Stephanie Werner

MARTIN GROVE'S HOLLYWOOD REPORT FOR 4/28/24: A few years ago, a $15M opening wouldn't make much of a splash, but it's a hit today in Hollywood's "new normal."   CHALLENGERS, Zendaya's romantic drama from MGM/Amazon, kicked off to $15.01M and will have enhanced value to lure subscribers down the road on Prime Video.   Zendaya fans also showed up to see her again this weekend in WB/Legendary's DUNE 2. D2 was #9 in weekend nine, per Comscore, with $1.99M. That makes Zendaya's combined gross this weekend $17M -- about 26.4% of all ticket sales.   The overall marketplace, per Comscore, totaled $64.48M, down 4.4% from the prior weekend and down 36% vs. this time last year. Comscore's year to date tally has 2024 at $2.006B, down 21% from $2.586B in 2023.   Meanwhile, back at the multiplexes: MGM/Amazon Studios' CHALLENGERS, directed by Luca Guadagnino (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME) and also starring Josh O'Connor & Mike Faist, was #1 with $15.01M at 3,477 theatres ($4,317). It reportedly cost $55M to produce.   Hollywood handicappers were buzzing about a $13.5-15M weekend. CHALLENGERS clearly benefited from MGM's smart move to move it to this spring from last 9/15 when SAG & WGA strikes kept actors from promoting their films.     Looking at CHALLENGERS overseas, per Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian: "Warner Bros. reports the international running cume now stands at $10.0M and including the domestic debut this weekend, the global running cume is currently $25.0M."   Going into this weekend, CHALLENGERS was tracking great for first choice with women under 25 (six points over norm), but was below norm with all other demos. It's a hit with Rotten Tomatoes critics at 87%, but audiences are just 76%.   Lionsgate's PG faith based family drama "UNSUNG HERO" opened second to $7.8M at 2,832 theatres ($2,737). It reportedly cost just $6M to produce. HERO was tracking below norm for first choice with all demos. RT critics hate it at 60%, but audiences are cheering at 100%.   Roadside Attractions' R rated action thriller "BOY KILLS WORLD" opened #10 to $1.7M at 1,993 theatres ($841). It was tracking below norm for first choice with all demos. BOY's only 60% with RT critics and audiences are a blah 70%.     As for next weekend's wide releases: Universal/87 North's PG-13 action dramedy THE FALL GUY, directed by David Leitch (JOHN WICK) and starring Ryan Gosling & Emily Blunt, is opening at about 3,700 theatres. Some analysts are projecting $50-60M.   It's tracking best and equally well for first place with men & women over 25 (each three points over norm). Men & women under 25 don't care. RT critics are applauding at 89%.   Sony/Screen Gems' PG-13 horror thriller "TAROT" will appear at about 3,000 theatres. It's tracking below norm with all demos. Some crystal ball owners see a $10-12M opening.   #movies #boxoffice #martingrove    

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A Busy Bundle Be Me, January 3, 2024: “Bundling will likely be Media’s most discussed topic of 2024. Most of media will get it wrong. Much of Hollywood will spend a LOT of 2024 rebuilding the last cable bundle, now with discounted streaming services, desperately seeking to lower churn.” https://lnkd.in/enZdzpRk This week, in Kabletown: “Get ready for the next cable-like streaming bundle: Comcast will launch a three-way bundle — Peacock Netflix and Apple TV+ — at a deep discount. Comcast’s impending launch of the StreamSaver bundle comes as other media companies have been assembling similar offerings. Like the other streaming bundling strategies, Comcast’s forthcoming Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ package is an effort to reduce cancelation rates (aka “churn”).” https://lnkd.in/ex8QDpDm Your boy again, from January: “But just adding TV to more TV will not answer Hollywood’s problems. If you want to follow the real money, follow lifestyle bundles with a combination of Media and utility.” Kabletown again: “The bundle will be available to all Comcast broadband, TV and mobile customers.” Comcast is not just bundling some streaming services together. They are adding this new streaming bundle to their existing suite of utilities to enhance the value they provide per customer. Comcast has lost total customer relationships in the last year - with multiple product homes seeing the steepest decline. But, if you look across ALL their products, you see a more integrated lifestyle bundle than StreamSaver - with wireless, broadband and streaming - perfect for the GenZ/GenY “cord-never” home. The question is if Kabletown can evolve their myriad offerings into a user-centric lifestyle bundle AND market it convincingly to twenty-to-thirty-something heads of households?

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Loan outs! I know most productions are still honoring them. We have been successful using Bellar Pilukas Consulting as our loan out. However, many non production corporate partners are really causing issues for small companies that have been running this way for years (I am looking at you of the capital D). What have you run into? How has this affected your business and do you think this bill will help? #entertainment #loanout #smallbusiness #womeninfilm #icvfx #losangeleslocal #savethecaliforniafilmindustry

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TPG just bought Grandview, and will merge w/ Untitled Entertainment. The new combined talent mgmt co will be Initial Group. The rebranded biz focuses on traditional Hollywood representation. Of note, this talent deal follows last week's acquisition of Sixteenth, a digital-focused talent mgmt co, by Whalar, and September's announcement of Wasserman buying Long Haul Management, a deal our firm advised on. I found out about the Grandview deal a few minutes after I published my LinkedIn post yesterday, where my headline was... "The talent mgmt landscape is very fragmented. Expect much more M&A." 2025 is shaping up to a be a very big year for the talent rep ecosystem. I'll cover this deal in my Friday newsletter next week. -- I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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