Movies
SCO film festival to commence with the world premiere of Priyadarshan’s ‘Appatha’
Mumbai: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation festival will commence on Saturday with the world premiere of the Tamil film Appatha. The film is directed by Padma awardee filmmaker Priyadarshan while Jio Studios and Wide Angle Creations are co-producers.
The film features actor Urvashi in the lead role and will be benchmarked as her 700th film and 51 years in the Indian film industry. Director Priyadarshan has reunited with veteran actress Urvashi after 28 years, post the film Midhunam in 1993.
On Appatha opening at the festival, union minister of information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur said, “India’s goal of organising the festival is to showcase the diversity of films and various styles of film making from from the SCO region. We also aim to build cinematic partnerships, have exchange programmes, nurture young filmmaking talent and act as a bridge between the cultures of this unique region. We are delighted to commence the festival with the world premiere of Priyadarshan’s film Appatha. It is a touching story of love and our bond with our pets.”
Sharing his delight at the film opening the festival, Appatha director Priyadarshan said, “We are honoured Appatha has been selected as the opening film on this prestigious occasion. I would like to thank my producers Jio Studios and Wide Angle Creations for bringing this simple and lovely story to me. It has been a pleasure collaborating on this film and wonderful to be working with a phenomenal talent like Urvashi on her milestone 700th film. Appatha is different from anything I have attempted earlier and I am looking forward to seeing how the audience reacts to it.”
Hollywood
Paramount Skydance secures financing for Warner Bros Discovery deal
Debt syndication and new loans push $111 billion merger closer to close
WASHINGTON: Paramount Skydance has taken a major step towards its planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, securing fresh financing and completing the syndication of its bridge loan facility.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company confirmed that the bridge facility has now been distributed among a group of 18 banks, reducing total commitments to $49 billion from an earlier $54 billion. The move spreads risk across lenders and signals growing confidence in one of the year’s largest media deals.
Alongside this, the company has finalised permanent financing arrangements, including $5 billion in senior term loans and a $5 billion revolving credit facility. A previously planned $3.5 billion credit line has been dropped as part of the restructuring.
The loans are secured against key assets, including Paramount Global, Skydance Media and Warner Bros post-merger, underlining the scale and complexity of the transaction.
The financing push follows a competitive bidding process earlier this year, which saw interest from players such as Netflix before Paramount Skydance emerged as the frontrunner. The deal, valued at $111 billion, is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.
Adding to the momentum, the company has also secured significant equity backing, including investments from Middle Eastern funds, with support from billionaire Larry Ellison, who has guaranteed the equity portion of the transaction.
Commenting on the development, Paramount Skydance chief strategy officer Andy Gordon said, “Our successful debt syndication and new debt facilities represent another important milestone towards the completion of our acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.”
Once completed, the combined entity is expected to carry net debt of just under $80 billion, reflecting the sheer scale of the merger.
As Hollywood continues to consolidate in the streaming era, this deal could reshape the competitive landscape, with Paramount Skydance betting big on scale, content and financial muscle to take on global rivals.
