Blumhouse Keeps The Hits Coming
“M3GAN” was a January pop culture moment, earning $95 million in the U.S. and $180 million worldwide. It cost $12 million. “Insidious: The Red Door” earned $189 million globally. It cost $16 million. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” cost a bit more, $20 million, but grossed $137 million in the U.S. and a staggering $290 million around the world. Oh, and that was with “Freddy’s” being available to stream on Peacock Day and date (maybe that says more about Peacock than people’s willingness to see it in theaters). Sure, Universal Studios paid $400 million for the “Exorcist” rights, but that wasn’t Blumhouse’s money. Despite scathing reviews, “Exorcist: The Believer” grossed $136 million worldwide off a $30 million production budget. You can criticize the overall quality, but you can’t deny that Jason Blumhouse and his team still have the Midas touch.
What’s Next: “Night Swim,” Jeff Wadlow’s “Imaginary,” Leigh Whannell’s “Wolf Man” with Christopher Abbott and, in January 2025, “M3GAN 2.0.”
A24 Is In The Middle Of Everything
Hollywood’s hip indie distributor continued to hit even higher peaks in 2024. “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” a massive hit for the studio in 2022, became the company’s second Best Picture winner after “Moonlight.” A dominating night that saw A24 take home nine Academy Awards overall. A few months later, Sundance Film Festival acquisition “Talk to Me” became a summer sleeper hit, earning $70 million worldwide. The studio also had a surprise fall prestige hit with “Priscilla” ($20 million domestic) and the celebrated drama “Past Lives” ($19 million global). On the television side, the Netflix co-production “Beef” became a critical and streaming sensation, and “The Curse” gave some much-needed buzz to Paramount+’s Showtime brand. All was not rosy in A24’s Pacific Design Center offices, however. The studio moved the well-received SXSW comedy “Problemista” off the theatrical release schedule at the last minute citing SAG strike issues in promoting it (huh, the cast had banked a ton of interviews beforehand), The Weeknd’s “The Idol” was an embarrassing mess for HBO (hey, A24 still got paid), the town is not convinced “Dicks: The Musical,” “Dream Scenario,” or “Beau is Afraid” will ever break even, and the brand couldn’t elevate “All Dirt Roads Lead to Salt” or “Earth Mama” in the discourse.
What’s Next: Two potential Best Picture nominations in “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest,” the release of three celebrated fall festival movies (“Tuesday,” “Janet Planet” and “Sing Sing”), Alex Garland’s “Civil War,” the buzz-worthy “Loves Lies Bleeding” with Kristen Stewart, Ti West’s “MaXXXine” (the third installment in the profitable “X” trilogy”), and David Lowrey’s “Mother Mary” with Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway.
“Suits” Is The New “Friends”
For nine years, “Suits” was a ratings winner for USA Network or, as it is currently known, USA (take your pick). The Emmys shunned the show (it landed one lonely SAG Award nom), and it never was a critic’s favorite. But it was a staple of safe, reliable NBCUniversal content. Moreover, it was probably best known to non-viewers as the breakout series for the future Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, who was a fixture for seven seasons. The show ended in 2019 with the lowest ratings of its run and seemed to fade into obscurity. Then, on July 17, it dropped on Netflix (and NBCU’s Peacock), and it became a streaming monster, eventually topping the Nielsen streaming charts for 12 consecutive weeks. Just last week, it ranked at no. 8 (right above “Friends”) with 755 million minutes watched. The show’s new life is another example of how broad content can be an evergreen moneymaker on a big streaming service. Similar to that old local and cable television business that used to be called syndication or…reruns. Imagine that.
What’s Next: NBCUniversal is working on an updated spin-off, tentatively titled “Suits: Los Angeles,” from series creator Aaron Korsh, and every streamer is looking in their archives for the next…” Suits.”
“The Last Of Us” Gives HBO A Much-Needed New Franchise
HBO saw two of its most buzzworthy shows of the past five years, “Succession” and “Barry,” say goodbye on the same night. A recent blockbuster, “House of the Dragon,” won’t return until the latter half of 2024. “The Idol” was an embarrassing mess that played out in magazine investigative features and was quickly canceled. The WGA and SAG strikes delayed the production of several new series for both HBO and its Max service. Besides “Dragon,” however, there was one shining light in the darkness, an adaption of the critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic video game “The Last Of Us.” A collaboration between Craig Mazin and “Last Of Us” creator Neil Druckmann, the HBO series was a ratings powerhouse, ending up with 8.1 and 8.2 million viewers each night for the final two episodes. For the final week, it racked up 1.01 billion minutes on Nielsen’s streaming chart and broke records in the U.K., Europe, and Latin America for HBO content. It eventually landed a massive 24 Emmy noms, including Outstanding Drama Series, and has been a year-end awards staple.
