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AMC’s Adam Aron backs David Ellison’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery

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AMC’s Adam Aron backs David Ellison’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery

As Hollywood has fractured over the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, AMC Entertainment Holdings Chief Executive Adam Aron is throwing his support behind David Ellison.

The movie theater chief said he trusts that Ellison, Paramount’s CEO, will hold to his promise that the combined company will release 30 films a year — 15 each from Paramount and Warner Bros.

Many industry executives and other theater operators have questioned whether that goal is realistic, particularly given the cost cuts that are expected to commence after the deal closes. Exhibitors in particular fear that a decline in film releases will erase some of the progress made at the box office since the pandemic.

“Adam Aron and AMC are big fans of David Ellison,” Aron said during an interview Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas, where he was attending the CinemaCon trade convention. “We respect his talent as a filmmaker and a movie executive, and we believe in the promises that he has made to increase the number of movies being made by Paramount and Warner Bros.”

Aron added that he trusts Ellison will respect calls to keep films in theaters for 45 days before they’re available for premium purchase at home and much later, on streaming services.

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That strategy, known as windowing, became a more contentious issue after the pandemic when some studios began to reduce the amount of time films were in cinemas before audiences could view them at home.

“We’re enthusiastic that David will fulfill his promises,” Aron said. “And that in the end, this will prove to be a good thing for our company and our industry.”

He added that he hopes current Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy “continue to have the opportunity to do great work” at that studio. The pair led Warner Bros. to 30 Oscar nominations — more than any other studio this year — and 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

After a difficult last few years, Aron said he feels like the theatrical business has “finally turned a corner.”

So far this year, domestic box office revenue is up more than 20% compared with the same time period last year, bolstering hopes across the industry that 2026 will mark a rebound from the downturn of the pandemic.

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Last year, AMC saw a 2.1% decrease in attendance compared to 2024. But this year’s strong lineup of films has given Aron confidence that the company‘s revenue and earnings will rise this year.

The company is also working to pay down the debt it took on during the pandemic. The company had as much as $6 billion in debt in 2020 and is now down to $4 billion, Aron said.

“The big news of 2026 for us, in light of the rising box office, in light of rising EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization], and in paying down debt and extending maturities, I think we will have dramatically strengthened our balance sheet,” he said.

Aron also confirmed reports that Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos met with a group of movie theater chiefs in Las Vegas, a discussion he described as “introductory in nature” rather than about dealmaking since it was in a large group forum.

Netflix and AMC previously had a complicated relationship over the streaming service’s long-standing resistance to traditional theatrical releases.

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But the two companies have recently partnered on several projects, including a Halloween weekend showing of the animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” New Year’s Eve screenings of the “Stranger Things” series finale and the first two episodes of the Netflix show “One Piece.”

Aron said AMC thoroughly embraced all three projects, and that both companies were pleased with the results.

“Both AMC and Netflix have individually said publicly that we hope this is the beginning of collaboration, and that we each expected more good joint projects to come in the future,” he said. “What those will be, I don’t even know yet, but I’m optimistic that we’ll be doing more things together with Netflix in the months and years ahead.”

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Tractor-trailer crosses center divider in Irwindale, killing 1 and injuring 30

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Tractor-trailer crosses center divider in Irwindale, killing 1 and injuring 30

A big rig crossed the center divider on the 210 Freeway in Irwindale on Saturday morning, killing one and injuring 30, authorities said.

The mass accident took place before 9 a.m. west of Irwindale Avenue, where emergency personnel arrived to find the truck had collided with several vehicles, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a social media post.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene and two were critically injured. Eight minors were taken to the hospital and 22 other crash victims declined treatment, the department said.

The California Highway Patrol temporarily shut down all westbound lanes of the freeway, diverting traffic onto Irwindale Avenue, before opening up one lane.

The CHP issued a SigAlert warning of traffic delays on the westbound lanes, with two lanes on the eastbound side of the freeway also temporarily closed.

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The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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Ford sues L.A. lemon law firm alleging ‘utter fabrications’ inflated fees by 7,000%

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Ford sues L.A. lemon law firm alleging ‘utter fabrications’ inflated fees by 7,000%

Ford Motor Co. is suing a prominent Los Angeles lemon law firm for allegedly inflating their fees by as much as 7,000%, the company’s latest attempt to crack down on California attorneys who it says are exploiting the state’s unique law to protect consumers from defective cars.

Quill & Arrow, a personal injury firm that represents drivers suing over so-called “lemons” — vehicles with significant, unfixable manufacturing flaws — has long been a thorn in the side of Ford. Since 2021, Ford said its has paid them more than $100 million, roughly half in attorney fees.

That profit, Ford alleges in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, came from billing records that were “utter fabrications.”

Quill & Arrow used an overseas “army” of low-paid, non-lawyers to help file thousands of lemon lawsuits and then pretended the work was done by California attorneys, who billed as much as $950 per hour, Ford alleged in its complaint.

