Showbiz Sandbox 561: After “Squid Game,” Korea Wants Netflix to Pay Up

Though Netflix’s expensive blockbuster “Red Notice” is getting little notice in movie theatres, the company’s signature streaming service is thriving. In fact, its series “Squid Game” is so popular around the world that in Korea Netflix is being barraged with questions about paying for the cost of the increased streaming traffic it continues to generate.

Meanwhile, a music festival in Houston headlined by Travis Scott left at least eight concertgoers dead and scores injured after they were crushed when the audience surged toward the stage. We’ll explore the poor choices made by Astroworld’s promoters that lead to the tragedy.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the BBC may lose funding, Netflix launches its mobile games and the Justice Department wants to stop two of the world’s largest book publishers from merging.

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Showbiz Sandbox 560: Should Hollywood Get Rid of the (Real) Guns?

In European film and television productions, real guns with either live or blank rounds are rare to non-existent. Instead, plastic replicas or airsoft blowback guns are used with muzzle flashes added during post-production. So why do Hollywood productions continue to rely on working firearms when it would be cheaper and safer for them not to? This is one of the questions the industry is asking itself after a tragic gun accident on Alec Baldwin’s latest film left the cinematographer dead.

In more positive news, October turned out to be the biggest for movies all over the world as the box office works its way back to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, in Germany, exhibitors are rebelling against movies that are showing day and date on Disney+, while in France, cinema operators freaked out when Netflix tried to show movies in theaters instead of just streaming them.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how “Squid Game” has dominated the streaming conversation, the controversy over Spain’s top literary prize and a glimpse at some post-COVID Broadway grosses.

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Showbiz Sandbox 559: Dune Survives The Streaming Desert

Despite being available to stream day-and-date with its theatrical release, Denis Villeneuve’s epic film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel “Dune” opened to strong box office around the world. While we don’t know, and may never know, how many people viewed the movie on HBO Max, it’s availability on the service has surely cut into its box office potential.

Speaking of numbers, Apple TV+ has begun working with Nielsen to get its streaming numbers reported on the company’s charts. And Netflix finally suggests it too will start embracing the “total minutes watched” metric that Nielsen has been using. Maybe Nielsen isn’t dead after all, as so many media pundits have espoused.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the latest on the new IATSE contract and the dreadful firearms accident involving actor Alec Baldwin on the set of the film “Rust” that left the cinematographer of the movie dead and the director seriously injured.

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Showbiz Sandbox 558: Hollywood Workers Scrutinize Gains In New Contract

At the eleventh hour the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the union representing film and television production workers, negotiated a new contract with studios and networks. What is still unclear is whether workers are grateful about averting a strike or upset they didn’t gain more. Besides gaining wage increases, the union was aiming to clamp down on workplace conditions that lead to long, exhausting hours.

Meanwhile, across the entertainment business, the black hole of data is getting bigger. We don’t really know what streaming shows are popular, we can’t add up all the ways people consume music, TV producers are struggling to prove they’re reaching a lot of eyeballs and Broadway has stopped reporting grosses. Is this just annoying for journalists or a real problem for the industry as a whole?

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the Grammys are booting Kacey Musgraves from the country music category, Elton John sets a new record on the music charts and Disney loses a key, veteran executive.

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Showbiz Sandbox 557: Talent Agents Strike A Deal… for Themselves

In yet another sign that the entertainment industry is consolidating, Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood’s most powerful talent agencies, announced it would acquire ICM Partners, the fourth largest player in the space. Is the move meant to help CAA gain leverage when negotiating with streaming giants like Netflix, or is it all about ensuring success on Wall Street for its biggest investor? And what will this mean for smaller agencies which may actually stand to benefit from the deal?