What’s Next: Production on season two should start early next year, with a release in 2025.
HBO Max Becomes Max
Long rumored, long feared, the executives at the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery put forth a plan to merge the content on HBO Max and the Discovery brands. Yes, popular prestige content such as “Succession” and “Hacks” would now sit alongside “Dr. Pimple Popper” and what WBD described as (no joke) the “90 Day Fiance” universe. Cinephiles and television critics complained, and marketing experts wondered why you’d change the color scheme after tens of millions were spent branding HBO Max. Unfortunately, those complaints went on deaf ears. On May 23, 2023, just 4 days from the third anniversary of HBO Max, the rechristened Max dropped. And the world collectively sighed. Did the combination of content lead to a growth in subscribers? No. It was reported that WBD lost 2.5 million subscribers overall from an overlap of users who were paying for both HBO Max and Discovery’s streaming apps separately.
What’s Next: If Zaslav gets his wish and WBD acquires Paramount, we’re guessing “Yellowstone,” “Star Trek,” and “Drag Race” on Max. If not, likely less original Max content.
The MSG Sphere Launches in Las Vegas
James Dolan may not know how to run an NBA team, but the head of the Madison Square Garden company understands live entertainment. His dream of creating The Sphere, an 18,600-seat venue with the world’s largest LED screen, came true when it launched in Las Vegas on September 29. The venue is an absolute game-changer with a 160,000 sq ft interior screen (which projects in 4K) and a 366-high spherical, 580,000 sq ft exterior screen. The latter has already become a fixture on the Las Vegas strip attracting tourists (and causing traffic issues) while bringing in much-needed advertising revenue (an exterior ad reportedly costs $300,000). The interior is currently home to a sold-out U2 residency, which uses the screen to psychedelic effect, and Darren Aronofsky’s “Postcard From Earth,” a 55-minute narrative film. The movie is the easiest way for tourists to see the interior of the venue (prime seating is over $100 a ticket), and Aronofsky’s movie is best described as a longer version of Disney’s “Soaring Over California” or the 360 movies you might have seen at Epcot Center. It does, however, demonstrate the power of the gigantic screen and is quite impressive from the right angle (the movie definitely won’t be winning any critics’ awards).
What’s Next: There are plans for similar Spheres in the United Kingdom, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi. Phish will play for a few nights in April 2024.
Warning: Do not buy tickets for the top section of the Sphere if you have even a mild fear of heights. It’s absolutely scary up there.
“Scream 7” falls apart…For The Moment
Or maybe we should title this bullet “How to destroy a movie franchise in just nine months.” In March, “Scream VI” rode mostly positive reviews and enthusiastic fan sentiment to open to a series high $44 million in the U.S. The Paramount/Spyglass co-production went on to take in $108 million in the U.S. (a franchise high, not adjusted to inflation) and $168 million globally. It featured a mix of original franchise stars (Courtney Cox) and some of the hottest young talent in Hollywood (Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera). But then, shockingly, the Israel-Palestine conflict helped transform a moneymaker into a mess. But it may have started to fall apart months before then. In August, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, who directed the most recent hits, were unceremoniously replaced by Christopher Landon (“Happy Death Day,” “Freaky”). On November 21, Barrera was fired for posting support for Palestine on her social media. The next day, it was revealed that Ortega, arguably the biggest name still in the series, had already dropped out of the sequel for “scheduling conflicts” (although a salary dispute seemed to be the real issue). On December 23, in a shock, Landon also dropped out, posting on social media that the project was “a dream job that turned into a nightmare.”
What’s Next: Spyglass will make another “Scream” movie. “Scream” (2020) and “Scream VI” writer James Vanderbilt is reportedly still involved. The question is whether the backlash over Barrera’s firing will discourage the movie’s core fanbase from supporting the next installment. Whenever that reaches theaters, that is.