Hollywood
Breaking Bad writer to pen Cop-Mafia Clash ’90 Church’
MUMBAI: Universal has set George Mastras to adapt the Dean Unkefer book ’90 Church: the true story of the narcotics squad from hell’ who has won an Emmy for Breaking Bad. Rupert Sanders will be helming the project. +
Three people will be producing it: Joe Roth, Palak Patel and Deborah Giarratana. The name ’90 Church’ refers to the place of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in New York, when it was formed to tackle the increasing organised crime and drug traffic in the 1960s and 1970s. FBI agents used cunning tactics to stop the increasing numbers. The reputation of ’90 Church’ grew with the body count as well.
The book was a fiction story but was written by an agent himself who worked in the department. Mastras is repped by CAA and manager Dan Halsted.
Hollywood
UK watchdog CMA to probe Warner Bros-Paramount merger deal
Phase 1 review to assess competition risks as industry voices opposition
LONDON: The Competition and Markets Authority is set to launch a preliminary investigation into the proposed $110 billion merger between Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount, marking the first formal regulatory step in assessing the deal’s impact on competition.
The UK watchdog has initiated a consultation process with industry stakeholders, inviting comments until April 27. This phase, known as a Phase 1 review, will evaluate whether the merger could harm competition across the film and television sectors, both of which play a significant role in the UK economy.
“We expect to launch our phase 1 investigation in the coming weeks,” said Competition and Markets Authority spokesperson, in an emailed statement to Reuters. “The film and TV industries contribute billions to our economy, so it’s important we assess whether deals between studios may harm competition.”
The proposed transaction, which also involves Skydance Media, would bring together two of Hollywood’s largest studios, combining extensive content libraries and potentially reshaping the global entertainment landscape.
Following the initial assessment, the regulator will decide whether to escalate the matter to a more detailed Phase 2 investigation, which typically involves deeper scrutiny of market dynamics and competitive risks.
The deal is already facing growing resistance from within the creative community. More than 1,000 industry professionals, including Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Stiller, have publicly opposed the merger, warning it could reduce opportunities, limit storytelling diversity and place further strain on an industry still adjusting to rapid change.
As regulators begin to weigh the implications, the proposed merger is shaping up to be a defining test of how far consolidation can go in a media industry already in flux.
