Showbiz Sandbox 649: Hollywood’s Superhero Movie Problem
February 27, 2024
The superhero movie is facing its biggest enemy yet – audience indifference. “Madame Web” is just the latest superhero flick to open to poor reviews and/or bad box office. Entertainment journalist Geoff Boucher, who has covered the comic book world for over two decades and is a bigwig at ComicCon, discusses the declining popularity of superhero films and his belief that there are better times ahead for the genre.
Meanwhile, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are facing their own existential threats, especially when it comes to their declining ad revenue, soft earnings and overwhelming debt.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Beyoncé making history on the country music charts, revenues soar for concert promoter Live Nation thanks to some big tours and artificial intelligence upends the expansion of Tyler Perry’s studio.
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Showbiz Sandbox 633: Dissecting the New Writers Guild Contract
October 3, 2023
The Writers Guild of America released details of the new contract they negotiated with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers ending their historic 148 day strike. The 94-page document is filled with big gains for writers in pay and protection from artificial intelligence. It’s also a compromise to the deal the WGA initially sought from the AMPTP, as is to be expected.
Meanwhile the Golden Globe Awards has christened two new categories; one for cinematic and box office achievement (which makes no sense) and another for best performance ni stand up comedy on television (which seems like a good idea).
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Juilliard’s acting program is about to get a lot cheaper to attend, how artificial intelligence is augmenting a classic Ingmar Bergman film and Beyoncé is bringing a movie of her Renaissance tour to cinemas.
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Showbiz Sandbox 607: AMC Sets Sights On Upending Movie Ticket Prices
February 14, 2023
AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain, announced plans to start charging moviegoers based on where they sit in an auditorium. Preferred seats will cost a few dollars more than standard seats and those in the first two rows will cost less. At a time when movie theaters are having trouble attracting patrons back into cinemas, is this new pricing scheme supposed to actually encourage moviegoing or streaming at home?
The good news for movie theater operators is that major studios are rethinking their distribution strategies. Disney is the latest to suggest they will be returning to a theatrical window. During a quarterly earnings call the company’s new old CEO, Bob Iger, also revealed they will be cutting 7,000 jobs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Beyoncé is in good company when it comes to being shut out of Grammys top prize, the movie “La La Land” is headed to Broadway and Kevin Costner is leaving the hit series ‘Yellowstone.”
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Showbiz Sandbox 606: Beyoncé Makes Grammy History As Harry Styles Wins Album of the Year
February 8, 2023
Though Beyoncé led the 2023 Grammy Award nominations with nine nods, in the end she did not win the top prize for Album of the Year for “Renaissance.” Much to the dismay of some, that honor went to Harry Styles for “Harry’s House,” though Beyoncé did break the record for the most Grammy wins ever. We have a run down of all the winners and big surprises at this year’s Grammys.
We’re also joined by Sal Nunziato, whose blog Burning Wood has become a must-read for music aficionados. He and Michael Giltz discuss their favorite albums from the past year, and for once they are in agreement on most of them.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why a Bruce Springsteen fanzine ins calling it quotes after 43 years, Spotify continues to struggle with profitability and how “80 For Brady” tries to woo older moviegoers back to theaters.
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Showbiz Sandbox 599: The Grammy Awards Have A Timing Problem
November 18, 2022
The nominees for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards were announced this week and as expected Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Harry Styles will all be competing for top awards. Yet some of the year’s biggest albums weren’t even eligible to be nominated because they were released after September. This is a continuous problem for the Grammys, since their deadline is always before the busy holiday season when many artists release albums.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why how Netflix is eyeing live sporting events, workers are headed for a strike at publisher Harper Collins and the “Black Panther” sequel opens to big box office.
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Showbiz Sandbox 590: New Warner Bros. Discovery Strategy Is A Little Batty
August 9, 2022
The newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery held its first earnings call last week making so many headlines it was all anyone in the entertainment industry could talk about. The company has a ton of debt, but a plan to get into better financial shape; stop producing expensive scripted shows, shelve pricey projects and layoff thousands of employees. Most controversially the media giant decided to completely abandon the nearly finished DC movie, “Batgirl.”
Speaking of comic book movies, the Wall Street Journal believes Disney’s Marvel titles are in a bit of a slump. Their movies are grossing less, getting worse reviews are not a big deal on social media. Do people even like superhero movies anymore?
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the story behind all those expensive Springsteen tickets, why Beyonce is changing the lyrics to one of her recent songs and why “To Kill A Mockingbird” is leaving Broadway.
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Showbiz Sandbox 533: Behind The Scenes At The Most Challenging Grammys Ever
March 16, 2021
Working within strict health and safety guidelines the producers of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards telecast were uncertain how the show would come together or even when it would take place. David Wild knows this first hand. He was the lead writer and one of the producers on this year’s show. Wild joins us to detail all the challenges of pulling off music’s biggest night amidst a global pandemic.
Meanwhile, nods for outstanding achievements in motion pictures were announced en masse over the past week with the BAFTAs, Cesars, Directors Guild, American Society of Cinematographers and many more leading up to, finally, this year’s Oscar nominations.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including a trip to this year’s Berlin Film Festival, how Drake is dominating the music charts and Disney+ continues its staggering growth.
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Showbiz Sandbox 445: Is Netflix Leaving Money On The Table?
April 22, 2019
There is no arguing that Netflix is doing quite well these days. Even the announcement of heavyweight competition from the likes of Disney and Apple hasn’t affected its stock price nor, more importantly, hampered its subscriber growth. The company added 10 million new subscribers in the first quarter of 2019 alone.
Even so, Netflix may want to rethink their approach to how they monetize their television shows. While their big hits such as “House of Cards” may not be appropriate or too exclusive to syndicate on traditional linear networks, others such as “One Day At A Time” may be a missed opportunity for the streamer to do what it’s never done before: seek more outside revenue.
Meanwhile, this year’s Cannes Film Festival lineup features longtime favorites like Ken Loach and Pedro Almodovar, new favorites like Xavier Dolan and more female filmmakers than in the past. Just don’t look for any movies from Netflix.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the continuing dispute between the WGA and talent agents, MoviePass loses 90% of its 3 million subscribers and director Roman Polanski wants back into the Academy.
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Showbiz Sandbox 407: Beyoncé Delivers A Higher Education To Coachella
April 17, 2018
Though Beyoncé was unable to headline Coachella last year due to being pregnant with twins, she more than made up for it this year with a performance that music critics are rightly hailing as the best live music event in decades. In a two hour set that included more than 100 performers from dancers to musicians, even a full marching band, Beyoncé put on a spectacular show that managed to be technically brilliant as well as socially relevant to the times. We were there and provide first hand reporting from this year’s Coachella.
Another festival making news is Cannes, which announced the films in this year’s competition, leaving out many of the event’s favorite auteurs. The festival also parted ways with Netflix, not inviting films produced by the streaming giant since they won’t be released in movie theaters.
Speaking of Netflix, a shareholder has sued the company for what they allege to a scheme which assured senior management and board members performance bonuses. The complaint accuses Netflix of using the performance bonuses to avoid paying taxes, rather than for any actual performance gains.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the kurfuffle over Apu, an Indian character on “The Simpsons,” Kendrick Lamar wins a Pulitzer Prize for his latest album and Fleetwood Mac parts ways with its longstanding guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.
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Showbiz Sandbox 392: Awards Season Begins To Take Shape
December 11, 2017
You know you’re in the thick of the awards season when you have to complain about who was snubbed and overlooked when the Golden Globe nominations were announced. “The Shape of Water” and “Big Little Lies” led this year’s nominees, as women filmmakers were shut out. Then there is the nomination for “Get Out,” a horror film, in the music and drama category, which makes even less sense.
One filmmaker who probably won’t be attending the Golden Globes this year is Bryan Singer. The filmmaker behind the X-Men franchise was fired from his latest film “Bohemian Rhapsody” after disappearing from the set. Singer cried foul and said he was caring for an ill parent, though it turns out a civil case was filed against him over a 2003 sexually assault of a 17-year-old boy.
Speaking of sexual misconduct, Time magazine named all the women who have come forward to tell their own stories of sexual harassment and assault, especially in Hollywood, as their person of the year. Accusations continue to surface about those in front of and behind the camera with the number of incident showing no sign of abating anytime soon.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including J.K. Rowling defends casting Johnny Depp in the “Fantastic Beasts” movie, why the release of John Travolta’s mobster biopic “Gotti” was delayed and Alec Baldwin preps a talk show.
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