Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

California cancels talks with ​Paramount over Warner Bros deal

California Attorney General Rob ​Bonta canceled a meeting with Paramount Skydance ‌representatives scheduled ​for Monday to begin settlement talks over the state's lawsuit seeking to block Paramount's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, his office said. Paramount has pushed for ‌a settlement in the case, which is the last hurdle to the deal along with a parallel lawsuit by the Writer's Guild of America. The company faces a mountain of fees and costs to keep the deal together if the lawsuit ‌continues to a trial scheduled for March. Bonta and his partner states have so far won key ‌rulings, giving them leverage if settlement talks continue.

California expected to seek TV channel sales from Paramount-Warner, WSJ reports

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is expected to ask Paramount to divest some cable channels and commit to keeping its movie studio separate from Warner Bros. before he signs off on ⁠their ​merger, the Wall Street Journal ⁠reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. Paramount and California state officials are set to meet on Monday to discuss potential ways to ⁠settle the state's antitrust lawsuit, the report said.

Dutch broadcaster AvroTros to boycott 2027 Eurovision Song Contest

Dutch public broadcaster AvroTros said on Monday ​it would boycott the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest for a second year in protest at the presence of ⁠Israel in light of the situation in Gaza and what it called a lack of clear rules for excluding countries involved in military conflicts. "The ⁠recently announced ​changes by the European Broadcasting Union do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored," AvroTros said in a statement.

Venice adds Gaza documentary by Oscar-winning team ⁠to main competition

A documentary examining Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza was added to the Venice Film Festival line-up on ⁠Monday, the second year running ⁠that a highly charged work about the conflict has competed for the prestigious Golden Lion. Festival organisers said "NAZA", directed by the Israeli duo Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, will join ‌the main ‌programme for the September 2 to 12 event — the only documentary ​among this year's 21 contenders.