Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY June 4, 2021.
Where let’s have our Friday Summer morning coffee ☕️ with a view of the pool, or hell – in the pool, at former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht’s house in the Pacific Palisades, that he just sold for $16.3 Million. An all cash deal. I mean how do you buy your houses?
ALSO: If you’re curious where industry revenues are projected to go in the next 3 years… well. Better buy a gaming console according to this handy PwC/AXIOS chart.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Glenn Close joins Josh Brolin & Peter Dinklage in “Brothers” comedy at LEGENDARY
Plot thought to be “Twins”-ish… but no real plot details avail.
Max Barbakow (“Palm Springs”) directing, written by Etan Cohen (“Tropic Thunder”). No studio indicated but presumably it’s WB 🤔. /THR
John Boyega leaves NETFLIX movie “Rebel Ridge” mid-shoot due to unspecified family reasons
Movie had been shooting for about a month in Louisiana, NETFLIX now looking to re-cast. No other details released. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
“Mission Impossible 7” shuts down for 2 weeks in the UK due to positive Covid test among the production crew. Everyone who had interaction with the person will self-isolate for 14 days. /THR
NETFLIX makes film rights deal on a novella for Blake Lively to produce and star in. Called “We Used to Live Here”, about a new homeowner who gets a knock at her door from a family that says they… well, used to live there, and soon gets stranded at the house due to a snowstorm… and things get weird. Looking for writer to adapt. /Deadline
Tiffany Haddish signs on to play 1980’s track star Florence Griffith Joyner (“Flo Jo”) in independent production from Basil Iwanyk. Very early stage, looking for a writer. Flo Jo died from a seizure in the late 1990s at 38 years old, 2 of her records from the 1988 Olympics still stand. /THR
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS buys global rights to docu “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story” about… uh guessing you’re up to speed here. Directed by Ryan Suffern (“Finding Oscar”) and Frank Marshall who directed the great Bee Gees docu on HBO in December (in addition to his stellar producing career). No price or release plan disclosed. /Deadline
📺 THE TV SET
PEACOCK adds Dennis Quaid to “Joe Exotic” limited series
He’ll play reality TV producer Rick Kirkman. /Variety
HULU orders amateur baking competition show “Baker’s Dozen”
Will be hosted by Tamera Mowry-Housley and former White House pastry chef Bill Yosses. It’s no “Clash of the Cupcakes” … but it’ll do. /Deadline
ALSO IN TV
NETFLIX promotes Peter Friedlander to lead all US Scripted TV Content, reports into Bela Bajaria. VP of Overall Deals, Brian Wright leaving the company – role being eliminated (Peter will handle the duties as part of his new gig). /THR
FX set a bunch of Summer premiere dates for new “AHS”, “Archer”, the Bill Clinton “American Crime Story” and other shows if inclined. Or I’ll just give ya a heads up when they actually premiere. /Deadline
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
FOX rebooting the USFL next Spring after the NFL season finishes up
Yup… the 80’s football league partially backed by Donald Trump (he is not involved with this new incarnation). The FOX / FS1 supported league will have at least 8 teams, likely using names from the 80’s franchises, and thinking Doug Flutie is available if the New Jersey Generals need some firepower.
The Rock is also planning on rebooting the XFL next Spring, possibly in conjunction with Canada’s CFL. Still TBD. As is the size of the TV audience interested in either of these. /THR
TWITTER launches subscription product TWITTER BLUE in… Canada and Australia 🤔
Basically gives you a 30 second time-delay on your tweets, so you have 30 secs to “undo” any tweet you send before it’s posted, for a cost of about $3/month. I mean you know how terrible Australians are with their typing so 💰💰. No timeline given for expansion to other countries. /The Verge
ALSO IN MEDIA
ROKU producing weekly 15 minute “ROKU Recommends” show hosted by Maria Menounos and former NFL player turned host, Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins. Will highlight things to stream across various apps (NETFLIX, DIS+ etc) and the ROKU CHANNEL, where new episodes of the show will drop each Thursday. So, kinda like a “barker” channel from the VOD days. /THR
WALMART signed on as launch sponsor according to AdAge.
