Tag: HollywoodReporter

There’s an amusing, insightful movie to be made about the culture clash that would inevitably result between a 40-year-old Millennial and several Gen Z twenty-somethings. But that’s not the new Netflix comedy directed by Tim Story (Barbershop, Ride Along) and starring Kevin Hart.

Instead, as might have been predicted, 72 Hours aims for the lowest common denominator, with a wildly farcical plotline in which Hart’s character is mistaken at various times for a human trafficker, a cop and a Cuban drug lord. He also gets into a brawl with several women in a moving limousine and finds himself in a smuggler’s boat carrying an illegal contraband haul of “whale dicks.” Add to that Hart’s face swollen to monstrous proportions after being stung by a jellyfish, and if all of this sounds hilarious, then this is the movie for you.

The script crafted by a quartet of screenwriters features a reasonably clever premise. Hart plays Joe, a marketing executive whose pitch for a new vodka line falls flat. “You don’t seem to get youth culture anymore,” his boss (Kevin Dunn, doing his usual exasperated thing) tells him, adding that if Joe doesn’t get with the times he’ll be passed over for a promotion.

It’s fortuitous, then, that Joe finds himself accidentally included in a group chat with several young men planning a bachelor party in Miami. When he impulsively responds with a cash gift, he’s invited to join the revelers, who have no idea that he could be their dad. Desperate to find out what makes the younger generation tick, Joe decides to go, much to the irritation of his longtime girlfriend (Teyana Taylor), who is impatient for a marriage proposal.

Cue the would-be yucks as Joe meets up with Nick (Marcello Hernández), Hunter (Ben Marshall), Freshman (Kam Patterson) — all three comedians Saturday Night Live recruits — and groom-to-be Mason (Mason Gooding, Heart Eyes, Scream 7) in a palatial Miami mansion. The house turns out to be the former home of a deceased drug kingpin, which leads to dangerous complications as Joe suffers a series of misadventures, including several run-ins with a group of criminals led by the menacing Jaze (Michael Mando, illustrating the dangers of typecasting after his far more serious performance as Nacho Varga in Better Call Saul).  

The film’s unfunny nadir comes when the gangsters force Joe to ingest cocaine, which for some reason transforms him into the heavily accented “Riccardo Montana,” complete with Scarface riffs including “say hello to my little friend.” The gag is repeated later on; Hart and the filmmakers apparently are convinced that his Al Pacino impression is a laugh riot.

Any stabs at cultural satire about, say, Gen Z’s addiction to documenting their lives on social media, are subsumed by the crazy action-comedy shenanigans, with the younger cast, all of whom have proven themselves funny on prior occasions, unable to elevate the pedestrian material. Hart tries hard (he always tries hard), throwing himself into the slapstick with his usual determination. The fact that he’s able to wrest a few laughs is a testament to his comic chops and professionalism.

There are some semi-amusing cameos along the way, including a brief appearance by Mike Epps as a cop, and another performer whose identity has been deemed a spoiler by Netflix. But both are outshone by a hilarious Andy Garcia, who demonstrates that, under the right circumstances, sometimes serious actors can be the funniest of all. It’s a shame, though, to see Taylor, fresh off her Oscar-nominated turn as a fierce revolutionary in One Battle After Another, reduced to playing the disapproving girlfriend. It feels less a departure than a regression. 

And, of course there are the obligatory outtakes during the end credits, apparently intended to prove that the actors, at least, found the proceedings hilarious.

Zach Cregger is ready to work his magic with the prequel to Weapons that will focus on breakout character Gladys.

During Collider’s Directors on Directing panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, the filmmaker shared a status update on the planned feature follow-up to his 2025 horror hit that won Amy Madigan the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Aunt Gladys. The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Cregger and Zach Shields are penning the script for the project that is in development at New Line Cinema with the working title Gladys.

“First of all, I’m really excited about the Gladys movie, and I loved working with Amy,” Cregger told the crowd. “I loved that character. For the movie Weapons, it really made a lot of sense not to dive into her backstory because the device of Weapons was to keep her very mysterious.”

He added, “However, there’s an amazing story to be told about where Gladys comes from and how she became what we know her as. It’s got a lot of twists and turns and mysteries and crazy things, like Weapons does. I think it’s going to be great. The script is in progress now, but we’re taking that super seriously, and it’s moving in the right direction. So yeah, it’s being written, is the short answer.”

Centering on a group of children who go missing in the middle of the night, Weapons hit theaters last August from Warner Bros. and collected $270 million at the global box office. In addition to Madigan, the cast included Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams and Benedict Wong.

At Thursday’s panel, Cregger screened the latest trailer and additional exclusive footage from his forthcoming video game adaptation Resident Evil, which Sony releases in September. Cregger noted that his next feature will be The Flood, a sci-fi film that he wrote for New Line.

Also participating in the panel were Mayday directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who teased the progress on the new Star Trek feature that the pair are writing and directing.

“It won’t be the characters you’ve seen previously,” Goldstein said from the stage. “It will be a little further into the future than what you’ve seen.”

Mary Kate Golding, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel set decorator, has died after being found fatally stabbed. She was 34.

Golding was found dead on Tuesday in her Astoria, Queens, apartment, having suffered a fatal stab wound on her back, an NYPD spokesperson told People.

Police were called to her residence after midnight, and hours later at roughly 6:39 a.m., the police responded to a call of “an unconscious person in the vicinity of Astoria Park South and Shore Boulevard.” That person was Golding’s husband, Joseph Azzaretto, with the police telling People they believe the deaths were a “possible murder-suicide.”

Golding and Azzaretto’s 11-month old son was found at their residence unharmed.

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the NYPD for comment.

Golding is credited as the set decorator for the first six season one episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. According to her Facebook, she graduated from New York University in 2015.

She has worked on a plethora of other television shows, including Gotham (2019); The Undoing (2020); The Flight Attendant (2020); season one of Harlem; the 2021 Marvel series Hawkeye; two 2024 episodes of Mr. and Mrs. Smith; Goosebumps (2025); and the Netflix documentary Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer.

On the film side, she served as part of the art department on the 2022 rom-com Marry Me, which starred Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. She is also credited as an assistant set director on Sean Durkin’s forthcoming feature Deep Cuts, starring Drew Starkey and Cailee Spaeny.

Years ago, Azzaretto’s younger brother, Nicholas Azzaretto, shot and killed his father at their Pennsylvania family home when he was 20. Nicholas pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in November 2021, and was sentenced to 10 years of probatin.

Sony is bringing the story of the Ramayana to the world, with the studio landing global rights to the adaptation of the epic poem. That excludes India, where Ramayana producer Prime Focus Studios will release the film telling one of humanity’s oldest stories.

The news, and the film’s trailer, were revealed Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con. The epic poem centers on Rama, a prince who spends years in exile and whose wife, Sita, is kidnapped by the demon king Ravana.

Nitesh Tiwari directs the project, which stars Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi.

Prime Focus Studios’ Namit Malhotra produces and is known as the founder of the visual effects company DNEG, which has worked on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Interstellar and Tenet as well as all three of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies.

The Ramayana will be released in multiple languages across the world, including an English-language version, with the producers saying the intention since conception has been for it to reach a global audience.

The film boasts music from Oscar winners Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman; action choreography by Terry Notary and Guy Norris and production design by Ramsey Avery and Ravi Bansal.

“For generations, the Ramayana has inspired people through its timeless humanity and enduring values. Our ambition has always been to honor that legacy while creating a cinematic experience worthy of audiences everywhere,” said Malhotra in a statement.

Notably, the news comes as Nolan’s The Odyssey, a retelling of the greek epic, has been tearing up the global box office, marking Nolan’s biggest global debut and passing $300 million worldwide since its release a week ago.

The first new series set in the (animated) world of Avatar: The Last Airbender in more than a decade has a premiere date.

Paramount+ will debut Avatar: Seven Havens on Oct. 9, the streamer announced Thursday. The news came during a Comic-Con panel devoted to the feature film Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, which premieres on Paramount+ (and a handful of theaters for awards qualification) this weekend.

Seven Havens, from Avatar creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is set well after the events of sequel series The Legend of Korra. The show centers on a young Earthbender who discovers she’s the new Avatar, but that “marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior,” according to the show’s logline. “Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse.”

Along with the premiere date announcement, Paramount+ also released a teaser for Avatar: Seven Havens. Watch it below.

Seven Havens scored a series order in February 2025. It will premiere 21-plus years after the debut of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which ran from 2005-08 on Nickelodeon (and later spawned a live-action adaptation at Netflix) and 12 years after the end of The Legend of Korra, which ran from 2012-14.

