☀️AMC THEATRES 💰 Loss Continues, Wants Bigger Windows 🙏
'Suits' fails to impress on NBC / WBD's very busy 24 hours / AMAZON MGM lands big 🎥 project
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 WEDNESDAY, February 26, 2025.
Where let’s start today with a toast 🍻 to someone who’s clearly related to me in India — that would be the 30-year-old man who sued the PVR INOX movie theater chain for “mental agony” and wasting nearly 30 minutes of his time by not starting his movie at the advertised time of 4:05 p.m.
Instead, he sat through about 25 minutes worth of trailers until the movie began at 4:30 p.m. . . . which seriously messed up his plan to get back to work by 6:30 p.m. (clearly he is also a fellow newsletter writer as he had a 3-hour “break” from his job to go see a movie).
The Indian courts agreed with the well-principled gentleman, and awarded him damages to the tune of $1,850. AMC — you can repay me for my time in free treats at CINEMACON in about a month. Yes, I know they’re free . . . but I’ll take the moral victory.
ALSO: FCC Chair Brendan Carr is now also sending ‘just curious’ letters to the music business, first up is IHEARTMEDIA . . . where he is inquiring about possible “payola” practices.
THEN: MSNBC is set to cut as many as 99 positions across 9 shows according to the WGA-East.
HUH: Alex Cooper’s UNWELL podcast network droppped Alix Earle’s Hot Mess pod.
WELL: That asteroid which was given a 3% chance of hitting Earth is now apparently not a threat according to NASA. Great, so what am I supposed to do with this Don’t Look Up 2 spec now?
OH: YOUTUBE finally discovered in 2025 that interrupting videos mid-sentence to jam in an ad that we all skip anyway is a really crappy experience for both the user and advertiser and is going to look to make changes. Nothing like having a first-year type business realization . . . 20 years into one’s business existence.
AH: DISNEY is putting Dana Walden in front of the Wall Street analyst crowd next week, albeit in a relatively friendly environment — she’ll be on the stage at the MORGAN STANLEY Media/Tech/Telecom conference next Tuesday.
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to screenwriter Roberto Orci, who died after a battle with kidney disease at the age of 51. He co-wrote many high profile screenplays with writing partner Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers, The Amazing Spider-Man 2), among other projects.
IN THIS EDITION:
WBD makes news on the sports, news, gaming and streaming front in less than 24 hours. Guys, save something for the earnings call tomorrow!
Dive into AMC THEATRES FY24 books and longer-term business trends, plus the changes it’s actively trying to pursue to post-Covid theatrical windows.
A SONY 2022 pic pops on NETFLIX as the Minions storm back, what the SAG Awards did, the latest WWE numbers and more.
PLUS: Suits doesn’t get a very warm welcome on NBC, the full weekend sports ratings roundup and — yeah, let’s get moving.
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
WBD’s busy 24-hour news cycle
