🎬 Streaming's New Arena

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Whether you're a seasoned subscriber or a new arrival, we're thrilled to have you here. Twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, we'll deliver the most important industry scoops directly to your inbox.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Streamers Dive Into Live Sports

• Streamers Shift Towards Licensing

• Studios Play it Safe with Musicals

• Late-Night TV's Uncertain Future

• Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

PLUS, stick around ‘til the end of the email to see how you can win a FREE 1-year subscription to the Criterion Collection. 👇

But first, let’s take a look at what happened at the box office this past weekend!

LAST WEEKEND’S
🎟️ BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN 🎟️

1. 🍫🎵 Wonka: Warner Bros.' musical munches on a tasty $39M domestic debut, surpassing past December musicals like ‘Into the Woods’ and ‘Mary Poppins Returns,’ and setting a high bar with a diverse audience and strong premium format sales.

2. 🏹🐍 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: In its fifth week, the dystopian prequel dips to $5.8M, reaching a respectable $145.2M, but still trails behind its predecessors and the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ series.

3. 🕊️👦 The Boy and the Heron: Studio Ghibli's anime drops -60% to $5.1M in its second week, becoming Miyazaki’s top domestic grosser, despite a steeper fall compared to his previous films and other recent animes.

4. 🦖🎬 Godzilla Minus One: In its third week, Toho's monster movie drops -43% to $4.8M, with a domestic total of $34.2M, performing better than expected but not reaching the levels of recent Godzilla films.

5. 🎤🌈 Trolls Band Together: Universal's animated sequel slides -34% to $4M in its fifth week, accumulating $88.6M domestically, lagging slightly behind the original ‘Trolls.’

Game On in the Streaming Field
🏀 Netflix and Peacock Score with Live Sports 🏈

The streaming landscape is undergoing a shift as major players like Netflix, ESPN, and Peacock serve up live sports, heralding a new era in digital entertainment. This trend, led by Amazon's foray into NFL streaming, is reshaping not just viewership habits but also the entire streaming wars narrative.

Netflix, traditionally known for its movies and series, has made a bold move into live sports with ‘The Netflix Slam.’ Scheduled for March 2024, this high-profile tennis match featuring Carlos Alcaraz against Rafael Nadal, marks Netflix's strategic pivot into live sports streaming. This event at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas is more than a match; it's a statement of Netflix's evolving content strategy, aiming to attract a diverse, international audience with bilingual broadcasts.

This move isn't just about diversifying content; it's about capturing new market segments. While Netflix has historically shied away from live sports, focusing instead on sports documentaries and docuseries like ‘Drive to Survive,’ ‘The Netflix Slam’ signifies a shift towards more dynamic, live content.

However, the platform maintains a cautious stance, with its co-CEO Ted Sarandos emphasizing a focus on "sports-adjacent programming" rather than seasonal live matches, indicating a strategy that balances new ventures with its core content philosophy.

On the other end of the spectrum, ESPN is transitioning from being the backbone of linear TV to becoming the preeminent digital sports platform. With ESPN+, Disney is leveraging its streaming capability to simulcast major sports events, including NHL games on Hulu, aiming to cater to a younger, digitally-savvy audience.

Similarly, MAX has introduced live streaming for major sports leagues, while Peacock has successfully hosted an array of live sporting events.

The strategic shift to include live sports in streaming platforms is not just about subscriber growth and advertising revenue; it's about relevance in a changing media landscape. As younger audiences drift away from traditional cable, streaming services are seeking to re-aggregate that audience through sports – a genre that still commands a large, dedicated viewership. This move into sports streaming is a tightrope walk for these platforms, balancing between new streaming ventures and traditional offerings.

💡💰Streamers Shift Towards Licensing: In a notable shift from its original content-heavy strategy, Disney is now embracing content licensing, sharing streaming rights for ABC's ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ with Netflix. This move, mirroring Warner Bros. Discovery's approach, reflects a broader industry trend towards cost-effectiveness and viewer engagement. Faced with the financial pressures and competitive challenges of the streaming era, studios are increasingly valuing the profitability of licensing existing popular titles over solely investing in new productions. This strategy offers immediate financial gains and maintains subscriber interest amidst a saturated market. As Disney and others adapt, expect to see more such high-profile licensing agreements, indicating a pragmatic, balanced approach to content in the streaming landscape.

