August 26, 2024 • 24 mins
Can you guess who just threw down a $4.3 billion gauntlet in the entertainment world? Get ready for a rollercoaster of information, starting with Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s audacious bid to take control of Paramount Global, potentially outmaneuvering Skydance Media. Then, celebrate with us as we spotlight Sandro Rosta's entry into the Star Trek universe through the much-anticipated Starfleet Academy series. We also navigate through the turbulent Star Wars updates, including the sudden end of The Acolyte and some exclusive perks for Disney Plus subscribers in Star Wars Outlaws. Our DC Comics segment promises excitement with a new Black Lightning miniseries that continues the saga from the Absolute Power crossover event.
Marvel fans, brace yourselves as we honor the comic giant's 50,000th release and their 85th anniversary with some extraordinary stories, including a futuristic adventure featuring Wolverine and Deadpool. We then address a more somber topic: the tragic on-set accident involving rigger Juan Carlos Osorio during the production of Marvel Studios' Wonder Man. Horror aficionados will be thrilled about the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot," debuting on Max this October, as well as updates on Rupert Saunders' reboot of "The Crow," starring Bill Skarsgård. Finally, nostalgia kicks in with the exciting return of "The Librarians: The Next Chapter" to its TNT roots. Tune in for all these stories and so much more on this jam-packed episode of Multiverse Tonight!
Thanks for listening! Come visit the podcast at https://www.multiversetonight.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tonight.
Paramount gets a new bidder, noAct, Light Season 2, berlanti
gets an honor, marvel 50,000,and Salem's Lot comes to max.
All that and more in thisedition of Multiverse Tonight
Comic books, sci-fi, fantasy andmore.
(00:22):
If you're looking for a roundupof geeky news, you're in the
right place.
This is Multiverse Tonight, andhere's your host, thomas
(00:52):
Townley.
Well, hello everyone andwelcome to episode 222 of
Multiverse Tonight.
I'm, of course, your host,thomas Townley, and for those
watching on Twitch and Kik andYouTube, you might notice a big
empty space behind me, to myright.
(01:15):
Yeah, so here's what's going onStarting to pack the office, so
we're going to be moving herewithin the next month.
So we're getting down to theoffice.
So we're going to be movinghere within the next month.
So we're getting down to theend.
So I had to start packing stuff.
In Still got a little ways togo.
You see, there's still severalrows of pictures to go, but
(01:39):
everything's moving fine.
Today we're getting some newwindows into the place.
What Almost two weeks to myvacation, so it's a nice time.
But anyway, we got some news tocover, so let's get into it
with the Star Trek news.
(02:03):
And Star Trek news begins withsome business news, edgar
Bromfman Jr formally submittedan initial $4.3 billion bid to
take control of Paramount Globaland stopped the existing offer
from Skydance Media.
According to a person familiarwith the matter, the media
executive and Seagramco-spirit's heir is offering to
(02:25):
buy National AmusementsIncorporated, the Redstone
family holding company that ownsthe majority of Paramount's
voting stock, for about $2.4billion, including liabilities
going to the person who askednot to be identified because
they weren't authorized to speakpublicly.
Bronfman also plans to invest$1.5 billion in Paramount to
reduce the company's debt,receiving shares worth $16 each.
(02:47):
In exchange, non-redstoneholders of the company's Class A
voting stock will have theoption of receiving $24.53 a
share in cash or $1.53 Class Bshares Within two years.
Bronfen plans to eliminateParamount's dual share classes,
extending voting privileges toall investors.
Eliminate Paramount's dualshare classes, extending voting
privileges to all investors.
(03:08):
Bronfen plans to pay a $400million breakup fee for the
Skydance deal.
Overall, he's raised $5.5billion, with plans to sweeten
his offer later.
Paramount non-voting sharesclosed down 1.2% to $10.94 in
New York.
The Wall Street Journalreported on the Broffin offer
late last Monday.
Now the parent of CBS, mtv andour meat businesses has already
(03:35):
accepted the offer from Skydance, led by Dave Ellison, the son
of the Oracle Corp's co-founder,larry Ellison.
Their merger agreement includeda 45-day period in which
Paramount can review otheroffers.
Now that expired last Wednesdaynight, though, paramount can
extend discussions with otherparties until September 5th Now.
(03:55):
The Ellison-led group alsooffered $2.4 billion for
national amusements and agreedto invest $6 billion more in
buying Paramount shares, payingdown debt and plans to merge
Skydance with Paramount forshares worth $4.75 billion.
Now Bronfman is expected toargue that his proposal is
superior because it will resultin less dilution for Paramount's
non-Redstone shareholders.
(04:16):
He has people on his teamincluding Stephen Paul, former
broadcasting executive, johnMartin and Jonathan Miller, a
tech executive who has partnerswith Shari Redstone.
Paramount's chair, now moneymanager Mario Ghibli, the
largest holder of Paramountvoting shares other than the
Redstone family, said in aninterview that Bronfen has
(04:38):
credibility, but he also wasn'tsure that Bronfen is offering
enough to top Ellison.
Now, a couple days ago, theParamount Special Committee
extended the GoShop period, asEdgar Bronfen Jr raised his bid
to $6 billion, according toDeadlinecom, paramount Plus has
announced that Sandro Rosta hasjoined the cast of the original
(05:00):
series Star Trek StarfleetAcademy as a cadet.
The upcoming series will followthe adventures of a new class of
Starfleet cadets as they becometo age in the most legendary
places in the galaxy.
Produced by CBS Studios, thehighly anticipated new series
will begin production later thismonth.
And now let's go on to the StarWars news.
