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‘The Marksman’ Stays On Target As No. 1 In Pandemic As Major Studios Pull Product From Q1 - Deadline

It didn’t take long for history to repeat itself. We’re not just talking about the second 2nd weekend No. 1 hold for a Liam Neeson Open Road release during the pandemic, specifically The Marksmanwhich earned $2.03M, -35% for a running total of $6.09M. But how the major studios ran for the hills again, just like they did after the release of Tenet, pushing their Q1 titles after seeing the bluesy Christmas results of Wonder Woman 1984 and News of the World. Yes, as we told you, this was to be expected in Q1 given how the virus is lingering despite the deployment of the current vaccine. There’s an interesting article in this morning’s New York Times about how many more infections we’re bound to get, even with the vaccine, should the country decide to relax restrictions. Already with the vaccine, scientists at Columbia University estimate that we’re on track for 158M total infections if the current restrictions we have in the U.S. stay in place until late July. This could mean we go through another cycle of release date changes, and push theatrical further into the fall. We’ll see. Related Story Patty Jenkins & Gal Gadot On 'Wonder Woman 1984': "How Do You Use A Superhero To Inspire The People Of Tomorrow...To Save Our World?" - Contenders Film Right now 56.5% of the U.S./Canada 5,9K theaters are open with Illinois, including Chicago, expected to re-open next weekend in time for the Warner Bros/HBO Max release of The Little Things with 40%-50% auditorium capacity. Black WidowDisney After Universal, Sony, Disney, MGM made major changes for Q1, with the latter’s highly coveted theatrical Bond film No Time to Die heading to the second weekend of October, the hopeful eye on the prize to bring theatrical back is Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow on May 7. But will Disney give into a theatrical/premium Disney+ release for the MCU movie or move it to Disney+, given how devoted they are to the streaming platform in the wake of The Mandalorian and WandaVision‘s release? Or can they be patient and foster the feature’s potential $1 billion global gross? And will we be OK by then? Unfortunately, not according to this NY Times article. Warner Bros. aren’t looking like crazy people with their 2021 HBO Max-theatrical release strategy (at least for the near future of the pandemic; let’s see what happens when the world re-opens). WarnerMedia did consult with epidemiologists and a number of experts before making their big swing with the 2021 day-and-date theatrical HBO Max release plan. Those consultants kept telling the studio it would take a while for vaccines to take effect and further delays would be imminent. Note it’s not like the other major studios have lost faith in theatrical in the long run: They’ve delayed releases, and they want exhibition in its full capacity reopened again. They want the revenue stream back. But this whole short term plan of selling off fare, or sending it to PVOD may continue for a few more months. As the smoke clears from last week’s moves (which occurred after Joe Biden was sworn in President), we’ve outlined further down how the first half of the year looks for the theatrical calendar. Universal and Warners will deliver the bulk of the product, with many weekends open in between titles; opportunities for indie distributors to step in. Neeson’s previous pandemic October theatrical release from Open Road, Honest Thief, was a bit ahead of Marksman in weekend 2 earning $2.3M with a $7.4M running total. But that’s because the movie had access to more screens at the time, 2,502, versus the 2,018 bookings that Marksman has here. Top markets in weekend 2 were Dallas-Ft. Worth, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Houston. The pic’s top gross in the country came from the Cinemark Pharr Town Center in Pharr, TX near the Mexican border. Universal In the meantime, Universal’s Croods: A New Age remains in theaters in 1,876 theaters, +21, in weekend no. 9 since its Thanksgiving release making $1.82M, -9%, while also being available on PVOD for a running total of $41.8M. Again, a bittersweet result as we told you last week: You’d never see these types of weekend numbers and holds for a DreamWorks Animated title of late in weekend no. 9 (How to Train Your Dragon the Hidden World grossed $817K in weekend 9 at 822 sites). However, at the same these movies aren’t making the major money that they typically do in a normal marketplace (Hidden World posted a first weekend of $55M domestic — far more than the entire stateside run here of Croods 2). “Wonder Woman 1984”Warner Bros Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984‘s fifth weekend made $1.6M, for a running total of $37.7M domestic, $148M WW. Today is the last day the movie will be on HBO Max for a while with exhibition getting an additional 31 day exclusive run of the picture before it goes into a normal windowing home entertainment ancillary period. Courtesy of Gravitas Ventures/Universal Home Entertainment There was a new release, but not a wide one, in the top 10 this past weekend: Gravitas Ventures’ Dakota Johnson-Casey Affleck-Jason Segel drama Our Friend which was a day-and-date theatrical PVOD release making $250K at 543 sites for a $460 average. I hear that close to half of the pic’s bookings were under $100 on Friday, which is unfortunately not good and simply indicative of the current marketplace. Whether the movie breaks even depends on its PVOD dollars as theatrical isn’t an indicator here of the pic’s financial end game. The Gabriela Cowperthwaite-directed movie made its global premiere at 2019 TIFF and follows a couple, who after receiving life-altering news, find unexpected support from their best friend, who puts his own life on hold and moves into their family home, bringing an impact much greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined. Exhibition relations firm PaperAirplane was part of the marketing plan for Our Friend in getting movie theaters to target moviegoers with custom assets and messaging toward the pic’s 25-54 demographic. There was a network ad spot push on channels such as Bravo, DIY, E!, Lifetime, Paramount Network, CMT, Hulu, Roku and Vizio among others. Talent made appearances on Good Morning America, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Tonight Show, The Late Show and Entertainment Tonight. Top 10 chart: 1.) The Marksman (Open) 2,018 theaters (+43)/3-day: $2.03M (-35%)/Total: $6.09M/Wk 2 2.) Croods: A New Age (Uni) 1,876 theaters (+21), 3-day: $1.82M (-9%)/Total: $41.8M/Wk 9 3.) Wonder Woman 1984 (WB) 2,013 theaters (-87)/$1.6M (-38%)/Total: $37.7M/Wk 5 4.) Monster Hunter (Sony) 1,661 theaters (-33) 3-day: $820K (-25%)/Total $10.1M/Wk 6 5.) News of the World (Uni) 1,874 theaters (-79), 3-day: $810 (-19%)/Total: $9.6M/Wk 5 6.) Fatale (Lionsgate) 1,130 theaters (-45), 3-day: $415K (-12%)/Total: $5.2M/Wk 6 7.) Promising Young Woman (Focus) 1,236 theaters (-97), 3-day: $400K (-10%)/ Total: $3.97M/Wk 5 8.) Our Friend (Gravitas) 543 theaters/3-day: $250K/Wk 1 9.) The War With Grandpa (101) 507 theaters (+85), 3-day: $164K (+1%)/Total: $19.4M/Wk 16 10.) Pinocchio (RSA) 602 screens (-58) 3-day $122,6K (-22%)/Total: $1.5M/Wk 5 A look at the 2021 theatrical release calendar through the first weekend of summer: .The Little ThingsWarner Bros Jan. 29 The Little Things (Warner/HBO Max) Feb. 5 No wide releases Feb. 12 Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner/HBO Max) Land (Focus Features) The Mauritanian (STX) Feb. 19 Nomadland (Searchlight) – limited ‘Tom & Jerry’Warner Bros. Pictures Feb. 26 Tom & Jerry (Warner/HBO Max) March 5 Chaos Walking (Lionsgate) Raya and the Last Dragon (Disney) Boogie (Focus) March 12 No wide releases March 19 The Courier (RSA) .Godzilla vs. KongWarner Bros March 26 Godzilla vs. Kong (Warner/Legendary/HBO Max) April 2 Nobody (Universal) April 9 No wide releases April 16 Fatherhood (Sony) Mortal Kombat (New Line/HBO Max) April 23 No wide releases April 30 No wide releases May 7 Black Widow (Disney/Marvel)

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_the_1257153_24_01_2021

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‘No Time To Die’ Eyes Second Weekend In October For Theatrical Release - Deadline

As we told you earlier, MGM was moving 007 film No Time to Die to the fall and away from Easter weekend, April 2-4. Right now the Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed feature, which reps Daniel Craig’s swan song as Mr. Bond, is set to fire up on Oct. 8. MGM just made the news official. No Time to Die plops itself on a new weekend against…Sony/Marvel’s Morbius. Indeed, a game of chicken. Universal has overseas on 007, but they refuse to go hunger over the Easter weekend. Remember, they released Trolls World Tour on PVOD last year over that time and in whatever drive-ins were open. Universal will now open their Bob Odenkirk movie Nobody on April 2 instead of Feb. 26. Sony still has Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway scheduled over Easter weekend, but that might not stick there. MGM’s animated Addams Family Sequel will now release the weekend prior on Oct. 1, instead of Oct. 8. Currently, Warner Bros. had Legendary’s Dune on Oct. 1, however, the studio and financier are battling over terms of the film, the latter not wishing for a pure theatrical release instead of a HBO Max day-and-date theatrical play. Should Dune move, it wouldn’t be out of the question for No Time to Die to move up and Addams Family part 2 elsewhere. Meanwhile, Focus Features’ Edgar Wright-feature Last Night in Soho will move from April 23 to Oct. 22. Last Night in Soho leaves behind A Quiet Place Part II and 20th’s Ron’s Gone Wrong on April 23 and will now face Paramount’s Snake Eyes on Oct. 22. Uni has also set a date to release Endeavor Content’s Michael Bay action thriller Ambulance over Presidents Day weekend, Feb. 18, 2022.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_no_t1248909_22_01_2021

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Michelle Pfeiffer To Star As Betty Ford In ‘The First Lady’, Susanne Bier To Direct Showtime Anthology Series - Deadline

Oscar and Emmy nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit) will portray Betty Ford in The First Lady (working title, fka First Ladies), Showtime’s anthology, executive produced by Viola Davis who stars as Michelle Obama. Emmy and Golden Globe winner Susanne Bier (The Undoing) will direct and executive produce the series. Co-produced by Showtime and Lionsgate TV, The First Lady hails from writer Aaron Cooley, Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions, Cathy Schulman’s Welle Entertainment and Jeff Gaspin’s Gaspin Media. The First Lady is a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House. Written by Cooley, it is set in the East Wing of the White House, where many of history’s most impactful and world-changing decisions have been hidden from view, made by America’s charismatic, complex and dynamic first ladies. The series will peel back the curtain on the personal and political lives of our most enigmatic heroes, with Season 1 focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama. Related Story 'American Gigolo': Lizzie Brocheré & Gabriel LaBelle Join Showtime Pilot Reboot Ford was the First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. She was active in social policy and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse and one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on every hot-button issue of the time. She also raised awareness of addiction when she made her long-running battle with alcoholism and substance abuse public. “Michelle Pfeiffer and Susanne Bier have joined the brilliant and incomparable Viola Davis to bring the remarkable stories of these women into urgent, engrossing and long overdue focus,” said Amy Israel, EVP, Scripted Programming, Showtime Networks. “Michelle brings authenticity, vulnerability and complexity to all her roles, and Susanne is a visionary director who commands the screen with fierce honesty and a singular visual style. With these formidable artists in front of and behind the camera, we couldn’t be more thrilled – especially at this unique moment in time for our nation – about the powerful promise of The First Lady.” The idea for the series originated with Schulman and Gaspin, who were inspired by a spec script Cooley had written about First Lady Edith Wilson. In line with the mission of Schulman’s company Welle Entertainment, which is dedicated to making female facing content, the series will re-examine the families in the White House through the eyes of the First Ladies. Cooley executive produces along with Davis, Tennon and Andrew Wang via their JuVee Productions, Schulman via Welle Entertainment, Gaspin via Gaspin Media, Brad Kaplan via LINK Entertainment and Bier. Pfeiffer won a Golden Globe Award and earned one of her three Oscar nominations for her performance in The Fabulous Baker Boys. She received another Oscar nomination and earned a BAFTA award for her work in Dangerous Liaisons. She has received seven Golden Globe nominations, for roles in films from Married to the Mob to the Oscar-nominated Love Field and The Wizard of Lies, for which she also received an Emmy nomination. Bier most recently directed HBO’s hit limited series The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. She won the Emmy in 2016 for directing the six-part AMC miniseries The Night Manager. In 2018, she directed the thriller Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock, which at the time became the most-watched movie of all time on Netflix. Her film In a Better World won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film in 2011, as well as Best Director at the European Film Awards.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_mich1248384_22_01_2021

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‘Bridgerton’ Renewed By Netflix; Season 2 Subject & Start Of Production Confirmed - Deadline

The “exciting news” aboutBridgerton that Netflixteased on Tuesday became a reality this morning with the long-expected second-season renewal. In the style of Shondaland’s Regency-era period drama series, created by Chris Van Dusen, the pickup was announced by none other than the series’ powerful, plugged-in narrator Lady Whistledown, voiced on the show by Julie Andrews. Netflix The special edition of Lady Whistledown’s Society Paper (you can read it below) confirmed what has been speculated for weeks, that Season 2 will chronicle the pursuit of a suitable marriage for the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony, played by Jonathan Bailey, as chronicled in the second book of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series, The Viscount Who Loved Me. Related Story 'Bridgerton' Director Julie Anne Robinson On Filming Balls, Horses & Those Honeymoon Scenes; Talks Casting & Music For Netflix Hit The gossip sheet also confirmed that Season 2 will start filming this spring in the UK. “The incomparable cast of Bridgerton will return to production in Spring 2021,” the pamphlet said, hinting that the entire Season 1 cast will be back though the involvement of some will likely be scaled down. Casting is currently underway for several new roles, most notably the female romantic lead opposite Anthony Bridgerton in The Viscount Who Loved Me, Kate Sheffield. “We have a bunch of new characters we are going to be introducing,” Van Dusen said this morning in announcing the renewal on Today with Hoda & Jenna. “Anthony is going to have a love interest next season, and I think it’s going to be as sweeping and moving and as beautiful as viewers of the first season have come to expect from the show.” Netflix Season 1, based on the first book in Quinn’s series, The Duke and I, centered on the complicated romance between the eldest Bridgerton daughter, Daphne, played by Phoebe Dynevor, and the Duke of Hastings Simon Bassett — like Anthony also a “reformed rake” — portrayed by Regé-Jean Page. (The Bridgerton book series consists of eight novels, each revolving around the love life of one of the Bridgerton siblings, and Van Dusen has indicated that he would like to follow the format with a season dedicated to each of the brothers and sisters. “I hope so,” Van Dusen said when asked whether Page and Dynevor’s characters will be back next season. “They are now of course the Duke and Duchess of Hastings but in my mind they will al be Bridgertons and they will always be part of the show.” The focal point of Season 2 was teased in the final minutes of the Season 1 finale when Anthony revealed to Daphne and Simon his plans of “finding and promptly declaring my intentions to my new viscountess” after the heartbreaking end of his relationship with opera singer Siena. “We left him at the end of the first season at a bit of a crossroads, so I’m looking forward to jumping in and discovering how he fares on the marriage market,” Van Dusen said. And while the Daphne-Simon arc had a satisfying ending, Season 1 finished with a couple of cliffhangers which will be resolved in Season 2. ‘Bridgerton’ Star Phoebe Dynevor Says She’s Hoping To Return For Season 2, But Worries Filming Won’t Be Possible During Pandemic Season 1 of Bridgerton wrapped production in February 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic hit with a vengeance. Shooting a new season of a show that employs hundreds of extras for its opulent balls and features quite a few sex scenes, would be a challenge. With its mix of Jane Austen meets Gossip Girl with 35 Shades of Grey, as described by Page, Bridgerton has taken pop culture by storm since its Dec. 25 debut. Redefining the period drama and romance genres and breaking conventions on race while making global stars out of Page and Dynevor, the adaptation of Julia Quinn’s novel captivated viewers to become one of Netflix’s most watched series premieres with 63 million households projected to have seen at least a portion of it in the first four weeks. “Bridgerton is this lavish, vibrant, steamy Regency love story; it is about romance, love and joy; I think all of those things are really universal themes people are responding to,” Van Dusen said. The series stars Jonathan Bailey (“Anthony Bridgerton”), Nicola Coughlan (“Penelope Featherington”), Claudia Jessie (“Eloise Bridgerton”), Ruby Barker (“Marina Thompson”),Adjoa Andoh (“Lady Danbury”), Golda Rosheuvel (“Queen Charlotte”), Luke Thompson (“Benedict Bridgerton”), Luke Newton (“Colin Bridgerton”), Ruby Stokes (“Francesca Bridgerton”), Will Tilston (“Gregory Bridgerton”), Florence Hunt (“Hyacinth Bridgerton”), Ruth Gemmell (“Lady Violet Bridgerton”), Bessie Carter (“Prudence Featherington”), Harriet Cains (“Philipa Featherington”), Polly Walker (“Lady Portia Featherington”), Ben Miller (“Lord Featherington”), Sabrina Bartlett (“Siena Rosso”), Martins Imhangbe (“Will Mondrich”), and Lorraine Ashbourne (“Mrs. Varley”). Van Dusen executive produces with Shondaland’s Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_brid1247827_21_01_2021

