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| Hello Inside Streaming readers! A new but not entirely unsurprising Bloomberg report today indicates that Amazon will take a hard look at its expansive TV budgets and maybe start to rein in some of these extremely costly original shows that aren't necessarily paying off in terms of audience. There's just no way Amazon Studios was going to continue dropping hundreds of millions of dollars on "Lord of the Rings" prequels, David Cronenberg remakes, and complex, layered adaptations of obscure hard sci-fi novels forever without an actual audience showing up. With the high-profile spy thriller series "Citadel" never even ranking on Nielsen's Top 10 Shows of the Week list -- at one point getting beaten out by a Netflix reality BBQ competition series -- it was only a matter of time before the bean counters and C-suite were forced to step in, I suppose. Enjoy today's issue! We'll be back tomorrow with the weekend calendar and a new chart. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | According to a new report from Bloomberg, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy plans to re-evaluate the budgets for the company's original TV productions. Jassy has reportedly asked executives for detailed budget analyses of Amazon originals, centered on their relative costs vs. their performance on Prime Video. More: - The moves are part of an overall cost-cutting strategy at Amazon, which plans to eliminate around 27,000 jobs in total; Jassy has, so far, jettisoned around 37 projects he deemed unnecessary.
- In 2022, Amazon spent $7 billion on original content, up from $5 billion the year before.
- Of the major streamers, only Disney and Netflix spend more on content.
- Amazon's high-profile series adaptation of JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" cost an estimated $400 million to produce, while the spy thriller "CItadel" had a budget over $250 million; neither show brought huge numbers of new viewers to Prime Video, while the latter show never cracked Nielsen's Top 10 streaming chart in the US.
- Other expensive Amazon series that have seemingly failed to deliver large audiences to Prime Video include "The Peripheral," "Daisy Jones & The Six," and "Dead Ringers," all of which cost over $100 million to produce.
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| 2 | | Donna Langley -- who previously served as Chairman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group -- has been promoted, and will oversee all of Universal's film and TV divisions. Former Chairman of Entertainment Content for NBCUniversal's TV and Streaming division, Susan Rovner, will exit the company. More: - This is one of the first major moves from Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, as he takes over NBCUniversal following the departure of former chief Jeff Shell.
- NBCU will apparently not get a new CEO for now; Cavanagh will supervise a team of four "operational heads," including Langley, Mark Lazarus (NBCU Media Group), Cesar Conde (NBCU News Group), and Mark Woodbury (Destinations & Experiences).
- Previously, Langley was responsible for global creative strategy and business operations for Universal Pictures; she has overseen the development of the "Fast & Furious," "How to Train Your Dragon," "Jurassic World," and "Minions" franchises.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, JULY 6 HART TO HART: The chat series -- in which Kevin Hart hosts intimate conversations with his celebrity pals from his wine cellar -- is back for a third season. Season 3 guests include Bill Maher, Dr. Dre, Dwayne Johnson, Issa Rae, J.Cole, John Cena, Mark Cuban, Sofia Vergara, Will Ferrell, and Will Smith. [Peacock] KEVIN HART: REALITY CHECK: Hart's latest hour-long comedy special also hits Peacock on Thursday. It was filmed at Resort World in Las Vegas. [Peacock] THE LINCOLN LAWYER: The legal drama series returns for a two-part second season, based on "The Fifth Witness," the fourth book in author Michael Connelly's series. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo stars as LA defense attorney Mickey Haller, who runs his practice from the backseat of his Lincoln. The first chunk of Season 2 episodes arrive today, with Part 2 following on August 3. [Netflix] GOLD BRICK (CASH): French crime comedy feature about a worker in a luxury perfume factory who plots an elaborate heist to get revenge against his employers. Raphaël Quenard stars; Jérémie Rozan wrote and directed. [Netflix] WAKE UP, CARLO! (ACORDA, CARLO!) Debut animated series from Brazil, about a 7-year-old who sleeps for 22 years after being put under a magic spell, and wakes up in a future world where his best friends are already adults. Creators Copa Studios previously produced "Jorel's Brother" and "Haunted Tales for Wicked Kids" for Cartoon Network. [Netflix] DEEP FAKE LOVE (FALSO AMOR): Debut reality competition series from Spain, in which real-life couples have their relationships tested by images and videos utilizing deepfake technology. Raquel Sánchez Silva hosts. [Netflix] SHAUN WHITE: THE LAST RUN: Intimate four-part docuseries profiling the three-time Olympic gold medalist who's frequently ranked among the all-time greats of two different sports: skateboarding and snowboarding. Christina Clusiau and and Shaul Schwarz ("Immigration Nation") direct. [Max] BARNWOOD BUILDERS: In the long-running reality series, West Virginia-based craftsman Mark Bowe and his team salvage and restore antique barns and cabins. The 16th season debuts this week on both Max and cable's Magnolia Network. [Max] MAKEUP X BREAKUP: Romantic comedy-drama series about the intersecting lives of a number of single people around New York City. It's back for a