Entertainment news 7 October 2026: Skydance, Miley, Carrie

Our entertainment news 7 October 2026 roundup is led by Skydance’s first full day as a merged company, when its two chief executives faced staff and reporters but left many questions open. We also cover a new indie banner from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, California’s latest film tax credits, the Baby Reindeer lawsuit, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie, Miley’s chart fall and fresh K-pop news. Every item is checked against the outlet that reported it, linked in the text.

The short answer

• Skydance: David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz explained how they will split the job, but gave no timetable for combining HBO Max and Paramount+.
• Studios: Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures will keep releasing films under their own names.
• Baby Reindeer: a US appeals court says it has no jurisdiction over Netflix’s appeal, so Fiona Harvey’s case moves forward.
• Charts: Miley’s Bass Persuades slid 156 places, from the top of the Billboard 200 to No. 157.
• Streaming: all eight episodes of Carrie are now on Prime Video.

Skydance’s first day: big promises, few details

Ellison, the chief executive, and Kreiz, his co-chief executive, spent day one answering questions: first from CNN’s Anderson Cooper at a staff town hall on the Warner Bros. lot, then from reporters on the Paramount lot, Deadline reports. Kreiz said he will concentrate on operations, day-to-day management and integrating the two businesses, while Ellison takes creative work, technology and long-term strategy.

Asked how a company carrying $79 billion of debt can commit $30 billion to $40 billion to new content, Kreiz said Skydance has a business plan and expects to reduce its leverage. Ellison told critics of the merger to “give us time”. Deadline notes there were no specifics on when the streaming services will merge, on Skydance’s 30-plus cable networks, on how the 30-films-a-year target will be met or on the status of Barbie 2.

A memo from Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, the new heads of the Motion Picture Group, gave some answers on film. They said the two big studios, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, will keep making and releasing films separately, each carrying its own logo, while DC Studios, New Line Cinema and Paramount Primal stay as distinct labels, Variety reports. They also acknowledged that a merger this large will bring change; an earlier memo from Ellison and Kreiz confirmed that there will be layoffs.

Affleck and Damon launch an indie label

Artists Equity, the company run by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, has set up Artists Equity Independent Pictures (AEIP) to back emerging filmmakers, Variety reports in an exclusive. It is funded by an independent theatrical film fund. Jennifer Westin, a senior vice president at the company, will oversee the slate day to day, reporting to Amy Baer, president of film and television. The first projects are A Woman in the Sun, a family drama that marks the directing debut of Nyad screenwriter Julia Cox, with Renée Zellweger, Sissy Spacek and Mia Threapleton, and Downriver, directed by Sam Jones from a script by the novelist Carl Hiaasen.

Michael 2 lands $30.8 million in California tax credits

Lionsgate’s Michael 2 will receive $30.8 million in state incentives, one of 35 films sharing $226 million in the California Film Commission’s latest round, Variety reports. The first Michael film received $21 million and went on to gross more than $1 billion. The credit is now more generous, covering 35% of qualifying costs, double the 17.5% the first film received. Pixar’s untitled project takes the biggest share, $40.1 million. Skydance projects collect $53.7 million in total, including $11.4 million for New Line’s sequel to Friday.

Netflix loses a round in the Baby Reindeer case

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has decided it does not have jurisdiction to hear Netflix’s appeal in Fiona Harvey’s $170 million defamation lawsuit over Baby Reindeer, Deadline reports. Harvey argues that the series, promoted as a true story, wrongly depicted her through the character Martha, played by Jessica Gunning. The decision is procedural and does not judge the merits of Netflix’s arguments. Netflix must now either move to dismiss its own appeal or explain why it should not be dismissed. Harvey’s lawyer, Richard Roth, told Deadline the case is heading for a jury trial. Netflix declined to comment. The appeal had paused a trial that was widely expected in May 2025.

