DISNEY+ heavily discounts price for HULU subs to drive US growth
DISNEY+ heavily discounts price for HULU subs to drive US growth
ARI EMANUEL's $246 Mil in stock options / NETFLIX buys erotic thriller limited series / Weekend Movie & TV preview
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY March 18, 2022.
Where DISNEY+ is pouring the gas on subscriber growth efforts this Spring to try getting that domestic sub growth going 🔥.
I got the below email this week to add DISNEY+ for $3 a month (over 50% off) onto the $2 a month I pay for ad-supported HULU (thanks #BlackFriday! 🙌). And it looks like HULU has the offer for subscribers of all tiers on its website as well (ESPN+ add-on is still $7…🧐).
This looks like a big test or step forward to set the stage to merge the 2 businesses into one (once COMCAST is bought out): DIS+ with HULU service is now $10 a month ad-supported.
OF NOTE: There’s no expiration on this DIS+ $3 / month rate if you take it. Add this to the free 6 month DISNEY BUNDLE offer I got from AMEX this month as well and… yeah, things are getting real at DISNEY+. Now all I need are, ya know, kids 👨👩👧👦.
ALSO: Jessica Chastain said she’ll skip OSCARS red carpet press if it indeed ends up conflicting with the Best Makeup award being given out. We’ll see if any other talent pulls a similar move in protest of many awards being delegated to before the telecast in 9 days.
AND: Your 2022 MET GALA co-hosts are Regina King, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Will take place Monday May 2 this year 🤵♂️. Ah dammit - I have a newsletter to write that night. Lemme know how it is.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
JUST ONE THING
SKYDANCE sets Scott Derrickson (“Sinister”, “Doctor Strange”) to direct “The Gorge”. No info except it’s “a high-action, genre-bending love story”. Ah nice - you know how I love a good genre bend. /THR
📺 THE TV SET
NETFLIX sets Richard Armitage, Indira Varma to lead erotic thriller miniseries “Damage”
Previously was a 1992 film with Jeremy Irons & Juliette Binoche and this will be a 3 part miniseries.
About a dangerous love triangle (my favorite kind) between a woman and her… fiancé’s father. Yeah that sounds ill advised 😳. /THR
APPLE TV+ adds “Squid Game” actress Hoyeon to Alfonso Cuaron series “Disclaimer”
Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, and Sacha Baron Cohen already set to star in the story of a muckraking TV docu journalist (Blanchett) who has an intriguing novel written by a widower (Kline) show up on her bedside table… in which she is a key character in a story centering on a story that reveals her darkest secret from the past.
Cuaron writing & directing all episodes. /THR
ALSO IN TV
AMC adds Eric Bogosian to “Interview with a Vampire” series. Will play an investigative journalist, “Daniel Molloy”. /Deadline
Alexandra Daddario set to lead another Anne Rice series, “Mayfair Sisters”. She’ll play a doctor dealing with also being the heir to a family of powerful witches. /Variety
STARZ adds Leslie Jones to “BMF” Season 2. Will play a federal agent. /Deadline
IMDBTV casts TIKTOK twins Railey and Seazynn Gilliland as leads in “High School” series co-created by TEAGAN & SARA, about their formative years. Cobie Smulders and Kyle Bornheimer (”Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) co-starring as their parents, but in a guest/recurring capacity. /THR
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
ENDEAVOR CEO Ari Emanuel gets $240 Million in stock grants
All based on the stock price hitting certain targets over the next few years (it’s currently trading 11% above the price it went public at), but still a nice incentive to be sure.
His 2021 compensation alone was a modest $67 Million, incl Salary, Bonus and Stock. /THR
EXEC CHAIRMAN Patrick Whitesell’s 2021 compensation was about $11 Million, with $112 Million in stock grants should EDR stock hit those certain targets in the years to come 📈.
ALSO: CHARTER CEO Tom Rutledge made $41.8 Million in 2021, so if he still owes you $20 from the SUPERBOWL too… nuff said. $2 Mil in stock, $9 Mil in bonus and $30 Mil in stock. /THR
AMAZON MGM $8.5 Million deal officially closes
So let the executive speculation begin, as the public notices… virtually nothing different. Also while $8.5 Billion is a big number, remember AMAZON made $33 Billion in profit in 2021. /Deadline
But for all the talk of the big opportunities for mining known IP - MGM is old. Really old. Most of their known IP is decades old (and none of it is comic book or even fantasy world based). There’s a reason the company had been sold several times over the years, and was on the block with no one biting for most of the 2010’s.
They can’t dictate what to do with / expand JAMES BOND without approval, WB has a stake in “LOTR” theatrically (and “Creed” for that matter), and if you think “The Pink Panther” is hot IP or a remake of “Robocop” is gonna move the needle… the track record for rebooting old IP in the past 4-5 years would like to have a word.
ON THE UPSIDE: The library is nice for AMAZON PRIME - granted, they already have a huge licensed film offering (possibly the largest according to some analyses) and MGM’s archives do represent a way to fill out IMDBTV3GT with a lot more content for AMAZON to sell ads against.
The TV business, while not in the industry’s top tier, has been some notable hits (“Fargo”, “The Handmaids Tale”), and DeLuca is adding some much needed vibrancy and relevancy into their Film biz - although no one seems to know how that is all gonna work out under new management… and no one seems to be optimistic about it.
STARZPLAY ARABIA sells 57% stake to ABU DHABI investment firm & PayTV company
This lessens STARZ’s stake to just 13% in this business arm, but it’s keeping it’s content licensing agreements.
This Middle Eastern version of the STARZ service has about 2 Million subscribers across 19 countries but… really shouldn’t be counted in their next subscriber count report next month given they now own very little of it. And yes, I’ll point that out then too.
NOTE: This business is separate from the overall STARZ int’l business, which the company still runs and which has about 4-5X more subscribers.
ALSO NOTE: STARZ still makes pretty much all of its money from its US business. /THR
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
TWITTER +5% ($37.30)
ENDEAVOR +7% ($29.80)
ROBLOX +11% ($46.35)
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👩💻 THE FSS FEED:
(new Stuff to Watch this weekend, Friday - Saturday - Sunday)
WEEKEND READS + LISTENS
Well this is an episode not a listen - but Bob Iger sits down for a chat with Jon Stewart for the latest episode of his APPLE TV+ show.
In honor of HBOMAX’s “Minx” debut, the NY TIMES looks at the proliferation of dongs male frontal nudity in TV series. Clickbait… yes, but classy clickbait.
FRIDAY
IN THEATERS:
FOCUS FEATURES “The Outfit” - Mark Rylance drama / thriller, In Limited release
SONY “Umma” - Sandra Oh horror pic, In Theaters Only
Note: “The Batman” opens in CHINA
STREAMING:
MOVIES
DISNEY+ Cheaper by the Dozen” - Remake with Zach Braff & Gabrielle Union - STREAM HERE
HULU “Deep Water” - Ben Affleck / Ana de Armas erotic thriller from Adrian Lyne - STREAM HERE
AMAZON “Master” - SUNDANCE horror / thriller pic with Regina Hall - no Google-able link avail but also in limited theaters
NETFLIX “Windfall” - Thriller pic with Jason Segel, Jesse Plemmons and Lily Collins - STREAM HERE
NETFLIX “Black Crab” - Noomi Rapace action / thriller about a soldier bringing valuable cargo across a frozen sea in an apocalyptic war - STREAM HERE
SERIES
APPLE TV+ “WeCrashed” - First 3 episodes up today - STREAM HERE
HULU “Life and Beth” - Written, directed and starring Amy Schumer - STREAM HERE
NETFLIX “Top Boy” Season 2 - STREAM HERE
NETFLIX “Human Resources” - Animated series from “Big Mouth” folks - STREAM HERE
TV:
MARCH MADNESS all day, all night across CBS + TURNER networks
SATURDAY
MARCH MADNESS all day, all night across CBS + TURNER networks
PGA Awards - I think you can livestream here on their YT channel
SUNDAY
MARCH MADNESS all day, all night across CBS + TURNER networks
NBC ”An Audience with Adele” at 9p
WGA Awards
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
HBOMAX “The Flight Attendant” Season 2 teaser trailer - Premieres Thu April 21
HULU“Candy” limited series teaser - The story of Texas housewife who murdered her friend in 1980, with Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey. Premieres Mon May 9
SHOWTIME “I Love That For You” series trailer - Vanessa Bayer as a childhood cancer survivor who fulfills her dream to be on a home shopping network… where she pretends that her cancer has returned. Premieres Fri April 29
DISNEY+ “Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u” trailer - Olivia doing kinda the Biebs docu thing… albeit on streaming. Premieres next Fri Mar 25
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
New MUNA “Anything But Me” - New album will drop June 24
If you need some new tunes:
Email me anytime - just Reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-SEAN MCNULTY
@theseanmac on TWITTER
@TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM