☀️Studios Un-Freeze TV Deals... but not all are getting extended
DIS+ gets Rock & Roll HOF / JAZZ set DtoC streaming details / FREEFORM takes HULU unscripted projects
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 September 28, 2023.
Where, Presidents… they’re just like us! I guess I shouldn’t find this surprising, but Pres. Obama gave script notes to the upcoming Leave the World Behind pic from Sam Esmail that HIGHER GROUND is producing at NETFLIX.
Essentially, he asserted that a world-threatening disaster wouldn’t be quite as bleak as Sam had written. Always reassuring to know somebody knows the plan.
AND: Beware of anyone wearing Ray Bans - META’s continued push into electronics uh, continues with a revised lineup of glasses for $300, with cameras and mics that can live-stream and record 60 second clips.
PLUS: Expect a new $500 Oculus headset, complete with a trailer… which features far more shots of people just wearing the headset vs. seeing what it looks like when you actually - ya know, use it 🤷♂️. Totally positive sign.
Sure it’ll turn around the multi-Billion 💰 quarterly losses for the division. And yes, they mentioned it’s 1/7th the price of an APPLE Vision Pro.
There’s also full META AI chatbot integration with both products, with ‘full access’ to information from… MICROSOFT’s BING, so take that FTC!
Plus 28 chatbots played by celebs like Tom Brady, Snoop, and Mr. Beast - 🙋♂️ isn’t this basically almost exactly what AMAZON did with ALEXA…. and then totally abandoned this Spring? Silicon Valley, always with the fresh ideas. And yes, that’s coming from someone who writes about Hollywood.
OH: And an AI-driven image generation product called EMU that… I’m sure totally wasn’t created using any copyrighted material.
ALSO: SAG & the AMPTP will begin their new negotiations on Monday.
YES: The Eras Tour will be having a premiere in L.A., so mark off Oct. 11 on your calendars and begin calling your AMC theaters or perhaps your uh, VARIANCE releasing contacts (they also did RRR last year). Location TBA.
PLUS: If ya had tickets to see Bruce Springsteen this year… now ya don’t. He’s postponing all tour dates due to a peptic ulcer issue.
THEN: Juliard’s MFA program will be tuition-free starting next year. Finally my big chance… 👐
AND: Late Night TV returns Monday night, with John Oliver preceding on Sunday. The Daily Show is back on Mon Oct. 16 with guest hosts…. TBA.
A REST IN PEACE: To actor British actor Michael Gambon (probably best known here as “Dumbledore” in the Potter films), who died at the age of 82.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
Yeah everyone was busy getting writers back to work, and prepping negotiations with the actors - a very quiet 24 hours so this’ll be relatively quick.
WAKEUP Box Office Poll
Four wide releases this weekend… PAR’s new Paw Patrol pic is leading the action with $18 mil to $20 mil in tracking, but Saw X is rather close to that number as well, in a genre famous for subverting tracking.
AND: Let’s make it a two-fer with the biggest-budgeted pic this weekend by far at $80 million, which you’ll be very surprised to hear is from DISNEY. I know, right? 🤯
The Creator has $16 Mil to $19 Mil tracking range, and could also take the title as well… despite the “looks amazing visually… but kind of a cookie-cutter plot” reviews in the trades this week.
NEW POD!
Elaine Low and I had a conversation with WGA Negotiating Committee member Adam Conover yesterday, diving into:
What happened in the room last week (including what really caused that end of week delay)
His surprise at some Agents working against the process
Breaking down the details on the whole ‘Streaming data sharing’ situation and much more.
Listen here 👇, or just search “The Ankler” on your Podcast listening platform of choice.
📺 THE TV SET
