Showbiz Sandbox 536: Blockbuster Box Office Begins Pandemic Recovery

April 14, 2021

After remaining dormant for most of the past year “Godzilla vs. Kong” revived the box office with the best opening weekend since the COVID-19 pandemic bega. The monster movie has taken in over $350 million globally despite being available on HBO Max. in $38 million despite being available on HBO Max. Does this mean big blockbuster movies can open day-and-date and score big even if they’re available online via a streamer? Uh, no.

Meanwhile, politics is stressing out Hollywood. Whether it’s human rights issues in China or voting rights issues in Georgia, Hollywood is not happy about being forced to take sides.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including producer Scott Rudin being exposed as a bully after decades of bad behavior, “Game of Thrones” may be headed to Broadway and singer Lil Nas X stirs up some controversy with his latest chart topper.

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Showbiz Sandbox 452: The Tony Awards Go To Hell

June 10, 2019

The 2018-19 Broadway season was a banner year as the Great White Way broke box office and attendance records, earning $1.89 billion from an attendance of 14.8 million patrons. The Tony Awards were handed out to the season’s best productions and performances as “Hadestown,” a musical about Hell, took home eight prizes including Best Musical and “The Ferryman” won four trophies including Best Play.

During this episode we take a different approach to reporting box office; rather than report which movie topped the worldwide charts, we look which title earned the most money over the past week. Why only count Friday through Sunday, when there are four may days to every week in which people are seeing movies.

We are also joined by Patrick von Sychowski, the editor of Celluloid Junkie, who tells us how he put together an exclusive story of how Chinese authorities spent three years tracking and shutting down one of the largest movie piracy rings of all time. After uncovering piracy being done on an industrial scale, the question remains, could it happen again.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Netflix was told to stop poaching employees from its competitors, YouTube starts pulling hateful content off its platform and Entertainment Weekly magazine goes monthly.

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Showbiz Sandbox 451: With Streaming On the Rise, Apple Kills iTunes

June 3, 2019

Before the iPod, when Napster was turning casual music fans into criminals, Apple saved the music industry by launching iTunes. What the music industry feared would enable people to organize the music they’d already stolen, actually allowed people to start buying digital music legally. Within a few years Apple became one of the largest music retailers in the world.

Now that the software seems to have outlived its purpose Apple will launch new apps to handle music, video, books and podcasts and the once iconic all-purpose library known as iTunes will disappear. It turns out this may also be a way to force consumers into signing up for Apple Music, the company’s music streaming service.

Meanwhile, the state of film and television production has been turned upside down in Georgia thanks to the passage of a new law restricting abortion. Studios, networks, producers, directors and actors must decide whether to continue shooting in Georgia and accept its tax subsidies, or boycott the state entirely.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a record setting season on Broadway, the “Game of Thrones” creators dump their manager and the Oscars announced this year’s Governors Awards.

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Showbiz Sandbox 450: Once Upon A Time… in Cannes

May 28, 2019

This year’s Cannes Film Festival will be remembered for presenting a selection of titles from around the world that were, for the most part, really good movies. The premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film, “Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood,” was one of the highlights, but it was “Parasite” from Korean director Bong Joon-ho that stole the show, as well as the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. We take you to the Croisette in the French Riviera to cover the entire festival and all the films to look out for over the coming months.

Harvey Weinstein used to be one of the movie moguls that showed up in Cannes each May, but these days he’s busy negotiating a reported $44 million settlement with those accusing him of sexual harassment and assault.

Meanwhile, when some of those films from Cannes make it to cinemas, audiences will likely check Rotten Tomatoes to see what critics and moviegoers have to say about them. We give a 95% Fresh Rating to how Rotten Tomatoes plans on protecting their website from being manipulated in the future.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a new name for Warner Bros. Records, why film and television productions are boycotting the state of Georgia and Lil Nas X cuts a deal for a new pair of Wranglers.

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Showbiz Sandbox 448: Georgia Is On Hollywood’s Mind

May 13, 2019

After the governor of Georgia signed a controversial and restrictive anti-abortion bill, many Hollywood productions are grappling over whether to boycott filming in the state. Heavyweights such as J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele whose HBO drama series begins production in Georgia next week say they are donating their proceeds to organizations fighting the new law. It has gotten to a point where actress Alyssa Milano is calling for women to hold a “sex strike.”

Meanwhile, for three weeks now “Avengers: Endgame” has dominated the worldwide box office in every country around the world. Well, every country except Japan where a new ‘Detective Conan’ movie has beat it out.

It’s also the time of year when television networks reveal which series are being canceled, renewed or picked up for next season. In an unusual move, NBC announced it would renew the hit show “This Is Us” for three more seasons, before the series comes to an end.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Rolling Stone magazine launches its own music charts to take on Billboard, Steve Harvey’s loses his talk show and even though it may not be up for Best Play at the Tony Awards, “To Kill A Mockingbird” has become the highest grossing American play in history.
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Showbiz Sandbox 317: Bundling Cable Networks May Work For Advertisers, But Not For Cable Customers

April 4, 2016

In yet another sign that the difference between broadcast and cable networks is eroding, NBCUniversal announced that it would include all of its cable outlets in their traditional upfront presentation to advertisers for NBC. By combining shows from networks such as Bravo, Telemundo and Oxygen with the big primetime hits on NBC, the Comcast owned media giant is signaling that the best way for advertisers to reach viewers is through aggregating audiences.

Time Warner Cable, on the other hand, is struggling to distribute its own content through different cable providers. Specifically, none of the other pay-TV companies is willing to force their customers to pay for SportsNet LA, the regional sports network owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Could this be an indication that cable operators finally understand that technology will force them to unbundle their basic cable offering?

Meanwhile, short, cheap and entertaining books – once called dime store novels or pulp fiction – are making a comeback. As are serialized novels, short stories and lots of things that don’t fit into the 250 pages or more standard of most books today. Technology and the need to hold the attention of readers are the reasons it’s happening.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the controversial film pulled from the Tribeca Film Festival lineup, the death of comedian Gary Shandling and the porn industry gets into virtual reality.

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