☀️SONY wins the OTTO Lotto, blows past tracking sans NY & LA audiences
WBD takes OLYMPICS in Europe / THE WHALE crosses 8-figures / PAR+ gets Morgan Freeman for Sheridan-verse
Afternoon! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY January 16, 2023.
Yes, it’s an afternoon Wakeup. Hey it’s a holiday and the GIANTS won a playoff game for the first time in over a decade… plus - SONY Pics Prez Josh Greenstein was kind enough to hop on The Ankler pod with me this morning to break down the “Otto” story from the inside, so - here I am. Pod link coming shortly.
Also lo and behold - the NFL and the Box Office can co-exist and prosper!
The NFL (and networks paying them big $$) couldn’t have asked for a better start to the playoffs this weekend, with tight, down to the 4th quarter games across the board… and the Box Office again killing 2022 numbers thanks to things named M3gan and Otto. Now there’s a sequel idea.
ALSO: This raised a lot of chatter on Friday night.
PLUS: 2 huge new movie role announcements this month… raves in “Aftersun” this Fall… and now apparently taking the UK stage by storm in a “Streetcar Named Desire” revival - yeah get that Paul Mescal stock while you can.
AND: Here are your CRITICS CHOICE AWARD winners.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
The Box Office breakdown as “Avatar” numbers once again rise on a Monday, “M3GAN” has now well over 7X’d it’s budget globally, “Otto” leaves NY & LA in the dust, and much more.
Letterman doing U2 special on … DISNEY+.
WBD sets OLYMPICS rights deal in Europe through 2032.
Morgan Freeman is the next name coming to PAR+ and more.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
BOX OFFICE (4-day totals)
1. “Avatar: The Way of Water” : $40 Million ($572 Million US, $1.9 Billion global)
Still maintaining a strong -32% drop from last weekend.
Will surpass global gross of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” this week, and still has a decent amount of gas left in the tank (Int’l take was $88 Million this weekend).
#3 biggest IMAX movie ever (now at $214 Million)
CHINA is up to $211 Million, and is going to play through the Chinese New Year holiday… albeit with some very strong local competition.
Keep in mind DISNEY only keeps 25% of this money.
2. “M3GAN” : $21.7 Million ($60 Million US, $91 Million global)
3-day comps…
