☀️DISH, DIRECTV Deal Dunzo — Great, So Now What?
JJ recruits Samuel L. for next pic / LGF buys again! / Spec market revival continues
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like or email me seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY, November 22, 2024.
Where let’s end the week with good news! You can now get your Christmas shopping done while you watch Dr. Pimple Popper on MAX, just like you asked Santa for last year.
MAX has introduced “AI-powered interactive ad technology” where you can purchase select products in certain shows while watching in the MAX app, so you too can finally have the same Post-It notes that Berger used to dump Carrie!
ALSO: Just a heads up, APPLE TV+ is making A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving free for all today and tomorrow.
AND: DISNEY is doing another animated alt-cast of a sports game on Christmas Day — this time a Mickey Mouse-themed version of the SPURS vs. KNICKS game on ESPN2, ESPN+ and DIS+.
HUZZAH: To my fellow Irish folk Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness for their effort to revive an 100+ year-old iconic movie theater on the west coast of Ireland that shut down during Covid.
AND: If perchance there are any readers in Dublin, or uh Killarney (home of Fassbender!), I’ll be over in those parts in about a week — drop me a note if you want to grab a pint — seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com.
THEN: The Academy released the list of Documentary (169 pics), Animated (31 pics) and International Films (85 countries) eligible for an Oscar this season.
HA: The Just For Laughs festival will return this July in Montreal as the parent company emerges from bankruptcy. Nick Brazao will now be leading the programming.
WELL: The good news for Jason Kelce is that ESPN is giving him a late-night talk show shooting in Philly for 5 weeks starting Friday, Jan. 4. The bad news is that They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce will air at 1 a.m. (It’ll also be available for free on YT afterward.)
OH: You keep dreamin’ big there, Gen Z . . . 71% of them think they’re gonna achieve “financial success” in their lifetime. Personally, I just like the realism that Millennials have come to learn.
YEAH: In case there was any doubt about which company OPENAI is really coming for, well, hey GOOGLE. According to The Information, OPENAI is:
Exploring its own ChatGPT-powered internet browser
Talking to SAMSUNG about powering artificial intelligence features on its Android-run mobile devices with OPENAI’s tech (sorta like what it’s doing with APPLE).
AND: Separate but still kinda related, cutting deals with folks like CONDE and PRICELINE to use OPENAI tech to power interactions folks have with their websites (gotta find that new business 🤑 to justify the ever-escalating valuations, folks).
PLUS: A thanks to PARAMOUNT for the invite to check out The Agency premiere last night in NYC — really dug the style & fresh POV director Joe Wright is bringing the spy TV series genre, and great roles in particular for Fassbender and Gere as well.
WAKEUP POLL RESULTS
Lotta faith in #Glicked out there this weekend! Count me in with the majorities on each, although I’ll caveat that I really thought about going with the 28% on the 2h 41m Wicked.
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE
Janice Min and Lachlan Cartwright join Elaine and I this week to talk about WTF is going on at MSNBC and NBC NEWS, and some key timings to note in the COMCAST/SPINCO deal news this week around the choice of a Q4 '25 closing date. 🧐
APPLE link here or just search “The Ankler” on your preferred pod listening platform.
📺 THE SILVER SCREEN
