☀️2025's Top 10 Movies: A Box Office Wellness Check
AMAZON MBJ pic sets cast / Chu gets 'Hot Wheels' / TUBI picks up AMC series
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Where I’m beginning to get concerned that the cheap streaming future we were promised in the 2010s was a load of crap. 🤔
After recently announcing that it is adding “free” DIS+ to the collection of included streaming services (MAX, HULU, PEACOCK etc) it offers customers of its SPECTRUM Select TV package — CHARTER is now raising the price of that Select TV package by $5 a month.
This is after already raising it $3 a month earlier this year (I mean, you didn’t think they were going to eat the cost of still paying $3 a month for NBA-less TNT themselves, did you?).
Noodling around on the SPECTRUM site last night — your total for a SPECTRUM cable TV bundle in 2025 NYC is now $115 a month for the first year:
This includes your monthly cable box rental — yes, they still make you take one of those when you order a Select TV package, and I’d think you’ll need more boxes at $15/month if you have more than 1 TV?
AND: Then it goes up to $135 a month after the first year (i.e. the real price).
Although to note — CHARTER will soon be giving you $70 worth of streaming apps included in that price, so it does end up being the significantly greater value vs. YOUTUBE TV at $83 a month plus tax (a $52 price difference) . . . although CHARTER does charge you more for DVR service on top of that, and YT TV includes it.
HULU+LIVE TV is also $83 a month plus tax (though HULU also gives you free DISNEY bundle included).
So hey, enjoy the free apps (with ads) and $135 a month bill! Or, just continue to enjoy your cable TV bundle-free life and get a $30 antenna to get all of your local TV channels for free like me.
AND: AMC THEATRES is now offering 50% off tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for members of its Stubs program (it previously offered $5 tickets on Tuesdays), as well as some concession discounts.
PLUS: Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron has decided to leave the band after 27 years.
AH: The final PARAMOUNT/SKYDANCE 90-day deal extension was triggered yesterday, so set your clocks back til the first full week of October as the real crunch time.
THEN: My latest “Yeah, I didn’t click on that” traffic from Deadline — a referral to the NYT Cooking site when I clicked on a TUBI story yesterday. 👀
PLUS: 85% of the jobs added to the U.S. economy in June were only in healthcare and education.
FINALLY: Just passing along this bit of food wisdom about kiwis and gut health that I had never heard before! It could also be suitable for bringing down the fatty elements of your bloodwork (triglycerides, etc.).
CORRECTION FROM SUNDAY: APPLE has indeed done a PVOD window for their theatrical movies in the past (you can still buy Napoleon, Flower Moon, Argylle etc. for $15 if ya like), although no plans have been officially announced for F1 as of yet. PVOD aside — APPLE TV+ distro only / no other windows for its films aside from that.
THANKS: To the students at NYU for all the smart and thoughtful questions about our industry last night, and for the invitation to come and have a dialogue about the state of our industry. I always love to have these conversations with the next generation of the industry.
Also, kudos for spending your summer break taking a class on the entertainment business!
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
2025 Box Office — It’s Time For Your Physical
Now that we’re past the midway point of the 2025 box office — I thought it was a good time to take a step back and look at the state of affairs in our beloved movie business vs. recent comps, and the last year before Covid.
This was spurred by the conversation Richard and I had in our Monday Morning QB livestream yesterday, where an audience member asked us to pontificate on whether movies are back to a more “normal, pre-Covid, pre-strike theatrical state” as we’re at the halfway mark of 2025, and Richard also shared his POV that this year was both:
Still strike-affected to a meaningful degree here in the summer
Really not doing as well as previous years in the blockbuster category
So, #medianerd🤓 here decided to look at the actual numbers . . . and lo and behold: Richard does have a case! At least in one regard.
Although there’s a very interesting dichotomy between the top end ($1B+) and mid-level ($200M+ U.S.), so here’s how it breaks down — and what to take away as we enter the 2nd half of 2025.