BARRY DILLER in talks to buy MEREDITH magazine publisher

UNI sets all-star SUPER MARIO BROS voice cast / PAR re-enters 2021 movie calendar / Weekend TV + Movie preview

Sep 24, 2021

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY September 24, 2021.

Where one of my all-time favorite shows announced that it’s ending 😩, so I’m giving it the top slot today - NETFLIX’S “Derry Girls” will end with the upcoming 3rd Season, which just began shooting. Although that’s understandable given the coming-of-age nature of the show - Plus the show’s creator Lisa McGee says who knows… they could re-appear again someday as adults.

But either way - I look forward to the St Patrick’s Day premiere (ok that’s nowhere near official but a guy can hope).

ALSO: The GOVERNORS BALL NYC 3-day concert begins today.

AND: Hollywood said goodbye to two more folks yesterday - legendary TV director Jay Sandrich died at the age of 89. He directed many episodes of shows like “Mary Tyler Moore” and “The Cosby Show” and “Benson”.

As well as film & theater director Roger Mitchell who died at 65 years-old. He directed “Notting Hill” and “Changing Lanes” as well as many smaller British films and many British theater productions.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

I’m not sure this breakfast has enough grains. or Sugar. #80s Nutrition. via Giphy

UNIVERSAL “Super Mario Bros” animated movie sets Chris Pratt & Charlie Day as the Bros

And here’s the rest of the star-studded voice cast for the movie due out Christmas next year:

Anya Taylor-Joy - “Princess Peach”
Jack Black - “Bowser”
Keegan-Michael Key - “Toad”
Seth Rogen - “Donkey Kong”
Fred Armisen - “Cranky Kong”
Kevin Michael Richardson - “Kamek”
Sebastian Maniscalco - “Spike”

NETFLIX adds Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Eddie Murphy / Jonah Hill comedy

Kenya Barris is making it his directing debut, Julia is playing Jonah’s mom. Sam Jay has also signed on for a TBD role.

Not too many plot details… or at least anything resembling how any actors will talk about it when they go on talk shows to promote it:

Official description from THR: “An incisive examination of modern love and family dynamics and how clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences shape and affect relationships.”

And…. PARAMOUNT is back in the 2021 movie biz - “Clifford the Red Dog” sets Wed Nov 10 release

Will also stream on PAR+ the same day (it was previously set for theatrical release last Friday). So it looks like new CEO Brian Robbins has made his first move leading PARAMOUNT.

VIACOM CEO Bob Bakish has touted the dual theaters/PAR+ release strategy of the “Paw Patrol” movie this August as a success, so not entirely a surprise they’re going back to the same playbook for this family film. /Deadline

ALSO IN MOVIES

Billy Eichner casts all LGBTQ+ actors in the hetero roles for his gay couple rom-com “Bros”. Billy co-wrote it with Nick Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall", “Neighbors”), who is also directing here. Apatow is among the producers. Scheduled to release next Summer. /THR
A24 will release Mike Mills movie “C’mon, C’mon” with Joaquin Phoenix on Fri Nov 19 in theaters
- Summer film festival hit “Red Rocket” with Simon Rex as a former porn star returning to his hometown in Texas, will hit theaters on Fri Dec 3.

📺 THE TV SET

you know there’s gonna be a lotta shirtless Momoa in pt 3. via Giphy

HBOMAX doing 3 part documentary on sister-division DC COMICS

Greg Berlanti Exec Producing as he’s very familiar with DC, having produced several of the DC series on TheCW over the years. /THR

Wednesday Fall TV Premiere night audiences:

“The Wonder Years” - 3.2 Million on ABC (“The Goldbergs” lead in had 3.6 Million, “The Connors” had 3.5 Million after it)
“Alter Ego” - 2.9 Million on FOX (“The Masked Singer” lead-in had 4.7 Million, it’s lowest season premiere yet)
NBC’s Chicago shows ruled the night ranging from 6.5 to 7.2 Million viewers.

ALSO IN TV

“Tiger King” getting a 2nd Season on NETFLIX “late in 2021”. 🤞 we don’t get a resurgence of covid to go with it. /THR
TBS renews “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” for a 7th season. It’s now moving to Thursdays when the new season starts in January. The show averages just under 3 Million viewers when all platforms are added in. /Deadline
DISNEY promotes Ayo Davis to head up DISNEY BRANDED TV division as longtime head Gary Marsh prepares to depart at the end of the year. She is currently Exec VP. /Variety

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

TWITTER adds a way to give your favorite accounts “a little something for the effort” 💵 Tipping feature

Plus - you can pay in Bitcoin! Wait do I have to? It’s mobile-only so far📱 - Hits iOS now, will hit ANDROID within about a month-ish. No plans announced for when you’ll be able to add tips from your desktop.

