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Bronfman drops out of Paramount bidding; Skydance to claim prize

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Bronfman drops out of Paramount bidding; Skydance to claim prize

Billionaire entertainment executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. has bowed out of his long-shot bid to gain control of Paramount Global, clearing the way for David Ellison’s Skydance Media to claim the prize.

Late Monday, Paramount’s lead independent director announced the auction for the company had ended and the takeover by Skydance would move forward. If Skydance wins the approval of federal regulators, Ellison and his team could take over in about a year.

“Having thoroughly explored actionable opportunities for Paramount over nearly eight months, our Special Committee continues to believe that the transaction we have agreed with Skydance delivers immediate value and the potential for continued participation in value creation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape,” Charles E. Phillips Jr., who is chair of Paramount’s special committee, said in a statement.

The move comes less than a week after Phillips and other independent directors extended a deadline for the “go shop” period to review Bronfman’s $6-billion bid to acquire the Redstone family investment firm, National Amusements Inc., and also provide a $1.5-billion cash infusion to help the struggling media company.

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“Tonight, our bidding group informed the special committee that we will be exiting the go-shop process,” Bronfman said in a statement. “It was a privilege to have the opportunity to participate. We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets and people.”

It wasn’t immediately clear why Bronfman exited in advance of Paramount’s Sept. 5 deadline for Paramount’s independent board members to decide which bidder would come away with the beleaguered media company that owns CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and the historic Melrose Avenue film studio. The special committee was poised to scrutinize Bronfman’s proposal this week.

But there were indications that Bronfman’s bid wouldn’t measure up to Skydance Media’s $8.4-billion proposal, which controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and Paramount’s board had approved in July.

The bid from Ellison’s Skydance had several advantages.

Not only were the financial terms larger, Ellison had a big head start over other interested bidders. The tech scion initially reached out to Redstone last summer to pitch his interest in buying out her family and investing in the company her father had managed for decades when it was known as Viacom. Paramount board members first began debating Ellison’s deal in December.

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By exiting before the special committee formally reached its decision, Bronfman may have wanted to spare himself and fellow investors the embarrassment of being rejected in the high-profile auction.

“On behalf of the Special Committee we thank Mr. Bronfman and his investor group for their interest and efforts,” Phillips said.

Paramount executives declined to comment late Monday. But last week, the special committee said that Bronfman’s bid would be the only offer beyond Skydance’s that the board was willing to consider. The bidding window closed for all other bidders on Aug. 21.

Bronfman’s decision also removes some friction in the process for Paramount.

Just last week, after the special committee members extended the go-shop deadline for Bronfman, Skydance registered its displeasure.

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In a letter to Paramount’s special committee, lawyers for the firm accused the committee of violating the terms of Skydance’s agreement to buy National Amusements and Paramount, according to sources familiar with the situation.

“While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead,” Bronfman said in his statement. “We congratulate the Skydance team and thank the special committee and the Redstone family for their engagement during the go-shop process.”

The former top Seagram and Warner Music executive had tried to capitalize on a provision in the Skydance agreement that established a 45-day window for Paramount’s board to solicit offers that were “superior” to that of Skydance.

After weeks of trying to put together a group of investors, Bronfman on Aug. 19 delivered his proposal to Phillips, Paramount’s lead independent director.

Bronfman’s primary pitch was that his group’s takeover would be more straightforward than the deal championed by Ellison, and thus better for Paramount shareholders. It mirrored many of the provisions of the Skydance proposal.

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Bronfman said he would match Skydance’s proposal to buy out National Amusements for $2.4 billion. Once the firm’s debts of about $650 million were paid, the Redstone family would come away with $1.75 billion.

Both bids would inject $1.5 billion into Paramount’s battered balance sheet, allowing the firm to pay down debt, when the deal closes. Federal regulators must weigh in, a process that’s expected to take about a year.

But Skydance had the edge on an important ingredient that helped it win the support of Paramount’s board. This past spring, Skydance said it would carve out $4.5 billion to buy shares from Paramount investors, including nonvoting Class B shares at $15 a share.

Bronfman scrambled to identify funds — a proposed $1.7-billion set-aside — to offer Class B investors $16 a share.

