finally

Thirteen years ago, on the final Sunday in September, Skip Schumaker struck out. It was the last out in the last game of the regular season.

For the Dodgers, no big deal: They had won the National League West, and the playoffs were four days away.

For Dodgers fans that subscribed to Cox Communications, it turned out to be the start of a bizarre and protracted blackout that cost viewers the final years of Vin Scully and the golden years of three World Series championships.

After 4,560 days, the blackout is over.

On Friday, for the first time in 13 years, Cox subscribers within the Dodgers’ broadcast territory will be able to watch the team on their local television home. Fans can find SportsNet LA on Channel 63 in Orange County, Channel 54 in Palos Verdes, Channel 36 in Santa Barbara and Channel 50 in Las Vegas.

How did this finally come to pass? Those channels no longer belong to Cox.

Charter Communications, the company responsible for getting SportsNet LA on as many cable, satellite and streaming options as possible, on Thursday closed its $34.5-billion purchase of Cox.

For Dodgers fans, the takeaway is this: It no longer matters that Cox did not want to pay Charter for the rights to air SportsNet LA. Charter made the 13 years of that moot by buying Cox.

Charter offers broadcast service under the Spectrum brand.

In 2013, with the team in the final year of its local television agreement with Fox Sports, the Dodgers announced it would launch a team-owned channel the following year.

In exchange for the rights to market and distribute that SportsNet LA channel, Time Warner Cable agreed to pay the Dodgers $8.35 billion over 25 years. It was the last great regional sports network deal, with traditional broadcast audiences about to fragment amid the rise of streaming and cord-cutting.

The guaranteed rights fees are as sure of a revenue stream as anything in baseball, and the Dodgers’ success amid all that cash is one of the triggers for major league owners in their push for a salary cap.

However, the great regional sports network deals relied on cable and satellite subscribers paying for every channel in a bundle, most of which viewers never watched.

With DirecTV leading the resistance, cable and satellite providers balked at signing up for SportsNet LA: a few dimes per month per subscriber for a news or entertainment channel was fine, but they drew the line at $5 per month subscriber for a baseball channel.

No major Los Angeles outlet besides Time Warner Cable carried SportsNet LA until 2016, and then only because Charter bought Time Warner Cable. Even then, less than half the households in the Los Angeles market could get SportsNet LA.

In 2020, DirecTV and AT&T struck a deal with Charter, not so much to liberate Dodgers fans as to help the parties maintain a shrinking base of subscribers amid a proliferation of video options.

“I think I can speak for a lot of people who will say this is, maybe, long overdue,” Dodgers star Justin Turner said then.

Six years later, as a longtime Cox subscriber excited to see SportsNet LA for the first time, your humble correspondent can say this: I think I can speak for a lot of people who will say this is definitely long overdue.

AN abandoned UK village will open to the public for a limited time at the end of the month.

The town, which has been frozen in time since World War II, remains cut off from the world for most of the year.

For just 12 days out of the year, history fans and nature lovers travel to the village of Imber in Wiltshire, which has not been occupied since 1943.

During the second World War, the town’s 150 residents were given 47 days to evacuate their homes so the village could be turned into a military training area for American troops preparing for D-Day.

While they were promised they would be able to return after the war, the village is still occupied by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to this day.

Once every few months, the public is invited to visit the town for free, with roads opening through Imber until 6pm during the August Bank Holiday weekend.

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Public access has been granted to the village as well as the Grade I-listed St Giles Church, which will be open from 11am to 4pm daily.

The original surviving building is free to visit during open days with any donations going towards the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) for maintenance and restoration.

Along with an old pub, the church is one of the few remaining original structures in the village.

Most of the larger stone buildings were damaged during military training, and were subsequently demolished.

Meanwhile, houses in the village are either hollowed-out shells or have been converted into windowless buildings to simulate urban environments for military training.

Those who once lived in the village have the right to be buried on the church grounds, with undisturbed wildlife now the only living residents.

Imber also holds open days during the Christmas and New Year period as well as at Easter, with all visitors required to adhere to the public rights of way and designated areas, and comply with signposting.

DENVER — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called right fielder Kyle Tucker into the visiting manager’s office at Chase Field a week and a half ago, just to catch up.

Roberts had run into Tucker’s wife Samantha and their 5-month old baby that morning in Arizona. And he saw it as a good time to check in.

“When you start to struggle and you internalize … you find yourself going dark, and that’s a lonely place,” Roberts said Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies. “So I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up, and I think that it’s freeing.

“He’s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he’s with a new ballclub, he’s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.”

Scuffling is a mild way of describing Tucker’s struggles this season. He described it as the “first time in [his] life” that he’s had a season with so many offensive false starts. After being named an All-Star in each of his previous four seasons, Tucker is on pace for the worst offensive year since his 2018 debut season with the Astros.

On Tuesday, he finally ended his career-high hitless streak at seven games, with a double up the right-field line in the fourth inning (although he grounded out once and struck out twice in his other plate appearances). He’d gone 26 straight at-bats without a hit.

So much about Tucker’s year has been head-scratching.

Take his plate discipline, for example. Traditionally known for his strike-zone control, Tucker’s chase rate has been up this season. But even when he trimmed it to 21.6% in July (not as low as the last two years but even with his 2023 season), his production at the plate didn’t respond accordingly.

One of the biggest mysteries has been his extreme home/road splits. Entering Tuesday, he had a solid .822 OPS on the road and a paltry .558 OPS at Dodger Stadium.

Asked about the contrast earlier this week, he said he didn’t have a theory.

“If I knew, I’d probably have figured it out by now,” he said. “But that’s just kind of how it’s gone.”

