DISNEY+ Premiere Access finished for rest of 2021

PARAMOUNT TV gets executive re-org / WILL SMITH in talks to sell production co. / SHANG CHI drops 53% at Box Office

Sep 13, 2021

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY September 13, 2021.

Where it sounds like “Ted Lasso” finally had a whopper of an episode drop on Friday (do people still use whopper? Never did? gotcha). Which seems to track with sentiment from critics who have seen the whole season, and said it gets stronger as it finishes out.

“Lasso” Season 2 seems to be a rare case where dropping the whole season probably would have benefitted the show’s reception. Or at least before EMMY votes were due at the end of August. Also the guy who plays Nate asks for patience about the… direction (?) his character has taken this season.

Nick Mohammed @nickmohammed

Just a quickie to say I'm aware of the rumbling discourse within the #TedLasso community on Nate's journey this season. It all adds up. Promise to respond once we get to the very end. For now, however, I remain a silly little actor playing a dickhead! 🤡

ALSO: There were definitely more than the 6 allowed Gambling App ads in football games I watched yesterday… and definitely more hair on top of former SAINTS QB and new NBC Football analyst Drew Brees’s head.

Critical McLemore Theory @PassToMcLemore

What if I told you the greatest comeback in Drew Brees’ career wasn’t on the field, but on his head? #NFLKickoff

AND: Once again I didn’t win a CREATIVE ARTS EMMY (winners here) or a MTV VMA AWARD (winners here), and if inclined to see how BUSTA RHYMES showed Gen Y what real hip-hop is, all MTV performances are here on their YT page.

So if you’ll excuse me - I have to begin gluing the feathers and meat onto my outfit for the MET GALA tonight. It’s an homage - you’ll see. Sadly I spent too much on soppressata so I can no longer afford the $35,000 ticket. Thankfully you can livestream it free here. Although good luck topping this one from VMA Host DOJA CAT from last night.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

crossing my animation studios, I know. via Giphy

DISNEY commits to exclusive in-theater runs for MARVEL’s “Eternals”, PIXAR’s “Encanto”

November’s MARVEL“Eternals” gets a 45 day window, and PIXAR musical “Encanto” gets 30 days in theaters exclusively.

DISNEYFOX titles “West Side Story” and “The Last Duel” will also get 45 day windows this Fall/December… but as they’re part of the FOX - HBO output deal, not much of a choice there anyway.

But basically… DIS+ Premiere Access who? /Variety

Jim Gianopolous out as head of PARAMOUNT PICTURES

NICKELODEON / Kids & Family head, and former guy in the leather jacket on '“Head of the Class” and “Varsity Blues” director Brian Robbins is slated to become CEO.

Jim G. has steadied the studio since he joined in 2017 after a not-so-great 2010’s there under Brad Grey, and before him under Philippe Dauman.

But seems like VIACOM head Shari Redstone wants someone who’s gonna lean hard into PAR+ with the movie strategy, and not Jim G’s more traditional movie business acumen and know-how to make good movies.

So we’ll see - I mean putting longtime TV execs in charge of Film studios usually works out great… said no one. /WSJ

Speaking of which… SHOWTIME head David Nevins is also taking over PARAMOUNT TV and PARAMOUNT+ originals as well. Nicole Clemens who was heading up both will now report into David. /THR

BOX OFFICE

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” : $36 Million ($145 Million US, $258 Million globally)
- -53% from opening weekend
“Free Guy” : $5.8 Million ($102 Million US, $276 Million globally)
- #1 in China again weekend, now at $75 Million there. So, about $20 Mil in DISNEY’s pocket (US companies get about 25% of grosses there).
“Malignant” : $5.5 Million, not great.
“Candyman” : $4.8 Million ($48 Million US)
“Jungle Cruise” : $2.4 Million ($110 Million US).

ALSO: “The Card Counter” opened in 7th with $1 Million from 580 theaters.

ALSO IN MOVIES

Will & Jada’s WESTBROOK ENTERTAINMENT in talks to sell to the private equity group that bought Reese Witherspoon’s HELLO SUNSHINE, as speculated at the time of that sale. No prices rumored. /THR
APPLE TV+ adds John Lithgow to “Sharper”, upcoming thriller from “The Crown” director Benjamin Caron. Stars Julianne Moore as a con-woman of sorts in the upper echelons of NYC High Society. /Deadline
LIONSGATE adds Andy Garcia to their next “Expendables” movie. /THR

📺 THE TV SET

NFL has biggest opening game audience in 6 years on Thursday

26 Million people tuned in on NBC (doesn’t count PEACOCK streaming). It’s also +20% vs. last year’s covid season opener. /THR

Evander Holyfield got TKO’d in the first round of his boxing fight with a 44 year-old, with Trump & Jr. calling the “fight” on 9/11, apparently with 50 CENT 🤷‍♂️.

ALSO IN TV

SNL sets Sat Oct 2 Season Premiere date. No hosts or cast announcements yet. /Deadline
APPLE TV+ rebooting “Yo Gabba Gabba” NICKELODEON show. Also will add the library from the old show. /THR
HBO extends Bill Maher thru 2024, will be his 21st season on HBO. /THR
DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS dissolved, parent co. MRC phases into “Live & Alternative” group to be headed up by former E! & ESQUIRE TV head Adam Stotsky. DCK mainly produces awards shows from the ACM’s, AMA’s to the GOLDEN GLOBES. /Variety
David Simon wrote a nice piece on Michael K Williams in the NY TIMES.

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

never underestimate Ned as a wildcard. via Giphy

AMAZON in leading position to acquire NFL SUNDAY TICKET package

Not much of a surprise given their hunger for sports rights. Plus who else has the money to pay a reported $2 to $2.5 Billion a year asking price for a rights package that current rights holder DIRECT TV currently loses Hundreds of Millions on every year while paying just $1.5 Billion a year for it.

In fact - they lose so much $$ on it that AT&T will cut a check for up to $2.1 Billion to the newly spun-off DIRECTV to make them even on those NFL SUNDAY TICKET losses.

The SUNDAY TICKET package, where you can pay $300 a year to watch out-of-home-market football games, becomes available after next season. /NextTV

APPLE wins most arguments in EPIC GAMES case, except the most important one

Judge rules APPLE has to let gaming apps like EPIC (“Fortnite”) and basically apps in general give people an option to buy/pay for things directly from the companies in their apps, vs having to go thru APPLE and give them a 30% cut.

APPLE is estimated to make $20 Billion on this egregious 30% vig - 70% of that from gaming apps alone. Although even $20 Billion of revenue still doesn’t make it the core revenue generating center for the company, but this gravy train seems to be pulling into its final resting home soon.

But the judge did say APPLE’s App Store is not a monopoly so, hey there’s that. And that EPIC must pay APPLE over $12 Million in owed-revenue from the later half of 2020 that EPIC was holding back in their dispute. But EPIC is already appealing this.

New rules set to go into effect on Dec 9, APPLE will likely appeal, but… between this and recent similar rulings in JAPAN and SOUTH KOREA - read the room APPLE. /The Verge

ALSO IN MEDIA

YAHOO sets former CBS Interactive head Jim Lanzone as their new CEO. He was CEO of TINDER for the past year, though oddly no swiping left puns in the coverage. YAHOO is now officially spun-off from VERIZON, and owned by private equity firm APOLLO. /THR

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

Quiet Friday

👩‍💻 NEW TO WATCH:

FX ON HULU “Y: The Last Man” - Post-apocalyptic world where males of all species die, except for one dude. And his monkey. Yeah not gonna ask any questions about what’s goin on there. Click Here to Watch or Add to your List

SHOWTIME “Back to Life” Season 2, premieres at 10p

“Ellen” final season premieres, “Kelly Clarkson Show” returns with a week in NYC, and “The Daily Show” returns to a new studio setup.

Mike Richards’s 5 episode run as the host of “Jeopardy!” begins.

AMC “Ultra City Smiths” animated series, Premieres at 11p. Or stream the whole thing on AMC+ now.