☀️'Minecraft', Jesus Lead Q2 Box Office Resurgence
WB eyes 'Bodyguard' redux / PAR enlists Sam Jackson / SLATE PR RIP
Evenin! 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 SUNDAY, April 13, 2025.
Where I can’t wait to see what the audience numbers are for The Masters today on CBS. Dare I say that was a final round that even Janice would have been intrigued by?
Congrats to Rory McIlroy on one of the most dramatic golf wins in quite some time, finally delivering his career Grand Slam.
AND: “Company future” issues aside — I gotta say PARAMOUNT is having a pretty good start to Q2 on top of this Masters.
Cooper Flagg at least made it to the 🏀 Final Four with DUKE to bring it an 8-year ratings high (and the men’s championship game audience was the biggest since Covid at 18.1M).
The Naked Gun debut landed quite well at CINEMACON, and MI:8 just hit long lead tracking at what would be a record 3-day opening for the franchise — granted, it’s long-lead tracking, but still.
60 Minutes is having one of its strongest reporting runs lately in spite of all the Trump static (Zelensky interview coming tonight btw).
PAR finally made the call to break the MTV VMAs from its cable TV bundle shackles later this year.
MobLand got 8.8M global viewers on PAR+SHO in its first week.
So, arguably not a bad 2-week start to a quarter in this business these days.
Okay yes — that Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy! preliminary court decision in its SONY distribution lawsuit last week was tough, and yes — huge Upfronts clouds are out there next month.
But for a business that loves its doom & gloom — it’s also important to acknowledge when the sun comes out.
PAYDAY🤑: WBD paid its top 5 executives alone more than $123M in compensation packages in 2024, up from $118M in 2023 (inflation and all). But please, everyone — no more lunch meetings unless they’re absolutely necessary!
For those counting at home:
Zaz: $52M in ’24 comp
AMAZON’s Andy Jassy: $40M in ’24 comp
WBD stock was roughly -7% in 2024.
Although I’m gonna guess this wasn’t the reason why John Malone is leaving the WBD Board 👀 — but he’ll still attend board meetings in an advisory role as Chair Emeritus (aka my nickname in high school).
#GOODNEWS: The source of autism is going to be discovered by September! At least according to our country’s foremost scientist, RFK Jr. Ya know, kinda like how the TIKTOK deal was going to be set by April 4, and the PGA-LIV deal could get settled in “the better part of 15 minutes” by the negotiator-in-chief.
At least there will still be fluoride in your water when you visit Miami, as the mayor vetoed legislation that came across her desk to remove it.
Although any chance we can go to Boulder a year earlier than planned in January? Utah banned fluoride from its water supply at the end of March.
BUT: At least Pete Hegseth’s team has finally gotten rid of rubbish like Maya Angelou’s seminal novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from the U.S. Naval Academy Library.
Frankly, it was just getting in the way of people finding Mein Kampf, which is still there. Actually, there are 2 copies — ya know, in case Pete checked one out for the weekend.
HUH: Add . . . Cosmopolitan to the list of outlets joining the sports content train — meet Cosmo Sports.
THEN: OPENAI is giving free CHATGPT PLUS to college students thru May, which I’m sure will only increase the thought process development of America’s next generation. Also gotta love that Hollywood’s “plus” nomenclature still pervades everything. (Who says we’ve lost our influence?!)
SO: While I’m gonna guess WBD leadership is making its minimum credit card payments each month — sadly for others, that increasingly doesn’t seem to be the case these days, based on new data from the Philadelphia Fed.
ALSO: DISNEY is discounting at DISNEY WORLD this Summer. Granted, that’s probably more due to the opening of UNIVERSAL’S EPIC theme park next month . . . but gotta think the U.S. economic situation is also factoring in.
AND: Sure, the headlines about the boosts in viewership of CNBC and FOX BUSINESS last week are fine (250k viewers!) — but this SNL sketch was pretty great at reminding us about how most of America (including the folks behind the above chart) likely views our current, uh, situation.
PS: Quinta Brunson / Benson Boone are the talent for the next SNL on May 3.
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to a legend in the live TV business, as director Don Mischer died at the age of 85 this weekend. From the Oscars & Emmys, to the Super Bowl, Olympics, political conventions and more, Don did it all.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Kudos to the wise 25%!
🎥 THE BOX OFFICE
So — is it just me or does the box office seem like a newborn animal trying to find its legs these days? 🦌
2024 had the strikes to blame, but a lotta 🤨 film slate and release date choices in 2025 so far give an impression of a business that is just not quite firing on all cylinders in regards to entertaining wide swaths of Americans.
So before I dive into this weekend’s box office breakdown, let’s look at a 2025 to-date post-mortem for consideration — followed by promising signs that Hollywood has recognized and acted upon this issue. 🤞