Showbiz Sandbox 635: Deciphering Hollywood Hits and Misses
October 17, 2023
Hollywood studios often try to camouflage the success or failure of their movies. Sometimes they claim a film is unprofitable, yet go on to make several sequels, as Nu Image did with the “Has Fallen” franchise. Other times a studio insists a movie is a modest box office hit despite paying hundreds of millions for the underlying property, as with Universal Pictures’ recent “The Exorcist: Believer.” It many not matter to moviegoers, but it does to those with profit participation.
There is no denying that Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film is a huge success after its weekend in cinemas around the world. Though it didn’t live up to early box office forecasts, its opening was three times bigger than any concert movie in history. It became the highest grossing such film of all time in North America after just three days.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the latest on the actors’ strike, some questions over Spotify’s audiobook offering and Microsoft finally completes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
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Showbiz Sandbox 632: Pickets Down – Hollywood Writers Strike A Tentative Deal
September 26, 2023
The Writer’s Guild of America reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) potentially ending its strike after 146 days. Entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel wrote the book on Hollywood strikes, literally, and is a contributing writer at Puck where he covers labor issues. He fills us in on what is known about the deal the WGA negotiated and when striking actors may follow suit.
Handel also helps us understand why some big name authors and comedians are suing OpenAI for copyright infringement after discovering the company used their work to train their artificial intelligence platform, ChatGPT.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how HBO is adding sports to its streaming service, Amazon will add advertisements to Prime Video and Ruper Murdoch announces his retirement from Fox and News Corp.
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Showbiz Sandbox 620: This Year’s Tony Awards Were Unscripted, Yet Predictable
June 14, 2023
This 76th annual Tony Awards ceremony was held last weekend honoring the best and brightest Broadway productions from the past year. Although there was no script for host Ariana DeBose to work due to the writer’s strike. But while the telecast may have been refreshingly unscripted, the winners were fairly predictable with “Kimberly Akimbo” winning Best Musical, Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt” taking home Best Play and “Parade” picking up the Best Musical Revival trophies. The only question now is which shows will turn their Tony wins into box office gold.
Speaking of labor relations in Hollywood, the DGA released some more info on its proposed deal with producers and the reviews are decidedly mixed, especially for helmers who also write. Meanwhile SAG-AFTRA members made it loud and clear that they are ready to strike as well.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the PGA’s controversial move to merge with a competitive golf league, CNN axes its CEO and network shows continue to sink in TV ratings.
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Showbiz Sandbox 619: Directors Strike Deal for New Contract With Producers
June 6, 2023
The Directors Guild of America reached a deal with studios, networks and streamers on a new three-year contract avoiding what some believed would be the first true strike in its 87 year history. Entertainment and technology attorney Jonathan Handel joins us to explain the proposed agreement the directors negotiated with producers. He wrote the book on labor in Hollywood, quite literally, as the author of “Hollywood On Strike.”
Meanwhile, Tom Cruise is facing another impossible mission. First he saved Hollywood with Top Gun: Maverick. Now he wants to save his new “Mission: Impossible” movie from being exiled from IMAX screens less than two weeks after it opens in July. We’ll explain what’s going on in the battle over premium screens.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how the French Open is protecting tennis players from toxic social media, why David Byrne’s upcoming Broadway show has no musicians and which summer blockbusters are sinking at the worldwide box office.
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Showbiz Sandbox 612: No Easy Cure for Concert Ticket Troubles
March 28, 2023
Everyone from fans of popular music groups to Broadway regulars are still facing angst and high prices when buying tickets. When the English rock band The Cure decided to forego dynamic pricing and charge only $20 to verified fans for tickets to their upcoming tour, the service fees and facility charges added up to more than twice that amount. Now lead singer Robet Smith is calling out Ticketmaster to explain how this could happen.
Meanwhile, the awards season officially comes to an end as the 48th Annual IRA Awards are announced, highlighting at least 30 films, some of which were previously overlooked and definitely worth checking out.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the controversy over Disney’s firing of a top executive at Marvel, how ad supported streaming services are making their presence known and Apple plans to spend big money to make original films for movie theaters.
