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has just become ’s third consecutive critically acclaimed project for DC, but it’s his first creative output from his new DCU slate as co-head of DC Studios. Technically speaking, it’s the fifth celebrated project in a row since he oversaw Matt Reeves’ DC Elseworlds’ HBO series, , as well as the Sundance acquisition of . Gunn did not intend for his new animated series to launch the rebooted DC universe, but immediately following the ratings juggernaut that was season one, HBO Max, now Max, asked Gunn if he had another streaming series in him. He proceeded to write all seven episodes of on spec, and just as he was dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, he was hired by Warner Bros. Discovery to shepherd the entire universe alongside his longtime friend and producer, Peter Safran. Thus, is first up to bat since the 7-episode series was already in motion. In late 2022, after turning in his scripts, Gunn knew that he needed to hire a showrunner while he and Safran conceived the rest of the DCU’s first chapter. That eight- to ten-year plan is now known as featuring a handful of films, TV series and games, including 2025’s , the DCU’s “true beginning.” All the while, , who co-created Max’s beloved animated series (2019), was helping Gunn bring to fruition. But as swamped as Gunn was with and various other tasks, Lorey is grateful that the filmmaker and studio co-chair was still able to be hands-on with , versus redirecting him to other parties. “To tell you the truth, it was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I didn’t have to go through anybody else. It was one-stop shopping,” Lorey tells . Gunn adds: “[Going through multiple people] can be a pain in the ass. Honestly, [working directly] was something good that I got from Marvel. There was a very clear back and forth [with Marvel], and while there was sometimes arguing in the best of ways, it always led to something different. It wasn’t like people were taking sides. The politics of it was gone, and that’s the way that we did . It was me working together with Dean to create the best thing, and none of us had egos.” takes place shortly after season one, as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sidesteps the congressional ruling that she can no longer enlist human prisoners for A.R.G.U.S.’s dangerous missions by now using imprisoned monsters. As a result, Waller hands a new operation and team to Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), the father of the fallen , who was murdered by Peacemaker/Christopher Smith (John Cena) in Gunn’s DC debut, (2021). Grillo’s older Flag will also play a key role in the upcoming film and second season of , all of which serves as an example of the kind of synergy that Gunn hopes to maintain between animation and live-action. As for the DCU’s upcoming live-action launch, Gunn is currently test-screening (2025), and he remains absolutely bullish about David Corenswet’s Superman/Clark Kent. “Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, David Corenswet is going to freak everyone out with how great he is,” Gun insists. “He is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with, and he can do everything. The man is incredible.” Gunn has also just wrapped season two, and he’s excited about the deviation that’s coming the audience’s way in late 2025. “Season two of is also going to take people by surprise,” Gunn shares. “We take a very different route than the first season, and it’s a really magical story that people are going to be blown away by.” Below, during a conversation with , Gunn and Lorey also address the question surrounding what is and isn’t canon from the now-defunct DCEU, as well as a potential second season of . *** Well, it really wasn’t meant to be that. The main thing is that it was already written. ( ) HBO Max asked me to do another show after the success of , but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. Committing to a TV show is a big deal, so I just started playing with different ideas, and then I started writing on spec. I wrote all seven episodes in a few weeks, and then right around the time that I was finishing those scripts, I got hired as the co-head of DC Studios. So we were ready to go [with ]. I supervised production and shepherded it forward, but James was still very involved in every step. We sent him the voice records cut together, the animatics, everything, so James was very much a part of the whole process. I don’t know how he does it! Every time I dealt with , it was like Christmas for me. Taking on a project the size of is just crazy. It’s hard and stressful. But the [ ] guys were doing such amazing work, and the cast was so incredible. They just kept sending me one great thing after another, but I also really cared about it. The pieces that I care about, I really get into the nitty-gritty of them. Of course, I worked with the actors for the recording of everything, which is relatively simple. At the end of the day, there’s seven episodes and they aren’t long. So we recorded everybody doing everything at once, and it wasn’t that much time. Yeah, they’re light canon. is pretty straightforward, with the exception of the appearance by a certain group [the former DCEU’s