Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal team-up to produce memoir
YOUTUBE sets Will Smith, Alicia Keys for Originals / ICM Agency gets abusive culture exposé / NY TIMES new subscriber #s
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY May 5, 2021.
Where the GOVERNORS BALL concert is a 👍👍 for its 10th Anniversary. It’ll take place Sept 24-26 at Citi Field in Queens: Billie Eilish, A$AP Rocky and Post Malone are the respective headliners each day… where I’ll be sure to avoid the 7 train that entire time.
Full GOV BALL weekend lineup on the poster here, tix on presale for Citi credit card holders now, everyone else starting tomorrow.
And just putting this handy button here in case you’re getting a head start on your Cinco De Mayo celebrations:
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Amy Adams & Jake Gyllenhaal team up to produce a film of a memoir (sadly it’s not either of theirs)
Instead it’s a book called “Finding the Mother Tree” - Amy will star as a reknown scientist who discovers that trees communicate with each other undergound via fungi. Book hit shelves yesterday. 🤞for Jake playing one of the trees.
No studio or streamer attached. Yet. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
Eva Longoria sets leads for directorial debut at SEARCHLIGHT about the Frito-Lay janitor who created “Flamin Hot” Cheetos: Jesse Garcia (“Quinceañera”) and Annie Gonzalez (“Gentefied”). /Deadline
Katie Holmes wraps 2nd indie directorial effort. Katie also wrote it and stars alongside Jim Sturgess, Derek Luke, Melissa Leo, and Zosia Mamet.
2 strangers in bad relationships end up in the same Connecticut Airbnb. Unlikely romance ensues… but I hope the polite arguing while dressed in argyle about who’s gonna pay for the Airbnb doesn’t ruin the whole thing. Ok admittedly that’s not my best Connecticut material there... /Deadline
IN THE HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE SUITE
Talent Agency UTA promotes 100 people across - well basically every department. And their names are… in the UTA directory when you call reception. Not even DEADLINE wrote out this list.
Meanwhile over at the ICM Agency… the LA TIMES just released a piece about a culture of abusive behavior and looking the other way on reports of harassment over the years. /LA Times
They’ve hired a crisis PR professional from RUBENSTEIN & ASSOCIATES to uh, help out 🕵️♂️ . /The Wrap
📺 THE TV SET
KENTUCKY DERBY gets 14.4 million viewers for NBC
Beats the OSCARS handily, and the NFL DRAFT day 1 by over 2 Million viewers. Up 53% from last year, but about on par with 2019 and 2018 races. /Deadline
YOUTUBE sets slate of unscripted originals, headlined by Will Smith & Alicia Keys
“Best Shape of My Life” - Will Smith improves his workouts with guest athletes, fitness experts, and the people who really know the most about fitness… YouTube influencers. 6 episodes, premieres 2022 TBD.
“Noted” - Alicia Keys celebrates the 20 year anniversary of her debut breakout album “Songs In a Minor” and documents the creation of her next album. 4 episodes, will debut this Summer TBD.
And some other projects with noted Exec Producers like Migos, Lebron James, and Michelle Kwan (though none are noted to appear in them).
NEW YOUTUBE STATS:
YOUTUBE Premium/YT Music now has 30 Million paying subscribers globally ($12/month, at least in the US).
NO update on YOUTUBE TV streaming cable bundle service subscribers.
