MORBIUS just hits projections, gets low C+ audience rating
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MORBIUS just hits projections, gets low C+ audience rating
TARON EGERTON drops out of London play / AMAZON CEO gets less $ than WARNER DISCO's / FX sets new FEUD with Naomi Watts
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY April 4, 2022.
Where it was a mixed SNL at best on Saturday (great monologue, Update, and inspired “Dirt Nasty” cameo… but a “Fox & Friends” cold open? seriously?) - However Jerrod Carmichael’s new HBOMAX Comedy Special that dropped on Friday is one of the best things I’ve seen in a while.
“Comedy Special” isn’t even a great description really - just a unique piece of work with unflinching honesty and humor.
AND: Taron Egerton dropped out of that London play he was doing (“Cock”) just a few weeks into the run for “personal reasons.” He collapsed on stage on opening night March 5, then got Covid the next week, and the play has a 12 week run (his understudy is now taking his place the next 8 weeks).
ALSO: Will Smith resigned from the Academy (AMPAS)… which means what exactly?
Can no longer vote in the OSCARS process
Can still be nominated (#EmancipationThisFall?)
Can still attend the ceremony (and keeps his OSCAR)
However - the free screener train is over 😢
ALTHOUGH: The ACADEMY still has to hand down its ruling… whenever that’s gonna be, which could change some of this list.
PLUS: It sounds like NETFLIX has put a movie project they were working on with Smith to ‘the back burner’, called “Fast & Loose” about a CIA operative who gets amnesia and forgets he was leading a double life as a drug kingpin.
ASKING FOR A FRIEND: Any word if Sean Penn smelted his OSCAR yet?
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
BOX OFFICE
“Morbius” : $39 Million ($84 Million global)
Budget was $75 Million (not incl Marketing), so not a bad opening… but this definitely isn’t a new “Venom”.
Cinemascore from moviegoers was a C+, and is at just 17% on ROTTEN TOMATOES so SONY’s run of box office hits with legs looks to be on thin ice.
“The Lost City” : $14.6 Million ($54 Million US)
A so-so 52% drop from opening weekend
Budget was $68 Million plus a sizable marketing spend, but as the only fun date movie in the market for a while - should do OK.
“The Batman” : $11 Million ($350 Million US, $710 Million Global)
“Uncharted” : $3.7 Million ($139 Million US)
”Jujutsu Kaisen 0” : $2 Million ($31 Million US)
ELSEWHERE AT THE BOX OFFICE
“The Contractor” was a no-show at $531k from about 500 theaters.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” did $1 Million in 38 theaters, tripling theater count and doubling' revenue to stand around $1.6 Million total so far.
Ethan Coen directing his own pic without Joel at FOCUS FEATURES
He wrote the untitled pic with his wife Tricia Cooke, only described as a lesbian road trip movie, and will shoot this Summer. WORKING TITLE producing.
Joel Coen of course did “The Tragedy of Macbeth” solo last year. /THR
Mo’Nique replacing Ocatavia Spencer in NETFLIX pic “Demon House” with Lee Daniels directing
Thus meaning Lee and Mo’Nique have now patched up their longstanding beef from “Precious”.
Andra Day, Glenn Close, and Rob Morgan are among the cast of the $65 Million exorcism thriller based on real life incidents. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
NETFLIX sets Gugu Mbatha-Raw to co-star with Kev Hart in action pic “Lift”. F. Gary Gray directing, Matt Reeves and Simon Kinberg among the producers, about a master thief coerced by his ex and the FBI to get his crew together to pull a heist on a plane from London to Zurich ✈️. /Deadline
Keke Palmer join’s SEARCHLIGHT’s Aziz Ansari pic “Being Mortal” with Bill Murray and Seth Rogen. /THR
They’re trying to make “The Crow” a thing… again - this time Bill Skarsgard (“IT”) is in the role, $50 Million independent production shooting this Summer, written by Zach Baylin (“King Richard”). /THR
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📺 THE TV SET
FX orders a new season of “Feud” anthology series, will star Naomi Watts
Gus Van Sant directing, called “Capote’s Women” about NYC socialites and Truman Capote’s thinly veiled expose of them in the mid 70’s.
Naomi will play Babe Paley who ruled New York society in the 1960s and 70s as the wife of famous TV exec Bill Paley. /Deadline
ALSO IN TV
Early Nielsen’s put the DUKE vs NORTH CAROLINA game at an audience of 16.3 Million, which has a good shot at being 2nd most watched College Basketball game aired on CableTV ever, once final OOH numbers are added in by tomorrow 🏀. /Deadline
“The Drew Barrymore Show” was renewed for the Fall… but in a unique 2, 30 minute episodes daily format that stations can either air together or break up during their day. /TV Line
And just a big kudos to KIMMEL and FALLON for hosting each other’s shows on Friday night, unbeknownst to their audiences and showing how APRIL FOOLS’ DAY can be done right. 👏
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
New AMAZON CEO Andy Jassy gets $211 Million in stock options for 2021 compensation
But they vest over a 10 year period, so hopefully Andy can get by on about $21 Million a year…. I mean Seattle’s not cheap. Andy’s base salary is $175k, with $589k going to his security guys. 💪
And a little odd that WARNER DISCO CEO David Zazlav is getting a (potentially) richer stock comp deal than the leader of one of the biggest companies on EARTH no? /Variety
INDIA’s IPL Cricket rights will go up for sale in a live, 2-day auction process starting June 12
Streaming and TV rights for essentially “the NFL of INDIA” will be sold separately, or at least both will be up for purchase.
DISNEY+HOTSTAR had them for the past 5 years but their deal is up, so the IPL will have a new home starting with the new season this Fall.
The 2 main rivals look like AMAZON PRIME and RELIANCE (a massive Indian conglomerate who owns the country’s largest mobile service provider JIO… in which AMAZON also has an investment in #itsComplicated).
AMAZON is the #2 streaming service in INDIA, well behind DISNEY+HOTSTAR, but also well ahead of NETFLIX.
But regardless of who gets them… it looks like DIS+ doesn’t have an appetite here, so it could be a very rough Q3 and Q4 for DISNEY+ if there’s a resulting exodus of subscribers - INDIA currently represents 1/3 of all DISNEY+ subscribers globally.
Bob Chapek’s contract is up at the end of the year. /Bloomberg
ALSO IN MEDIA
WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki leaving in “upcoming weeks” to get a TBA show at MSNBC on PEACOCK. /Axios
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
Relatively quiet Friday
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👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
PBS “Benjamin Franklin” docu from Ken Burns. Pt 1 tonight at 8p, Pt 2 is tomorrow.
HBO “The Invisible Pilot” documentary at 9p
MARCH MADNESS CHAMPIONSHIP on TBS at 9p, NORTH CAROLINA vs KANSAS.
#ProTip - pick the opposite of whomever the “experts” at THE ATHLETIC choose. Tough Saturday night at their company FINAL FOUR watch party.
AND: Congrats to SOUTH CAROLINA, who beat UCONN last night to win the Women’s MARCH MADNESS tournament, 64-49.
🕵️♀️ THE WEEK AHEAD
TUE - HBO airs their Tony Hawk docu
WED - NETFLIX drops their latest uh… dating show (?) “The Ultimatum”
THU - MLB season openers, RED SOX vs. YANKEES kicks off at 1p;
The MASTERS begins… possibly with Tiger Woods? Says he’ll make it a game day decision.
FRI - PARAMOUNT drops “Sonic 2”
SAT - SNL is Jake Gyllenhaal and CAMILA CABELLO
SUN - THE MASTERS final round
BONUS VIEWING
2 pieces from CBS NEWS this weekend that really give life some perspective:
This 60 MINUTES piece from UKRAINE is just a #mustwatch, gives a real perspective you don’t see in the daily short news clips and stories.
This CBS SUNDAY MORNING profile of JON BATISTE and his wife Suleika Jaouad as they manage personal challenges in a time of great professional success, and talking about the role music can play in our lives was extremely touching.
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
NETFLIX “Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive” trailer - Continuing our “living in the moment” theme… I mean it’s not necessarily something I want to think about on May 3rd, but this doc on a Nordic ice water swimming challenge does look good.
HULU “Pistol” trailer - although this seems pretty short for a trailer. Anyway - it’s the Danny Boyle-directed limited series on the SEX PISTOLS. Premieres May 31
PARAMOUNT+ “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” series trailer - Premieres Thu May 5
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
Here’s your GRAMMYS winner list, and while they don’t post any performances online… for some reason (we haven’t figured out copyright yet?), this message from Volodymyr Zelenskyy (followed by a performance from JOHN LEGEND, 2 Ukranian musicians and a poet) was particularly poignant.
Plus JON BATISTE gave true context for the idea of giving a “Best” artistic award in any field, better than any winner of one this year.
And a Rest in Peace goes out to Estelle Harris, aka “Mrs. Costanza”, who died over the weekend at 93 years-old.
If you need some new tunes:
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-SEAN MCNULTY
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