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Percentage Of Covid-19 Deaths In L.A. ICUs Has Doubled Since October; “Serious” Vaccine Supply Problem - Deadline

New numbers from the Los Angeles Department of Health Services seem to confirm one of health experts’ worst fears. Officials long have warned about an exponentially increasing number of deaths should hospitals become overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases and patients no longer can receive the same high standard of care. Estimates released Wednesday by L.A. Health Services showed that since Nov. 3, about 23% of people hospitalized due to Covid-19 have died — up from 12% in September and October. The average hospital stay for patients has increased to more than nine days, up from less than seven in October. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the county’s seven-day average of daily deaths was 179 on Jan. 10, dropping to 174 on Jan. 12. But on Wednesday, she reported 262 deaths, pushing the local death toll from throughout the pandemic to 14,384. Related Story California Crosses 3 Million Covid-19 Infections As Deaths Spike; New Virus Variants Raise Concerns Hospital ICU units have been flooded with virus patients for at least the past month. Last week, Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly revealed that 75% of the patients in county critical-care wards had Covid. And the capacity of those wards had been stretched to nearly double their usual limit. At some point, such stresses compromise care and lead to more deaths. But while deaths persist, the county had begun to see a drop in daily numbers of new cases, along with dips in overall hospitalizations and the testing positivity rate. Ferrer reported 6,492 new cases on Wednesday, the lowest total in weeks, although she said the number may be low due to reporting lags and lack of testing availability over the holiday weekend. Ferrer said the county was averaging more than 15,000 new daily cases on Jan. 8, with the average dropping to about 10,000 a week later. The seven-day average rate of people testing positive for the virus was 14% as of Wednesday, down from more than 20% at the end of December. The number of people hospitalized averaged more than 8,000 on Jan. 5, dropping to 7,383 on Jan. 15. As of Wednesday, there were 7,263 people hospitalized in the county, according to state figures, including 1,692 in intensive care. “While it’s too soon to tell if we’re actually seeing a significant decline in the surge … we are very hopeful that the actions taken by many are starting to work,” she said. “Unfortunately, even if cases are beginning to decline, these numbers are still really high and they’re doing to continue to drive overcrowding in hospitals and high numbers of deaths. “The reality for us is that Covid-19 is still rampant at our workplaces, in our neighborhoods and really across every corner of this county,” she said. Ferrer also stressed that while hospitalization numbers have dropped, they still remain dangerously high. “So the end is not yet in sight,” she said. “With high numbers of daily cases, hundreds more people will require hospitalizations every week.” A bigger worry might be virus variants that could spike numbers across the board again, even as the state makes headway. Chief among those are the new strains of the virus that have been discovered in the state recently. Over the weekend, Los Angeles Public Health Department announced that the much-talked-about UK variant of Covid-19, known as B.1.1.7, had been identified in the region. B.1.1.7 is thought to be up to 50% more transmissible than the more widely spread form of the virus. The number of LA residents infected with the UK variant was thought to be small still. Then, on Monday, the California Department of Public Health revealed that another lesser-known strain had been circulating in the county as well. Dubbed CAL.20C, the variant is thought to have arisen in the state in July, but it only began spreading significantly in November. According to The New York Times, CAL.20C was found in over half the California test samples genomically analyzed in mid-January. The number of those samples analyzed, it should be noted, is vastly smaller than the total number of daily Covid-19 tests in the state. But Eric Vail, the director of molecular pathology at Cedars-Sinai, told the Times that CAL.20C may have played a part in the surge in cases that overwhelmed Southern California’s hospitals earlier this month. “I’m decently confident that this is a more infectious strain of the virus,” said Dr. Vail. Other experts were less sure. The 6,492 new cases reported Wednesday increased the cumulative countywide total from throughout the pandemic to 1,038,092. Ferrer continued to urge patience among people trying to make appointments for COVID-19 vaccines, acknowledging website issues that crashed the system for several hours Tuesday after the county announced that people aged 65 and over can be vaccinated. The website — vaccinatelacounty.com — is running again, but due to limited vaccine supplies, available appointments are limited. The county has also expanded the capacity of its call-in reservation system and urged residents to use the call system only if they are unable to make appointments through the website. Appointments beyond this week remain murky, given dramatic shortages in the county’s supply of vaccine doses. Ferrer said Wednesday the county now expects to receive about 143,900 more doses of the vaccines next week. However, since people need to receive two doses of the medication, spaced three to four weeks apart, the bulk of the vaccine coming next week will be used to administer second doses to people who have already received the first shot. She estimated that only 37,900 of the doses coming next week will be available for people to receive their first dose. Ferrer also said that, with seniors included, the number of county residents now authorized to receive the vaccine is 4 million. To date, she noted, L.A. has received 650,000 doses. “This is what I mean by a serious supply problem,” said Ferrer. “We just are not receiving enough vaccine doses to move as quickly as we and you would like us to.” She said that as of the end of last week, the county had received 685,000 doses, with 307,000 used so far for first doses and 87,000 for second doses. The county is still working to complete vaccinations of hundreds of thousands of health care workers with remaining doses, even as it expands access to people 65 and older. Ferrer noted that about 30,000 doses of Moderna vaccine the county has received have been taken out of circulation on orders of the state, following allergic reactions suffered by a half-dozen people in San Diego. Ferrer said some doses from that same batch had already been administered in Los Angeles County, with no reports of any allergic reactions. But the remaining doses from the batch remain on hold until the state completes its investigation into the San Diego cases. County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis signed an executive order this week opening the shots to older residents. “We know COVID-19 has been particularly hard on those 65 and older,” Solis said Tuesday. “Just look at our numbers. Over 99,000 residents 65 and older have been infected with COVID-19; 30,000 of those residents 65 and older have been hospitalized because of COVID-19; and tragically, 9,802 residents in this age group have died from COVID-19. That’s out of 14,000 people that have died. “This is about equity,” she said. “Older adults have been unfairly impacted by the virus. They’ve stayed home for months, isolated, which is as you know a problem in and of itself. But the COVID-19 vaccine is here. Hope is here.” Solis admitted that “there isn’t enough vaccine for all those over 65,” but indicated she was hopeful the Biden Administration would make more doses available. “Let’s leave it at that,” she said.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_perc1245937_21_01_2021

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Netflix Execs React To Disney’s Streaming Momentum: “Super-Impressive” But No ‘Bridgertons’ In Forecast - Deadline

Netflix executives offered some of their most extensive comments to date on Disney’s intensifying streaming efforts during their fourth-quarter earnings interview. They spoke during the company’s video earnings interview, which is moderated by a single Wall Street analyst and posted to YouTube, after the company reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter. Despite mounting competition, Netflix added 8.5 million subscribers in the period and 37 million in 2020, well ahead of forecasts. That brings it to 203.7 million, well ahead of the 86.8 million for Disney+, but nevertheless executives were a bit more forthcoming than usual about seeing mouse ears in the rear-view mirror. “It’s super-impressive what Disney has done,” founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said. “It’s incredible execution for an incumbent to pivot … so that’s great. And it shows that members are interested and willing to pay more for more content because they’re hungry for great stories. And Disney does have some great stories.” Related Story Netflix Co-CEOs Reed Hastings & Ted Sarandos Optimistic About Theatrical Windows Collapse & Rival HBO Max Day & Date Model Inside the company, he continued, “It gets us fired up about increasing our membership, increasing our content budget and it’s going to be great for the world that Disney and Netflix are competing show by show, movie by movie. We’re very fired up about catching them in family animation — maybe eventually passing them, we’ll see, a long way to go just to catch them — and maintaining our lead in general entertainment that’s so stimulating.” An example, he added, is the Shonda Rhimes-created Bridgerton, “which I don’t think you’re going to see on Disney anytime soon.” Hastings’ reference to the Rhimes breakout had a little extra mustard on it since Rhimes decamped from Disney-owned ABC, her home for Grey’s Anatomy and other series, to sign a blockbuster deal at Netflix. The show appears to be on the verge of a renewal and was reportedly watched by 63M households in its first 28 days, ranking as the No. 5 all-time original series launch on Netflix. Moderator Kannan Venkateshwar, an analyst with Barclays, drew sustained reactions from four of the five executives participating in the earnings interview when he asked about Disney. The nature of the response had plenty to do with the way he framed the question. “It almost feels like Netflix is underachieving versus its potential and has to work a lot harder to get to comparable scale,” the analyst asserted. “Are there any reasons why the Disney numbers are not a benchmark for Netflix and why the company can’t get there?” Founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings, though he was smiling, repeated the word “underachieving” with mock-astonishment and displayed a bit of his well-developed tech-founder backbone. He figuratively pointed to the scoreboard, noting the 40% annual rate of return to Netflix shareholders since the company went public in 2002. “If that’s underperformance, we’ll do more of that,” he said with a tight-lipped smile. “When you talk about it in competitive terms, you think about Christmas Day 2020,” co-CEO Ted Sarandos said of the streaming landscape. On the holiday, due to Covid-19 theater closures, Wonder Woman 1984 and Soul debuted on streaming services HBO Max and Disney+, respectively, with WW84 also getting a small amount of theatrical play. Viewing for both was healthy, on top of strong Netflix consumption through the holiday, Sarandos said, proving that customers’ supplementing Netflix with extra subscriptions is a “super-healthy dynamic.” Spencer Wang, who heads investor relations and also takes part in the quarterly earnings interviews, added his own perspective. “Not to take anything away at all from what Disney’s done because it’s been amazing and I’m a happy customer myself, but 30% of their 87 million paid subscribers were Hotstar (in India), which I think we all recognize is a different service,” he said He went on to stress other competitive edges for Netflix, including its higher penetration globally and revenue per user that is more than twice Disney’s, based on recent quarterly numbers. Breaking in with a garrulous laugh, Sarandos teased Wang as a way of diplomatically redirecting the conversation. Along with COO and chief product officer Greg Peters, who also noted the “virtuous cycle” created by Netflix revenue, Wang had notably departed from Hastings’ “super-impressive” start to the Disney portion of the interview. “You took the bait!” the co-CEO chided. “Kannan was trying to get us to chest-pound some more.” Prior to the interview, it had been striking to see the company’s stance on rival services in its quarterly letter to shareholders. Historically, the document has made sly references to Netflix’s main competitors being the video game Fortnite or even sleep. This time, it acknowledged media competitors by name and even accentuated Disney’s progress with an exclamation mark. “It’s a great time to be a consumer of entertainment,” the letter raved.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_netf1241815_20_01_2021

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Another New Covid-19 Variant Discovered In L.A. May Be Vaccine Resistant; Strain First Identified In Denmark - Deadline

Two days after the Los Angeles Public Health Department announced that the much-talked-about UK variant of Covid-19, known as B.1.1.7, had been identified in the region, the California Department of Public Health revealed that another lesser-known strain had been circulating in the county as well. Known as L452R, the newly-announced arrival was first identified in Denmark in March of last year. It showed up in California as early as May 2020. According to the California Department of Public Health, Santa Clara County has sequenced a large number of positive specimens collected from community testing sites and outbreaks in the county. The L452R was present in specimens from the community and from several large outbreaks, including outbreaks where very high numbers of people exposed contracted the virus. Related Story A Nationwide Mask Mandate Could Add $1 Trillion To The US GDP, According To UCLA Analysis “This variant was identified in several large outbreaks in our county,” said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. She called that correlation “a red flag and must be investigated further.” Dr. Charles Chiu, a virologist and professor of laboratory medicine at UCSF who has been genetically sequencing test samples to identify new variants, said L452R grew from about 3.8% of the samples he tested in late November 2020 through early December to more than 25.2% in late December through early January 2021. The L452R variant affects the spike protein of the virus, so there’s a chance the currently-developed vaccines will be less effective against it, said Chiu. The vaccines now being administered in the United States were designed to give people immunity by inhibiting the virus’s spike protein. An article on Cell.com says L452R has “decreased sensitivity to neutralizing mAbs (monoclonal antibodies),” which are used in the currently-approved vaccines to inhibit connections between the spike proteins of the virus and infected cells. Chiu said very early studies of the L452R spike protein mutation indicate it’s less susceptible to those neutralizing antibodies in the vaccines. The new variant has also been detected in Los Angeles, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Humboldt and Lake counties. Because genomic sequencing is sparse, it is currently unknown how prevalent L452 is statewide, nationally or globally. “This variant carries three mutations, including L452R, in the spike protein, which the virus uses to attach to and enter cells, and is the target of the two vaccines that are currently available in the United States,” said Dr. Chiu. And there may be another issue with one of those vaccines. California’s State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said on Sunday that a “higher than usual” number of people had apparent allergic reactions to a batch of Moderna’s vaccine at a San Diego-area clinic. “Out of an extreme abundance of caution,” Pan recommended that clinics should stop using doses from that specific batch until it is investigated. California received about 330,000 doses from the lot in question. That equates to approximately 10% of all vaccine distributed to date across the state. On Monday, the state’s numbers were mostly down, with just over 30,000 new cases, 201 new deaths, 20,968 virus patients hospitalized and 1,113 ICU beds available. That last figure is the lowest number of ICU beds available during the pandemic, and so is worrying. There is also the potentially more contagious UK variant, B.1.1.7., on the horizon. Los Angeles Public Health officials confirmed the first case of that strain in the area over the weekend. Though Saturday may mark the strain’s first identified appearance in Los Angeles County, health officials said in recent weeks that it was very likely already circulating in L.A. B.1.1.7 had previously made its way through San Diego and San Bernardino Counties. Before that, the strain had been found in Colorado, where it made its U.S. landfall. The CDC warned that the presence of B.1.1.7 may mark a new phase of “exponential growth” in total Covid-19 cases. “Current projections by the experts predict that if left unchecked, this variant could dominate locally by March,” Los Angeles Public Health director Barbara Ferrer said on Friday. We can now add to that the threat of a potentially vaccine-resistant strain, L452R, as well. As a result, L.A. County officials have been discussing the possibility of new restrictions for the shutdown-weary county.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_anot1238175_19_01_2021

