Today In Entertainment

DECEMBER 04, 2020

What's news: Warner Bros. takes unprecedented steps to shore up HBO Max ... Disney undergoes another big round of layoffs ... ViacomCBS has Wall Street more optimistic for now ... Discovery+ unveils 50-plus originals for its streaming launch. — Erik Hayden

 Broken Windows

Developing ... 

► Awaiting the fallout after Warner Bros.' big day-and-date move. In an unprecedented reveal, the studio will send 17 films — including The Matrix 4, The Suicide Squad and Dune to its streaming service for 31 days the same day they hit theaters.

+ WB exec Toby Emmerich's take: "It allows us to do a global release and a national release in what we think is going to be a checkerboarded theatrical market place for the bulk of 2021. We think where theaters are open, and consumers can go, that a lot of people will choose to go to the theater, especially for big movies." Full story.

+ AMC Theatres' CEO Adam Aron replies: “Clearly, Warner Media intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division, and that of its production partners and filmmakers, to subsidize its HBO Max startup." More. 

+ Another top exhibition source weighs in: “We get it, for the most part. We are glad they are positioning it as a temporary pandemic model but it is disturbing that they decided it was going to be all of 2021 ... Once competition comes back this summer, theater owners will hold out for better terms.” Mixed reaction. 

+ Silent so far? The National Association of Theatre Owners hasn’t weighed in. But the battle is far from over, and more could sound their own rallying cry once the COVID-19 crisis ends and moviegoing resumes in earnest, Mia Galuppo and Pamela McClintock report. 

+ A good question. B. Riley analyst Eric Wold asks in a report: "The biggest initial question is why Warner Bros. would announce this new distribution plan for all of the planned 2021 films before seeing the results from WW84 later this month under the same strategy?"

+ A prediction: MoffettNathanson's analysts write in a new note that "this decision will be a very costly one for everyone involved: AT&T, participants/rights holders, and theatrical exhibitors. It is hard to find any winners here."

Industry updates ...

► Disney's new round of layoffs. The staff reductions are taking place in Disney's General Entertainment Content unit, overseen by Peter Rice, and Dana Walden's Walt Disney Television division, including ABC and studio 20th Television. Sources say more than 100 staffers have been impacted: "It's a bloodbath." 

+ Disney+ head of unscripted exits for Netflix. Dan Silver, who has spent the past year as vp nonfiction originals at the streamer, has departed the Mouse House for a job at its rival.

+ Radio Disney shutting down. The company's radio channels will stop broadcasting in the first quarter of 2021, resulting in layoffs for 36 full- and part-time employees. Story. 

► ViacomCBS has Wall Street more optimistic. While presiding over $371 million in restructuring charges, management has touted progress on the carriage deals front and placed a big bet on rebranding streamer CBS All Access as Paramount+ early next year. A close look at the changes. 

► Discovery+ plans 50-plus originals for launch month. Multiple spinoffs of TLC's popular 90 Day Fiance franchise and previews of several titles from Chip and Joanna Gaines' forthcoming Magnolia Network are among the highlights.

► Netflix's Queen's Gambit reigns on top streaming chart. The limited series accounted for 1.46 billion minutes of viewers' time to rank first for the week, while Disney+'s The Mandalorian (955 million minutes) stayed put at No. 3 in the week. Full top 10. 

+ Nielsen: Women, BIPOC remain underrepresented on TV. The study by the ratings service looked at not just how many people from various identity groups are cast on series, but how often and how long they appear. Full results. 

► Apple teams with Hillary and Chelsea Clinton for docuseries. The streamer made a straight-to-series order for an event docuseries based on the best-selling The Book of Gutsy Women. Details. 

*Listen: In this week's TV's Top 5 Podcast, hosts Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg explore how WarnerMedia just blew up the theatrical window and are joined by Your Honor showrunner Peter Moffat to discuss his Showtime limited series.

► AMC renews Fear the Walking Dead for season seven. The news comes as the flagship series spinoff is currently on hiatus in the middle of season six, having wrapped one episode earlier than originally intended.

► NBC is closing the doors on Superstore. The show's current season will be its last. The workplace comedy set at a big-box store will end next year after six seasons and 113 episodes.

► Disney+'s Hawkeye enlists Vera Farmiga. The actor joins Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld and Florence Pugh in the Marvel series that recently began production. 

► CBS' Equalizer reboot lands post-Super Bowl premiere. The drama starring Queen Latifah will premiere after the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, then settle into its regular 8 p.m. Sunday home.

► MTV Entertainment Group's $250M commitment. The ViacomCBS division is pledging $250 million over the next three years to "fuel the growth of content led and produced by BIPOC- and women-owned and -operated production companies." Story. 

+ Stream-ripping is next frontier for piracy wars. The Recording Industry Association of America runs into some pushback after objecting to a tool that creates permanent copies of YouTube content.  Full report. 

Meanwhile: Meena Harris and Brad Jenkins are launching a production company ... New York Times critic Wesley Morris and New Yorker writer Michael Schulman both pick their best performances of the year ... Sean Connery's 007 gun fetches $250,000 at an auction ... Letitia Wright is embroiled in an anti-vaccine controversy on Twitter ... Mariah Carey previews her Apple TV+ Christmas special. 

What else we're reading ... 

— "The new comedy of American decline." Megan Garber writes: "Even works of escapism are reckoning with waning national myths." [The Atlantic]

— "Apple's Covid response was extremely Apple." Steven Levy details the tech giant's pandemic year, including "a pattern for a dynamic dance of opening and closing, based on a formula the company developed." [Wired]

— "TV industry continues to lag in addressing lack of Latinx representation." Tim Peterson writes: "One obstacle facing producers ... who are pitching shows involving Latinx characters is that buyers often bucket those projects as Latinx shows. In other words, the buyers worry the shows will only appeal to Latinx viewers." [Digiday]

— "How Microsoft crushed Slack." Casey Newton writes: "if there’s a lesson of the past four years, it’s that thoughtfulness and craftsmanship only got the company about 10 percent as far as Microsoft did by copy-pasting Slack’s basic design." [The Verge]

— "DOJ sues Facebook over H-1B visas." A three-byline report: "A lawsuit accuses the social-media company of illegally reserving high-paying jobs for immigrant workers it was sponsoring for permanent residence and of failing to adequately search for U.S. hires." [Wall Street Journal]

Today in 2009: Up In the Air hits theaters in limited release, on its way to six Oscar nominations — "some of the most darkly hilarious moments to grace the screen in years." Original review. 

Today's birthdays: Tyra Banks, 47, Kevin Sussman, 50, Jay-Z, 51, Fred Armisen, 54, Marisa Tomei, 56, Jeff Bridges, 71. 

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DECEMBER 04, 2020

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