Robin Williams’ Spinach
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Ford v Ferrari v Popeye, Paradigm’s growth, Anya Taylor-Joy's fury, Jeff Goldblum's God complex, and a Tasmanian cave.
Let’s go!
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Disney+ scores a huge win with Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. The movie became the most watched concert film on the streaming platform in just three days of launching:
3.5 hr length
4.6 M views
16.2 M combined hrs watched
Disney paid over $75 M for worldwide streaming rights.
The film, which Swift and her team partnered with theaters to distribute, grossed $262 M at the box office. That puts it at #2 for highest-grossing concert film of all time. It trails the #1 film Michael Jackson's This Is It (Sony, 2009) by $5 M.
Ever since Disney came under attack from Nelson Peltz, billionaire and Chairmen of Wendy’s, the house of mouse seems to be on a roll.
Paradigm’s growth. CAA’s cuts. Paradigm didn’t cut a single agent during the dual strike last year. In fact, over the past year, they’ve made a number of major hires from UTA and A3 and promoted 14 agents to partners.
They’ve just hired Bill Weinstein, the former CEO of Verve.
Last month, Verve co-founders Bryan Besser and Adam Levine removed Weinstein from his executive duties after 14 years of helming the talent agency with over 1000 clients, including Josh Hartnett, Heather Graham, and Sean Bean.
A settlement has been reached and now Weinstein and fellow Verge agent Devon Schiff will join Paradigm as Lit Agents.
Paradigm Talent Agency Managing Partner Andrew Ruf, said:
“In this business, whether collaborating or going head-to-head, there is no denying the creativity, intelligence, and passion that Bill and Devon bring to their work. This relentless advocacy on behalf of clients is a great fit with the artist-led approach that remains the core value of Paradigm.”
In contrast, CAA has undergone significant layoffs as a result of the strikes. They just laid off 20 agents. Last August, amidst the strikes they laid off 60 agents.
The many lives of Popeye the Sailor Man. The original cartoon is now being re-adapted into a live-action film. No cast or studio attachments yet, but the team is formidable: