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"You are welcome to use any weapons you find." Paramount Global Content has unveiled an official trailer for a trashy action movie called The Last Gunfight, the latest creation from stuntman-turned-filmmaker James Bamford. This looks like it should be avoided like most of his movies. He also stole the title from the classic 1960 Japanese film The Last Gunfight which starred Toshiro Mifune. However, in this new movie - in a ruthless underground tournament, the world's top assassins battle in a fight to the death. But hidden among them is a rogue crew with its own deadly agenda: infiltrate the competition, survive the bloodbath, and take down the mastermind pulling the strings. "It's for revenge, and a fortune worth killing for." What an original idea... The Last Gunfight features Jon Voight, Adam Woodward, Charlotte Vega, Eloise Lovell Anderson, Daniel Bernhardt, Brock Pierce, Shaina West, and Skyler Shaye. Why are they fighting...

Paramount’s special committee has considered the competing bid from Edgar Bronfman Jr. to buy National Amusements and take control of Paramount, and it’s at least curious at what it sees.

Paramount’s special committee announced it has extended the “go-shop period” in which other interested bidders could try and match or beat to the deal agreed to with David Ellison’s Skydance. The committee had the responsibility to consider anything that “is or would reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal” compared to what Skydance put on the table. It means the committee is now seriously considering the competing offer and will keep this M&a saga rolling a little longer.

After Paramount agreed to a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance, the company opened a 45-day window in which others could match. Late on Monday, Bronfman formally submitted a $4.3 billion bid, saying that his offer is...

Paramount Global’s board has extended the go-shop window under its Skydance Media deal for 15 days as it engages with an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., which on Wednesday proffered $6 billion to take control of the media conglomerate — up from $4.3 billion previously.

Bronfman and his backers on Wednesday made the higher bid to acquire National Amusements Inc., Paramount’s controlling shareholder, and added a deal sweetener — offering a pool of $1.7 billion to give Paramount nonvoting shareholders a $16/share buyout premium for a portion of their stock, sources confirmed to Variety. The Bronfman-led group originally offered $4.3 billion and had not offered to acquire any of Paramount Global’s nonvoting stock. The move puts on hold, for now, the deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media that would see Skydance merge with Paramount.

In an announcement Wednesday, the Paramount board’s special committee confirmed the “receipt of an acquisition proposal from Edgar Bronfman, Jr.,...

We were this close to being done with Paramount M&a drama. Not so fast.

Just ahead of the deadline for Paramount’s 45-day “go-shop period,” in which the company could entertain offers from anyone not named David Ellison, Edgar Bronfman Jr. formally submitted his own bid for Paramount Global, the Wall Street Journal reported. At a glance, Bronfman’s bid is very similar to what the Skydance CEO offered Shari Redstone, who in turn accepted. There is one major difference however, and it could make the Seagram’s heir a real champion of the common man — or at least the common stockholder.

Paramount’s special committee is tasked with determining if Bronfman’s offer “is or would reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal” than its bird in the hand. The committee can now extend the shopping window by 15 days, and Ellison still has the chance to...

Investors backing Edgar Bronfman’s bid for Paramount Global include producer Steven Paul and John Paul Dejoria, who months ago had been working on their own offer, as well as child actor Brock Pierce and Nurali Aliyev, a Kazakh businessman and grandson of the former president of Kazakhstan. UK investment firm BC Partners and Fortress Investment Group are other names in the mix, Deadline has learned.

Pierce, who starred in The Mighty Ducks, is a big cryptocurrency player and founder of Tether whose legal woes have made headlines recently amid a barrage of lawsuits involving a former crypto lender and a failed hotel project in Puerto Rico.

Bronfman stepped in last night with an offer worth $4.3 billion, looking to disrupt a merger agreement between Skydance and Paramount announced July 7 that was set to be sealed at 11:59 p.m. Et on August 21 if no “superior” proposal arrived before then.

Bronfman’s letter to Charles Phillips,...

The book isn’t closed yet on Paramount Global’s months-long M&a epic.

On Monday (Aug. 19), billionaire media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted an offer valued at $4.3 billion to acquire Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc., which is the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, Variety has confirmed.

Bronfman’s bid is an attempt to rival the offer from David Ellison’s Skydance Media and its financial backers, which last month clinched a binding agreement worth more than $8 billion for Nai and Paramount Global, whose properties include CBS, Paramount Pictures, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.

Bronfman’s bid was submitted to the special committee established by Paramount Global’s board to evaluate M&a offers, which is expected to review it on Wednesday. Reps for Nai, Bronfman, Skydance and the Paramount board’s special committee declined to comment.

Bronfman’s bid for Nai was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Production received SAG-AFTRA interim agreement and currently shooting on location in New York state.

Trick Candle Productions has commenced principal photography in New York state on thriller Dark Night Of The Soul starring Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines / Bloodrayne) and Martin Kove.

Loken plays a renowned scientist who holds the key to cure for a prehistoric bacteria ravaging the world. When she gets trapped in her car after a crash the isolated woman must overcome physical injuries and the emotional scars from her complex relationship with her father (Kove).

Rounding out the cast are Paola Paulin (Ballers...

The winter holiday film niche has always been a uniquely popular one, with an array of heartwarming tales that bring families together on and off-screen for plenty of laughs and endearing moments. While we're just now getting into the summertime with some of the year's biggest blockbusters right around the corner, per a report from Deadline, a new holiday feature is already on the docket. Filming has reportedly wrapped on the upcoming holiday indie flick Christmas Eve In Miller's Point, with Michael Cera and several other notable actors rounding out the cast.

Related: Michael Cera Returns Home to a Strained Family in New Trailer for The Adults

Christmas Eve In Miller's Point is a Christmas comedy helmed by Tyler Taormina, whose previous work in the indie scene includes mystery dramas Ham on Rye (2019) and Happer's Comet (2022). He's co-writing the project with frequent collaborators Kevin Anton and Eric Berger, and co-producing alongside lead actor Michael Cera,...

We’ll be getting some American indie holiday cheer via Ham on Rye / and the just released Happer’s Comet helmer Tyler Taormina sometime next year. Deadline reports that production is now complete on a comedy titled Long Island on Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point – a project that stars Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher, Maria Dizzia, Francesca Scorsese, Ben Shenkman, Gregg Turkington, Sawyer Spielberg, and newcomer Matilda Fleming. Producers included Cera, Krista Minto, Taormina, David Croley Broyles and Duncan Sullivan. The executive producers are Jeremy Gardner, Joseph Lipsey IV, Brock Pierce and Jason Stone.

Written by Taormina, Eric Berger and Kevin Anton, the film watches as four generations of the Balsano family gather for what may be the last Christmas in the family home.…...

Exclusive: Filmmaker Tyler Taormina (Ham on Rye) has wrapped production on Long Island on Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point, a Christmas comedy to star Michael Cera (Life & Beth), Elsie Fisher (Barry), Maria Dizzia (The Good Nurse), Francesca Scorsese (We Are Who We Are), Ben Shenkman (Billions), Gregg Turkington (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), Sawyer Spielberg (Masters of the Air) and newcomer Matilda Fleming.

Written by Taormina, Eric Berger and Kevin Anton, the film watches as four generations of the Balsano family gather for what may be the last Christmas in the family home. As they lose themselves in rowdy celebration, cousins Emily and Michelle sneak away to a winter wonderland, where suburban teenagers find their rebellious paradise.

The project hails from Omnes Films and was produced in association with Crypto Castle Productions and Puente Films. Producers included Cera, Krista Minto, Taormina, David Croley Broyles and Duncan Sullivan. The executive producers are Jeremy Gardner,...

Puerto Rico is the oldest colony in the world. Think about that. The United States retains the island as an “unincorporated possession” without any national representation beyond a non-voting member of Congress. Inhabitants are therefore citizens without a voice. They have no say in who is elected President despite having a population larger than twenty Electoral College states. They are essentially slaves to a system that doesn’t care about them, helpless to prevent the federal government from coming ashore to wreak havoc whenever it decides. So it was no surprise when Donald Trump turned their lives into a photo opportunity post-Hurricane María. They asked him for water and electricity. He threw paper towels.

