Even during the pandemic, streaming remained an all-consuming colossus. Over a six-month span from late 2019 through 2020, billions were spent chasing the direct-to-consumer dream. For century-old media companies especially, streaming promised to be a fountain of youth.
This year, though, a funny thing happened on the way to Shangri-La. Netflix fell out of bed, reporting its first subscriber losses in more than a decade, getting off to a rough start in ad-supported streaming and grappling with how to start charging subscribers for the long-free perk of password sharing. After the market leader tumbled, streaming operations came under intense scrutiny and stocks plunged, burdened additionally by a souring global economy. Profits and the capability to sustain them — not just the headlong rush to rack up subscribers — became the new prize.
Those imperatives pose unique challenges for each of the eight major companies offering subscription streaming services. Here, Deadline breaks down the 2022 highs and lows as well as the biggest questions each faces heading into the new year. >>> The Rundown |
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"A Forced, Quick Restart" - New York is emerging from the pandemic facing challenges from economic flight to rising crime, and Mayor Eric Adams has put filmed entertainment at the center of a comeback. Helping him guide the effort are new Deputy Film Commissioner Kwame Amoaku and his boss, Anne del Castillo, head of the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment. In a conversation with Deadline, they described the pandemic as an opportunity to work from a blank slate. >>>Read The Q&A
Clarification - Whoopi Goldberg issued a statement to Deadline yesterday after an interview she did with the Sunday Times of London sparked a strong response from the ADL and other organizations which combat anti-Semitism. Goldberg indicated that, in the interview, she was simply recounting what she said earlier this year, not "doubling down on hurtful comments." She added: "I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people." >>> Full Statement
Animating Principals - Disney dominated the animation category with three nominations last Oscar season, culminating in a win for Encanto. This year, Netflix is coming on strong with more than a few contenders, including Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. DreamWorks Animation is back with a few contenders of its own, while Apple, A24 and GKIDS are seeking their first Oscar win for Best Animated Feature. >>> Competitive Analysis
Parting Words - Marcus Coloma confirmed his exit from General Hospital after three years of portraying Nikolas Cassadine. His departure came with the news that the actor was not able to film his final scenes. Deadline has learned that Coloma and ABC came to an agreement "that he should not film the remaining few days of the year" following “health issues with his recent Covid exposure” that had kept him away from the soap set recently. >>> His Full Statement
Netflix List - It’s no mystery what audiences were watching on Netflix over the holiday weekend. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery made its way to the top of Netflix’s English-language film chart. Rian Johnson's sequel notched 82.1M hours viewed in just two days. As for TV, Emily in Paris Season 3 debuted on December 21 and has collected 117.6M hours viewed, making it No. 2 on the U.S. English-language chart. Unsurprisingly, Wednesday remains at No. 1 with another 118.5M hours viewed — marking its fifth week sitting atop the English-language TV list. >>>2022 Rankings
Valerie Complex's Favorite Films of 2022 - Given that many of the films in 2022 were shot during the height of the pandemic, when money, space and resources were limited, it's remarkable that this year produced some phenomenal cinema and performances. >>>Top 10
Scaredy 'Puss' - Coming into a franchise as storied as the Shrek series, director Joel Crawford was thrilled at the opportunity to show a new side of the iconic Puss in Boots. DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish sees the swashbuckler (Antonio Banderas) accidentally killed and discovering he is down to his ninth, and final, life. Confronted by a bounty hunter, Puss feels fear for the first time. Crawford wanted to take the story to a darker direction than the other films in the Shrek franchise “in order to feel the bright.”>>> Grimm inspiration |
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For director Gina Prince-Bythewood, making the historical epic The Woman King was a dream come true. Despite dealing with a seven-year-long development process, Prince-Bythewood was determined to prove that Hollywood stories centering on powerful Black women deserve to be seen. Based on a real all-female faction of West African soldiers known as the Agojie, the film follows its leader Nanisca (Viola Davis), and her fierce tribe of warriors as they defend the kingdom of Dahomey from a violent neighboring empire and Europeans capitalizing on the slave trade. Here, Prince-Bythewood talks about creating a sisterhood of warriors, world-building, and the importance of seeing yourself on screen. >>> Read The Interview |
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QUOTABLE
“It was too violent” - James Cameron speaking about his growing reluctance “to fetishize the gun” onscreen, which led him to cut 10 minutes of gunplay from Avatar: The Way of Water |
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More News
📱 TikTok has been removed from all devices issued by the U.S. House of Representatives, after the body passed a bill calling for the move. The company has been under scrutiny for years over its China-based parent ByteDance's treatment of user data. Critics have said the app serves as a de facto surveillance tool for the Chinese government.
