HBO lands FACEBOOK project with Claire Foy as Sheryl Sandberg
CHRIS PINE sets directorial debut / TIKTOK shares your data with 13 third parties / SHERRI SHEPHERD replacing WENDY WILLIAMS
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY February 9, 2022.
Where get ready for more 90’s nostalgia during the CRYPTO SUPER BOWL on Sunday - VERIZON looks to be cutting a TBD sizable check of their own to Jim Carrey to reprise the “Cable Guy” character for a Big Game ad (no preview yet… may just premiere in the game 📺 #oldschool).
OTHERWISE: A real quiet day as everyone was writing OSCARS reaction pieces so this’ll be quick.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Chris Pine sets directorial debut co-starring Danny DeVito & Annette Bening
This is one of the myriad of films whose distro rights are for sale at the virtual EUROPEAN FILM MARKET this week, so should be a lot of sales news going on in the near future.
Mystery-comedy called “Poolman”, Chris plays a philosophic pool guy for an LA apartment complex who crashes City Council meetings with neighbors (DeVito & Bening) when he uncovers “the greatest water heist in LA history since Chinatown”. Hijinx and investigating ensues.
Stacey Sher & Patty Jenkins producing. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
THR’s Scott Feinberg has a good handicap of the OSCARS race as it now stands for anyone inclined.
AMAZON signs major 10 year deal at UK’s SHEPPERTON STUDIOS sound stage location for 450k sq ft of space across 9 sound stages that… happen to be right next to NETFLIX’s massive UK outpost there. /Deadline
📺 THE TV SET
HBO buys FACEBOOK limited series “Doomday Machine” starring Claire Foy
She’ll play Sheryl Sandberg, although technically the project is described as in development, not full greenlight.
Pulitzer-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar is currently writing, so it’ll be a while - based on the book “An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination”. /Puck /Deadline
ALSO IN TV
Sherri Shepherd nearing deal to take over permanent hosting gig for “The Wendy Williams Show” in September. Wendy’s been sidelined all season with health issues, and looks like she won’t return. Show name change… TBD. /TMZ
HBOMAX renews “South Side” for a Season 3. /THR
HBO renews “How To with John Wilson” for Season 3. /Deadline
HULU’s upcoming 3rd season “Love, Victor” will be its last. Premieres June 15. /THR
FOX buys Gumby character, looking to ‘re-imagine’ it in case you have anyone with a take for a live-action or animated idea. /Variety
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
Yeah… this chart 👆
Sara Fischer at AXIOS kinda summed up the digital advertising business in 2021 real quick.
Although FACEBOOK’s number is gonna be about $10 Billion less due to the APPLE iOS privacy changes this year.
Most of AMAZON’s money is from Sponsored Posts when you search for things there.
TIKTOK tracks your online activity the most of any social media app. By far. And no one knows who they’re giving it to
TIKTOK gives 13 “third party” (ie unknown/not disclosed) tracking companies access to your data according to a recent study by URL Genius.
Third party trackers can also track your activity once you leave the TIKTOK app. Just a reminder - even though you use “TIKTOK US”… TIKTOK’s own privacy policy allows it to share user data with its Chinese parent company, and that company is 10% owned by CHINA’s government.
And if you think activating a “Do not track” privacy function protects your data on social media platforms - while the recent APPLE iOS updates may provide some additional protection, the study noted that:
“third-party tracking still happened even when users didn’t opt into allowing tracking in each app’s settings.” /CNBC
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
WARNER MUSIC -7% ($37.75) Not really sure on this one… earnings report was pretty solid
AMC THEATERS +10% ($16.43)
If you were sent this newsletter or… just kinda found it:
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
COMEDY CENTRAL “Fairview” - Animated series from Stephen Colbert, Premieres at 830p
Also DISNEY earnings after the bell.
🤦♂️ D’OH!
My apologies to Regina Hall - she co-stars in the “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” SUNDANCE movie picked up by FOCUS and PEACOCK, not Regina King.
And I was 1 for 2 on spelling Kristen Wiig’s first name yesterday.
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
HULU “Life and Beth” series trailer - Woman decides to makes some changes in her increasingly stagnant life, including a romance with farmer Michael Cera. Written & Directed by Amy. Premieres Fri March 18, all episodes
DISNEY PIXAR “Lightyear” trailer - In theaters June 17
HULU “Conversations with Friends” limited series teaser - Next Sally Rooney series (“Normal People”), Premieres in May TBD
HULU “The Girl from Plainville” limited series teaser - Based on the infamous Texas texting-suicide case in 2014, Premieres Tue Mar 29
AMAZON PRIME “Thursday Night Football” logo reveal - Ok this is just for fellow Marketing trailer / video design-heads. This feels like a mix of an AT&T ad and UK Premiere League feel to me for some reason but… .
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
Ok now a new video… and a new song! New RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS “Black Summer”
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