Recently, his woes have followed him into the outfield. The day after he failed to reel in a flyball in the right-field corner at Dodger Stadium, he had a far worse drop Monday at Coors Field.

In the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 11-5 victory against the Rockies, Tucker seemed to camp right under a shallow fly. But as it fell, he twisted and put one knee down before dropping the ball.

“There’s indecision, and catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now,” Roberts said. “It’s not from lack of effort, or care. It’s just right now, I think he’s kind of fighting. So we’ve got to keep supporting him.”

Tucker isn’t the only player who’s struggling. Mookie Betts has been hot and cold at the plate. Teoscar Hernández hasn’t been slugging the way he’s accustomed to. And before arriving in Colorado, the team was in a collective slump.

Tucker, however, is in the first year of a four-year, $240-million contract. And so far the Dodgers haven’t seen the version of him that elevated the Cubs’ offense in the first half of last year and was a steady part of the Astros’ lineup during a run of sustained success.

“Whether it’s my first year or 10th year with a team, I think it’d be frustrating regardless,” Tucker said. “But it’s not like I’m frustrated just because I’m playing at home or anything. Whether it’s on the road or at home, it would be frustrating, just not helping the team win games.”

He slid into his most recent slump during the Dodgers’ last homestand, but the Colorado altitude didn’t immediately work its magic when the team went back on the road.

During Monday’s SNLA broadcast, analyst Eric Karros suggested sending Tucker to Arizona for a reset.

The less extreme version would be sitting Tucker for several games in a row.

“I’m not at the point where it’s like a three-day, three-game reset situation, something like that,” Roberts said Tuesday afternoon.

He did, however, give Tucker a day off Saturday, saying he saw Tucker’s frustration as he continued to struggle offensively at Dodger Stadium. And Tuesday, he said he hadn’t decided whether to start Tucker against Rockies left-handed starter Kyle Freeland the next day.

“It’s tough because, I mean, I feel like I’ve tried just about everything,” Tucker said. “And every time I feel like I’m turning a corner, I get hit with a roadblock. But, you can’t stop. You just got to keep going, try and at least pick out the positives, and just try and ride with that. Just keep on moving to the next day and hope for something to build.”

AFTER months of speculation, Olivia Attwood and Pete Wicks finally hard-launched their relationship last week.

But while from the outside it looks like the 35-year-old is happier than ever following the collapse of her marriage to Bradley Dack earlier this year, we can reveal the niggling issue that has been holding her back.

Insiders tell us that the Love Island alumni finally feels ready to move on after taking a huge step and getting rid of ex Bradley from her life once and for all. 

Our insider explained: “Olivia finally decided to unfollow Brad’s mum.

“The unfollow feels like Olivia’s final act of cutting herself off from Bradley’s world completely.

“She’d already started emotionally detaching, but removing his mum feels far more symbolic because that was a relationship she genuinely valued in its own right.

“For Olivia, it’s less about being petty and more about drawing a line under that entire chapter. She knows keeping those connections alive would make it harder to properly move on.

“There’s a real sense of finality to it — almost like she’s accepted she can’t keep one foot in the family while trying to build a life away from Bradley. Olivia feels like she can finally breathe.”

Over the years, Olivia had grown very close to Brad’s family, particularly his mum and sister.

She first started dating the footballer in 2015, when Olivia was 24 and he was just 21. 

While it was an on and off relationship – thanks to Olivia taking part in Love Island – they ended up marrying.

His mum and sister even appeared in Olivia Meets Her Match and fans saw an unusually emotional side to Olivia as she thanked Brad’s mum for accepting her. 

In moving scenes she told her: “It means a lot to me to be welcomed into your family. 

“I’m being serious, it does. Throughout loads of periods of my life people haven’t got who I am. I can be misunderstood. It’s a lot. A lot of hair, a lot of boobs and I just love your son a lot.”  

But when the marriage came crashing down, Olivia’s relationship with his family was put to the test and we’re told that for some time, the star still felt very tied to them all.

Bradley has since been pictured with ex Emily Rose Moloney and she has started afresh with Pete, but being estranged from her in-laws has hit her hard.

Our insider continued: “It hurts because she didn’t just lose a husband, she lost a whole extended family dynamic she’d become attached to.

“But after seeing Bradley pictured with another woman and Olivia already exploring her new relationships, Olivia seems to have decided she needs a clean break, even if that means cutting ties with people she still cares about like his mum.”

Olivia has often been outspoken about her harrowing split from footballer Brad back in January.

She’s taken a series of savage swipes at her former man after claiming he cheated on her multiple times over the course of their 10-year relationship.

The TV star told fans she “stood by him” through the “lies” and “cheating” and hasn’t held back since. 

Just this week, she shared a post which many assumed was directed at Brad.

It read: “Stop being so f**king forgiving, people know exactly what the f**k they’re doing.” 

And when Brad reunited with his former flame  Emily Rose Maloney, Olivia’s outrage was almost palpable.

She couldn’t resist taking a swipe and remarked: “I have definitely beat up myself over my poor judgement over the past decade.

“But I guess I could have spent 10 years as the bit on the side / professional bench warmer… so silver linings I guess.”

The star has found happiness of her own though; her eight-year-long friendship with Pete recently developed into a romantic relationship.

Only weeks after splitting from Brad she was spotted snogging Pete on a night out – and they have been joined at the hip since.

Insiders suggested that Olivia would be keen to keep this relationship more under wraps, but both her and Pete haven’t been able to resist sharing snippets of their romance.

She gushed: “We tick a lot of the boxes that are really important.

“Our friendship group is nauseated by us – we’re one PDA away from being exiled. I’m like, ‘who are we?’ We’re bringing out a [new] side of each other.”

