Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY September 10, 2021.

Where AMAZON made their AMAZON TV official yesterday- it’ll be available next month at, well Amazon.com #spoileralert but also at BEST BUY, and the entry level priced at just around $400 for the 43” version.

It’s obviously integrates FIRE Stick functionality and is primarily built around ALEXA capabilities… just in case there are a few rooms in your house where she’s not already recording everything you say.

AND: Bennifer 2.0 returns to Italy… but no sadly sexy boat lounging or cafe dinners this time, unless you count a boat taxi 🙄. This time it’s all business (ish) for “The Last Duel” premiere at the VENICE FILM FEST this weekend.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

Christopher Nolan sets next film about development of Nuclear Bomb in WWII

Specifically focusing on J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in its development, and it’s being shopped around town outside of WB which… can’t be too much of a surprise. Even though WB gave “Tenet” the traditional film release he requested.

Nolan doesn’t have a formal / contractual deal at WB despite making all of his movies there. /Deadline

UNIVERSAL putting “Halloween Kills” on PEACOCK PREMIUM and In Theaters Oct 15

Essentially pulling an HBOMAX. The main factor here was likely the prospect of following “Venom 2” and “No Time To Die” back to back… with “Dune” the following week. So NBCU is choosing to try to get more bang for the buck to the overall COMCAST good out of it Vs. box office receipts. The film also received pretty bad pans across the board from the critics in the Hollywood trades yesterday 👎👎.

Profit-participating talent is said to be getting checks to make-good on the lost box office. The last “Halloween” movie made $255 Million globally in 2018. /Deadline

MEDIA NERD DIVE (cool kids just scroll down to the Blake Shelton drinking gif):

Not quite sure how UNIVERSAL is pulling this off based on their exclusive HBO output deal for theatrically released movies… unless they also wrote WARNER MEDIA a nice check. UNI’s HBO/MAX Theatrical Movie output deal doesn’t expire til the end of this year.

Or perhaps it’s the favor UNI called in for giving HBOMAX a window on “Harry Potter” films that they had the rights to 🤔.

This HBO output contract is the reason DISNEY can’t put their FOX movies like “Free Guy” and “The Last Duel” on DISNEY+ Premium Access this year (FOX’s HBO output deal goes thru next year btw). But - for that same reason, this is good news for Matt & Ben’s “The Last Duel” which is now the only new film exclusively in theaters on Oct 15.

“Halloween Kills” is the first live action movie UNIVERSAL is doing this day & date release strategy with (“The King Of Staten Island” didn’t have a theatrical release), and that HBO deal doesn’t cover UNI animated movies - so it didn’t matter on “Boss Baby 2”.

This “Halloween” thing also ignores UNIVERSAL’s 17-day exclusive window deal with AMC THEATERS from November so… 🤷‍♂️.

BUT - maybe since it’s a BLUMHOUSE movie there’s a caveat here perhaps? Anyone with ideas or knowledge here - email me! All info kept off the record.

ALSO IN MOVIES

• DISNEY adds Rosario Dawson to “Haunted House” movie with Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, and LaKeith Stanfield. /Deadline

• PARAMOUNT PLAYERS buys US rights to “Orphan: First Kill”, a sequel to the 2009 horror movie with Julia Stiles who is returning for this one too. No word on a release plan, although as it’s a PLAYERS film - decent chance it’s home will be PAR+. /THR

• SONY sets Christmas 2022 release for Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. /Variety

📺 THE TV SET

CBS doing 5 hours of live-performances from Nashville for NEW YEARS EVE this year

Called “New Year’s Eve: Nashville’s Big Bash” - acts so far include Jason Aldean, Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Dan + Shay, and Blake Shelton. None of whom will be sober. /Variety

ALSO IN TV

• HBOMAX renews “Gossip Girl” reboot for a 2nd season. The first half of Season 1 premieres in November. /THR

• David Oyelowo sets overall production deal at VIACOM CBS, and will star in a Western series with Tyler Sheridan (“Yellowstone”) producing called “Bass Reeves”, which was an inspiration for “The Lone Ranger” . No word on where it will land in the VIACOM kingdom. /THR

• CBS renews “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” for a Season 3. /Variety

• Veteran CAA TV Agent & Board member Sonya Rosenfeld is retiring after 35 years. She joined CAA right out of UCLA. /Deadline

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

RIP HOUSEPARTY group chat app 👋

EPIC GAMES (“Fortnite”) bought it in 2019 for $35 Million… but is gonna pull the plug in October after a 5 year existence. /Variety

FACEBOOK is launching FACEBOOK GLASSES (not official title)

They’re partnering with RAYBAN for sunglasses that record 30-second videos and take pictures (unbeknownst to those around you) for $300. And they’re called RAYBAN STORIES. Never thought I’d say this but FACEBOOK GLASSES woulda been a better choice, although I certainly get why they’re putting all this on RAYBAN.

WIRED has all the tech spec details in the link, and the WSJ has a great test-wear video here to show how easy it is to record people without knowing. Can’t wait for the night-vision version.

But as we all know - Surveilance Sunglasses and ALEXA TV listening devices are great… but the real way to track people is to create a deadly global virus and then create a vaccine that has a microchip in it that tracks what you do.

AMAZON now offering free College Tuition for Warehouse and Transportation workers

But sorry WHOLE FOODS folks - no school for you. Although even for these eligible folks in the hundreds of thousands… the credit is only for $5200 a year, which I think should buy you about 3 classes these days - but hey it’s a start! Although it’s only at a certain list of schools that… AMAZON has not yet released.

