☀️ WBD Ax Chops MORE Cable TV Jobs; BLUMHOUSE Wants ‘Saw’
AMAZON re-enlists Kidman / McMahon sells more TKO / A24's Sydney-Mikey swap
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 Thursday, June 5, 2025.
Where hopefully this newsletter is giving you something to do while you wait on the line for your turn at the register to buy your $450 NINTENDO SWITCH 2 this morning.
AND: META is talking with, lo and behold . . . good ol’ Hollywood (folks such as DISNEY and A24) about paying them to create episodic and standalone video content based on their IP for a new META VR headset it plans to release next year, according to the WSJ. Funny, I thought everyone was just watching YOUTUBE these days. 🤷♂️
Studios could then sell/license 2-D versions of the programming to other folks after a certain window (it would be “exclusive to META in VR”).
The pricetag for the product from the META division that continues to lose billions of dollars (over $17B last year) . . . should be somewhere between the $300 QUEST price and $1,000. Or between $300 and $3,499 for that matter.
AH: APPLE was denied by the courts in its bid to halt allowing external payment options in the App Store while its appeal works its way through the judicial system . . . so, subscribe away, America! Hopefully, at some cheaper subscription price rates.
THEN: NBA Playoffs begin tonight on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET, and kudos to the NHL for a heck of a Stanley Cup OT opener last night in Edmonton — nice work OILERS. 👏
ALTHOUGH: TEXAS takes on TEXAS TECH in game 2 of the Women’s College World Series on ESPN tonight too, which is what I would be flipping to if I had cable TV (TEXAS took the first game last night in the best-of-3 series). But alas, NBA Finals it is!
YEAH: Ryan Reynolds can’t seem to stop buying sports clubs, this time the Aussie sailing club, the BONDS FLYING ROOS — purchased with pal Hugh Jackman.
ALSO: CHATGPT now has 3M+ paying business customers across all of its products, up from 2M (+50%) since about 3 months ago in February.
OPENAI expects $12.7B of revenue in 2025, almost 3.5x the number it had estimated 2024 revenue to come in at.
That’s more than SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT.
PLUS: 2 FCC members announced their official departures at the end of this week — Democrat Geoffrey Starks and Republican Nathan Simington, leaving the FCC with 3 vacancies of the 5 total positions as of next week.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL x 2
Ballerina takes the new slot on the multiplex marquee this weekend from LGF, looking at $30M — where does the Wick magic take this first spinoff on Sunday? Let’s do an old-fashioned over/under:
IN THIS EDITION
WBD layoffs get street-legal, as UNI has a busy day in horror and AMAZON yet again enlists Nicole Kidman.
LIONSGATE nods to AI potential uses, McMahon further exits TKO stake, MLB sets a deal timeline, MAX plays pickleball and . . . yeah let’s just get into things!
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
