Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY July 20, 2023.

Where science has finally figured out why HOLLYWOOD leaders can’t seem to leave their jobs 👇.

Yeah… this chart isn’t good news.

AND 🥳: A belated congrats to Greta Gerwig who evidently had her 2nd child with Noah Baumbach a few months ago, according to a new Elle UK profile.

PLUS: Here’s a roundup of what will actually be at COMIC-CON starting today (cue a lot of director appearances and talent-less screenings). The CON badges already sold-out months ago.

• ALSO: Get ready for COMIC-CON: The Cruise. I’m guessing with no Hollywood talent on board (publicists can only take so much). Departs in Feb 2025 from Tampa which… kinda tracks. No dressing up as Love Boat characters.

• THEN: SAG chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Jones will join the (land-based) COMIC-CON tomorrow, for an AI panel alongside some voice actors.

OLD SCHOOL: This is kinda fun from the WSJ – APPLE’s new iOS17 release this Fall is adding an old-fashioned ‘call screening’ feature (kids, ask a GenX co-worker). It’ll let you see a transcript of a voice message as it’s being left, so you can pick up mid-message and take the call if you like.

Now all we need is for people to, um, like, start leaving messages again.

🪧 STRIKE FORCE:

• That was CAA principal Bryan Lourd on the NYC picket lines with Duncan outside of 30 Rock yesterday.

• SAG granted more indie film waivers yesterday… including for Ishana Night Shyamalan’s The Watchers with Dakota Fanning.

  • Even though this is a NEW LINE film, turns out it’s a negative pickup and… the distro deal technically isn’t signed yet. See? Sometimes Business Affairs does ya a favor.

• Just a date to add to your calendar – SAG-AFTRA leadership election day is on Sept 9.

TODAY IN AI 🤖

• APPLE is building an “APPLE GPT” (internal terminology), to the shock of no one.

• GOOGLE showed / pitched major news outlets (NYT, WAPO etc) their new AI news writing tool, GENESIS, which they envision as kind of a personal assistant for journalists, which… I’m sure is totally how they’ll take it.

THE WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL:

Barbie’s on 4200 screens (none of the IMAX naturally), and its tracking has been like thermometers in Phoenix every day this month – starting at $70 Mil, then $90 Mil, then $100 Mil… to $110 Mil… and now $140 Mil is being bandied about, and then some.

So let’s go 4 categories today for the first time ever.

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

• #MediaNerd🤓 goes inside the NETFLIX Q2 numbers – a lot more cash on hands translates into doing… one of the most classic “corporate 2023” things with it. A dive into the subscriber numbers, where the money is coming from in the world and… how that could translate (so to speak) in a prolonged strike.

• TIKTOK MUSIC is wasting no time in expanding to new countries.

• BRON goes bankrupt.

• NBC now looks pretty scripted this Fall. At least to start.

• The WIMBLEDON TV numbers in context, and more.

FINALLY – AN NYC TRANSIT UPDATE: Subway fare is going up to $2.90 in about a month, the last bump was in 2015 when it went to $2.75. Be sure to let Bakish know if you see him on your morning 1 train commute.

Weekday subway ridership these days is about 70% of where it was pre-pandemic. Also – LIRR & MTA train prices are also going up +4.5%, and EZPass tolls +6%.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN