AMC THEATERS revenue 5X’s but still loses $337 Million in Q1, as CEO asks trolls to ease off

WINNING TIME goes out big on HBO / New JAMES FRANCO pic selling at CANNES / JACK RYAN sets endgame at AMAZON

May 10, 2022

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY May 10, 2022.

Where infamous INSTA account DEUXMOI got a TV show deal at HBOMAX. It’s called“Anon Pls” and is based on her upcoming book - a thinly veiled look at the rise to INSTA fame of a former stylist’s assistant who begins anonymously sharing celeb gossip on an INSTA account and… well think you get the gist. Comes out Nov 8.

Greg Berlanti is producing, and it’s a script-to-series order (they’ve ordered a pilot script - if HBOMAX likes it they’ll give it a series order). But it does not appear to have a writer yet so… if you represent an anonymous writer - give HBOMAX a call.

AND: Here are your PULITZER PRIZE winners… and TONY AWARD nominees + analysis from The NY TIMES theater folk.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

Of note HITTING THE CANNES MARKET NEXT WEEK

Ray Romano will play NC STATE hoops coach Jim Valvano in an indie biopic. James Strouse (“Grace is Gone”) is writing, and Coach V’s family is on board supporting the project and casting.
- Coach died of cancer in 1993, the same year he gave one of the best motivational speeches ever, and his COACH V foundation has since raised over $300 Million for cancer research. /Deadline
James Franco is fronting a movie hitting the sales market at CANNES next week - his first project since “The Deuce” ended and… well everything else that went down. It’s an action-thriller called “Mace”, a “Training Day”-esque corrupt cop / young rookie pic. /Deadline
LIONSGATE has set Jonathan Levine (“Warm Bodies”) to shoot the “Dirty Dancing” sequel, which LGF is also selling rights to at CANNES. Jennifer Grey is returning to co-star, although casting for the lead is underway for the pic which’ll be set in the 1990’s Caskills. /Deadline

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📺 THE TV SET

you just can’t beat the Jerry Buss ratings dance. via Giphy

“Winning Time” hits audience high of 1.6 Million on Sunday for series finale

Linear got 534k viewers, so looks like HBOMAX had 1.1 Million (oh wait - does HBO ON DEMAND still exist?? 🤔).

That’s up from its 900k audience for the premiere, and episodes have been averaging 6 Million viewers across all platforms. /Deadline

FWIW the editing & directing in that finale we’re especially both first rate - well done🙌. Really enjoyed this show - I’m gonna 🤬 miss Jason Clarke’s “Jerry West” til Season 2.

AMAZON ending “Jack Ryan” after upcoming 4th season

But they’re looking to develop a spin-off based on Michael Pena’s character who is joining the Season 4 now shooting. Although the already-shot Season 3 doesn’t even have a premiere date yet.

So if the show sticks to its uh… 2 seasons every 4 years policy, that Pena show is gonna be a while. /Deadline

PEACOCK sets Jake McDorman (“Dopesick”) to co-star in new Damon Lindelof co-created series “Mrs. Davis”

Betty Gilpin (“GLOW”) already set to star in show, playing a nun going to battle an “all-powerful Artificial Intelligence.”

Jake (#Greek4life) will play her ex, who apparently also has a few things he’d like to say to the AI. Brought to you, by FACEBOOK. /Variety

ALSO IN TV

If your CBS show has “FBI” in your title, yer good til 2024 as CBS continues with the 2 season-renewal thing this year. /Variety
FX looking to do a series based on 2010 movie “Never Let Me Go” that starred Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley, about adolescents who discover they’re really just clones created for eventual organ harvesting. Plan is to shoot this Summer. /TheAnkler
APPLE TV+ sets Jason Isaacs and Lior Raz to co-star with Tom Holland in seasonal-anthology series “The Crowded Room” from Akiva Goldsman. Each season will focus on a real-life story of someone dealing with a mental heath challenge. /Deadline
NETFLIX will roll out their NETFLIX IS A JOKE content daily starting on June 6 with Bill Burr’s special (full list is in the link). And the special with comedians honoring comics who have passed that inspired them will drop on Thu May 19.
- Chappelle’s HOLLYWOOD BOWL special will not be among the programming… but it was never intended to. /THR

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

#MediaNerd gets warmed up again

FOX CORP meets Q1 Revenue expectations… misses on earnings-per-share

Kind of an OK quarter. Revenue +7% vs a year ago, mainly on 9% Ad revenue gains due to charging more for ads… and Jan & Feb 2022 shockingly drawing a bigger FOX NEWS audience than the Trump supporter attack on the US Capitol news of Jan & Feb 2021.

Total Revenue: $3.46 Billion, but Profit fell 50% to $290 Million.

$1.8 Billion comes from fees cable companies pay them to carry FOX Cable Networks & FOX.
- $1.1 Billion of that is for FOX NEWS Channels (FNCs) & FOX SPORTS/FS1.
- Meaning 75% of FOX Cable Networks Revenue comes from Cable companies paying them a fee (COMCAST, CHARTER etc). Only 21% comes from Advertising.
- So… when you hear about occasional Advertiser boycotts / Ad pulling etc with FOX NEWS, know how little that actually impacts their business.
$1.3 Billion of FOX CORP Revenue comes from Ad revenues across FOX, FS1 and FOX NEWS channels (mainly FOX network).
$350 Million is “Other” (TMZ and other production company investments).

TUBI was described as doing well, with increasing Revenue but… no meaningful numbers broken out.

AMC THEATERS Q1 loss shrank 40% vs. Q1 2021

Unfortunately… that still means AMC lost $337 Million from Jan thru March this year.

Revenue was $785 Million at the country’s largest movie theater chain. A 5X gain vs. a year ago as many headlines are pointing out today… yes.

But unfortunately that Revenue is still about 33% below Q1 2019. Roughly the same % loss that #3 US theater chain CINEMARK reported.

If it makes anyone feel any better, AMC THEATERS still lost $130 Million in the before-times of Q1 2019 when it took in $1.2 Billion of Revenue.

AND: It’s Important to remember that AMC’s history with profitability has been historically mixed: They only turned a profit in 1 quarter in 2019 and the later 2010’s were up and down. Movies… #amirite?

2019: - $150 Million
2018: + $110 Million
2017: - $487 Million
2016: + $111 Million

But as for 2022, basically - Top Gun and the June blockbusters can’t come soon enough.

And… CEO Adam Arons would prefer his TWITTER uh, supporters lay off the profanity in their responses to his tweets.

ALSO IN MEDIA

VIVENDI’s CANAL+ is considering a bid for the stake in STARZ up for grabs at LIONSGATE (that ROKU also put a bid in for), according to THE FINANCIAL TIMES. No word on the amount, or size of stake they’re seeking.
SONY PICS hit $84 Million in Profit in Q1 thanks to “Spider-Man”. Not so much from “Morbius”. /THR
SIRIUS XM sets DISNEY STREAMING exec Jessica Casano-Antonellis as their new Head of Comms. /Deadline

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

“Do not look at your 401k” Month continues… most stocks down 1-4% but here are the bigger movers:

AMAZON -5% ($2175.78)

WWE -5% ($55.51)

WARNER MUSIC -6% (27.27)

SNAP -6% (23.39)

VIMEO -7% ($9.27)

CINEMARK THEATERS -8% ($13.97)

CINEWORLD (REGAL Theaters) -8% ($0.35)

ROKU -9% ($87.77)

BUZZFEED -9% ($4.72)

AMC THEATERS -9% ($12.52)

ENDEAVOR -9% ($17.90)

SPOTIFY -10% ($94.44)

SCRIPPS TV Station group -10% ($14.71)

ROBLOX -11% ($24.61)

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👩‍💻 NEW TO WATCH:

PARAMOUNT+ “The Lost City” enters the streaming world - no link available

🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

HBO “Westworld” Season 4 teaser trailer - Premieres June 26

HBOMAX “Father of the Bride” movie trailer - This looks fun! And totally looks like a movie that would have gone into theaters instead of streaming if Zaslav had closed the WBD deal a few months earlier. Fun role for Chloe Fineman too. Hits streaming Thu June 16