The show’s voice cast features Saheli Khan, Aishu Devan, Akshay Khanna, Major Curda, Sakina Jaffrey, Darren Barnet, Dianne Doan and Dee Bradley Baker.

Nickelodeon and its Avatar Studios are producing Seven Havens, which has a 26-episode order. DiMartino and Konietzko executive produce with Ethan Spaulding. Sehaj Sethi is co-EP. 

A legal fight has broken out over the administration of Chadwick Boseman‘s estate, with his parents looking to remove his widow from her role overseeing its assets.

Boseman’s parents, Leroy and Carolyn, accuse Simone Ledward Boseman of violating a court order mandating the distribution of funds and mismanaging the company that holds Chadwick’s rights and prior works. The petition filed in California state court asks to hold her in contempt and issue an injunction barring her from exercising unilateral control over estate property.

Boseman died in August 2020 from colon cancer without a will. Under California law, his estate was divided equally between Ledward Boseman and his parents, who each got 25 percent.

According to the petition, funds haven’t been fully disbursed. Ledward Boseman “has still not distributed the estate, nor has she filed a petition for discharge,” states the filing, which notes that she continues to exercise “complete control” while shutting the actor’s family out of decisions involving assets they also own.

There’s roughly $3.8 million in the estate, including cash, retirement accounts, a long-term care insurance policy and Chadwick Boseman Inc., the company that holds rights connected to the actor’s name and intellectual property.

The petition accuses Ledward Boseman of failing to transfer some of those assets owed to the family while neglecting to account for residual payments from SAG-AFTRA and a previously undisclosed bank account. The $40,000 insurance policy belonging to Carolyn under a 2022 court order, for example, was never distributed.

Also involved in the dispute: Boseman’s image and intellectual property rights. Those rights are managed by Chadwick Boseman Inc., with Ledward Boseman and the actor’s parents each owning 50 percent. The petition claims that Ledward Boseman has kept other family members in the dark regarding the company’s operations and appointed herself as CEO without holding board meetings. She’s allegedly used her control over the estate and the firm to enter into contracts assigning Chadwick’s rights and prior works, including a deal with Words + Pictures Productions for a documentary about the actor’s life. Another agreement involves a contract for production of “Deep Azure,” written by Chadwick.

“By holding herself out as the sole authority over Decedent’s assets, she is defrauding anyone she contracts with and puts those agreements at risk of recission,” the petition filed on July 17 states. “Meanwhile, Petitioners are blocked from pursuing lucrative business opportunities that might benefit Decedent’s elderly parents. Her continued control over the estate also sows distrust among the beneficiaries and harms the well-being of Decedent’s aging parents.”

In addition to seeking her removal as administrator, Boseman’s parent request an order requiring Ledward Boseman, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, to produce a complete accounting for every transaction made since she was appointed administrator in 2020.

Isabel Davis has been appointed the new director of the BFI National Lottery Filmmaking Funds. She’ll take over from Mia Bays later this year.

Davis will be responsible for managing an annual fund of £20 million ($26.6m), which will go into cultivating a culturally vibrant, inclusive and original independent film sector here in the U.K. Among the features backed by Bays in the post were 2025’s Kneecap, My Father’s Shadow, and Two Black Boys in Paradise.

She’ll join the BFI in October for a five-year fixed term after eight years as executive director of Screen Scotland, where she has championed the Scottish screen industry and “been central to its transformation and growth.”

Davis replaces Bays, who has led the fund since 2021. Bays caught up with The Hollywood Reporter just this year about being in the riskiest job in British film.

“I’m honored to be stepping into this role at a time when this public funding is critical to building a successful future for U.K. film and the public value it represents,” said Davis. “It’s a challenging moment for U.K. independent film, economically and structurally. But audience appetite for great stories, and for the communal experience of cinema-going, is strikingly resurgent and our filmmaking talent continues to be among the world’s best. Enabling filmmakers to produce work that connects with a broad range of audiences across the U.K. — through ambition, inventiveness and heart — has to be at the core of our response. Daunting, yes, but exciting too.”

“My excitement is tempered only by sadness at leaving Scotland, which I’ve been lucky enough to call home for much of my adult life, including through the creative upswing of the past eight years,” she added. “Huge thanks to my Screen Scotland teammates, whose talent, hard work and good nature serve our industry, audiences and young people to such positive effect, and to our colleagues at Creative Scotland for their support.”

Davis’ appointment follows a rigorous interview process, which saw a wide range and diverse pool of candidates considered. To ensure independent voices from industry contributed to the decision, external panelists on the interviews included producers and BFI board members Elizabeth Karlsen and Hakan Kousetta, producer Nicky Bentham as co-chair of Pact’s Film Producers’ Group, while CEO Ben Roberts and deputy CEO Harriet Finney were among those representing the BFI.

The exec joins during an exciting year for the BFI Filmmaking Fund, with titles announced this week to world premiere at major upcoming festivals: Our Share of Sand (Shalini Adnani) at Venice and Stuffed (Theo Rhys) at Toronto International Film Festival. The Incomer (Louis Paxton) opens the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) next month alongside Extra Geography (dir. Molly Manners), which both previously premiered at Sundance, and Out There (Simon Ryninks) will get its world premiere in Edinburgh’s competition selection.

Elsewhere, I See Building Fall Like Lightning (Clio Barnard) premiered in Cannes and won the People’s Choice award in Directors’ Fortnight, and Animol, from Adolescence‘s Ashley Walters, earned its world premiere at the Berlinale and won the FIPRESCI prize for best film. Lady (Olive Nwosu) screened in Sundance and won the special jury award for acting ensemble, while Ish (Imran Perretta) is released on Friday in cinemas U.K.-wide.

François Arnaud has been tapped as a global brand ambassador for Under Armour, the athletic apparel brand announced Thursday.

The Heated Rivalry star’s first order of business as an ambassador is leading the brand’s For When It’s Hot campaign, which was released alongside the news. Under Armour had teased Arnaud’s involvement with the brand earlier over the last week on social media. Arnaud also wore the brand in character as Scott Hunter in Heated Rivalry,

“If you’d told the skinny awkward kid I used to be that one day I’d be an ambassador for a sportswear brand, I would’ve laughed,” Arnaud said in a release.

“What makes this moment feel so special is that it’s reminder that we don’t always end up where we expect, and growth can look very different from what we imagined,” he continued. “Grateful and honored to partner with Under Armour who were willing to meet me right where I want to be.”

The new campaign celebrates the brand’s HeatGear line. It launches this week, as the brand notes it’s historically the hottest week of the year in North America. In the accompanying campaign spot, the actor is shown shirtless and putting on his Under Armour gear as temperatures continue to rise. A nearby woman snaps photos and videos of Arnaud as he works out, ending the spot shirtless again and cheekily throwing his shirt at the camera.

Under Armour believes that Arnaud reflects a “forever athlete” mindset and someone who’s constantly pursuing improvement on and off the screen, according to a release. “What drew us to François was more than his obvious talent and looks, it was what he represents. The character he portrays ultimately finds his greatest success when he stops trying to fit someone else’s mold and embraces who he truly is, Under Armour’s chief communications offer Matt Dornic said in a release. “That’s a lesson that resonates deeply with us.”

The executive continued, “The best athletes perform with confidence, conviction and authenticity, and we believe the strongest brands do too. As Under Armour continues to evolve, we’re focused on being unmistakably ourselves, and François embodies that mindset in everything he does.”

Watch the new Under Armour spot below.

When Crystal Methyd decided she was ready to return to the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise for All Stars season 11, she wasn’t going to let the crown slip through her fingers a second time.

Crystal joined the Drag Race Hall of Fame on Friday, successfully winning season 11. But this wasn’t the first time she found success on the show; in 2020, Crystal made her franchise debut on season 12 of the mainstay series. That’s also the year the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world. While her season of RuPaul’s Drag Race premiered in late February, most of the installment aired during the first major lockdown. 

Crystal made it to the final three of season 12, where Jaida Essence Hall was ultimately crowned the show’s winner, over Zoom. It took her six years to say yes to return to RuPaul’s Drag Race post-season 12, although she’s rumored to have said no to the opportunity to compete on All Stars a few times. 

It was worth the wait. Crystal won RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 11 on Friday. “I was so excited to finally come back,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter, “but I definitely wanted to make sure I had some time to cook, because I knew those expectations [after season 12] were going to be high, and I really wanted to be able to meet them.”