So - pretty much a classic Corporate PR release headline that most news organizations will ‘report’ on without including the fine print (kudos at PC MAG for doing so!).

But seems the $17/hour, $36k a year offer for On-your-feet-all-day warehouse work with limited pee breaks isn’t the draw it used to be in a tight labor market.

ALSO IN MEDIA

• VERIZON will no longer stream NFL games on their mobile service. Their exclusive rights to do so ended in 2017 after a 7 year run. /Variety

• WWE signs reigning College Wrestling champion Gable Steveson to a contract, in another first for college athletes making professional deals while still in school, due to an NCAA rule change this Summer. Gable also won Gold at the OLYMPICS this Summer. /Deadline

• ESPN’s Max Kellerman already has a new show after getting the boot from longtime home on “First Take” - called “This Just In”, begins on Tuesday. /Variety

  • Longtime ESPN sideline reporter Allison Jackson is stepping away from College Football coverage for declining to take the Covid vaccine (mandated by ESPN)… saying she and her husband are trying to conceive, giving credence to unproven rumors about infertility issues from the vaccine. /Deadline

• THE INFATUATION (+ ZAGAT) restaurant reco platform sells to JP MORGAN. Ok this is more Food Media than Media Media… but it was started by 2 former WARNER BROS MUSIC execs, and Jeffrey Katzenberg also invested $30 Million in it in 2018 (and presumably got a nice 💰💰 here although no price was disclosed).

  • A curious deal for sure, but looks like JP MORGAN bought it as a way to provide new dining perks and access to food events (as that becomes a thing again) to CHASE credit card holders. /WSJ

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

LIONSGATE bounced back a little bit +5%

AMC NETWORKS also +5%

👩‍💻 THE FSS FEED:

(new Stuff to Watch this weekend)

FRIDAY

IN THEATERS:

WB / HBOMAX “Malignant” - Director James Wan (“Saw”, “The Conjuring”) is back to scare the crap out of you in theaters 🔪. Or if you prefer that kind of experience at home: Click Here to Watch or Add to your List

• NOTE: It’s also premiering on a streaming service in China (with some slight edits to the content apparently) instead of trying for an increasingly challenging theatrical release.

FOCUS FEATURES “The Card Counter” - New movie directed by Paul Schrader, starring Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish. In theaters only

STX “Queenpins” - Based on a true story comedy about a coupon counterfeiting scheme with Kristen Bell and Vince Vaughn. In theaters only

STREAMING:

MOVIES

PARAMOUNT+ “Star-Crossed” - 50 minute movie starring Kacey Musgraves featuring songs from her new album out today (links at bottom). Click Here to Watch or Add to your List

APPLE TV+ “Come From Away” - Recorded live-theater performance of the Broadway show. Click here to Watch or Add to your List

NETFLIX “Kate” - “Crank”-like genre action pic with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a hit-woman with 24 hours to live after being poisoned. Click here to Watch or Add to your List

SERIES

NETFLIX “Lucifer” Season 6 - Click here to Watch or Add to your List

TV

SHOWTIME “Return of the Taliban: A Vice Special Report” - VICE brings you inside the fall of Afghanistan from the ground. Airs at 8p

SATURDAY

20th Anniversary of 9/11.

• Bush is visiting the Shanksville, PA site

• Obama is visiting the 9/11 site in NYC

• Biden is visiting all three 9/11 sites

• Our last President is calling a Boxing match with a 56 year-old on the title card in Florida

ESPN US Tennis Open Women’s Final at 4p (Men’s on Sunday at 4p)

SUNDAY

First NFL SUNDAY of the Season

And First new 60 MINUTES of the Season - an entire hour dedicated to stories from 9/11 NYC Firefighters.

MTV VMA’s from the Barclays Center, hosted by Doja Cat begins at 8p

HBO “Scenes From a Marriage” - Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac limited series Premieres at 9p

SHOWTIME “American Rust” - Jeff Daniels, Maura Tierney new series Premieres 10p

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

Subscribe now

🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

FIRST: Small clarification from yesterday - NETFLIX’s DiCaprio / JLaw movie “Don’t Look Up” will still hit theaters on Dec 10 for an exclusive 2-week run before its Dec 24 premiere (info wasn’t indicated on the teaser trailer’s end card). Apologies for any confusion!

WB / HBOMAX “The Matrix Resurrections” trailer. Keanu goes off his blue pills 20 years later and then… honestly I’m not really sure what happens from watching this 🤷‍♂️. I also really don’t remember how the MATRIX Trilogy ended so, let’s just say I’ll be coming in fresh when It hits Theaters and HBOMAX on Wed Dec 22.

SHOWTIME “Dexter: New Blood” trailer. Premieres Sun Nov 7.

AMC “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 7 trailer. Premieres on AMC+ on Sun Oct 10, and AMC linear on Oct 17.

PEACOCK “Unidentified with Demi Lovato” trailer. Demi and her friend go looking for UFO’s in a 4 part docuseries 👽. Premieres Thu Sept 30.

🎧 PLAYING ME OFF

KACEY MUSGRAVES new album “Star-Crossed” drops today

Listen to the album here on Spotify or I was digging the haunting but chill vibes from this new tune this morning:

If you need new tunes:

THE WAKEUP Spotify playlist

Email me anytime - just reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.

-Sean McNulty

@theseanmac on TWITTER

@TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM

or I’m also here on CLUBHOUSE