FRI: Spielberg sets Paul Dano for his new movie
Tom Holland doing APPLE TV+ anthology series / QUEER AS FOLK gets reboot / The New TV & Movies this weekend
Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY April 9, 2021.
Where… I feel like I need to redeem kids golfing from yesterday’s newsletter.
Yeah buddy!! That guy knows what’s up.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Paul Dano set to play the father in Spielberg’s upcoming… somewhat autobiographical movie
Michelle Williams already cast as mom, and Seth Rogen as an uncle. Movie shoots this Summer - Steven’s dad died just last year at 103 years-old. /THR
ALSO IN MOVIES
FOCUS FEATURES buys thriller “Silent Twins” starring Letitia Wright. Twins from the only Black family in a Welsh town in 1970’s/80’s reject communication with everyone else, and are sentenced to a psychiatric hospital after a violence spree. No acquisition price indicated. /Variety
Here are the unique details for the ‘virtual’ INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS for anyone inclined in a couple weeks. /THR
📺 THE TV SET
APPLE TV+ sets Tom Holland to star in Mental Health-themed anthology show
Called “The Crowded Room”, will focus on adapting real-life stories relating to mental illness, and is created by Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”, “Star Trek: Picard”).
The first 10 episode season with Holland is gonna center on a guy named Billy Milligan, who was the first person ever acquitted due to Multiple Personality Disorder. /Variety
PEACOCK orders “Queer As Folk” reboot
Err sorry - it’s a “re-imagining” of the original 8 part British series. This one also is getting 8 episodes, Stephen Dunn (APPLE TV’s “Little America”) is showrunning. /THR
ALSO IN TV
DISNEY+ adds Renee Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton”) to legal comedy “She-Hulk” series. Will star opposite Tatiana Maslany who plays the titular character… an attorney with similar powers to her cousin, Bruce Banner. /Deadline
AMAZON adds Eli Goree (Muhammad Ali in “One Night in Miami”) to Chloe Grace Moretz / Jack Reynor sci-fi series “The Peripheral” from the team behind “Westworld”. Based on William Gibson book. /Deadline
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
NETFLIX gets the PayTV window for SONY Movies starting with 2022 films
5 year deal, $1 Billion-ish pricetag. SONY had an output deal with STARZ for 15 years, ending this year. NETFLIX already has an output deal for SONY’s Animated movies.
SONY movies will hit NETFLIX roughly 9-12 months after their theatrical release, and MARVEL’s “Morbius” movie will likely be the first one under the deal (it has a Jan 2022 release, so figure it hits NETFLIX in late Fall-ish 2022)
The movies will then stream on NETFLIX exclusively for a period of 18 months. SONY is the only movie studio left whose parent company doesn’t have a streaming service to support in the US. /THR
NETFLIX also sets a first-look deal for SONY pics produced for direct-to-streaming. If NETFLIX is a pass, SONY can shop those movies elsewhere per Variety.
ALSO: UNIVERSAL’s PayTV output deal with HBO comes up next year, TBD if they go PEACOCK instead, or re-up at HBO/MAX for a big check.
ALSO ALSO: Now that STARZ (owned by LIONSGATE) isn’t paying SONY $$ for their movies, it potentially frees up some $$ to increase film output at LIONSGATE to (somewhat) boost movie content for STARZ. Well. If they want to.
ELSEWHERE IN MEDIA
NIKE settles MSCHF/Lil Nas X “Blood Sneakers” thing. Essentially MSCHF needs to contact everyone who bought the “Satan Shoes” (guess that was the official title chosen over Blood Sneakers), and say Hey NIKE wasn’t involved in these (for anyone confused), and if you want a refund I’ll give you one. /YahooFinance
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
VIACOM & DISCOVERY down another 3.5% ish. SNAPCHAT up almost 5%.
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
APPLE TV+ “The Mosquito Coast” series trailer. Justin Theroux & Melissa George as parents who bring their family on the run from the Feds after something big… but TBD resurfaces from their past 🧐. Remember kids - FACEBOOK posts never die. Premieres Fri April 30.
DISNEY/DISNEY+ “Cruella” trailer #2. In case you had a lot of questions after the first one 🤷♂️. Still hitting theaters and DISNEY+ for $30 rental on May 28.
NETFLIX “The Woman in the Window” movie trailer. Amy Adams as an agoraphobe who watches the new family next door… and seemingly sees a brutal crime - maybe? Formerly a FOX movie, produced by the star of yesterday’s email Scott Rudin who reportedly took control of the movie from director Joe Wright when it didn’t test well. Premieres Fri May 14.
SHOWTIME “The Chi” Season 4 trailer. Premieres Sun May 23.
STARZ “Run The World” series trailer. Follows a group of successful, fiercely loyal 30-something women living in Harlem. Premieres Sun May 16.
DISNEY+ “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” Season 2 trailer. Premieres on Fri May 14.
👩💻 THE FSS FEED:
(new Stuff to Watch this weekend)
FRIDAY:
IN THEATERS:
LIONSGATE “Voyagers” - the “Let’s send hot adolescents into space, give them (what looks like) ecstasy and see what happens” movie. Lily Rose Depp, Tye Sheridan, and Fionn Whitehead among the space cadets, Colin Farrell seems to be the guy behind the whole thing.
OF NOTE: “LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring” gets re-release in China. Next 2 films follow on Apr 16 and 23.
STREAMING:
NETFLIX -“Thunder Force” - Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer as a newly empowered superhero duo. Watch or add to your list here.
AMAZON PRIME “THEM” - 1950’s Black family moves into white suburbia/horror series. Watch or add to your list here.
ON TV:
COMEDY CENTRAL “Doing the Most with Phoebe Robinson” - Phoebe has adventures with celebrities like Kevin Bacon, The Property Brothers, and Whitney Cummings. Premieres at 11pm
SATURDAY:
THE MASTERS golf tournament 3rd round, coverage starts at 3pm on CBS
Directors Guild Awards stream on the DGA site for members at 8pm
OWN’s “Iyanla: Fix My Life” begins final season at 9pm
New SNL : Carey Mulligan and music guest Kid Cudi
SUNDAY:
THE MASTERS golf tournament final round, coverage starts at 2pm on CBS followed by…
New “60 Minutes” including the story behind this new, never released Prince album “Welcome 2 America” that’s now being released in July.
AMC “Fear the Walking Dead” season premiere at 9pm
HBO “The Nevers” - Victorian era series where a group of women get what looks like sorta X-MEN’ish powers. Premieres at 9pm
And a welcome to all of this week’s new readers 👋 Share THE WAKEUP with your work team! Here’s an easy to use button:
🕵️♂️ THE WEEK AHEAD
TUE - “Prodigal Son” Season 2 premieres on FOX; “Shadow and Bone” series drops on NETFLIX.
WED - Jamie Foxx sitcom“Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!” and first 4 eps of “The Circle” Season 2 hit NETFLIX.
THU - “Younger” final season hits PARAMOUNT+
FRI - Film at Lincoln Center re-opens.
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
TAYLOR SWIFT would make a terrible banker because she keeps dropping stuff from the vault! Hey-ooo! No? Anyone? 🙇♂️ Well anyway here’s another brand new song… that was written a while ago. “Mr. Perfectly Fine”:
Listen on Spotify / Or on YouTube
And that’s just one of the ‘vault’ songs on the re-recorded version of her album “Fearless” which dropped last night - Listen to the album on Spotify here.
If you need new tunes:
Have a great weekend and Email me anytime - just hit Reply to this email or click my name below to send a LINKED IN message.
Thanks!