☀️ NETFLIX Animation Begins Cuts; Bitter SAG Standstill
Ari's new pointed words for CAA / Taylor releases Eras Tour a day early / NHL's new star makes notable ESPN debut
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY Oct. 12, 2023.
Where I’m sure The Grove is looking forward to the “quiet” of weekend crowds after last night’s blowout Eras Tour event.
Now just like a real concert, Taylor Swift has opened up some “last minute tickets” for The Eras Tour movie, adding “Thursday Previews” today at 6 p.m. in the U.S./CAN, and some Friday afternoon showtimes as well (it was previously set for a Fri 6 p.m. debut).
Janice, let me know if theaters still bother to run “no phones” messages before the movie this weekend. Enjoy the 2 hrs and 45 mins! (Deadline has the songs that were cut from the 3 hr 15 min live show here.)
PLUS: NY & LA baseball fans can now at least commiserate in disappointment - sorry DODGERS fans, but hey at least you crossed 100 wins this year and made the post-season!
AND: Happy NYC Comic Con! Enjoy the Javits Center.
OVER ON WALL STREET: Banks go before Hollywood in earnings season, with many reporting tomorrow… and Bloomberg reports on one sector of their business that is likely to return to pre-Covid levels: the amount of bad loans they’re writing-off.
The number is expected to roughly 2X the amount from a year ago - and yes our interest rate situation is to blame, along with a still-looming empty office real estate crisis.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
NETFLIX Animation is undergoing a re-org and cuts, as strategy shift begins.
The candid Ari interview era continues, and I’m all for it.
LGF picks up Pete Davidson pic and much more.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
The Eras Tour kinda feels like Barbie to me, in that each time people checked in on demand… it just kept blowing past previous numbers.
Most recent forecasts were around $100 mil to $125 mil U.S… but now with these extra shows - let’s just go for some big chunks here:
ALSO TO NOTE: AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron came forward this morning saying he was the victim of an extortion attempt on a personal matter, and the person was sentenced to a year in prison in July (she’s already out based on time-served).
According to Semafor, it was a catfishing scam perpetrated by a woman in the Bronx, involving explicit photos.
🪧 STRIKE FORCE
SAG & AMPTP talks are now “suspended”, with the AMPTP saying the “gap” between the two sides is “too great,” and that conversations were no longer “going in a positive direction.”
Here’s a link to the terms the AMPTP said it extended to SAG, many similar to what was agreed to in the WGA & DGA deals, with the AMPTP saying that SAG’s revenue sharing demand would cost more than $800 million a year and… is basically a non-starter.
SAG-AFTRA issued its own statement early today, calling the above “bully tactics” and that the AMPTP was overstating the cost of its demands by 60%, among other statements.
Certainly a similar-ish vibe to the break that occurred in the WGA talks in mid- August… although hopefully it won’t take the two sides a month to get back into the room together again.
Donna Langley didn’t have much to say last night on the matter at the Bloomberg Screentime conference, although that was before the AMPTP released its statement.
Ted Sarandos is taking the stage today at 10 a.m. PT.
LOOKING AHEAD: Here is your Q3 Earnings Call calendar of note, when CEOs will go back in front of Wall Street again… and (potentially have to) explain why they’re not still making the product they’re built to make, 5+ months later.
Place your ESPN BET now whether they’re back in a room by the last week of Oct., and/or a deal is done by “Super Wednesday”, Nov. 8.
NETFLIX: Next Wed. Oct. 18
NBCU/COMCAST: Thu. Oct. 26
Although this stock is mainly evaluated on the performance of the broadband & mobile business.
PARAMOUNT: Thu. Nov. 2
WBD: Wed. Nov. 8
ENDEAVOR (collateral WME damage update): Wed. Nov. 8
DISNEY: Wed. Nov. 8
LIONSGATE: TBA Mid Nov.
APPLE/AMAZON: not applicable
AND: Of course there was more guild activity yesterday - Elaine has you covered here at The Ankler, first to break all details around the new letter the DGA sent out to members yesterday, essentially trying to defend they deal that they made early this summer.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