(05:20):
Roger roger, some sad news tobegin Star Wars news.
Roger roger, some sad news tobegin Star Wars news.
The Acolyte will not bereturning for a second season.
Lucasfilm has decided not tocontinue with the series
following its first season,which depicted the rise of the
Sith roughly 100 years beforethe events of the Phantom Menace
(05:41):
.
The news comes at once as ashock, given how much the season
one finale ended on acliffhanger and teased several
plot lines for season two.
But not much of a surprise,given the wildly opposing
reception from fans and lessthan robust viewership that
appeared to drop off after theseries premiere in June.
Fans are hoping to talk Disneyinto another season, but chances
(06:05):
are slim.
When Star Wars Outlaws releaseslater this month, players that
subscribe to Disney Plus will beable to get a special in-game
item.
This item is the Nyx TailWrappings, which provides a
unique blue wrapping thatappears on the tail of KVS's
in-game companion.
All in all, it's kind of aminor freebie, but it's hard to
(06:26):
disagree with that free pricepoint.
The next tail wrapping itemwill be available to claim now
by going to Ubisoft's officialwebsite.
The offer will only beavailable through November 15th.
And now let's go on to the DCNews, and we begin DC News with
(06:59):
DC's November 2024 solicitations.
The publisher has officiallyannounced a new Black Lightning
miniseries from writer BrandonThomas and artist Fico Osayo,
spanning five issues.
The Black Lightning title willbe spaying out the events of the
recent Absolute Power crossoverevent, as well as Jefferson's
role in Mark Waid and DanMoore's Justice League Unlimited
(07:19):
series.
The series, which is part ofDC's All In initiative, will
co-star Jefferson's superherodaughters, anissa Pierce Thunder
and Jennifer Pierce.
Lightning.
Black Lightning number one willarrive on Wednesday, november
13th with a main cover by OCOand variant covers by Sanford
Green, torrin Clark and JulietNneka.
Brandon Thomas told the Beatquote.
(07:42):
Brandon Thomas told the Beatquote.
In the wake of absolute power,everything's changed for
Jefferson Pierce and his family.
He's embraced a criticalfront-facing role with the newly
reborn Justice League Unlimitedand has also created a crisis
response unit that confronts anddefuses newly emerging
metahumans before their powersbecome a danger to themselves
and others.
Unquote In Black Lightning.
Black Lightning is back, andthis time it's a family affair.
(08:04):
Jefferson Pierce leads theJustice League's new metahuman
outreach initiative In BlackLightning.
Black Lightning is back, andthis time it's a family affair.
Jefferson Pierce leads theJustice League's new MetaHuman
Outreach Initiative, helpingthose with powers before they
can cause harm to themselves orothers.
But everything changes whenit's his own daughter who comes
to him for help With Thunder'sdangerous new powers and the new
Masters of Disaster,jeopardizing the coexistence
between humans and Metas.
Black Lightning is on the frontlines of a culture war brewing
(08:25):
in the suburbs of Metropolis.
Also announced DC announced thatBatgirl, a new ongoing solo
series centered around CassandraCain, will be coming out.
Batgirl will be written by TateBrumbell with art by Takashi
Maezawa.
The solo adventure, which isCassandra's first in two decades
(08:47):
, will be dealing with herunique relationship with her
birth mother, lady Shiva.
The first issue will beavailable wherever comics are
sold on Wednesday, november 6th,with a main cover by David
Talusky, with variant covers byJeff Deckel, stanley Art, germ
Lau, with cardstock and foilversions and Skylar Partridge.
Bromble said in a statementOkay and lots of martial arts,
(09:27):
ass-kicking.
The only way Cass can doBatgirl is back in her own title
and the world won't know whathit it.
Greg Berlanti has had nothingshort of a prolific career in
the entertainment industry, execproducing a record-breaking
number of television showsacross networks and genres.
Berlanti's career has spawnedeverything from Dawson's Creek
to Riverdale to you to the CW'sArrowverse of DC shows, and now
(09:50):
it looks like he'll be honoredin a prestigious way.
On Thursday, it was announcedthat Berlanti will be the latest
recipient of the Governor'sAward at the 76th Annual Emmy
Awards, which will be held onSunday, september 15th in Los
Angeles.
The Governor's Award recognizesfigures or organizations that
have quote made a profound,transformational and
long-lasting contribution to thearts and or science of
(10:12):
television.
Unquote TV Academy Chair, chrisAbrego, said in a statement
quote Greg is an extraordinarycreator who constantly delivers
characters and stories that arein dialogue with the real world.
From the beginning of hiscareer, his commitment to
representing three-dimensionalLBTQ plus characters in
particular has paved the way forgreater cultural understanding
(10:32):
and acceptance of a communitythat is often under attack in
both social and politicaldiscourse, for seizing the power
of television to move ourculture forward.
The Academy is honored toselect Greg Berlanti for this
year's Governor's Award.
Congrats, greg.
Dan Fogler is stepping out ofthe wizarding world and into the
Batcave.
The Fantastic Beasts actor willplay longtime Batman executive
(10:55):
producer, michael Uslan, in astage play based on Uslan's 2011
memoir the Boy who Loved Batman.
Neanderlander WorldwideProductions will be the producer
.
The memoir, published in 2019,told his origin story as a comic
book geek who went fromteaching a comic book class as a
junior at Indiana University inBloomington to working at DC
during summers.
He then went on to law schooland suddenly landed a job at
(11:18):
United Artists.
Next, he had a front row seatto the rise of early comic book
movies, specifically thosefeaturing the Caped Crusader.
Uslan has been credited onevery Batman-related movie,
including Batman-adjacent filmslike Joker and Justice League,
since Tim Burton's 1989 original.