All Stars season 11 was partly the right time for Crystal to compete for a second time because she wanted to make sure she had the full RuGirl experience (traveling for gigs, attending watch parties with fans, etc.) that she lost during the pandemic. 

“I felt like I was playing catch-up after my season,” she says. “I didn’t get to travel around. I didn’t have all the club experiences that a normal cast member would get, so I just wanted to have time, make sure I got every experience that I wanted.” 

Amid the growth of the Drag Race franchise, some have argued the schedule of airing one All Stars installment each year should be reduced to once every few years. Although there were six years between Crystal’s RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 and All Stars season 11 appearances, she doesn’t think the franchise should slow down its release schedule. 

“I don’t think that we should ever have any pause in Drag Race,” Crystal says. “I think more drag is good for everyone.”

Below, Crystal reflects on what the first few days of being a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner have been like, the behind-the-scenes differences she felt between season 12 and All Stars 11, why she doesn’t mind the show’s bracket format and what it means to be the first person of Mexican descent to win the mainstay series. 

What have the last few days been like for you since winning All Stars?

It has been really, really fun and wild. I got to be in Vegas for the last episode, and then I had a few days off, so I was living up my Vegas fantasy, staying at the club till six a.m., partying with my girls Kylie [Sonique Love] and Jaida. It’s been great. I’ve been feeling all the love from the fans and my friends, so I’m on top of the world.

Watching the show back, you don’t know who wins; you film two outcomes. What did it feel like when you finally heard RuPaul call your name and crown you?

It was really wild, because I’ve been close to winning before, and I think on season 12, I didn’t even want to win until I knew it was a possibility. And then I got really, really close, and when I didn’t win, I was, like, so sad. I remember closing my computer with our Zoom finale and crying all my makeup off. So this time, I didn’t want to get my hopes up either way because, you know, the show is unpredictable. You never know what could happen. So for it to all become a reality, it still didn’t feel real that day we found out. I think it took a couple days to hit.

You were so beloved on season 12, and your All Stars return was long awaited. Because of the expectations that fans had for you going into the show and the fact that you took time off, you didn’t jump right back into All Stars. Did you feel any pressure going into your return or were you more excited?

I was so excited to finally come back, but yeah, I definitely wanted to make sure I had some time to cook because I knew those expectations were going to be high, and I really wanted to be able to meet them. And then at the same time, I felt like I was playing catch-up after my season. Like, I didn’t get to travel around. I didn’t have all the club experiences that a normal cast member would get, so I just wanted to have time, make sure I got every experience that I wanted, and to have some experiences that maybe not everyone had. I was so excited that I got to be in Slay, the Tubi movie, and actually have these experiences on a set where it’s not reality television. I was ready, though, for All Stars 11. It was like, I can’t wait any longer. We put it off for far too long.

Season 12 was still the VH1 era of Drag Race. Now, Drag Race is in this MTV-Paramount era. Is there anything you noticed that was different behind the scenes from competing on the show in season 12 versus All Stars 11?

The stage was insane this year for All Stars. Like, the way that it was video screens and stuff. It just felt like everything had become bigger since I was there. I was like, I don’t know if I’ve just shrunk or what, but it was the set and everything; it was just bigger, bigger, bigger, and I just feel so happy that Drag Race does continue to grow every year.

This was the second year of the bracket format. The season 11 cast had seen a little bit of what the bracket format was like with season 10, so were you excited to take on the brackets, or were you like, “Maybe we should do a regular format season?”

I was excited to do it because my drag sister Daya Betty competed on All Stars 10, so I kind of had a vague understanding of how it worked. But again, after the merge for our season of All Stars 11, the rules changed, so it still felt really exciting. When we were there, it was like, oh, we still actually don’t know what to expect.

Do you think, moving forward with All Stars, that they should continue the bracket format?

I do think that it’s nice to guarantee queens a certain amount of episodes because it’s so heartbreaking to make all these beautiful gowns and things and then not even have the opportunity to showcase them. So I think that is definitely a really big perk, and I think that the social game aspect also is kind of a fun twist, because, you know, I almost didn’t make the merge because of all of the crazy twists and turns. It definitely adds excitement.

There’s always a conversation amongst viewers who think that All Stars should start taking years off so that they can give queens more time to grow. What is your take on that as someone who did wait longer to return?

