☀️SPOTIFY still can't find a Profit as they beat Q2 Subs projections
FIOS cord-cutting continues / VENICE Fest slate set / SEARCHLIGHT pushes Emma Stone pic
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY July 25, 2023.
Where sadly Wakeup: The Movie did not make the cut at the VENICE Film Fest (it’s a silent film about a man at his laptop - knew I should have gone B&W🤦♂️).
But Challengers seems to be the only pull-out… as NETFLIX’S Bradley Cooper pic Maestro and Fincher pic The Killer will both debut, as will SEARCHLIGHT’s Yorgos Lanthinos pic Poor Things, NEON’s Mann pic Ferrari, DuVernay’s Origin and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla. Although no Dune 2…
An Italian WWII movie Comandante will now open the festival on Aug 30, and NETFLIX’s Chilean soccer team plane crash movie Society of the Snow will close it on Sept 9. We’ll see who shows up on the Lido.
NOTE: The aforementioned SEARCHLIGHT Yorgos Lanthinos pic Poor Things has been pushed from Sept 8 to Dec 8.
The upcoming Movie Theater chain earnings calls should be fun… again - as Covid times taught us, the Fall release schedule can (and may) evaporate very quickly.
ALSO: Here is your TIFF film lineup for early September in Toronto, including Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers and Linklater’s Hit Man with Glen Powell (also at VENICE)… big Hollywood premiere in SONY’s Dumb Money… plus NETFLIX prestige efforts like Rustin… and directorial efforts from Anna Kendrick, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pine and Viggo Mortensen, whom I suppose could show up in their directorial capacities.
PLUS: I found Kim Masters’ latest episode of The Business podcast with a VFX specialist and AI expert an enlightening listen.
THEN: The Rock donated (at least) $1 Million to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which among other things provides financial relief assistance to members during the strike.
AND: You will soon be able to add text posts on your TIKTOK feed (look out THREADS and uh… “X”), although for some reason you’ll need to dance while you type them 🤷♂️.
LOOK BOOK: Here are the lists of New Faces up at the MONTREAL JFL Comedy Fest this year.
Correction: Challengers is an MGM release in the US, not WB (they are handling International).
IN TODAY’S EDITION: A #MediaNerd🤓 2fer
VERIZON Fios kicks off the Q2 Cord Cutting report… as Fixed Wireless growth still booms.
Inside the SPOTIFY Q2 numbers, from the record sub growth to… the depth of the $$ losses. Gotta love that price raise lever. A look at what’s afoot.