The embattled Warner Bros. film chiefs now have Sinners, whose remarkable domestic hold should get
the $100 million-plus film into the black, and A Minecraft Movie, which could actually approach $1 billion worldwide. It’s a wild, only-in-Hollywood vibe shift from a month ago, when boss David Zaslav was semi-openly hunting for their replacement. After only a couple hits, would I be bragging publicly to the trades and accepting Goldendoodle-style slobber
kisses from the Smartless guys? Probably not, but if Mike & Pam think Zaslav’s failure to publicly back them amid the negative press coverage has rendered their relationship awkward at best, maybe communicating to him via friendly media outlets isn’t such a bad tactic.

A little more: This was maybe the most bizarre weekend of domestic box office in decades: Four movies grossed more than $20 million, a horror title
(Sinners) dropped only 6 percent in its second weekend, a 20-year-old rerelease (Revenge of the Sith) earned more ($25 million) than a sequel starring Ben Affleck, and even that movie (The Accountant 2) overperformed its tracking. And the summer movie season doesn’t even start until Thunderbolts on Friday.

Which leads nicely to…

“I believe it is an outmoded idea, for most people—not for everybody.”
—Netflix co-C.E.O. Ted
Sarandos, when asked at the Time 100 summit if Sean Baker’s speech at the Oscars about making movies for the “communal experience” is an “outmoded idea.”

A little more: It’s interesting to see Sarandos get more aggressive publicly on his anti-theaters rhetoric as Netflix pulls away from rivals.
Ghettoizing the theatrical experience to sell more video subscriptions has always been Ted’s goal, of course, but he’s tempered his language a bit to court filmmakers and Oscar voters—and not get booted from image-burnishing perches like the Academy Museum board. One veteran Oscar voter texted me Ted’s quote last week with the comment, “Kramer wants to sell our show to THIS GUY?”

He was referring to the belief among some members that Academy C.E.O. Bill Kramer will take a
fat check from Netflix to broadcast the Oscars for the next decade if he can’t get what he wants from Disney/ABC. That move would be… controversial, to say the least—especially if Ted continues to crap on the format in which most Academy members want to see their work displayed.

Now here’s Kim with the story of two movie moguls in two different eras…

I met Yariv Milchan earlier this month in a conference room at the New Regency offices on
the Fox lot, which has been the production company’s home for almost 30 years, even as the studio and the industry transformed around it. Milchan, a tall and fit-looking 56-year-old Israeli-French man, has been the chairman and C.E.O. of Regency ever since taking over from his father in 2016. Remarkably, he said this was his first time speaking to a reporter.

If ever there was a figure who intrigued industry insiders back when Hollywood was still wild (and, in the minds of many, a lot
more fun), it was Yariv’s father, Arnon Milchan, the founder of what became New Regency. Rumors swirled that the Israeli billionaire was a spy and an arms dealer, and it turned out he was both (and apparently one hell of a multitasker). Arnon was also a prolific producer—a charmer who befriended not only the A-listers of the day but also had an important ally in Rupert Murdoch. He took big swings with auteur directors, and Regency produced an
enviable string of credits: L.A. Confidential, Fight Club, Bohemian Rhapsody, Birdman, The Revenant, 12 Years a Slave, and many more. On the TV side, the company hit a gusher with the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.

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Now 80 and living in England, Arnon seems to hover as his son wrestles with keeping his company afloat in a
Hollywood transformed by austerity and uncertainty about the survival of even the big legacy studios. “Everything’s changed,” Yariv told me. “The whole business. Not one thing is the way it was. We’re trying to figure out how to stay profitable in a changing landscape. The environment is like quicksand right now.” And don’t forget the pandemic, and the strikes, he added. The Disney acquisition of Fox also “slowed things down for us,” he said, as the company swapped a longstanding relationship
for a new, and very different, home.

Industry sources say that they have never heard Yariv attribute any decision to his father, but Arnon’s presence is still felt. “Of course he knows what’s going on,” Yariv said. “He’s my dad. We talk every day.” In an email responding to my request for an interview, Arnon said the company “is really doing unbelievable to a point that I think it’s best for Yariv to take you through what’s going on.” He added, “I’m glad you realize I did not disappear
:)”

Industry veterans who dealt with Arnon back in the day have mixed feelings about him. “Arnon’s a gambler and loves art, and he’s a billionaire,” said a former Regency insider. “What else do you want? They don’t make ’em like Arnon anymore.” But another industry veteran who worked with the company took a darker view. “Arnon had some taste and made some bold moves,” he said. “Other than that, he’s a scoundrel.” Was facilitating arms deals with apartheid South Africa a scoundrel move? We
report, you decide.

Life has taken some sharp turns for Arnon. He’s been caught up for almost a decade in the corruption scandal
engulfing his (erstwhile?) friend Bibi Netanyahu. He’s been interrogated at length—and testified at Netanyahu’s 2023 corruption trial— about lavish gifts that he showered on both Bibi and his wife, Sara, (sometimes after getting a sharp nudge) as well as the favors he received in return.

Such favors, according to Israeli prosecutors, allegedly included Netanyahu’s assistance in securing a 10-year U.S. visa for Arnon and arranging a very sweet tax
arrangement that benefitted not only Arnon but Australian billionaire James Packer and, presumably, Brett Ratner. (Netanyahu has chosen some very sketchy Hollywood friends.) The Bibi Files, the Alex Gibney–produced documentary that no major streamer dared pick up, captures Arnon on tape during police questioning. “Can you drop the word ‘bribe’?” Milchan said at one point. “If this gets out, I’m ruined.” (Milchan has not been charged
with any crime.) Multiple sources also said that Milchan has faced serious health challenges. Though he declined to be interviewed, he told me via email, “I can assure you that you don’t have to worry, I am all good.”

Regency has suffered setbacks, too. In Arnon’s day, Fox owned 25 percent of Regency and gave the company what one former Fox exec called “the best independent production deal in history.” Regency could greenlight as many movies as it wanted and put them through Fox’s
distribution system, regardless of whether the studio wanted to bother with the film. Fox could also opt in as a 50-50 partner in Regency movies. (Bohemian Rhapsody worked out well for Fox, grossing more than $900 million worldwide.)

Regency could also offer to co-finance some of Fox’s projects, and Arnon apparently offered quite aggressively. “The relationship had its tensions,” a former Fox insider told me. “Some of the movies weren’t good. Arnon was in and out, a man
of mystery. His tax status was such that he couldn’t be in the U.S. for more than a certain period of time. He would be in the South of France, in Israel. He cycled through heads of production. And it was always, I want to help you finance this movie. Well, we weren’t necessarily looking for financing on that movie.” Pushing back carried its risks. Given his close relationship with Murdoch, Arnon could be a powerful enemy.

But in 2019, Rupert sold the Fox studio to Disney, which
does not look to co-finance its movies. The deal survives, however; Disney even renewed it in 2021 for five more years, viewing Regency as a potential supplier of material for Hulu. But Regency hasn’t put a movie through the Disney pipeline since 2023’s The Creator, which supposedly had a budget of $80 million and grossed only $104 million worldwide. (Disney released the films under its 20th Century label, which it also acquired in the Fox deal.) “They’ve had a really difficult time of
it,” said an executive who has worked closely with Regency. In recent years the company had a string of expensive disappointments: James Gray’s Ad Astra, David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, Adrian Lyne’s Deep Water, and Robert Eggers’ The Northman.

Succession is hard, as we have seen at Disney, at Paramount, and especially at Fox. Yariv, who has Israeli
and French citizenship but has been in the U.S. for more than 30 years, was a photographer until his father drafted him to run Regency in 2016. Several sources who have worked for or with the company think that Yariv—despite being the brother of Tár producer Alexandra Milchan—had no particular ambition to become its chairman and C.E.O. Yariv pushed back on that idea during our conversation. “If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. He is supported in
this assertion by Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski, who partnered with Regency on The Northman in 2022 and a year later on The Bikeriders, another disappointment. “The notion that Yariv doesn’t want to be doing it couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Kujawski. “He genuinely is a passionate film guy.”

When I ask about some of the big-ticket failures, Yariv and his head of film and TV, Natalie Lehmann, argued that success
shouldn’t be judged solely on box office returns. The Northman, for example, supposedly cost $70 million and grossed only $75 million, which looks pretty dismal. But Yariv said the film will be profitable, partly due to its success on P.V.O.D. “It is very difficult to actually understand what a win is because things are shifting,” he said. “Where the eyeballs are is the thing that matters.” (Regency is not the only company starting to make this argument.)

Yariv pointed
out that the company is also involved in ventures with an array of businesses. Game company Diversion3 Entertainment is developing a video game based on the 2022 film Barbarian, one of Regency’s few bright spots in recent years—though Yariv sought a financial partner on the film, which cost less than $5 million, so Regency only got half of the upside. The company is making documentaries through a joint venture with Teddy Schwarzman’s Black Bear, including one in the
works for HBO about Elon Musk, which might prove politically tricky for Warner Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav. Regency was the largest single investor in the Pretty Woman musical, and has even published a series of coffee table books in partnership with the publisher Insight Editions (though it’s not clear how many customers will buy an oversize book on The Creator).

A talent rep who does business at the company said Regency is now “a TV
studio that does an occasional movie.” Leaning into shows based on films in the Regency library, the company has licensed Mr. & Mrs. Smith to Amazon, and a Man on Fire series is coming to Netflix next year. A four-episode revival of Malcolm in the Middle is now in production for Disney+, with most of the original cast. Though it hasn’t been announced, Regency is paying Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner $500,000 to write a series based on the 1989
thriller Dead Calm, the breakout film for a 20-year-old Nicole Kidman.

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Since running into sexual harassment allegations, in 2017, Weiner has launched only one show: the costly
failure The Romanoffs. (That series was ordered by Amazon’s then-studio chief, Roy Price, who lost his job due to alleged improper conduct. Weiner has said he doesn’t recall engaging in the alleged conduct.) Asked whether they had any concerns about the Weiner allegations, both Yariv and Lehmann initially looked blank, and then said no.

Lehmann also pushed back on the narrative that Regency is primarily a TV studio these days, pointing out that the company still
has films in the works: “We have a lot of things we’re excited about, but either they’re long-gestating or we want to get them right.” Regency might not be making that many movies, but when it does, Lehmann said, “We haven’t changed our mandate. For us, it’s always been filmmaker first.”

Yet there has been blowback from some filmmakers. In a recently settled lawsuit, agent
turned manager turned producer turned aspiring film director Gavin Polone complained bitterly about the way he was treated on a project, alleging that he got contradictory notes from Yariv and that Polone’s Emmy-winning editor was unilaterally fired. The suit argued that Yariv “was inexperienced and ill-equipped” to run the film studio.
Similar language was used in a 2018 suit that involved Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply. Investors in the film contended that Yariv “had neither the skill nor the experience to do the job.” (Yariv declined to comment on the suits.)

Several industry sources believe that Arnon has quietly explored selling the studio, hoping to get $1 billion, but he set the price too high. Meanwhile, enough has come out about his intrigues—some
revealed by Arnon himself—that the story could make for a movie. “Do you know what it’s like to be a 20-something-year-old kid [and] his country lets him be James Bond? Wow! The action! That was exciting,” he said in a lengthy 2013 interview with an Israeli documentary program.

He also confirmed claims that had been
made in an unauthorized 2011 biography that he had worked for an Israeli agency that negotiated arms deals and supported Israel’s secret nuclear weapons project. This publicity upset Netanyahu, who earlier this month testified in his ongoing trial that those revelations were “a disaster” that sparked international news coverage that harmed Israel. Netanyahu added that he had advised Milchan to talk in the interview about his Hollywood career rather than security matters.

In fact, there is
a movie that deals with Arnon’s exploits, but not the kind that he wants people to see. It’s a shame that no streamer has picked up The Bibi Files, which played at the Toronto Film Festival last September. “We went to everyone [in the U.S.] and they all turned us down,” Gibney told me. “The dominant reaction: too controversial.” Jolt Film has released The Bibi Files online, though Facebook rejected ads for the film, citing its policy against ads involving politics and
elections.

