Cordkillers 338 - The Last Stream Fighter (w/ Merrill Barr)
Wonder Woman 1984 is coming to HBO Max on Christmas, The Last of Us gets a series order on HBO, and Queen's Gambit is a huge hit for Netflix. All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Merrill Barr.
CordKillers: 338 - The Last Stream Fighter
Recorded: November 23 2020
Guest: Merrill Barr
Intro Video
Giving Voice
Primary Target
Why Warner Bros. Put 'Wonder Woman 1984' on HBO Max
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Theatrical-HBO Max Day & Date Release: AMC Boss Adam Aron “Fully Onboard”
Wonder Woman 1984' to Debut on HBO Max, Movie Theaters
-Wonder Woman: 1984 will premiere on HBO Max and in theaters starting December 25. It will disappear from HBO Max after 31 days. 32-60 days it will be theater exclusives then go to PVOD.
- Where HBO Max is not available, Wonder Woman: 1984 will release in theaters December 16.
- Theaters are closed in New York, LA and other big markets. About half US theaters are open now. 70% were open when Tenet made its $50 million domestic.
- Why not wait?
- Filmed in 2018 the movie would eventually go stale
- Will promote awareness of HBO Max-- not just for new subscribers but to get existing HBO subscribers to activate Max.
- And theaters now understand. Adam Aron from AMC “has been in active and deep dialogue with Warner Bros” and “atypical circumstances call for atypical economic relationships between studios and theatres.”
- Rumors that theaters will take a larger cut of ticket sales too.
Universal’s latest theater deal brings some movies to streaming faster
Universal and Cinemark Early VOD Deal, Explained
Universal Inks Cineplex In Another Shortened Theatrical Window-PVOD Deal
Cineworld Group Considering Insolvency Process in the U.K
- Universal struck a deal with Cinemark and Canada's Cineplex similar to the one it reached with AMC theaters earlier this year.
- Guarantee of 17 day window
- Unlike AMC deal which was case by case, >$50 million opening means a 31 day window for Cinemark. - - - This new term will also now apply to AMC
- AMC and Cinemark get a cut of VOD revenue
- These are options. Movies can still go a full 90 day window if both parties agree that's better for everyone. And when a movie goes to VOD theaters can choose to keep exhibiting it if they wish.
How to Watch
T-Mobile’s TVision Live service gets more channels as short-term fix for content disputes
- To catch you up. T-Mobile launched a streaming TV service with all the usual major networks on one plan and a bunch of channels from Viacom and Discovery Networks on a separate plan called TVision Vibe.
- This is probably because Viacom and Discovery have been harder to reach deals with, insisting all their channels be on a basic subscription.
- T-Mobile thought they'd threaded the needle by offering TWO basic subscriptions but Discovery wasn't having it.
- So the 33 channels from Vision Vibe have been added to the regular Vision service at no extra charge as a "holiday deal"
- CONFUSION DISPELLER - TMobile had a THIRD service called TVision Home that required you to get a piece of hardware from T-Mobile. That service goes away December 30. If you've been a subscriber to this older service from before November 1, you'll get access tot he new app-based Vision for free through June 30.
What to Watch
HBO’s The Last of Us TV show is actually happening
- HBO has given a series order to the television adaptation of the video game The Last of Us. Craig Mazin and Carolyn Strauss who EP'ed Chernobyl will EP this, and it will be written and EP'd by Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann.
‘Peanuts’ Specials ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ & ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ To Get Special Airings On PBS
- Some folks got upset when it was announced that the Peanuts holiday specials would not air on ABC in the US but only stream on Apple TV Plus. Apple agreed to let A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving this past Sunday, Nov. 22 and A Charlie Brown Christmas coming Sunday, Dec. 13 air ad-free on PBS and PBS Kids.
A trailer is out for a live action Tom and Jerry movie where the mouse and cats are still cartoons but interact with real humans. Listed as "coming Soon.
‘The Flight Attendant’: HBO Max Makes Premiere Episode Available To Stream For Free
- HBO made the series premiere of the flight Attendant, starring Kaley Cuoco available too stream for free to everyone. The series premieres Thursday November 26 with three episodes. It's a limited series based on a book about a flight attendant who wakes up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar hotel with a dead person, and no idea what happened.
Hulu Strikes U.S. Deal For Frank Grillo Action Sci-Fi Movie ‘Boss Level’
- Hulu reached a del to get the US distribution for sci-fi movie Boss Level starring Frank Grillo, Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson, Will Sasso, Ken Jeong, Annabelle Wallis, Michelle Yeoh and Selina Lo. Grillo stars as a former special forces agent who is trapped in a time loop that repeats the day of his murder.
Amazon Sets Early 2021 Streaming Date For Recent Acquisition ‘Coming 2 America’
- Amazon will release Coming 2 America, the sequel starring Eddie Murphy on March 5. Paramount was supposed to release it to theaters December 18 but pulled it and sold it to Amazon.
Season two of 'For All Mankind' to premiere on Apple TV+ on February 19
Apple TV+ reportedly picks up a Tetris movie starring Taron Egerton
- Apple TV+ reportedly picks up a Tetris movie starring Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers, a Dutch video game designer who first secured the rights to distribute Tetris on consoles,
Eyes On
Merrill: Supernatural, Animaniacs
Brian: Community
Tom: Animaniacs
On the Lookout: Orangutan Jungle School
Front Lines
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Becomes Netflix’s Biggest Scripted Limited Series With 62M Checking Chess Drama
- Netflix says the Queen's Gambit has been watched by 62 million households, making it Netflix's most popular "limited series" ever. The show ranked in its top 10 in 92 countries and No. 1 in 63 countries, including the UK, Argentina, Israel and South Africa. Google searches for chess have doubled, chess set inquiries are up 250% on eBay, and the number of new players on Chess.com has increased five fold.
‘Conan’ To End On TBS In June 2021; Conan O’Brien Extends Deal With WarnerMedia For Weekly Variety Show On HBO Max
- Conan O'Brien will end his late night talk show on TBS in June at the end of its 10th season. O'Brien has been doing a nightly talk show of some kind for 28 years. Conan will instead be making a weekly show for HBO Max.
You won’t be able to watch HBO on Amazon’s channels platform starting next year
- Another shoe dropped in the Amazon HBO Max deal. At first it looked like HBO max had compromised and would let Amazon continue to sell HBO (not HBO Max) on its Prime Video bundle. Which as we pointed out last week sounded confusion. But CNBC says Amazon will remove HBO from its Prime Video channels starting next year.
“Emily in Paris” and the Rise of Ambient TV
- The New Yorker's Kyle Chayka writes about the Netflix show Emily in Paris and says "Netflix is pioneering a genre that I’ve come to think of as ambient television. It’s “as ignorable as it is interesting.” Chayka writes, "Ambient denotes something that you don’t have to pay attention to in order to enjoy but which is still seductive enough to be compelling if you choose to do so momentarily."
Universal Electronics to launch Apple TV remote for cable companies
- Universal Electronics is launching its own Apple TV remote designed for those who need to control a cable TV set top box and an Apple TV at the same time. It has the Apple TV mic button and "screen" button that takes your to he Apple TV app but it also includes a Guide button and mute button. It has a circular directional control not a touch surface. The remote will be sold to cable and satellite companies to offer to their customers.
Roku adds AMC+ to its streaming channel
- AMC's $9 a month AMC+ service is now available as an add-on to the Roku Channel. That works on a Roku device of course, or any Android or iOS mobile device.
Dispatches from the Front
Hey Brian, Tom, Bryce and Guest,
Just a quick note to follow up on your discussion of Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House Of Fun. A few years ago Mark and Broden from Aunty Donna were part of a short comedy fantasy TV series called Wizards of Aus. It follows a high fantasy wizard who says “f--- it” and tries to retire to the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Unfortunately, he finds he can’t leave the world of magic behind.
I loved the series and I think you guys will too. All six 12 minute episodes have been put up on YouTube by the creators to watch for free, along with a lot of behind the scenes footage and other content.
- Rob
I had no clue about these Aunty Donna folks so when the first episode started I didn't know how to react. It was nuts, so enjoyable. I even got my wife to watch (though now she knows I've been supporting you guys for years and wonders why the money isn't in the budget but that's another story) and we were laughing our asses off. And it's so short, six episodes of 20 minutes? Why can't more TV be quick and enjoyable?
Good work, guys!
- Norm
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue