our story from yesterday: www.wsj.com/business/med...

Final domestic "Zootopia 2" opening (Tuesday night through Sunday) comes in at $158 million, above yesterday's $156 million. A bigger Sunday than expected suggests a strong and healthy run ahead for Disney's blockbuster animated sequel.

Complaining about and then linking to any 100-best anything list on the Internet is like tossing your dog table scraps and then wondering why it begs for more the next day

On the down side, my bag and some clothes were shredded in transit. On the plus side, I learned from the friendly baggage guy that Michael Jackson actually faked his death. Just like Elvis. (Though the King has surely died of natural causes by now. That’s just common sense.)

A story in three acts

The Oscars Governors Awards, where they give the honorary/lifetime achievement awards, is happening g now. Honoree Tom Cruise is sitting between Spielberg and Innaritu, and across from his buddy/collaborator McQ.

68% second weekend drop for "Predator: Badlands" is pretty stunning given how good the reviews and audience scores were. Everyone in Hollywood expected it to be much smaller.

Playdate | Reviews Explore critic and audience reviews for Playdate on Rotten Tomatoes. Uncover scores, opinions, and ratings.

I've been eagerly awaiting the reviews on this one. 20% is higher than I expected! www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playdate_2...

Disney stock is down nearly 10% following today's earnings report. Investors aren't buying the bright future Bob Iger is promising built on streaming growth and theme parks and cruise ships expansion. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Three AI Megadeals Are Breaking New Ground on Wall Street Novel approaches to financing in the OpenAI, Meta and xAI deals show the risks and rewards of the AI frenzy.

The debt to finance data centers is so massive even Meta doesn't want it on its books. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/thre...

L.A.’s Entertainment Economy Is Looking Like a Disaster Movie Work is evaporating, businesses are closing, longtime residents are leaving, and Los Angeles’s creative middle class is hanging on by a thread.

It's the audio version of what's been, by far, my most-read and discussed article this year. www.wsj.com/business/med...

On today's episode of The Journal, I talk about why Los Angeles's entertainment economy is in a depression and interview the Oscar-winning sound mixer of "Whiplash" about how it's affecting behind-the-scenes workers like him. open.spotify.com/episode/0mQ7...

Very strong $40M domestic / $80M global opening for "Predator: Badlands," especially in the context of a dismal fall box office. Interestingly, despite the franchise-first PG-13 rating, only 6% of the domestic audience was under 18.

Why Everyone in Hollywood Wants Their Movie in IMAX IMAX’s global screens are a hot commodity, and filmmakers fight to land them far in advance.

Nice to have an undeniably positive story to write about the movie business in 2025: www.wsj.com/business/med...

Why yes, Gemini, I have to agree that the last few question I've asked were "insightful," "important," "excellent" and "fantastic."

Exclusive | Ex-Disney Executive Wants to Be Faster and More Frugal Than Hollywood Studios Sean Bailey’s new venture pursues Silicon Valley partnerships to speed up TV and movie making and reduce costs.

Former Disney live action film chief Sean Bailey is launching a new company, B5 Studios, with backing from Gerry Cardinale's Redbird Ventures. His goal: Make movies and TV shows and digital content faster and cheaper using tech like AI and game engines. www.wsj.com/business/med...

‘Only Murders In The Building’ Likely Headed To London For Season 6 – The Dish Only Murders In the Building is going international. The expected sixth season would come with a new, non-U.S. main location, believed to be London.

If the UK's production tax credit applies to podcasts, maybe they can work it into the season 6 plot. deadline.com/2025/10/only...

David Ellison Is Moving Fast and Spending Big to Remake Hollywood The industry is rooting for him to revive Paramount. His pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery has some worried.

It's been a long time since Hollywood had a new mogul. Especially one under 60. www.wsj.com/business/med...

After every toy company passed on KPop Demon Hunters prior to release, two of the biggest sign a deal to start coming out with products next spring.

(And no, Good Fortune probably isn't an A+ film. But a trend is a trend)

"Good Fortune's" dismal $6.2 million opening is more bad news for those of us who want to believe people will still pay to see comedies in theaters.
Obviously nothing is impossible, but it's clearly gotten very, very, very hard.

If you're wondering what political movement is ascendant in California Democratic politics, this is the subject line of the latest release from Gavin Newsom's office.

KPop Demon Hunters sing-along returning to theaters Oct. 31-Nov. 2 for all the kids dressed as Rumi for Halloween. And this time AMC is playing it.

First time I've seen my work in a political ad (@austinforla.bsky.social's mayoral announcement) www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...

And on the same day he talked about the state of Hollywood on his podcast with me, Derek put out this super smart take on how social media is becoming TV. No wonder it's so hard for traditional TV to compete.