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
Yesterday in AMC THEATERS news… Stock dropped 25% in the AM, but uh recovered (?) to finish the day down just 18%.
Basically – AMC issued another 11+ million new shares yesterday at their highly inflated stock price to raise more cash (netted about $587 Million). Warning potential investors to be “prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment.” The free large popcorn for AMC stockholders notwithstanding.
CINEMARK (Regal Cinemas) also down over 7.5%.
VIMEO +5%, but still down about 20% from its debut price a couple weeks ago.
ROKU down almost 5%.
👩💻 THE FSS FEED:
(new Stuff to Watch this weekend)
FRIDAY
IN THEATERS:
WB/HBOMAX “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” – latest edition to the paranormal investigators series. In theaters or Watch or add to your list here
DREAMWORKS “Spirit Untamed” – Family Animated movie. Only in theaters
STREAMING:
APPLE TV+ “Lisey’s Story” limited series – Supernatural thriller written by Stephen King, based on his book, starring Julianne Moore, Clive Owen. First 2 eps (of 8) are up today. Watch or add to your list here
NETFLIX “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet” – Docu about how the Earth is on the cusp of massive environmental changes, with David Attenborough. Watch or add to your list here
NETFLIX “Sweet Tooth” – Family adventure series based on the DC Comic about a boy who’s half human, half deer in a post apocalyptic world. Produced by Team Downey. Watch or add to your list here.
NETFLIX “Feel Good” Season 2 – Stand-up comic deals with a lapse in her sobriety and how it affected her relationship with her girlfriend. Watch or add to your list here.
PEACOCK “We Are Lady Parts” – UK comedy about a Muslim all-woman punk rock group. Watch or add to your list here (first ep avail for free).
READS:
Anthony Ramos gets the NY TIMES profile treatment from writer Dave Itzkoff on the eve of “In The Heights” hitting theaters next weekend.
SATURDAY
Tennis’s FRENCH OPEN continues. 12p-2p on NBC, rest of the day on PEACOCK because…
We definitely need another 4+ hours of horse race pre-show for The BELMONT STAKES. Especially since there’s no Triple Crown possibility. Race is at 6:45p.
SUNDAY
ABC “Celebrity Family Feud” – New season premiere at 8p
EPIX “War of the Worlds” – Season 2, with Gabriel Byrne and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Premieres at 9p
SHOWTIME “The Kings” docuseries – Follows the classic 1980’s boxing matches between Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard. Premieres at 8p
If you were sent this email or… just kinda found it while searching for real estate deals in the Pacific Palisades:
And if you’re new to THE WAKEUP – perhaps send the newsletter to a co-worker?
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
FX “Dave” Season 2 trailer – Premieres Wed June 16.
FOCUS FEATURES “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” trailer. Directed by Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”, “20 Feet from Stardom”). Hits theaters Fri July 16.
It’s also at Tribeca – can stream at home for $15 via the fest site here starting June 12. Will also air on CNN & HBOMAX at some point TBD.
WB/HBOMAX “Reminiscence” trailer – Set in a future where sea levels have flooded cities, and people put some contraption on their head to experience memories from the “before time” (a contraption that… kinda looks like the thing from Kathryn Bigelow’s 90’s movie “Strange Days” – or just me on that?). Hugh Jackman seems to discover a big mystery around a former love played by Rebecca Ferguson through the flashback explorations.
Directed by Lisa Joy (“Westworld”), In theaters & HBOMAX Fri Aug 20.
HBO “The White Lotus” teaser trailer – From Mike White (“Enlightened”), a social satire set at an exclusive Hawaiian resort with a bunch of rich white guests. Cast includes Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Alexandra Daddario, and Jennifer Coolidge. Premieres Sun July 11.
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
A new unabashed bouncy pop song that should definitely get you moving to kickoff your Summer Friday… YEARS & YEARS “Starstruck”
If you need new tunes:
Enjoy your final day of the first Summer work week. Be sure to phone it in after 3pm. Email me anytime – just reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-Sean McNulty
@theseanmac on TWITTER or @TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM
or also here on CLUBHOUSE
