Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY August 31, 2021.

Where DRAKE is dropping his new album on Friday now that KAN/YE has dropped his. Call it a hunch… but thinking he’ll be better at sticking to his announced release date plan. Canadian politeness and all.

BUT: KANYE did beat OLIVIA RODRIGO for the most streamed first 24 hours of a new album in 2021 on SPOTIFY. Then again when you put 26 songs on it…

ALSO: His Chicago “listening party” livestream Thursday night had 6 Million viewers globally on APPLE MUSIC, the most of his 3 events.

Oh And: KACEY MUSGRAVES announced a tour in Jan-Feb, Click Here to buy tix. She also dropped a new proper 1st single from her upcoming album that I was really digging yesterday. I mean hey - most people are on vacation… let’s just bump the Song of the Day link up here today, good reading music.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

APPLE TV+ sets Ewan McGregor & Ethan Hawke for movie produced by Alfonso Cuaron

Called “Raymond and Ray”, centers on 2 brothers who have a terrible father - when he dies, the brothers re-invent themselves… ish.

Rodrigo Garcia directing (has directed mostly TV for the past decade but did films prior, his IMDB here). /THR

LIONSGATE orders another “Expendables” movie - 50 Cent, Megan Fox joining

Stallone, Statham, Dolph and Randy Couture all returning, shoot begins in October. Movie plot’s gonna be about… eh I think we get the gist by now.

Although Statham looks be more the focus in this one now, instead of Stallone. /THR

Dave Franco directing Rom-Com at AMAZON PRIME

Called “Somebody I Used to Know”, Dave co-wrote it with his wife Alison Brie who will also star in it.

Workaholic returns to her hometown, spends time with the Ex, and begins to question who she is and her life choices. Well at least she never started doing a daily newsletter 🙇‍♂️ . /Variety

LIONSGATE doing movie about Dennis Rodman’s 48 hour bender in Vegas during the 1998 NBA Finals

Famously chronicled in “The Last Dance” docuseries, will center on Rodman and a skittish assistant GM for the team on Dennis’s Vegas bender 🥴. So kinda ”Get Him to the Greek” 🎤… but “Get Him to the Game” 🏀.

Phil Lord & Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie”, “21 & 22 Jump Street”) producing, and Jordan VanDina is now writing it (he wrote the HULU teen drinking comedy “The Binge” with Vince Vaughn).

No director or talent attached. Rodman is an Exec Producer. /Deadline

ALSO IN MOVIES

• DISNEY orders “Jungle Cruise” sequel, director Jaume Collet-Serra returning along with The Rock and Emily Blunt. /THR

• DISNEY+ orders reboot of “The Rocketeer”. David Oyelowo producing and may star in it. Will be called “The Return of the Rocketeer” and the lead character will be a member of the TUSKEGEE AIRMEN. /Deadline

• NETFLIX adds Regina Hall to Mark Wahlberg / Kevin Hart wild weekend buddy movie “Me Time” from John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly”). /Deadline

📺 THE TV SET

Emily Van Camp leaves FOX’s “The Resident” after 4 seasons

Not returning for Season 5 which premieres in about 3 weeks. Her character just gave birth in the Season 4 finale and… the Season 5 promo not looking too promising about her exit. /Deadline

Thankfully Emily and her brand new IRL baby are doing very well! 👶

ALSO IN TV

• Kyle Chandler joins PARAMOUNT+ Jeremy Renner prison-running family show “The Mayor of Kingstown” from Tyler Sheridan (“Yellowstone”), premieres in November. /Deadline

• Judy Greer & Katy Mixon join Renee Zelwegger’s NBC limited series “The Truth About Pam” based on a DATELINE NBC story. Centers on a 2011 murder involving a man falsely accused of murdering his wife (Mixon), and the diabolical scheme behind it orchestrated by Pam (Zelwegger). /Deadline

• GERSH Agency promotes 3, hires another in TV Lit department. /Deadline

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

The NFL approves 4 online gambling platforms to advertise during games this Fall

And the winners are: FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBet. So basically “Bet” is to Online Gambling what “Plus” is to Video Streaming.

These 4 services are in addition to the NFL’s 3 existing official partnerships with Caesars, FanDuel and Draft Kings. /FrontOfficeSports

• NFL is allowing these 7 companies to compete for the 6 Sportsbook ad slots the league has approved during every game this season.

• Although I’m guessing these 6 slots are just for national ads, and does not apply to local TV ad inventory so… expect to see an even larger crapload of wall-to-wall gambling app pitches this season. Just as the league’s founders intended.

• WynnBet alone is spending $100 Million to market its app this Fall, and Ben Affleck is getting on the action (see today’s TRAILER HOUSE below).

CHINA limits online Video Game play to 3 hours a week for those 18 and under

Banned on school days, and only from 8-9p on Fri, Sat & Sun. Adults can continue to play until they can’t see straight, piss their pants and forget their name for half an hour (#CousinEddie).

This is mainly going to be policed by the gaming companies themselves shutting access to accounts of kids. It’s CHINA - I’m sure they have a pretty good handle on that 👊.

The CHINA Government also banned “the ranking of celebrities by popularity…” to buffer a growing “celebrity worship” culture. Which one has to think could easily lead to hiding Follower & View / Like counts on DOUYIN (as TIKTOK is called there), as just a reminder, the CHINA governement is an investor in & holds a board seat on DOUYIN & TIKTOK’s parent company, BYTE DANCE. /NY Times

ALSO IN MEDIA

• DISNEY+ aiming to now produce 60 Original Productions in Europe in the next 2.5 years. /Variety

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

Pretty quiet day except for the customary Monday AMC MOVIE THEATERS stock bump, up 6%

👩‍💻 NEW TO WATCH:

HULU “Only Murders in the Building” series. Episodes will drop weekly. Click here to Watch or Add to your List

NETFLIX “Sparking Joy” - New 3 part Marie Kondo series. Click here to Watch or Add to your List

PBS “Generation 9/11” - Docu about the lives of 7 kids who lost parents on 9/11. Airs at 9p  

If you were sent this newsletter or… just kinda found it:

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🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

WYNN BET - Ben Affleck chooses an… Online Gambling app to make his US spokesperson debut, in a spot that he also directed. I mean it’s certainly on brand of sorts for Ben, but it’s also no Ryan Reynolds AVIATION Gin ad. Although hey look - Shaq! He sold his stake in the NBA’s SACRAMENTO KINGS to become a brand ambassador and set a financial relationship with WYNN BET.

And yet somehow… after watching this 2+ minute ad I still have absolutely no idea what WYNNBET’s “Teaming up with my friends to gamble” app function is, or why the hell I’d want to do that.

APPLE TV+ “The Velvet Underground” trailer. Docu on the renown 60’s NYC rock band, from director Todd Haynes. Premeires Fri Oct 15 (also in theaters).

AMAZON PRIME “My Name is Pauli Murray” trailer. Docu on the pioneering non-binary gender and civil rights lawyer & activist. In theaters Sept 17, and on Amazon Oct 1.

AND: Director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) is dropping 3 new documentaries on AMAZON PRIME diving into racial issues & incidents in the UK from the 60’s thru the 80’s:

• “Uprising”

• “Black Power: A British Story of Resistance”

• “Subnormal: A British Scandal”.

Links to the 3 trailers can be found here. All 3 premiere on Fri Sept 17.

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-Sean McNulty

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