Hollywood
Full cast of ‘The Godmother’ announced
MUMBAI: Jon Bernthal, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Oscar Jaenada and Mehdi Dehbi have been finalised to join Catherine Zeta-Jones in her next movie The Godmother.
Eva Sorhaug will direct the movie from a screenplay by Frank Baldwin, and production will begin next spring.
Oscar winning Zeta-Jones stars as the notorious Colombian drug queenpin Griselda Blanco, also known as ‘The Godmother of Cocaine’.
Blanco was the first and only woman in history to head a major Colombian drug network, and the film chronicles the rise and fall of the woman who became the wealthiest, deadliest, and most wanted drug lord in the world. Notorious for instigating and fueling the Miami drug wars that took place during the late 1970s and 1980s, Blanco grossed millions of dollars a month amidst fierce competition as cocaine replaced marijuana as America’s drug of choice. Blanco was eventually arrested and convicted in 1985 in her home in Irvine, CA.
She served 18 years in prison before she was released in 2004 and deported back to Colombia. Blanco was murdered on 3 September 2012 — shot to death by a drive-by motorcyclist outside a butcher shop in Medellín, Colombia.
The film is being produced by Daniela Cretu through her First Born Films banner, while Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi is the executive producer along with Sierra/Affinity’s Nick Meyer, Marc Schaberg, and Kelly McCormick.
It isn’t Zeta-Jones’ first turn in a movie about the drug trade. In 2000, she starred in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, which earned more than $200 million at the global box office.
Bernthal, who currently stars alongside Brad Pitt in David Ayer‘s Fury, was last seen in Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street.
Moreno was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Maria Full of Grace, and she recently appeared on the TV series ‘Red Band Society’.
Jaenada most recently starred in Cantinflas and was previously seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides while Dehbi’s past film credits include A Most Wanted Man and The Other Son.
Hollywood
David Zaslav could net up to $887m as Warner Bros Discovery sells up
Media mogul strikes gold as Paramount Skydance deal triggers massive windfall
NEW YORK: While the average office worker might hope for a nice clock and a round of applause upon leaving, David Zaslav is looking at a slightly more substantial parting gift. The chief executive officer of Warner Bros Discovery is positioned to receive a windfall of up to $887 million following the company’s blockbuster $110 billion sale to Paramount Skydance.
In a twist of corporate fate that feels scripted for the big screen, the deal marks the finale of a high-stakes bidding war. It comes after Netflix, once the frontrunner, decided to exit stage left and abandon its pursuit of the HBO Max parent company.
While most people receive a standard final paycheck, the filing released on Monday suggests Zaslav’s exit package is built a little differently. If the deal closes as expected in the third quarter of 2026, the numbers break down like this:
The cash out: A severance package of $34.2 million, covering his salary and bonuses.
The equity: $115.8 million in vested shares he already owns.
The future fortune: A massive $517.2 million in unvested share awards, essentially “future stock” that turns into real money the moment the ink dries on the merger.
Perhaps the most eye-catching figure is the $335 million earmarked for tax reimbursements. However, this particular pot of gold has an expiration date.
The company noted that these reimbursements are tied to specific tax-code rules that significantly decline as time passes. If the deal hits a snag and drags into 2027, that tax payout drops to zero. With hundreds of millions on the line, the chief executive officer likely has every incentive to ensure the closing process moves at double-speed.
