The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
Disney’s reveal March 4 that it would launch a less expensive, advertising-supported tier of Disney+ spurred consternation from some Wall Street analysts, with firms like Moffett Nathanson lowering their price targets for the entertainment giant. Was the company worried that it would miss its goal of hitting 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024? “Is this a Hail Mary? No, it’s not,” Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said of the strategy shift March 7 at a Morgan Stanley conference. “We certainly welcome it if it drives more consumers, more subscribers, if it improves ARPU, but we are really doing it because of consumer choice.” In some ways, the move was the culmination of robust debate internally at Disney that had been happening on and off for years. On its November…
Tim Cook Amid an MLB lockout, the Apple CEO makes his first move in the live sports business with a deal to carry weekly baseball games on Fridays. Bill Morrow The DirecTV CEO presides over a loss of 1.9 million subs in 2021, the most of any cable or satellite provider last year, according to analyst firm Leichtman Research. Glass Animals The U.K. band’s “Heat Waves” lands a Billboard Hot 100 record for hitting No. 1 on the chart 59 weeks after the single debuted in June 2020. Liz Heldens Despite critical acclaim, Fox cancels The Big Leap, led by the show-runner, after its 11-episode run wrapped with 2 million viewers and a 0.4 rating among the 18-49 demo. Showbiz Stocks $33.74 (+3.7%) PARAMOUNT GLOBAL (PARA) After seeing its stock…
8 episodes 1.84B minutes watched Reacher, based on the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child, had the equivalent of a blockbuster opening weekend after premiering Feb. 4. The show had the highest single-week total viewing time of any Prime Video series in the 17-month history of Nielsen’s streaming rankings, beating The Wheel of Time’s premiere week by nearly 700 million minutes (albeit with a full, eight-episode season to the latter show’s three episodes). Amazon quickly renewed Reacher for a second season.…
As one Russian film industry source tells it, there had been “a lot of optimism” for 2022 to see a return to (almost) pre-pandemic box office levels, aided so far by such titles as Spider-Man: No Way Home ($55 million in the country), Uncharted ($17 million), Sing 2 ($16 million) and Death on the Nile ($8 million). The Batman was next up. Then, on Feb. 24, President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to begin an invasion of Ukraine. Over the course of just a couple of days, beginning with Disney on Feb. 28, Hollywood studios — and most major corporations across the board — hit the pause button on their Russian business dealings, halting upcoming releases. Alongside the return of box office revenue, streaming and high-end TV were ramping up.…
For decades, families eyeing an inexpensive night out in Southern California have been able to rely on Regency Theatres’ second-run locations (also known as Dollar Houses), which screened movies just before they hit home release for only a few dollars per person. That changed in early 2022, when the company’s locations in Pasadena and Norwalk quietly switched formats and now exclusively screen new releases, more than doubling ticket prices in the process. The collapse of the second-run market is one more sign that owning an independent theater chain has become exponentially more challenging since the COVID-19 pandemic upended movie-going habits two years ago. In addition to a reduction in product, exhibitors have had to grapple with attempts to shorten theatrical windows, including Warner Bros.’ decision to release its entire 2021…
The bat’s out of the bag. On March 1, AMC Theatres chief Adam Aron revealed during an investor call that the world’s largest circuit was going to employ surge pricing and charge more in North America for tickets to see The Batman. But AMC, whose surcharge ranged from $1 to $1.50 a ticket, wasn’t the only chain upping the stakes. Cinemark Theatres and Regal Cinemas, the country’s two other largest circuits, also experimented with surge pricing or the Warner Bros. tentpole. Even before that, Cinemark and Regal began employing the increases during the December opening weekend of Sony’s box office behemoth Spider-Man: No Way Home. The difference: They didn’t go public with their plans; Aron did. Cinemark’s price increase in North America has ranged from $1, in about two-thirds of…
