Cordkillers 363 - Jond. Bames Jond.
AMAZON BUYS MGM?! Plus: movies are back, The Last of Us TV show, and Cobra Kai goes Silver! All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Justin Robert Young.
Cordkillers is off next week and will return June 14.
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Marvel's MODOK (104-110), Jupiter's Legacy (105-106), Hannibal (213)
Next time on Spoilerin' Time (June 14): Loki (101), Jupiter's Legacy (107-108), Hannibal (301-302)
CordKillers: Jond. Bames Jond.
Recorded: May 31 2021
Guest: Justin Robert Young
Intro Video
Fresh, Fried, & Crispy
Primary Target
Amazon to buy MGM Studios for $8.45 billion
Amazon to Buy MGM, Bagging a Lion to Help Wage Streaming Battle
Amazon buys MGM, setting up Prime Video for James Bond, Rocky to move in
Studio Not For Sale, Says Sony CEO Yoshida Kenichiro
The MGM acquisition will give yet another boost to Amazon's already massive ad business
James Bond to stay on the big screen after Amazon deal
- Amazon announced it intends to acquire MGM Studios for $8.45 billion though once you exclude debt that values MGM at $6.5 billion. Amazon said MGM's catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows would further bolster Amazon Studios. The Wall Street Journal's sources say Amazon also approached Sony to buy Sony Pictures Entertainment, but Sony wasn't interested in selling. Sony CEO Yoshida Kenichiro told the Financial Times " I think our strategy of creating content as an independent studio while working with various partners will work.”
- Meanwhile Amazon gets movie and TV studios and a library of valuable intellectual property including James Bond, Rocky, The Silence of the Lambs, Raging Bull and on the TV side it gets The Handmaid's Tale, Fargo, The Apprentice and Vikings. The library doesn't immediately benefit Prime Video as much of it is made or licensed to other services like Hulu, Paramount Plus and HBO Max. But it does provide fodder for making new material.
- James Bond was one of the properties that got the most attention, but keep in mind that the creative control fo Bond belongs to the Broccoli family, the descendants of original Bond producer, Chubby Broccoli. Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson said in a statement, "We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience," they said.
- MGM also owns the cable and streaming movie service Epix which is sold as an add-on for Amazon Prime Video.
- We talked last week about the need for companies like Amazon to consolidate production, intellectual property and streaming services in order to compete. We see that with AT&T spinning out Warner Media into a merger with Discovery, with ViacomCBS reuniting, and with Disney's acquisition of Fox Studios.
- This will be good for Amazon in lots of ways, not the least of which is advertising. Library content injected into iMDB will boost ad sales on the free streaming outlet.
How to Watch
Box Office: ‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Smashes Pandemic Era Records With $57 Million Debut
AMC, Regal and Cinemark Will No Longer Require Masks for Vaccinated People
More Than Half Of All U.S. Moviegoers Will See Five Or More Films This Summer, Fandango Poll Finds
Disney CEO Bob Chapek Talks ‘Black Widow’ Release Strategy, State Of Windows: “We’re Really Celebrating That Flexibility”
- A Quiet Place Part II brought in $57 million over the weekend in the US. That's pretty darn close to the pre-pandemic projections and ahead of the original movie's $50 million in 2018.
- Cruella, which was available in theaters and for $30 through Disney PLus is expected to report $26.5 million. An interesting data point for simultaneous release.
- This happens as the US passes 60% of the population vaccinated. AMC, Regal and Cinemark all announced they will not require fully vaccinated attendees to wear masks. That's on the honor system. Employees will remain masked.
- So people are going back but will they keep going back after the novelty wears off? They say they will.
- Tom's wife's employer, Fandango surveyed more than 4,000 people who had bought at least one ticket to a movie in the past 12 months. 96% plan to see multiple movies this summer and 87% ranked going to the movies as their number one summer plan. 87% say the theater experience cannot be duplicated at home.
What to Watch
J.J. Abrams says the Valve Portal movie is ‘finally on the rails’
Star Wars: J.J. Abrams says he's learned having a plan is 'critical'
- JJ Abrams took questions on the 10th anniversary of the release of Super 8. And I'm sure he answered some of those. But he also mentioned a Portal movie is still in the works, a script is being written and it is "finally on the rails." He also answered one about the Rise of Skywalker from Collider. The question was about whether the final three movies would have benefitted from having a plan from the start.
