☀️ Hollywood's Rom Com Buying Spree
Theaters explore IMAX brand rival / Ferrell + Gosling at AMAZON / HGTV trims continue at WBD
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 Thursday, July 17, 2025.
Where you can add AMAZON to the list of companies OPENAI is coming for . . . as the FT reports that the company is looking to take “a little something for the effort” from every purchase made via CHATGPT.
So, if you thought your TIKTOK and INSTA shopping addictions were bad now — just imagine all of the crap you can buy when you take out the friction of having to hit buttons!
THEN: More news for mom — HGTV cut another 2 series (Christina on the Coast and The Flipping El Moussas), making for 7 series cancellations in the past month (Bargain Block, Izzy Does It, Battle on the Beach, Married to Real Estate and Farmhouse Fixer). WB BARGE CO. may be a year away, but it seems the austerity is already beginning.
PLUS: The move to defund PBS and NPR continued the U.S. Senate’s year to remember . . . as senators approved the measure to revoke the already congressionally approved funding (which includes foreign aid), a move which will largely affect stations in rural and conservative-leaning areas (although an SF station is already making cuts). Eh, I’m sure the House of Representatives will stand up for the due process of law.
ALSO: A24’s Cherry Lane Theater in Manhattan will re-open in September, and host a variety of events from film screenings, standup, music performances and more.
UH: VON DUTCH is looking at a revival / expansion via . . . beverages (Gen Z, ask your Millennial friends to explain).
AND: FS1 is in talks to bring Dave Portnoy and other BARSTOOL talent into the fold in a daily FS1 sports talk show, and adding Dave to its Big Noon college football pre-game coverage. Because as we all know, if you want your sports talk show seen in late 2025 . . . bring it to cable TV.
Although note that the timing lines up with FOX launching its D2C streaming offering this fall, where this daily BARSTOOL show would presumably also have a home.
FS1 also recently canceled 3 of its 5 sports talk series. BARSTOOL also had a brief series on ESPN, canceled after 1 episode in 2017.
KUDOS: To Pete Davidson and Elsie Hewitt, who are having a baby.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
I Know What You Did Last Summer is tracking to open around $14M to $17M . . . or pretty much what the original opened to in October 1997.
#FunFact1: I still have the soundtrack CD!
#FunFact2: That film was only -21% in its second weekend. 👏
FINALLY: Q2 earnings season has arrived! If you could only see the giddines in Rushfield’s texts to me this morning.
I’ll be on CNBC Power Lunch this afternoon (2 p.m. hour) to talk about NETFLIX expectations, and I’ll have my full dive into the numbers here tomorrow morning.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