As documentarian Cecilia Aldarondo explains during her film Landfall, however, that storm was merely the straw that broke the camel’s back. Their economy had already been ravaged by budget cut after budget cut dictated by...

Okay. Alright. So... First thing: Brock Pierce played the young Emilio Estevez in The Mighty Ducks and D2: The Mighty Ducks. He was also the “first kid” in 1996 Sinbad comedy First Kid. A lot else has happened in Pierce’s life since then. In fact, so much has happened that it may be easiest to just link the social…...

Twenty-six men and women are seated along four folding tables laid end to end in the ballroom of a former Masonic lodge in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. An eclectic mix, ranging from local charity workers to Silicon Valley investors to cryptocurrency early adopters, they all believe that they’re about to make history. Specifically, they are here to help Brock Pierce – a child actor turned video-game entrepreneur turned crypto titan – give away a billion dollars to charity. Not in a will after his death, but now, in the prime...

Akon for president? The Grammy-winning singer says that he’s seriously considering running in 2020 as a result of Donald Trump’s tumultuous 18 months in the White House. While his platform is still fuzzy — he doesn’t even know if he’d enter the race as a Democrat or a Republican — he’s already picked out a running mate in the form of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

Akon was in the South of France this week to talk to advertisers at Cannes Lions about AKoin, a new cryptocurrency that he’s intending to launch in West Africa. He stopped by the Variety Studio to discuss that plan, while also sharing his thoughts on the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border and why he’s contemplating a future in politics.

You have an idea for a new form of currency called AKoin?

Yeah. I was here to launch AKoin,...

Bryan Singer has had a ruinous week. On December 4, 20th Century Fox fired Singer from the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” for abandoning the London set; on December 6, the studio announced Dexter Fletcher as his replacement. In a statement, Singer ascribed his absence on “Bohemian Rhapsody” to caring for an ailing parent, but Fox also declined to renew its long-term deal with Singer’s production company, while his longtime publicist cut ties a few months ago.

Read More:Fox Fired Bryan Singer, but It Won’t Be Able to Remove Him as the Director of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

And then, on December 7, Singer hit the news cycle again: In a lawsuit filed by attorney Jeff Herman, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman accused Singer of sexually assaulting him in 2003, when Sanchez-Guzman was 17.

All of this represents a tremendous comedown for Singer, a blockbuster director whose films have made over $1 billion in domestic release alone.

“An Open Secret” sounds like the perfect title for a brand-new documentary addressing the entertainment industry’s sexual harassment and assault epidemic, which in recent weeks has uncoupled Harvey Weinstein, Roy Price, and Andy Signore from their companies (and caused James Toback, President George H.W. Bush, Oliver Stone, Ben Affleck, and Mark Halperin to confront their own allegations). However, the documentary — which focuses on the abuse male managers, agents, and publicists inflict on young, male clients — premiered at Doc NYC in November 2014 and had a small release the following June (IndieWire awarded it an A-).

Despite its current 93 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, director Amy Berg — who’d previously investigated sexual abuse in “Prophet’s Prey” and “Deliver Us from Evil,” for which she earned a 2007 Best Feature Documentary Oscar nomination — was unable to find a distributor. “An Open Secret” producer Gabe Hoffman claims the film was even accepted,...

A version of this story first appeared in the May 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.  "Absolute bullshit." That's what former Digital Entertainment Network executive Brock Pierce says of allegations that X-Men director Bryan Singer and others had sex at mansions in Los Angeles and Hawaii in 1999 with then-17-year-old Michael Egan III. In fact, "there were never sex parties at the house," Pierce tells THR, breaking his silence on the matter.  Pierce, a former child actor (The Mighty Ducks), was 17 when he began making $250,000 a year as a co-

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This story first appeared in the May 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. The wild parties were hardly a secret. During the mid- to late 1990s, as the Internet bubble was inflating, a wide swath of gay Hollywood flocked to the 12,616-square-foot Encino mansion that 40-something Marc Collins-Rector shared with Chad Shackley, a Michigan man in his mid-20s who had lived with Collins-Rector since dropping out of high school at 16; and Brock Pierce, a teenage actor who had appeared in Disney's The Mighty Ducks movies. Anticipating the day that programming would

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