B. Riley analyst Eric Wold, who has stayed generally bullish on the movie theater business despite its recent trials, is now warning investors that the arrival of a “down box office year” has made him “increasingly cautious.” In a note to clients about his 2024 outlook, Wold wrote that he expects the stock performance of
Actors Strike
Happy Friday Insiders. Jesse Whittock back again. The strike is over and normality is set to return to the world of TV and film after months of madness. Here’s a rundown of the biggest stories of the week. Don’t forget to sign up to the newsletter here. Strike, Out! It’s a deal!: On Wednesday, the industry
The International Federation of Actors (FIA) has praised SAG-AFTRA for taking on an “incredible fight for all performers around the world. Hollywood is in celebration mode after actors union SAG and the studios struck a tentative new three-year deal, which effectively began on Thursday, and the good vibes are spreading beyond U.S. borders. The Brussels-based
In another maneuver by the David Zaslav-run Warner Bros Discovery to kill movies, we hear on very good authority that Warner Bros will not be releasing the live-action/animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme with the conglom taking an estimated $30M write-down on the $70M production. We understand the writedown for the pic was applied to the
AMC shares plunged today despite record quarterly earnings as the giant theater chain filed with SEC to sell up to $350 million worth of stock — offsetting any bump that could been expected from solid financials and an end to the actors’ strike. Shares were trading up this morning pre-market but reversed course when the
EXCLUSIVE: With the end of 118-day actors strike at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning, as well as a 148-day WGA strike back in September, global Hollywood feature productions can now resume. And while studios warned the guild that movies wouldn’t be able to start until January due to the holidays, they’ve been in pre-production on re-starts
EXCLUSIVE: Back in May, two weeks into the WGA strike, ABC picked up one new scripted series for the 2023-34 season: Drew Goddard’s High Potential starring Kaitlin Olson. In late September, two days after the end of the WGA strike, the high-profile series was pushed to a fall 2024 launch. As the anticipated restart of
2nd UPDATE, EXCLUSIVE, 10:29 PM: SAG-AFTRA and the studios have finally called it a night on the latest talks in search of a new three-year contract. In the past 30 minutes or so, the actors union and the AMPTP ended a long bargaining session that started this afternoon. The thinking is they will resume negotiations
As SAG-AFTRA and the studios continue to go back-and-forth with proposals to reach a new contract and end the nearly six months long strikes, Zachary Quinto spoke about the individual consequences of the labor action. Taking to social media for the third time in less than 24 hours, the Star Trek star today responded to
Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said Apple and Amazon, two behemoths of the tech world but newcomers to the wide-release movie business, are so far “very pleased” with their results. During a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss third-quarter results, the major exhibitor boss said Cinemark’s conversations with the two tech firms indicate they
The ramifications of the actors strike at the weekend box office continues to be felt, as ticket sales this weekend plummeted to $58.3M, which is currently the third-lowest of 2023. Remember, Legendary/Warner Bros’ Zendaya-Timothee Chalamet-Austin Butler-Florence Pugh sequel Dune: Part Two was originally set to play this weekend, and with its departure, there’s at least
EXCLUSIVE: Today’s meeting between SAG-AFTRA and an expanded group of studio CEOs has just ended as the guild scrutinizes the AMPTP‘s long awaited response to their last comprehensive counter. On this 114th day of the actors strike, the top brass from Netflix, Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Amazon, Sony, Warner Bros Discovery and more spoke with SAG-AFTRA
More theatrical release date changes due to the actors strike which is clocking 113 days, however, the good news is that it doesn’t impact 2024. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s live action take of animated movie How to Train Your Dragon goes from March 14, 2025 to Friday, June 13, 2025. Uni had the latter date
UPDATE, 7:44 PM: Hard to tell if it is going to be a trick or a treat from SAG-AFTRA and the studios this Halloween, but the two sides are set to meet again person on Tuesday. “The committee worked independently today,” the Fran Drescher-run guilds told members Monday evening. “We will be meeting with the
The actors were joined by some hip-hop legends on the picket lines this morning. Kurtis Blow, co-founder of the Hip Hop Alliance, joined SAG-AFTRA outside Paramount to call an end to the strike that has lasted for over 100 days. He also highlighted how his membership of the guild was instrumental is helping to save
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond predicts the long SAG-AFTRA strike will settle relatively soon. If, instead, it drags on, theater chains will face a rocky second half of 2024 but he sees the large-format exhibitor standing apart. “An exhibitor who programs a multiplex needs lots of movies,” he told Wall Streeters after Imax reported a record
Film and TV crew members and support staff have been hit hard by the double Hollywood strikes. The latest relief effort, announced last month, comes from Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman, Paul McCrane and Paul Scheer, who are spearheading a live fundraising event in partnership with The Union Solidarity Coalition. Titled Give Back-ular Spectacular!, the two-hour
There will be peace in Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s house after all this Halloween. None of the Green Lantern co-stars’ children will be labeled scabs by their father while they trick or treat, thanks to costume guidance clarification by SAG-AFTRA this evening. “SAG-AFTRA issued Halloween guidance in response to questions from content creators and
EXCLUSIVE: In one of the first major blows to the 2024 theatrical release schedule due to the ongoing actors strike, sources tell us that Marvel Studios‘ Deadpool 3 won’t be making its May 3 start-of-summer theatrical release date. Even if the strike ends in the next few weeks, a 2024 restart on the half-finished Deadpool
SAG-AFTRA Chief Negotiator and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is very happy with Taylor Swift and not so happy with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. We spoke with Crabtree-Ireland today at New York Comic-Con where he took the stage for a panel about AI. Talks collapsed on Wednesday night between studios and SAG-AFTRA following the guild’s
Kevin Feige made an appearance at the Loki Season 2 launch event in Hollywood where fans got to see the first two episodes. The Marvel head addressed the audience in attendance and mentioned the actors’ absence as the SAG-AFTRA strike continued. “Obviously our cast is not here tonight,” Feige said. “But let me tell you
Drew Carey today saluted the writers who thanked him for the meals he provided strikers at Bob’s Big Boy and Swingers during the WGA work stoppage. It was his first public comments on his charitable efforts. “I deeply appreciate all the love and thanks. It (was worth) every dime. But if you really want to
SAG-AFTRA, which has been walking with the writers since day one of the WGA strike, was quick to congratulate the guild Sunday after reaching a tentative agreement on a deal. The union said tonight that it remains on strike and in a statement urged the AMPTP to get back to the table with the actors
About six weeks after the Writers Guild of America went on strike for the first time in more than 15 years, eight seasons of Suits landed on Netflix. All nine seasons had already been available on Peacock, but the “Netflix effect” rapidly proved itself once again. The streamer unexpectedly struck gold. In its first week
Bollywood’s Jawan and star Shah Ruhk Khan livened up a slow specialty market, grossing close to $2.5 million in 776 locations in week two for a cume close to $12.2 million. The Yash Raj actioner is no. 6 at the domestic box office. Its weekend split was $694,724k Fri.; $1.024m Sat,; $775k Sunday as Jawan
UPDATED with latest additions: SAG-AFTRA, which launched a strike against Hollywood studios on July 14, launched its interim agreements program that allows independent productions with no direct ties to members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to continue filming. The guild has been adding to the list of projects granting waivers since
Insecure star Kendrick Sampson is going to Dallas where SAG-AFTRA is set to hold a rally on Saturday. The visit is significant to Sampson in support of Texas actors navigating the strike under the leadership of Governor Greg Abbott, who he calls an “evil human being”. SAG-AFTRA members will rally at 9am on Saturday in
This is Day 128 of the WGA strike and Day 55 of the SAG-AFTRA strike. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul paid a surprise visit to striking writers and actors outside Netflix offices in Manhattan on Wednesday, making good on what one union officer said was a “very, very last-minute” decision to briefly join the picket line and meet strike
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has talked up the benefits of writers rooms for shows of “scale and length” as he threw his support behind the ongoing writers strike. Armstrong was in conversation with journalist Marina Hyde on the final day of the Edinburgh TV Festival on Friday in the UK, and offered his analysis of
New Line’s new animated movie, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, is moving from its April 12, 2024 release date to Dec. 13 next year. The move stems from a chain-reaction of Warner Bros re-dating today, spurred by Legendary Entertainment’s Dune: Part Two going from Nov. 3 this year to March