What's news: Meet President Trump's antitrust enforcer Makan Delrahim, the creation of Warner Max suggests an intra-Warners rivalry, The Hunt is back on, the global implications of Parasite's Oscars win, Skydance sells a stake. Plus: Netflix tests lowering its paywall, and Jussie Smollett faces new charges. --Alex Weprin

 Trump's Antitrust Enforcer

On the cover: As Hollywood scales up to battle big tech, Makan Delrahim, the nation's top antitrust regulator (and a former movie producer), is becoming at least as influential as any showbiz mogul over Netflix, Megamergers, the Writers Guild and maybe the entire future of the entertainment business. He speaks to Eriq Gardner for this week's cover story.

+On Disney's box office domination in 2019: "They should not be punished for making good movies," says Delrahim. "If I did that, I could see [Disney CEO] Bob Iger sitting there saying, 'Wait a minute, we're too successful, guys. Let's not make this next animated film so good.' That's not what antitrust is for. So they own a lot of property and did some brilliant transactions in acquiring them, but there's no guarantee that next year they will also be great, unless they put the effort into it. Any other content creator [can do it]. Again, Netflix. What did they pay for The Irishman?"

+About that letter to the film Academy: Delrahim says that he was inspired to send the letter after reading news reports about Steven Spielberg pushing the Academy to change eligibility rules to keep out Netflix, or force them to release their films in theaters in order to be eligible for Oscars. 

--"I wanted to ensure that a group of the establishment incumbents didn't force changes to those rules to disadvantage potential new distribution models that would harm consumers or filmmakers," says Delrahim.

+Delrahim's entertainment industry background: In 2016, he executive produced a horror-comedy film starring Adrian Grenier called Trash Fire, which premiered at Sundance. Working with reality TV powerhouse Pilgrim Films (American Chopper, Ghost Hunter), Delrahim created a pilot for a series about wrongfully convicted individuals. No network picked it up. Delrahim also became a board member for World Poker Tour. "It's rare to work with a true Renaissance man,” says Pilgrim CEO Craig Piligian. The cover story.

+DOJ won't tackle politically biased media: "It's not our job." Delrahim says that it is not the responsibility of antitrust officials to enforce diversity of viewpoints on social media platforms like Facebook, or Twitter. But Delrahim does imagine a scenario where the DOJ could get involved.

--"Obviously, Rupert Murdoch at Fox showed there was a market for half the country who wanted a different viewpoint of news presented to them," he says. "And they did that. Now, if the market was blocked for him to invest and create something that he felt the market needed or demanded, that would be a problem. But otherwise, it's not our job to regulate the content of speech." The story.

 Intra-Warners Rivalry?

►With Warner Bros. and Warner Max, is AT&T setting up a sibling rivalry? As WarnerMedia’s streamer HBO Max preps for a May launch, a new film division will become a direct pipeline — and could spark awkward internal politics, Kim Masters reports.

Quote: "Perhaps ironically, the Warner Max reveal seemed designed to quell fears that Warners will be dominated by HBO Max executives. Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff’s name went first, before that of Robert Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia entertainment and direct-to-consumer. But that doesn’t alter the consensus of the town. 'HBO Max is the locomotive there,' says one veteran producer: 'That’s what matters to AT&T. Everything is dictated by the needs of HBO Max.'” The story.

+WarnerMedia doubles down on streaming shows ahead of HBO Max launch. A new study published Wednesday by Ampere Analytics found that while new streaming shows accounted for just 7 percent of WarnerMedia's original commissions in the fourth quarter of 2018, by the fourth quarter of 2019, streaming commissions represented 73 percent of WarnerMedia’s new TV projects. The story.

►The Hunt is back on. In an exclusive interview with THR's Kim Masters, producer Jason Blum and screenwriter Damon Lindelof defend the film as a satirical take on a divided country: "None of us were interested in taking sides with this movie." The movie is now set for release March 13, six months after Universal pulled the film from its September 2019 opening in the wake of a spate of mass shootings that shook the nation. The story.

Elsewhere in film...

--Box office: In a noteworthy feat for an original title, Rian Johnson's whodunnit Knives Out has hit $300 million at the worldwide box office.

--Coming off the success of World War I epic 1917, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners is set to delve into the Middle East conflict. The company has acquired film rights to Apeirogon, the upcoming novel written by National Book Award winner Colum McCann.

--After premiering her latest film The Last Thing He Wanted at Sundance, Dee Rees has chosen her next project: a remake of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

--New York boutique distributor Cinema Guild has picked up the Belgium drama Ghost Tropic for North America.

--The Film Academy has explained why Luke Perry was left out of the In Memoriam segment that aired during the 2020 Oscars on Sunday.



^Parasite's historic Oscar win may be a game-changer for the global film business. As Bong Joon Ho's South Korean satire becomes the first non-English-language best picture, others see opportunity to "jump on the bandwagon," Scott Roxborough and Soomee Park report. The story.

