TUE 2.23.21 : Guy Ritchie + Jerry Bruckheimer for WWII spy action movie
TUE 2.23.21 : Guy Ritchie + Jerry Bruckheimer for WWII spy action movie
NYC Movie Theaters to re-open / FACEBOOK cuts Aussie deal / Lotta SPOTIFY news incl Obama + Springsteen
Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + MediaBiz news to know on TUESDAY 2.23.2021.
Where cord cutting numbers are in for 2020. Traditional cable & satellite TV companies (MVPDs) have lost 17 million TV customers in 5 years (-20% erosion).
But with the addition of streaming bundles (VMVPDs) like YOUTUBE TV, only 7.7 million net households “got rid of their cable” over the past 5 years 🤫 (-9% total).
But, the loss velocity is increasing.
🎧 MUSIC TO READ BY
DAFT PUNK broke up. So you’ll now have to get “Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger” all on your own. YouTube / Spotify / Apple Music
All songs mentioned are on this Playlist if you need tunes:
And if you want this info while driving… it goes up as a podcast by 11am. ish.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Guy Ritchie + Jerry Bruckheimer for WWII action spy thriller at PARAMOUNT
Called “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”, centers on Black Ops team assembled by Churchill for secret missions in WWII, aka a British “Dirty Dozen” or essentially an early version of SAS. /Deadline
NYC Movie Theaters to re-open on March 5th at 25% capacity
No more than 50 people per screen. AMC will open up all of their theaters, Regal is TBD. Theaters have been closed there since March 17, 2020. /THR
Theaters in the UK currently projected to re-open mid-May under their latest plan.
AMAZON sets Charlie Day & Jenny Slate for Rom-com
Called “I Want You Back”, directed by Jason Orley (“Big Time Adolescence”, co-wrote “The King of Staten Island”), will shoot next month.
2 friends get dumped, conspire to break up their ex’s new relationships to win them back. /Variety
ALSO IN MOVIES
NETFLIX sets Mila Kunis for movie adaptation of the book “Luckiest Girl Alive”. New Yorker who has it all, has to confront a dark truth from her Prep School past. /THR
AMAZON picks up “Mayor Pete” docu. No price disclosed, directed by Jesse Moss (“Boys State”), will come out later in the year. /Variety
UNIVERSAL moves up Bob Odenkirk action movie “Nobody” by a week to March 26 (week before Easter).
📺 THE TV SET
STARZ orders Watergate-adjacent“Gaslit” anthology series with Julia Roberts and Sean Penn
Based on SLATE’s “Slow Burn” podcast. Will shoot this Spring from UCP. Armie Hammer was once cast but dropped out a while ago. /Variety
DISNEY looking to create series set in the “Magic Kingdom”
Gist is to bring characters/elements from the theme parks to life on screen. Ron Moore (“For All Mankind”) leading development. /THR
ALSO IN TV
AMAZON releases entire cast list for “Modern Love” season 2 including Anna Paquin and Kit Harrington. /Variety
SHOWTIME sets Gillian Anderson to play “Eleanor Roosevelt” in their anthology series “The First Lady”. Viola Davis (“Michelle Obama”) & Michelle Pfeiffer (“Betty Ford”) set as the other 2 principals. /Deadline
Hope Davis to recur on “Succession" Season 3 as daughter of Sandy Furness. /Deadline
BET+ orders Lena Waithe produced dramedy “Birth of Cool”, set at a predominantly Black high school in Compton. Charles King’s MACRO producing as well. /THR
Clooney producing docuseries with SPORTS ILLUSTRATED on Ohio State sports program sexual abuse scandal. No home for the project yet. /Variety
NETFLIX sets director Nzingha Stewart (“Little Fires Everywhere”, “Tall Girl”) as lead director for limited series “From Scratch”, produced by Zoe Saldana and Reese Witherspoon, based on a best-selling memoir. /Deadline
“Holey Moley” renewed for 2 more seasons at ABC. ⛳️
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
OBAMA & SPRINGSTEEN team up for SPOTIFY podcast
Barack & The Boss (sadly not the name) will discuss topics from race to fatherhood to the current state of America across 8 episodes, called “Renegades: Born in the USA”. First 2 episodes are up here. /NYT
SPOTIFY also doing DC-based podcasts for Batman, Superman & Wonder Woman. /THR
Aaaannd… a podcast deal with the Russo Brothers. Will create genre-themed fictional podcasts. /Deadline
SPOTIFY expanding into 80+ new markets this week, in 36 new languages
Mostly in Africa, Asia & The Caribbean. Will now be available in 173 markets. APPLE MUSIC is in 167.
Will offer a “HiFi” CD-quality audio version of SPOTIFY later in 2021 - Price & markets TBD. /MBW
SPOTIFY-owned podcast hosting site ANCHOR will enable a ‘paid podcasts’ function this year, so podcasters can make their podcasts avail for paying subscribers only. No word on what $$ cut ANCHOR/SPOTIFY will take… 🤑 /Tech Crunch
DISNEY expands STAR streaming service today (STAR = International version of HULU basically)
Launches across Europe, Australia, and Canada today for about $11/month. STAR already a big linear & streaming TV brand in SE Asia (DIS got it as part of FOX purchase, tied into their huge HOTSTAR India platform).
Streams more adult/general entertainment fare mostly from DISNEY owned properties (ABC, FX shows, FOX & SEARCHLIGHT movies etc) but also some acquired content, and STAR Original series (varies by territory).
Will launch in Japan, Eastern Europe, South Korea later in the year, and often be packaged with DISNEY+, just like HULU is here. /Deadline
Once DISNEY buys COMCAST out of their 33% stake in HULU (currently slated for 2024 but could shift), will it change to STAR branding? 🤔
ALSO IN MEDIA
FACEBOOK cuts a deal with Australian government to put news articles back on the platform after 5 day blackout. Legislation changed to put in more dealmaking flexibility for FB before forced arbitration and some other adjustments. /WSJ
O (Oprah’s zine) has a new GM - Alison Overholt, and a new Sr Director of Editorial, Arianna Davis. /WWD
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
SPOTIFY trailer for the podcast, again somehow not called BARACK & THE BOSS.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
NETFLIX has a docu on Pele, called… “Pele”. Watch it here.
THE CW premieres “Superman & Lois” at 8pm.
BUT more importantly… one of the Best shows you may have never seen, hits HBOMAX (and disclosure - I worked on the marketing for this one too):
BANSHEE, which ran on CINEMAX for 4 seasons. Lead creative forces were Jonathan Tropper (now running “See” Season 2 at APPLE TV+, wrote the movie Ryan Reynolds is now shooting), and Greg Yaitanes (now directing the new “Game of Thrones” series). And it stars Antony Starr, aka “Homelander” from “The Boys” as an ex-con posing as a Sheriff in a small town. Pulp, action, long lost love, and some of the most epic fight scenes ever put in a TV series. The number of plot twists alone will astound.
Again - HBOMAX and the discoverable links…not so much. 🤦♂️ But make a point to search for it.
That’s all ya’ll - if you like the newsletter, share it with your team, co-workers …or the clients that you like.
Have a great day!
-Sean McNulty #FansheeForever