Did I mention I have a Twitter account?

Oh also you can now record your TWITTER SPACES chats (that’s their CLUBHOUSE ripoff).

Barry Diller’s IAC reportedly in talks to buy magazine publisher MEREDITH

MEREDITH of course bought most of the big brands from TIME 3 years ago (PEOPLE, EW, IN STYLE), and also has classic brands like BETTER HOMES & GARDENS and FOOD & WINE.

Deal would value MEREDITH at $2.5 Billion, and the incoming brands would be housed under IAC’s DOTDASH division (formerly ABOUT.com). But its definitely not a done deal - and there may be another yet unidentified group in the hunt to buy it.

IAC owns many digital publisher brands (in addition to companies like TINDER and EXPEDIA), some prominent ones being BRIDES, THE DAILY BEAST, and SERIOUS EATS. /WSJ

Note: I feel like I should do one of those things journalists do and state that I do production work with MEREDITH, and clarify for the record all this info is just from the published WSJ piece. #professionalAF

ALTICE is the 2nd cable company to indicate huge Broadband subscriber growth is over

It boomed in the pandemic last year, on top of continued solid growth over many quarters pre-pandemic… but ALTICE now expects to actually lose about 20k broadband customers in the 3rd quarter. COMCAST has previously said that their 3Q numbers will not be robust either.

ALTICE is the country’s 4th largest cable company behind COMCAST, CHARTER, and COX. ALTICE stock was down almost 13% as a result. /THR

ALSO IN MEDIA

CNN+ sets some execs for the TBD early 2022 launch:
- Nancy Han will be VP of Weekly News (she came over from NOW THIS NEWS)
- Jennifer Suozzo will be VP of Daily News (she came over from running “NBC Nightly News”). Other EP hires are mentioned in the link for the inclined. /Deadline

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

IMAX +7% and CINEMARK THEATERS up almost 5%, but otherwise a generally positive but unremarkable Thursday.

👩‍💻 THE FSS FEED:

(new Stuff to Watch this weekend, Friday - Saturday - Sunday)

FRIDAY

IN THEATERS:

UNIVERSAL “Dear Evan Hansen” - In theaters only.

STREAMING:

MOVIES

NETFLIX “The Starling” - Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd dramedy. Click Here to Watch or Add to Your List

NETFLIX “My Little Pony: A New Generation” animated movie. Click Here to Watch or Add to Your List

SERIES

APPLE TV+ “Foundation” - Sci-fi Isaac Asimov-based series with Jared Harris, Lee Pace and some epic visuals. Click here to Watch or Add to your List

AMAZON PRIME “Goliath” final season. Click here to Watch or Add to your List

NETFLIX “Midnight Mass” - New thriller/horror series about the arrival of a mysterious priest and the return of a local son looking for redemption. Click Here to Watch or Add to Your List

AMAZON PRIME “Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3” - Click here to Watch or Add to your List

NETFLIX “The Great British Baking Show” returns with new episodes each week. Click Here to Watch or Add to Your List

SATURDAY

NETFLIX “TUDUM” virtual festival - Essentially NETFLIX-CON, bunch of panels with talent, premiering clips/trailers etc. You can stream it here most of the day starting at Noon.

GLOBAL CITIZEN LIVE concert event - From various global cities throughout the day. You can livestream it on YT here starting at 1p EST, and watch it on ABC in primetime.

Golf’s RYDER CUP airs today and tomorrow on NBC from Wisconsin.

SUNDAY

PAR+ / CBS Tony Awards. The Awards stream on PAR+ from 7p-9p. Then there’s a 2 hour musical extravaganza show on CBS from 9-11p. Hosted by Audra McDonald & Leslie Odom Jr.

Before that - New “60 Minutes” at 7p on CBS including a profile of Liz Cheney.

STARZ “BFM” Series Premiere - 1980’s Detroit street gangsters series from Exec Producer 50 Cent. Airs at 9p

ABC “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” - New season Premieres at 8p, followed by the return of “Supermarket Sweep”.

FOX’s ANIMATION DOMINATION lineup returns with new seasons.

If you were sent this newsletter or… just kinda found it:

🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

NEON “Spencer” trailer. Kristen Stewart as Princess Di during the weekend she decides to leave Charles. In Theaters Nov 5.

AMAZON PRIME “I Know What You Did Last Summer” series trailer. Premieres Fri Oct 15.

AMAZON PRIME “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” trailer. Movie with Benedict Cumberbatch & Clare Foy about an eccentric early 1900’s British artist who apparently changed the way the public perceived cats (or at least that’s what the description says ). In theaters Fri Oct 22, on PRIME Fri Nov 5.