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Open Road’s Liam Neeson Pic ‘The Marksman’ Takes $3.7M At MLK Weekend Box Office - Deadline

Sunday Final AM: In a continuing pandemic marketplace such as this, with 57% of all movie theaters still closed, whether you’re a distributor or an exhibitor, you have to be thankful for any amount of money you can get your hands on. Open Road has released the second Liam Neeson movie during the pandemic, The Marksman, over the MLK 4-day holiday, and it’s opening to $3.7M. It’s the third Neeson movie to hit No. 1 for Open Road after October’s Honest Thief and their first wide entry ever, The Grey. Open Road Open Road Boss Tom Ortenberg tells Deadline this morning, “It’s a universal truth that even in a depressed market lies opportunity. And there are plenty of people who want to go to the movies. Not everyone wants to go theaters, and cinemas aren’t open everywhere. But there are a lot of people who are looking for broad-based entertainment, just like they always have. Like Honest Thief, The Marksman has filled a void in the marketplace. It’s mid-sized distributors like us that have been able to fill the void and serve the need. There is a great thirst for product among consumers, and the opportunity is there. Competition is light, and we can market and distribute movies for less money; our advertising dollars go far.” Related Story Front Row & Muvi Cinemas Launch Saudi Arabia Distribution Venture Front Row Arabia Case in point: when Open Road placed an ad for Marksman during last Monday’s College Football Championship game, they weren’t up against seven other titles during the run of the show. Note that Open Road had less theaters at its disposal this time around than they did back in mid- October, when they opened Honest Thief: 1,975 theaters to 2,245. Marksman‘s 3-day is $3.2M to Honest Thief‘s $4.1M. Honest Thief ran for 11 weeks and posted a domestic B.O. of $14.1M, which is something of the average take for most wide releases during these depressed times, with a global count of $28.3M. Marksman was fully financed by Raven Capital Management. Raven acquired Open Road Films in 2018. Marksman, directed by Robert Lorenz, is but one of two wide releases this month, as Covid continues to keep a majority of movie theaters closed, especially in box office capitals New York and Los Angeles. The second release is Warner Bros. day and date theatrical-HBO Max release of cop thriller Little Things, starring Denzel Washington and Rami Malek on Jan. 29. There are more titles in February, likely banking on the start of schools’ winter breaks. It’s these types of meat-and-potatoes, older male-skewing action movies that typically play the early winter anyway. Open Road is also faring quite well in the homes with its release of not just Neeson’s Honest Thief, but their recent documentary The Dissident from filmmaker Bryan Fogel. The doc follows Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance in Istanbul, his fiancée, and dissidents around the world who piece together the clues to a murder and expose of a global cover-up. It’s the first documentary in some time to completely be released on PVOD (most debut on streaming or HBO), and last weekend the title ranked No. 3 on iTunes, which is impressive for a doc. The movie is 96% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and even caught the attention of Hillary Clinton. If you haven't seen #TheDissident, I hope that you will. This incredibly powerful documentary about the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi government is available to watch now: https://t.co/FMB43ngyoc — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 12, 2021 A local independent movie theater is shown closed in Forest Hills due to COVID-19 rules in the Queens borough of New York.AP For those who think streaming has won the filmed entertainment battle, simply look over to last year at this time during pre-pandemic times, when MLK weekend rang up $205.3M at the domestic box office, up well over 25% from the 4-day holiday prior thanks to Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, which minted a 4-day of $73M, the second-best debut ever over MLK after American Sniper‘s $107.2M. It revived the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence cop franchise like a phoenix. With incoming U.S. President Joe Biden looking to deliver 100M Covid-19 vaccines in his first 100 days, exhibition analyst Eric Wold of B. Riley recently exclaimed this past week “a return to normalcy” for the big screen theatrical business. UNIVERSAL Universal is reporting their DreamWorks Animation sequel, Croods: A New Age, in second place over 4-days, with $2.9M in its 8th weekend. Pic is booked at 1,855 theaters, +37 from a week ago. Even though the pic’s domestic gross has been shackled by the pandemic with a current domestic take of $40.1M to date, what’s eye-raising is that during a normal marketplace, when grosses are frontloaded, a film like this would never do this amount of money in its 8th weekend. Over 3-days, Croods 2 made $2M. In its 8th weekend, Uni/DWA’s How to Train Your Dragon: A Hidden World made $746K at 822 theaters — and it wasn’t on PVOD at that point in time. For a Thanksgiving release like Croods 2 to do this type of business now, even while being available on PVOD, it just shows that people want to get back to the movies. Worldwide Croods 2 is at $134.8M. Warner Bros Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 1984, according to sources, is ranking third over 4-days with $2.7M. Warners reported $2.6M for the 3-day, down just 13% due to holiday traffic. The Patty Jenkins-directed DC sequel, which is on HBO Max until Jan. 24, stands at $35.8M domestic through EOD. Worldwide is at $141.7M. Last weekend, sources told us that some movie theaters closed down in the U.S., and thus wouldn’t pay their bill to Warners for WW1984. Warners tells us that they’re collecting their rentals just fine, thank you very much, with a quick turnaround from their exhibition partners. Note, if an exhibitor is open in this current environment and they skip payment on WW1984, it will be quite difficult for them to book any other upcoming Warners title; that is, if they’re keeping the lights on. Some smaller exhibitors (non-chain) tell us that their terms for the HBO Max-theatrical releases are good at roughly 55% in their favor to Warner’s 45%. Endgame here stateside for WW1984 is in the mid $40Ms. Jacob Perez stars as “Miguel” and Liam Neeson as “Jim” in director Robert Lorenz’s ‘The Marksman’Open Road While critics have long been tired of Neeson’s action pics, with Marksman earning a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes to Honest Thief‘s 40%, Comscore/Screen Engine audience exits gave it a 73% positive with a 46% recommend, I hear. Guys turned up at 57%, with those over 25 at 72%. The over 45 crowed repped 33% of overall attendees. Diversity breakdown was 50% Caucasian, 23% Hispanic, 17% African American and 10% Asian/other. Marksman’s best market was the South, which has been the key money-grossing sector of the country for movies. Top markets, I hear, were Dallas, Washington DC, Houston, Phoenix, Tampa, Denver, Miami, Cleveland, Orlando, Indianapolis, Nashville, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and Las Vegas. Top ten theaters for Marksman was the Cinemark Pharr in Phar, TX; Paramount Drive-in in Los Angeles, Estrella Falls 16 in Goodyear, AZ; AMC Dine-In Disney Springs 24 in Orlando; Solano Twin Drive-in in Concord, CA; Sacramento 6 Drive-In; Century 16 in Corpus Christi, TX; Cinemark 24 in Salt Lake City; AMC Tysons Corner in DC; and Cinemark Majestic in Boise, ID. As I’ve been told, Open Road’s campaign for Marksman targeted Neeson’s reliable core audience of guys over 35 males (who turned out at 51%). The storyline and key cast (Juan Pablo Raba, who plays the villain in the film and has a huge following) allowed Open Road to target Hispanic audiences, especially in Texas, where theatres have remained open and performing well. The movie’s No. 1 gross on Friday was a theatre near the border in Harlingen, TX, which is probably the first time that location has ranked No. 1 at the domestic box office. Neeson appeared on programs such as Despierta America on Univision and Un Nuevo Dia on Telemundo. He also appeared on James Corden and Today. In paid media, Open Road bought national TV, including spots in the College Football Championship Game, NFC Wild Card Game, and multiple spots in the WWE Friday Night SmackDown to fuel mass awareness. In digital, the distrib geotargeted markets where theatres were open. Open Road was also able to re-target the fanbase they cultivated on Honest Thief back in October, which has grown during the title’s release on home entertainment. Open Road teamed with Mike Polydoros’ Paper Airplane on numerous marketing programs directly with exhibitors, focusing on theaters where Honest Thief overindexed, as well as regions where Hispanic audiences were dominant. Per social media analytics firm RelishMix, Marksman had a similar social media presence to Honest Thief‘s back in October, with 8M views for eight posted videos, mostly boosted on Facebook. The YouTube trailer and a TV spot that were dropped in the last five weeks were hitting 7M views with a moderate viral ratio of 9:1. RelishMix noticed on the social media chatter for Marksman heading into the weekend: “The majority of the conversation leans positive for fans of Neeson who have clear expectations for the theme with continuous added references to other action-thriller tiles, No Country For Old Men + Logan + Rambo: Last Blood = The Marksman. And while the tone of threads are positive leaning, discussion also wonders if the film will be on HBO Max, Netflix, Apple+ or other confusion on day/day or what the window will be.” Top 10 chart: 1.) The Marksman (Open) 1,975 theaters/3-day: $3.2M/4-day: $3.7M/Wk 1 2.) Croods: A New Age (Uni) 1,855 theaters (+37), 3-day: $2M (+13%)/4-day: $2.9M/Total: $40.1M/Wk 8 3.) Wonder Woman 1984 (WB) 2,201 theaters (-17)/$2.6M (-13%)/4-day: $2.7M est./Total: $35.9M/Wk 4 4.) News of the World (Uni) 1,953 theaters (-33), 3-day: $1.05M (-15%)/4-day: $1.27M/Total: $8.7M/Wk 4 5.) Monster Hunter (Sony) 1,694 theaters (-71), 3-day: $920K (-16%)4-day: $1.09M/Total: $9.2M/Wk 5 6.) Fatale (Lionsgate) 1,175 theaters (-47), 3-day: $530K (-19%)/4-day: $630K/ Total: $4.8M/Wk 5 7.) Promising Young Woman (Focus) 1,333 theaters (-115), 3-day: $430K (-24%)/4-day: $518K/ Total: $3.4M/Wk 4 8.) Master (Tamil & Telugu) 130 theaters/3-day: $206K/4-day: $251K/Wk 1 9.) Emperor’s New Groove (Dis) 744 theaters, 3-day: $169k/4-day: $239K/Total: $89.6M/Wk 1,049 10.) The War With Grandpa (101) 422 theaters (+37), 3-day: $155K (even) 4-day: $200K/Total: $19.2M/Wk 15