His bid also would have covered the $400-million breakup fee that would have been owed to Skydance if Paramount favored Bronfman’s bid.

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Bronfman’s proposal aimed to eliminate a controversial step in the Ellison deal, in which Ellison merged his Santa Monica-based Skydance company with Paramount.

Some Paramount shareholders have grumbled over the $4.75-billion valuation of Skydance, alleging the entertainment firm isn’t worth nearly that much. Skydance co-owns some of the Paramount studio’s biggest blockbusters, including “Mission: Impossible,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Star Trek.” Ellison’s company also has been building an animation studio under John Lasseter, former Pixar creative executive.

Several sources speculated that Paramount’s board’s willingness to entertain Bronfman’s proposal stemmed from Redstone’s desire to protect her family from costly shareholder lawsuits.

The sales process already has sparked litigation, and the Paramount directors’ efforts to beat the bushes may have been aimed at demonstrating that Skydance was the only viable bidder.

Skydance Media is backed by Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, and Redbird Capital Partners.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review – SHAKA: A STORY OF ALOHA

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Movie Review – SHAKA: A STORY OF ALOHA
SHAKA: A STORY OF ALOHA is shared with the audience by investigator Steve Sue in a calm and charming manner, but this documentary tells a powerful, positive and fascinating story. The “hang loose” thumb, pinky sign that originated in Hawaii and carries many meanings is the focus of this film. I just learned this gesture is called a “Shaka” and has a worldwide impact.  And, there are Shaka Contests.  Who knew? And how do you throw a Shaka? For me, […]
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Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter reportedly found dead at San Francisco hotel on New Year’s Day

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Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter reportedly found dead at San Francisco hotel on New Year’s Day

Victoria Jones, the daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, was reportedly found dead at a hotel in San Francisco on New Year’s Day. She was 34.

According to TMZ, the San Francisco Fire Department responded to a medical emergency call at the Fairmont San Francisco early Thursday morning. The paramedics pronounced Victoria dead at the scene before turning it over to the San Francisco Police Department for further investigation, the outlet said.

An SFPD representative confirmed to The Times that officers responded to a call at approximately 3:14 a.m. Thursday regarding a report of a deceased person at the hotel and that they met with medics at the scene who declared an unnamed adult female dead.

Citing law enforcement sources, NBC Bay Area also reported that the deceased woman found in a hallway of the hotel was believed to be Jones and that police did not suspect foul play.

“We are deeply saddened by an incident that occurred at the hotel on January 1, 2026,” the Fairmont told NBC Bay Area in a statement. “Our heartfelt condolences are with the family and loved ones during this very difficult time. The hotel team is actively cooperating and supporting police authorities within the framework of the ongoing investigation.”

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The medical examiner conducted an investigation at the scene, but Jones’ cause of death remains undetermined. Dispatch audio obtained by TMZ and People indicated that the 911 emergency call was for a suspected drug overdose.

Jones was the daughter of Tommy Lee and ex-wife Kimberlea Cloughley. Her brief acting career included roles on films such as “Men in Black II” (2002), which starred her father, and “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” (2005), which was directed by her father. She also appeared in a 2005 episode of “One Tree Hill.”

Page Six reported that Jones had been arrested at least twice in 2025 in Napa County, including an arrest on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and drug possession.

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Movie Review: “I Was a Stranger” and You Welcomed Me

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Movie Review: “I Was a Stranger” and You Welcomed Me

Just when you think that you’ve seen and heard all sides of the human migration debate, and long after you fear that the cruel, the ignorant and the scapegoaters have won that shouting match, a film comes along and defies ignorance and prejudice by both embracing and upending the conventional “immigrant” narrative.

“I Was a Strranger” is the first great film of 2026. It’s cleverly written, carefully crafted and beautifully-acted with characters who humanize many facets of the “migration” and “illegal immigration” debate. The debut feature of writer-director Brandt Andersen, “Stranger” is emotional and logical, blunt and heroic. It challenges viewers to rethink their preconceptions and prejudices and the very definition of “heroic.”

The fact that this film — which takes its title from the Book of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 35 — is from the same faith-based film distributor that made millions by feeding the discredited human trafficking wish fulfillment fantasy “Sound of Freedom” to an eager conservative Christian audience makes this film something of a minor miracle in its own right.

But as Angel Studios has also urged churchgoers not just to animated Nativity stories (“The King of Kings”) and “David” musicals, but Christian resistence to fascism (“Truth & Treason” and “Bonheoffer”) , their atonement is almost complete.

Andersen deftly weaves five compact but saga-sized stories about immigrants escaping from civil-war-torn Syria into a sort of interwoven, overlapping “Babel” or “Crash” about migration.

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“The Doctor” is about a Chicago hospital employee (Yasmine Al Massri of “Palestine 36” and TV’s “Quantico”) whose flashback takes us to the hospital in Aleppo, Syria, bombed and terrorized by the Assad regime’s forces, and what she and her tween daughter (Massa Daoud) went through to escape — from literally crawling out of a bombed building to dodging death at the border to the harrowing small boat voyage from Turkey to Greece.

“The Soldier” follows loyal Assad trooper Mustafa (Yahya Mahayni was John the Baptist in Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints”) through his murderous work in Aleppo, and the crisis of conscience that finally hits him as he sees the cruel and repressive regime he works for at its most desperate.

“The Smuggler” is Marwan, a refugee-camp savvy African — played by the terrific French actor Omar Sy of “The Intouchables” and “The Book of Clarence” — who cynically makes his money buying disposable inflatable boats, disposable outboards and not-enough-life-jackets in Turkey to smuggle refugees to Greece.

“The Poet” (Ziad Bakri of “Screwdriver”) just wants to get his Syrian family of five out of Turkey and into Europe on Marwan’s boat.

And “The Captain” (Constantine Markoulakis of “The Telemachy”) commands a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel, a man haunted by the harrowing rescues he must carry out daily and visions of the bodies of those he doesn’t.

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Andersen, a Tampa native who made his mark producing Tom Cruise spectacles (“American Made”), Mel Gibson B-movies (“Panama”) and the occasional “Everest” blockbuster, expands his short film “Refugee” to feature length for “I Was a Stranger.” He doesn’t so much alter the formula or reinvent this genre of film as find points of view that we seldom see that force us to reconsider what we believe through their eyes.

Sy’s Smuggler has a sickly little boy that he longs to take to Chicago. He runs his ill-gotten-gains operation, profiting off human misery, to realize that dream. We see glimpses of what might be compassion, but also bullying “customers” and his new North African assistant (Ayman Samman). Keeping up the hard front he shows one and all, we see him callously buy life jackets in the bazaar — never enough for every customer to have one in any given voyage.

The Captain sits for dinner with family and friends and has to listen to Greek prejudices and complaints about this human life and human rights crisis, which is how the worlds sees Greece reacting to this “invasion.” But as he and his first mate recount lives saved and the horrors of lives lost, that quibbling is silenced.

Here and there we see and hear (in Arabic and Greek with subtitles, and English) little moments of “rising above” human pettiness and cruelty and the simple blessings of kindness.

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“I Was a Stranger” was finished in 2024 and arrives in cinemas at one of the bleakest moments in recent history. Cruelty is running amok, unchecked and unpunished. Countries are being destabilized, with the fans of alleged “strong man” rule cheering it on.

Andersen carefully avoids politics — Middle Eastern, Israeli, European and American — save for the opening scene’s zoom in on that Chicago hospital, passing a gaudily named “Trump” hotel in the process, and a general condemnation of Syria’s Assad mob family regime.

But Andersen’s bold movie, with its message so against the grain of current events, compromised media coverage and the mostly conservative audience that has become this film distributor’s base, plays like a wet slap back to reality.

And as any revival preacher will tell you, putting a positive message out there in front of millions is the only way to convert hundreds among the millions who have lost their way.

star

Rating: PG-13, violence, smoking, racial slurs

Cast: Yasmine Al Massri, Yahya Mahayni, Ziad Bakri, Omar Sy, Ayman Samman, Massa Daoud, Jason Beghe and Constantine Markoulakis

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Credits: Scripted and directed by Brandt Andersen. An Angel Studios release.

Running time: 1:43

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About Roger Moore

Movie Critic, formerly with McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Orlando Sentinel, published in Spin Magazine, The World and now published here, Orlando Magazine, Autoweek Magazine

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