Ford claims that the bulk of the work was actually done by non-lawyers in countries such as Mexico and the Philippines, who got paid as little as $13 per hour.

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Quill & Arrow was founded in 2019 by attorneys Kevin Jacobson and Jonathan Shirian, according to the firm’s website, which touts recovering $500 million in lemon law payouts. The partners called Ford’s lawsuit “nothing more than an attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers.”

“It grossly mischaracterizes the facts and the claim that Quill & Arrow created fabricated attorney billing records is absurd,” the firm said in a statement.

California’s lemon law, considered one of the strongest consumer protections in the nation, allows drivers to get a refund or replacement of a broken car if the manufacturer can’t fix it. If the driver is not satisfied, they can sue.

If the driver wins, the law allows attorneys to collect their fees from the car maker — rather than take a percentage of the client’s winnings, as is common in personal injury cases. This fee structure, Ford argues, has turned the law into a bonanza for plaintiff attorneys. The longer the case drags on, the company argues, the more the law firm can reap in profit.

Ford alleges the firm intentionally slowed down its clients’ cases to drive up their billable hours, instructing drivers not to communicate with Ford and pushing them toward filing a lawsuit.

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“California’s Lemon Laws are in need of reform and the courts need to exercise more oversight, given the fraud we continue to expose,” said Doug Lampe, counsel at Ford, in a statement. The law is “being blatantly abused by the lemon law plaintiffs lawyers, the bar is not policing its own and the courts need to monitor fee awards with far more skepticism and scrutiny.”

The cases, he said, “have become about the lawyers for the lawyers.”

Lemon law cases have exploded in California in the last decade from about 4,500 cases in 2015 to roughly 30,000 in 2024, according to an analysis from the Assembly Judiciary. These cases, officials warned, “are poised to cripple the entirety of California’s civil justice system.”

In 2024, the legislature tightened the state’s lemon law, requiring additional steps before a driver could sue. The bill seems to have put little dent in the caseload: Lemon lawsuits surged to record levels the following year.

Ford’s lawsuit marks the second attempt by one of America’s largest car manufacturers to go on the offense against lemon law attorneys in Southern California.

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Ford sued a cohort of local lemon law firms in May 2025, accusing attorneys of collecting at least $100 million in “phantom legal fees” by billing for hours they never worked. The case, which was brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, alleged lawyers worked together to file a flurry of fraudulent cases with billable hours that defied logic.

A partner at Knight Law Group, an L.A.-based lemon law firm, once billed an “ostensibly heroic but physically impossible” 57.5-hour workday, Ford alleged.

Knight Law Group denied inflating their billing, calling the suit a “thinly veiled attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers.”

A judge threw out the suit in March on the grounds that lawyers were protected under the 1st Amendment from being sued for the content of their lawsuits unless the case was proved fraudulent. Ford says it plans to appeal.

After Quill found about the Knight Law Group case, Ford alleged, Quill dedicated a team to “scrubbing” their own timesheets of “impossible time entries.”

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Ranch lovers can soon travel with a TSA-friendly kit of the popular American dressing

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Ranch lovers can soon travel with a TSA-friendly kit of the popular American dressing

Ranch dressing is having a moment thanks to the World Cup and Kraft is ready to meet it.

The company said Thursday that it is working on a “TSA Compliant Ranch” for those looking to travel with the quintessentially American condiment. The announcement follows the influx of social media videos showing international soccer fans sampling the dressing for the first time.

“Some visitors leave with souvenirs. Others leave with America’s favorite dressing,” Kraft wrote in a caption accompanying an AI image of a TSA-approved clear bag packed with ranch dressing packets posted to social media. The image showed the bag — complete with a luggage tag resembling a ranch dressing bottle — placed in an airport security screening bin along with other travel essentials.

Additional details will be announced later, the company said.

TSA has also leaned into ranch’s apparent newfound popularity among international travelers, providing some helpful tips (and warnings) on social media.

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“If you’re visiting for a very large sporting event & you happen to discover RANCH while you’re here… pls pack it in your CHECKED BAG on your way home,” the agency posted on Instagram Tuesday. It also asked travelers to “avoid chugging your ranch outside security” lines.

“Who knew dip-lomacy could be achieved through addressing the obvious: ranch is the king of condiments,” TSA wrote in the caption accompanying its carousel of humorous ranch-related quips. “If you’re traveling within the U.S., make sure to keep your carry-on sauces to 3.4 oz or less and place any larger containers in your checked bags.”

“Some heroes wear capes. Others bring ranch,” it added.

According to 1987 Times reports, ranch dressing was invented by Steve Henson, who opened the Hidden Valley Guest Ranch in Santa Barbara in the mid-1950s with his wife, Gayle. The unnamed condiment originally mixed herbs and spices with buttermilk and mayonnaise and its popularity with guests led to it being jarred so they could take some home. The more travel-friendly powdered form followed.

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