- Abrams said, "You just never really know, but having a plan I have learned -- in some cases the hard way -- is the most critical thing, because otherwise you don't know what you're setting up.
- "You don't know what to emphasize... Because if you don't know the inevitable of the story, you're just as good as your last sequence or effect or joke or whatever, but you want to be leading to something inevitable."
HBO’s The Last of Us is the rare show letting a video game actor reprise her role
- Variety and Deadline report that HBO's The Last of US adaptation has cast Merle Dandrige as Marlene. Which is interesting because Dandridge voiced Marlene in the video game. Joel and Ellie have been cast as different actors from he video game, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
Amazon To Stream National Theatre Shows Including ‘Fleabag’ & Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘Frankenstein’
- Amazon will start streaming stage shows from the National Theatre in the UK and Ireland June 11th. The shows are Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, which she performed at Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End, and Danny Boyle’s staging of Frankenstein, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Along with Hamelt, also starring Cumberbatch and Ian McKellan On Stage starring Patrick Stewart-- I KID, obviously with Ian McKellan as Ian McKellan playing parts made famous by Ian McKellan.
Netflix’s ‘Cobra Kai’ Bringing Back ‘Karate Kid’ Actor for Season 4
- Netflix's Cobra Kai is bringing back villain Terry Silver, played by Thomas Ian Griffith for season 4. Silver is a character from Karate Kid Part III.
Dave Chappelle Documentary To Close Tribeca Film Festival At Radio City Music Hall
- The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a documentary produced by Dave Chapelle about a rural Ohio town in the early days of the pandemic.
Showtime cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Travis Kalanick in its movie about Uber.
A trailer is out for The Tomorrow War starring Chris Pratt coming to Prime Video July 2nd.
'Boss Baby' sequel hits Peacock and theaters simultaneously on July 2nd
- Boss Baby: Family Business will release in theaters and on paid versions of Peacock July 2nd. It's the first simultaneous release for Peacock. Universal did it with Trolls World Tour as a rental.
Eyes On
Justin: Hug the Sun
Brian: Demeo
Tom: Run BTS, Bon Voyage
On the Lookout: Yankee Doodle Dandy, Gabriel Over the White House
Front Lines
Netflix tests the 'Play Something' button on mobile, starting with Android
- After rolling out the feature to smart TVs, Netflix began testing its Play Something button on Android devices globally. Users in the test will see a pop-up showing off the new button to play an algorithmic selection, and the option will be available on both adult and child profiles.
Philo TV Raising Monthly Rate To $25 For New Subscribers, Streaming Bundle’s First Price Hike Since 2017
- Philo TV is raising its price from $20 a month to $25 a month starting June 8th for new customers. Current subscribers will stay at $20 as long as they remain customers. Although anybody paying the $25 a month rate gets a year of DVR storage instead of 30 days.
Sling TV's new, easy-to-use menus make cord-cutting more fun: Hands-on
- Sling TV has a new interface out for the Amazon Fire TV and coming to Roku later this summer. The menu moves to the side with fewer options. There are also larger thumbnails on the home page, a pared-down guide and the ability to record to DVR from the grid. You can also sort by channel name and add favorites to the left side. Recent channels makes it easier to switch back and forth and search now includes previous searches and autofill.
Fox Nation To Make Available Fox News Primetime Lineup As Part Of Streaming Options
- Fox's paid streaming service, Fox Nation will start including episodes of Fox News's prime time lineup starting June 2nd. Episodes of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity and The Ingraham Angle will show up on Fox Nation at 5 AM the day after airing. Fox Nation costs $5.99 a month or $54.99 a year.
Zack Snyder’s ‘Army Of The Dead’ Marching Toward Netflix’s 10 Most-Watched Movies List With 72M Households
- Army of the Dead has tied The Midnight Sky to become Netflix's ninth most watched movie of all time with 72 million views in its first four weeks. Extraction is its most watched with 99 million. Netflix has approved a prequel directed by Matthias Schweighöfer who played Ludwig Dieter.
‘Friends: The Reunion’ Was Almost as Big as ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ on HBO Max
- TVision estimates The Friends Reunion on HBO Max was watched by 29% of US streaming households on May 27th. That's close to Wonder Woman: 1984 which reached 32% of households and more than Mortal Kombat which reached 16 percent. TVision only measures TV viewing, not mobile, laptop or desktop.
Dispatches from the Front
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