☀️PEACOCK $$ Bleed: An Enigma Wrapped in an Earnings Report
More AMAZON Road House unrest / NEON gets Soderbergh / Video Game biz layoffs continue
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 January 25, 2024.
Where AMAZON PRIME will debut the Gyllenhaal MGM Road House pic on Thu. March 21 - just don’t count on the film’s director streaming it.
Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Bourne Identity) is not going to the film’s SXSW premiere on March 8 in protest of AMAZON MGM not putting the film in movie theaters, and also wrote a column yesterday as to his feelings on the matter.
This Road House direct-to-streaming decision of course was also reportedly one of the matters at the heart of Joel Silver uh, ‘parting ways’ with AMAZON on a future project in November.
Either way, figure the pic will (or should) get a sizable March Madness 🏀 TV ad buy (it also officially tips off March 21) and one for the UFC 299 fight on March 9 in Miami too (Jake plays an ex-UFC fighter in the pic). So Mr. Gyllenhaal, maybe clear your March promo travel calendar - that is if you’re not taking the same POV as your director here.
Ah, and I see you’re going with the original neon👇, nice. Really hope this movie is good! FWIW Doug - I’m with ya… there are currently zero theatrical releases on Friday March 15th, and April 5 only has The First Omen.
Also if Beekeper can do $32 million in 10 days, keeping that audience engaged in moviegoing relatively soon after would be a great thing for the business. But, tech streamers gonna tech stream…
PLUS: Here’s your trailer, judge for yourselves…
ALSO: The Year of Edebiri continues, as The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri is hosting SNL with JLo as the musical guest on Feb. 3.
PLUS: It’s always important to remember your roots as you turn 60-years-old… as Jeff Bezos invited those folks who have been with him ever since he was selling books online to his big 60th soireé on Saturday night it seems - from Jay-Z to Iger to Roger Goodell to Paris Hilton to uh, Jewel (ok, maybe she was at least there at the beginning 🤷♂️, at least perhaps playing on his radio in his garage office - which apparently got a reproduction at the party too, according to Page Six).
Everyone enjoyed a spread that would surely have been Rushfield-approved - from caviar to MCDONALD’S (Jeff apparently worked there in his teens - gonna guess his kids have not). Kudos on the birthday Jeff, and for keeping the bald-is-sexy look going for us other members of the club.
THEN: For the Montclair contingent (and all NJ folks who commute into NYC) - NJ TRANSIT is raising fares 15% on July 1. Granted, it’s been 9 years since its last price hike.
#JerseyFunFact: The state’s 2022 ban on plastic bags has eliminated 5.5 Billion plastic bags a year, according to a new study.
AND: Speaking of Jersey, Jon Stewart will host The Daily Show on Mondays this year starting Feb. 12 (day after the Super Bowl) through the November election, and EP the show the rest of the week, which will have rotating correspondent hosts (Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic etc). The show also streams next-day on PAR+ (and I’m sure will be well-clipped on YT).
TODAY IN 2024 JOB CUTS:
Time cut 15% of its unionized editorial staff. Man, billionaire news publication owners are not having a good year so far… hope they’re ok.
G/O MEDIA is looking to sell the remainder of its publications according to Adweek, including The Onion, Deadspin, Gizmodo and others.
The Publisher of VOX’s SB Nation, Jermaine Spradley, is leaving the company… citing “the constraints the business is under.”
And even e-comm stalwart EBAY cut 9% of its full-time employees or about 1,000 folks, and will trim its contract employee count as well.
Oh, yeah video games again… not so much - MICROSOFT is axing 1,900 ACTIVISION people in their assimilation process.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
A dive into the state of PEACOCK - a look at how could this thing even break even (since COMCAST execs refuse to tell us), plus the numbers behind Donna’s good quarter, the state of advertising and much more at COMCAST (including how the numbers stack up to NETFLIX - scale is important).
And… well, the rest of the day’s activity - it’s been a morning, let’s get moving.
THE COMCAST/NBCU Q4 STORY
#medianerd🤓 is rested and ready