second season. Nicolette Ellis, Omar Salmon, Oliva Gray, and Sean Dominic co-star. [ALLBLK] ANCIENT ALIENS: The long-running History series explores the hypothetical idea that early human civilizations may have interacted with extraterrestrials. The second half of the show's 18th season hits Hulu in the US today, along with a new spinoff, titled "Special Presentation." [Hulu] CALL HER KING: 2023 action thriller from director Wes Miller ("A Day to Die"). Naturi Naughton stars as Judge Jaeda King, whose court is taken hostage by the brother (Lance Gross) of the defendant she has just sentenced to death. Jason Mitchell, Johnny Messner, and Nicholas Turturro co-star. [BET+] NO ANGEL (INGEN ÄNGEL): YA horror-comedy series from Sweden, starring Yussra El Abdouni as the popular "queen bee" of her high school who's also secretly a serial killer. EliSophie Andrée ("Hilda") created. [Viaplay] | | | |
| 4 | | GQ Magazine published and then quickly pulled an editorial that was critical of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. The piece was written by freelance film reviewer Jason Bailey; when Bailey's editor made extensive rewrites post-publication, the writer requested to have his byline removed, causing the article to be pulled entirely. More: - In the piece, Bailey referred to Zaslav as "the most hated man in Hollywood" and compared him to "Succession" mogul Logan Roy.
- According to The Washington Post, shortly after the piece was published, GQ received a complaint from a Zaslav representative, prompting the magazine to make extensive edits to the story.
- Archived versions of the original and edited versions of the piece have both been found online; the edits removed the "hated" description of Zaslav and the "Succession" comparison, along with a line describing Discovery's original shows as "reality slop."
- A GQ spokesperson told the Post that the article "was not properly edited before going live"; Bailey says he submitted "what I felt was the story I was hired to write."
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| 5 | | Preparations for a potential Hollywood actors strike have begun. There is just one week to go before the deadline for a new deal between actors guild SAG-AFTRA and the major studios and streamers. More: - The deadline for a new contract now expires at midnight on July 12; on Friday, both parties agreed to the new contract extension.
- According to Deadline, negotiations continued over the holiday weekend and on Monday.
- Though there has not been any official partnership struck between the two unions, WGA members have apparently offered to help SAG-AFTRA captains and coordinators to get organized; it's likely SAG-AFTRA protestors would join their WGA compatriots on established studio picket lines.
- Currently, no scripted TV shows are shooting in Los Angeles due to the WGA strike; in a normal week, dozens of films and shows would be in production.
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| 6 | | The team behind the British gangster series "Peaky Blinders" publicly objected to the use of clips from the show in a new political ad for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. A number of quick shots from Hollywood productions of intense, violent characters -- including Christian Bale from "American Psycho," Brad Pitt from "Troy," and Cillian Murphy from "Blinders" -- are featured in the heavily-criticized ad highlighting the governor's anti-LGBTQ agenda, part of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. More: - The "Peaky Blinders" creative team responded on Twitter, with a statement noting "we do not support nor endorse the videos' narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner."
- "Blinders" creator Steven Knight and Murphy both co-signed the statement.
- "Peaky Blinders" centers on gangs in post-World War I Birmingham; it streams on Netflix in the US.
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| 7 | | Apple's new animated sci-fi comedy series "Strange Planet" debuts on August 9. The series is based on the comic strip of the same name by Nathan W. Pyle; "Rick & Morty" vet Dan Harmon is a co-creator and executive producer. More: - The action follows two aliens as they struggle to understand human life and behavior.
- The voice cast includes Tunde Adebimpe, Lori Tan Chinn, Danny Pudi, Hannah Einbinder, and Demi Adejuyigbe.
- Adejuyigbe is best known as the mastermind behind Twitter's annual September 21 Earth Wind and Fire celebratory videos.
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- "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" -- one of the year's biggest box office hits to date -- makes its Peacock debut on August 3.
- Warner Bros. TV has entirely scrapped plans for a live-action series based on "The Powerpuff Girls"; the long-gestating project had originally been bound for The CW.
- Kaya Scodelario ("Crawl") joined the cast of "Senna," Netflix's upcoming limited series based on the life of Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna; she'll play a fictional character who was created for the show.
- Amazon dropped a trailer for "The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart," an adaptation of the Holly Ringland novel starring Sigourney Weaver; the series debuts on August 4.
- The big-screen adaptation of the French animated series "Ladybug & Cat Noir" hits Netflix on July 28; the series streams in the US on Disney+.
- Film and TV producer Eva María Daniels -- whose recent output included the 2023 HBO original "Reality" -- died this week at the age of 43.
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 | Writer | | Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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