The Culture War Vibe Shift Is Happening Fast
Paramount Skydance-Warner Brothers merger quickens the pace of change
Have you noticed the dogs that are not barking, right now? Actors. Big A-name celebrities, B-listers, even the C-listers have all suddenly re-learned the lost art of shutting up about divisive political topics. Pedro Pascal and Rachel Zegler and Emma Thompson and Mark Ruffalo are all shutting up, all of a sudden. In the middle of a war with Iran.
By historical happenstance, the inevitable merger of Paramount Skydance with Warner Brothers has finally become official after months of resistance by Netflix, who could not quite explain their plan for profitability to their own stockholders. The streaming service lost a third of its stock value during the bidding war, recovering most of that value after Netflix quit. David Zaslov, Warner Brothers CEO, is the biggest financial winner in the whole mess.
Hollywood endured a relentless, years-long box office bombing campaign of its own making, styling itself as the resistance leadership in a time of national …
