IMAX helps DUNE beat projections, BOND now 2nd largest pandemic release
IMAX helps DUNE beat projections, BOND now 2nd largest pandemic release
RYAN GOSLING as Ken in BARBIE movie / REDBOX goes public / FACEBOOK chose $$ over safety, repeatedly
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY October 25, 2021.
Where it’s FML Week here at THE WAKEUP - The one week each quarter where most Social Media & Hollywood companies decide the best way to do their Earnings Calls… is to gang up and do them all in a 4 day period. It’s like TCA for Accountants.
So, a lotta #MediaNerd🤓 talk coming your way, and if there are more type-o’s than usual by around Thursday…. know it’s because my brain has officially peace’d out.
ALSO: Let me know who had October 2021 in the When will INSTA catch up to 2010 and let people upload a pic from a computer pool.
AND: Here’s the official look at NBC’s new “Orphan Annie” for their December “Annie Live!” event
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Ryan Gosling playing “Ken” opposite Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” in WB biopic
Ok biopic isn’t the right word here but that was just fun to write. The “Barbie” movie is co-written and will be directed by Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”, “Little Women”), so an impressive talent lineup.
Movie looking to shoot early 2022. /Deadline
7 Camera crew members packed up and left the New Mexico set of Alec Baldwin“Rust” movie hours before the Halyna Hutchins shooting tragedy
They reportedly wrote letters of resignation, citing ongoing lodging and payment issues, as well as a “lack of Covid safety, and on top of that, poor gun safety! Poor on-set safety period!”.
The crew was replaced by 4 non-union members after they left. /Deadline
Meg James at the LA TIMES also has a very comprehensive write-up of what happened on set here.
BOX OFFICE
“Dune” : $40 Million ($220 Million global)
Outperforms expectations, although 22% of revenue came from IMAX theaters, which had only 10% of the movie’s total screen count.
CHINA opening was $22 Million, they’re projecting about a $37 Million total for its run (BOND opens there this weekend).
“Halloween Kills” : $14 Million ($73 Million US)
A 70% drop from opening weekend. Not much changing with Horror pics, pandemic or no pandemic… although perhaps the upcoming HALLOWEEN weekend will stem the box office bleeding a bit.
“No Time to Die” : $12 Million ($120 Million US, $525 Million global)
Another 50% drop - not sure the “older adults” crowd is really coming out as much as expected/hoped for in the US
Becomes 2nd non-China pic to cross $500 Million since Covid (“F9” is the other)
UK Box Office rivaling US at $106 Million
“Venom: Let there Be Carnage” : $9 Million ($182 Million US, $352 Million global)
“Ron’s Gone Wrong” : $7.3 Million opening weekend
Basically not a great weekend for DISNEYFOX -“The Last Duel” also dropped 55% to $2 Million in its 2nd weekend, and its $8.5 Million total is will put a lot of red ink on DISNEY’s books for its $100+ Million budget.
IN THE SPECIALTY BIZ
“The French Dispatch” averaged $25k a screen, hitting $1.3 Million from 52 theaters. Goes to 600 theaters this Friday.
ALSO IN MOVIES
SONY moves Denzel-directed, Michael B. Jordan pic “A Journal for Jordan” from Dec 10 (NY & LA) to Christmas Day. /Deadline
📺 THE TV SET
Hayden Christensen reprises “Star Wars” Anakin/Vader role in new DISNEY+ series “Ahsoka”
Rosario Dawson already set to star as the titular Jedi apprentice, TBD how big Hayden’s role will be. Series is set 5 years after “Return of the Jedi”, and thus after the death of Vader. #spolieralert
Will start shooting next year, and Hayden was already announced to also appear in Ewan McGregor’s “Obi Wan” DISNEY+ series too in… some capacity. /Deadline
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
In good news for the 2006 DVD business - REDBOX is going public
Via a SPAC of course, a shipping company-esque one called SEAPORT GLOBAL. But the public company will be called REDBOX ENTERTAINMENT INC #goodcall and the RDBX stock is there for purchase as of today. /Deadline
AMAZON has a lot of HR & Payroll issues to work out…
Looks like the company that prides itself on efficient tech is doing a crap job when it comes to managing employee payroll for those taking parental or medical leave.
Good NY TIMES dive into how AMAZON has significantly underfunded it’s own HR resources, despite making Billions of dollars in profits every 3 months. Sure this’ll get as much morning TV show coverage as sending their CEO on a space ride.
And you’ll be hearing a lot about FACEBOOK this week
Starting with the latest round of stories… again diving into how FACEBOOK repeatedly knew their products spread misinformation, but how upper management prioritized user engagement (i.e. cold hard $$) vs. actually doing much to stop it.
Here’s a sample from the NY TIMES today. And one from Friday about how this issue is rampant in FACEBOOK’s largest market, INDIA
Then their 3Q earnings call is later today, plus a likely corporate umbrella company rebrand by Thursday… as they release further info on their budding “Metaverse” which they are obviously very-well equipped to build.
ALSO IN MEDIA
LA TIMES owner Patrick Soon-Shiong gets THE NEW YORKER treatment, looking at how he built his fortune.
BTS changes their US Label from SONY to UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP. UMG already distributes BTS in many international territories, and BTS had a unique setup at SONY allowing it to make a change with just a month’s notice. /Billboard
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
TWITTER & FACEBOOK -5% as SNAP reverberations hit other social media stocks. SNAP fell another 4% on Friday to close -26%
All eyes shift to FB’s earnings call after the Wall Street bell today.
Over in movie theaters… depends where your money was: AMC THEATERS was down almost 7%, IMAX was +6%
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
ESPN Monday Night Football - SAINTS vs SEAHAWKS, and the Manning Cast is back on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
If you were sent this newsletter or… just kinda found it:
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
DISNEY+ “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” Season 2 trailer. Premieres Fri Nov 12.
HULU “Animaniacs” Season 2 trailer. Premieres Fri Nov 5.
🕵️♂️ THE WEEK AHEAD
TUE - WORLD SERIES begins on FOX: HOUSTON ASTROS vs ATLANTA BRAVES
HBOMAX launches in Spain and The Nordics
TWITTER and YOUTUBE / GOOGLE earnings late afternoon
WED - NETFLIX’s “Passing” hits theaters
SPOTIFY earnings in the AM
THU - “ Love Life” Season 2 hits HBOMAX
APPLE… AMAZON… NBCU / COMCAST and more announce earnings
FRI - Edgar Wright returns to theaters with “Last Night in Soho”
CHARTER earnings in the AM
SAT - SNL taking a week off instead of the 6 straight episodes season-start approach. Kieran Culkin and Ed Sheeran are set for Nov 6… although Ed just tested positive for a Covid break-thru case so, may be TBD
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
Brand new THE WEEKND collab with SWEEDISH HOUSE MAFIA: “Moth to a Flame” - Here’s the link on SPOTIFY or:
If you need new tunes:
And finally a Rest in Peace goes out to Peter Scolari who died on Friday at 66 years-old, after a 2 year battle with cancer.
And James Michael Tyler, who famously played “Gunther” on “Friends” died after a battle with prostate cancer at 59 years-old.
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