☀️ Elon Enters the PAR-Verse; YOUTUBE Pushes More AI

Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026.

Where Ari’s Roll the Calls is getting some company on the Hollywood Executive Tome shelf at BARNES & NOBLE (it’s right next to the STARBUCKS stand, you can’t miss it) as Bob Chapek’s book excerpts for his Behind the Castle Walls memoir begin to drop before it hits shelves on Sept. 29.

You’ll never believe it, but he alleges Bob Iger had a “relentless” sabotage campaign against him during Chapek’s time as CEO (and yes, Chapek has kept the beard!).

YUP: PSKY has discussed approaching Elon Musk as a part of a syndicate of new equity investors the company is looking to attract, according to Semafor, as the process begins for both:

Larry Ellison is finding parties to offload some of his PSKY equity (and financial exposure) to, other than mainly Middle East sovereign wealth funds and REDBIRD, who’s in for $250M.
The banks backing the debt on the deal are starting to find interested parties in taking some of it on.
- A tranche was syndicated this morning, and PARAMOUNT will take on the risks for any increases in borrowing costs instead of any lenders who participate. Eh, I’m sure bond prices will only go down from here, right?
Don’t worry, “Elon owning CNN” headlines would only help morale, viewership and I’m sure valuation for the entity that the Ellisons are paying billions to buy.

OH: We’ll see what the California judge has to say about all of this and what the “certain outstanding questions” are on the matter during the Zoom hearing today at 2 p.m. ET.

The Block the Merger coalition filed an emergency request to oppose the deal this morning.

SPEAKING OF: Here’s a new Ankler Agenda podcast with TV writer/showrunner Mike Schur sharing candid thoughts on the developments this week.

Listen:

Watch:

WELL: Casey Bloys’ guest for the HBO War premiere this week topped yours as he picked PSKY TV leader George Cheeks. The two weren’t photographed together at the event, and I didn’t see him around — then again, “Of course, George Cheeks will be here,” wasn’t a thought I had going into the event.

AH: NETFLIX set its next fight night, Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua on Friday, Dec. 11, from Wales. THE RING and Dana White are promoting the fight.

PLUS: Barry Diller is abandoning his plan to take a majority stake in MGM RESORTS at an $18B valuation, but will still maintain his 27% interest in the company.

GOOD NEWS: Private Equity can now own more of MLB teams, as it raises the ownership-stake limit for one PE firm from 15% to 20% (though the controlling owner must still hold at least 15%). Just in time for the strike season — get in now!

This matches PE ownership limits in the NBA, NHL and MLS, but the NFL is sticking with 10%.

ALSO: YOUTUBE will continue to livestream Coachella through the 2030 edition.

YAH: Another 400k Americans defaulted on their student loans in Q2 this year, upping the total to 9.3M. An additional 1.5M are at risk of doing so, and 14% of the overall federal student loan portfolio is now in default.

AND: The VMAs enlisted Kacey Musgraves to do a Dolly Parton tribute as part of Sunday’s show on CBS/MTV, where T-Swift will also debut her new music video with Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson.

WAKEUP Box Office Prediction

Yes, Avengers Endgame: Encore is very likely going to take the crown this weekend.

But instead, let’s center on the nice Gen X vs. millennial battle for the top new pic of the weekend with Brad Pitt’s Heart of the Beast at PAR and Robert Pattinson’s Primetime at A24 both tracking in the upper teen millions, say $16M to potentially $20M.

Now, one cost $82M, and one cost $15M, so . . . yeah, they’re going to have very different financial narratives, but we’ll deal with that on Sunday.

While both are getting solid reviews, I’ll give the nod to Gen X’er Pitt coming out on top — if only so the dog makes the most of the 5% backend cut in his deal.