Cordkillers 367 - Release the Star Wars Snyder Cut
Black Widow breaks the bank, but in the right way? Plus , Peacock gets Universal and Dreamworks movies and a non-Star Wars Star Wars movie from Zak Snyder for Netflix. All that and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Bill Meeks ( https://billmeeks.com/ ).
This week on It's Spoilerin' Time: Loki (104-105), Black Widow, Rick and Morty (503-504)
Next week: Loki (106), Rick and Morty (505), Hannibal (307-308)
CordKillers: 367 - Release the Star Wars Snyder Cut
Recorded: July 12 2021
Guest: Bill Meeks
Intro Video
Pray Away
Primary Target
Box Office: Marvel's 'Black Widow' Debuts With Dazzling $80 Million in Theaters, $60 Million on Disney Plus
Black Widow' Made $60 Million on Disney Plus. What Does That Mean?
Paramount+ Head Says ‘Black Widow’ Success Shows Windowing “Opportunity”
- There's a lot of talk about the future of simultaneous releases. A lot of it may be overblown. Studios still need theaters and theaters are not going to let studios undermine their revenue at a time when they desperately need to generate that revenue to make up for more than a year of empty theaters.
- There have been a lot of test cases though of whether simultaneous release affects ticket sales or not. The most recent and the biggest came this weekend with the release of Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+ for $30.- I talked to more than one person about why it made more sense to go to the theater and/or to see it at home. Everybody had a different calculus.
- So how did it do?
- Black Widow took in $80 million over the weekend in the US, massive for a post-pandemic movie and pretty good for a Black Widow tier Marvel movie. About Doctor Strange level.
- BUT it also brought in $60 million worldwide on digital and $78 million outside the US in theaters.
- So what does it mean?
- VicaomCBS' president of international streaming services, who oversees Paramount+ said “The success this weekend of Black Widow on both the theatrical and on the streaming side speaks to not only the complexity of navigating these windows but also the opportunity,” adding “We’re going to continue to see lots of evolution [with windows], lots of experimenting.”
- Here are the factors to consider. Disney+ or not, that theatrical number would have been higher without Covid. Not all theaters are open and not everybody feels comfortable going back to a big room filled with people.
- Also keep in mind that people who paid to see it at home may have gone to the theater if they had no other choice but also may have just waited for it to come to video on demand. We don't know the mix, but it's not as simple as adding the 60 tot he 80 to say it would have been $140 million if it hadn't been available on Disney Plus. That home rental number also may or may not eat into second and third week theatrical, or downstream revenues like rental platforms. That is yet to be seen.
- Given all those caveats, what do you think folks?
How to Watch
Peacock gets Universal movie rights
Peacock's first year
Universal films will head exclusively to Amazon Prime Video after their run on Peacock
Peacock to stream new Universal films like Jurassic World within 4 months of theaters
Amazon Prime & IMDb TV Ink Multi-Year Licensing Deal With Universal
- Downstream revenues are the ones studios make off a movie after it's been in the theaters, like movie channels, airplanes, rentals and such.
- Universal made a deal for its movies that at first might seem contradictory. Peacock, its corporate cousin with NBC Universal, will get an exclusive window on Universal movies, but so will Amazon Prime Video and IMDBTV.
- Let us explain.
- Starting in 2022, live-action and animated movies will go to Peacock no more than four months after they premiere in cinemas, sooner in some cases. This is the so-called "Pay One" window. Peacock will get those movies exclusively for four months.
- Then for 10 months all the live-action, (in other words not Dreamworks orIllumination) movies will go to Amazon Prime Video for 10 months. Amazon is also getting some older library titles from Universal.
- At the end of the ten months the movies will go back to Peacock for four months. After that they go into a different window of library rights. That might leave them on Peacock or could move them around or be non-exclusive.
- So where does IMDBTV fit in? IMDBTV is getting movies that are in what has been known as the television window which comes after the Pay one window. It gets exclusive rights to stream some live action and animated movie releases from 2020-2021.
- I don't know about you both but I see this as streaming services becoming the new premier cable channels and ad-supported TV services the broadcast TV equivalent.
What to Watch
Zack Snyder Sets Next Movie, Sci-Fi Adventure ‘Rebel Moon,’ at Netflix
- 10 years ago, before Disney owned Lucasfilm, Zack Snyder pitched a Star Wars movie. It wasn't approved either before or after the sale, so he sat on it until now. Netflix has given the green light for Snyder to make the movie called Rebel Moon, with all copyrighted Star Wars characters and references removed.
Zack Snyder's 'mature' Star Wars movie coming to Netflix
- CNET describes the plot as "a peaceful colony sending a mysterious young woman to recruit interplanetary warriors and take on the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. So basically it's a combination of Star Wars and Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai."
‘The Witcher’: Henry Cavill Returns As Geralt Of Rivia In Trailer For Long-Awaited Season 2, Netflix Sets Premiere Date
- Netflix released a new trailer for the next season of The Witcher. It shows Gerald and Princess Cirilla, you know, bumping around the countryside. Gerald seems pretty sad because he thinks Jennifer is dead but he's making do.
- The Witcher returns to Netflix December 17th.
Marvel’s What If…? gets a new trailer and an August 11th release date
- Marvel released an official trailer for What If... the animated series that shows plots that are not canon in the main MCU. What if Peggy Carter got the super soldier serum? What if Yondu kidnapped T'challa instead of Peter Quill? Stuff like that. What if Disney Plus August 11.
‘Good Omens’ Nabs Season 2 Order From Amazon
- Amazon has officially ordered a second season of Good Omens, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen and under the creative supervision of Neil Gaiman who co-wrote the book with the late Terry Pratchett. If that worries you, Pratchett and Gaiman sketched out the plot of a second book 31 years ago and the season will work from those notes.
A trailer is out for season 3 of HBO's Succession returning "This fall".
Studiocanal announced production of Paddington 3 will begin shooting in the second quarter of 2022.
An anthology animated series called St Wars: Visions will arrive on Disney + September 22nd. It will be nine short films from seven animation studios.
‘Tomorrow War’ Sequel Talks Underway With Chris Pratt, Director Chris McKay Returning
- Deadline and Variety report Amazon and Skydance are already in talks with director Chris McKay , screenwriter Zach Dean and actors Betty Gilpin, Chris Pratt, JK Simmons and others to make a sequel to The Tomorrow War.
Eyes On
Bill: Happy Endings
Brian: Tomorrow War, Chef
Tom: The Bad Batch
On the Lookout: I Think You Should Leave Season 2
Front Lines
Apple reportedly wants in on NFL Sunday Ticket
- NFL Sunday Ticket is one of the most lucrative TV packages out there and has a lot to do with the survival of DirecTVas a business. But with AT&T looking to sell DirecTV, it doesn't seem willing to splash out on renewing the package when eh contract is up in 2022. The Information's sources say Apple might be willing to pick it up. The company has expressed interest in acquiring the rights before the NFL has even opened negotiations. The Verge notes ESPN+ and Amazon Prime Video are likely to be interested as well
Samsung’s TV Plus is now streaming on the web — here’s why that’s a huge expansion
- Samsung has had a PlutoTV-like streaming service available on its TVs and some other devices for a while now. It's the typical ad-supported streaming presented in a cable TV-like grid. But now anybody can watch it as Samsung has created samsungtvplus.com which works in pretty much any web browser. Samsung also added the ability to cast it to Chromecast devices. Samsung apparently pushed the site live in May but has not marketed it.
Netflix just made its clearest move yet pursuing VR, gaming
- Netflix expanded their deal with Shonda Rhimes to invest in her programs to diversify Hollywood, open the door for feature films, and exclusively produce and distribute potential gaming and VR content. That's right Netflix and Shonda Rhimes have a deal to make Virtual Reality stuff. This would take it well beyond occasional experiments like interactive storytelling and into the gaming world for real. Netflix's Greg Peters indicated in April that Netflix thinks "games are going to be an important form of entertainment and an important modality to deepen that fan experience."
ESPN+ subscriptions are getting a price increase on August 13th
- Starting August 13 ESPN+ will go from $60 a year to $70 a year and the monthly plan will go from $6 to $7 a month. This will not increase the price of the Disney Bundle which stays at $13.99 a month.
Apple TV+ signs production deal for Russian and 'multilingual' shows
- Apple signed a deal with producer Alexander Rodnyansky's company AR Content to make Russian-language and multilingual shows for Apple TV+. Rodnyansky has produced Cloud Atlas, Sin City: A Dame to Kill and Machete Kills, as well as Russian films Leviathan and Beanpole, which both won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and were Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominees. The shows will be written and directed by Russians and other international creators.
Google TV rolls out new Watch With Me series for celeb-curated streaming
- Google TV has launched a Watch With Me series that features lists of movies curated by celebrities. The first list will be movies selected by actress Laverene Cox. It will include Moonlight, The Color Purple, Pretty in Pink, and The Matrix, among others.
Dispatches from the Front
Hey Guys… well seeing as I have my mom on YouTube TV (easiest interface for her to use)
I signed up for the 4K plan as she will want to watch the olympics in the best quality possible.
I even singed up for the added sports package. I went through and organized the channels so all the listed 4K channels were at the top for easy access. But when I go to watch Live, the 4K channels don’t show up?
Seems YouTube TV has a weird policy. Unless there is programming showing up in 10 days that is 4K, the channel will not be listed. I also inquired about that local channels OTA and on Cable are always 4K or High Def. They would not give me a straight up answer. But it appears its a contractual thing and only if the local stations wish to offer 4K streams to YouTube TV. Oh Well. Will keep it for now to see the Olympics.
Side Note: So T-Mobile customers can get $10 off their monthly subscription to YouTube TV currently. But you got to cancel your subscription and re-sign up using a specific code T-Mobile offers. That would make the 4K plan something to keep for a year under the special YouTube TV pricing.
Have a magical day! 😊
- Blair
Brian, I should be upset with you. You let me wait until now to buy a gaming computer from Doghouse Systems. It turns out they have exceeded all my expectations and still managed to delight this customer with their high quality h choice of components and over the top customer service. In fact, I had a question about my bill and while I was on the phone they ran to production and took a picture of my PC and sent it to me. Who does that?
So like I said, I should be upset with you. But, your World’s Greatest Con podcast it’s just amazing. So, let’s just call it even.
- David
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World's Greatest Con