The Town with Matthew Belloni

Matt is joined by The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins from ‘The Big Picture’ to recap their trip to CinemaCon in Las Vegas and rank the presentations from the major movie studios. They discuss the trailers and footage the wowed people the most, announcements that fell flat, who brought the most star power, David Ellison’s surprise appearance and commitment to movie theaters, and much more.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jon Jones

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Live from CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Matt is joined by 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' director Jon Favreau to discuss bringing a streaming property to the big screen, the future of the 'Star Wars' universe, why the perception of AI needs to change, how to improve movie theaters, and how new technology is transforming filmmaking.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Jon Favreau

Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jon Jones

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the business behind Justin Bieber’s Coachella performance, Ye’s successful mini comeback in Los Angeles, and Bill Ackman’s $64B bid to buy UMG (02:29). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about Hollywood’s letter opposing the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger (22:40).

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Lucas Shaw 

Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Matt Pevic

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Matt is joined by documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville to talk about his new film ‘Lorne’, what it was like having exclusive access to Lorne Michaels and the behind-the-scenes moments from 'SNL' for multiple years, what surprised him about Lorne, what he thinks the future of 'SNL' looks like, and more (02:42). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ (34:37).

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Morgan Neville

Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jon Jones, and Matt Pevic

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

This episode is brought to you by AMC+. Start your free trial today at join.amcplus.com

Hacks: Every Thursday at 9pm on HBO Max.

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Matt is joined by Cinema United President and CEO Michael O’Leary to discuss their new filmmakers council including Jerry Bruckheimer, Emma Thomas, and Ryan Coogler, what this council plans to accomplish, the promising start at the 2026 box office, if we are seeing a shift in the types of movies that are getting made, and how they plan to improve the moviegoing experience (02:32). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the release dates of 'Dune: Part Three' and ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ (28:57).

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Michael O’Leary

Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jon Jones, and Matt Pevic

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

This episode is brought to you by AMC+. Start your free trial today at join.amcplus.com

Hacks returns April 9 on HBO Max.

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