3RD UPDATE, SUNDAY AM: Aladdin just flew to a higher atmosphere. Saturday ticket sales clocked $30M, a -3% dip when compared to thebFriday+previews figure of $31M. Industry estimates have the Disney live action animated reboot at $89.4M over 3 days, and a 4-day of $112.7M, now the fifth-best Memorial Day weekend…

Clint Eastwood is headed back to his longtime home Warner Bros, which has picked up the director’s The Ballad Of Richard Jewell, the project that had been set up at Disney-Fox and that Deadline told you last month Eastwood was helming next. The film is being produced by Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer…

Disney’s live-action take of their 1992 half-billion grossing animated hit Aladdin finally takes flight over the Memorial Day weekend frame, and while we’ve typically trumpeted the lofty-end of projections for most global launches, especially Disney’s, we’re going low on this one with $73M-$75M domestic (including…

After a period of years when Netflix, Hulu and Amazon reigned virtually unchallenged as subscription streaming's Big Three, the landscape is getting more crowded than the last act of Avengers: Endgame. The 2020s will dawn with major new pay-to-stream offerings from Apple, Disney and WarnerMedia all jockeying for the…

EXCLUSIVE: One day last summer, James Gunn was busy writing to direct the third installment of Marvel's blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy franchise until, suddenly, he wasn’t. Disney abruptly fired him and his entire career was upended. Though he would finish that script, the corporation pulled the plug after being…

Unifying previously separate upfront events for ABC and ESPN, and adding in the assets acquired from Fox and a sprinkling of streaming mentions, Disney filled two theaters with media buyers and played the hits (both verifiable and aspirational). Business-wise, the presentation at Lincoln Center wasn’t bursting with…

Jimmy Kimmel scorched a bit more earth than usual in his 16th appearance at ABC’s upfront, an appropriate increase in scale and intensity given the super-sized, merger-enhanced affair, which showcased not just ABC but the newly enlarged Disney portfolio. Kimmel, of course, did not miss the opportunity to take shots at…

Late Night star and Oscar winner Emma Thompson is in early talks to join Emma Stone in Disney’s live-action 101 Dalmatians spinoff Cruella. Thompson’s role is under wraps, as well as the pic’s specific storyline when it comes to the puppy bandit and furrier Cruella de Vil, who’ll be played by Stone in the movie. I, To…

UPDATED with wrap-up: The first Walt Disney Company Upfront Presentation offered a newly bulked-up media company flexing its Madison Avenue muscle at at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. The first upfront since Disney’s merger with most of 21st Century Fox showcase all of its ad-supported brands: ABC, ESPN, Freeform…

Stan Lee is sadly gone, but the Marvel icon is far from forgotten, especially in the L.A. County District Attorney's office. Jackie Lacey's crew has hit the Spider-Man and Avengers co-creator's former business manager with elder abuse charges. Keya Morgan is facing one felony count of false imprisonment of an elder…

Not long after the news hit that Disney gained operational control of Hulu, with Comcast slated to be bought out by 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger described the deal as part of a grand “pivot” years in the making. The executive spoke at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit in New York, on the same day that…

Disney+’s big unveiling presentation this spring culminated with an announcement that at launch next fall, the 30 seasons to date of The Simpsons will be available on the new streaming platform. It wasn’t clear then how the announcement would impact The Simpsons‘ run on FX. FX Networks landed full library rights…