MGM gets new Channing Tatum pic based on his family book

DISNEY+ drops $30 Mil on ELTON JOHN docu + concert / CNN pivots to news / MTV rebooting the late 2000s. again

May 19

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY May 19, 2022.

Where we’re one day away from the release of what has a solid shot at being the biggest album of 2022, HARRY STYLES’s “Harry’s House” 😱 (how is he not doing the SNL finale this weekend btw?)

Also - just watching his “As It Was” perf on The Today Show this morning before hitting send on this…I just do not get this song. Unlike the hundreds of GenZ girls who clearly skipped class today to go to the 30 Rock plaza.

For any HARRY fans - BILLBOARD did a good recap of highlights from his appearance on Stern this week, and no… the song that you’ll think is about T Swift on the album, is not. Well. At least he gave a very “Harry” answer to it. (no online clips yet).

the closest we’ll get to an SNL appearance this week. via giphy

AND: We’ll find out how “Sweet Caroline” plays in NYC on a nightly basis this December when NEIL DIAMOND musical “A Beautiful Night” hits BROADWAY. 💎

ALSO: This… probably won’t help celebrity TESLA sales in LA.

Elon Musk @elonmusk

In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican. Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold … 🍿

📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

Channing Tatum sets new MGM movie based on his children’s book

He’ll produce and star in the pic based on the book “The One and Only Sparkella” ✨ about a father who teaches her to be herself when she’s ostracized at school.

He’s dropping a 2nd “Sparkella” book at the end of the month. Script is being written by Pamela Ribon (”Ralph Breaks the Internet”). /Variety

ALSO IN MOVIES

OSCARS bring back requirement that contenders premiere in a movie theater (day & date w/streaming OK) in one of 6 cities (NY, LA, SF, ATL, MIAMI or CHI). Sorry Texas. They did however reject my “no Trap music” suggestion to the Best Song category 👎. /THR
Simon Rex joins “Pussy Island” at MGM. There’s just something about that sentence that sounds right. (that’s the Zoe Kravitz-directed thriller on a ~~sex~~ mysterious island with Channing Tatum). /Deadline

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📝 IN OTHER WORDS… final UPFRONTS edition

“Today, Warner Bros. Discovery makes it number five.”
- DAVID ZASLAV at the WBD Upfront, pulling a fetch re: WBD being essentially now the 5th network (“Big 5” instead of the “Big 4”) - a terrible analogy especially at a time when WBD is basically selling the one actual national broadcast network they do have, and cutting its remaining output by about 40%.
Here is TheCW’s Fall schedule btw for any inclined.
AND
“No one’s imaginations ever had a problem with a talking dog solving mysteries, so I think we can handle a brown Velma”
- MINDY KALING at the WBD Upfront on her new role as “Velma” in the “Scooby-Doo” HBOMAX animated series for adults.
OVER AT PARAMOUNT
“I can’t wait for ‘1997’- It’s mostly Kevin Costner rollerblading.”
- JAMES CORDEN referencing the even more “Yellowstone” spinoff announcements yesterday. I’ve given up on keeping track.

📺 THE TV SET

Eh a little tired, glad it’s Thursday. But thanks for asking Lizzo since none of you people ever do ☹️. Sorry. Haven’t had my breakfast yet. via Giphy

HBOMAX orders LIZZO docu

Will drop this Fall… but no real other details, other than it’s produced by her music label, her touring promoter, and LIZZO herself so I’m not sure “documentary” is the word here 🤔.

But #funfact: LIZZO’s production company is called Lizzobangers 👏👏. /Variety

DISNEY buys $30 Million Elton John docu + final tour performance

Called “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, RJ Cutler (“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) is directing with John’s partner David Furnish, and will include performances from his current final tour.

Disney will give it a festival run and limited theatrical release before a drop on DISNEY+… and the deal reportedly includes a live stream of his final show at DODGERS STADIUM in November. /Deadline

ALSO IN TV

MTV found a couple more things to reboot as they keep that BRAVO for GenZ vibe going - “Jersey Shore 2.0” and “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter”, coming soon, as is “The Hills: Next Gen”. Can we really call the group where these came from “Development” anymore?
- ALSO: Andy Samberg is doing an animated series he also co-created for COMEDY CENTRAL called “Digman!” about a cool archeologist, and Colbert’s “Tooning Out the News” is also moving to CC. /Deadline
PARAMOUNT NET premiering “Yellowstone” Season 5 and PAR+ Stallone series “Tulsa King” on Sun Nov 13.
ADULT SWIM orders “Rick & Morty“ anime spinoff series. 10 episodes. /THR
- ALSO: Renews “The Eric Andre Show” for a Season 6. /Deadline

💻 THE MEDIA BIZ

yeah not sure that’ll happen on CNN Chris. via giphy

CNN’s new CEO emphasizes… news

I’ve long been a fan of new CNN CEO Chris Licht’s ability to see white space in the TV media landscape, and successfully execute on it.

Not just helping to turn Colbert into a winning show for CBS in late night, but also making “CBS This Morning” a contender (and simply just a far better show during his tenure) … and while I’ve never watched it, making “Morning Joe” a thing on a network never known for their morning programming.

So when Chris appeared at the WBD day yesterday, it was heartening to hear his strategy of… simply doing real news:

More topical docus are on the way
As is a Sunday night Primetime OP block anchored by Chris Wallace’s weekly version of the interview show he did for 3 weeks on CNN+.
- Will premiere this Fall, and also stream on HBOMAX.
To be paired with a longform journalism “60 Minutes”-ish show.
And unsurprisingly he’s revamping CNN’s morning show this Fall too.

ALSO Eva Longoria’s former CNN+ series “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico” also moving to CNN linear. /Variety

THOUGHT FWIW: Granted - it remains to be seen if this will translate into an audience gain (or loss), but he’s choosing to lean into the core brand upon which CNN was built and known for globally, vs bordering on the more ‘becoming a punchline’ vibes that CNN had during the Zucker years.

And given the fact that no matter what “shows” they do, CNN’s audience size truly correlates to the news & political cycles anyway … so returning to the “most trusted name in news” ethos sounds smart to me, even if only since it will go a long way in helping heal the damaged morale among a company of journalists after the Zucker and CNN+ disasters in 2022 thus far.

🏦 STOCK NOTES:

WALL STREET had the biggest one day drop since almost 2 years ago / Summer 2020. Thanks retail!

APPLE -5% ($140.82)
WBD -5% ($17.46)
FACEBOOK -5% ($192.24)
NETFLIX -7% ($177.19)
AMAZON -7% ($2142.25)
SNAP -7% ($22.73)
aaannnd… BUZZFEED +13% ($3.81). Of course.

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👩‍💻 NEW TO WATCH:

PEACOCK “Angelyne” - all episodes drop today - STREAM HERE

NETFLIX “The G Word with Adam Conover” - STREAM HERE

HBOMAX “Legendary” new season - STREAM HERE

🎥 TRAILER HOUSE

UNIVERSAL “Bros” trailer - Billy Eichner / Judd Apatow produced comedy. Premieres Sept 30

PEACOCK “Queer As Folk series trailer - Premieres Thu June 9

NETFLIX “Halftime” J Lo docu trailer… and “docu” is nowhere near the term for this. But I think “…wow 🤯.” kinda does it. Premieres June 14