MON 3.15.21 : Oscar noms day + HBOMAX growth plans laid out

Tiffany Haddish sets NETFLIX movie / Steph & Ayesha Curry hosting HBOMAX game show / Chris Harrison out of "The Bachelorette"

Mar 15, 2021

Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY March 15, 2021. Where - definitely beware the Ides of March… I mean look what happened last year.

But a congrats to NEW ORLEANS SAINTS QB Drew Brees, who announced his retirement yesterday after a 20 year career and the most passing yards ever in NFL History. He is joining NBC’s broadcast team in the Fall.

🎧 MUSIC TO READ BY

New LADY A - “Like a Lady” from their upcoming album. Listen on Spotify / YouTube

🍾 AWARDS LISTS

OSCAR nominations livestream here at 820am EST (list should be at the same link afterward). Then let the campaigning begin - final voting doesn’t begin until April 15th.

And here are your major GRAMMY winners if needed.

Or the full list of Winners if you’re a completist.

While we’re here: the NCAA MARCH MADNESS bracket - Tourney starts Thursday around 5p with 4 games. Main action starts Friday at 12noon across the state of Indiana (without Duke or Kentucky this year).

AND - I’m giving each and every one of you… this gold star ⭐️.

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

Laurence Fishburne & Michelle Yeoh join NETFLIX movie “The School for Good & Evil”

Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington already on board, Paul Feig directing, based on the hugely successful book series. /Deadline

Tiffany Haddish sets NETFLIX movie “Mystery Girl” with McG directing

Based on DARK HORSE comic, Tiffany plays LA street psychic with no memory but knows everyone else’s secrets. Teams up with LA detective to solve a murder, but they soon find themselves as suspects. /Deadline

BOX OFFICE

“Raya and the Last Dragon” : $5.5 Million ($15.8 Million US total, $52.6 Million WW)
“Tom & Jerry” : $4 Million ($28 Million US, $67 Million total WW)
“Chaos Walking” $2.25 Million ($7 Million US, $12 Million total WW)
“Boogie” : $730k, $2.2 Million total US.

As expected, “Avatar” reclaimed the all time Box Office crown from “Avengers Endgame” with $21 Million weekend gross in China. Gives “Avatar” about a $14 Million lead.

ALSO IN MOVIES

PARAMOUNT sets Trevor Noah for remake of 60’s political comedy “The President’s Analyst”. Analyst hired for POTUS gets paranoid he’s increasingly being tracked by intelligence agencies. Written by former Obama senior speech writer. No greenlight just yet but getting close. /THR
Billy Crudup drops out of WB’s “The Flash”. Scheduling conflicts with “The Morning Show”. /Variety
LIONSGATE Marketing head Damon Wolf leaving after 3 years. Duties expanded to include Global marketing just 4 months ago. No replacement named. /Deadline

📺 THE TV SET

Steph & Ayesha Curry hosting + producing reboot of relationship game show “Tattletales” at HBOMAX

Celeb Couples reveal stories about their relationships to see who knows each other best, aired on CBS in the 70’s and again in the 80’s. /THR

APPLE TV+ sets the guys behind HBO’s “McMillion$” for docuseries called “The Jet”

About 1990’s “PEPSI Points” marketing campaign and a guy who saved up enough for a jet… but ended up in court instead. /THR

ALSO IN TV

Chris Harrison not hosting upcoming season of “The Bachelorette” at ABC. Will be hosted by 2 former Bachelorettes instead. /Variety
FX’s “Atlanta” to begin shooting Seasons 3 & 4 in Europe. /Deadline
STARZ gives “Outlander” a 12 episode season 7 renewal. Season 6 currently shooting. /Deadline
NETFLIX adds Leslie Bibb & Kevin Dunn (“Veep”) to “God’s Favorite Idiot”, Melissa McCarthy/Ben Falcone workplace comedy series. Currently shooting in Australia. /Deadline
AMC sets Lucy Hale for 6 episode UK serial killer show “Ragdoll”. Psycho sews parts of victims together into one body. Sounds charming. /Variety
DISNEY+ sets Marc Webb (“500 Days of Summer”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”) to direct first 2 episodes of RL Stine horror-comedy series “Just Beyond”. Series has 8 episode order, Seth Grahame-Smith writing. /THR

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

HBOMAX Updates from AT&T “Investors Day” on Friday

HBOMAX will launch in 60 countries by the end of this year. /B&C Coverage

39 countries this June in Caribbean and Latin America (HBO GO streaming service already exists here for the most part, current subs will now get HBOMAX instead).
21 more “later this year” - mainly in Europe (also including some places where HBO GO already exists & will be changed to HBOMAX). /THR Coverage

Ad-supported version of HBOMAX will arrive June TBD in the US. Price also TBD.

Will have all HBOMAX content except for the new WB movie premieres.
HBO content will still be Ad-free on that service.

FUN FACT: 75% of current HBOMAX subscribers are not AT&T mobile or broadband customers. /Variety coverage

AT&T projecting 120-150 Million global HBO/MAX subscribers in 5 years (note: in Oct 2019 they projected about 90 Million by that time… so take these things at face value).

HBO/HBOMAX has about 61 Million total now (41 Million US + 21 international HBO service subscribers), expects about 70 Million by end of this year.
- So - they think they’ll roughly 2X their subscriber base in 4 years, and 2X HBOMAX revenue to $15 Billion/year.
- NETFLIX made $24.6 Billion in revenue this year.
DISNEY+ projecting at least 230 Million subscribers in 3 years. NETFLIX is already at 203 Million.

🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

HBOMAX new “Justice League” trailer. 4 hour movie drops on Thursday. Look at Zack with the big name font size… 👍

📰 GOOD READS

This THR dive into the world of Joel Silver in the later 2010’s is definitely worth a read. Ari Emanuel, Ron Meyer, gambling debts, the world of Saudi Film Financing, and just an overall fascinating piece from Kim Masters.

Reminds me of the great business pieces PREMIERE Magazine did in its heyday (many written by Kim of course).

👩‍💻 NEW TO WATCH:

NETFLIX "Waffles & Mochi" : Michelle Obama's kid focused healthy eating show with puppets. Watch/add to your List here.

FOX has the return of “America’s Most Wanted” at 9pm.

That’s a wrap for this mornin - If ya dig the newsletter, share it with your team or someone you do work with? I’ll give you ⭐️⭐️.

Have a great Monday!

-Sean McNulty