Evenin! 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 SUNDAY, July 19, 2026.
Where stadiums are really the new arenas for stand-up comedians. First, John Mulaney sold out Wrigley Field earlier this month, introduced on stage by David Letterman.
Now, Shane Gillis has set a new Guinness World Record mark for most tickets sold for a comedy show by a solo comedian. His show this past Friday night at Philly’s Lincoln Financial Field sold 76,212 tickets — and included fireworks!
No word if we’ll see either as a streaming special, but NETFLIX has Gillis in an overall film and TV deal, sealed in January, with a new season of Tires coming later this year.
KUDOS: To Spain, which beat Argentina to win the World Cup on Sunday in extra time, and to New Zealander Ryan Fox on winning The Open ⛳️ over in the U.K. today — his first major tournament win.
- America, enjoy your 3-week-ish lull until the NFL preseason begins. Luckily, I get Q2 earnings season to find my excitement until then.
- BTW: TELEMUNDO/PEACOCK made another big soccer investment, picking up UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Spanish-language rights in the U.S. (as well as other UEFA lower-tier leagues) from 2027 to 2030. No 💰 number was disclosed.
- UNIVISION is the current rights holder through the upcoming season.
- PAR+/CBS has the English-language rights, also expiring in 2030.
AND: APPLE MUSIC joined the #pricehike train, bumping prices $1 to $12 a month. Family and student plans also got hiked, and rising payouts to labels/publishers were cited as the driver.
THEN: The Emmys are cutting 5 categories from the NBC broadcast (4 are from the limited series/movie category) and will move them to the Creative Arts ceremony on Sept. 5 & 6. And yes, people have thoughts (although certainly not from the American viewing public).
- CATEGORIES: Writing for a Variety Series, Supporting Actor and Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, Directing for a Limited Series or Movie, and Writing for a Limited Series or Movie.
ALSO: Certainly an interesting tactic for PAR’s lead antitrust lawyer to use APPLE / F1 as a case for a theatrical blockbuster environment with robust sources — a film that came out via the distro arm of a big studio, and a company which has released 0 theatrical films in the year+ since F1 . . . and has no plans to do so for the foreseeable future.
- The judge in the case will rule on the TRO / preliminary injunction requests by Wednesday, when the EU is also expected to render its next decision.
- The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Commission cleared the WARNAMOUNT deal last week (which focused on the Middle East money component).
PLUS: The exact price NETFLIX paid for Affleck’s INTERPOSITIVE was $587M (reports had it up to $600M this spring).
YAH: Everything’s going great. Why do you ask? I’m sure Trump #SmokeTariffs on Canada will solve everything.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE PREDICTION
Yeah, The Odyssey came in way above my $105M upper end projection. Very happy to lose this week.
HOWEVER . . .
Odyssey aside, gotta say I’m doing pretty well over the past 4 weeks!
First, predicting what the state AGs would center their WARNAMOUNT lawsuit on. . . and now evidently presaging NETFLIX picking up Danny Boyle’s Ink in my Friday morning column.
I also predict APPLE will send me $100k tomorrow for being such a loyal iTunes customer over the past 2 decades.
🎥 The Box Office
Don’t stop here
Get the rest of this story — and the scoops and intelligence Hollywood reads first.
Already a subscriber?