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Showbiz Sandbox 604: Which Awards Actually Matter?
January 17, 2023
As we get deeper into this year’s awards season we’re finally hearing from groups whose opinions mean something. For instance, the guilds for directors, producers and cinematographers have all nominated their top picks from last year’s movies. In other instances however, awards are handed out in so many different categories, it seems like every film released gets a gold star.
Meanwhile, as the Grammy Awards are nearly upon us, we are learning that last year’s top five songs are generating less interest than the top five songs from 2021. In fact, the ten biggest songs of each year are drawing fewer and fewer listeners year-after-year, becoming a smaller piece of the streaming pie.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Amazon is parting ways with Jeremy Clarkson, how Cathleen Hoover dominated the 2022 best seller lists and a first look at last year’s global box office tally.
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Showbiz Sandbox 525: A Non-Netflix Show Finally Tops Nielsen’s Streaming Charts
January 19, 2021
For the first time in history, or at least since Nielsen started its U.S. weekly streaming chart, a non-Netflix show claimed the top spot. For the week ending December 20th “The Mandalorian” was the number one steamed show in the nation, with over 1.33 billion total minutes viewed by Disney+ subscribers. As more streaming services come online with their own original programming, Netflix’s domination of the Nielsen chart may ultimately fade.
Speaking of ratings, a new leader among cable news networks has emerged since last year’s presidential election. For the first time since 2000, CNN and MSNBC beat out Fox News. Do these ratings reflect the unprecedented political crises we’ve been facing or a sea change in viewership?
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including country star Morgan Wallen’s new streaming record, Disneyland ditches annual passes and Shakira sells the publishing rights to her music.
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Showbiz Sandbox 513: How Can Movie Theaters Survive Without Movies?
October 6, 2020
Studios are pushing movie releases into 2021, with the latest James Bond thriller abandoning it’s scheduled November date in cinemas. Now major theater chains are shutting their doors once again. We’re joined by Patrick von Sychowski, the editor of Celluloid Junkie, to help us break down the present and predict the future of the cinema industry.
Meanwhile in China, movie theaters are not only open, they are bringing in big audiences who are off work during the country’s Golden Week. More than two films earned over $100 million at the Chinese box office this past week, proving cinemas can reboot after a coronavirus shutdown.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including new charges against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, some good news for junior players at United Talent Agency and some bad news for 28,000 former Disney employees.
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Showbiz Sandbox 488: The Hollywood Reporter Falls Into A Parent Trap
April 8, 2020
In a move that took the entertainment industry by surprise, Matthew Belloni, the Executive Editor of The Hollywood Reporter, announced he would be stepping down from the publication after 14 years. Within minutes competitors such as Variety and The Wrap revealed that Belloni’s departure was over editorial independence.
Valence Media’s leadership allegedly wanted to block unfavorable stories about their friends and affiliated companies. As well, the sought additional coverage of subsidiaries such as Dick Clark Productions. The situation has angered the editorial staff at the Reporter leaving many to wonder who might be next to depart the world’s most widely read entertainment news outlet.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why a partner at one leading talent agency is suing the firm for wrongful termination, Activision wins a lawsuit allowing it to use Humvees in “Call of Duty” and the latest on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the global entertainment business.
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Showbiz Sandbox 484: How the Coronavirus Is Roiling the Entertainment Industry
March 9, 2020
Like everyone around the globe, the entertainment industry has been consumed by the coronavirus. The ongoing health issue has pushed back the release date of the latest James Bond film, canceled the SXSW conference and is postponing music festivals. We cover more of the ripple effects of the pandemic including its effect on the worldwide box office.
Not all business has been halted in Hollywood however. The Directors Guild of America reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP which represents producers and studios. This paves the way for the Writers Guild of America to step in and negotiate their own deal, provided they can ever settle with talent agencies.
Meanwhile, the music industry is finally making serious money again thanks to streaming. In fact, there’s a brand new streaming service in India. Music lovers in Japan though still prefer their compact discs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Woody Allen lost the publisher of his memoir, the PGA gets a new television deal for all its golf tournaments and Led Zeppelin wins another copyright court case.
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