☀️BLACK ADAM has OK 2nd wknd, Specialty pics hit trouble

Aaron Taylor-Johnson + Gosling at UNI / NETFLIX sets Cavill WITCHER replacement / BIG12 gets new TV deal / The Big Q3 Earnings wk ahead

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY October 31, 2022.

Where today I’m dressing up as Richard here at The Ankler… in that I believe he too also writes in bunny slippers, a Simpsons Comic-Book Guy t-shirt and a silk robe no?

Although ya gotta love an A-list movie producer who still steps up his HALLOWEEN game to go all-out to promote a film.

Jason Blum @jason_blum

And for those of you who want a closer look. Those bags are a little scary. I’m kind of like a #M3GAN 2.0. (40 years later)

ALSO: Elon will reportedly begin TWITTER employee cuts of unknown amounts by tomorrow according to the NY Times, a date which… apparently coincides with when employees were scheduled to receive stock grants as part of their compensation. Or perhaps former compensation. Elon sorta tweeted out this is not true after it came out… in perhaps a change in tactics.

One source puts his current thinking at eventual cuts of 50% of the workforce (over 3,000 people). No correction tweet on that. Welcome to Q4.

• Elon also cited “just cause” when axing the CEO & other top execs last week, looking to avoid paying them $20 to $60 Million “golden parachute” clauses in their contracts. Gonna guess a bit more to come there.

AND: Elon also re-tweeted a Pelosi attack conspiracy theory from a website known for its very low standards of “journalism”, and then deleted his RT after the NY Times story came out. #DeleteTwitter should be fun (Shonda Rhimes joined the movement this weekend).

ANKLER PODCAST: Alex Sherman from CNBC joined us in this weekend’s Ankler podcast to discuss his scoop of 1,000 impending WBD layoffs before year’s end, plus he also dives into just how the NETFLIX Q1 & Q2 subscriber misses caused the rest of Hollywood to all of a sudden question their business strategies of the last 3-5 years, and much more. Lotta great insights in this if you haven’t taken a listen yet.

It's Not Just You. Things are Gloomy

PLUS: In Hollywood business affairs - both ENTERTAINMENT 360 and BRILLSTEIN have enlisted investment bankers to handle the influx of investor $$ inquiries according to Bloomberg. Guess we’ll call this the CANDLE and REDBIRD effect.

THEN: Oliver Stone committed to be the film fest jury president at Saudi Arabia’s RED SEA FESTIVAL in early December.

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

• Specialty biz has a not great weekend of expansions and launches, while George & Julia hang strong

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson to co-star with Ryan Gosling at UNI

• AFM movie projects heat up with Florence Pugh, Henry Cavill, and Sydney Sweeney setting up their next films to shoot

• BIG12 conference sets the next big College sports rights deal

• NETFLIX sets expansive merch deal with WALMART

• World Series opens to similar comps as 2021

• A preview of Q3’s biggest earnings week ahead and more

OH!: The Wakeup Friday Box Office poll crew once again proved prophetic! Congrats to the 53% who predicted the correct side of the “Black Adam” week 2 drop. And the 11% who joined me living on the edge at 62% even (sadly, we fell).

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📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

I mean if it ain’t broke… though may need to get creative next wk. via Giphy