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☆ Florida board picked by DeSantis to countersue Disney
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) -An oversight board appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday said it would file a countersuit against Walt Disney Co in state court, according to prepared remarks seen by Reuters. Slideshow ( 2 images )The decision, which further escalates tensions between Disney and the state of Florida, comes in response to a lawsuit Disney filed last week in federal district court against DeSantis and members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight district board. The skirmish began last year after Disney criticized a Florida measure banning classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity with younger children. Florida lawmakers passed legislation that ended Disney’s virtual autonomy in central Florida where the Disney World theme parks attract millions of visitors each year. “The district will seek justice in state court here in central Florida where both it and Disney reside and do business,” Martin said.

☆ Disney has a ‘strong case’ against DeSantis over his ‘retaliatory campaign,’ First Amendment experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Disney just cast Ron DeSantis as the villain in a story of good versus evil. DeSantis responded to the lawsuit by issuing a statement through his communications director, Taryn Fenske. “It’s a serious First Amendment case,” Floyd Abrams, the renowned First Amendment attorney of Pentagon Papers fame, told me. The truth is that characterizing Disney as a creepy company that aims to morally bankrupt kids has become a mainstream position in GOP media circles. DeSantis knows this — which is why he was happy to pick this battle with the company.

☆ Despite tough talk, Ron DeSantis can’t shake Disney’s grip on Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Although Disney has thwarted the state’s most aggressive efforts against it, Ron DeSantis has repeatedly promised he will win out in the end. In the governor’s effort to wrest control of Disney’s Orlando-area theme parks, he found that Disney’s corporate lawyers have routinely outmaneuvered him. “The question is, how much are you willing to hurt everybody else?”Legally, he says, DeSantis can’t single out Disney explicitly because retaliation against a single company is unconstitutional. To be sure, Disney’s parks division is a huge part of its business. In other words: Florida needs Disney more than Disney needs Florida.

☆ Man vs. Mouse: Ron DeSantis Finds Taking On Disney Is a Dicey Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Charles Homans | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In Florida, Disney has proved a wily political foil for Mr. DeSantis. After the company criticized a Republican bill in the State Legislature limiting schools’ instruction on gender and sexuality last year, Mr. DeSantis tried to strip Disney of the unusual self-governance arrangement it has enjoyed for decades in the state. This month, the governor escalated the dispute by threatening a list of possible punishments. Its chief executive, Robert A. Iger, has criticized Mr. DeSantis’s actions as “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.”Polls suggest Mr. DeSantis’s political success in the debate may hinge on whether he’s viewed as a populist reining in big business or a culture warrior. A Harvard-Harris poll this month found a majority of registered voters nationwide — and a vast majority of Republicans — siding with Mr. DeSantis in the showdown.

☆ Activist Investor Nelson Peltz Steps Up Pressure on Disney Board
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Robbie Whelan | Theo Francis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Activist investor Nelson Peltz escalated his criticism of the Walt Disney Co.’s board and advocated for the removal of director Michael B.G. Froman , blaming him for backing governance and compensation decisions that Mr. Peltz says have harmed the company. Disney said Thursday that it didn’t support Mr. Peltz or his son, Matthew, named as an alternate nominee for Mr. Peltz, joining its board. “Neither Mr. Peltz nor his son offer skills or experience additive to the Disney board that replace the decadeslong experience of Mr. Froman,” Disney said. Mr. Froman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

☆ Disney World closed Splash Mountain after allegations of racism. Not everyone's happy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Walt Disney World has closed its famous Splash Mountain water ride, the Magic Kingdom attraction that for years had been criticized for having racist roots. Goodbye, Splash Mountain,” read the caption of one video that had more than 1,300 likes Tuesday afternoon. The website for Tokyo Disneyland does not indicate if or when its Splash Mountain ride will close. A representative for Walt Disney World did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday. Splash Mountain is no stranger to controversy: In 2018, it made headlines when Walt Disney World banned a man who rode it while holding up a "Trump 2020" sign.

☆ ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Superfly’ added to National Film Registry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —This annual list of 25 influential films to be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been revealed. “Films have become absolutely central to American culture by helping tell our national story for more than 125 years. We are proud to add 25 more films by a group of vibrant and diverse filmmakers to the National Film Registry as we preserve our cinematic heritage,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. The film was long thought to be lost but recently discovered in a museum in the Netherlands. ET to screen a selection of the films added to the registry this year.

☆ Park Seo-joon joins cast of 'The Marvels,' among growing list of Korean talent joining Disney projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Korean actor Park Seo-joon will star in the upcoming superhero movie “The Marvels” to be released in July 2023. He joins a growing roster of Korean talent that is joining Disney-backed content and was one of many Korean names dropped Wednesday at a Disney content showcase in Singapore. Earlier this month, “Squid Games” star Lee Jung-jae was announced as joining Star Wars series “The Acolyte,” for Disney +. So too did Japanese director Miike Takashi, whose Korean-made series “Connect” Disney+ will upload early next month. Disney has announced plans to green-light 50 local shows in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of 2023 and is keen to catch up with Netflix in the scale of its Korean content roster.

☆ Thanksgiving used to be a movie feast. This year? Slim pickings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Thanksgiving weekend has historically offered a cornucopia of films, letting moviegoers get out of the house and kick back after eating copious amounts of turkey, mashed potatoes and pie. The North American box office has few new films this weekend that are likely to draw tons of moviegoers. Another Disney film, Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” is now in its second week and is set to win the holiday weekend with around $40 million domestically. For example, films like “Creed,” “Moana,” and “Knives Out” opened on Thanksgiving weekends and did well. As for Thanksgiving, Dergarabedian hopes that as the theater industry normalizes, the holiday will make a comeback.

☆ Bob Chapek’s tenure marked by political missteps inside and outside of Disney
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Now he’s saying “Goodbye, Disney (DIS).”Chapek’s rocky two-and-a-half year tenure at the head of the entertainment giant had a few wins. But Disney made the surprise announcement Sunday that its revered former CEO Bob Iger is making a return as the head of the company. Disney employees began staging walkouts, saying Chapek’s statements “utterly failed” to grasp the threat to LGBTQ communities. DeSantis quickly ripped Disney after Chapek’s public condemnation, calling the company a “woke corporation” with questionable business interests in China during a private event. Investors celebrated Iger’s return as CEO, sending Disney shares up nearly 7% Monday after dropping roughly 38% this year.

☆ Paramount took a risk keeping ‘Top Gun’ grounded for two years. It was this year’s biggest hit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“Maverick” flew into theaters with lots of buzz and strong reviews, and that helped the movie blow past box office projections for its opening weekend. It brought in a Memorial Day weekend record of $160 million at the North American box office. “Maverick” is an old-school box office hit made for the biggest screen possible that emerged just as the industry’s future was very much in doubt. “The commercial reception of Tom Cruise’s legacy sequel was the summer movie miracle theaters needed,” Scott Mendelson, a box office reporter, wrote for Forbes. Climbing back up the mountain"We really felt, and Tom certainly agreed with the fact that we had a great big screen movie," Bakish said.

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