120 Million people globally watched YOUTUBE on their TV’s in December.
Although when apparently 2 Billion people use YOUTUBE every month… kind of a small slice. /Variety
EPIX sets Harold Perrineau as the lead in “From” sci-fi horror series
A middle America town traps all those who enter… and everyone must fight off mysterious creatures from a surrounding forest that come out at night. Ah man don’t get me started on Shelbyville…
Harold playing the sherriff of the town. Shooting next month, NETFLIX has the show internationally. /Deadline
ALSO: EPIX ordered an 8 Episode “Billy the Kid” drama from Michael Hurst (“Vikings”, “The Tudors”). Will shoot this Summer. /Variety
ALSO IN TV
NETFLIX cancels Sherlock Holmes-adjacent series “The Irregulars” after one season, just 5 weeks after it premiered 😳. /Deadline
HBOMAX adds Rosemarie Dewitt to Colin Firth / Toni Collette limited series about a real life suspicious 2001 spousal-death case, “The Staircase”. /Deadline
AMAZON sets Destin Daniel Cretton (“Just Mercy”, MARVEL’s upcoming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) to direct limited series about the racially charged murder of Vincent Chin in 1980’s Detroit. Project still awaiting official greenlight… but this certainly helps. TOPIC STUDIOS producing. /Variety
ESPN doing 30 FOR 30 on Women’s Basketball Olympic Dream team of 1996. Will premiere in 2022. /Deadline
Claire Foy headlining BRITBOX streaming service series “Marlowe” about 2 families long deeply at odds. 8 episodes, ENDEAVOR CONTENT among producers. /Deadline
ABC renews “Big Sky” for Season 2. David E. Kelly departing as showrunner, Elwood Reid (“The Chi”, “Hawaii Five-O”) taking over. /Variety
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
NEW YORK TIMES adds 301k digital subscribers in first 3 months of 2021
167k were for the main $17/month subscription product; 134k for cheaper ones like COOKING and CROSSWORDS.
NY TIMES now has 6.9 Million paying subscribers total: 5.3 Million are for the main news product. Digital subscription revenue was up 38% vs April 2020. An additional 800k people still subscribe to the print version of the TIMES.
Print Ad revenue down 31% from this time last year… Digital Ad revenue up 16%. Digital Ad revenue now represents well over half of the company’s total AD revenue (61%, vs 48% in April 2020).
WARNER MUSIC streaming $$ revenue +23% vs 1 year ago
Took in $1.25 Billion in first 3 months of 2021, $117 Million of net profit.
Almost 50% of their revenue ($722 Million) now comes from music streaming alone. /MBW
ALSO IN MEDIA
Meghan Markle children’s book “The Bench” will hit shelves June 8. Said to be inspired by Harry’s relationship with son Archie. Cue the Fathers Day gift plugs. /Variety
TWITTER buys SCROLL, a service that rips out ads from websites for a cleaner reading experience for $5/month. No price disclosed. Will be utilized in TWITTER’s upcoming TBD subscription offering. /TechCrunch
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
ROKU -4.7%, SNAP -5.7%… bad day on the NASDAQ overall.
ENDEAVOR cools down, -2.6%.
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
HBO “Pause with Sam Jay” teaser - Variety show featuring loose conversations (see teaser), interviews, animation and sketches. Premieres Fri May 21 at 9p.
PBS “Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten” trailer - 90 Minute documentary on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre of 1921. Premieres Mon May 31.
NETFLIX “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America” trailer. 4 part docuseries, based on a book of the same name. Premieres Wed May 26.
OMAZE George Clooney video - GC definitely wins for best “Donate for a chance to hang out with me” video ever. Plus the prize to hang in Lake Como with George and Amal is pretty sweet too. Some good-natured laughs around Brad Pitt as well. 👏 Mr Clooney, and a great cause to donate to.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
CBS “Kids Say the Darndest Things” reboot with Tiffany Haddish at 8p
FACEBOOK decides what to do about TRUMP today. You’ll hear all about it so I likely won’t mention it tomorrow.
FOX reports earnings after the bell, and we get PARAMOUNT+ subscriber number updates in the AM tomorrow with VIACOM’s earnings call (note: the email will come out a little past 830a as a result so you have the latest).
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
New WOLF ALICE “Smile” - This song just rocks. Esp for fellow fans of 90’s Alternative Rock/Grunge.
If you need new tunes:
Enjoy your Wednesday!
Email me anytime - just reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-Sean McNulty
@theseanmac on TWITTER or also here on CLUBHOUSE or on IG @TheWakeupNews
Jake Gyllenhal playing a tree🤣🤣🤣