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Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon assortment of Puck’s best new
reporting.

First up today, Kim Masters gathers the feverish chatter in Hollywood surrounding Warner Bros. studio chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy as their first full slate of films rolls into theaters. With some expensive flops in the rearview and concerns about ballooning film budgets and risky auteur gambles, is David Zaslav, a
notorious belt-tightener, getting ready to send them packing?

Plus, below the fold: Lauren Sherman assesses the latest collections at Hermès, McQueen, and Valentino as Fashion Month finally wraps up. Abby Livingston previews this week’s budget vote as Trump and Mike Johnson attempt to win over G.O.P. hardliners. And John
Ourand has a candid chat with NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman about her top priorities as the ascendant league embarks on its 13th season.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Dylan Byers is joined by Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist, to discuss how a Lufthansa seat-back-pocket staple is reinventing itself for the digital era. On Fashion People, Lauren is joined by fashion
journalist Tish Weinstock to relive Paris Fashion Week and consider Simone Bellotti’s appointment at Jil Sander. On The Town, Matt Belloni and Pouya Shahbazian explain his “talent-driven” approach to A.I. filmmaking. And on The Powers That Be, Leigh Ann Caldwell reunites with Peter Hamby to consider whether Democrats will filibuster the Republican spending bill and gamble with
a government shutdown.

HOLLYWOOD

As debt-laden Warner Bros. Discovery slashes costs across the board, Hollywood insiders have been wondering when,
exactly, the notoriously frugal David Zaslav will rein in the unchecked spending of studio chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. Indeed, in the wake of the expensive superflop Joker: Folie à Deux, and concerns about other high-budget projects coming down the chute—Sinners, One Battle After Another, and The Bride—as their first slate of films prepares to hit theaters, rumors have been flying about whether their fate is already sealed. And while spokesman
Robert Gibbs told Kim that “there is no truth to that rumor,” Zaslav has been said to be leaning toward replacing them with Peter Safran, the co-chair and co-C.E.O. of DC Studios.

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FASHION

With Fashion Month concluding, Lauren offers a retrospective on the mood inside Paris, where Seán McGirr’s latest
show at McQueen was arguably the best of the three collections he’s produced thus far. (Styled by Sarah Richardson, the proposal was far clearer and easier to understand than the previous two.) Meanwhile, over at Valentino, which sells a lot of ready-to-wear, Alessandro Michele’s shoes and bags—which were extremely visible on the runway this season—exuded commercial strength. And at Hermès, Lauren observed that while women love Nadège Vanhee’s vision, you can’t always feel her presence
at retail. On the runway, however, it’s powerful, and the individual pieces are covetable because you absolutely cannot buy a vintage version.

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WASHINGTON

While Democrats alternatively fret and fantasize about the possibility that they could make or break this week’s vote
to prevent a government shutdown, cautiously upbeat Republicans are coalescing around the notion that they might not need their colleagues’ support at all. Until recently, the conventional wisdom held that at least some Democrats might need to cross the aisle to offset the usual brinkmanship among House Freedom Caucus types. But with four days remaining until the federal government runs out of money, Abby reports that she’s hearing mostly optimism on the G.O.P. side following Donald Trump’s
recent all-caps diktat that Republicans vote for Speaker Mike Johnson’s continuing resolution with “NO DISSENT.” Will Republicans actually come together to take the air out of Democratic hopes to extract some political pain?

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Now

SPORTS

The National Women’s Soccer League is about to start its 13th season with a ton of momentum. Last season, the league
set viewership and attendance records (over 17 million total broadcast viewers); started a new media deal with some of the biggest companies in the business (ESPN, CBS, Amazon Prime Video, Scripps); and developed crossover stars (Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, etcetera). Herewith, John presents his candid conversation with commissioner Jessica Berman about her main priorities as the league grows its footprint. Jessica’s game plan is clear, and rather simple: The actual
soccer must be top-quality, and the league has to do everything it can to help its players and teams become even more culturally relevant.

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MEDIA

Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor-in-chief of The Economist, joins Dylan for an inside look at the
publication’s unusual position within the media firmament, and how the ultimate business traveler rag is refreshing itself for the digital-first era: still all in on the virtues of classical liberalism, but with a dose of A.I. powering its expanding global footprint. Plus, Beddoes and Dylan dig into the magazine’s unwavering editorial independence at a time when independent media is under attack.

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FASHION

Lauren is joined by fashion journalist Tish Weinstock, author of How to Be a Goth: Notes on Undead Style, to
chat all things Paris Fashion Week. They cover Simone Bellotti’s appointment at Jil Sander, who they think is up next at Gucci, and what it was like for Tish to walk as a model in the Chloé show. Most importantly, they discuss all the suits on the runway in Paris. Also, Tish offers her theory of modern creativity.

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HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Pouya Shahbazian to discuss his company, Staircase Studios AI, a film, television, and gaming
studio centered on an AI workflow that he claims revolutionizes the process of studio filmmaking. He explains how they plan to deliver “near-major-studio” levels of quality at budgets under $500,000, what their “talent-driven approach” actually looks like, and why this advancement in moviemaking technology should be embraced. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the future of Meghan Markle’s television show on Netflix.

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WASHINGTON

Leigh Ann Caldwell joins Peter to break down the forthcoming high-stakes showdown in Congress: Will Democrats throw
Speaker Mike Johnson a lifeline and help pass the Republican funding bill, or will they stand firm and let the government grind to a halt over DOGE and Trump’s deep spending cuts?

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