Screen Time: ‘Eden’ Trailer, Brendan Fraser’s Return, & The $7.7 Billion UFC-Paramount Deal

Welcome to B.H.’s Screen Time, where every week, we’ll give you the cliff notes on what’s happening in the entertainment industry. From various stages of development chatter and our take on the newest releases, to a fun throwback worth revisiting, think of it as an insider’s digest meets movie club.

Coming Soon

Many a trailer has been uploaded since last week’s edition, but these are the main ones you might’ve missed (and that have soundly earned our attention).

First and foremost is Ron Howard’s Eden. And not just because of the reported menage-a-trois featuring Ana de Armas, Sydney Sweeney, and to a far lesser extent, Daniel Brühl. Although that being said… the cast is objectively stacked.

Based on a collection of true stories, this survival thriller follows Dr Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his wife Dora Strauch (Vanessa Kirby), who flee their native Germany in 1929, “repudiating the bourgeois values they believe are corroding mankind’s true nature.”

On the isle of Floreana (part of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador), Friedrich dedicates himself to writing his manifesto (a common pastime of the era), while Dora resolves to cure her multiple sclerosis through meditation. Their hard-won solitude, however, doesn’t last for very long. As per the synopsis:

“They are joined by Margret (Sydney Sweeney) and Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Brühl), who prove to be earnest, capable settlers. Next comes Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas), a self-described Baroness and the embodiment of perfection, who arrives with two devoted lovers, an Ecuadorian servant, a wardrobe full of evening gowns, and plans to erect a luxury hotel. Between inclement weather, unruly wildlife, and a total lack of amenities, all three groups find life on Floreana arduous. But nothing will test their mettle more than the challenge of coexisting with desperate neighbours capable of theft, deception, and worse.”

Hans Zimmer has also composed the score. Colour us intrigued.

Eden release date: August 22nd, 2025.

The other one to keep an eye out for is an A24 dramedy that’s been described as “female Uncut Gems.”

Written and directed by Mary Bronstein, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You stars Australia’s very own Rose Byrne as Linda, whose life is apparently “crashing down around her” as she attempts to navigate her child’s (Delaney Quinn) mysterious illness, wrangle an absent husband (Christian Slater), juggle a missing person Danielle Macdonald), as well as manage an “increasingly hostile relationship” with her therapist (Conan O’Brien).

A$AP Rocky, Ivy Wolk, and Daniel Zolghadri also make an appearance. And if this preview is anything to go by, it’ll be a darkly funny, anxiety-ridden affair.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You release date: August 22nd, 2025.

Finally, the Academy Award-winning Brendan Fraser is continuing his comeback journey with what looks to be a delightfully earnest project in Rental Family.

Co-written and directed by Hikari (Netflix’s Beef), who had assistance on the screenplay front from Stephen Blahut, Fraser portrays a lonely American actor who tries to make a living in Tokyo. When he begins working for a Japanese rental family service to play stand-in roles in other people’s lives, the actor fosters “surprising connections and unexpected joys” within his new family unit.

“Confronting the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection.”

This is a heartfelt one we’re looking forward to, come Boxing Day.

Rental Family release date: December 26th, 2025.

The Death of Pay-Per-View?

Those of you with any interest in combat sports will have probably heard about the TKO-owned UFC’s newly inked deal regarding US broadcast rights.

Effective from 2026, Paramount will replace ESPN by exclusively distributing the leading MMA promotion’s full slate of marquee numbered events and Fight Nights via its streaming platform, Paramount+. Select numbered events are also set to be simulcast on CBS.

This headline-making partnership will cost Paramount a total of US$7.7 billion – averaging US$1.1 billion annually across the contract’s seven-year term, compared to the US$500 million ESPN were ponying up each calendar rotation. Paramount+ subscribers, on the other hand, will be able to enjoy the goods at zero extra cost

“This historic deal with Paramount and CBS is incredible for UFC fans and our athletes,” said UFC CEO & President Dana White.

“For the first time ever, fans in the US will have access to all UFC content without a Pay-Per-View model, making it more affordable and accessible to view the greatest fights on a massive platform.”

“This deal puts UFC amongst the biggest sports in the world. The exposure provided by the Paramount and CBS networks under this new structure is a huge win for our athletes and anyone who watches and loves this sport.”

There are, however, several pressing questions. Chief among them: what does this mean for fight fans everywhere else in the world? Will Uncle Dana and the spend-happy folks over at Paramount share the love to those of us outside the Land of the Free/Home of the Brave, or are we about to see a major uptick in Paramount+ and VPN usage?

Here in Australia, for example, the UFC retains an ongoing “multi-year agreement” with Foxtel’s Main Event to serve as the exclusive home of PPV events. And last year, ESPN Australia’s contract to broadcast all Fight Night events and pay-per-view prelims was renewed.

In other words, for fight fans Down Under, it’s still business as usual.

Secondly, if this really is to remain a US exclusive, will it really solve the piracy issue that we hypothesise Uncle Dana is leveraging the Paramount platform to resolve? Not to encourage cybercrime, but nothing is as affordable as those Russian-hosted stream links (especially in this economy).

Third and perhaps most consequential in the grand scheme of the UFC’s economics: what does this mean for athlete compensation? For context, top fighters who compete on the main card of numbered events (champions, contenders, anyone who moves the needle) are partially paid through a points percentage share of pay-per-view buys.

Removing this traditionally crucial component of the equation raises eyebrows, to say the least. Especially from an organisation with a track record of underpaying its talent as damning as the UFC’s.

The seismic development occurs as Netflix continues to forge its own path in live sports, and prepares to stream the much-hyped bout between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford on September 13th (quite possibly the boxing match of 2025). And again… at zero extra cost to subscribers.

In an era where eyeballs are king, perhaps we truly are witnessing the death of pay-per-view.

They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To…

Layer Cake. ‘Nuff said. But for those of you who do need a little more, it’s the wonderfully gritty crime drama that pretty much won Daniel Craig the role of Bond. It’s also Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn’s finest work to date, in our opinion.