Flanagan’s Carrie series lands on Prime Video

Mike Flanagan’s eight-part version of Carrie, Stephen King’s first novel, is now streaming on Prime Video, with every episode released on 7 October, according to Geek Vibes Nation and Tom’s Guide. Summer H. Howell plays Carrie White, a sheltered teenager who starts at a public high school after her father’s death and discovers telekinetic powers. Flanagan is the showrunner and also writes and directs.

Miley’s Bass Persuades takes a record fall

Bass Persuades debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with about 61,000 equivalent units, Billboard reported. It was her first No. 1 since Bangerz in 2013. A week later it fell to No. 157. Variety calls this the steepest second-week drop ever for an album that debuted at No. 1. Page Six adds that no female artist has fallen further from No. 1; the previous record was Celine Dion’s Courage, which went from No. 1 to No. 111. Bon Jovi’s This House Is Not for Sale fell further, from No. 1 to No. 169 in 2018, but Variety points out it was already two years old when it returned to the top. Bass Persuades is Miley’s first album with Atlantic Records, and she plays the Hollywood Bowl on 16 and 18 October.

Solo Leveling live action adds its main cast

Netflix’s live-action Solo Leveling has cast Han So Hee as Cha Hae In, Kang You Seok as Yoo Jin Ho and Sung Joon as Woo Jin Chul alongside Byeon Woo Seok, who plays the lead, Sung Jin Woo, Soompi reports. Rain and Lee Sung Min also appear in special roles. The story started as a web novel and was then turned into a webtoon and an anime series.

ATEEZ set a date and Stray Kids head to cinemas

ATEEZ will release GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6 on 13 November at 2 p.m. Korean time (6 a.m. in Lagos), and have shared a first teaser titled “CRASH TO BEGIN”, Soompi reports. Meanwhile, Stray Kids World Tour ‘RUN IT’ Live Viewing will show the group’s Tokyo Dome concert live in cinemas around the world on 7 November, distributed by Trafalgar Releasing, Billboard reports. Tickets go on sale on 14 October at 10 a.m. Eastern Time (3 p.m. in Lagos), and some countries will see a delayed broadcast to suit local times.

What to watch

• Skydance: what Ellison and Kreiz tell investors next, and any timetable for HBO Max and Paramount+.
• Baby Reindeer: Netflix’s response to the appeals court and a possible trial date.
• Dates: Miley at the Hollywood Bowl on 16 and 18 October, Stray Kids tickets on 14 October and ATEEZ on 13 November.

Related: Global entertainment roundup: Skydance, Swift No. 1, Emmys; Skydance leadership team: who runs the merged company. More in our International Entertainment section.

Sources

• Deadline: Skydance CEOs meet the press on day one post-merger (7 Oct 2026)
• Variety: Skydance film heads pledge separate Paramount and Warner Bros. slates (7 Oct 2026)
• Variety: Artists Equity launches Artists Equity Independent Pictures (7 Oct 2026)
• Variety: Michael sequel to get $31 million in California tax credits (7 Oct 2026)
• Deadline: Netflix suffers blow in bid to get Fiona Harvey lawsuit spiked (7 Oct 2026)
• Geek Vibes Nation: What’s new on streaming in October 2026 (23 Sep 2026)
• Tom’s Guide: What to watch tonight, 7 October (7 Oct 2026)
• Billboard: Miley earns first Billboard 200 No. 1 in more than a decade (28 Sep 2026)
• Variety: Bass Persuades has biggest chart drop following a No. 1 debut (6 Oct 2026)
• Page Six: Bass Persuades suffers one of the biggest drops from No. 1 (7 Oct 2026)
• Soompi: Han So Hee, Kang You Seok and Sung Joon join Solo Leveling (7 Oct 2026)
• Soompi: ATEEZ announce November comeback date (7 Oct 2026)
• Billboard: Stray Kids World Tour ‘RUN IT’ Live Viewing coming to theatres (7 Oct 2026)