Looking ahead at his schedule for the next year, MGM’s Mike DeLuca knows his Channing Tatum movie is in a tricky spot. “Dog,” which doubles as Tatum’s directorial debut, is scheduled to open February 18.
Thanks to pandemic-related delays, three other wide releases are slated to open the same day, including “Uncharted,” an action-adventure movie based on a popular video game, and “Ambulance,” a thriller by director Michael Bay. Tatum is also the star of another movie, “The Lost City of D,” due out just a month later. It will require his promotional attention.
But when executives at MGM and its sister distribution company discussed delaying “Dog” to August, where the schedule is lighter, DeLuca demurred. The company is confident in the movie and the date, and has a plan to target viewers in more rural, conservative states with its modestly budgeted comedy about a traumatized veteran.
Yet there is another factor that looms over the decision: Amazon. The e-commerce giant is acquiring MGM in a deal that is expected to close some time next year. Amazon has not said whether it plans to keep the top executives at MGM, nor whether it will release its existing slate of projects in movie theaters. Facing this uncertainty, DeLuca has an incentive to release his movies in theaters while he still has the chance.
MGM said the Amazon deal had nothing to do with its decision.
Ever since DeLuca and Pamela Abdy took control of MGM’s film division last January, they attempted to revive a moribund movie studio by pursuing adult dramas from high-profile filmmakers. “Dog” was one of DeLuca’s very first purchases, and one of his least expensive. He bought the domestic rights in March of last year.
MGM has since taken big swing after big swing, and it is about to release some of the first movies of the DeLuca-Abdy regime. That includes Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” and Joe Wright’s “Cyrano.”
These movies are guaranteed to earn MGM Oscar nominations and rave reviews for the first time in a long time. MGM hasn’t won the Academy Award for best picture since 1991. It’s less clear if they are going to make any money, but they have made MGM a popular place for talent (and their representatives).
Most movie studios won’t fund adult dramas anymore because they aren’t as lucrative as pre-branded comic book adaptations and or as reliable as sequels. If studios do make them, it’s usually on a tight budget – or for a streaming service.
Hollywood producers and representatives are worried this Amazon deal will take away one of the few studios willing to release a $50 million drama in theaters. Disney already eliminated one major movie studio when it acquired 20th Century Fox.
Fueling this anxiety is the uncertainty about Amazon’s plans. Nearly a decade after the creation of Amazon Studios, the company remains an enigma. It has the second largest base of users after Netflix, but it’s not clear how many of those people use the service on a regular basis. For all the time and money it has spent in Hollywood, the company has more critical darlings (like “Fleabag” and “Transparent”) than commercial hits.
The company has spent lavishly on select titles (like its “Lord of the Rings” series) while cutting back on big spending in unscripted programming and even on some scripted shows.
When Amazon executives held an all-hands meeting with MGM staff on Oct. 1 to discuss their plans, Jennifer Salke and Albert Cheng mostly touted their upcoming slate of TV shows. They didn’t say much about movies (or movie theaters).
MGM shareholders and top Hollywood talent agents have lobbied Amazon to treat MGM like a standalone label under the Amazon umbrella. Think of it as Pixar or Marvel at Disney. This would, in theory, give DeLuca and Abdy freedom to keep making the kinds of movies they’ve been doing.
Amazon doesn’t have film executives with the same experience as DeLuca and Abdy, nor does it have much of a track record. Its biggest hits are all movies it acquired from other studios during the pandemic, “Coming 2 America,” “Without Remorse” and the “Borat” sequel.
Amazon declined to comment on its plans for MGM. The company has said it bought the company because of its library, and plans to remake its titles at TV shows and movies. It has said little else.
The company is going to act in the interest of its shareholders. It wants to drive customers to its streaming service because that is supposed to convince more people to shop. While MGM could remain separate in the short-term, most executives expect Amazon to absorb the studio in the long run. For all of MGM’s history, its brand doesn’t stand for a specific type of programming like Marvel or Pixar do.
But there is good news for doomsayers in Hollywood. Amazon wants to compete for Oscars. Jeff Bezos has been a fixture of the awards circuit for years, and if there’s one thing he hates more than wasting money... it’s losing. – Lucas Shaw
The best of Screentime (and other stuff)
Disney’s streaming rocket ship sputters
It was a miserable week in the happiest place on earth.
Disney+ added just 2.1 million streaming customers in the most recent quarter, far below what Wall Street had expected. Disney shares dropped almost 10% this past week, and the company is now worth less than Netflix. Some sources described a “panic” at Disney.
The reason for this shortfall seems obvious. Disney didn’t release much that people wanted to see. It had a couple of big movies, like “Black Widow,” but no new seasons of hit series “The Mandalorian,” “Loki” or “WandaVision.”
Disney+ is more reliant than Netflix or HBO Max on a small number of big titles. It isn’t dropping big new titles every week or two, nor is it releasing titles to appeal to all demographics.
Disney has another reason to be concerned. India accounts for a large share of its customers growth over the past year, but contributes very little revenue. The average Disney+ subscriber pays just $4, which is less than one-third what the average Netflix and HBO Max customer pays. So the 118 million subscribers for Disney+ generate less revenue than the 73 million subscribers for HBO/HBO Max.
But this is where I am contractually obligated to remind you that quarterly earnings reports offer a snapshot of a three-month period and are not indicative of much else. Disney+ has added almost 50 million customers in the last year, growing at a faster clip than any other streaming service in the world. This quarter is more of a speed bump than a huge red flag.
After Disney+ got off to a torrid start, its growth was bound to slow. The good news for Disney is it has more big hits coming. More Star Wars. More Marvel. More Pixar. That buys it time to figure out what it wants to do with Hulu, and whether Disney+ should broaden its taste. But if growth is still slow when it releases “The Book of Boba Fett” in December, Disney has a real problem.
The No. 1 TV show in the U.S. is…
“Yellowstone.” About 8 million people watched the premiere of the show’s fourth season, nearly doubling the audience for the season three premiere. That audience grew to 14 million when you consider some delayed viewing.
It’s rare to see a show double its audience between seasons three and four. It’s even less common for that to happen on cable, where just about every show is losing live viewers.
- The No. 1 movie in the world is still “Eternals.” The Marvel project grossed $27.5 million in North America.
More Taylor Swift drama
The pop star dropped a new version – Taylor’s version – of her 2012 album “Red.” Critics love it, and fans seem to as well. There were 24 Swift songs in the Spotify top 50 when I checked Saturday.
You know who doesn’t love it? Shamrock Capital and Universal Music Group.
Shamrock bought the master recordings of Swift’s original versions for $300 million. While the re-releases are bringing new attention to the old songs, they also threaten to reduce their long-term value.
Universal, meanwhile, made a big fuss out of how artist-friendly it is when it signed Swift, and gave her control over her own masters. But now it’s changing the terms of its contracts with new acts to ensure they can’t re-record their work for more than a decade.
YouTube’s shopping plans
YouTube isn’t content to be the most popular video website in the world. The Google-owned site wants to sell you all of the items featured in its videos as well. From my story with Mark Bergen:
Starting next week, YouTube will host a weeklong livestreaming event, called Holiday Stream and Shop, where select social media stars will sell their own merchandise and brand name products directly on the platform. In the coming weeks, some YouTubers will be able to hawk goods from their videos, a concept known as shoppable video.
These technology giants just can’t stay in their lane. Amazon is the biggest retailer, but is now selling advertising that targets potential shoppers. Google is the biggest online advertising company, so now it must compete with Amazon in retail.
Shoppable video has never taken off in the U.S. by the way. But it is very, very big in China.
The race for the next reality TV hit…
Streaming services are loading up on unscripted shows. Every streaming service uses a big scripted show to sell itself when it first appears. Apple had “The Morning Show.” CBS All Access had “Star Trek: Discovery.” Disney+ had “The Mandalorian.” But then they realize people crave a wider range of shows, and they start ordering cooking shows and docuseries.
Netflix is dominating the market for reality TV online far more than it is streaming in general. Just look at its share of original unscripted shows people want to watch online, per Parrot Analytics.
Deals, deals, deals
- Spotify is building an audiobooks business. The company acquired the distributor Findaway, and will sell audiobooks alongside music and podcasts.
- Brian Williams is leaving NBC News after 28 years. MSNBC must replace two of its biggest stars – Williams, and Rachel Maddow, who will stop hosting a daily show next year.
- Filmmaker Peter Jackson sold his visual effects company for $1.6 billion.
- The boom in production real estate continues. Hackman Capital Partners, which owns Amazon’s studio and CBS’ old studio in LA, is buying the original New York home of Paramount Pictures.
- Two Netflix updates: a new TikTok-like feature for kids programming, and gaming apps for iPhones.
Weekly playlist
While most people listened to “Red,” I spent the weekend listening to Silk Sonic.
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November 15, 2021 at 06:15AM
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Amazon Is Buying MGM: Why Hollywood Is on Edge - Bloomberg
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