☀️WB Grabs NEON Execs for New Imprint
SONY gets ‘Peanuts’ / NETFLIX enlists McConaughey / MUBI sets re-org
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Friday, December 19, 2025.
Where who had nuclear fusion as the next industry on the list that the Trump family would look to enrich itself from? Yeah, same here.
Did someone check whether Chain Reaction has been playing a lot on TBS these days or something? And yes, that reference is admittedly for a very narrow demo.
THEN: After purging DISNEY AI content, YOUTUBE’s next purge is 2 channels that post AI-generated fake movie trailers — Screen Culture and KH Studio. More than 2M people subscribed to both, which were based in India and Georgia, respectively.
YUP: Folks streamed 700M hours of podcasts on YOUTUBE via their TVs in October globally, according to new data from the company — no breakout for how much was just U.S. streaming, or what % that 700 hours represented of the total amount of YOUTUBE’s TV streaming in October.
That’s up from 400M hours of pod streaming in Oct. ’24, according to the company.
YA HUH: I’m tellin’ ya . . . NETFLIX is getting a fast grip on this whole “Broadcast TV” thing — the voices behind Huntr/x from KPop Demon Hunters are joining Snoop Dogg on Christmas Day at halftime of the late afternoon NFL game, as will Lainey Wilson.
BUT: I really hope DISNEY has already signed the OPENAI investment deal with the $500B valuation — OPENAI is now looking to raise another $100B at up to an $830B valuation if it hits its fundraising targets on this round, according to the WSJ.
OPENAI is on track to hit $13B of 2025 revenue, up from $4B in 2024, according to The Information.
In Hollywood studio terms, that’s a 🤏 more than SONY but far less than PARAMOUNT (roughly $29B/$30B).
Annualized revenue (take the last month of revenue and multiply by 12) is up to $19B.
OH: Pete Davidson and his Elsie Hewitt welcomed a baby daughter on Dec. 12.
SO: What was it like for the woman in the Coldplay “Kiss Cam” scandal and her kids? 500 to 600 calls from strangers a day (almost all women), along with 50 or 60 death threats overall, according to this NYT interview where Kristin Cabot speaks publicly for the first time — including her take on the Gwyneth parody (don’t send Kristin any GOOP merch).
ALSO: NETFLIX made its deal with ESPN’s Ellie Duncan street-legal to be the streamer's host face across sports and live events. First up is the Skyscraper Live event with Alex Honnold from Taipei early in 2026.
AND: Add “Change the name back to The Kennedy Center” to the growing January 2029 To-Do List after Trump put his name on it this week (The Trump Kennedy Center) . . . right after to “Take down those idiotic plaques” written by Trump under the U.S. Presidents on the Walk of Fame photos on the White House colonnade.
Although this was just a Kennedy Center board vote . . . there will likely be legal challenges with solid cases.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Admittedly, I have a very low handle on this franchise overall . . . but consider me a 9-figure guy, just like in my personal life.
NEW POD
FINALLY: I’ll still be in your inbox next week (at least to start), but hopefully some of you are already checking out starting Monday (not you, WBD shareholders!). So in that spirit, I'm gonna round out the top here today with a nice message from Kimmel as he goes on holiday break.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
WB PICTURES sets new lower-budget film label with NEON expats
Studio sale? What studio sale? Things are moving right along here at WB PICTURES to create more movies for theatrical release, ahem. Just be sure to get your WB theatrical release deal guarantee on the books before the 2027 NETFLIX deal closing!