THE LOST CITY overperforms as PARAMOUNT has 3rd box office hit in 3 months
WILL SMITH won't face OSCAR assault charges / DIS+ doing FULL MONTY TV series / THE UCB Theater is returning
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY March 28, 2022.
Where I’m gonna guess “No charges will be filed against Will Smith” was not in anyone’s OSCAR pool for the leading headline this morning. The (sort of) exclusion of Costume and Sound awards… you’re now on your own.
Putting the slap heard around Hollywood and beyond aside, a big congrats to APPLE TV+’s “CODA” for a groundbreaking win both creatively and business-wise, to the rest of the winners here, and to the 3 hosts, particularly Amy Schumer for a sharp set of material for most of the night, and for this moment alone.
BUT: No word if Sean Penn has smelted his OSCAR, as UKRANIAN President Zelensky did not speak at the ceremony which went with a moment of silence instead.
ALSO: While the MARCH MADNESS run of ST. PETER’S came to an end yesterday, the top 3 most-winning NCAA BASKETBALL teams ever are in the FINAL FOUR on Saturday (KANSAS, DUKE, and UNC - plus VILLANOVA who has 3 titles of their own), so ratings should still deliver a big number this Saturday.
The Women’s FINAL FOUR will be finalized tonight, you can catch those games on ESPN at 7p (UCONN v NC STATE) and 9p (LOUISVILLE v MICHIGAN).
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
BOX OFFICE
“The Lost City” : $31 Million
About 60% of audience was female, half of audience 35+
Biggest #s were in West and Southeast theaters
Budget was $68 Million plus a sizable marketing spend so still a ways to go here
Puts PARAMOUNT at 3 for 3 in 2022 (“Scream” & “Jackass Forever”). And with“Sonic 2” and “Top Gun: Maverick” up next… PAR looks to be the studio to beat this year.
“The Batman” : $20 Million ($332 Million US, $672 Million Global)
Still just a modest 45% drop once again
“RRR” : $9.5 Million
This is a 3 hour action pic from INDIA that played in 1200 theaters, charging about 2X a normal ticket price (avg was $22).
“Uncharted” : $5 Million ($133 Million US, $358 Million Global)
”Jujutsu Kaisen 0” : $4.6 Million ($27 Million US)
“X” : $2.2 Million ($8.3 Million US)
ELSEWHERE AT THE BOX OFFICE
“Infinite Storm” was a no-show, $751k from 1500 theaters
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” did $510k in 10 theaters for an impressive $50k/theater average
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” crosed $800 Million US, and moved 2.1 Million digital sales in its first week (approx $42 Million of revenue).
IN THE HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE SUITE
ANNAPURNA’s Chief Content Officer Sue Naegle is leaving the company after 6 years. Role will not be replaced, Sue thought to move back into producing but nothing official as of yet. /Deadline
VERZUZ hired Steve Pamon as their new CEO. He used to run Beyonce’s PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT, and Steve was one of my favorite people to work with back in the day at HBO on partnerships, so I’m excited to see what he does to grow the brand launched by TIMBALAND and SWIZZ BEATS. /BillboardPRO
📺 THE TV SET
DISNEY+ bringing back “The Full Monty” as a limited TV series
Although the show about a male strip show will be on HULU here in the US (it’ll be featured in DIS+’s STAR section - their international HULU equivalent - in most countries internationally).
Tom Wilkinson, Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy and Lesley Sharp are returning from the original, as is screenwriter Simon Beaufoy. /Deadline
AMAZON PRIME orders James Bond themed-reality race series “007’s Road to a Million”
Essentially “The Amazing Race” but with cars. Teams of 2 will race and do challenges in “iconic” locations featured in Bond movies over the years, and have to answer questions to get clues to advance.
Series was in the works for the past 4 years, so kinda just coincidence it times out with the closing of the MGM deal but certainly doesn’t hurt.
Also note: the prize is 1 Million pounds, but no word if they’ll call it “007’s Road to a Million, three hundred thousand” here in the US. /Variety
ALSO IN TV
CBS’s “The Neighborhood” loses its showrunner. again. Meg DeLoach came on to run this Season 4 and replaced most of the previous writing staff. Show is already renewed for Season 5, so the search begins again… /Deadline
Wendi McClendon-Covey signs on for a 10th season of “The Goldbergs” on ABC, show still awaits word on a renewal… so this certainly helps. Her deal also has an option for an 11th year. The show crossed 200 episodes this year. /Deadline
NETFLIX’s “You” sets female lead for 4th season: Charlotte Ritchie, who starred in the UK version of “Ghosts” that the CBS show is based on. Full character description and background on how she interesects with Penn Badgley’s character in the link for any fans. /Deadline
“The Tonight Show” gets a new showrunner: Chris Miller coming over from “The Drew Barrymore Show” (and previously worked at Drew’s production co, run by Jimmy Fallon’s wife). He replaces Jamie Granat-Bederman, who will now shift to developing shows for Fallon’s production co, and he becomes the show’s 4th showrunner in the past 3 years. /THR
If you’ve been watching HULU’s Amy Schumer show “Life & Beth” - Amy explains that that hair-pulling condition (trichotillomania) her character has is from her own life.
NETFLIX is dropping a Bob Saget tribute special in June. Was shot at the COMEDY STORE in LA not long after his death, featuring folks like Jim Carrey, John Stamos, and Chris Rock. /DailyBeast
HULU’s “Only Murders in the Building” will return on June 28 this Summer.
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
The UCB Theater is returning under new management
Talent rep & producer Jimmy Miller, and former owner of “The Onion” Mike McAvoy are buying the brand with the private investment firm of the LA DODGERS. Plan is to re-open the theaters to start… but nothing too firm as of yet. /Deadline
APPLE & SONY both totally reading the room on subscription fatigue
APPLE developing a monthly fee plan for their products (poss w/ APPLE TV+ bundled?)
SONY rumored to announce a PLAYSTATION gaming subscription service possibly this week. /Bloomberg
ALSO IN MEDIA
SPOTIFY has delayed moment of also reading the room - shuts off all of its product in RUSSIA, not just paid subscriptions. /Variety
BLACK NEWS CHANNEL cable network shuts down. Was majority-owned by the owner of the JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS and employed about 230 people. /LA Times
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
A pretty quiet Friday
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👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
PEACOCK “Yellowstone” - Season 4 hits the service
And THE NY TIMES gave the profile treatment to Jay Penske who owns… pretty much every Hollywood trade publication (DEADLINE, VARIETY, THR, also BILLBOARD, ROLLING STONE, WWD, etc and some other holdings like SXSW).
🕵️♀️ THE WEEK AHEAD
TUE - CNN+ launches
WED - “Moon Knight” hits DISNEY+
THU - “Julia” hits HBOMAX
FRI - How big will “Morbius” be at the box office?
SAT - MARCH MADNESS Final Four on TBS
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
No new trailers, but Jon Stewart was on Stern last week so some good clips to check out, here talking about what went on with the Late Night TV host bake-off in the 90’s.
D’OH
I listed APPLE TV’s “Pachinko” as a Movie on Friday, when in fact it is an 8 part series.
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
Figured “On the Mend” is the song to with today. RIP Taylor
If you need some new tunes:
Email me anytime - just Reply to this email, or connect here on LINKED IN.
-SEAN MCNULTY
@theseanmac on TWITTER
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