The Big Picture · The Ringer

Paramount Wins Warner Bros. Now What? Plus: ‘Scream 7,’ Heat 2,’ and ‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ With Matt Johnson!

February 27, 2026·2 hr 12 min·1 clip
A longtime Scream fan explains why the seventh film completely misunderstands what made the franchise work.
Sean starts with Ghostface and Nirvana boys. The setup moves fast: Chris Ryan joins for Scream 7, while Amanda and Adam Naiman come in for Sean's favorite movie of 2026 so far. That movie has a long title. Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie is treated as a wild, deeply Canadian buddy comedy from Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll, grown out of its web series and TV roots. Johnson is the main draw. Sean calls him one of the show's most requested guests and looks back to their 2023 Blackberry conversation as a standout. This chat feels like a return, not just a stop on the promo run. Sean is more interested in how Johnson, Jay, and their team managed to make something this odd and ambitious without sanding it down. The middle stretch wanders in a way that suits the show. A guest admits they have not caught up with the Nirvana series yet, but Johnson's recent interviews and Blackberry have already made them curious. Then Industry comes up. The recommendation is clearly pitched at Big Picture listeners, with Mickey Down and Conrad K credited for doing real cinematic work this season. Sean keeps swerving around spoilers. He compares that dance to Andor season two, then drifts into spring break, family viewing, and whether a five-year-old could end up a Harper fan. The aside works because it is so specific. A Star Wars bedtime story turns into a small portrait of a child directing the reader, which is very much the show's sweet spot: movie talk brushing up against regular life. Then the Johnson material gets more practical. Near the end, the conversation sharpens around what happens on a set when a director works in an unusual way. Johnson's point is cast alignment. A crew might lose faith in a director, but if the cast still believes, that can change the atmosphere around the whole process. If the cast feels uneasy while the director is pushing into stranger territory, the experiment can fall apart quickly. Sean seems struck by how plainly Johnson puts it.

As heard by us

A lively Big Picture episode moves from Warner Bros. deal fallout to Scream 7 and Matt Johnson's comedy instincts.

The Big Picture opens on Paramount's apparent path to Warner Bros. after Netflix drops out, then swerves into a looser movie-chat hour about Ghostface, Canadian comedy, and what everyone is watching between bigger industry tremors.

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