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

The Big Picture

The Ringer

Tv & Film

4.2 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2026

⏱️ 130 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On today’s action-packed episode, Sean first reacts to Netflix backing out of the bidding for Warner Brothers—clearing the path for a merger with Paramount (2:01). Next, he is joined by Chris Ryan to react to Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio’s casting in Michael Mann’s ‘Heat 2’ and give a general temperature check on the movie (6:36). Then, they cover ‘Scream 7’ and preface the conversation by discussing the rumored controversy behind the shuffling cast (16:17) before diving fully into spoilers and exploring the myriad of reasons why they found the film to be deeply unsuccessful (21:57). Later, Sean is joined by Amanda Dobbins and Adam Nayman to discuss one of their favorite movies of the year so far: Matt Johnson’s ‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie.’ They talk through why the movie is so hysterical, how its sincerity makes the movie feel moving, and why it became an instant cult classic (49:10). Finally, Sean is joined by Johnson to discuss why he felt he needed to make this movie right now, how having no knowledge of the original series actually makes the movie better, and what he’s doing next with ‘Nirvanna the Band the Show’ Season 3, as well as his Anthony Bourdain biopic ‘Tony,’ starring Dominic Sessa (1:18:45). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Matt Johnson, Adam Nayman, and Chris Ryan Producer: Jack Sanders Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh A State Farm agent can help you choose the coverage you need. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®Drivers wanted. Learn more at vw.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Sean Fennacy and this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about ghost faces and Nirvana Boys.
0:20.5	Today on the show we are joined by multiple guests.
0:23.1	Joining me first will be Chris Ryan to break down Scream 7.
0:26.8	Sierra and I have been talking about the Scream movies as friends for more than 20 years,
0:31.0	so we had to get together to see how Ghostface is doing in 26.
0:34.4	After that, Amanda and Toronto's very own mean pod guy, Adam Naiman, will join me to discuss
0:39.6	my favorite movie of 2026 so far. It's called Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. It's a
0:46.4	madcap, Uber-Canadian buddy comedy from Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll, who have elevated their
0:51.3	web series turn TV show to epic CN Tower level proportions.
0:56.0	Later in the show, I have a conversation with Matt Johnson himself.
0:58.4	Matt is one of the most requested guests in show history in our chat in 2023 about his movie
1:03.9	Blackberry is one of my favorite interviews I've done on this show.
1:06.6	He is an incredible thinker and communicator about movies and his work.
1:10.0	We basically picked up where we left off, talking about Nirvana, how he and Jay and their team pulled the movie
1:15.0	off, how they think about comedy and the future of movies. Go see Matt's movie. Listen to our
1:19.6	conversation. But first, I will share my reactions to the news that Netflix has backed out
1:24.6	of the bidding for Warner Brothers, clearing the path for a merger with Paramount, and then Chris and I will talk about some much more exciting news regarding
1:31.2	Michael Mann's Heat 2, right after this.
1:35.5	This episode of The Big Picture is presented by State Farm.
1:38.7	You know those friends who show up for whatever you're into?
1:40.9	The ones who'll debate which superhero universe is better or binge true crime documentaries with you at three in the morning. Those friends are gold.
1:47.4	State Farm is like that, helping you figure out the coverage that actually fits.
	...

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