Up until now, Brad has clearly still been a thorn in her side, but could she be rid of it at last?

Our source added: “Those around her feel this was the last emotional cord she needed to cut before she could genuinely start looking forward rather than backwards. She can finally move on properly now.”

Longtime Disneyland fans are finally getting one of their top theme park wishes. The aging Tomorrowland will soon undergo a large-scale overhaul, one that will include brand new attractions.

Walt Disney Imagineering, the arm of the company devoted to theme park experiences, announced the intent to reconceptualize the original Disneyland area at its all-things-Disney fan convention D23, which kicked off Friday in Anaheim. Many details — and questions — remain, and Imagineering stressed that the project is in its infancy, but it’s one the Disneyland faithful have clamored for.

“We are going to reimagine Tomorrowland,” said newly installed Disneyland President Jill Estorino at a pre-D23 media event. “It is coming. We are finally committing to it and doing it.”

Tomorrowland has long vexed Disney designers. Park founder Walt Disney led a major overhaul before his death in 1966, and the land again went under scaffolding in the late ‘90s. The problem: Theme parks are built to last, and the future moves fast. As Disney himself once said, “Tomorrow is a heck of a thing to keep up with.”

Promotional art for a reimagined Tomorrowland released by Disney. The project, according to Imagineers, is in its infancy.

(Disney)

Today, Tomorrowland is home to a number of popular attractions — Space Mountain, Star Tours and Autopia among them — but is also littered with underutilized buildings and a dead PeopleMover track. The latter closed soon after Tomorrowland’s 1998 refresh as the Rocket Rods, one of the shortest-lived rides in Disneyland history.

The reimagined Tomorrowland, said Imagineer Emily “Emo” O’Brien, won’t ignore its history, noting the team has been researching Disney’s original thesis. “We were inspired by his vision of Tomorrowland being a vista into wondrous worlds, and we really garnered the sense of optimism that was at the core of everything he was thinking about.”

And yet the future Tomorrowland will have “new attractions for sure,” said O’Brien, as well as more open, breathable spaces for guests. “We really want to keep the heritage and the responsibility to honoring that legacy at the center, but we have to evolve it for our new generations,” O’Brien said.

Tomorrowland is home to popular attractions such as Autopia.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Disneyland Resort is on the verge of a major transformation over the next decade or so, of which Tomorrowland is just one project. Estorino said the reworking of the original Disneyland area will come after the completion of “Avengers” and “Coco” experiences currently under construction in Disney California Adventure, but before that park’s addition of an “Avatar” experience.

In fact, many of Disney’s North American theme parks are targeted for changes in the coming years. Here are some highlights of this year’s D23.

Rides announced for Walt Disney World’s Villains Land

Concept art for the Maleficent attraction coming to Villains Land.

(Disney)

Disney pulled back the curtain on its Villains Land — yes, that’s its official name — coming to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. And Disney is going dark, creating a mysterious, cursed environment that Imagineer Caroline May says will take inspiration from the woodlands of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” There’s a backstory, involving a wishing well that was corrupted by a stranger’s evil desires that have caused poisoned magic to envelop the forest.

But let’s talk about the rides. There are two, and Disney is thinking big. The centerpiece attraction is a roller coaster that will include an encounter with Maleficent atop her mountaintop fortress. The second is a dark ride into the catacombs of the Evil Queen’s palace, where the Magic Mirror will conjure visions of many a Disney villain.

The villains, said May, a self-described “art school emo indie Goth girl,” are also stylish. So expect the non-forest parts of the land to feel a bit refined. “The villains have high standards,” May said. “They have impeccable taste.”

Orlando’s version of Cars Land gets its close-up

A model of Piston Peak, Walt Disney World’s answer to Cars Land, was revealed at D23.

(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)

Walt Disney World’s answer to Anaheim’s Cars Land began with doubts from fans, largely because it was replacing the Magic Kingdom’s Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, two historic park attractions. Here in SoCal, those spaces represent the soul of Disneyland, but the Magic Kingdom is a different beast and has sorely needed new attractions. What Imagineers showed at D23 should, if built to the level of detail revealed in a model, calm many nerves.

Piston Peak, as the land is to be called, looks fantastic. Imagineer Jason Grandt says the area was heavily inspired by Rocky Mountain National Park as well as the painterly vistas of plein air artists and the murals of Thomas Hart Benton. Realistic, but also vibrant, animated and colorful. It will feature transitions through lush forests, majestic red rocks and even snow capped mountains.

The showcase ride has been known. It’s a sort of high-speed run in an all-terrain vehicle around the landscape — over bridges, through tunnels and around colorful geysers. It will frame the entire land, also home to a small family attraction with dancing, spinning cars in a demolition derby setting.

Avengers Campus expansion opens at Disney California Adventure in 2028

Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab, the two new attractions coming to Disney California Adventure that will essentially double the size of Avengers Campus, will open in 2028, according to Imagineer Brent Strong. The new attractions will complete the land.

Infinity Defense is pitched as a centerpiece of the land, and will feature Marvel actors such as Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Chris Hemsworth. The ride is expected to rely heavily on 3D effects and high-definition screens, but Strong made clear that there will indeed be large-scale physical sets on the ride. It is a dark ride through the multiverse to take on a battle with King Thanos, and guests will be placed in the role of assembling the Avengers.

Stark Flight Lab was shown at D23 as sitting next to Infinity Defense. The ride is more of an amusement park-like thrill attraction, in which guests will sit in two-person pods and then attach to a mechanical arm that will lift them into the air and attempt to simulate sensations of flight.

