Petition Friday
Friday, April 17 — Hello everyone, and happy Friday! This week, we’re starting off with some news about petitions. We are less than a week away from the meeting where Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will vote on the merger with Paramount Skydance (I feel like I’m watching “Succession” again), and many in Hollywood are sending up a last-minute plea.
Over 3,000 Hollywood industry professionals, including Florence Pugh, Ben Stiller, and Jane Fonda, have signed an open letter opposing the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. Paramount responded to the letter, maintaining its oft-repeated promise that it will release 30+ feature films a year, all with theatrical releases (I’ll believe it when I see it, but I’m guessing I won’t).
I don’t know if this will have any measurable effect on what ends up happening with the merger – celebrities sign open letters all the time – but there are some interesting wrinkles here. Multiple people who signed the letter, including J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, have deals with Warner Bros./HBO. Will the threat of losing that talent have any effect? I’m skeptical, but I guess we’ll see.
SIDE NOTE: At the Oscars, Jane Fonda said this of the possible merger and its effect on CNN: “I mean, I slept with a guy who created it [Ted Turner]! I have a personal stake in it!” Amid all this terrible news, I’m happy to be able to laugh at a good Jane Fonda quote.
Without further ado … Action!
🍿 CinemaCon, the trade show for movie theater owners in Las Vegas, was the talk of the town this week. Warner Bros. unveiled Clockwork, a new specialty division (but didn’t mention the merger), we saw a teaser for Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman reunited for “Practical Magic 2.” IndieWire has been covering everything, and you can keep up with that here.
🏆 The Atlanta Film Festival has announced the honorees for its 2026 IMAGE Film Awards Gala, including Will Packer, Josh Brolin, and Carrie Preston.
🎸 Soul Cinema Sundays is commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Prince’s death with a screening of “Purple Rain” at the Plaza Theatre on April 19.
🇪🇺 The European Film Festival of Atlanta returns to the Tara and Plaza Theatres May 13-16.
🏜️ Landmark Theatres begins its third annual Pride series on May 30 with “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” at the Midtown Art Cinema. The series will continue through June.
💼 Disney began making layoffs this week, with plans to eliminate about 1,000 jobs.
This week’s newsletter has interviews with a few filmmakers who have movies playing at this year’s Atlanta Film Festival (there will be a lot more where that came from next week) and a review of Stephen Soderbergh’s new film “The Christophers.” We’re skipping Spotlight this week, but we’ve still got what’s playing at theaters and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
🐾 The Midtown Mutt Gala returns May 3 from 2–5 p.m. for an afternoon of fashionable pups, music, vendors, and a doggy red carpet complete with Pawpurazzi! A small fee applies to enter the costume contest. Register by Apr. 26 and learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Mark Mori returns to Atlanta Film Festival with ‘Baristas v. Billionaires’
☕ In 1989, Mark Mori screened his documentary “Building Bombs,” which he co-directed with Susan Robinson, at what was then called the Atlanta Film & Video Festival. Now, 37 years later, he has a new film playing at the 50th Atlanta Film Festival.
The Georgia State University grad’s new film is called “Baristas v. Billionaires,” a documentary that chronicles the struggles of Starbucks baristas as they try to unionize against a company that seems determined to fight them every step of the way. The film will play at the festival on April 28 at the Tara Theatre.
Ahead of that screening, I spoke with Mori and co-producer Dennis LA White about the project and why it means so much to them.
✊ Check out the interview here.
Sculpting Space, Shaping Experience
SPONSORED BY THE HIGH MUSEUM
🧑🎨 Step into the expansive world of Isamu Noguchi, where sculpture, design, and space converge in unexpected ways. Discover nearly two hundred works ranging from iconic furniture to unrealized visions and large-scale installations that reveal an artist redefining how we live, play, and experience form.
Plus, celebrate with a luminous community lantern parade from the High Museum of Art to Piedmont Park on April 23, featuring hands-on lantern-making workshops inspired by Noguchi’s iconic Akari lanterns with Chantelle Rytter.
Marissa Read and Selyna Warren capture 90s sitcom nostalgia with a twist in ‘Step-Friend’
📺 Sometimes, it feels like Marissa Read and Selyna Warren share the same brain.
