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Matthew Belloni, Eriq Gardner, Julia Alexander, Kim Masters & Scott Mendelson
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Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
An essential, insider-friendly Hollywood tip sheet from Matthew Belloni, who spent 14 years in the trenches at The Hollywood Reporter and five before that practicing entertainment law. What I’m Hearing also features veteran Hollywood journalist Kim Masters, as well as a special companion email from Eriq Gardner, focused on entertainment law, and weekly box office analysis from Scott Mendelson.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Matthew Belloni
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March 27, 2023
Lionsgate’s Future & The ‘John Wick’ Effect
A candid conversation with studio motion picture chair Joe Drake about the fate of the Wick franchise, the challenge of making mid-budget movies, and whether the studio could sell in 2023.
Matthew Belloni
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March 24, 2023
Streaming’s Long, Slow Journey to Television
New Disney+ and Netflix numbers point to a split between existing and new subscribers, and a familiar, potentially stable future for streaming.
Matthew Belloni
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March 20, 2023
Lauren Sanchez’s Adventures in the Screen Trade
Jeff Bezos’s ambitious companion self-financed a film that secretly shot last summer and includes a cameo by Bezos’s ultra-private daughter, but crew defections turned a low-budget passion project into something far less hassle-free than buying undies on Amazon.
Matthew Belloni
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March 17, 2023
Netflix Priced Itself Out of the Nancy Meyers Business
Backend “buyouts” allow streamers to compete with studios for top projects and A-level stars. But that system has ballooned up-front fees to the point where Netflix said no to a bankable filmmaker and her $150 million Scarlett Johansson movie.
Matthew Belloni
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March 14, 2023
The Tom Cruise Oscar Failure
The ‘Top Gun’ star’s absence is part of a larger problem for the Oscars—namely, nobody except Fan Bingbing wants to attend these days unless they’re actively flacking a project. But isn’t Cruise supposed to be the industry’s global ambassador?
Matthew Belloni
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March 10, 2023
Behold, the 2023 Awards Season Awards!
Puck’s second annual, totally subjective and partially grievance-based salute to the oddities and embarrassments of Hollywood’s interminable Oscar season.
Matthew Belloni
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March 6, 2023
Why Won’t Shari Redstone Sell Showtime?
Paramount’s owner and her C.E.O., Bob Bakish, thwarted a $3 billion-plus bid from David Nevins in favor of their own plan to merge Showtime with Paramount+. But some analysts and company investors think that’s as insane as five ‘Billions’ spin-offs.
Matthew Belloni
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March 3, 2023
A Hollywood Writer Strike Setback?
The departure of the WGA’s fiery, feared chief negotiator and a key omission in the union’s demands raise questions about its leverage at an uncertain moment for the new streaming economy.
Matthew Belloni
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February 27, 2023
11 Burning Questions About the First Two Months of Hollywood ’23
Is Costner the highest-paid actor on TV? Do the studios actually want a writers strike? Why is Zaz suing Paramount? And are the new Lord of the Rings movies for real?
Matthew Belloni
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February 24, 2023
What If Disney’s Fox Deal Wasn’t So Terrible?
Bob Iger’s $71.3 billion play for streaming-age scale has been branded by some as too pricey for the new era of austerity, but the assets and executives could be a secret weapon in the war to become Hollywood’s last studio standing—if that’s what Iger wants.