The first big chunk of the film consists of leaked tapes of Milchan’s police interview, in which he details showering expensive cigars on Bibi and pink champagne on Sara. There were code names for the “gifts”—cigars were called “green leaves” while champagne was “pinks.” Arnon’s assistant, Hadas Klein, who was also questioned, said it was impossible to say no to the Netanyahus’ demands for gifts. Klein said she was “extremely familiar with [Sara Netanyahu’s]
screaming. At first I was shocked by the level of screaming.” In a similar vein, Arnon told police, ”I felt that the prime minister’s wife will torture him if she didn’t have a little to drink.” (Sara Netanyahu denied soliciting gifts.) At one point, Klein said on camera, Sara asked for a $42,000 gold bracelet encrusted with diamonds. According to Klein, Bibi thought it would raise questions about where it came from and asked her to exchange it. Bibi denied any knowledge of the bracelet. Asked
about Arnon’s entanglement in this probe, Yariv said simply, “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

For Regency, the question is whether things are being done right. Yariv says he’s doing his best, given the real difficulties plaguing the industry generally. But one longtime industry insider expressed great nostalgia for the fun old days and frustration that Regency and other old-school companies don’t appear to be meeting the moment by trying to reinvent themselves. “They should figure out
something new, a new business model,” this person said. “We know this model is dying. They have I.P., they have been around a long time. With that library and those resources, you can leverage it, be innovative, think outside the box. But there’s no one trying to figure it out. They just want to grind it out until it’s over.”

Comcast’s broadband bubble is deflating fast, and C.E.O. Brian Roberts realizes “customer
service” is a problem, confirming the feelings of everyone who has ever called a Comcast helpline. [MarketWatch]

“The first word that came into my head was ‘pig.’” The unusual jury selection process for The People v. Harvey Weinstein 2.0.
[NY Times]

Former Paramount C.E.O. Bob Bakish extracted $69 million to go away, even more than the $58 million in severance that Viacom’s Hall of Fame grifter Philippe Dauman sucked out of shareholders in 2016.
[S.E.C. 8-K]

Speaking of Dauman, you can buy his tacky New York home for just $37 million. [Crain’s]

And speaking of Paramount, co-C.E.O. Chris McCarthy
recruited Taylor Sheridan to publicly declare, “I don’t know of another executive that I could do this with.” You hear that, David Ellison? David? Jeff? Hello? Anyone? [Bloomberg]

Brian Steel, the lawyer who freed rapper Young
Thug, was rewarded (?) with a hot new client: Diddy. [New Yorker]

Months after being named a “special ambassador” for entertainment, Jon Voight and his manager say they have a plan to fix Hollywood. I’m sure the timing has nothing to do with a recent L.A. Times
story noting that ambassadors Voight, Stallone, and Gibson have done nothing yet. [Bloomberg]

Front row at L. Ron Hubbard’s 114th birthday celebration: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Peña, Nancy Cartwright, Jenna Elfman, and a bald head that is probably John Travolta’s. [Underground
Bunker]

The Savannah Bananas fake baseball team will soon operate a full-time league with televised games and up to 80,000 fans at events. How long until Ari Emanuel buys them? [Huddle Up]

Live Nation is now selling naming rights to music festivals. How long until the Jardiance Golden Globes are presented by Flo From Progressive? [WSJ]

Speaking of Jardiance, everyone’s favorite dancing diabetes medication commercials are casting for a new star. Here’s the actual breakdown:

I’d audition if it weren’t for the “basic dance moves” requirement.

Thursday’s
reveal of the latest “theatrical” movie actor research drew more than a few facepalms about the lack of new stars. Some responses…

“I think you’re missing one big piece of analysis here… these stars are still the biggest names (and thus draws, due to awareness), but does their cost-to-benefit ratio add up? Every ‘’90s star’ will take you
to a budget range almost consistently untenable in the box office.” —A producer

“The Gen Z star not listed that I kept thinking about: Rachel Zegler. Despite starring in three big event films in recent years (four if you count Shazam 2) and getting mountains of press…” —A journalist

“Don’t mean to slight my friends at NRG, but asking people to self-select names will automatically generate older, more universally recognizable actors, like
Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington. Those are just going to be top of mind for people, and that’s not how people choose which movies to see. In no real-world scenario are Johnny Depp and Samuel L. Jackson a bigger draw than Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet.” —An analyst

“How can Jenna Ortega not be in the top 25? She’s all my kids care about, and they went to
Beetlejuice for her.” —A producer

[Ed. Note: Ortega is No. 56 on the main list, and No. 20 among Gen Z.]

Disney’s Elio has lots of work to do, with “interest” in the Pixar original about 10 points lower
than fellow June title How to Train Your Dragon, according to the latest early film tracking chart from The Quorum…

Have a great week,
Matt

Got a question, comment, complaint, or a producing deal for Bill
Belichick’s girlfriend? Email me at Matt@puck.news or call/text me at 310-804-3198.

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