| | What's news: Disney's earnings and streamer subscription numbers came in below Wall Street estimates. Paramount moves Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Star Trek in the calendar. Billy Crystal is taking Mr. Saturday Night to Broadway. Plus: We have a must-read interview with Rob Delaney, a national treasure, on both sides of the Atlantic — Abid Rahman |
Disney+ Subscriber Growth Slows►Earnings miss, sub slow down. Disney posted muted earnings last quarter (ended Sept. 30), as sluggish growth at Disney+ led the company to miss Wall Street earnings expectations. The entertainment giant posted revenue of $18.53 billion, the Wall Street consensus was for earnings of $18.79 billion. As previously forecast by CEO Bob Chapek, Disney+ subscriber growth slowed in the quarter, with the service hitting 118 million subscribers, an increase of 2 million. Disney ended fiscal Q3 with 116 million global streaming subscribers. Growth also slowed at Hulu and ESPN+, with Hulu adding only 700,000 subscribers to 39.7 million, and ESPN+ adding 2.3 million subscribers to 17.1 million. The results. — Into the metaverse. During the earnings call, Disney boss Bob Chapek said he is preparing the company to blend its physical and digital assets in the metaverse. Chapek’s comments come as tech and entertainment companies appear to be closely following Meta, recently rebranded from Facebook, in shifting focus to augmented and virtual reality. The story. — "Flexibility." Chapek also spoke about theatrical-first release strategies for Disney's slate of upcoming films as the box office recovery continues apace. The Disney chief said “flexibility” remains paramount in regards to how the company releases its feature films after the conclusion of 2021. The story. — "I’m going to be very hands-on." Discovery CEO David Zaslav will move to Los Angeles to run the new content giant to be created by the merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia, which is expected to close by mid-2022. Zaslav said that he would, however, return to the East Coast regularly to visit other key operations, including CNN. "I am moving to California... that is where the content is made, this is a content company," he told the Paley Center’s Paley International Council Summit. The story. — Meme stock housekeeping. Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres, has disclosed a sale of 625,000 shares in parent AMC Entertainment Holdings to raise $25.33 million. The sale was telegraphed to meme stock investors by Aron during an earnings call Monday following the release of AMC’s third quarter earnings. The story. |
The Hilarious, Wholesome, Filthy World of Rob Delaney ►"Eagle of Sexual Freedom." THR's Alex Ritman caught up with Rob Delaney, American funnyman in London, for a glorious interview that takes in everything from his vasectomy, his progressive politics to his recent professional success. After a bout with alcoholism, years of struggle as a stand-up and an unimaginable family tragedy, the Catastrophe star has forged his own unique brand of irreverent, shamelessly scatological humor, and now he's earned a lead role in the upcoming Home Alone reboot. The interview. —"The first Black movie star." A retrospective of Nina Mae McKinney films running Nov. 10 to Nov. 30 at New York’s Film Forum will provide viewers with glimpses of the multihyphenate whose barrier-breaking career, like so many other early cinema Black artists, has been largely forgotten. The story. —Making moves. Paramount is pushing back two of its tentpoles. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has moved back a year and will now bow on June 9, 2023, meanwhile, the mysterious next Star Trek film has moved to Dec. 22, 2023, from June 9, 2023. It is unknown who will star in the Trek film or if Chris Pine, who played Captain Kirk in three films from 2009-2016, or any of his crew will be back. The story. —Nostalgia toons. SNL regular Kyle Mooney has teamed up with Ben Jones of animation studio Bento Box Entertainment for Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, a sendup of 1980s and ’90s kids TV. The series, a hybrid of live action and animation, is set to premiere Dec. 10 on Netflix. Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video is producing. The story. —Hitting Broadway. Billy Crystal is taking the stage adaptation of his 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night to Broadway. The musical comedy will officially open on March 31 at the Nederlander Theatre. Crystal will once again play Buddy Young Jr., in a story about a comedian who found fame in the early days of television, and 40 years later attempts to find the spotlight again. The story. —Third time's a charm. John Legend and Chrissy Teigen hosted an in-person political fundraiser event Sunday on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Los Angeles. The event, attended by five senators including Alex Padilla, Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker, raised around $1.1 million. The story. |
The Kings' 'Happy Face' Lands at Paramount+ ►The wait is over. The Good Fight and Evil creators Robert and Michelle King are adapting the Happy Face podcast as a live-action scripted original series for Paramount+. The straight-to-series order, which has been in the works for more than a year, is inspired by the true-crime podcast that itself is based on the book Shattered Silence. Both the book and podcast are based on the true-life story of Melissa Jesperson-Moore, who, at age 15, discovered her father was the serial killer known as Happy Face. The story. —Honorees. The Critics Choice Association is finalizing the program for its 4th annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television, announcing its list of honorees that includes Will Smith, Ava DuVernay, Antoine Fuqua, Ruth Negga, Kenan Thompson, Robin Thede, Danielle Brooks and the cast of The Harder They Fall, among others. The story. —"My abortion gave me choice." Lucifer star Lesley-Ann Brandt has opened up about her own abortion in a new essay while speaking out against anti-abortion laws, such as the more recently passed Texas law. "People have abortions for many reasons. In my case, I simply wasn’t ready. That’s it, and that’s good enough," the actress said in her Self magazine essay. The story. —Hollywood is failing disabled screenwriters. In a guest column, Richie Siegel and Marisa Torelli-Pedevska, co-founders of Inevitable Foundation, write that hiring writers as disability consultants means "rock-bottom pay" and no WGA credits, "widening a yawning representation gap." The column. —Fashion’s big night. Designers Christopher John Rogers and Emily Adams Bode for BODE took top honors at the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, leading a young and diverse slate of honorees. Zendaya received the Fashion Icon honor and Anya Taylor-Joy the Face of the Year prize at the fashion industry's annual awards. The story. —Staffing unclear. Organizers of the Astroworld music festival have not provided investigators with clear records about private security personnel working the grounds when a massive crowd surge during headliner Travis Scott’s set led to at least eight deaths, Houston’s police chief said Wednesday. The story. |
Review: Apple's 'The Shrink Next Door'►"An interesting story marred by questionable tone, performance and thematic choices." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Apple TV+’s The Shrink Next Door, starring Will Ferrell and Paul 'Sexiest Man Alive' Rudd. In this adaptation of the popular Wondery podcast, a man is manipulated and exploited by his psychiatrist over a period of three decades. The review. — "Largely stitched together from better serial killer stories." Dan also reviews AMC+'s police drama Ragdoll. A serial killer is cutting up his victims and stitching them together in creepy ways in a London-set thriller featuring a darker-than-normal turn from Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale. The review. — "Better as a PSA than a story." THR critic Angie Han reviews Amazon’s Always Jane. The four-part docuseries chronicles a year in the life of Jane Noury, a trans teenager from New Jersey, as she faces high school graduation, gender confirmation surgery and more. The review. — This Week in TV. THR's Rick Porter runs down the TV premieres, returns and specials over the next seven days. The things to look out for over the coming week include the second season of Netflix's Tiger King on Wednesday and premieres for Taylor Sheridan's Mayor of Kingstown (Paramount+), Marvel series Hit-Monkey (Hulu), anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus (Adult Swim). The full guide. In other news... —How broadcast stacks up with streaming in total minutes viewed — CBS sets midseason schedule with few changes —MGM International Television, Nordic streamer Viaplay to co-develop, produce English original series — Cinema Eye Honors: Flee leads field of top docs with 7 noms, Summer of Soul lands 6 —Will.i.am, Jodie Turner-Smith support Gucci’s Changemakers Summit in L.A. —Kaufman Astoria Studios, original home of Paramount, sold to Hackman, Square Mile — Daniel Bruhl named goodwill ambassador for UN World Food Programme —Paramount Pictures names Jenny Tartikoff to top communications role — BBC quits Stonewall LGBTQ diversity program over impartiality concerns What else we're reading... —Do Women Still Want to Go to the Movies? [ Wall Street Journal] —Chakras, Crystals And Conspiracy Theories: How The Wellness Industry Turned Its Back On Covid Science [ The Guardian] —WeWork's Adam Neumann Has Some Regrets, No Apologies [ Vanity Fair] —Astroworld: There Won’t Be Easy Answers for This [ Vulture] —Netflix to Roll Out TikTok-Like Short Clip Feature Aimed at Kids [ Bloomberg] Today... ...in 2001, Lionsgate premiered drama Monster’s Ball at the AFI Festival. The film went on to earn an Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards in the best actress category for Halle Berry’s performance. The original review. Today's birthdays: Leonardo DiCaprio (47), Stanley Tucci (61), Demi Moore (59), Scoot McNairy (44), Tye Sheridan (25), Calista Flockhart (57), Christa B. Allen (30), Adam Beach (49), Susan Kelechi Watson (40), Alexandra Kyle (33), Tyler Christopher (49) |
| Jerry Douglas, who portrayed the patriarch John Abbott on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless for more than 30 years, died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a brief illness, the network announced. He was 88. The obituary. |
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