The OBAMAS set NETFLIX scripted project about an NYC Blackout

TIKTOK bans sponsored crypto + financial content / SHO orders Vanessa Bayer comedy / Princess Di movie premiering at VENICE

Jul 13, 2021

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

Where the EMMY nominations come out at 1130a EST today, and looks like I’ve already lost 👍. I’ll also not be hosting the event on CBS this September 19 - that will be Cedric the Entertainer, a far more sensible choice. He’ll do so with a “limited in-person audience” 🤷‍♂️. You can find the noms list here once public.

ALSO: For any fellow “Almost Famous” nerds, sounds like Crowe confirmed to Fugit that there was no further interaction with his character and Penny Lane down the line… but that he and “Polexia” (Anna Paquin’s character) had a thing a few years after the end of the film. It’s also now avail in 4k, including the Bootleg cut… which any true fans already have on DVD of course. 🙋‍♂️

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

NETFLIX buys Jason Segel, Lily Collins, Jessie Plemmons noir movie “Windfall”

A couple arrives at their vacation home…. just as it’s being robbed. Or - they just forgot that they AirBnB’d it that weekend. Described as Hitchcock-ian but not much else, directed by Charlie McDowell (“The One I Love”).

Also described as a “major 8 figure deal”… so interpret that as ya like 💰💰, and it wrapped shooting early this year so hopefully we’ll see it sooner than later. /Deadline

Anna Kendrick starring in LIONSGATE thriller “Alice, Darling”

A woman keeps secrets about her boyfriend and 2 best friends from others… but not much else here to know at the moment. Currently shooting in Canada. /THR

NETFLIX sets Pierce Brosnan to co-star with Adam Devine in “The Outlaw”

Action-comedy about a soon-to-be-married bank manager… whose branch is robbed the week of his wedding and he suspects his future in-laws were behind it.

Adam Sandler’s HAPPY MADISON producing. /Deadline

ALSO IN MOVIES

Kristen Stewart-as-Princess Diana movie “Spencer” to premiere at VENICE FILM FEST in Sept. Story centers on the weekend in the early 90s when she decided to leave Prince Charles. NEON has US rights, directed by the director of the Jackie Kennedy movie “Jackie”, and the writer of “Peaky Blinders”. So that’ll explain Di’s cockney accent. /Variety
Jean Smart joins “Bablyon”, Damien Chazelle’s next movie at PARAMOUNT with Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie. Set in Hollywood during the transition to “talkies” in the 1920s, currently shooting. She’s playing a Tinseltown journalist who can make or break careers. Or - the opposite of this newslettter. /THR

📺 THE TV SET

SHOWTIME orders Vanessa Bayer / Molly Shannon comedy “I Love This For You”

Woman who overcomes cancer moves out of her parents’ house and goes to work at a Home Shopping Channel to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a host. Molly plays the network’s star host.

Bayer also a co-creator (it’s somewhat based on Bayer, who survived childhood leukemia), Cybil Shepherd was in the pilot but her role as head of the network is being re-cast. No episode count or timeline given. /THR

NETFLIX orders 6 episode anthology series from the Obamas called “Blackout”

6 different writers, 6 different stories of Black teens who find love during an NYC power outage. TEMPLE HILL also producing (they did the recent Kevin Hart movie “Fatherhood” with the Obamas’ HIGHER GROUND as well).

Described as a combo Film & TV event project - 6 anthology style episodes, and then they’re gonna do a movie intertwining some (or all) of the characters and elements from the stories of the episodes. /THR

Jon Stewart’s upcoming APPLE TV+ show “The Problem with Jon Stewart” to shoot in front of a live audience

The show still has a Fall TBD premiere timeline, but the hour-long, single topic episodes begin shooting the studio portions at the end of this week in NYC (proof of vaccination required of course 💉). /Deadline

ALSO IN TV

Move over Selena and Schumer - NETFLIX bought 6 eps of Paris Hilton’s entry in the “I’m a Celebrity and I can’t cook! 🤷‍♀️“ genre:“Cooking with Paris”. It’ll premiere in early August. Now - if we could combine all 3 together into a special about them teaming up for a pop-up restaurant… I think we’d have something. /Variety
AMAZON PRIME sets James Corden and Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”) for a 6 episode UK comedy about marriage, co-created by Jez Butterworth (co-writer of “Spectre” and the new “Indiana Jones” movie). /Deadline
CBS abandons the traditional “Fall TV Premiere week” concept which is…about as outdated of a concept as you can get in network TV. So - shows will roll out over the course of about three weeks from late-September thru mid-October, giving each series time for more individual / specialized promotion. Novel concept 👍. /THR
JLO and SKYDANCE team up with Musicals rights manager CONCORD to develop / produce TV shows & Movies based on their catalog. CONCORD owns the rights for all Rogers & Hammerstein works, as well as for Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and some Andrew Lloyd Webber properties among others. /THR
“Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan re-ups at SONY TV with another 4 year deal. Described as an 8-figure deal but no other specifics. Vince has been based at SONY for 15 years, no new specific projects announced in tandem with the announcement. /Deadline
STARZ renews “Power: Book III, Raising Kanan” for a Season 2. The show premieres this Sunday night. /Variety

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

don’t worry Homer, you get it for free as a DISNEY employee. via Giphy

DISNEY raises ESPN+ price by $1/month to $7 starting in August

Annual price going up $10 to $70/year. DIS+ / HULU / ESPN+ bundle staying at $14/month. For now.

ESPN+ had about 14 Million subscribers as of April. So DISNEY is adding at least another $125-ish Million of revenue a year to their streaming books (based on current ARPU - ESPN+ keeps about 75% of the sticker price). So… probably about the cost of a weekend’s worth of NFL rights. /Variety

VIACOM CBS’s free streaming service PLUTO makes deal for PBR (professional bull riders) content

PBR folding their $8/month “Ride Pass” SVOD service, so people can now just watch the content free on PLUTO, both on a linear channel and on-demand. Basically - like the WWE / PEACOCK deal but… for bulls. And free. CBS also broadcasts PBR events already, so expect plenty of cross-promo there.

PBR is owned by ENDEAVOR, no word on how many subscribers “Ride Pass” had, or how much PLUTO is paying here. /THR

ALSO IN MEDIA

France fined GOOGLE about $600 Million, as it hasn’t made 💰💰deals with many French news publishers to feature their content per an April 2020 decree. /WSJ
TIKTOK bans sponsored / branded content about crypto or financial services (ROBINHOOD, COINBASE, etc). TIKTOK/via The Information
- ALSO: TIKTOK sets 3 days in the office, 2 days WFH policy once US offices officially re-open. /The Information
- AND: TIKTOK parent company BYTE DANCE apparently hit the pause button indefinitely in late March on plans to go public, after Chinese officials told them to address “data-security risks” 🤐. /WSJ

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

DISNEY +4% - Wall Street liked the $60 Million in “Black Widow” DISNEY+ streaming $$. And apparently sees a 3% US subscriber-rental buy-in rate as a solid number 🤔.

3 major movie theater chains (AMC THEATERS, CINEWORLD, CINEMARK) all down 6-8% on the same news.

ENDEAVOR down 4% - lotta PBR “Ride Pass” fans on Wall Street apparently.