Variety

EXCLUSIVE: FX’s #LoveStory has hit 65M hours streamed across Hulu and Disney+, with finale viewership up 90% over the premiere: • The Walt Disney Company told Variety that 40% of the show’s audience is from outside of the U.S. • TikTok searches for John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette jumped 9,100% in the past month https://lnkd.in/er9AurQR

#TheSuperMarioGalaxyMovie earned an additional $24.6M at the box office on Thursday: • The animated sequel has grossed $59.1M domestically in its first two days in theaters • Universal Pictures is projecting a $128.2M opening weekend ($186M over five days), though some estimates peg it closer to $190M-$200M by Sunday, bringing the global tally between $360M-$375M https://lnkd.in/eRc5gJJM

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE RETURNS TO ‘TODAY’ #SavannahGuthrie will return to “Today” on April 6, more than two months after stepping away amid the unresolved disappearance of her mother, Nancy. The anchor will likely address her absence and ask viewers to bear with her while navigating her first weeks back, sources familiar with the network tell Variety. Guthrie is stepping into uncharted territory. Anchors aren’t supposed to be part of the news cycle. Normally, they just report it. But Guthrie is emerging from a bizarre moment during which she and her family were part of a gripping national story — and, because her mother has yet to be found, the narrative has not come to any conclusion. “NBC News has the journalistic obligation to keep covering the story, but also the personal and moral obligation to make sure Guthrie is protected from any undue stress or emotional harm from the coverage,” says Ben Bogardus, chair of the department of journalism at Quinnipiac University. Read the full digital cover from Brian Steinberg: wp.me/pc8uak-1lH4WR

Jeff Shell's legal team is engaged in preliminary talks with Paramount on a possible exit from the company, where he currently serves as president. The talks come after a messy legal battle in which Shell was sued by a professional gambler who claims he is owed $150 million for crisis communications services. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ewTJk5vX

J. J. Abrams is downsizing his production company Bad Robot and relocating operations from LA to New York. Sources were not clear on the exact number of cuts to come as a result of the downsizing, but it was characterized as being an across the board change rather than being specific to one division of the company versus another. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gsnwWtht

Hear from Deloitte’s Dennis Ortiz and Mythical’s Chief Operating Officer Jacob Moncrief at Variety’s Entertainment Marketing Summit for an exclusive look into how Rhett & Link’s Mythical has driven consistent innovation and growth spanning three decades. April 22 | Los Angeles Don’t miss out and register today: Variety.com/EntMar

Sam Altman says he felt “terrible” telling The Walt Disney Company CEO Josh D’Amaro about OpenAI’s decision to kill Sora, hinting that the companies are still looking to work together: “It’s super sad always to disappoint a partner or users or a team all of which doing incredible work. There are like many hard parts about being a CEO that you don’t get sympathy for… but one of them is, like, you have to like make a lot of like very tough resourcing calls and a lot of good things get caught up in that because they’re not the most important thing.” https://lnkd.in/gzkGWwRj

Universal Pictures' "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" has scored the biggest domestic opening day of 2026 with $34.5M: • Tops Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios’ “Project Hail Mary” ($33.1M) • Ahead of 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($31M) https://lnkd.in/eCkiyHVt

EXCLUSIVE: Tanya Simon, only the fourth executive producer in 60 MINUTES history, could be ousted later this year: • CBS News may not renew her one-year EP deal, per sources • The move is likely to exacerbate concerns over how Bari Weiss may reshape the revered news program • Simon still has a multi-year contract, but Paramount limited her EP role to one year amid Skydance sale talks Read the full report by Brian Steinberg: https://lnkd.in/eZR_yxGM