🎶🤫 Studios Play it Safe with Musicals: Warner Bros. and Paramount are cautiously marketing their upcoming musicals 'Wonka' and the 'Mean Girls' Broadway adaptation, minimizing their song-and-dance aspects. This trend stems from a recent reluctance to highlight musicals due to their mixed box office performance. Trailers for 'Wonka,' starring Timothée Chalamet, and Tina Fey's 'Mean Girls' adaptation, have notably downplayed or even omitted singing sequences. Industry executives suggest that labeling a film as a musical can trigger preconceived notions among audiences, potentially leading to reduced interest. Despite recent challenges faced by musicals like 'West Side Story' and 'In the Heights,' Hollywood hasn't abandoned the genre. Upcoming projects like Warner Bros.' 'The Color Purple' and Universal's 'Wicked' suggest a continued, albeit cautious, investment in musical films, adapting marketing strategies to broaden their appeal.

🌙📺 Late-Night TV's Uncertain Future: Heading into 2024, late-night TV is in a state of flux. Despite challenges like the writers' strike and the loss of ‘The Late Late Show,’ shows like ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ maintain their lead, while ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ and ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ vie for the following spots. Newcomers like Taylor Tomlinson's ‘After Midnight’ add diversity to the mix. However, the broader landscape is shifting, with cancellations and shows like ‘The Amber Ruffin Show’ being pushed aside. The streaming sector's struggle to crack the late-night code adds to the uncertainty. The future of ‘The Daily Show’ and its new host choice, along with ‘Saturday Night Live’ nearing its 50th anniversary, could signal significant changes for the genre.

Development 🗒️

• Stanley Tucci partners with National Geographic for a new ten-part docuseries, 'Tucci – The Heart of Italy.’ (more)

• Lisa Kudrow joins Ray Romano in Netflix's dark comedy series 'No Good Deed.’ (more)

• John Hamm is set to star in and executive produce ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ for Apple TV+. (more)

• Netflix greenlights a new ‘One Piece’ anime remake, following the success of its live-action series adaptation. (more)

• 'Nine Perfect Strangers' S2 on Hulu adds new cast members including Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, and Maisie Richardson-Sellers among others. (more)

• Fox orders 'Murder in a Small Town,' as part of its strategy to commission international content. (more)

• Sony secures global theatrical distribution for Apple Original Films' 'Wolfs' starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and 'Project Artemis' with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. (more)

• George Clooney and Adam Sandler team up for the first time in an upcoming, untitled Netflix film directed by Noah Baumbach. (more)

• Apple TV+ orders a 10-episode sci-fi series 'Murderbot,' starring Alexander Skarsgård. (more)

• Keke Palmer joins Eddie Murphy in Amazon MGM's heist comedy 'The Pickup.’ (more)

• Shawn Levy reunites with Ryan Reynolds to direct a high-profile, untitled global heist movie for Netflix, following a competitive bidding war. (more)

• Gina Prince-Bythewood is set to direct Paramount Pictures' adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s novel 'Children of Blood and Bone.' (more)

• 20th Studios acquires Kevin McMullin's short story 'BOMB,' with Ridley Scott set to direct the London-set action thriller for Scott Free Productions. (more)

• Amazon greenlights 'Halcyon,' a sci-fi thriller drama series based on the graphic novel 'Hiding In Time.' (more)

• Michael Jai White directs and stars in the action comedy 'Trouble Man!' for Samuel Goldwyn Films, with a cast including Method Man, Orlando Jones, and others. (more)

• Hulu expands its true-crime offerings with two new docuseries from ABC News Studios, 'Daughters of the Cult' and 'Me, Hereafter,' along with a second season of 'Death in the Dorms.' (more)

• Noah Centineo's Arkhum Productions is developing Rale Sidebottom's book 'Ridiculous and Ill-Advised' into a film. (more)

Releases 📅

• ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ is set for release in China. (more)

• Apple TV+’s ‘Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend’ will premiere globally Feb. 21. (more)

• Pete Davidson’s second Netflix stand-up special, ‘Turbo Fonzarelli,’ will premiere on Jan. 9, 2024. (more)

✅ Renewed & Canceled ❌

• ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ is ending with S12 at HBO. (more)

• ‘Platonic’ is returning for S2 at Apple TV+. (more)

• ‘Power Book IV: Force’ is renewed for S3 at Starz. (more)

Business 🤝

• Luc Besson returns as interim CEO of EuropaCorp following the resignation of CEO Axel Duroux. (more)

• Charlize Theron teams with Dawn Olmstead, Beth Kono, and AJ Dix to launch a new media venture, inheriting Denver & Delilah's content and ongoing deals with Universal and HBO/MAX. (more)

• Endeavor invests in Chess.com, partnering with WME to develop non-scripted content and expand chess's popularity through various media and celebrity engagements. (more)

Other News 🚨

• 'Avatar' VFX artists file for a union election with IATSE, marking a significant step in the growing VFX union movement in the United States. (more)

• Activision Blizzard agrees to a nearly $55M settlement for a 2021 gender discrimination and pay disparity complaint by the California Civil Rights Department. (more)