Stuck In Development

It’s an all-Disney news week as Carl and Eitan react to Scarlett Johansson’s bombshell Black Widow lawsuit. The two discuss what this lawsuit means for the future of Hollywood talent compensation, and they contextualize this suit within broader trends in antitrust, labor and talent management. They also spend far too long dissecting the pricing structures of both Disneyland’s new Magic Key program and the underwhelming-seeming Galactic Starcruiser hotel (resort? experience? land cruise?).

Links:

Entertainment Strategy Guy: You Can't Split the "G"

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This week’s episode is full of aggressive metaphors by Carl and mispronunciation of people’s names by Eitan – so, a regular week for Stuck in Development. The boys start by analyzing yet another precipitous fall in the box-office (this time by Space Jam), try to figure the rationale behind Universal’s $400M deal for The Exorcist, and break down NBC’s baffling Olympic distribution strategy. Finally, they dive into a beach that makes you Old, and explore the way they tend to connect (or not) with documentaries through the lens of Roadrunner.

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This week is a (space) jam-packed news episode. Carl and Eitan start by discussing the reportedly loathsome Space Jam: A New Legacy and the Carl-approved Pig. They also scoff at various industry reports blaming Disney Premier Access for Black Widow’s box office downturn. After news of Netflix’s impending foray into video games leave them nonplussed, they end the episode by reacting to an excellent op-ed that advocates for heavier antitrust restrictions on Netflix and other streamers.

Links:

LA Times: Op-Ed: How the streaming wars are changing what you watch by Peter Labuza

WSJ: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and ViacomCBS Chairman Shari Redstone Met to Discuss Streaming Partnership by Benjamin Mullin & Lillian Rizzo

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Once again, the future of entertainment seems to be riding on Disney (*sigh*). Black Widow marks the first time a major studio has simultaneously released digital and theatrical numbers, and Eitan and Carl spend most of this episode parsing how successful the film actually was. These numbers also give them a chance to check in on the state of the MCU.

In brief news this week, the two follow up on last week’s Universal pay-one window discussion by combing through a newly-announced deal that will put Universal films on Amazon’s streaming platforms.

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Every media company is a different beast. Any given company can have a streaming service, an ISP, theme parks, hardware sales or free 2-day shipping to buoy their revenues. Despite this diverse set of revenues, one common measure used to compare the success of SVOD services is ARPU (average revenue per user). This week, Eitan leads Carl in a discussion of why ARPU is largely meaningless. They also discuss the future of Peacock and revisit one of their favorite topics: antitrust!

Article: The honeymoon is over for streaming services: Here’s where the major players stand

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For data nerds like Eitan and Carl, Hollywood used to be a candy store. Decades of stats around productions, contracts and box office receipts were readily available, allowing them to slice and dice the successes and failures of decades past. This data still exists publicly – allowing the two to talk about the returns of In the Heights, F9 and Luca in the news – but it’s rapidly becoming harder to find and understand. This week, Carl and Eitan dig into one question: why?

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Carl and Eitan are back after a pesky honeymoon got in the way of recording last week’s episode. They catch up on Carl’s wedding, debate the merit of some gossip around Jason Kilar’s future at WarnerMedia, unpack In the Heights’ mediocre box office performance, and revel in the last gasps of the Great MoviePass Grift.

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The boys couldn’t fight the urge to record, even during Carl’s wedding week. During this fast and furious episode (no pun intended given that Carl hasn’t seen the movies), Eitan and Carl check in on Cruella and The Quiet Place II box office drop-off after a strong first weekend, talk ViacomCBS following a long-standing tradition of creative Hollywood accounting, gasp at AMC’s latest Reddit-driven valuation, and share their feelings on the opening of Avenger’s Campus.

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Music: Feather Duster by Silverman Sound Studios – https://www.silvermansound.com

The long-rumored MGM acquisition is finally happening, so Eitan and Carl can finally tear into the strategy and analyze what it means for Amazon’s Prime Video, IMDb TV, and Studios teams. The two dig into the corporate strategies and philosophies of Amazon, the eroding value of Prime membership, and a ridiculously high $8.45B price tag that doesn’t even yield majority ownership of the Bond franchise. They also share their predictions around other potential acquisition targets in this media M&A feeding frenzy.

In news this week, they check on Jason Kilar’s WarnerMedia tenure, review developments in Epic v. Apple, and celebrate a healthy box office weekend built upon two movies Carl quite liked!

News starts this week at 33:10.

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Music: Feather Duster by Silverman Sound Studios – https://www.silvermansound.com

Carl and Eitan are unstuck in time. They decided to do a 2021 Movies Preview… in late May. A late Oscars ceremony coupled with a pandemic can really mess with your perception of time! This week, the two share their personal lists of the top 5 films they are most excited to see in the back half of this year.

In a busy news week, they chat about the then-rumored Amazon acquisition of MGM; share some flirty details about the Warner-Discovery deal; talk Boss Baby; relay a riveting saga about animatronic replacements at Epcot’s Mexico pavilion; review theoretical theme park food at Disneyland California Adventure’s Avenger’s Campus; and attempt to answer the ultimate question: does Eternals look like a Marvel movie or a Chloe Zhao movie?

News starts this week at 37:57.

Links:

New York Times: Inside the Discovery-AT&T Deal: Cute Emails, a Big Loan and Now, a Media Giant

New York Times: An Alternate Reality for the WarnerMedia Deal

Mexico Pavilion Animatronics

Little Gold Men (podcast): Predicting the 2022 Oscar Nominations

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Music: Feather Duster by Silverman Sound Studios – https://www.silvermansound.com