It all dates back to a 1979deal he and former MGM executive
Benjamin Melnicker made to buythe film rights to Batman back
(11:41):
when Warner Bros did not see thevalue in the property.
Uslan quips.
Dan's exceptional talent, comictiming, impressive stage
presence and deep enthusiasticroots as an unabashed fanboy
made him the perfect actor totake on the obviously chouncing
role of Michael Uslan.
From the first moment he wasgiven the script, dan has been
(12:02):
spot on in his approach to thematerial and I could not be
happier.
They agreed to join us in thejourney.
The play will run from October1st to November 10th at the
Strauss Center for thePerforming Arts in Tampa,
florida, with hopes that it willeventually get to Broadway.
Now let's go on to the MarvelComics News, and we begin Marvel
(12:35):
Comics News with James Spader,who's making a return to the
Marvel Cinematic Universe asUltron in Vision Quest, the
upcoming Disney Plus series thatdoesn't have an official title
just yet, although it's beenreferred to as Vision Quest.
To call back to the popularVision storyline in the comics,
fans last heard James Spader asUltron in Avengers Age of Ultron
, where he was the mainantagonist against the Avengers.
(12:58):
Ultron was ultimately killed byVision at the end of the movie,
but any comic book fan knowsthat there is always a way
around death, and Spader andUltron appear to be on the
rebound.
According to the HollywoodReporter, james Spader will
reprise his voice role as Ultronin Marvel's Vision streaming
series for Disney+ Star TrekPicard showrunner Terry Metallus
is helming what's being looselyreferred to as Vision Quest and
(13:21):
follows up on the events ofWandaVision, with Vision's white
robotic body going in search ofan identity.
Paul D Bettany plays theandroid Avenger, who is brought
back to life after his death atthe hands of Thanos in Avengers,
infinity War.
Marvel Comics is going big forthe publication of its 50,000th
comic book.
The first comic tied to Marvelactually goes back to 1939 with
(13:44):
the release of Marvel Comics no1 from Pulp Magazine publisher
Martin Goodman's Timely Comics,which is the predecessor to
today's Marvel Comics.
Since then, fans have beenamazed by the adventures of
Spider-Man, fantastic Four,x-men, avengers and many more.
We're coming upon the 85thanniversary of the comics
release and Marvel has assembledan all-star cast of creators to
tell stories set in the farfuture of the year 50,000.
(14:07):
Comic Book has the exclusivepreview of Marvel's 85th
anniversary special, number one,which features sneak peeks at
six stories, including anopening.
Comic Book has the exclusivepreview of Marvel 85th
Anniversary Special no 1, whichfeatures sneak peeks at six
stories, including an openingfeaturing Deadpool and Wolverine
, by Ryan North, joshua Kassarand Dean White.
The Herald of Tomorrow by MsMarvel actress and writer Iman
Villani, sabir Prezido andSteven Byrne.
(14:30):
An Excalibur story Is theLighthouse Haunted or Are we at
the Nexus of Infinity?
Multiverse by Alan Davis andRochelle Rosenberg story is the
lighthouse haunted or are we atthe nexus of infinity?
Multiverse by alan davis andrachel rosenberg, rush hour
story, man spiderman story bychristopher priest, carl pulglin
, jason paths and moro hollowell.
The moon warrior by yukio kakuand ken kaneda, and the contest
of champions by steve skrocheand brian valenza.
(14:52):
The special one shot is layeredby VCs Joe Kamanga with a cover
by Kari Andrews.
The exclusive preview opens inthe future, where an unaged
Wolverine is joined by thefloating half-Deadpool at the
Tour and Alien Museum.
The tour is centered onholographic reconstructions of
artifacts such as Ms Marvel'sscarf, captain America's shield,
(15:13):
thor's hammer, the InfinityGauntlet and much more, which
sends readers into their ownindividual stories.
What is Marvel's 85thanniversary special about?
The issue goes on saleWednesday August 28th.
And now this is a bit of sadnews.
(15:36):
Disney has been fined $36,000after a Cal OSHA ruling related
to the death of Juan CarlosOsorio on the set of Marvel
Comics' Marvel Studios' Wonderman back in February.
Asario, 41, was a riggerworking at Radford Studios in
Studio City and died on February6 while collecting and removing
(15:58):
lighting cable equipment highon Stage 3.
Per a Cal OSHA report, as thecrew walked among the catwalks,
the employee Asario stood on theweakened section of a catwalk.
Suddenly, and without warning,the ledger supporting the
floorboard broke apart andcollapsed as the employee was
standing on this section ofcatwalk.
The employee fell 41 feet andforcefully impacted the ground
(16:21):
below.
He died at the scene.
The series was not shooting atthe time.
And with that note, let's go onto the Geek News.
(16:47):
Fans will make sure they'resubscribed to Max as they can
check out the new adaptation ofSalem's Lot.
The producing teams behind therecord-breaking horror
franchises the ConjuringUniverse and the it films are
re-nighting for Salem's Lot, thefilm adaptation of Stephen
King's 1975 best-selling novelof the same name.
There was recently someuncertainty surrounding Salem's
(17:07):
Lot when it was moved fromtheatrical to streaming release.
However, the feature filmstarring Lewis Pullman is still
on the schedule and will arrivejust in time for the Halloween
season.
Salem's Lot will make itsstreaming debut on Max in
October, though a firm premieredate has not been officially
announced.
New images with theannouncement feature the Salem
slot cast of Lewis Pullman,alfred Woodard, mackenzie Lay,
(17:30):
bill Camp, spencer, treat Clark.
It's the crazy sugar high of ascene.
I thought, yeah, this is whatthis is.
This is a drive-in movie.
He told Vanity Fair Quote.
(17:52):
This is.
This is a drive-in movie, hetold Vanity Fair Quote, as with
most horror movies, I thinkaudiences really will elevate
the experience.
So I think getting as manypeople as you can cram on the
couch would be my preferred wayto watch this.
Rupert Saunders' the Crow is anew take of the Dark 99 comic
book, but there is one elementof the franchise's history that
the director was determined notto replicate.
(18:13):
During the production of the1994 film Adaptation of the Crow
, star Brandon Lee wasaccidentally shot and killed on
set due to an accident by thefilm's prop department.
That tragedy was echoed decadeslater in the set of Rust in
October 2021, when AlinaHutchins was fatally shot with
real rounds, accidentally byAlec Baldwin.
(18:35):
Now, given that Sonder shot hisfilm in 2022, both incidents
reinforced the director'sinsistence on having as safe a
set as possible.
The Crow reboot stars it andJohn Wick 4 actor Bill Skarsgård
as Eric Draven, who is killedalongside his girlfriend Shelly
In a limbo.
Between life and death, ericmakes it his mission to avenge
(18:57):
their murders.
In an interview with Variety,saunders could champion the use
of airsoft guns on set insteadof real guns.
Quote the beauty of the airsoftis that the slide of the Glock
will still move back, but thenyou have to add the shell casing
.
He said you have to add amuzzle, flash and smoke, but
that was a price worth paying.
It took a fair bit of money outof the very limited visual
(19:18):
effects budget but I think itwas worth it.
The visual effects on thismovie were very much in camera.
We were mainly a location shotwith extension.
So you have to balance whereyou spend the money when you
don't have a massive budget todo visual effects.
But to me that was a veryworthwhile spend for everyone's
safety and comfort.
Going on, this project, theLibrarians the next chapter, is
(19:41):
getting a new chapter.
The CW planned sequel to theLibrarians had previously been
shelved earlier this month, butEntertainment Weekly has
confirmed that the Librariansthe next chapter, the follow-up
to the series on TNT, will nowbe making its move to TNT.
Callum McGowan will star asVikaram Chamberlain, olivia
(20:02):
Morris will star as Lysa Pascal,jessica Green as Charlie
Cornwall and Bluey Robinson asConnor Green in the Librarians,
the Next Chapter and BlueyRobinson as Connor Green in the
Librarians, the next chapter.
The move brings the show fullcircle as the Librarians was
originally a spin-off of thethree librarian movies starring
Noah Wiley which originallyaired on TNT.
So it's all coming back.
I like the Librarians.
(20:24):
That's a good series.
If you ever need to go check itout, go check it out.
It's great.
Amazon MGM Studios has tappedveteran television producers
Kalinda Vasquez and RobbieThompson to serve as writers,
co-showrunners and executiveproducers on the Poltergeist TV
series based on the 1982 horrorfilm.
The project was first announcedto be in the works last October
(20:47):
, with Steven Spielberg, whoco-wrote the Tobey
Hooper-directed originalproducing hit with it via his
Amblin TV, with exec producersDaryl Frank and Justin Flauvi.
According to Variety Now,vasquez started her career as a
writer and story editor onPrison Break seasons three and
four and executive story editoron the has-derived DC
(21:09):
comic-based Fox action seriesHuman human target.
She's written episodes of theshow, nikita abc's fantasy
adventure series once upon atime and the marvel inspired
series runaways.
Most recently, vasquez pennedtwo season four episodes of fear
of the walking dead, an episodediscovery and the five issues
of marvel comics america chavez,made in the usa.
(21:30):
Thompson, whose credits includeepisodes of jericho, Humitarga
and Cursed, created the 2009sci-fi series Ark and served as
executive story editor on theCW's Supernatural.
Thompson created theSupernatural spin-off the
Winchesters, which was cancelledafter one 13-episode season in
2023, and has written a numberof Marvel Comics, including
Doctor Strange and Sorcerer,supreme, venom, space Knight,
(21:52):
spidey and Silk, whose serieswas also recently scrapped by
Amazon, mgm and finally, tonight, Oscar Wilde's iconic novel,
the Picture of Dorian Gray, willbe getting a modern facelift.
On Tuesday, reports confirmedthat Netflix is developing the
Greys, a new live-actionstreaming series from Berlanti
(22:14):
Productions and Warner BrosTelevision.
The new series will be writtenby the sibling duo of Supergirl
alum, katie Rose Rogers andAll-American's Robbie Rogers,
both of whom work together onFellow Travelers.
Berlanti Productions' GregBerlanti, sarah Schneider and
Lea London Redman will produce,alongside showrunner Rina Mooman
and pilot episode director LeeToland-Krager.
(22:36):
This is the latest projectBerlanti Productions has in the
works for Netflix, in additionto a new live-action take on
Scooby-Doo, because we all needmore live-action takes on
Scooby-Doo.
The Graze is described as acontemporary take on the Oscar
Wilde classic about ourfascination with the eternal
youth, set against the backdropof modern beauty industry.
(22:57):
In a twist from the Gothicnovel, the series revolves
around siblings, basil andDorian Gray.
So what do you think?
Do we need a new version ofDorian Gray?
I mean, it's a strange tale andall.
But you know, what do you think?
Write to us and that brings usto the end of this edition of
(23:21):
the show.
Please be sure to check us outon social media.
We're at Blue Sky and Twitter,at Multiverse Tom Threads,
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(23:42):
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Thank you very much and welcome.
Go ahead and hit that subscribebutton.
Share it with friends, family,others, strangers, people you
hate, people you love.
I'm not picky.
Special thanks to Shane Iversfor the intro music and Lobo
(24:05):
Loco for the outro theme music.
Thanks for watching thisedition of Multiverse Night.
We'll be back in two weeks withmore sci-fi and comic book news
.
Now please exit the universe inan orderly fashion, good night.
Multiverse Tonight is aproduction of Half-Baked Genre
Productions.
Copyright 2024, all rightsreserved.
(24:27):
This podcast is part of the popgoes to culture podcast network
.
Check us out at pop goes toculture online.
Tonight.
Paramount gets a new bidder, noAct, Light Season 2, berlanti
gets an honor, marvel 50,000,and Salem's Lot comes to max.
All that and more in thisedition of Multiverse Tonight
Comic books, sci-fi, fantasy andmore.
(00:22):
If you're looking for a roundupof geeky news, you're in the
right place.
This is Multiverse Tonight, andhere's your host, thomas
(00:52):
Townley.
Well, hello everyone andwelcome to episode 222 of
Multiverse Tonight.
I'm, of course, your host,thomas Townley, and for those
watching on Twitch and Kik andYouTube, you might notice a big
empty space behind me, to myright.
(01:15):
Yeah, so here's what's going onStarting to pack the office, so
we're going to be moving herewithin the next month.
So we're getting down to theoffice.
So we're going to be movinghere within the next month.
So we're getting down to theend.
So I had to start packing stuff.
In Still got a little ways togo.
You see, there's still severalrows of pictures to go, but
(01:39):
everything's moving fine.
Today we're getting some newwindows into the place.
What Almost two weeks to myvacation, so it's a nice time.
But anyway, we got some news tocover, so let's get into it
with the Star Trek news.
(02:03):
And Star Trek news begins withsome business news, edgar
Bromfman Jr formally submittedan initial $4.3 billion bid to
take control of Paramount Globaland stopped the existing offer
from Skydance Media.
According to a person familiarwith the matter, the media
executive and Seagramco-spirit's heir is offering to
(02:25):
buy National AmusementsIncorporated, the Redstone
family holding company that ownsthe majority of Paramount's
voting stock, for about $2.4billion, including liabilities
going to the person who askednot to be identified because
they weren't authorized to speakpublicly.
Bronfman also plans to invest$1.5 billion in Paramount to
reduce the company's debt,receiving shares worth $16 each.
(02:47):
In exchange, non-redstoneholders of the company's Class A
voting stock will have theoption of receiving $24.53 a
share in cash or $1.53 Class Bshares Within two years.
Bronfen plans to eliminateParamount's dual share classes,
extending voting privileges toall investors.
Eliminate Paramount's dualshare classes, extending voting
privileges to all investors.
(03:08):
Bronfen plans to pay a $400million breakup fee for the
Skydance deal.
Overall, he's raised $5.5billion, with plans to sweeten
his offer later.
Paramount non-voting sharesclosed down 1.2% to $10.94 in
New York.
The Wall Street Journalreported on the Broffin offer
late last Monday.
Now the parent of CBS, mtv andour meat businesses has already
(03:35):
accepted the offer from Skydance, led by Dave Ellison, the son
of the Oracle Corp's co-founder,larry Ellison.
Their merger agreement includeda 45-day period in which
Paramount can review otheroffers.
Now that expired last Wednesdaynight, though, paramount can
extend discussions with otherparties until September 5th Now.
(03:55):
The Ellison-led group alsooffered $2.4 billion for
national amusements and agreedto invest $6 billion more in
buying Paramount shares, payingdown debt and plans to merge
Skydance with Paramount forshares worth $4.75 billion.
Now Bronfman is expected toargue that his proposal is
superior because it will resultin less dilution for Paramount's
non-Redstone shareholders.
(04:16):
He has people on his teamincluding Stephen Paul, former
broadcasting executive, johnMartin and Jonathan Miller, a
tech executive who has partnerswith Shari Redstone.
Paramount's chair, now moneymanager Mario Ghibli, the
largest holder of Paramountvoting shares other than the
Redstone family, said in aninterview that Bronfen has
(04:38):
credibility, but he also wasn'tsure that Bronfen is offering
enough to top Ellison.
Now, a couple days ago, theParamount Special Committee
extended the GoShop period, asEdgar Bronfen Jr raised his bid
to $6 billion, according toDeadlinecom, paramount Plus has
announced that Sandro Rosta hasjoined the cast of the original
(05:00):
series Star Trek StarfleetAcademy as a cadet.
The upcoming series will followthe adventures of a new class of
Starfleet cadets as they becometo age in the most legendary
places in the galaxy.
Produced by CBS Studios, thehighly anticipated new series
will begin production later thismonth.
And now let's go on to the StarWars news.
(05:20):
Roger roger, some sad news tobegin Star Wars news.
Roger roger, some sad news tobegin Star Wars news.
The Acolyte will not bereturning for a second season.
Lucasfilm has decided not tocontinue with the series
following its first season,which depicted the rise of the
Sith roughly 100 years beforethe events of the Phantom Menace
(05:41):
.
The news comes at once as ashock, given how much the season
one finale ended on acliffhanger and teased several
plot lines for season two.
But not much of a surprise,given the wildly opposing
reception from fans and lessthan robust viewership that
appeared to drop off after theseries premiere in June.
Fans are hoping to talk Disneyinto another season, but chances
(06:05):
are slim.
When Star Wars Outlaws releaseslater this month, players that
subscribe to Disney Plus will beable to get a special in-game
item.
This item is the Nyx TailWrappings, which provides a
unique blue wrapping thatappears on the tail of KVS's
in-game companion.
All in all, it's kind of aminor freebie, but it's hard to
(06:26):
disagree with that free pricepoint.
The next tail wrapping itemwill be available to claim now
by going to Ubisoft's officialwebsite.
The offer will only beavailable through November 15th.
And now let's go on to the DCNews, and we begin DC News with
(06:59):
DC's November 2024 solicitations.
The publisher has officiallyannounced a new Black Lightning
miniseries from writer BrandonThomas and artist Fico Osayo,
spanning five issues.
The Black Lightning title willbe spaying out the events of the
recent Absolute Power crossoverevent, as well as Jefferson's
role in Mark Waid and DanMoore's Justice League Unlimited
(07:19):
series.
The series, which is part ofDC's All In initiative, will
co-star Jefferson's superherodaughters, anissa Pierce Thunder
and Jennifer Pierce.
Lightning.
Black Lightning number one willarrive on Wednesday, november
13th with a main cover by OCOand variant covers by Sanford
Green, torrin Clark and JulietNneka.
Brandon Thomas told the Beatquote.
(07:42):
Brandon Thomas told the Beatquote.
In the wake of absolute power,everything's changed for
Jefferson Pierce and his family.
He's embraced a criticalfront-facing role with the newly
reborn Justice League Unlimitedand has also created a crisis
response unit that confronts anddefuses newly emerging
metahumans before their powersbecome a danger to themselves
and others.
Unquote In Black Lightning.
Black Lightning is back, andthis time it's a family affair.
(08:04):
Jefferson Pierce leads theJustice League's new metahuman
outreach initiative In BlackLightning.
Black Lightning is back, andthis time it's a family affair.
Jefferson Pierce leads theJustice League's new MetaHuman
Outreach Initiative, helpingthose with powers before they
can cause harm to themselves orothers.
But everything changes whenit's his own daughter who comes
to him for help With Thunder'sdangerous new powers and the new
Masters of Disaster,jeopardizing the coexistence
between humans and Metas.
Black Lightning is on the frontlines of a culture war brewing
(08:25):
in the suburbs of Metropolis.
Also announced DC announced thatBatgirl, a new ongoing solo
series centered around CassandraCain, will be coming out.
Batgirl will be written by TateBrumbell with art by Takashi
Maezawa.
The solo adventure, which isCassandra's first in two decades
(08:47):
, will be dealing with herunique relationship with her
birth mother, lady Shiva.
The first issue will beavailable wherever comics are
sold on Wednesday, november 6th,with a main cover by David
Talusky, with variant covers byJeff Deckel, stanley Art, germ
Lau, with cardstock and foilversions and Skylar Partridge.
Bromble said in a statementOkay and lots of martial arts,
(09:27):
ass-kicking.
The only way Cass can doBatgirl is back in her own title
and the world won't know whathit it.
Greg Berlanti has had nothingshort of a prolific career in
the entertainment industry, execproducing a record-breaking
number of television showsacross networks and genres.
Berlanti's career has spawnedeverything from Dawson's Creek
to Riverdale to you to the CW'sArrowverse of DC shows, and now
(09:50):
it looks like he'll be honoredin a prestigious way.
On Thursday, it was announcedthat Berlanti will be the latest
recipient of the Governor'sAward at the 76th Annual Emmy
Awards, which will be held onSunday, september 15th in Los
Angeles.
The Governor's Award recognizesfigures or organizations that
have quote made a profound,transformational and
long-lasting contribution to thearts and or science of
(10:12):
television.
Unquote TV Academy Chair, chrisAbrego, said in a statement
quote Greg is an extraordinarycreator who constantly delivers
characters and stories that arein dialogue with the real world.
From the beginning of hiscareer, his commitment to
representing three-dimensionalLBTQ plus characters in
particular has paved the way forgreater cultural understanding
(10:32):
and acceptance of a communitythat is often under attack in
both social and politicaldiscourse, for seizing the power
of television to move ourculture forward.
The Academy is honored toselect Greg Berlanti for this
year's Governor's Award.
Congrats, greg.
Dan Fogler is stepping out ofthe wizarding world and into the
Batcave.
The Fantastic Beasts actor willplay longtime Batman executive
(10:55):
producer, michael Uslan, in astage play based on Uslan's 2011
memoir the Boy who Loved Batman.
Neanderlander WorldwideProductions will be the producer
.
The memoir, published in 2019,told his origin story as a comic
book geek who went fromteaching a comic book class as a
junior at Indiana University inBloomington to working at DC
during summers.
He then went on to law schooland suddenly landed a job at
(11:18):
United Artists.
Next, he had a front row seatto the rise of early comic book
movies, specifically thosefeaturing the Caped Crusader.
Uslan has been credited onevery Batman-related movie,
including Batman-adjacent filmslike Joker and Justice League,
since Tim Burton's 1989 original.
It all dates back to a 1979deal he and former MGM executive
Benjamin Melnicker made to buythe film rights to Batman back
(11:41):
when Warner Bros did not see thevalue in the property.
Uslan quips.
Dan's exceptional talent, comictiming, impressive stage
presence and deep enthusiasticroots as an unabashed fanboy
made him the perfect actor totake on the obviously chouncing
role of Michael Uslan.
From the first moment he wasgiven the script, dan has been
(12:02):
spot on in his approach to thematerial and I could not be
happier.
They agreed to join us in thejourney.
The play will run from October1st to November 10th at the
Strauss Center for thePerforming Arts in Tampa,
florida, with hopes that it willeventually get to Broadway.
Now let's go on to the MarvelComics News, and we begin Marvel
(12:35):
Comics News with James Spader,who's making a return to the
Marvel Cinematic Universe asUltron in Vision Quest, the
upcoming Disney Plus series thatdoesn't have an official title
just yet, although it's beenreferred to as Vision Quest.
To call back to the popularVision storyline in the comics,
fans last heard James Spader asUltron in Avengers Age of Ultron
, where he was the mainantagonist against the Avengers.
(12:58):
Ultron was ultimately killed byVision at the end of the movie,
but any comic book fan knowsthat there is always a way
around death, and Spader andUltron appear to be on the
rebound.
According to the HollywoodReporter, james Spader will
reprise his voice role as Ultronin Marvel's Vision streaming
series for Disney+ Star TrekPicard showrunner Terry Metallus
is helming what's being looselyreferred to as Vision Quest and
(13:21):
follows up on the events ofWandaVision, with Vision's white
robotic body going in search ofan identity.
Paul D Bettany plays theandroid Avenger, who is brought
back to life after his death atthe hands of Thanos in Avengers,
infinity War.
Marvel Comics is going big forthe publication of its 50,000th
comic book.
The first comic tied to Marvelactually goes back to 1939 with
(13:44):
the release of Marvel Comics no1 from Pulp Magazine publisher
Martin Goodman's Timely Comics,which is the predecessor to
today's Marvel Comics.
Since then, fans have beenamazed by the adventures of
Spider-Man, fantastic Four,x-men, avengers and many more.
We're coming upon the 85thanniversary of the comics
release and Marvel has assembledan all-star cast of creators to
tell stories set in the farfuture of the year 50,000.
(14:07):
Comic Book has the exclusivepreview of Marvel's 85th
anniversary special, number one,which features sneak peeks at
six stories, including anopening.
Comic Book has the exclusivepreview of Marvel 85th
Anniversary Special no 1, whichfeatures sneak peeks at six
stories, including an openingfeaturing Deadpool and Wolverine
, by Ryan North, joshua Kassarand Dean White.
The Herald of Tomorrow by MsMarvel actress and writer Iman
Villani, sabir Prezido andSteven Byrne.
(14:30):
An Excalibur story Is theLighthouse Haunted or Are we at
the Nexus of Infinity?
Multiverse by Alan Davis andRochelle Rosenberg story is the
lighthouse haunted or are we atthe nexus of infinity?
Multiverse by alan davis andrachel rosenberg, rush hour
story, man spiderman story bychristopher priest, carl pulglin
, jason paths and moro hollowell.
The moon warrior by yukio kakuand ken kaneda, and the contest
of champions by steve skrocheand brian valenza.
(14:52):
The special one shot is layeredby VCs Joe Kamanga with a cover
by Kari Andrews.
The exclusive preview opens inthe future, where an unaged
Wolverine is joined by thefloating half-Deadpool at the
Tour and Alien Museum.
The tour is centered onholographic reconstructions of
artifacts such as Ms Marvel'sscarf, captain America's shield,
(15:13):
thor's hammer, the InfinityGauntlet and much more, which
sends readers into their ownindividual stories.
What is Marvel's 85thanniversary special about?
The issue goes on saleWednesday August 28th.
And now this is a bit of sadnews.
(15:36):
Disney has been fined $36,000after a Cal OSHA ruling related
to the death of Juan CarlosOsorio on the set of Marvel
Comics' Marvel Studios' Wonderman back in February.
Asario, 41, was a riggerworking at Radford Studios in
Studio City and died on February6 while collecting and removing
(15:58):
lighting cable equipment highon Stage 3.
Per a Cal OSHA report, as thecrew walked among the catwalks,
the employee Asario stood on theweakened section of a catwalk.
Suddenly, and without warning,the ledger supporting the
floorboard broke apart andcollapsed as the employee was
standing on this section ofcatwalk.
The employee fell 41 feet andforcefully impacted the ground
(16:21):
below.
He died at the scene.
The series was not shooting atthe time.
And with that note, let's go onto the Geek News.
(16:47):
Fans will make sure they'resubscribed to Max as they can
check out the new adaptation ofSalem's Lot.
The producing teams behind therecord-breaking horror
franchises the ConjuringUniverse and the it films are
re-nighting for Salem's Lot, thefilm adaptation of Stephen
King's 1975 best-selling novelof the same name.
There was recently someuncertainty surrounding Salem's
(17:07):
Lot when it was moved fromtheatrical to streaming release.
However, the feature filmstarring Lewis Pullman is still
on the schedule and will arrivejust in time for the Halloween
season.
Salem's Lot will make itsstreaming debut on Max in
October, though a firm premieredate has not been officially
announced.
New images with theannouncement feature the Salem
slot cast of Lewis Pullman,alfred Woodard, mackenzie Lay,
(17:30):
bill Camp, spencer, treat Clark.
It's the crazy sugar high of ascene.
I thought, yeah, this is whatthis is.
This is a drive-in movie.
He told Vanity Fair Quote.
(17:52):
This is.
This is a drive-in movie, hetold Vanity Fair Quote, as with
most horror movies, I thinkaudiences really will elevate
the experience.
So I think getting as manypeople as you can cram on the
couch would be my preferred wayto watch this.
Rupert Saunders' the Crow is anew take of the Dark 99 comic
book, but there is one elementof the franchise's history that
the director was determined notto replicate.
(18:13):
During the production of the1994 film Adaptation of the Crow
, star Brandon Lee wasaccidentally shot and killed on
set due to an accident by thefilm's prop department.
That tragedy was echoed decadeslater in the set of Rust in
October 2021, when AlinaHutchins was fatally shot with
real rounds, accidentally byAlec Baldwin.