🚦 NBC has picked up drama pilot The Irrational, starring Jesse L. Martin, to series. The Irrational is based on Dan Ariely’s bestselling novel Predictably Irrational. The show follows on Alec Baker (Martin), a world-renowned professor of behavioral science who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations.
👀 Christo Grozev, the investigative journalist featured in the documentary Navalny, has been put on Russia’s wanted list "under an article of the Criminal Code,” which was not been specified. Grozev said, “I have no idea on what grounds the Kremlin has put me on its 'wanted list'...In a way it doesn’t matter – for years they’ve made it clear they are scared of our work and would stop at nothing to make it go away."
👏 AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said he’s asked the theater chain’s board of directors to freeze his compensation for 2023 given the decline in AMC stock. "Biggest inflation in 40 years, so in 2023 companies will grant large % salary raises. But I do not want 'more' when our shareholders are hurting. So, I recommended to the AMC Board to red circle and freeze both my target cash and target stock pay for 2023. NO INCREASE," he tweeted.
🏀 Christmas Day delivered record viewership for the five NBA games that were telecast on ABC and ESPN. The five-game average was up 5% from 2021, managing about 4.27M viewers (compared to 4.08M viewers from last year), according to Nielsen. The NBA games on ESPN and ABC also generated 3% year-over-year viewership increases in key demos, including P18-49 and P25-54. |
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Obituaries
🕯 British actor Stephen Greif, who appeared in such series as the BBC’s Blake’s 7, Citizen Smith and EastEnders as well as Netflix’s The Crown, has died at age 78, his representatives announced. A RADA graduate, Greif’s career spanned theater, television and film. In Season 4 of The Crown, he portrayed Speaker of the House Sir Bernard Weatherill. 🕯 Edyth “Edie” Landau , producer and National Telefilm Associates executive, died in her home on December 24. She was 95. At National Telefilm Associates, she oversaw the station’s original programming including The Play of the Week, The Mike Wallace Show and The David Susskind Show. Landau also produced such film as 1962’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and the 1970 landmark documentary King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis as well as films for HBO. In 1973, she and her husband launched The American Film Theatre. 🕯 Joseph “Jo Mersa” Marley , son of Stephen Marley and grandson of Bob Marley, has died. He was 31. The reggae artist made his debut with 2010’s “My Girl,” collaborating with his cousin Daniel Bambaata Marley. In 2012, he released “Bad So” which was included on his EP Comfortable in 2014. His debut album, Eternal, came out in 2021. 🕯 See the 400-plus influential figures we've lost this year in Deadline's 2022 Hollywood & Media Deaths photo gallery. |
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On the Radar
Fri - A Man Called Otto premieres; Trump taxes to be released
Sat - New Year's Eve; College Football Playoff Semifinals
Sun - Rose Parade
Mon - Cotton Bowl; NHL Winter Classic |
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TK storylive at 6:30 am. Needs link: The Superhero's Hero - Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of comic book legend Stan Lee, who was born in Manhattan on December 28, 1922. Not only did he help Marvel become a publishing powerhouse, as the co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, the Scarlet Witch and Black Widow, Lee — who died in November 2018 — set the narratives that would power the multibillion-dollar Marvel Studios film & TV juggernaut. |
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