Hollywood
Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation brings eight rare films to Hulu
MUMBAI: Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation (WCF) has been restoring rare films from around the globe since 2007. But while the foundation has saved 21 movies in that time, the product of its efforts haven’t been made available to the public until today.
Recently, Scorsese announced that eight of the foundation’s restorations are coming to the streaming-video service Hulu, by way of a partnership with the Criterion Collection. Like the WCF, Criterion is a group that collects and restores historic and influential films. But Criterion sells its collection on disc and online, and streams exclusively on Hulu. The first WCF movie to make to Hulu is The Housemaid from South Korea and it’s available for streaming now.
In the coming days, Criterion will add Senegal’s Touki Bouki, Turkey’s Law of the Borderand Dry Summer, Morocco’s Trances, India and Bangladesh’s A River Called Titas, Kazakhstan’s Revenge, and Mexico’s Redes from the WCF’s vaults to Hulu. Through 24 August the eight films – which have never before been available for streaming in the US – can be seen for free with ads. After that, only paying Hulu Plus subscribers will be able to watch the WCF movies, and they’ll do so ad free.
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.