Meanwhile, this year’s Tony Awards honoring Broadway’s brightest were finally held with a live audience. However, some productions in both New York and London are stumbling as they turn on their marquees for the first time since the COVID pandemic began.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how James Bond and Venom are competing for box office glory, Scarlett Johansson settles her “Black Widow” lawsuit with Disney and the labor strike that could shut down Hollywood.
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Showbiz Sandbox 556: The Emmys Crown the Streaming Era

When “The Crown” took home the prize for best drama at the 73rd Emmy Awards on Sunday it capped a years-long campaign mounted by Netflix to win one of television’s top awards. The streamer picked up a record-tying 44 Emmys including best limited series for “The Queen’s Gambit.” With the Apple+ series “Ted Lasso” winning best comedy, streaming services swept the awards.

Joining us to discuss the Emmys as well as all the movies she saw at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals is Anne Thompson, editor-at-large of Indiewire. She gives us a preview of all the films that were creating a buzz on their way to stirring up this year’s awards season.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the West End is ditching matinees, Christopher Nolan heads to Universal Pictures and Fox picks up TMZ.
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Showbiz Sandbox 555: Modern Media Consumption Metrics Are A Big Mess

Keeping track of television ratings, streaming viewership and music revenue has become a hopeless task in the digital age. Everyone is mad at Nielsen though how can they realistically capture all the eyeballs content on TVs, phones, laptops and tablets? Meanwhile, Billboard keeps changing the formula they use to count album sales by working in various flavors of streaming. What the most popular shows, movies, albums or songs are at any given moment has become impossible to decipher.

The good news is, according to new data from the Recording Industry Association, music revenue for the first half of 2021 grew $1.5 billion driven by music streaming, which accounted for 84% of the $7.1 billion earned.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including an executive shakeup at Paramount Pictures, the outcome of Apple’s epic legal battle and the Venice Film Festival kickstarts this year’s awards season in a big way.

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Showbiz Sandbox 554: China’s Love Affair With Hollywood May Be Over

For years analysts have breathlessly insisted China would become the largest movie market in the very near future. Well, last year after North American movie theatres spent most of 2020 shuttered, China did manage to become the top earner and did so primarily with local content. However, after COVID gave it a win with an asterisk, Patrick von Sychowski, the editor of Celluloid Junkie, discusses why the Chinese box office may stumble as the industry recovers from the pandemic whereas the Indian market is primed to take off.

Despite all the hurdles of getting their movies released in China, Hollywood’s affinity for the Middle Kingdom has hardly waned. The recent record breaking opening of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” will surely provoke even more interest in chasing the Chinese market.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including another delay for “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kanye West enjoys his tenth number one album and the pop group ABBA reunites after 40 years.

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Showbiz Sandbox 553: CinemaCon Makes A Case for the Big Screen

After more than a year in which most blockbuster releases headed to streaming services, movie theater operators gathered in Las Vegas last week for CinemaCon, their annual convention. Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times moderated a panel discussion at the event featuring the heads of major movie chains, distribution executives and director Patty Jenkins. He tells us what he learned at this year’s show.

One consistent headline to come out of CinemaCon was the call from both exhibitors and distributors for an exclusive theatrical release window. When it comes to China however, Hollywood studios are relieved to get any type of release these days, even if they only have a week to prepare for it.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Apple is buying into classical music, women top the music charts for the first time in ten years and why China is canceling celebrities.
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Showbiz Sandbox 552: Disney and the Great “Shang-Chi” Experiment

First Disney tried to shame Scarlett Johansson for daring to sue them over the studios distribution strategy on “Black Widow.” Then during an earnings call the company’s CEO described the upcoming Marvel “Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings” as an “interesting experiment.” Simu Liu, the star of “Shang-Chi,” was quick to push back on such thinking, saying “We are the underdog; the underestimated.”

Meanwhile, actor Johnny Depp believes he is an underdog as well these days, claiming in an interview with The Sunday Times that Hollywood is boycotting him. International film festivals are doing the exact opposite however, honoring Depp for his body of work.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including “Funny Girl” is headed back to Broadway, the television game show “Jeopardy” officially has two new hosts and production of “The Lord of the Rings” Amazon series moves from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.

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