Showbiz Sandbox 414: The MoviePass Effect Is Real and Here To Stay
June 25, 2018
The film industry can say what it wants about MoviePass, and it’s said plenty, but the subscription moviegoing service has made a huge impact on the market since lowering its price to just under $10 per month. Though skeptics abound on whether the company is financially sustainable, the subscription model it has popularized is quickly becoming a standard offering. Just last week AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain, announced its own subscription plan to compete directly with MoviePass.
Meanwhile, China is realizing that its growing movie and television industry is becoming overcrowded. With tens of thousands of film and TV companies having sprung up over the past decade and hundreds of films going unreleased each year, there is a fear that the country could be experiencing a media bubble that is about to burst.
Back in the United States, celebrities are suddenly are shocked to discover that the Fox News channel is peddling in propaganda and is not so concerned with actual news. While this may have been the case since the networks inception, creatives are now threatening to walk away from business with Fox Studios. Quick, somebody tell them that Fox Studios is about to have a new owner.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the above average TV ratings for World Cup matches, “Roseanne” officially gets a spinoff series and a Michael Jackson musical may soon be coming to Broadway.
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Showbiz Sandbox 267: VOD Helps Heat Up Sundance
February 2, 2015
Distributors went on a buying spree at this year’s Sundance Film Festival not only due to the quality of the movies, but also because of new-found revenue from VOD services. We give you a rundown of the titles that were acquired, how much was spent on them and whether there is any hope they will ever make that money back for distributors.
Speaking of money, musician Sly Stone could be $5 million richer after winning a court ruling last week against his former manager who he claims withheld royalties.
Singer Sam Smith, on the other hand, won’t be trying to cheat Tom Petty out of royalties for his song, “Stay With Me”. The artist agreed the song was similar to one of Petty’s past hits and added the legendary rocker to the writing credits.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including yet another Super Bowl television ratings record, when we can expect the next “Game of Thrones” book from author George R.R. Martin, and “Empire” is becoming a much needed hit series for Fox.
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