☀️NETFLIX Has Never Had a Hit Like 'KPop'
NBCU explores new . . . cable network 🤯 / YT vs. NFLX Q2 numbers / LGF moves MJ pic
Mornin! 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 Thursday, July 24, 2025.
Where I wish a happy COMIC-CON to all who celebrate, and even more so to myself . . . who will remain 2,770 miles away.
AND: The NY Film Festival set AMAZON MGM’s After the Hunt as its opening night film on Friday, Sept. 26. It’s already scheduled to premiere at Venice, and will hit NY/LA theaters on Oct. 10 before going wide Oct. 17.
Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother will make its North American premiere as the Centerpiece film on Oct. 3. The MUBI pic, with Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits and Cate Blanchett among the cast, will debut at Venice first.
AT TIFF: Here are your Midnight Madness section pics, including a Bob Odenkirk pic from the writer of John Wick and a new pic from Bryan Fuller.
ALSO: Joe Biden is getting “roughly” $10M from HACHETTE for his memoir, well below Barack Obama and also below Bill Clinton.
PLUS: SKYDANCE has committed to the FCC that it’ll create an “ombudsman” role at CBS NEWS for at least 2 years to evaluate any complaints of bias, that reports into the prez of the division.
It will also do a “comprehensive review” of CBS to ensure that the network is operating in the public interest. And all DEI will be eliminated.
This comes about a week after Ellison and FCC Chair Brendan Carr held a meeting.
Oliver Darcy at Status indicated that an FCC deal blessing “is expected” in the next 2 days.
WELL: Jeff Bezos is reportedly looking at an acquisition of CNBC . . . but not a lotta details in this NY Post report, other than there would likely be a hefty tax bill if it happened in the first 2 years of VERSANT’s existence so — yeah, put this in the FWIW file.
YUP: Colbert’s audience rose to nearly 3.1M viewers for the episode where he announced “the big news" — the highest for the show since Kamala Harris visited during the campaign in October (3.8M).
AH: New arms, who dis?
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Alright, Fantastic Four, you’re up next as our last chance at a massive summer blockbuster!
Some tracking seems to have come down a smidge from earlier heights, to around $100M to $110M . . . but other industry folks still see this as $125M to perhaps $140M+, esp. if good word of mouth kicks in.
So, let’s open it up wide!
IN THIS EDITION
While NETFLIX’s KPop Demon Hunters has certainly entered the zeitgeist — understand just how this movie is an unprecedented hit for NETFLIX at a time when you think NETFLIX has few things left to conquer — but it’s never had a movie that’s played like this.
MLS ⚽️ sheds some light on what happens to your audience when you expand beyond the APPLE TV+ ecosystem — and just how much of a viewership hit it took in going from linear TV to APPLE in the first place.
PLUS: The latest roundup of sports TV ratings from the weekend.
Why NBCU’s potential cable TV network feels panicky . . . and yes, that’s right — NBCU is considering launching a new cable TV network just as it’s entering the final stretch on getting rid of most of the ones it already has.
A busy day in TV development, the latest roundup of TV and movie deal news and much more of course.
FINALLY: Just a kudos to the PARAMOUNT Marketing folks on this Naked Gun comedy PSA. ⛳️👏
How K-Pop is bringing NETFLIX to unprecedented heights
KPop Demon Hunters (produced by SONY PICS ANIMATION as part of its NETFLIX deal) is just unstoppable, and giving NETFLIX the kind of hit it really has never had to date — which is kinda 🤯 to consider at this point in NETFLIX’s trajectory. Let’s dive into the numbers to know.
It’s the first NETFLIX Film in the service’s history to: