MINIONS sets record as Tracking misfires continue this Summer
WBD cost cuts continue in Europe / AT&T and VERIZON's dual inflation price hike / ELVIS & BLACK PHONE hang strong
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY July 5, 2022.
Where I dunno NBCU, did we make the “Minions” logo big enough?
And no, this wasn’t a logo that came on-screen for 5 seconds and faded off… it was up for the WHOLE MOVIE Saturday night on USA - thankfully “Fast Five” is a movie you just can’t ruin, but seriously UNI / USA this is embarrassing 👎👎.
ALSO: Here is Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin in the APPLE TV+ limited series… er, untitled. But it’s about Franklin’s efforts to create an agreement with FRANCE to ensure the creation of AMERICA in the 1770s.
PLUS: A congrats to the early 2000s! First to BAG (Brian Austin Green) who welcomed a baby boy Zane with girlfriend Sharna Burgess.
And to Linsday Lohan who got married to the businessman voted most likely to be confused with an 80’s action movie villain, Bader Shammas.
AND: Paul Haggis has been released from “hotel-arrest” and allowed to leave his resort confines (though it doesn’t seem like ‘and also leave the country’), with more to come soon as prosecutors decide whether to pursue charges.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
BOX OFFICE (4-day totals)
1. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” : $125 Million ($220+ million global)
New #1 July 4th weekend movie ever. So I guess defacing “Fast Five” was worth it.
$108 Million for Thu-Sun, close to previous “Minions” movie 3-day total (opened to $115 Mil in 2015 - although I’m guessing that movie likely didn’t have Thursday “previews”…🙄)
Overall box office this weekend beat 2019’s July 4th Weekend total 💰
“A” Cinemascore from audiences bodes well for rest of July
2. “Top Gun: Maverick” : $32.5 Million ($571 Million US, $1.1 Billion global)
3-DAY: $25.5 Million (Just a -14% drop from last weekend 🤯)
3. “Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis” : $24 Million ($72 Million US, $114 Million global)
3-DAY: $19 Million (A decent -39% drop esp with this competition)
4. “Jurassic World: Dominion” : $19 Million ($336 Million US, $825 Million global)
3-DAY: $16 Million (-40% drop)
5. “The Black Phone” : $14.5 Million ($49 Million US, $75 Million global)
3-DAY: $12 Million (-50% drop, very strong for the genre esp. in tough competition)
$18 Million budget = nice paydays all around
6. “Lightyear” : $8 Million ($107 Million US, $188 Million global)
3-DAY: $6.5 Million (another huge -65% drop, matching week 2 drop).
At a $200 Million budget… gonna be a loss here for DISNEY.
ELSEWHERE AT THE BOX OFFICE
BLEECKER STREET’s “Mr. Malcolm’s List” period pic did $1 Million over the 4 day weekend in almost 1400 theaters.
TRACKING is not Tracking
While early-May pic tracking was accurate… it’s been a rough 5 week / Official Summer movie season stretch.
IT’S AN ART, NOT A SCIENCE:
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” - $70-80 Million
Actual: $125 Million (3-day $108 Million)
“Lightyear” - $70 - $85 Million
Actual: $51 Million
“Top Gun: Maverick” - $90 - $100 Million
Actual: $156 Million (3-day was $127 Million)
MAYBE WE’LL GIVE IT TO YA:
“Jurassic World: Dominion” - $125 Million
Actual: $143 Million
GOT IT:
“Doctor Strange….” - $160 - $180 Million
Actual: $187 Million
“Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis” - $25 - $30 Million
Actual: $31 Million
“Downton Abbey: A New Era” - $15 Million
Actual: $16 Million
So, 3 for 7 (ish) from the free throw line this Summer.
While not a new observation, this certainly solidifies the perception that Tracking works best for films with older target demos, but outside of that… it’s more of a pick’em situation for sure.
CHINA box office plummets in first half of 2022
It’s down almost 40% due to the country’s strict Covid lockdown policies to $2.6 Billion so far. Only $400 Million is from US films (and over 25% of that is just one movie - “Jurassic World: Dominion”). /THR
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📺 THE TV SET
PAR+ cancels “Women Who Kill” Season 3… after they already ordered it in December
Couple this with:
PEACOCK doing the same with “Field of Dreams” last week
The complete housecleaning already underway at TURNER plus the HBOMAX US cuts (“Wonder Twins”, JJ Abrams “Demimonde” etc)
PLUS: HBOMAX cut Original Programming production in the Nordics, Central Europe, Netherlands and Turkey. And “cut” meaning… eliminated entirely. No word on layoffs but thinking that has to follow soon. #WBD$55BillionOfDebt
And… anyone starting to see the beginnings of a pattern? #CostCutting /Variety
ALSO IN TV
HBO cancels “Time Travelers Wife” after 1 season. /THR
HBOMAX renews animated series “Ten Year-Old Tom” for a Season 2. /Deadline
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
VERIZON & AT&T both raising prices up to $12 a month come August
Collusion? Why, what collusion? VERIZON made $20+ Billion in profits last year but is raising prices for many customers from $6 to $12 a month because ya know, times are tough.
AT&T also raised prices $6 a month for single line customers and $12 for shared-data plans.
So if you’re wondering why someone cuts one of their $7-$15 a month streaming services this Fall… well, give John Stankey a call. Although given his cell service, maybe just send him an email. /NextTV
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🏦 STOCK NOTES
WBD +6% ($14.25)
ENDEAVOR +6% ($21.83)
and CINEWORLD (Regal Cinemas) -16% ($0.23)
🕵️♀️ THE WEEK AHEAD
WED - ALLEN & CO. Media mogul retreat begins in IDAHO
THU - ABC premieres “Generation Gap” game show
FRI - “Thor”!!!
SUN - SHOWTIME premieres new season of“City on a Hill”
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
TNT “Titans” at 10p
AMAZON PRIME “House of Gucci” - STREAM HERE
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
FREEFORM “Everything’s Trash” series trailer - Starring Phoebe Robinson as a podcaster finding her way though life and love. Or I’m guessing that’s how TV GUIDE would have described it back in the day. PREMIERES WED JULY 13
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
JOAN JETT “Light Of Day” - Heard this song for the first time over the weekend in a long time so thought I’d share. Plus it’s my favorite movie with Michael J. Fox as an aspiring rock star that also features… who I’m pretty sure is Michael McKeon on 2nd guitar. Also - just me or is Fox apparently singing… but nowhere to be heard? Eh may be for the best.
If you need some new tunes:
Email me anytime at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com or connect here on LINKED IN.
-SEAN MCNULTY
@theseanmac on TWITTER
@TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM