Cher getting a biopic at UNIVERSAL
Cher getting a biopic at UNIVERSAL
HBO basically $10 a month as of June / HARRY POTTER gets Quiz Show event / SATC reboot adds new 4th friend
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY May 20, 2021.
Where I had to make sure I didn’t time travel again yesterday afternoon when I woke up from my nap to news of:
A new “Friends” trailer (link below in TRAILER HOUSE of course)
WEEZER taking the #1 slot on the BILLBOARD Chart
A LOLLAPALOOZA lineup announcement…. with LIMP BIZKIT on it.
Can’t wait for the Durst / Grohl / Posty collab. But ya gotta be pretty psyched for that JOURNEY set. The 4-day fest hits Chicago’s GRANT PARK from July 29 -Aug 1. Tix on sale now at https://www.lollapalooza.com/tickets - 4 day GA pass is $375.
ALSO: The GLASTONBURY music fest is returning to the UK for a 2 day Fri-Sat event in September TBD, capped at 50k people and no camping out. Acts TBA.
And just putting this here if inspired:
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Cher getting biopic at UNIVERSAL
From the producers of the “Mamma Mia!” movie, Eric Roth (“Forest Gump”, “A Star is Born”) currently writing the script. No word on who’ll play Cher but… what a role 🤯. /Deadline
A24 sets Julia Louis-Dreyfus for “mother / daughter fairytale” movie
Called “Tuesday” - no other plot details revealed. BBC co-producing, UK director Daina O. Pusic making her feature debut here. No word on a production timeline but casting seems mostly set. /Variety
ALSO IN MOVIES
WB & DC set “Bad Boys For Life” directing duo for their “Batgirl” film, which will likely go the HBOMAX route, not movie theaters. /THR
📺 THE TV SET
“Harry Potter” getting 5 night Quiz Show event at HBOMAX, TBS, CARTOON NET this Fall
2021 continues to make Millenials feel old as WB celebrates Harry’s 20th anniversary with 4 hour-long Quiz Shows and a Retrospective special, exact dates TBD. /Variety
If you wanna take your shot at finally putting your 5 readings of each “Harry Potter” book to use - go here: https://harrypotterquizshow.castingcrane.com/
ALSO - Various HBO / HBOMAX casting news from yesterday:
HBOMAX “SATC” reboot adds Sara Ramirez (“Grey’s Anatomy”) as a full cast member. /THR
David Simon sets Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles and Jamie Hector as leads for his new HBO limited series “We Own This City”. Set around the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force which devolved into corruption. Production starts this July. /Deadline
HBOMAX adding Jeremy Scott (“Bridgestone”) as one of the Lanterns (gay hero “Alan Scott”) in their upcoming “Green Lantern” series. Finn Wittrock already set as the “Guy Gardner” Lantern. As you might expect, I have no idea what this all means. /THR
NETFLIX gets Schwarzenegger father / daughter global spy show
8 episodes, no title as of yet, produced by SKYDANCE. Monica Barbaro (“Top Gun: Maverick”) is the daughter.
They both play CIA spies who… didn’t know each other were spies. Really gonna miss a Bill Paxton cameo in this. /Deadline
CBS sets 3 new franchise extension shows & 1 new comedy for the Fall sched
The 1 new comedy is “Ghosts” about a couple who inherit a haunted country home (will air in Thusday Chuck Lorre Comedy block, though it’s not a Chuck show). DEADLINE has the trailers for the 4 shows here if inclined.
CBS also taking inspiration from… HALLMARK (🤔), doing 2 made-for-TV Christmas movies in December. /Deadline
Otherwise - CBS doing the 3 “FBI” shows back-to-back-to-back thing on Tuesdays, most everything else is the same-ish. Other new shows ordered will be mid-season.
Look no further to see the impact that streaming / binging has had on the TV landscape than the Fall 2021 Broadcast TV Schedule:
3 “FBI” shows on CBS Tuesdays
3 “Chicago” shows on NBC Wednesdays
3 “Law & Order” shows on NBC Thursdays
ALSO: Dick Wolf produces all 9 of those shows.
ALSO IN TV
Tim Burton casts Jenna Ortega (“Yes Day”, “Scream”) in the lead role for his “Wednesday” live-action NETFLIX series set in “The Addams Family” universe. /Deadline
PEACOCK orders 10 episode “Vampire Academy” show based on the YA book series. Julie Plec (TheCW’s “Vampire Diaries”) adapting. /Deadline
TBS renews “Wipeout” and Nasim Pedrad show “Chad” for second seasons. /Deadline
TBS & TNT to air old HBOMAX shows this Summer (“Love Life”, “Flight Attendant” etc) with limited commercials, as the TV ecosystem comes full circle… with cable TV now airing streaming library product to build audience for upcoming seasons of shows. /Variety
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
WARNER MEDIA makes it official - HBOMAX with Ads will be $10/month
Ad-supported version will only lack the WB Movie premieres (“Godzilla vs Kong” etc), uh however long they continue to last. All other content the same as the $15 version, and pretty sure this is US only, though didn’t see anything definitive on that.
Will launch TBD first week of June. Um. That’s in 2 weeks - you really can’t give us a date yet??
HBO content is still ad-free on this version, so HBO is now effectively $10 a month. Anyone still paying $15+ for HBO from their cable company is now burning $60 a year for no reason.
ALSO: VIACOM CBS still has the largest share of National TV Ad revenue despite the new combination of WARNER MEDIA and DISCOVERY networks under one roof: 25% vs 15.7%. But it does now put WARNER DISCO slightly ahead of NBCU (13.8%).
BUT: WARNER DISCO does however now lead in one metric - airing the most ads. /NextTV
ALSO IN MEDIA
The Cable/Satellite TV business lost 1.9 Million TV customers from Jan thru March this year. Pretty much matching 2020’s Q1. About 81 million US households currently pay for a TV channel bundle, down from around 100 Million 8 years ago. /NextTV
SPOTIFY launching weekly, pre-recorded concert series for $15 each (+ tax). BLACK KEYS kick it off on Thu May 27, and there’s no pause or fast forward functionality - must watch as if its a live event, and be a registered SPOTIFY user. /Variety
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
AMC MOVIE THEATERS was the big loser -10% yesterday, because when you play with Reddit/Robinhood traders, this happens randomly.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
NETFLIX “Special” 2nd and final season. Watch or add to your list here.
👋 ALSO If you’re on CLUBHOUSE:
I’m doing another fun REWIND Media Week-in-Review chat with my fellow former HBO’er and friend Caroline Giegerich tonight at 8pm. Hope we can find a couple things to talk about.
Here is the link where you can set a reminder in the app. I promise I’ll (try and) only say WARNER DISCO once:
https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/xVOopjbO
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
HBOMAX “Friends” reunion trailer - Looks like this should check the boxes you hope it does. Premieres next Thu May 27.
MGM “Respect” trailer. Oddly enough they didn’t use the song. Just kidding - it’s pretty much half of the trailer. Hits theaters August 13.
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
New-ish JORJA SMITH “Addicted” - Some chill R&B vibes from the British singer/songwriter to start your Thursday.
If you need new tunes:
Have thoughtful Thursday - A Rest in Peace to comedian Paul Mooney, and Email me anytime, just hit reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-Sean McNulty
@theseanmac on TWITTER or also here on CLUBHOUSE or on IG @TheWakeupNews