Ooh, I don’t think that we should ever have any pause in Drag Race. I think more drag is good for everyone. But for me, I just wanted to take time off because I wanted to be able to show. It’s hard to have a bunch of growth when it’s only been a year, you know. So you have to travel around, meet those connections, and make that money to be able to invest back into yourself.

Fans have pointed out now, with your track record on All Stars 11, you have one of the best track records across all of the Drag Race franchise. Did you know that? Do you pay attention to that chatter about track records?

I don’t really know. I feel like track records don’t matter to me. But, wow! Oh my God, honored! I’m honored.

What does it mean for you to know that you rank so high in terms of performances on the show?

I mean, I think it just makes me feel good for the fact that, like, I didn’t realize my first season that Ru wanted to build a connection with me. Like, you know, with him calling me El Debarge and joking with me. I think I was so starstruck the whole time. When he was around, I just kind of would smile and toss my hair; like, I didn’t know what else to say. So I was excited to come back for All Stars and be able to be prepared to banter with Ru, because she wants to have fun, she wants to joke around and play, and I felt like I was at the point where I was ready to play with Ru, and so I think that’s why I ended up with those wins. It’s like, she was having fun, and that’s why she was loving it.

One of those challenges that queens do get to banter with Ru is the Snatch Game. There was no Snatch Game this season. What was your take on that?

You know, I had a terrible Snatch Game my season, so I’m not, like, heartbroken about it. But I was wanting to have a little bit of a redemption there. I would have loved to take on another Snatch Game. So maybe we’ll just have to wait for All Winners 2.

Did you prepare somebody for Snatch Game? Did you have somebody ready that you were going to do, and can you share who?

I’ve prepared, like, ideas, just in case in the past. I’ve never fully committed to anything all the way, but I was thinking a historical figure like Martha Washington or something could work.

You are the first winner of the main U.S. iteration of RuPaul’s Drag Race of Mexican descent. What does that mean for you to win the title in the time that we are currently politically?

I think it’s perfect timing. I’m so glad that it’s happening now. I feel so honored to be able to represent for all the Mexicans out there. I just got to be in Mexico for Pride, and it was just so, so magical. I felt so much of the love, and I can’t wait to go back and bring them the crown, you know?

What do you hope is to come for your year as the reigning winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars?

Oh my gosh! Well, I’m just excited to continue doing the unhinged drag that I do and maxing it up even more. I actually just announced my one-woman show. So spring of 2027, a stage show, all me, dancers, puppets, all my ideas. It’s going to be crazy and magical, and I’m so excited to start working on it.

***

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 11 is streaming on Paramount+. 

Almost exactly six years after NBCUniversal first launched Peacock, the streaming service reported its first ever profitable quarter.

Comcast reported its Q2 earnings early Thursday, with EBTIDA of $189 million, and subscribers growing to 48 million, driven by the NBA playoffs, FIFA World Cup, and Love Island.

Overall, Comcast’s content and experiences businesses reported revenue of $10.7 billion, up 22.9 percent from a year ago, and adjusted EBITA of $1.3 billion, up 7.1 percent.

Media revenue was $5.7 billion, up 25 percent, with adjusted EBITDA of $708 million. The FIFA World Cup, for which Telemundo had Spanish-language rights, brought in an astonishing $440 million in incremental revenue in the quarter, but the company would have been up regardless.

Driven by the Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Obsession, studios revenue soared 25 percent to $3 billion, with adjusted EBITDA of $202 million.

That said, Comcast warned that its theme parks business is experiencing softness, even with revenue rising 2.7 percent to $2.4 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was down 5.1 percent to $609 million.

“While we are seeing some near-term softness in Theme Parks, we remain confident in the long-term opportunity, supported by our world-class brands, attractive locations and proven ability to create attractions and experiences that drive real consumer demand,” Brian Roberts and Mike Cavanagh said in a statement.

Comcast is in the process of splitting itself in two, separating its Comcast cable and connectivity business, which will be led by CEO Michael Angelakis and its entertainment and content business, which will be led by Cavanagh.

Comcast overall is in the midst of a transition, led by its connectivity business, which has seen softness in an extremely competitive environment. Comcast as a whole reported revenue of $29.9 billion, down 1.2%, and adjusted EBITDA of $8.9 billion, down 13%. Comcast’s connectivity business is executing on its “strategic pivot,” the executives said, with results expected by next quarter,