When I interviewed the writing partners, whose project “Step-Friend” will be playing in the Episodic section of this year’s Atlanta Film Festival, that fact became more apparent than ever. They often finish each other’s sentences, or say the same thing at the same time. It’s the kind of chemistry that only years of working closely together can bring.
“Step-Friend,” which was written and directed by both Read and Warren, is the pilot of what the duo hopes will become a series. It features a nostalgic multicam sitcom format (think “Full House”) and follows the strained relationship between Scout (Read) and her best friend Darby (Warren) after Darby marries Scout’s dad, Vince (Jim O’Heir). Things come to a head when Vince’s boss (Jillian Bell) comes over for dinner.
🍿 I spoke with the duo ahead of the project’s screening at the Atlanta Film Festival. Check out our conversation here.
Art is a relationship in ‘The Christophers’
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🖼️ “The Christophers” opens with a shot of a drawing. Our protagonist, Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), is sitting on a bench, sketching the building across from her. She’s passing time (she works at the Chinese food truck parked next to the bench), and a completed sketch of the same building already sits on one side of her notebook, as she works on a second identical sketch.
We won’t really question what Lori is doing until later, but as the film goes on, you start to wonder – was she sketching the building in front of her, or was she trying to copy the sketch on the other page? We’ve been conditioned to understand a difference between those two things, but why? Why does that really matter?
“The Christophers,” directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, is filled with moments like this one – seemingly inconsequential at first glance, but raising larger questions about the nature of art. Why do we value the sketch of the building more than the sketch of the sketch? What gives art its importance? Is it originality? And if it is – what does that mean?
🖌️ Read my full review here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
❄️ “Normal” (pictured)
🇪🇬 “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy”
📺 “Lorne”
🖼️ “The Christophers”
🐰 “Bunnylovr”
Special Events:
👪 An Evening with Blair Underwood + “Madea’s Family Reunion” @ The Plaza (Friday)
🔮 “The Dark Crystal” in 4K @ The Plaza (Saturday-Wednesday)
👂 “Blue Velvet” in 4K @ The Plaza (Saturday-Wednesday)
🎸 “Pavements” @ The Plaza (Saturday)
👑 Soul Cinema Sundays: “Purple Rain” @ The Plaza (Sunday)
😲 “Faces” @ The Tara (Friday-Wednesday)
🇫🇷 Behind the Slate: “A Man Escaped” @ The Tara (Saturday)
🥂 “Bridesmaids” 15th Anniversary @ The Tara (Saturday-Tuesday)
🎭 National Theatre: “All My Sons” @ The Tara (Saturday-Sunday)
🥸 “The Mask” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sunday-Monday)
🤰 “Terms of Endearment” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Saturday-Sunday)
🐾 The Midtown Mutt Gala returns May 3 from 2–5 p.m. for an afternoon of fashionable pups, music, vendors, and a doggy red carpet complete with Pawpurazzi! A small fee applies to enter the costume contest. Register by Apr. 26 and learn more here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Lights, Camera, Action!
📱 I’ve never been to an Alamo Drafthouse, but I have been to a dine-in movie theater, and I have some pretty strong, negative opinions about it. But Alamo was supposed to be different. Servers and patrons stayed quiet, and phone usage was banned – or even ridiculed and punished, if it came down to it. But now, Alamo has joined the dark side and is allowing patrons to use their phones to order food – basically, encouraging people to do what was for so long a taboo. For IndieWire, David Ehrlich wrote about the hellscape that is eating at an Alamo Drafthouse in 2026.
📺 I mentioned the podcast “Unspooled” last week, but shared a different podcast episode that the “Unspooled” hosts appeared on. This week it’s their turn. Earlier this week, they put out a great episode on “The Truman Show,” discussing how the film achieves its high-wire balancing act of sincerity and satire.
🎧 We all have classics we’ve missed – for instance, I still haven’t seen “Chinatown.” (I’m working on it!) On a recent episode of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour,” the hosts discuss watching their big blind spots – such as “Erin Brockovich” and “Raging Bull” – for the first time. Check it out here.
🖊️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
