Entertainment News Roundup: Paramount to enter into exclusive merger talks with Skydance; Colin Farrell embodies film noir detective in 'Sugar' and more

“It was really important to us to not shy away from the imagery of the female body,” Stevenson told Reuters, ahead of the film's premiere in theaters on Friday. Musical 'Mamma Mia!' celebrates 25 years in London's West End Back in 1999, the all female team behind musical "Mamma Mia!", based on songs by Swedish pop group ABBA, had no idea how successful their 'kitchen sink' show would be.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Paramount to enter into exclusive merger talks with Skydance, source says

Members of Paramount Global's board agreed on Wednesday to enter into exclusive merger talks with Skydance Media, favoring the independent studio over a $26 billion offer from Apollo Global Management, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal talks, which are more advanced than the offer from the U.S. private equity firm, are part of a two-step process that, if successful, would end Shari Redstone's control of the media empire built by her father, the late Sumner Redstone.

Colin Farrell embodies film noir detective in 'Sugar'

Film noir is back, with a lot of color, starring Colin Farrell in "Sugar," a new Apple+ series set in contemporary Los Angeles. The role of a private detective battling inner demons as he tracks down a Hollywood producer's missing granddaughter is a dream come true for the Golden Globe Award winner for best actor in "The Banshees of Inisherin."

Disney to start cracking down on password-sharing from June, CEO Iger says

Walt Disney's streaming service will start cracking down on password-sharing from June, CEO Bob Iger said on Thursday, as the entertainment conglomerate looks to boost subscriber growth and make the business profitable. Iger also signaled a need for consolidation in the streaming industry and said Disney was "eventually" looking at double-digit margins for the business, in a wide-ranging interview with CNBC.

'The First Omen' fearlessly features graphic female bodies

For “The First Omen” director Arkasha Stevenson, it was imperative to create a fearsome film focused on female body horror, including graphic birthing scenes. “It was really important to us to not shy away from the imagery of the female body,” Stevenson told Reuters, ahead of the film's premiere in theaters on Friday.

Musical 'Mamma Mia!' celebrates 25 years in London's West End

Back in 1999, the all female team behind musical "Mamma Mia!", based on songs by Swedish pop group ABBA, had no idea how successful their 'kitchen sink' show would be. "When you're a producer, you just hope everything will work. So to be here 25 years (on) is a big milestone," producer Judy Craymer said, a few days before the musical celebrates it's landmark run in London's West End. The drama of a mother and daughter with three possible dads has been seen in over 450 cities around the world, and led to two hit movies. "The ABBA songs are the icing on the cake, but what we've done is we put the ABBA songs into context," Craymer said of the show, written by Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Lloyd. "We represent real people. It's not a fairy tale. It's very kitchen sink," said actor Mazz Murray, who plays mum Donna in the production at London's Novello Theatre. She hears audiences both weeping and laughing during the show, she added. "I think 'Mamma Mia!' did change a dynamic. I think it's earned it's place in the cultural history of musical theatre," Craymer said, noting it offered something different and lighter to some of the other successful musicals of the time like Cameron Mackintosh's "Les Miserables" and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera". Reflecting on securing the use of the music, Craymer said that when she started suggesting to ABBA stars Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus in the 1980s that a musical could be made from their songs "they'd probably moved on to other things". "I think they thought that ABBA had kind of gone away... It wasn't till later in the nineties when things began to blossom, we began to move forward." "What I love is that over the 25 years we have succeeded in bringing the show to new generations, bringing theatre to new generations, but also ABBA to new generations." Coincidentally, while Mamma Mia! celebrates 25 years on April 6, ABBA are also marking 50 years since the release of their 1974 song "Waterloo", which brought them to global attention.

Filmmaker and fan Jonathan Nolan brings 'Fallout' games to TV

Filmmaker Jonathan Nolan says he was both nervous and excited to adapt the popular post-apocalyptic video game series “Fallout” for television. "(It was) intimidating, honestly, and the reason why is that I had played the games and loved them," Nolan said as he premiered the new TV show in London on Thursday.

(With inputs from agencies.)