☀️ WB AT CINEMACON: Reading the Tea Leaves Into 2027/28

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

Where did you guys know Jersey rules? 💪

New Jersey is the only state where TV & movie production filming was up considerably in both filming count (+45% YoY) and production spend (+37%) in Q1, according to PRODPRO.

But, CA still leads the way in spend — NJ is only #5 in total spend size — so, as always, don’t get too high on yourself there, Jersey.

The Q1 numbers:

CA: $1.48B (+2% YoY, -14% in filming count)
NY: $871M (flat, -14% in filming count)
GA: $370M (-5%, -11% in filming count)
IL: $253M (flat, +2% in filming count #ThanksDickWolf)
NJ: $211M (+45%, +37% in filming count)

Ashley Cullins also took a good look at the state of tax incentives #punintended in her Dealmakers column this week (also, uh, remember to get your taxes in today).

AND: The Tribeca Fest is opening with Questlove’s HBO doc Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World) on June 3.

OH: NJ TRANSIT will charge you $100 to take the train from Penn Station to MET LIFE Stadium and back for the World Cup games this summer. The usual price for other events? About $13.

And you say U.S. hotels are slashing rates as demand is coming up short, eh?

ALSO: Sen. Cory Booker will hold a “Spotlight” hearing on the WARNAMOUNT deal today. David Ellison was invited but won’t be able to attend due to a family funeral.

BTW: The open letter opposing the WARNAMOUNT deal now has well over 2,000 signatures.

AH: Ted Sarandos did come out for CINEMACON . . . ish — he met with the heads of the major movie theater chains on Sunday night, according to The Wrap.

YES: DISNEY is definitely laying off about 1,000 people starting this week, centered in the marketing & brand divisions, but also hitting studios, TV, ESPN, product & technology and certain corporate groups.

MARVEL alone is cutting about 8% of its staff.

SPEAKING OF: The Q2 layoff train just keeps growing . . . SNAP is cutting 16% of staff, or about 1,000 folks, due to AI, and the BBC is cutting up to 2,000 jobs.

YAH: AMAZON is spending $11B on a satellite operator called GLOBALSTAR to help its reportedly behind-schedule STARLINK rival, LEO. Good thing that NFL deal is the one not up for re-negotiation!

GLOBALSTAR is the service that also powers the satellite coverage backup features on iPhones, putting AMAZON and APPLE in business here.

UH HUH: OPENAI is now planning the advanced business model of “pay-per-click” to its advertising business pricing approach, according to The Information.

PLUS: Sydney Sweeney and AMERICAN EAGLE are launching a new ad campaign that . . . well, let’s just say they’re taking a new approach.

THEN: Here’s Lin-Manuel Miranda’s casting sheet for his next musical adaptation, Octet.

🎞️ CINEMACON 2026

WARNER BROS: Movie Tonnage, Aged Cruise, Epic ‘Dune’ . . . and don’t forget our 2025! 🙏

So, who knew Patton Oswalt joined WB PICTURES? Hope he survives the WARNAMOUNT consolidation. 😬 Not too surprising that there was no mention of, uh, ya know, on stage.

Yes — while Mike & Pam, Jeffrey “Oscar” Goldstein (gotta love a man walking out on stage in a gold suit) and Peter Safran made on-stage speeches, Patton was enlisted to serve as emcee for the night, and he brought a good, loose vibe to the presentation.

A presentation that, I think, is still going on — its length was certainly one of the biggest remarked upon reactions I got from all folks afterward.

Part of that was time spent once again diving into the 2025 that was . . . now nearly 4 months into 2026, although given that when Mike & Pam took the stage a year ago — everyone in the press section was writing them out of their jobs . . . they certainly get the pass.

But I think we put the Han Solo carbonite seal on WB 2025 talk from here on out.

So, let’s take a look at:

What 2026 / 2027 (and 2028) has in store — a pretty diversified slate, even if a couple of genres are still missing, as the studio is full steam ahead.
- Clearly, the newly added 2nd Prez of Production, Michael Ireland, is being put to work quickly alongside the other Prez, Jesse Ehrman.
The key messages from Mike & Pam for what’s ahead in the next 2-3 years.
A bunch of new dates for movies on a growing slate.
Some more awards, of course:
- Biggest Question Mark
- A look at the Cruise non-IP numbers 💰
- Best Thing I Saw
- Biggest Mic Drop Moment