☀️Ryan & Blake Set August Record, 'Borderlands' tanksNETFLIX picks NFL production partner / New M3GAN universe pic gets lead / D23 news roundup
Evenin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on SUNDAY, August 11, 2024. Where ya gotta give a tip of the cap to the folks at NBCU for finally finding their footing on Olympic streaming (and the killer Gold Zone feature) to go alongside the usual flawless linear TV production — some very memorable American Olympic performances throughout certainly helped to make this an Olympics for the books. I’m sure top COMCAST management will spread around some of that $28M in cash bonuses they received last year to the folks who delivered for them internally. Although — also gotta love when even NBC admits that yeah . . . maybe we don’t need to watch all of the 5,000M track race.
AND: As Matthew Frank detailed at The Ankler last week about the proliferation of Deadpool 3 clips online only seeming to help feed that box office phenomenon — NBCU’s embrace of the same philosophy has also seemingly paid off with linear primetime TV audiences as well. SO: You know it’s bad when both the NYT and the WSJ do back-to-back pieces reporting on how folks are increasingly fed up with theme park prices. Sorry folks, no more free bus shuttles from the airport — that’ll be $25, thx! Those multi-million 💰 executive bonuses don’t come from free rides, America.
ALSO: Just shining some light on someone doing some good — Colin Farrell has established a foundation to focus on advocating for adults with intellectual disabilities (and their families) — and providing programs to assist them. Colin’s first son James, now 20, was born with Angelman Syndrome, which makes him non-verbal.
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to one of GOOGLE’s first execs — whose garage GOOGLE was created in — Susan Wojcicki, who also became YOUTUBE’s CEO. She died at 56-years-old on Friday after a 2-year battle with non-small cell lung cancer. Correction from Friday: The 15% PARAMOUNT staff layoffs are only affecting U.S. employees, not international ones. WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLLWay to go 16%! The bulls reign continues this summer with It Ends With Us.
FINALLY: Joe Flint at the WSJ had a good look at the money WB is spending on the movie business (while deep cuts persist at other divisions) as Mike & Pam’s slate begins rolling out, including:
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Well, May box office haters . . . here’s another feather in your hole-filled cap — a new August record with 2 films doing $50M+ for the first time ever. How dare you underestimate Ryan & Blake (and Colleen)! Additional kudos to reader Ryan (not Reynolds) who specifically emailed me a $50M prediction for It Ends with Us on Thursday morning — well done! BIGGER PICTURE: Look at what a wide variety of offerings can do: Romantic Drama + Superhero + Disaster movie + Family movie + Suspense pic = a very healthy box office. Can we frame this box office Top 10 list for every studio lobby in town, with the inscription “Imagine if we had a comedy, too?” SIDE KUDOS: To Bad Boys 4, which finally crossed $400M globally this weekend. Remember — this was the pic to get the moviegoing habit restarted this summer. Now — the numbers to know . . ... Subscribe to The Ankler. to unlock the rest.Become a paying subscriber of The Ankler. to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. A subscription gets you:
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