Justice League] at the end. ( ) They don’t exist . But the rule is: if we mention [something from the past] in one of the new DCU shows [and movies], then it happened. So that’s the way we’re dealing with it. ( ) To tell you the truth, it was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Being the creator of the show, James’ notes were very clear and very specific. I also knew that once we did them, I didn’t have to go through anybody else. It was one-stop shopping. Yeah, [going through multiple people] can be a pain in the ass. Honestly, it was something good that I got from Marvel. Normally, when you work on a movie, it’s the director’s voice, the studio’s voice and the producers’ voice. Sometimes, it’s the production company, and oftentimes, all those things can really fight each other. And working with Marvel, it was me as a director and them as the producer/studio. So there was a very clear back and forth, and while there was sometimes arguing in the best of ways, it always led to something different. It wasn’t like people were taking sides. The politics of it was gone, and that’s the way that we did . It was me working together with Dean to create the best thing, and none of us had egos. I can’t do everything, so it’s about using my time as best I can. There’s a lot of things I have to turn over to the guys to do, and it’s about really putting my time where it needs to be. I’m a micromanager. When I’m doing a movie, I’m looking at every single thing. So it’s definitely been wearing, and honestly, I can’t do what I’ve been doing the past [however many years]. Well, I wouldn’t give away any state secrets, but I haven’t tried to grill James for anything about these characters. I’d mostly like to be surprised. I hope that James writes the next batch of stuff and that I can read it all in the same way that I did this past batch. So that’s how I’d like to find out unless I’m the one writing. Yeah, we’ve talked about all of these characters in live-action and how we would do them, if we did them, in live-action. I don’t want to give away any secrets, but we use some technology in that’s completely new in regards to this kind of stuff. So we would know exactly how to do GI Robot. Absolutely. 100 percent. That’s right. Everything is very consistent in terms of the politics of the world and where the world is at and what’s going on; who are the metahumans in power, who are the metahumans not in power; who are the power brokers, who are not the power brokers. So we see a glimpse of it here, but we see more of it in and . We took elements of what the DC Frankenstein has been as this mercenary. But we also took a lot of things from Mary Shelley’s original for both the Bride and for Frankenstein, and we put them together in a way that added some other interesting elements. But I love Mary Shelley’s , and part of the real fun for me was playing with that canon in the same way that we’re playing with the DC canon. And David Harbour’s performance adds a whole other dimension to our Frankenstein. Indira’s [Varma] Bride, too. The two of them are just incredible. Yeah, I found his backstory to be heartbreaking and touching and emotional in ways that you would never associate with Weasel. It was by far the most surprising backstory. Yeah, he does. He really does. He does me favors when I need him, and he’s amazing in his episode of . Linda Cardellini, who’s another one of my close friends who I’ve worked with a lot, is amazing as Weasel’s lawyer, Elizabeth [Bates], in episode four. So I have this group of people who never ever let me down, like Nathan Fillion. Gregg Henry, who’s amazing, is in this season. So there’s just a lot of really wonderful actors that I’ve formed bonds with, and because I know the ins and outs of what they can do, I use them as appropriately as I can. Yeah, we were able to do that. We got several together. We had Indira and Zoë [Chao] together. They were great fun to watch, and they were fangirling over each other. It was terrific. Who were the others? Grillo and Harbour. And Grillo and Maria [Bakalova]. That’s right. There are these couples throughout the show, and it was important to get the energy between them so that it didn’t read like your usual thing with one line, one line, one line, one line. We wanted to really have this conversationalist, back-and-forth energy, and Indira and Zoë added little things afterwards to really keep it alive and make it feel like it’s real. So it was important to us from the beginning to keep that naturalistic style. We’ve talked about it, yeah. I feel great. is an enormous bear of a movie. It’s completely different from this show in every way, but it’s very much fantastic as well. Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, David Corenswet is going to freak everyone out with how great he is. He is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with, and he can do everything. The man is incredible. And then season two of is also going to take people by surprise. We take a very different route than the first season, and it’s a really magical story that people are going to be blown away by. Frank Grillo, of course, is a major part of that [and ], as his character, Rick Flag Sr., from . *** premieres December 5 on Max. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood Reporter

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IGO Limited ( OTCMKTS:IPGDF – Get Free Report ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,754,400 shares, a growth of 28.3% from the November 30th total of 4,485,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently ∞ days. IGO Price Performance OTCMKTS IPGDF opened at $3.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.62. IGO has a twelve month low of $2.81 and a twelve month high of $6.35. IGO Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for IGO Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IGO and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Middle East latest: Israeli raid and airstrikes in West Bank kill at least 8 Palestinians

JI leaders concerned at lawlessness BANNU: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Tuesday opposed the approval by the Apex Committee for the launch of a military operation in Janikhel area in Bannu district and said the party would hold a jirga to unite political parties and members of the business community against the decision. Speaking at a press conference at the Bannu Press Club, JI leader Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khan and others said the past military operations had failed to resolve the issues and warned that the same approach would not succeed in the future. Accompanied by JI leaders Maulana Arifullah and Mufti Sifatullah, he said the JI would not support any military action in Janikhel and expressed concern over the environment of fear created by the Apex Committee’s announcement. Prof Ibrahim Khan said that previous military operations led to displacement and caused suffering to the people without any tangible outcomes. He urged the government to present evidence of any success from such operations. “This decision is unwise, and we reject it outright,” he declared. The jirga is scheduled for December 28 and will bring together representatives from all political parties, civil society organizations and trader unions to devise a strategy. The JI leaders reiterated solidarity with the people of Janikhel and pledged to work collectively to protect their rights. Referring to unfulfilled promises made during the previous peace dialogues, the JI leaders demanded that commitments made by the provincial government, including those announced by the Chief Minister during his visit to Bannu, should be honoured. They condemned the closure of Juma Khan Road and the creation of no-go zones in cantonment areas, urging authorities to reopen them for public access. The party called for the suspension of sentences handed down to political activists by military courts, terming them unconstitutional and illegal. Prof Ibrahim criticized the Supreme Court’s approval of military courts, reiterating JI’s rejection of their legitimacy. The December 28 jirga aims to address the looming threat of displacement due to the planned military operation and devise a strategy to counter the fear and uncertainty prevailing among the people of Bannu.

Suncorp Group Limited ( OTCMKTS:SNMCY – Get Free Report ) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 600 shares, a decrease of 33.3% from the November 30th total of 900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Suncorp Group Stock Performance Shares of SNMCY stock opened at $12.05 on Friday. Suncorp Group has a one year low of $8.95 and a one year high of $13.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.95. About Suncorp Group ( Get Free Report ) See Also Receive News & Ratings for Suncorp Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Suncorp Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .10-man Barcelona concedes two late goals in draw at Celta Vigo'We need new leadership': Atlantic Liberal caucus calls for Trudeau's resignation

Wade Taylor IV scores 15 points and No. 22 Texas A&M beats Wake Forest 57-44Rokmaster Resources (CVE:RKR) Trading Down 25% – What’s Next?CHRAJ Commissioner Criticizes MP Lydia Alhassan for Distributing Food During Special Voting ExercisePresident Joe Biden on Monday vetoed legislation to add 66 new judges to understaffed federal courts nationally, a once widely bipartisan measure that would have been the first major expansion of the federal judiciary since 1990. The JUDGES Act, initially supported by many members of both parties, would have increased the number of trial court judges in 25 federal district courts in 13 states including California, Florida and Texas, in six waves every two years through 2035. Hundreds of judges appointed by presidents of both parties took the rare step of publicly advocating for the bill, saying federal caseloads have increased by more than 30% since Congress last passed legislation to comprehensively expand the judiciary. But the outgoing Democratic president made good on a veto threat issued two days before the bill passed the Republican-led House of Representatives on Dec. 12 on a 236-173 vote. In a message to the Senate formally rejecting the bill, Biden said it “hastily” creates new judgeships without addressing key questions about whether new judges were needed and how they would be allocated nationally. Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said in response that the veto was “partisan politics at its worst.” By staggering the new judgeships over three presidential administrations, the bill’s sponsors had hoped to get around lawmakers’ longstanding concerns about creating new vacancies that a president of an opposing party could fill. It received the Democratic-led Senate’s unanimous approval in August. But the bill lingered in the Republican-led House and was only taken up for a vote after Republican President-elect Donald Trump won the Nov. 5 election and the opportunity to name the first batch of 25 judges. That prompted accusations from top House Democrats, who began to abandon the measure, that their Republican colleagues had broken a central promise of the legislation by having lawmakers approve the bill when no one knew who would appoint the initial wave of judges. If the bill had been enacted, Trump would have been able to fill 22 permanent and three temporary judgeships over four years in office, on top of the 100-plus judicial appointments he is already expected to make. Those appointments would allow Trump to further cement his influence on the judiciary. He made 234 judicial appointments during his first term in office, including three members of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority. Biden on Friday surpassed Trump’s total number of judicial appointments with 235, though he named fewer appellate judges and only one U.S. Supreme Court justice during his tenure.

The holiday season is a time for deep reflection. And for me this year, that has meant reflecting on some of my favorite stocks and leaders to follow. Netflix ( NFLX ) has come to the forefront of my mind as the year winds down, in part after seeing Beyoncé ride out on a majestic white horse during one of Netflix's Christmas Day football games. Legend. "The game was a home run as far as they're concerned," Manhattan Venture Partners head of research Santosh Rao said on Yahoo Finance's Morning Brief (video above). "I think this was a great home run for the ad business that they have." Netflix hosted its first two NFL games that day, hot on the heels of the glitchy — but still enjoyable to watch — Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing spectacle in November. The other reason Netflix is on my mind is because the hotly anticipated Season 2 of "Squid Game" premiered on Thursday, and the characters in the pink jumpsuits and black face masks are dominating my X feed. The second installment has gotten mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes , but people still tuned in en masse. Doing a little analysis in the wake of these events, it looks like Wall Street is still too bearish on Netflix — even with the stock up 86% year to date. Perhaps this group thinks Netflix is that young streaming company from years ago, burning money and raising debt to fund content investments. Here is the bearishness I am seeing in the numbers, compliments of data from the Yahoo Finance platform : The average sell-side analyst price target on Netflix is $838, 10% below current price levels. This is totally out of whack with a company that has demolished analyst profit forecasts at every stop in 2024. 44% of sell-side analysts rate the stock at Underperform or Sell. The average analyst earnings per share estimate for 2025 models Netflix only posting 20% earnings growth. The reality is that Netflix looks positioned for another monster year in 2025, which may win over more Wall Street skeptics and support another push higher in stock price. Netflix has not only arrived on the live sports scene — it has smashed the wall down. This likely means two things: First, the streaming movement around live events will accelerate further as legacy media continues to buckle and cut back more, and second, Netflix's ad dollars are locked in on a significantly higher trajectory. Just look at these numbers. More than 200 countries tuned in at some point during the Chiefs vs. Steelers game, according to NFL Media data . The game is the second-most-popular live title on Netflix to date. Additionally, 60 million households watched the Tyson vs. Paul fight. These are huge numbers that validate Netflix's investments in live sports — which includes the debut of WWE in January. "Given the success of the Tyson/Paul fight we expect Netflix to accelerate its offerings of 'eventized' live programming, which further enhances Netflix's ability to offer households regular compelling content (juiced by the fact their competitors are now selling previously exclusive content to Netflix) = likely lower subscriber churn and greater ability to take price," Pivotal Research analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak wrote. Wlodarczak is Wall Street's biggest Netflix bull, with a $1,100 price target on the stock. Wlodarczak's call-out of price increases is important. In October, Netflix raised prices for basic and premium services by $2 and $3, respectively. The hikes will likely enhance sales and profits in 2025. With the live sports and events push underway ( including a deal to broadcast the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027 and 2031) and compelling traditional Netflix content such as "Squid Game" being churned out, it's inevitable the company raises prices again within the next 12 to 18 months. See more: Why Disney doesn't want to sell its TV network That will only enhance Netflix's impressive free cash flow story. Netflix will haul in close to $7 billion in free cash flow this year, according to analyst estimates. Pivotal's Wlodarczak thinks Netflix's free cash flow will reach $23.5 billion by 2030. Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. A company hits the free cash flow mark by being profitable and prudently investing those profits into "stuff" like plants and equipment. The cash left over could then be used to further bolster the total return potential for investors by way of stock buybacks or dividend increases. Recall that from 2015 to 2019, Netflix had a negative cash flow of $10.5 billion. The company went free cash flow positive in 2020 with $1.9 billion in free cash as the COVID-19 pandemic fueled bumper profits, followed by a $132 million free cash outflow in 2021. But those days are over. Last year, the company brought in $6.9 billion in free cash after reporting $1.6 billion in free cash flow in 2022. And Netflix's free cash flow build will only allow it to feed its content flywheel at the same time that legacy media continues cutbacks. This is how competitive moats are built. In the end, Netflix could conceivably generate north of $25 in earnings per share next year — well ahead of current analyst estimates of about $23.81 . Slap a premium price-earnings multiple on the stock of 40 times (it's currently at 38 times), and Netflix could have a path to trading above $1,000 a share in 2025. "I think [the stock is still undervalued] absolutely because there's still a long runway ahead," Rao said. "They're just getting into live sports, and there are so many other live sports they can get into." "They're going to pull people into their ecosystem," Rao continued, pointing to cricket and soccer as other opportunities for Netflix live sports. "So the [subscriber] growth is going to be strong. To a large extent, it's priced in, but there is a lot more to come ahead because they are the only game in town in terms of excellent streaming services and the broad breadth of offerings." Rao sees at least a 15% upside left in Netflix shares. Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn . Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com. 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Prime Minister's Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Tuesday the government "would not accept any pressure" from the new US administration led by President-elect Donald Trump to negotiate with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or release its party founder Imran Khan. When questioned about potential pressure from the Trump administration in view of its loyalist Richard Grenell's tweet demanding Imran's release, Sanaullah replied: "We would not work under pressure of Donald Trump [...] if any intervention is made then we would consider it as interference in our sovereignty." Grenell, who has been picked by Trump as "envoy for special missions" earlier this month, had called for release of former premier Imran — who remains incarcerated at the Adiala jail since August last year — via writing "Release Imran Khan" on X last month. The premier's aide, who is also one of the members of the government's negotiation committee, further said that they did not commence dialogue with the major opposition party due to Trump. He stressed that negotiations should be held bilaterally between the treasury and the opposition. He also said that Pakistan had witnessed ups and downs in its bilateral ties with the US, however, Islamabad would not accept anything against its national interests. To another question, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader replied that the federal government would not create obstacles if the Imran Khan-founded party seeks "conclusive and time-bound" talks. He, however, said that it won't be possible if both sides agreed on all demands during the talks, adding that the government was not in haste to summon meetings immediately. He was pointing towards the recent statement of the embattled PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan in which he sought government's “timeframe” in connection with progress on their demands after the latter met Imran at Adiala Jail today. “Dialogues should be held within [a specified] timeframe,” Gohar said, quoting the incarcerated PTI founder, urging the incumbent government to make progress. The PTI founder expressed his satisfaction over initiating the negotiation process, he added. Responding to a question, the PTI chairman said that matters related to the civil disobedience movement were not discussed in the meeting. The development came a day after the ruling coalition and the PTI came to table to defuse political tensions in the cash-strapped country. Negotiating committees, formed by the government and the PTI, conducted their much-hyped meeting in a conducive environment and resolved to continue dialogue process a day ago. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who presided over the meeting, had said that the next session will be held on January 2 and PTI’s team would present a charter of their demands in the huddle.

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