The Hits
The Hits
Paramount's fire, Michelle Pfeiffer in Montana, LIVE FROM NEW YORK, Paul Schrader’s Kino and Hippos at TIFF.
Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Paramount's fire, Michelle Pfeiffer in Montana, LIVE FROM NEW YORK, Paul Schrader’s Kino and Hippos at TIFF.
Let’s go!
Looking for something to watch this weekend? Check out What’s Coming Next in…
Theatrical:
https://theindustry.co/p/whats-coming-next-theatrical-87
Streaming:
https://theindustry.co/p/whats-coming-next-streaming
Casualties abound as the Paramount Skydance merger drags closer to actualization.
On Paramount Global’s Q2 earnings call, some of these realities were laid bare, as the company performance got dragged down by linear:
2000 person layoff (15% US workforce) by EOY across:
Marketing
Comms
Finance
Legal
Tech
Corporate
$5.4bn net loss
Up from $299 M ‘23 loss
$138 M theatrical revenue
↓ 40%
68.4 M subs
↓2.8M
$6bn write-down on cable TV networks
E.g., they’ve massively reduced the value of the asset
Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the same thing yesterday but to the tune of $9bn. Meaning their TV networks are worth $9bn less than they had previously valued them.
On the plus side for Paramount:
$1.8bn revenue DTC
↑ 13%
$1.4bn subscription revenue
↑ 12%
$513 M ad revenue
↑ 16%
$26 M streaming profit
Earned a profit for the first time
Up from $424 M ‘23 loss
Sold two assets
$1 bn in digital ad commitments secured
CFO Naveen Chopra stated:
“We expect Paramount+ to return to net subscriber growth in the second half of the year as we benefit from a more consistent cadence of original content… Now that we’re beyond the impacts of the strike, we also expect normalized international subscribers for the remainder of the year.”
The company will continue shopping its linear assets (BET etc.) as it doubles down on DTC.
Right now, Skydance is positioned to acquire the company on August 21st, the end of the 45-day shopping window. Pending any regulatory approval the deal would close next year.
For More:
WME Q2 earnings, as compared to last year:
$411 M revenue
↑ 7.9% since ‘23
$107.4 M EBITDA
↑ .2% since ‘23
This was part of a larger Endeavor earnings call.
Lionsgate Q2 earnings, as compared to last year:
$834.7 M revenue
↓ $73.9 M
$59.4 M net loss
lowered the loss by $11.3 M
$588.4 M studio revenue
↓ 4.9%
$347.3 M (motion picture, ↓ 15%)
$241.1 M (TV production, ↑ 10%)
CEO Jon Feltheimer discussed their TV business:
“In television, we’re reducing the number of combined Lionsgate and eOne producer deals by 70% with $30 million in projected annualized savings.”
Lionsgate acquired eOne from Hasbro for $375M at the end of last year.
Lionsgate’s steaming service Starz and BBC’s BritBox will spin off into a separate streaming bundle next quarter.
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
Looney Tunes Movie, oo longer doomed by MAX: Ketchup Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to Warner Bros. Animation's The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, a sci-fi comedy adventure starring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, directed by Pete Browngardt. The film, follows the duo as they uncover an alien invasion plot while working at a bubble gum factory. Originally greenlit for HBO Max, the film continued production despite HBO Max's restructuring and content write-offs, eventually finding a distributor in Ketchup Entertainment.
No release date yet, but it brings Space Jam (1996) nostalgia to see a Looney Tunes show up in theaters!
The new wrestling drama Unstoppable, from Amazon MGM Studios, stars Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight) and Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers).
Set to premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, the film will then debut in select theaters across the U.S. and UK this December.
This film marks the directorial debut of William Goldenberg, the veteran editor who won an Oscar for his work on Argo, the Best Picture winner from Ben Affleck.
Tidbit:
Janet Yang (AMPAS president), Jason Reitman (dir: Saturday Night), and Howard Berger (Prosthetic Make Up: Challengers, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood) are among the nine newly elected members of the Academy Foundation Board for 2024-2025. Berger, an Oscar winner, has been named president.
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THE ACTOR SPOTLIGHT
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, will take your breath away: From Girls to The Bear to and now The Thing in the new Fantastic Four film, Ebon's career has well and fully taken off, and these first look photos for Hold Your Breath promise a mysterious horror thriller starring Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story).
Here is the logline:
In 1930s Oklahoma amid the region's horrific dust storms, a woman is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family.
First look photo.
Though Ebon Moss-Bachrach made the first part of his career as a day player in Law and Order and a few other small parts, audiences began to take notice of his nuanced yet versatile characters. In Girls he started off as Desi a cool musician acting as an exciting love interest for Marnie, who over time completely decomposed into a neurotic mess.
He is now most well known for his tough guy with a broken heart Cousin Richie from The Bear, which ended up winning him an Emmy. He also recently started filming The Fantastic Four, in which he will play the Man of Stone, Ben Grimm.
The Bear
Girls
Andor
With Moss-Bachrach's late but deserved take over Hollywood, we cant wait to see any projects he gives his finishing touches to.
Hold Your Breath will premiere on Hulu on October 3rd.
Hulu’s Tell Me Lies Season Two is back with a dramatic trailer filled with betrayal and endless college antics.
The streamer’s teen drama follows Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White) returning to school after an emotional breakup at the start of the summer.
The logline reads:
Yet while very much at odds, they find themselves in a new version of their addictive dynamic – which is as infuriating as it is inescapable. Meanwhile, the story expands deeper into the lives of Lucy and Stephen’s friend group, as the fallout from Season 1 impacts all of their lives in unexpected ways.
In addition to Tell Me Lies, Patten starred in Hulu’s miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers (2021) also based on a novel. She also starred in a supporting role in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) with Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler.
Season 2 will premiere on Hulu on Sept. 4th.
Tidbit:
Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns, Scarface) stars in The Madison (Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone sequel series).
Official synopsis:
A heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.
Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global co-CEO, stated:
“Michelle Pfeiffer is a remarkable talent who imbues every role with emotional depth, authenticity and grace.”
Pfeiffer will next be seen in Michael Showalter's upcoming holiday comedy Oh. What. Fun.
Tim Blake Nelson is fresh off of a surprising reintroduction back into the Marvel universe, the last time being The Incredible Hulk (2008). He is now rolling with the punches in Bang Bang, where he takes on the role of an aging boxer.
LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT'S: Saturday Night! Jason Reitman's new film will take place over the 90 tumultuous minutes leading up to television history, the first episode of SNL 1975. Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) stars as the young producer Lorne Michaels, who, at 30, is portrayed as a visionary yet overwhelmed leader. This dedication to historical accuracy packaged into an even more realistic pacing could be huge for Biopics and Comedy as a whole.
Fittingly, this adaptation of 90 minutes that took place on October 11th, 1975, will land in theatres 49 years later, on the very same day.
The trailer shows the tension rising and lays out the stakes, no one expected this to be a success, and the stars, such as Cory Michael Smith's 'cocky" Chevy Chase and Mathew Rhys' George Carlin are causing quite a mess.
Watch the trailer here.
FESTIVALS
Hippos at TIFF. The Toronto International Film Festival has just released the line up for its Wavelengths selections. It’s more experimental fare, but there’s one I’m dying to see:
Pepe, an opaque, experimental art film (premiere: Berlin Film Festival) about Pablo Escobar’s hippos...told from the POV of the hippos… maybe.
Here is a tiny trailer snippet.
I like the work Bérénice Béjo has been doing recently. The Artist (2011) Best Actress nominee starred in Netflix’s recent #1 foreign film, Under Paris. The film has a goofy premise: a killer shark in the Seine (trailer). But she played it with such passion and seriousness that it was hard not to be engrossed.
Now she’s starring in Mexico ‘86 which is at Locarno.
Now, the first-look clip is overly sentimental. I could have done without the intrusive baby-crying SFX and the score which is mixed too high. But stripping all that away, you get Béjo, who just looks uncharacteristically frazzled (clip).
She’s not as raw as Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich, but it’s close.
Queer is headed to NYFF. Here’s a quick recap of the project:
Dir: Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Challengers)
Star: Daniel Craig
Co-Star: Jason Schwartzman, David Lowery
Writer: Justin Kuritzkes (Challengers)
Synopsis: Lee (Craig), who recounts his life in Mexico City among American expatriate college students and bar owners surviving on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. He is driven to pursue a young man named Allerton, who is based on Adelbert Lewis Marker.
Read more about how Daniel Craig’s hyper-masculinity as Bond is a beautiful shield:
https://theindustry.co/p/daniel-craig-goes-queer-ed0
INDIE FILMMAKER SPOTLIGHT
