☀️Hollywood's Not-So-Hot Indie Film Summer
New 'SNL' cast adds, departures / NBC's big Football weekend #s / Bargatze sets network TV special
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY, September 10, 2024.
Where sure, Jason Kelce isn’t making Tom Brady $37.5M-a-year money in his NFL on-air personality career . . . but Jason got to dress like this to go on national TV last night 👇, so advantage — Kelce:
ALSO: I saw zero #HotTake pieces this morning about Jason’s first appearance last night on ESPN as a weekly desk commentator (maybe the pundits all have DIRECTV 🤷♂️), vs. the, uh, numerous and frankly undeserved severe Brady pile-ons everywhere yesterday.
It’s Tom’s first game folks, calm the F down — also yeah, it wasn’t a home-run . . . but it was fine. I mean, if you were expecting a “loose” Tom Brady — remember the promo that FOX did to promote the day. Give it a few weeks — although if your problem is the sound of his voice . . . well, that’s gonna be a tough one.
More importantly: FOX did more than fine in drawing an audience (details below), especially considering the game was terrible.
Finally: My condolences JETS fans, may be a tough year overall at METLIFE Stadium. But hey — the YANKEES are still in first place, and only 6 weeks 'til the KNICKS are back everybody! Whoever thought we’d be saying that as our sign of NYC sports hope. 🤯
AND: Nice to see the Hollywood studios making healthy ad buys across NFL games this weekend — big showings from WB’s Joker and LGF’s The Killer’s Game, with UNI’s The Wild Robot and Speak No Evil, and PAR’s Transformers One also showing up quite a bit.
Zero ad buy presence for APPLE TV+’s Wolfs as far as I saw.
THEN: We have yet another “+” joining the streaming world here in . . . Q3 2024: welcome HALLMARK+ to the club for $8 a month.
OH: Hey Siri, how many zeros are in $14 Billion? Europe’s Court of Justice made a final ruling that APPLE must pay that $14B EU tax bill, reversing a lower court’s decision.
This after years of APPLE seemingly not paying much at all — the European Commission said the company paid a 1% or far less effective tax rate some years in its EU home base of Ireland. So, pay your share, folks, and get those AIPhone 16 pre-orders in today.
APPLE made $79B in profit in the first 9 months of its current FY, and the money has already been sitting in an escrow account while this was getting sorted.
AH: The EU’s top court also upheld the $2.7B fine against GOOGLE over its comparison-shopping feature.
I’m sure both companies will now totally stop doing business in Europe.
PLUS: John Mulaney is coming back to the NYC stage, leading a comedic play from Simon Rich, All In: Comedy About Love, where John will work with a rotating cast of actors, including Fred Armisen, Chloe Fineman, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Richard Kind at various times. It begins Dec. 11 at the HUDSON THEATER.
ALSO: Eminem will start the VMAs tomorrow night on MTV. No word if he’ll be accompanied by about 100 people dressed exactly like him (sorry Gen Z — that one’s just for the Millennials and Gen Xers).
A REST IN PEACE: Goes out to legendary actor James Earl Jones, who died at the age of 93 yesterday at his home in upstate NY. So many great roles and such versatility, with a presence that really had no comp. He also led quite a life and overcame a very rough start — quite a story if you have a few mins this morning.
PLUS: It’s #GetAJobTuesdays! A new lineup of job openings, ranging from APPLE TV+, FOX and FIFTH SEASON to nice assistant gigs at HBO, MARVEL TV and SHONDALAND.