☀️ Strike Suspense; TKO takes WWE franchise out of Cable Bundle
☀️ Strike Suspense; TKO takes WWE franchise out of Cable Bundle
NETFLIX Int'l pics pop sans US viewers / NFL finally scores with a EUROPE game / NINTENDO goes SONY for Zelda pic
Evenin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY Nov. 7, 2023… minus like an hour.
Where I’ve learned that a logjammed earnings call day makes a person do crazy things, like send out 2 evening newsletters in one week 🤯.
BUT: Already a good deal to cover from today with a new WWE deal, some really interesting numbers to mine in the NETFLIX Films chart, plus NINTENDO investing in their film future and more.
HENCE: I’ll be sending out another newsletter in the morning with everything to know from the WBD Q3 numbers after its AM earnings call wraps up.
AND: We’ll see if #SuperWednesday becomes truly super with a SAG deal tomorrow to go with Zaz & Iger fireside chats with Wall Street in the AM and PM respectively (or perhaps between them).
MEANWHILE: Here’s Elaine Low’s Tue. PM dispatch about the strike 👇:
You might’ve heard lots of buzz this evening about a deal having been struck between SAG-AFTRA and the studios, to which I say: hold the champagne.
As of 5:35 p.m. PT, both parties were just ending an hour-long break in the proceedings and heading back to the negotiating table, where they will presumably talk through the night until a deal is hopefully made. As of that time, the union’s negotiating committee had not yet cast any votes on the deal, and sources on both sides were telling me it was too early to make the call.
There’s obvious incentive to get this done ASAP, particularly with Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings in the morning and Disney’s after the close. Bet the powers-that-be at the studios would like to be able to tell investors and analysts on the earnings calls on Wednesday that the strike is a one-off now in the rearview mirror.
So: no deal yet, but by the time you read this Wednesday morning, that may have changed…
Thanks Elaine! I’ll of course include any updates in my morning WBD Wakeup edition, and be sure to check out Strikegeist here for any additional updates from Elaine tonight and onward.
LASTLY: Just one more economic chart of note this week about state of the economy at large - credit card delinquencies are up to the highest rate in about 10 years. Highest delinquency is among millennials, and those who also have auto or student loans.
📽 THE SILVER TV 📺
A FEW THINGS
SONY PICS is developing a live-action Legend of Zelda pic, with Wes Ball (Maze Runner pics, the new Planet of the Apes pic) directing.
NINTENDO will finance 50+% of the pic, with SONY doing the rest & handling distro. #SuperMarioLessons /Variety
NETFLIX will do a four-city 70mm theatrical run for Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, Dec. 15-21. It’ll be at the NETFLIX theaters in NY & LA, plus one in Toronto and London. Pic hits streaming Dec. 22. /Variety
SHOWTIME is canceling its politics series The Circus after eight seasons. /THR