Showbiz Sandbox 400: The Long, Slow Death of Barnes & Noble

February 19, 2018

 Thumbnail

As Barnes & Noble loses an ever increasing number of customers to Amazon, the largest bookstore chain in the United States continues struggles to remain a viable business, if not relevant. Now comes word the retailer has cut 1,800 workers representing all of its full-time in-store staff. Should this last ditch effort to stay in business fails, the publishing industry is in for a world of hurt.

Meanwhile, “Black Panther” roared into theaters, shattering records as it came out on top of this week’s worldwide box office, despite Chinese New Year releases earning over half a billion dollars. Will the success of a big budget movie with a minority cast change the culture of Hollywood and the kinds of projects it chooses to make?

The BAFTA Awards were held on Sunday, reinforcing what everyone is saying about this year’s Oscar race: the acting categories look to be locked in stone, but Best Picture is still up for grabs.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news with special guest Karen Woodward, including television producer Ryan Murphy’s rich deal at Netflix, musician Justin Timberlake’s upcoming tour is a huge hit even before tickets go on sale and why MoviePass is in the news yet again.

comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of February 18, 2018
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-february-18-2018-300600484.html

“Black Panther” Claws Its Way To Massive $192 Million 3-Day Debut. This Weekend at the Box Office.
https://celluloidjunkie.com/2018/02/18/black-panther-claws-its-way-to-massive-192-million-3-day-debut-this-weekend-at-the-box-office/

Sony Apologizes for ‘Peter Rabbit’ Movie’s Allergy Scene
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/arts/peter-rabbit-food-allergy.html

Can ‘Black Panther’ Be A Box Office Game-Changer Overseas?
http://deadline.com/2018/02/black-panther-african-american-films-foreign-box-office-1202286475/

China Curbs Ticket Subsidies in Blockbuster Season
http://chinafilminsider.com/china-curbs-ticket-subsidies-blockbuster-season/

“Black Panther” Soundtrack Debuts At #1 On Billboard Top 200
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/black-panther-album-debuts-at-no-1-billboard-200-chart-1085978

MoviePass Terminated a ‘Small Percentage’ of its Users for Violating Its Terms of Service — and People Are Freaking Out
http://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-terminated-users-for-violating-terms-of-service-premium-tickets-2018-2

BAFTA Awards: 2018 Complete Winners List
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/bafta-awards-2018-complete-winners-list-1202702940/

Harry Connick Jr. Talk Show to End After 2 Seasons
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/harry-connick-jr-talk-show-1202703071/

Hiding Out by Tina Alexis Allen – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2017/05/31/secrets-of-a-holy-father-2/

In The Enemy’s House by Howard Blum – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2017/05/31/we-shall-bury-you-2/

Universal Marketing Team In Chaos After Multiple Execs Exit
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/universal-marketing-team-chaos-multiple-execs-exit-1085162

‘Maze Runner’ Author James Dashner Dropped by Literary Agent
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/02/14/us/ap-us-books-maze-runner-author.html

Jeffrey Tambor Officially Fired From ‘Transparent’ in Wake of Harassment Claims
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jeffrey-tambor-officially-fired-transparent-wake-harassment-claims-1085236

Neil LaBute Out as Playwright-in-Residence at Off Broadway’s MCC Theater
http://variety.com/2018/legit/news/mcc-theater-neil-labute-play-canceled-1202700263/

NBC Narrowly Overtakes CBS Among Total Viewers for First Time Since 2002
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nbc-overtakes-cbs-total-viewers-first-time-2002-1083889

How Many People Are Watching the Olympics? NBC Uses a Tricky Head Count
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/sports/olympics/olympics-nbc-viewers-digital.html

In Paris, number of productions open to internationals doubles in 2016
https://web.babbler.us/document/show/in-paris-number-of-productions-open-to-internationals-doubles-in-2016

Judge Rules News Publishers Violated Copyright by Embedding Tweets of Tom Brady Photo
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/judge-rules-news-publishers-violated-copyright-by-embedding-tweets-tom-brady-photo-1085342

Justin Timberlake Tour Heads Toward $100 Million as ‘Say Something’ Crosses Over
http://variety.com/2018/music/news/justin-timberlake-man-of-the-woods-rollout-tour-1202699466/

Ryan Murphy Inks Mammoth Overall Deal with Netflix
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/ryan-murphy-netflix-overall-deal-fox-1202698305/

Pinewood Plots Major Shepperton Studios Expansion With 100-Acre Real-Estate Deal
http://variety.com/2018/tv/global/pinewood-plans-shepperton-studios-expansion-1202695683/

Universal Revenues Hit $6.4BN in 2017
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-revenues-hit-6-4bn-in-2017-thats-18m-per-day/

YouTube TV Hikes Fees, Adds Channels
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2018021550920/youtube-tv-hikes-fees-adds-channels.html

YouTube Red Is A ‘Music Service’ And Is About To Expand Around the Globe, Says Susan Wojcicki
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/youtube-red-is-a-music-service-and-is-about-to-expand-around-the-globe-says-susan-wojcicki/

Sky, BT retain principal Premier League football rights for £4.5BN
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2018021350894/sky-bt-retain-principal-premier-league-football-rights-for-4-5bn.html

Weinstein Company Fires David Glasser, Its President
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/arts/weinstein-company-fires-david-glasser.html

B&N to Save $40 Million Following New Layoffs
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/76050-layoffs-hit-barnes-noble.html

Bookstore Sales Fell 3.6% in 2017
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/76062-bookstore-sales-fell-3-6-in-2017.html

Comments

Comments are closed.