A “Coco” boat ride for all

While Disney didn’t reveal a release window for the upcoming “Coco” boat ride at Disney California Adventure, Imagineers did note it would be a family attraction without a height requirement, which will be especially needed after the park closes its “Monsters, Inc.”-inspired ride next year to make way for “Avatar.” The ride will be set about one year after the original film.

The narrative of the attraction will center on Miguel and his great great grandfather, musician Héctor Rivera. Guests will enter a museum dedicated to Rivera and then explore the Land of the Dead via Miguel’s memories. Expect a vibrant, colorful attraction that Imagineers said will nod to classics such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion in its reliance on audio-animatronics and open-to-interpretation dioramas.

Tell us your stories. Ask us your questions.

Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.

Ride on,

Todd Martens

P.S.

Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride comes out every Tuesday, but we occasionally publish special editions (like this one!) when we have breaking theme park news. Make sure you’ve signed up to be the first to know.

LORENZO Alessi appears to have finally learned his lesson after making sure he liked Julia Majchrzak’s latest Instagram photo.

The Love Island winner was previously called out for “embarrassing” Julia by liking other women’s posts while ignoring hers.

But he now appears to be making up for lost time after liking a glamorous new snap of the 26-year-old posing in a black lace dress.

Lorenzo also commented: “All over my feed.”

However, not all fans were convinced by his latest display of affection, with some taking to the comments to tease him.

“Seriously?” wrote one, while another added: “You’re late, so late.”

row-mantic

Love Island’s Lorenzo snogs Julia after clashing over his likes for other girls

swiped off

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Another cheekily tagged Lorenzo, writing: “@lorenzoxalessi, just tagging you in case you’re going to say it hasn’t popped up on your feed.”

A third said: “I understand you need time to figure it all out, and I genuinely hope you learn to love and treat her better as time goes on.”

Following their villa victory, Lorenzo was caught red-handed liking glamorous models’ pictures on social media.

In a joint interview last week, the Love Island winner defended his behaviour and confessed that he “didn’t think it would be picked up by the press”.

Speaking on Capital XTRA shortly after their “awkward” This Morning interview went viral, Julia said the whole furore was “not funny”.

She told the hosts: “Guys, this is not funny. He’s already embarrassed me online.

“He had no time to arrange a date in five days, but was sat in bed liking other girls’ Instagram pictures.”

Referring to her own posts, she added: “Did you even have time to like my photos? Guess what, guys, he’s not under my Instagram!”

Lorenzo later poked fun at the controversy by commenting “liked by Lorenzo” underneath Julia’s snaps.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” opened to $360 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, pushing out 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” to claim the biggest domestic debut in history.

“Records are made to be broken,” Sony Motion Picture Group Chairman Tom Rothman said in a statement Monday. “But we will take great pride in this one, for as long as we hold it.”

Internationally, the web-slinger picked up an additional $572 million for a worldwide total of $932 million. The film, which stars Tom Holland and Zendaya, was produced by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios and Pascal Pictures on a production budget of about $225 million.

By Monday morning, nearly everyone in the exhibition business was cheering.

The chief executives of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Regal and Cinemark Holdings all put out statements about record revenue at their chains, plus deep demand for merchandise, food and drinks. Cinema United trade group chief executive Michael O’Leary applauded the “great slate of films” that have populated theaters this year.

There’s a lot to be excited about here. Expectations for the film were high, but breaking a pre-pandemic record — previously held by an “Avengers” movie, no less — is a big deal.

“The buildup to what ‘Endgame’ was at $357 million just seemed out of reach,” Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at entertainment data firm Exhibitor Relations, told me on Monday, referring to the previous domestic debut record. “It’s pretty gratifying to see that characters and emotions still matter in filmmaking. This movie was just really about relationships.”

That emotional core was a major focus for the filmmakers. When I spoke with producer Amy Pascal in the lead-up to the opening, she said there was no topping the multiverse storyline of 2021‘s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which featured the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Instead, the filmmakers chose to go smaller, focusing on the internal conflict and loneliness of Holland’s Peter Parker after a spell forces his friends to forget him.

Spider-Man has always been one of the most popular superheroes. But not every Spidey film has had this level of box office success. What “Brand New Day” shows is that a strong story matters more to audiences than the name of the superhero alone — an important distinction as the genre has weathered an uneven track record in recent years. Just this summer, we saw stumbles from Amazon MGM Studios’ “Masters of the Universe” and Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios’ “Supergirl.”

The next test arrives in December with Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday,” which “Brand New Day” teases in a post-credits scene, as well as throughout the film. “As audiences saw, it sets up exciting things to come,” Marvel Studios President and “Spider-Man” producer Kevin Feige said in a Sunday statement.

The recovery, by the numbers

Domestic box office revenue for the weekend totaled $436.5 million, according to data from Rentrak. Spider-Man accounted for 82% of it, but Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” also hauled in $51 million in its third weekend, on its way to worldwide revenue of more than $912 million.

Together, the pair have combined for a unique, and telling, one-two punch. It’s the same phenomenon that drove moviegoers to A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession.” Originality in storytelling really does matter, despite the plethora of reboots and sequels. And when moviegoers have more choices, they’re coming back, again and again, analysts say.

“These two films in particular have really turned moviegoing itself into the event,” Bock said. “The audience isn’t rejecting theatrical movies. They’re rejecting films that don’t feel essential.”

Domestic summer box office revenue to date now stands at nearly $3.6 billion, up 16.7% compared to 2025 and — importantly — only 0.7% behind the same period in 2019. Year-to-date revenue is about $6.2 billion, a 15.4% improvement from last year, though it still lags 2019 by 11.6%.