And speaking of Parasite...

►Parasite studio CJ Entertainment, Redbird Capital take stakes in David Ellison's Skydance. The Korean studio behind Bong Joon Ho's Oscar sweep and Gerry Cardinale's private equity firm are part of a new strategic partnership to grow Skydance, investing $275 million in the media company. The story.

+In other business news: Regal owner Cineworld's planned $2.1 billion takeover of Canadian exhibitor Cineplex has received approval from company shareholders... It is going to cost a little bit more to visit Disneyland, as the Anaheim theme park raised the prices of tickets and passes... Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios closed its $300 million acquisition of 11 local TV stations from USA Television Holdings...

►Netflix tests lowering its paywall. The subscription streaming has offered free trials in the past (and has on occasion made some TV episodes available on other platforms like YouTube), but yesterday it tried something new: Making one of its movies, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, available to stream, for free, on its own website.

--The move is a marketing ploy (the sequel to the movie, To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, releases on the service today), but a new take on it that keeps the user in its own platform, and presumably pushes to convert to a paid subscription to see the sequel when it is all said and done. Expect Netflix to offer other free previews for future TV shows and movies down the line.

+Speaking of: Robyn Bahr reviews the Netflix film To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.

Elsewhere in TV...

--Daniel Fienberg reviews the ABC legal drama For Life.

--The Conners: Behind the scenes of two live New Hampshire primary-focused episodes.

--NBC is keeping Superstore open for another year. The network has renewed the comedy for a sixth season in 2020-21. The series is a steady performer for NBC, both on air and on digital platforms.

--Ratings: Vince McMahon's XFL got off to a decent start with TV viewers in its opening weekend... ABC's The Bachelor bounced back from last week's down ratings...

 The Harvey Weinstein Trial

After four days of witness testimony, Harvey Weinstein’s defense rested their case Tuesday morning, after calling a final witness and announcing that their client will not testify. Donna Rotunno, Weinstein’s lead defense lawyer, will present her closing argument Thursday, followed by lead prosecutor Joan Illuzzi, most likely on Friday. The jury could begin deliberating on their decision, which must be unanimous, by Tuesday of next week. The story.

+CBS beats defamation suit from Virginia Lt. Gov. alleging "political hit job." Justin Fairfax hasn't proven the network acted with malice in airing interviews with two women who accuse him of sexual assault, but a Virginia federal judge found his claims to be reasonable enough to deny an award of attorney's fees. More.

+Netflix loses bid to dismiss $25 million lawsuit over Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. On Tuesday, Netflix failed in its first efforts to escape a lawsuit brought by the trademark owner of "Choose Your Own Adventure" over the immersive film. More.

+Also: Jussie Smollett was indicted Tuesday in Chicago by a special prosecutor relating to an alleged hate crime hoax a year ago. In a statement, Smollett's attorney said that the decision was"clearly all about politics not justice." More.

►Wes Anderson's French Dispatch: Here's the first trailer for Anderson's next film, which stars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Elisabeth Moss, and Adrian Brody. And here's a preview from The New Yorker, on which Anderson's title Dispatch is very loosely based.

Revolving door: Florida Girls creator and star Laura Chinn is strengthening her ties with Lionsgate TV, signing an overall deal with the indie studio... Oscars telecast producer Stephanie Allain has signed a first-look deal with Warner Horizon Scripted Television... UTA has promoted Michael Sinclair to general counsel... Studio71 has promoted Adam Boorstin from chief business officer to COO... SXSW has added a spate of new speakers to its 2020 conference lineup, including Damon Lindelof, Lulu Wang, St. Vincent, Janelle Monáe and Michael Moore...

Casting roundup: Margot Robbie is teaming with filmmaker David O. Russell for his next feature. The actress has joined Russell's untitled drama, which also stars Christian Bale... Odette Annable will star in the MGM TV/ABC Studios Thirtysomething sequelpilot... Zachary Levi and Cole Sprouse will soon be taking center stage in a music-driven comedy for Lionsgate and Mandeville Films called Undercover... Jonathan Tucker has been tapped to star in the NBC drama pilot Debris... Gugu Mbatha-Raw is joining the Disney+ Loki series... Wil Wheaton will host an esports competition series called GameMaster...

What else we're reading...

--"Vice Media raised money at a sky-high valuation. Now the bill is coming due" [WSJ]

"Inside Mark Zuckerberg's lost notebook" [Wired]

--"Macauley Culkin is not like you" [Esquire]

--"TLC's 90 Day Fiance is a hit thanks to spellbinding acrimony" [Bloomberg]

--"How a reality-TV producer became rainmaker to $300 Billion Saudi fund" [WSJ]

--"Redbox quietly launches ad-supported video service" [Protocol]

Today's birthdays: Gucci Mane, 40, Steve Hackett, 70, Michael Ironside, 70, Christina Ricci, 40, Robert Griffin III, 30.