Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY August 4, 2022.
Where #medianerd🤓 returns to earn his keep around here with a dive into the PARAMOUNT / PAR+ numbers released this morning, as we begin Q2 Streaming earnings #SuperThursday. STARZ and HBOMAX of course go later this afternoon, so breakdowns on both tomorrow.
AND FWIW: The Wrap cited 2 WBD sources putting impending HBOMAX development staff cuts at 70% of headcount. 😳 And of course the speculation on a name change to HBO+ is also out there, although at this point… eh. 🤷♂️
PLUS: “Days of our Lives” will move to PEACOCK-only this Fall starting on Sept 12 – and keep the answer that you give relatives when they call asking “What channel number is PEACOCK?” handy… as “DWTS” will premiere on DISNEY+ on Sept 19. 👴
In the legendary soap’s place on the NBC schedule? A daily NBC NEWS show which… I’m sure DOOL fans will love.
IN THIS EDITION:
PAR+ will lose $1.8 Billion this year, still light on subscriber growth details but a breakdown of what lies ahead for the rest of 2023
NEON exploring sale or outside investment
ALTICE joins Broadband user loss dive, has biggest quarterly loss ever
HBOMAX purging some ‘MAX original’ titles, potentially as cost saving measure.
NETFLIX sets Idris Elba to lead spy pic. No… not that spy pic 🍸. And much more.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
NETFLIX sets Idris Elba to lead “Bang!” pic from DARK HORSE comics
David Leitch (“Bullet Train”, “Hobbs & Shaw”) directing, centers on a spy who must kill the author of a series of books meant to brainwash their terrorist cult readers to start the apocalypse. Geez hope he finds him 😳. /THR
NEON studio/distributor exploring a sale
Very early stages, they’ve enlisted an investment bank (RAINE) to see the appetite out there / field offers for a sale, or a large infusion of cash (partial sale). NEON was founded and is owned by Tom Quinn and Tim League of ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE fame.
Money would be used to up production (incl TV), and expand their international distro capabilities. NEON indicated that incoming inquiries about investment were what spurred this official move… and that the company is profitable as-is.
Only real comp out there (somewhat) is A24 – they got a $2.5 Billion valuation this Spring when they got $225 Million of additional private equity investment. /NY Times
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