Cordkillers 389 - The Profitable Spider-Man (w/ Merrill Barr)
The new Spider-Man makes bank, the YouTube-Disney dispute is resolved, and a post-Super Bowl Fresh Prince on Peacock. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Merrill Barr ( https://twitter.com/merrillbarr ).
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Spider-Man: No Way Home, Hawkeye (105), Squid Game (109), Miami Vice (211, "Back in the World")
When we return on January 10, 2022: Hawkeye (106), The Book of Boba Fett (101-102), The Righteous Gemstones (201-202)
CordKillers: 389 - The Profitable Spider-Man
Recorded: December 20 2021
Guest: Merrill Barr
Intro Video
Road to Victory
Primary Target
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Officially Opens to $260 Million, Second-Biggest Box Office Debut in History
Kevin Feige Says Disney & Sony Are “Actively Beginning To Develop” Where ‘Spider-Man’ Story Goes Following ‘No Way Home’
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ By the Numbers: 9 Milestones From Its Box Office Debut
- Spider-Man: No Way Home brought in $260 million in North American theaters over the weekend t pass Avengers: Infinity War to become the second largest debut in history behind Avengers; Endgame. Internationally it brought in $340.8 million too make it the third-largest worldwide launch ever behind both Endgame and Infinity War. It's the first movie since March 2020 lockdowns began to pass the $100 million weekend mark. No Way Home collected $121 million on Friday, more than Homecoming and Far From Home collected in their opening weekends. It's already the highest-grossing film of the past two years.
- Kevin Feige told the New York Times that Disney and Sony are already working not he next chapter. Referring to Amy Pascal, the former Sony Exec who produces the Spider-man series, Feige said “Amy and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next,” said Feige, “which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after ‘Far From Home.’ That will not be occurring this time.”
How to Watch
DirecTV Stream and satellite TV are raising their prices next month
- Streaming services have to keep prices low to get people in the door but at a certain point they have to raise the prices to get the balance sheet to look more normal. Beginning January 23rd, the newly-independent DirecTV Stream - no longer with AT&T directly bankrolling it-- will raise prices. Depending on the package the price may go up anywhere between 4 dollars and ten. Regional sports fees will also change to be different per zip code with some rising $2 a month and others falling.
ESPN, ABC are back on YouTube TV following a deal with Disney
- This battle over costs can also be aimed at the providers, not just the customers. YouTube TV called Disney's bluff and dropped all Disney networks-- including ESPN, FX and ABC and such-- on Saturday December 18th after the two sides did not agree to a new deal. That seemed to work as the deal was struck and channels began returning on Sunday.
What to Watch
Loop is reinventing the jukebox, one screen at a time
- Protocol has an article up about a company called Loop that provides service to restaurants and bars. Loop bought 30-year-old ScreenPlay that charged $300 a month and operated off a Dell computer and replaced it with free service that runs off an Android-based box. An interface lets businesses add their own logos and cards to be shown on the hundreds of free streaming channels.
- Among its features are some caching that keeps the videos playing even if the internet goes out. And monitoring of nearby mobile phone signals to get a count of how many people are in the room so Loop can properly charge its advertisers.
- The channels on Loop are viral videos, sports like surfing, music videos.
- It is testing Watch Parties which let the audience in the business vote not the next song or video by text message.
‘Bel-Air’: Peacock’s ‘Fresh Prince’ Drama Reboot Sets Super Bowl Sunday Premiere
- Peacock's reboot of Fresh Prince of Bel-air, just called Bel-air, is set to debut after the Super Bowl February 13th. Normally the network with the Super Bowl debuts a major new series right after the game ends, but this year the Super Bowl is happening during the Winter Olympics, so NBC will go from the Super Bowl right back to the Olympics. And use the promotional inventory it might devote to a post Super Bowl show to push people to Peacock.
Netflix drops a surprise teaser for its 'Witcher' prequel
- This is not a spoiler to the plot of season 2 of The Witcher, but Netflix attached a trailer for a prequel called The Witcher: Blood Origin to the last episode of season 2. It did not immediately upload the trailer elsewhere. The Witcher: Blood Origin is coming in 2022. The show stars Michelle Yeah and will focus on the "Conjunction of the spheres" which is an event alluded to tin the main show. It's also a new trend to embed a trailer as a post-credits scene it seems.
Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Casts Its Azula, Suki, Avatar Kyoshi and More
- It's time to play "What does Brian think of the casting announcements regarding a show he might be a little nervous about." This time we're talking about the live action Netflix series of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Tamlyn Tomita (of “Cobra Kai”) will play Suki’s mother Yukari. Casey Camp-Horinek (“Reservation Dogs”) will play Gran Gran, the compassionate matriarch of the Southern Water Tribe. Elizabeth Yu (“All My Love”), plays Azula, the daughter of Fire Lord Ozai. And Yvonne Chapman (“Family Law”) will play the legendary warrior Avatar Kyoshi.
NBC To Broadcast USFL Games Along With Fox Under New Multi-Year Rights Deal
- The USFL means the 1980s to most people. It was the last major US league to try to go head to head with the NFL. Unlike the XFL or Arena Football, the USFL aimed to be an equal. And the USFL is returning this April now owned by Fox and unrelated tot he original USFL in all but name. NBC Sports and Fox Sports will broadcast the games. NBC will show 8 on NBC itself, 9 on USA and 4 on Peacock. Fox will have 22 on Fox itself and 12 on FS1. The USFL's eight teams will play a 10-game schedule in a single host city.
Eyes On
Merrill: New G4 programming
Brian: Shadows House on Funimation
Tom: Star Trek: Discovery
On the Lookout: Atlas Pro
Front Lines
‘Fast & Furious 10’ Release Date Shifted To May 2023
- Fast & Furious 10 has shifted dates just a few weeks. The next movie in the franchise was planned for April 7, 2023 but has now been moved to May 19, 2023. This puts it in between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5) and Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid (May 26). A Dreamworks film, name not announced, will take over the April 7th slot, moving up from March 24th.
Disney+ adds SharePlay group viewing for the iPhone and iPad
- Disney Plus added support for Apple's SharePlay feature that lets people co-view videos over FaceTime. SharePlay already worked with Apple services as well as NBA, TikTok, Twitch, Paramount+, and Showtime. A SharePlay session can share a Disney+ video with up to 32 people. You start the FaceTime call first then open the Disney+ app which will have a notice about SharePlay. You tap that you want to start a video and then everyone else can see it and control its playback. You can even choose to keep the FaceTime call on one device, like an iPhone and the video playing on another like an iPad or Apple TV. All participants will need a Disney Plus subscription for this to work and the latest version of their Apple device's OS.
‘Get Back’ And Movie Releases Boosted Disney+ Viewing 20% In November, Nielsen Says
- Nielsen's The Gauge reports viewing of Disney+ rose 20% in November over October, thanks in large part to the Beatles documentary Get Back. Broadcast TV fell 1 point to account for27% of total viewing time. Cable took 27% and streaming 37%. Disney rose to 2% overall viewing behind Hulu at 3%, YouTube at 6% and Netflix at 7%.
‘Money Heist’ & ‘Lost In Space’ Continue To Lead Netflix’s Top 10 TV List
- Netflix's own numbers came out for December 6th through the 12th. Money Heist stayed on top of non-English shows with 148 million hours and Lost In Space topped English language shows. The third season of Titans took second place. Jurassic Works: Camp Cretaceous season 4 was next followed by Season 1 of The Witcher, in advance of the premiere of season 2.
T-Mobile to start selling a new Google TV dongle with the built-in Ethernet that Chromecast lacks
- T-Mobile announced the TVision Hub, a Google TV streaming stick. It includes a remote with power and input controls for a TV, the dongle includes an Ethernet port, and runs Android TV OS 11. The device will be free with new T-Mobile Home Internet Customers, although retail pricing and release are unknown.
‘Killing Eve’ Season 4: BBC America Sets Premiere Date & Drops First Look Images
- BBC America released a few images teasing season 4 of Killing Eve. It debuts February 27th at 8 PM eastern but will stream a week early starting February 20th on AMC+.
Dispatches from the Front
None
Links
patreon.com/cordkillers
doghousesystems.com/v/rogue
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