☀️ PAR Parts-Sale: India Deal Raises Half-Bil
WB sets Bear creator for new pic / AI booed at SXSW / Broadcast TV audiences return post-strikes
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, March 14, 2024.
Where you know AI’s image needs some work when it’s booed at SXSW of all places.
It seems a sizzle reel that highlighted SXSW AI conversations from previous days got a nice Bronx cheer from the crowds (likely containing many creatives) before some of the big movie premieres (The Fall Guy, Immaculate) at the Paramount theater on Tuesday night.
I mean, you’d think AI would have told festival organizers that was a bad idea . . . so yeah, maybe it needs a little more time in the lab.
PLUS: Here are your SXSW Film Fest winners.
OH: MICROSOFT is launching an AI cybersecurity software add-on to its existing security projects next month, according to The Information. Ya know, it’s a rare moment when you can pinpoint the exact moment the murderer is let inside the house.
HUH: After two decades of largely flat electricity use in the U.S., it’s projected to rise significantly in the next decade, with electric utilities now doubling their forecasts of additional power needs by 2028. The main culprits? Data centers (👋 AI) and charging electric cars.
And yeah — the grids are already close to capacity as is 🧐, so let’s hope the next decade goes more solar + wind and not coal (although more natural gas will likely be the go-to). Man, that 2029 AI-created climate change movie is really gonna have a lotta layers to it.
THEN: The TIKTOK bill passed 352-65 in the House, but the Senate has given no specific timeline to take up their vote on the bill. Former Trump treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin said on CNBC this morning that he’s putting together a group to buy it.
The Chinese government issued its own statement that uh, A) kinda proves the point here that they call the shots behind BYTEDANCE ultimately 🥴, and B) gives us what I have to assume is an unintentionally hilarious statement to come from the Chinese government, that the U.S. should “respect market economy and the principle of fair competition.” Ya know, just as China does.
AND: While Taylor Swift is busy being a Biden government operative, maybe it’s just to distract the FOX NEWS crowd from Olivia Rodrigo? She’s giving a portion of her GUTS tour sales to FUND 4 GOOD which supports reproductive rights and abortion access, and the tour is also giving out condoms and morning-after pills to anyone who wants them at her shows.
ALSO: Olivia Munn revealed she has been undergoing treatment for breast cancer since last year, including a double mastectomy. The cancer was identified after her doctor calculated her Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Score by analyzing various health factors unique to Olivia, and encouraged her to pursue some tests — even though she did not have any symptoms, which led to the discovery of a fast-moving breast cancer.
Olivia encourages all women to ask their doctors about getting their score, if they have not already.
THEN: SNL in April:
LINEUP: Glastonbury has set Dua Lipa, Coldplay, SZA and Shania Twain as headliners for this year’s festival, June 26-30.
A REST IN PEACE: Goes out to former longtime TIME WARNER leader Jerry Levin, who died at the age of 84 in California. No further details were released, but he was previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The NY Times obit link has a good walk down deal memory lane for anyone looking to revisit a different time in the media business, and the OG “big tech” Hollywood deal . . . that was about 20 years too early.
WAKEUP BOX-OFFICE POLL
One new entrant on 3,000k+ screens this weekend, the LGF Mark Wahlberg dog adventure movie Arthur the King. Tracking is $8M to $10M, so let’s do an old-fashioned split on this one.
BONUS: Just a little NSYNC reunion from JT’s concert in LA Wednesday night for my millennial readers.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
