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| Good morning and thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief... Who knows what really happened with the "Looney Tunes" on Max? The streamer's explanation -- that it never had any intention of dropping classic WB cartoons from its platform, and this was just a mix-up in the "What's Leaving Max in December" post -- seems pretty reasonable. The film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" really is departing the service, so a transcription or some other human error here is certainly possible. And it does seem RIDICULOUS that anyone at WB Discovery would actually think dropping Bugs Bunny from their branded streaming platform was a sound decision. How much could they REALLY save by pushing the face of their entire international mega-corporation over to a competing platform? No one smart thinks Sylvester and Tweety should go to Hulu. Still, WBD has made some unexpected, outside-the-box decisions lately, including the cancellation of numerous completed film projects, so who really knows what they're doing any more? It's hard to say for certain that they would never sell off "Looney Tunes" to Netflix for a quick stock boost. You can't really fault the internet for believing this story right away, and we may never know what REALLY happened here. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | According to Samba TV, around 1.1 million US households watched the first episode of Netflix's "Squid Game: The Challenge" during its first five days online. That's considerably higher than comparable recent premieres, including "The Circle" Season 5 (which grabbed around 264,000 US households in the same window) or Korea's "Physical: 100" (with 396,000 US households). More: - Samba's data comes from 3 million terrestrial TVs; they do not monitor mobile viewership at all.
- Samba also reported that "Squid Game: The Challenge" viewership was relatively diverse, with considerably above-average interest from both Black and Spanish-speaking households.
- "The Challenge" -- a reality game show based on the fictional competition from the hit Korean thriller series -- has faced some controversy and even potential lawsuits over its reinvention of the premise and the harsh nature of the production.
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| 2 | | Classic "Looney Tunes" animated shorts will remain on Max, despite online reports to the contrary. According to the streamer, the cartoons were mistakenly included in a list of content leaving the platform in December, leading to widespread confusion. More: - The title "Looney Tunes" appeared in Max's "What's New This December" list, along with other shows exiting the platform at the end of the month.
- After a public outcry on social media, the streamer issued a statement claiming "Looney Tunes was included in error as a title leaving the platform."
- The 2003 hybrid live-action/animated film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" really will leave Max on December 31, perhaps explaining the initial mistake.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 SOUTH TO BLACK POWER: Debut documentary from HBO, profiling New York Times columnist and author Charles M. Blow, and exploring his call for Black Americans to "reverse migrate" back to the South and shift its political institutions from within. During the film, Blow travels around the US and speaks with a number of scholars, writers, and politicians about his proposal. Sam Pollard ("MLK/FBI," "The League") directs. [Max] BUGS BUNNY BUILDERS: Animated Cartoon Network series for young kids in which Bugs and Lola Bunny manage an inept construction crew on behalf of the ACME Company. A collection of new episodes, the show's seventh overall, lands this week. [Max] EARTH MAMA: 2023 indie drama feature from writer/director Savanah Leaf, based on her short film "The Heart Still Hums." Tia Nomore stars as a pregnant single mother from the Bay Area fighting to reunite with her two children, who have been sent into the foster care system. Erika Alexander, Doechii, Keta Price, and Bokeem Woodbine co-star. [Paramount+] VERIFIED STAND-UP: Two-part comedy special featuring brief sets from 10 up-and-coming comedians, all recorded at New York's Webster Hall. Performers include Asif Ali, Dulcé Sloan, Gianmarco Soresi, Isiah Kelly, Leslie Liao, Nimesh Patel, Robby Hoffman, Rosebud Baker, Sabrina Wu, and Vanessa Gonzalez. [Netflix] ONMYOJI: Debut anime series, based on the novels by Baku Yumemakura and inspired by the life of legendary 11th Century astrologer and spiritual advisor Abe no Seimei. [Netflix] LOVE LIKE A K-DRAMA: Debut reality dating competition series in which four actresses from Japan and four actors from Korea live and rehearse together, overcoming language barriers and more, as they audition for roles in an upcoming romantic Netflix series. Yuko Fueki (aka Yumin) hosts. [Netflix] COMEDY ROYALE: Comedy competition series from Korea in which 20 stand-ups face off for a chance to host their own original Netflix show. Se-yoon Moon, Kyung-kyu Lee, and Yong-jin Lee serve as masters of ceremonies. [Netflix] KATAK: THE BRAVE BELUGA: Animated adventure film for kids, produced in France but dubbed into English for US audiences. To save his grandmother, young beluga whale Katak sets off on a perilous journey to the Great North. [Hulu] | | | |
| 4 | | Vanity Fair got an exclusive early peek at Amazon's sci-fi series based on the "Fallout" video game franchise. The series debuts in April 2024 on Prime Video. More: - The games are set in a retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic universe, as if the imagined future of the 1950s became a dystopian nuclear wasteland.
- "Yellowjackets" vet Ella Purnell stars as Lucy, a plucky former vault dweller who ventures out into the above-ground world; Walton Goggins co-stars as a 100-year-old walking corpse named "The Ghoul."
- The cast also features Moises Arias, Kyle MacLachlan, Aaron Moten, Sarita Choudhury, and Michael Emerson.
- "Westworld" vets Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan co-created the series; they both spoke with Vanity Fair for the piece.
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| 5 | | Indian streamer ZEE5 Global launched its own take on Amazon Prime Video Channels in the US. Subscriptions to six different third-party South Asian streaming services are now available to US customers via the ZEE5 platform. More: - The services are referred to by ZEE5 as "add-ons."
- The list includes Simply South, featuring content in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam; Oho Gujarati; Chapual, which streams in Punjabi, Bhojpuri, and Haryanvi; NammaFlix, in Kannada; Epic On in Hindi; and iStream, which features Malayalam content.
- Additional streaming platforms are also in discussion with ZEE5 about joining the program.
- A baseline ZEE5 Global subscription in the US costs $79.99 annually for a 4K plan, or $59.99 for standard; add-ons run from $1.49 to $4.99 per month.
- ZEE5 currently has around 1 million monthly active users in the US, according to internal data.
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| 6 | | "Justified" vet Timothy Olyphant joined the cast of FX's "Alien" spinoff series. The show comes from "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley. More: - The series is set on Earth between the first and second films in the "Alien" franchise; original "Alien" director Ridley Scott executive produces.
- Olyphant and Hawley previously collaborated on the fourth season of "Fargo," which also airs on FX.
- Sydney Chandler stars in the series as a meta-human, known as a "hybrid," with the consciousness of a child in an adult body; Olyphant will play an android (known as a synth) who serves as her trainer and mentor.
- The cast also reportedly includes Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, and Kit Young.
- Production kicked off during the SAG-AFTRA strike in July; it will continue in early 2024.
- Filmmaker Fede Alvarez ("Don't Breathe") is also currently working on a new film set in the "Alien" universe; the two projects are not directly connected.
- FX shows typically stream on Hulu in the US.
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| 7 | | During a presentation at Content London in the UK, Netflix executive Lina Brounéus revealed that the streamer owns the IP rights for less than 25% of its total European content library. Brounéus currently serves as Netflix's Director of Acquisitions Strategy for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). More: - Brounéus was pushing back against the widespread perception that Netflix wants to own all of the content that it streams; she argues the company is open to a range of distribution models.
- In the US, originals and exclusives make up more than 50% of Netflix's catalog; however, the streamer re-brands some international acquisitions as "Netflix Originals" for its American audience, throwing off these numbers somewhat.
- Brounéus was previously an executive for the Nordic streamer Viaplay; she joined Netflix in 2018.
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| 8 | | QUICK HITS - Competitors are killing your efficiency. Read how Greenhouse gained $85mil in revenue from reps who used Klue over non-Klue users.*
- Starz renewed the crime drama series "Power Book III: Raising Kanan" for a fourth season.
- The Blu-Ray release of "WandaVision" features a brief preview of the forthcoming Disney+ spinoff "Agatha: Darkhold Diaries."
- Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban revealed on the "All the Smoke" podcast that he's exiting the reality series "Shark Tank" after its upcoming 16th season.
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and James Norton grabbed the lead roles in "King and Conqueror," a period drama series from CBS Studios and the BBC; the series tracks the 11th Century rivalry between the Duke of Normandy (Coster-Waldau) and the Earl of Wessex (Norton), former allies who went to war over control of England.
- Netflix is developing a scripted series about Princess Latifa of Dubai, who attempted to escape the country hidden within a jetski in 2018 before being discovered and returned; "Winter Palace" vet Lindsay Shapero is writing the script.
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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 Lon Harris | |
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