(18:35):
Now, given that Sonder shot hisfilm in 2022, both incidents
reinforced the director'sinsistence on having as safe a
set as possible.
The Crow reboot stars it andJohn Wick 4 actor Bill Skarsgård
as Eric Draven, who is killedalongside his girlfriend Shelly
In a limbo.
Between life and death, ericmakes it his mission to avenge
(18:57):
their murders.
In an interview with Variety,saunders could champion the use
of airsoft guns on set insteadof real guns.
Quote the beauty of the airsoftis that the slide of the Glock
will still move back, but thenyou have to add the shell casing
.
He said you have to add amuzzle, flash and smoke, but
that was a price worth paying.
It took a fair bit of money outof the very limited visual
(19:18):
effects budget but I think itwas worth it.
The visual effects on thismovie were very much in camera.
We were mainly a location shotwith extension.
So you have to balance whereyou spend the money when you
don't have a massive budget todo visual effects.
But to me that was a veryworthwhile spend for everyone's
safety and comfort.
Going on, this project, theLibrarians the next chapter, is
(19:41):
getting a new chapter.
The CW planned sequel to theLibrarians had previously been
shelved earlier this month, butEntertainment Weekly has
confirmed that the Librariansthe next chapter, the follow-up
to the series on TNT, will nowbe making its move to TNT.
Callum McGowan will star asVikaram Chamberlain, olivia
(20:02):
Morris will star as Lysa Pascal,jessica Green as Charlie
Cornwall and Bluey Robinson asConnor Green in the Librarians,
the Next Chapter and BlueyRobinson as Connor Green in the
Librarians, the next chapter.
The move brings the show fullcircle as the Librarians was
originally a spin-off of thethree librarian movies starring
Noah Wiley which originallyaired on TNT.
So it's all coming back.
I like the Librarians.
(20:24):
That's a good series.
If you ever need to go check itout, go check it out.
It's great.
Amazon MGM Studios has tappedveteran television producers
Kalinda Vasquez and RobbieThompson to serve as writers,
co-showrunners and executiveproducers on the Poltergeist TV
series based on the 1982 horrorfilm.
The project was first announcedto be in the works last October
(20:47):
, with Steven Spielberg, whoco-wrote the Tobey
Hooper-directed originalproducing hit with it via his
Amblin TV, with exec producersDaryl Frank and Justin Flauvi.
According to Variety Now,vasquez started her career as a
writer and story editor onPrison Break seasons three and
four and executive story editoron the has-derived DC
(21:09):
comic-based Fox action seriesHuman human target.
She's written episodes of theshow, nikita abc's fantasy
adventure series once upon atime and the marvel inspired
series runaways.
Most recently, vasquez pennedtwo season four episodes of fear
of the walking dead, an episodediscovery and the five issues
of marvel comics america chavez,made in the usa.
(21:30):
Thompson, whose credits includeepisodes of jericho, Humitarga
and Cursed, created the 2009sci-fi series Ark and served as
executive story editor on theCW's Supernatural.
Thompson created theSupernatural spin-off the
Winchesters, which was cancelledafter one 13-episode season in
2023, and has written a numberof Marvel Comics, including
Doctor Strange and Sorcerer,supreme, venom, space Knight,
(21:52):
spidey and Silk, whose serieswas also recently scrapped by
Amazon, mgm and finally, tonight, Oscar Wilde's iconic novel,
the Picture of Dorian Gray, willbe getting a modern facelift.
On Tuesday, reports confirmedthat Netflix is developing the
Greys, a new live-actionstreaming series from Berlanti
(22:14):
Productions and Warner BrosTelevision.
The new series will be writtenby the sibling duo of Supergirl
alum, katie Rose Rogers andAll-American's Robbie Rogers,
both of whom work together onFellow Travelers.
Berlanti Productions' GregBerlanti, sarah Schneider and
Lea London Redman will produce,alongside showrunner Rina Mooman
and pilot episode director LeeToland-Krager.
(22:36):
This is the latest projectBerlanti Productions has in the
works for Netflix, in additionto a new live-action take on
Scooby-Doo, because we all needmore live-action takes on
Scooby-Doo.
The Graze is described as acontemporary take on the Oscar
Wilde classic about ourfascination with the eternal
youth, set against the backdropof modern beauty industry.
(22:57):
In a twist from the Gothicnovel, the series revolves
around siblings, basil andDorian Gray.
So what do you think?
Do we need a new version ofDorian Gray?
I mean, it's a strange tale andall.
But you know, what do you think?
Write to us and that brings usto the end of this edition of
(23:21):
the show.
Please be sure to check us outon social media.
We're at Blue Sky and Twitter,at Multiverse Tom Threads,
facebook and Instagram atMultiverse Tonight.
And if you've gotten some valueout of the show and would like
to pay it back, please head onover to multiversetonightcom
where you can find our Patreonand Ko-fi links.
Check our show notes, visit ourTeePublic store, leave some
(23:42):
feedback and so much more, andif you leave some feedback,
maybe I'll read it here on theair, if you're this is your
first time listening.
Thank you very much and welcome.
Go ahead and hit that subscribebutton.
Share it with friends, family,others, strangers, people you
hate, people you love.
I'm not picky.
Special thanks to Shane Iversfor the intro music and Lobo
(24:05):
Loco for the outro theme music.
Thanks for watching thisedition of Multiverse Night.
We'll be back in two weeks withmore sci-fi and comic book news
.
Now please exit the universe inan orderly fashion, good night.
Multiverse Tonight is aproduction of Half-Baked Genre
Productions.
Copyright 2024, all rightsreserved.
(24:27):
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.
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