And with another blockbuster to come in December — Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “Dune: Part Three” — analysts now predict 2026 domestic revenue is on track to reach $10 billion, a milestone that hasn’t happened since before the pandemic.

What could undo it

Here’s the catch. A major part of that recovery rests on volume: more titles, more genres, more reasons to leave the house on a given weekend. Which is exactly what a federal judge in Oakland is weighing right now.

Paramount Skydance’s nearly $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has cleared the Justice Department, the European Commission and regulators in more than a dozen other countries. What it has not cleared is a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, who sued July 13 to block the deal under the Clayton Antitrust Act.

On Friday, the parties each proposed their preferred dates for an antitrust trial over which U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will preside as Paramount argues for its merger to proceed and the state attorneys general argue against it. The judge has said the states had presented compelling evidence the combined company would hold a substantial share of the wide-release theatrical distribution market — enough, she said, to presume the deal likely violates antitrust law. The Writers Guild of America has joined the states’ lawsuit.

Paramount has said the merger will benefit consumers, workers and the entertainment industry, and that the states’ claims of anticompetitive effects “are without any basis in modern market realities.”

Hollywood has seen this movie before. The last unaccounted-for variable from the pre-pandemic era is Disney’s 2019 acquisition of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox, which combined two studios and led to fewer theatrical releases.

Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison has promised the combined company will release a minimum of 30 films a year. Many in Hollywood have their doubts.

“If they’re able to execute on that promise of 30 titles a year, I think we’re going to accelerate even further,” said Daniel Loria, a senior vice president at The Box Office Co. “We’re on a great trajectory. But there are serious questions that remain on their capacity to do so, and what the impact of another slowdown in releases from a major studio would bring.”

Paramount has said it won’t close the deal before June 2027 unless the litigation resolves sooner, and is pushing for a November trial; the states want April 2027. Either way, the industry just posted its biggest opening weekend ever while the question of how many movies get made is sitting in a courtroom in Northern California.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has sued Jay Penske, Penske Media Corp., the Golden Globe Foundation and others over the 2023 acquisition of the Golden Globe Awards, alleging antitrust violations.

As my colleague Stacy Perman reported, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is seeking at least $150 million in damages.

The group, which founded the Golden Globes, said in its lawsuit that Penske and the other named defendants “orchestrated and participated in a clandestine scheme to fraudulently acquire the Golden Globe Awards, dismantle the HFPA [Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.], and exert monopolistic control over Hollywood trades and the awards circuit thereby violating California’s antitrust and consumer protection statutes.”

A spokesperson for Penske and the Golden Globes denied the allegations, saying the suit “continues the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA.”

What I’m watching

I had a pretty hectic week, which didn’t leave a lot of time to catch up on TV. But I did go see the L.A. Sparks game against the New York Liberty, which unfortunately ended in a loss. We’ll see what happens now that star Kelsey Plum has been traded.

KATIE Price and Peter Andre could be set to come face-to-face for the first time in 16 years.

The warring exes have not been in the same room since their divorce in 2009 but there is now a plan to reunite them for the very first time.

And it could all be down to daughter Princess Andre.

The budding star confirmed on her reality show, The Princess Diaries, that she has a plan for them to come face-to-face later this year.

Princess is planning a huge launch event for her cosmetics company and is planning to invite both her parents to attend the bash.

Confirming her plan on her show, Princess told Katie of what she was planning to do.

worth the price

Katie Price still has Peter’s clothes stashed in her overflowing garage

RELUCTANT REVEAL

Watch Princess gasp at mum Katie Price’s huge swollen lips after surgery

Princess said to her: “For my official launch, I will probably just invite close family and friends.”

Katie went quiet as she replied: “Yeah… I mean, I still haven’t met up with your dad face-to-face yet.

“It is weird, isn’t it?”

Princess agreed before adding: “But everything happens for a reason1”

Katie then appeared to take a swipe at Peter and their split as she added: “Does it?

“I think some things could have been avoided but it is what it is and you just move on.”

Princess nevously smiled after her mum’s comments before the conversation drew to a quick close.

Later on, Princess told brother Junior of her latest plan.

Before their chat, Princess told the camera: “It is so important for me that for my official launch, I have as many friends and family there as possible.”

She then said to Junior and his girlfriend: “Mum and Dad are in a truce now so I am just gonna invite Mum and Dad and whoever wants to come, comes.

“It might be quite awkward though.”

Junior appeared unconvinced by the plan as he replied: “Yeah, their first time in a room?

“When I used to perform, I never invited mum and dad to one show so it could be good and they’ve got a truce.

“And it is about you and supporting you so yeah, I love that.”

A HISTORIC UK train station has partially reopened after a massive fire forced its closure last week.

Paignton Station in Devon sits in the heart of the town centre and acts as a gateway to one of the three towns on the English Rivera – a popular summer family holiday spot.

Last week, a fire broke out at the station causing “significant damage”.

Three boys aged 13, 15 and 16 were arrested on suspicion of arson.

Despite the damages, Great Western Railway and Network Rail have confirmed that services returned to the station from 8am.

Services to resume include between Paignton and Newton Abbot.

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However, due to a damaged platform the station cannot currently host nine carriage trains, which provide direct services between the town and London Paddington.

If you are due to travel to London, you’ll need to head to Newton Abbot or Exeter St Davids instead, for the time being.

There are also currently temporary entrances and exits at the station, as well as temporary ticketing facilities.

And the car park remains closed.

According to the BBC, Daniel Parkes from Network Rail said that they are working to restore “services as swiftly and as safely as possible”.

He added that “work to fully rebuild parts of the station will continue for some time”.

Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, reached profitability for the first time, boosted by FIFA World Cup, NBA playoffs and reality dating show “Love Island USA.”

The milestone comes as Comcast Corp. prepares to spin off NBCUniversal entertainment and news media businesses into a separate company. Peacock, which launched in 2020, grew its paid subscribers by 4% to 48 million in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter. The company said Peacock’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $189 million.

“In just six years, we built Peacock into a streaming business with real scale in the U.S.,” said Brian Roberts, chairman and co-CEO of Comcast on Thursday in an earnings call, adding that Peacock has added 2 million paid subscribers in each of the last two quarters.

Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said that performance “reinforces the value of NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, and Peacock together as one integrated media business with continued opportunity to drive stronger engagement, advertising, and profitability into the future.”

Comcast plans to spin off Peacock, NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, Bravo, Universal film, television studios and theme parks and British TV service Sky into its own separate company, with a goal of completing the separation in about a year.

Michael J. Wolf, CEO of Activate Consulting, said Peacock’s first profit proves that live sports and premium programming “remain the single most powerful anchors for consumer attention and subscriber growth.”

“As Comcast prepares to spin off NBCUniversal, freeing it from legacy cable, a standalone NBCU is now structurally positioned to compete at the highest level of streaming,” Wolf said in a statement.

Peacock was the last major premium subscription video-on-demand service launched by a legacy studio to reach profitability, said Brandon Katz, director of insights and content strategy at Greenlight Analytics. The streaming service is available only in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories. Its reach is much smaller than other rivals like Netflix, which has about 80 million households in the U.S. and Canada.

“It was a long and arduous process for Peacock to reach profitability, and this is obviously a very important step for their business, but one small step in a much larger journey,” Katz said.

The Peacock news was part of Comcast’s earnings results. Comcast said revenue declined 1% to $29.9 billion in the second quarter, compared to a year ago, hurt by the loss of broadband residential customers.

Net income was $3.5 billion, down 68% from a year ago, when its profit was boosted by a $9.4 billion gain from Comcast’s sale of its share in Hulu.

Content and experiences revenue increased 22.9% to $10.7 billion, thanks to increases in advertising and theatrical revenue from popular movies including “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” horror movie “Obsession” and the international distribution of “Michael.”

Comcast’s stock closed Thursday at $21.92 a share, down about 7%.

“I’VE got a statement drafted, I’m ending it,” Katie Price told me of her fledgling marriage to Lee Andrews.

That was on February 1st.

This statement, as we all now know, never materialised. Because that’s how conmen like Lee operate: over the resulting four months he lied, scammed, obfuscated and wormed his way back into her affections.

Time and time again he has dismissed the seemingly never-ending allegations against him as a scurrilous and damaging pack of lies.

Katie, in her misguided loyalty, has sucked it up, and let him back in. But over the next 1,500 words I am going to lay bare the damning Lee Files: past recordings, voice notes, messages and shameless untruths. 

Unverified rumours of a gay affair, allegations of more people cheated of their hard-earned savings, a forthcoming appearance on Piers Morgan’s global YouTube show, horrific allegations of mental and physical abuse from former partners, mental health fakery and what really happened with the couple’s new dog, Dubaii: all shall be revealed.

My hope, in so doing, is to expose this man for the pathological liar he really is – and ensure he never, ever hurts another woman (or man) again.  

Lee, a source tells me, has left Katie no choice but to consult a divorce lawyer. 

She is also, I can confirm, refusing to return to Dubai. And with Lee locked-up, with travel ban, a reunion any time soon seems unlikely.

For Lee, literally and metaphorically, there is no coming back.

So, where to begin? 

Lee and I have history as anyone familiar with this sorry saga may remember.

The “multi-millionaire businessman” persuaded me to “invest” £1,000 in his latest (non existent) project, promising a £4,000 return. Needless to say those funds never arrived. 

After my piece ran, and Lee first emerged from Al-Awir prison, he sent me a series of messages insisting the money was still on its way (LOL). I told him not to bother paying me back as my bank, HSBC, had refunded me.

Our early exchanges post-prison – to recap, I had earlier joined the model, 48, in trying to hunt down Lee in the UAE – were cautious.

We sent one another “disappearing messages” on WhatsApp, both nervous the other might release them.

When I filmed an Instagram video describing Lee as a “bad man” and a “sociopath”, I awoke to a flurry of seething messages from him saying: “Clems you are not allowed to discuss a persons case files publicly it comes with 3 years sentence and 200k fine (sic).

“The UAE authorities will arrest you for this. And the facts are wrong on this bill oh dear clemmie what have you done. I have to make a police case for this now.”

I am still awaiting that lawsuit. 

In response to my disclosure that Lee had had a hair system fitted – aka a toupee – he added: “And you can’t discuss a person’s appearance online.”

From here, I clawed things back and we went on to start chatting again more regularly.

He sent me photos of his shackle marks and hand cuff ties – things people had mocked online in the wake of his claims he’d been taken at gun point to a black site – and said he’d had a hard time in jail.

This I believe.

And on 15th July, unfortunately whilst I was having Botox shovelled into forehead, I missed two calls from Lee in Al Awir prison.

It was utterly bizarre. He left me a voice mail: “Obviously I think you know where I am. I want to run something past you.” He thanked me and signed off. To this day, I have no idea what he wanted. 

Anyway, I honestly didn’t know if I would ever release this dossier, and even now, there is a part of me that feels enormous guilt.

Because Lee can be funny, charming, interested and interesting. It is hard not to like him, on a superficial level, and I can understand how and why so many women have fallen for his charms.

I have, though, since spoken to an anonymous account online, going under the name Chaos Corner, who claims to know someone personally conned by Lee.

They have posted several damning videos about his past behaviour, and much of the evidence stacks up. There is, after all, no smoke without fire.

I have also chatted at length to his brilliant ex-fiancee, Alana Percival. She is an incredibly courageous and powerful woman, and the first to come forward with allegations – and proof – concerning her ex’s treatment of her, and other women.

She has subsequently set up a support group for women who have been hurt by this man, using her voice for good, and gaining hundreds of thousands of supporters online in the process.

She tells me: “Based on my own experience, I believe Lee is a dangerous, sick and deeply harmful person. I believe he should be held accountable through the proper legal process. 

“My hope is that no one else has to go through what I went through and that anyone who has experienced trauma through him or his actions, abuse or manipulation, feels able to find their voice when they’re ready.

“That’s why I don’t judge Katie at all. Unless you’ve lived through that kind of manipulation, it’s incredibly hard to explain the hold someone can have over you.”

Over the past five months we have witnessed, in real time, the car crash of this marriage. Like rubber-neckers, we haven’t been able to get enough.

But, as the love-loving mum of five has always reminded me, this is HER life we are all gawping at. And only she can call time on this marriage.

It is, though, a sorry state of affairs that has left Katie teetering on the brink of losing public support, something she should be basking in off the back of her recent hit four-part documentary.

But as she herself said in our interview earlier this year, “never underestimate The Pricey”.

Kate is canny. She has, I can reveal, ALL the receipts of Lee’s lies, and WILL deploy them in a court of law should she need to.

Lee may have hoped to take a pretty penny from this marriage – but I doubt he will get one.

She has also NEVER paid for his release from jail contrary to public opinion.

And whilst Lee has garnered something of a celebrity status himself – flogging personalised Cameo videos for around £30 a pop – no TV network would dare to platform him with so many serious allegations hanging over him.

Indeed, a few weeks ago he was in talks with Piers Morgan to undertake a lie detector test. Piers confirmed they were in talks, but on Wednesday told me he had pulled the plug, describing Lee as “dangerous to deal with”.

He is dangerous I fear – which is why I am now blocking him across all forms of communication. I do not wish for his wrath or recrimination.

Doubtless Lee will feel I have betrayed his trust. And, yes – I have.

But, then again, this is a fraudster, currently holed-up for the third time in 10 months, and someone who took to Instagram on June 2nd to tell his 150,000 followers that his mental health had taken a battering after being relentlessly trolled 24/7.

This, I can now reveal, is yet another blatant lie. And one, for me, that crosses a line.

“Obviously you know I am not depressed,” he told me in a voice note.

“That’s there to get my legal side up, to get my doctor to sign me off. Do not repeat that!”

Well, I’ve repeated it, because it makes a mockery of those kind, decent folk genuinely battling daily with mental health struggles.

Elsewhere, despite his endless wealth brags, a source tells me a brief £300million partnership he obtained with the UAE Royal Family Offices was terminated after representatives sent in accountants to check Lee’s financials.

He had pledged a bond of around £10million, but when they checked his accounts, it is claimed, found only 27 Dirhams sitting there.

Lee, naturally, will likely deny this – and given he is in prison I am unable to put this historic allegation to him.

But then again, he denies all allegations.

Including a slightly surreal one earlier this week, in a post by Chaos Corner which purported to show loving text messages between Lee and another younger man.

Screenshots of the WhatsApps, in which he promised to leave Katie to be with this anonymous chap – homosexuality is prohibited in Dubai – also showed a credit card with Lee telling the man to treat himself to something nice.

The owner of the account sent me the telephone number of Lee given to them – and it matches the one I have. 

I can reveal Katie put this latest twist in the tail to her husband on the phone on Tuesday night – and he adamantly rejected them.

Another recent dispute came over ownership of the couple’s Pomski whom they rescued from a pet shop, and named Dubaii.

Katie paid for the seven month-old pup, but Lee assured her he had sorted care for the poor animal after he got banged-up once again.

Instead, it emerged, he dumped the dog with a registered pet sitter. 

When she couldn’t get hold of her best friend, Katie contacted Lee’s ex, Dina, who runs an animal rescue sanctuary, to take him in.

Lee also told Katie he had paid for Dubaii to be flown back to the UK.

Surprise, surprise, he had not. 

More lies from a man who makes Pinocchio’s nose seem miniscule.

Even in own sister, Kelly, who has been a rare voice loyally supporting him, seems to have turned against him.

Family friend Becky Smith bravely posted on Facebook: “Kelly Andrews and I just want to take a moment to speak the truth.

“Recent information shared by Chaos Corner has brought forward evidence that has left us both shocked. We are the first to admit when we’re wrong and now that there is proof, we feel it’s important to acknowledge that. (It is) incredibly painful for the family.”

And his dad, of course, recently enjoyed a jail stint by proxy, presumably, by being Lee’s father.

Latest unedifying accusations over a recorded video call – released on Chaos Corner, supposedly show Lee scamming an American man out his late mother’s inheritance. Again, Lee will presumably claim this is AI and untrue.

Lee’s litany of lies, should I detail them in full, would take me way over my word count.

But, in short, he’s bragged about a cameo on EastEnders (denied by the BBC), being arrested for espionage (reality: fraud), a sex tape (never filmed), arms dealer (he posed with a paintball marker), an interview by wife Katie on live stream on June 25th (been and gone), a boxing match in York on July 27th (he is still in prison and has a travel ban), returns to the UK (see: aforementioned travel ban), home ownership (rentals), gifts (a Ferrari “bought” for his wife who has a driving ban), adopting his wife’s five kids (he has not). And I will eat my mortar board if he has a PhD from Cambridge University.

In short, this is a man who wouldn’t know the truth if it smacked him around the hair piece.

He has hurt far too many people… must never be allowed to hurt again. Katie, if you’re reading this: get out. Now.

Last night Lee was unavailable for comment, and Katie declined to comment.

Laird was originally predicted to be a follow-up to Yellowstone set in the Scottish Highlands.

Laird is officially on the way, jam-packed with “family feuds, buried secrets and star-crossed romances”.

Paramount Plus has given the green light for Scottish Highlands drama Laird, described as an “epic family saga in which a proud Scot defies a shadowy American billionaire hellbent on buying up the glens”.

It has also been confirmed that this Laird of Castle Drummoch, who is “determined to protect his ancestral lands from oligarchical land grabbing” will be played by none other than Oscar-winning star Kenneth Branagh.

He is famed for blockbuster films like Belfast, Dunkirk, Agatha Christie’s Hercules Poirot and Oppenheimer.

Earlier this month, there were rumours flying that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan was behind Laird with yet another prequel, following in the footsteps of his hugely successful series 1883 and 1923.

No new Yellowstone prequel series from Sheridan has been announced apart from 1944 which was previously confirmed by Paramount Plus.

So Laird appears to be an entirely separate project from the Yellowstone universe with its creators behind three other big shows.

Laird will be brought to life by Paramount Plus’ Mobland creator Jez Butterworth, Nine Perfect Strangers’ John-Henry Butterworth and The 100’s Georgia Lee.

Branagh is also going to be working behind the cameras as an executive producer and Darkest Hour filmmaker Joe Wright will be directing the pilot.

Describing the upcoming Scottish drama, head of originals for Paramount Plus Jane Wiseman said: “At its heart, Laird is about one man standing his ground against unchecked wealth and power.

“There’s something universally resonant about watching someone fight to protect what matters most, and with Kenneth Branagh leading the series, and an equally remarkable creative team, we can’t wait for audiences to root for the Laird of Castle Drummoch.”

President at Paramount Television Studios Matt Thunell added: “Jez, John-Henry, and Georgia have imagined a gripping drama that explores how far one family will go to protect their land and legacy.

“With Kenneth Branagh starring and Joe Wright directing, this is a singular creative team, and we are thrilled to once again partner with 101 Studios to bring this series to Paramount+.”

Laird will air on Paramount Plus.

THE longest outdoor tubing slide in the UK has finally opened at an adventure park – and it’s just in time for the summer holidays.

Families can now enjoy the new attraction, which offers visitors the chance to slide down 315ft on a doughnut-shaped inflatable.

Located at Roarr! park in Norfolk, Fossil Falls is even bigger than the 288ft-long Forest Tubing experience, which opened at Heaton Park’s Zip World in May.

The £300,000 ride was officially opened on Saturday by Matty Campbell, better known as Bionic from Gladiators.

He said: “It was amazing to see so many people turn out for the opening of Fossil Falls and the atmosphere has been incredible.

“I’m delighted to have been here to officially open it and see so many families enjoy it.”

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Ben Francis, park director at Roarr!, said: “What a way to open Fossil Falls.

“We’ve had thousands of visitors joining us over the weekend and it’s been fantastic to see families enjoying the ride for the very first time.”

Fossil Falls attraction joins other popular features at the 85-acre park.

This includes Dippy’s Splash Zone and Predator High Ropes.

Other attractions at Roarr!, which is billed as the UK’s largest dinosaur theme park, include the Swing-O-Saurus and the Raptor Contraptor.

All attractions are included in the price of entry.

The true crime documentary has everyone talking as it is available to stream now

True crime fans cannot stop talking about a “bizarre” documentary that left their jaws on the floor.

The Cult of NatureBoy is a four part documentary series that plunges viewers into the rise and fall of YouTuber Eligio Bishop, also known as ‘Nature Boy’.

Giving fans an unprecedented insight into the cult, viewers are transported back to 2016 when Eligio used social media to lure unsuspecting followers to a real-life ‘utopia’ he had founded. However, the alternative lifestyle soon turned into a cult plagued by coercion, violence and abuse.

Having first been released earlier this year on Disney Plus, the four part series follows his life and eventual trial as viewers have branded it one of the “most bizarre” documentaries they’ve ever seen.

An official synopsis reads: “The Cult of NatureBoy traces the rise of Eligio Bishop, aka NatureBoy, leader of Carbon Nation. Beginning in 2016, he used social media to attract people to a self-described Black Utopia. What began as an alternative lifestyle in the tropics became a sex cult of violence, manipulation, and coercion, ending with his 2024 trial and life sentence.”

Streaming on Disney Plus now, it comes with a strong viewer warning however, as more fans are only just discovering the relatively new watch.

Taking to TikTok this week, one true crime fan shared a video captioned: “One of the most bizarre documentaries I’ve watched.”

They said: “What on earth have I just watched? If you’ve not seen it yet, Disney Plus have brought out a four part documentary and it’s called The Cult of NatureBoy. I’m telling you now right, this is one of the most bizarre documentaries I’ve watched.”

They later added: “I’m sorry what? It baffles me that people stayed with him, it baffles me even more that people sent him money.”

However, they went on to say: “I need to warn you because some of the things you see on it….It’s one of the maddest things I’ve watched.”

One person commented: “I watched this yesterday it’s so crazy!” Another replied: “I’ve just finished it now and my jaw is still on the b***** floor.”

A third penned: “It was mind blowing how the h**l could people let them treat them like that.” Over on X, viewers previously shared their disbelief as one person said: “#TheCultOfNatureBoy is too damn bizarre.”