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_open1233553_17_01_2021

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CDC Report Warns Of “Exponential” Covid-19 Growth Due To UK Variant; Los Angeles Considers New Shutdowns As A Result - Deadline

On Friday afternoon, as the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors met behind closed doors to discuss new, stricter shutdown orders; as Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Governor Governor Gavin Newsom appeared together to try and jumpstart the region’s lagging vaccination efforts; one key reason for the urgency of those efforts became clear. Earlier in the day the Centers for Disease Control released its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report revealed new modeling on the spread of B.1.1.7, also known as the U.K. variant of Covid-19, which is estimated to be 50% more transmissible than previous strains. According to the CDC, “In this model, B.1.1.7 prevalence is initially low, yet because it is more transmissible than are current variants, it exhibits rapid growth in early 2021, becoming the predominant variant in March.” The results of that predominance is that “B.1.1.7 drives a substantial change in the transmission trajectory and a new phase of exponential growth” in total Covid-19 cases. Given that, the report warns, “Efforts to prepare the health care system for further surges in cases are warranted.” Related Story Los Angeles Covid-19 Update: County Supervisors Reportedly Discuss New Business Closures In Closed-Door Meeting Dr. Paul Simon, Chief Science Officer of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said on Friday that the CDC modeling “indicates that there is quite a bit of cause for concern. That this strain does have the potential to spread very very quickly in the country and potentially — because it has so many mutations — impact out tests ability to identify it.” B.1.1.7 has already been identified in San Diego and San Bernardino, and L.A. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said this week that residents should assume it’s in Los Angeles, as well. “Current projections by the experts predict that if left unchecked, this variant could dominate locally by March,” said Ferrer. During that same media briefing, Ferrer would not rule out the possibility of additional health restrictions being imposed, particularly in light of still high Covid infection numbers, hospitalizations and deaths. The Department of Public Health confirmed 258 new deaths on Friday, marking the fourth straight day of 250+ fatalities due to the pandemic. That means L.A. County as seen over 1,000 Covid-related deaths in the past four days. Hospitalizations and ICU beds occupied by virus-impacted patients remained near record levels. To date, the county has seen 989,928 positive cases of Covid and a total of 13,489 deaths. The county is likely to record top 1 million total cases this weekend. Ferrer urged residents to continue adhering to existing health restrictions, while suggesting more may be needed. “We should be prepared to do more if cases remain high,” she said on Wednesday. “The work ahead requires us to take every action necessary to reduce transmission.” Her words presaged the CDC guidance issued on Friday. It reads: “The increased transmissibility of the B.1.1.7 variant warrants rigorous implementation of public health strategies to reduce transmission and lessen the potential impact of B.1.1.7, buying critical time to increase vaccination coverage.” See Garcetti and Newsom’s Friday appearance above. However, according to the CDC, “Increased transmissibility also means that higher than anticipated vaccination coverage must be attained to achieve the same level of disease control to protect the public compared with less transmissible variants.” Thursday night, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti addressed possible new business closures or other restrictions and said, “That’s something I know that the county is looking at.” Asked about the businesses that may be impacted, Garcetti said, “I think it’s the obvious categories: Whether schools stay open or not, indoor gyms, public youth leagues.” The mayor said that given the potential danger of the UK variant of the virus, “we have to always be open and I will always follow the science and the advice of our public health [leaders] … and the county supervisors, who I know are making very difficult decisions and are incredible leaders right now trying to figure out whether or not there should be further closures.” “But the moment it [the transmission rate] goes up, like we saw in December, at any pace like that, that is absolutely something we cannot sustain, and most importantly, our hospitals cannot, and we would move into crisis mode there,” he said. Dr. Simon stressed, however, that health restrictions imposed by the county are only effective if people actually adhere to them. “We’ve closed an awful lot here, and the public is just plain exhausted, I think,” he said. “And we’ve seen less adherence to the restrictions…We can implement additional restrictions but unless they’re adhered to, they’re not going to have the desired impact. We’re not a police state. It would be very difficult to use some of the extreme measures that have been done in other countries.” He implored people to adhere to restrictions as much as possible and continue to do what they can to minimize their risk of infection. “Even if people can’t do everything all the time, try to minimize the risk,” he said. “It’s hard to deal in absolutes — never leave your home … or never see anybody outside your household. That’s a difficult message.” Ultimately, he said, “We’re just urging people to hang in there. We’re moving in a favorable path with the vaccine.” One piece of good news in the CDC report is that, in modeling, “after B.1.1.7 becomes the dominant variant, its transmission was substantially reduced.” That may, however, be because everyone already has it.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_cdc_1228659_16_01_2021

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How The Disney Marketing Team Revitalized The MCU With ‘WandaVision’, 20 Months After ‘Avengers: Endgame’ - Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: It’s been a long time since we’ve seen anything Marvel, and you can blame that squarely on the pandemic. As the greater hope for a better 2021 occurs with incoming President Joe Biden looking to deliver 100 million vaccines doses in his first 100 days, fanboys and girls finally can calm down, for as of today, the first streaming series starring MCU characters, Disney+’s WandaVision, finally is seeing the light of day. It’s been 20 months since Disney delivered the biggest-grossing movie ($2.8 billion) and global opening ($1.22B) of all-time with Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, and 563 days since Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home hit the big screen. While rival studios are trying to get their heads around marketing both their streaming fare and films, the WandaVision push was designed and implemented by the same theatrical marketing team (led by President Asad Ayaz) at Disney that was behind its MCU blockbuster streak of Avengers pics, Captain Marvel, Black Panther and more. Ayaz’s crew also mounted the Season 1 and 2 marketing of Star Wars: The Mandalorian. It’s an ensemble that has earned great bragging rights: They have the distinction of delivering an industry global studio box office record for Disney in 2019 of $13.2 billion. Related Story 'WandaVision' Review: Marvel's First Disney+ Series Is Too AARP & Not Enough MCU AP The WandaVision campaign was one that was roughly a year and a half in the making. Throughout all its tentacles including outdoor, digital, and TV, an awesome 2.14 billion impressions were yielded. “In classic Marvel MCU form, the WandaVision rollout was fully triangulated across the Marvel, Disney and the Disney+ ecosystem with a Social Media Universe SMU of 336.86M across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube — with the Marvel SMU at 107.3M, Disney at 92.3M SMU and emerging Disney+ growing at 9.5M SMU. WandaVision social reach is lightyears ahead of most streaming shows with an SMU at 263K,” Hollywood social media analytics firm RelishMix reports. Marvel made WandaVision official at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019 when Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff), Paul Bettany (Vision) and Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau) took the stage in Hall H to announce the project, written by Captain Marvel scribe Jac Schaeffer. ‘WandaVision’ Trailer: First Look At Disney+’s Marvel Series Revealed During Emmys We wouldn’t see a flicker of WandaVision again until Sept. 20 last year, which was Emmy night. And even though there weren’t many people watching the Emmys (6.1M), the trailer drop for WandaVision resonated far after the telecast with 53M online views in its first 24 hours (18M overall views on YouTube), a record for a streaming-series trailer. If Netflix’s quiet, organic menu campaign for The Queen’s Gambit can yield its most watched limited series with 62M views in 28 days, imagine what the noise created here for WandaVision potentially could yield. “The clear social media driver for WandaVision awareness and engagement marketing runs across YouTube with over 119M views, more than doubling from 53M since September 22 and the date announcement. The campaign of over 24 spots, trailers and BTS interviews are fed from the Marvel YouTube channel (14.8M subs) and cross-posted on to Disney+ YouTube (287K subs) and the Disney YouTube (5M subs) — all of which is ripped and reposted across movie, fan and superfan channels with over 120 videos, all with over 100k views and more,” says RelishMix. During the month of November, Disney took pulsed beats on pushing the streaming series, the first to star characters from the MCU. Specifically, there was an Entertainment Weekly cover and first-look images that debuted online. On Nov. 12, the drop date for WandaVision was announced on social with a custom motion poster. Empire magazine debuted a WandaVision cover online along with a special alternate subscriber cover. December was the payoff stretch for the WandaVision campaign with six decade posters — for the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s — which were pushed online daily from Dec. 4-9 to subliminally tease an upcoming content drop, which, of course, was the second trailer, which was unveiled during Marvel Boss Kevin Feige’s presentation on Disney Investor Day, Dec. 10. That trailer alone generated close to 9M views on YouTube. New payoff key art was pushed online immediately. Disney While many studios having curbed their theatrical P&A spend during the pandemic, Disney spared no amount of exposure promoting WandaVision across its sister companies in a synergistic blitz. This included not just ad spots but special-look stunt interstitials, co-branded takeovers, on-air graphic integrations, in-show integrations and custom talent content. Even today on the series launch day, there’s one 15-second spot airing every hour along with animated billboards across ABC, ABC O&Os, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, Freeform, FX/FXX/FXM, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild and Hulu. On Christmas Day, there was a 60-second special look during the ABC Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade broadcast. See below: Separately, as part of Disney’s cross-promotion for WandaVision, there was an ESPN SportsCenter Virtual Set Takeover showcasing the logo’s transformation through the decades (starting in 1979). There was a Hulu custom social stunt featuring director Matt Shakman connecting retro looks from WandaVision to nostalgic hit TV shows. And on FX and FXX, there was close to 20 minutes of programming featuring the two-minute making of WandaVision. WandaVision was also advertised in a near-ubiquitous presence across key broadcast hits including NFL & NBA games, primetime TV, cable, and streaming platforms. WandaVision‘s digital push included its Instagram account launch, which served up a never-before-done“reality bending” grid that updates on its own (you can see what we’re talking about here). Custom Twitter emojis included #Wanda, #TheVision, and #WandaVision, updating week over week as the season evolves across the decades. There was a “Heart to Remind” launch on Twitter, encouraging users to like that tweet to receive reminders when new WandaVision episodes debut. Black-and-white character posters were dropped digitally between Jan. 10-14. WandaVision TV influencer box So that key talent and influencers could tweet photos about the series, Disney sent them a TV-dinner box that had a custom TV tray, utensil set, coasters, drinking glasses and a journal designed to look like a vintage TV Guide with a custom cover. A talent panel Q&A streamed on Twitter yesterday with the Wandavision cast, filmmakers and appearances from other MCU talent. Even though Hollywood movies have scaled back in their outdoor presence during Covid with lesser traffic and box office capitals NYC and L.A. closed, streaming series billboards have been prevalent in both cities; Wandavision being no exception. If you’re in L.A., you’ll see billboards on the Sunset Strip, Beverly Center, W Hotel Hollywood, and Hollywood towers; while in NYC you’ll find motion billboards in Times Square and outside Penn Station.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_how_1228178_16_01_2021

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L.A. County Is Looking At Further Closures If Covid-19 Numbers Surge Again, Says Mayor Eric Garcetti - Deadline

“As of today, 1 in 3 people in Los Angeles County have been infected with the virus,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti on Thursday. The county estimates that one-third of the county’s 10 million residents have been infected with the virus at some point since the pandemic began. That equates to more than triple the number of infections that have been confirmed through testing in the county thus far. Given that, said the mayor, local officials were watching any spike in case numbers closely. “The county Supervisors are…trying to figure out whether there should be further closures,” said Garcetti. “I think it’s the obvious categories: Whether schools stay open or not, indoor gyms, public youth leagues.” Related Story Los Angeles Covid-19 Update: Workplace Outbreaks Soar Dramatically As Health Officials Warn, “If there are further closures that are coming, that is the result of something like if we see another outbreak because of the spread of something like the UK variant.” Likewise, said Garcetti, “If things continue to come down a little bit or come down even more quickly, maybe more closures aren’t necessary. But the moment it goes up like we saw in December at an any pace like that, absolutely. That is something we cannot sustain and most importantly our hospitals cannot and we would move into crisis mode there.” Speaking of which, another 17,323 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in L.A. County Thursday. That’s an 18% increase in 24 hours, raising the overall number of lives lost to the virus to 975,299 and pushing the county closer to the 1 million milestone. The death toll from COVID-19 continued a relentless climb in L.A., with about 1,700 fatalities from the virus confirmed over the past week alone. The past three days alone have seen close to 900 deaths in the region. The County Department of Public Health announced another 287 deaths from the virus Thursday, lifting the overall number of fatalities during the pandemic to 13,234. Health officials noted earlier that about 170 people die in the county each day from all other causes combined. Since last Thursday, the county has reported 1,689 new deaths — equating to an average of one death every six minutes. COVID-19 Daily Update:January 14, 2021New Cases: 17,323 (975,299 to date)New Deaths: 287 (13,234 to date)Current Hospitalizations: 7,906 pic.twitter.com/koNNoWkzhJ — LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) January 15, 2021 Infections and deaths have been soaring in the county since November, fueled by public gatherings held in violation of health restrictions, workplace outbreaks and Thanksgiving holiday get-togethers. The effect of Christmas and New Year’s gatherings are beginning to be seen in infection numbers, with those cases expected to soon translate to more hospitalizations. In the meantime, however, the number of people hospitalized in the county due to Covid has actually been decreasing. County officials on Thursday reported a total of 7,906 people hospitalized in the county due to Covid-19, below the 8,000-plus patients reported most of last week. The number of patients in intensive-care unit beds also dropped, but not nearly as dramatically. There were 1,699 ICU patients being treated for Covid on Thursday. That does not include ICU demand from all other causes. The county has a total of about 2,500 licensed ICU beds. The county Department of Health Services on Thursday reported a total of 570 available non-ICU hospital beds, and just 42 available adult ICU beds. Last week, on average, 80% of ICU patients in the county were being treated for Covid-19, along with 54% of non-ICU patients. County Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly on Wednesday urged people not to be fooled into complacency by the recent stabilization of hospital numbers. “While the numbers have plateaued at this number just shy of 8000, they have leveled at a rate that is really not sustainable,” Ghaly said. “This high plateau does not leave enough open beds to care for patients without Covid. And it does not still allow us to be prepared for an additional onslaught of patients that may present over the next couple of weeks in a potential post-holiday surge.” Ghaly said the county’s hospitals have not yet begun to see the results of gatherings and virus transmission that likely occurred over the Christmas and New Year holidays. “Even if the slight decline continues, we are nowhere near being in the clear in the L.A. County hospital system,” she said. “Hospitals cannot sustain the high level of beds that are occupied with Covid patients.” She added, “For there to be any meaningful relief for health care providers, we need a swift and significant decline in hospitalizations for a period of one to two months. Please do not let this current number of daily hospitalizations feel normal to you just because it’s plateaued.” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer warned that the county could also soon see spiking infection numbers thanks to a highly contagious new variant of the virus first discovered in the United Kingdom. That variant has not been officially identified yet in Los Angeles County. But Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has warned the variant is likely already here and simply hasn’t been detected in the relatively limited number of tests conducted in search of the new strain. “According to the latest available science, the UK variant doesn’t make people sicker, but it is more transmissible, meaning it can spread more easily,” Ferrer said Wednesday. “Current projections by the experts predict that if left unchecked, this variant could dominate locally by March.” With the variant’s ability to rapidly pass from person to person, it could quickly drive up infection numbers, inevitably leading to more hospitalizations and ultimately more deaths, Ferrer said. She said people need to continue taking all necessary precautions, while not ruling out the need forstricter regulations to control the spread. “We should be prepared to do more if cases remain high,” she said. “The work ahead requires us to take every action necessary to reduce transmission.” According to estimates released Wednesday by the county Department of Health Services, the COVID-19 transmission rate — the number of people a Covid patient infects with the virus — is hovering at about 0.97. Any time the rate is at 1 or higher, cases are anticipated to increase. The county’s modeling also estimates that roughly 1 in every 115 residents who are not hospitalized or in quarantine are infected with the virus and capable of spreading it to others. Ferrer noted that average daily new cases in the county have risen by 1,092% since November, average daily deaths are up 1,133% and hospitalizations are up 875%. City News Service contributed to this report.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_la_c1225195_15_01_2021

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‘Insecure’ To End After Season 5; Issa Rae Thanks “Tremendous Support Of Our Audience” - Deadline

After four sometimes awkward and often acclaimed seasons on HBO, Insecure will come to its conclusion with the upcoming fifth season. “Prentice and I are so grateful that HBO believed in our show from the beginning and kept faith in us to see our vision through the end,” co-creator and star Issa Rae told Deadline today of the Emmy nominated comedy she executive produces with Prentice Penny. “We always planned to tell this story through five seasons, but we couldn’t have made it this far without the tremendous support of our audience,” the best selling The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl author and recently minted Television Academy Executive Committee member added. “I feel blessed beyond measure to bring our characters’ stories to an end, on-screen at least.” Related Story Yvonne Orji Autobiographical Comedy Produced By David Oyelowo & Oprah Winfrey In Works At Disney+ With all its scripts completed, the fifth and final season of Insecure is expected to go into production later this month. Starring its lead cast of Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell, and Amanda Seales, the show will return later this year, HBO says. Based on Rae’s online series Awkward Black Girl, the Larry Wilmore co-created Insecure focused on the trials, tribulations and twists of LA-based Issa as she negotiated love, life and friendship (especially with Orji portrayed Molly). The Golden Globe and NAACP Image Award nominated series debuted on HBO on in October 2016 and concluded its fourth season with a Penny helmed and penned finale last June. Insecure was renewed for what is now its last season back in May 2020 by the AT&T-owned HBO. “Issa has turned insecurity into an iconic form of comedy,” the premium cabler’s Programming EVP Amy Gravitt declared in a statement Wednesday. “The show is as incisive as it is heartfelt, and it has resonated strongly with its audience because of the deeply personal work that Issa, Prentice, Melina, the cast and the writers have put into it,” the exec continued. “This talented team has conceived a brilliant final season for Insecure and we look forward to having many more stories to tell with this singular group of collaborators.” Of that group, Insecure is EP’d by Rae, Penny, Melina Matsoukas, Michael Rotenberg, Dave Becky, Jonathan Berry, Amy Aniobi and Jim Kleverweis. Even as Rae is rockin’ it as a producer and creator in new arenas, the daring and vulnerability of Insecure will be missed. To paraphrase Rae’s character from the Season 4 finale, it was a lot – in the best way.

https://avalanches.com/world_news/us/us_33718/dead_inse1220576_14_01_2021

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