Paramount may be for sale / "Calamity Hustle" to Warner Bros. / "The Crown" S6 viewership dips / Clooney, Sandler join Baumbach's next

Plus the weekend calendar, Apple greenlights "Murderbot" series, "Beverly Hills Cop 4" trailer, "Platonic" renewed for Season 2, and more

Inside Streaming For December 15, 2023

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Happy Friday and thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming! Deadline and THR are reporting today and National Amusements may be looking to sell off its controlling ownership of Paramount Global, but it's not really a hugely shocking revelation. Like so many other legacy media and entertainment companies, Paramount finds itself backed into a corner, suffering massively from the loss of revenue to its cable TV properties and theatrical films, and unable to make up this ground from streaming alone. It seems likely, in the years ahead, that a lot of these smaller studios and brands will have to join forces or lose out to larger players like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney. For now, bundling services might patch things up -- like Paramount+'s possible team-up with Apple TV+ that's been rumored in recent weeks -- but eventually, it seems likely these companies will just join forces entirely. Enjoy today's issue! We'll see you back here next week. Lon p/lon-harris

1 National Amusements -- the holding company that controls Paramount Global stock -- may be considering a sale, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Voting control over Paramount Global is currently held by Shari Redstone, the daughter of late media tycoon Sumner Redstone. More: Redstone is reportedly working along with banker Byron Trott on putting together a sale. Paramount Global owns CBS, Paramount+, and Paramount Pictures, along with a number of cable networks, such as Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon. Skydance Media CEO David Ellison is reportedly among the early interested buyers, as is RedBird Capital founder Gerry Cardinale. National Amusements is also a movie theater operator with 22 locations in the US, mostly in the Northeast. Paramount stock jumped 13% on Friday following the reports about a potential sale.

2 The Warner Bros. movie studio won an intense bidding war for the action comedy project "Calamity Hustle," to star Ryan Reynolds and Channing Tatum. A number of streamers, including Netflix and Amazon, had also bid on the project. More: Reynolds plays a cop whose estranged brother (Tatum) is implicated in a diamond heist. The tone has been compared to classic "buddy comedies"; like "Lethal Weapon," it's set around the holiday season. Both Reynolds and Tatum will receive around $25 million guaranteed for their appearances, along with a chunk of the backend. The Nee Brothers -- who collaborated Tatum on the action comedy "The Lost City" -- will direct.

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3 WEEKEND CALENDAR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 BARBIE: Fantasy-comedy from co-writer/director Greta Gerwig ("Little Women"), inspired by the iconic Mattel fashion dolls. Margot Robbie produced and stars as "Stereotypical Barbie," who exits her perfect pink reality along with Ken (Ryan Gosling) to explore the human world, and learn about the patriarchy. America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Rhea Perlman co-star; Helen Mirren narrates. "Barbie" is the highest-grossing film of 2023 worldwide. [Max] ON THE TEE: The unscripted series features Golf Digest writer Hally Leadbetter playing some non-competitive three-hole competitions against rotating celebrity guests. The second half of the show's first season premieres this weekend on Max. [Max] REACHER: The action crime series, based on the books by author Lee Child, returns for a second season. Alan Ritchson stars as former US Army police officer-turned-drifter Jack Reacher. Season 2, based on Child's book "Bad Luck and Trouble," finds Reacher investigating the murders of several members of his old military unit. Serinda Swan, Ferdinand Kingsley, and Rory Cochrane co-star. [Amazon] THE FAMILY PLAN: Action comedy feature starring Mark Wahlberg (who also produced) as a deadly assassin-turned-family man. When his violent past catches up with him, he'll attempt to keep the wife and kids distracted and out of danger without revealing his big secret. Michelle Monaghan, Saïd Taghmaoui, Maggie Q, and Ciarán Hinds co-star; Simon Cellan Jones ("Ballers") directed. [Apple TV+] CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET: Stop-motion animated sequel to the 2000 comedy "Chicken Run" from Oscar-winning UK studio Aardman, in which the escapees from Tweedys' Farm face down a new threat to their adopted bird sanctuary home. Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Romesh Ranganathan, Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton, and David Bradley co-star. [Netflix] CAROL & THE END OF THE WORLD: Animated sci-fi comedy-drama miniseries for adults from creator Dan Guterman ("Rick and Morty"). While most of humanity reacts to Earth's imminent destruction with carefree hedonism, quiet Carol (Martha Kelly) prefers to maintain her daily routines. Beth Grant, Lawrence Pressman, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, and Mel Rodriguez co-star. [Netflix] FAMILIA: Spanish-language drama feature from Mexico, about an unconventional family that gathers to make a difficult decision: should they sell the family ranch to an international food conglomerate? Daniel Giménez Cacho, Ilse Salas, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Natalia Solian, and Maribel Verdú co-star; Rodrigo García ("Albert Nobbs") directs. [Netflix] FACE TO FACE WITH ETA: CONVERSATIONS WITH A TERRORIST (NO ME LLAME TERNERA): Documentary from Spain featuring an in-depth interview between journalist Jordi Évole and José Antonio Urrutikoetxea (aka Josu Ternera) of the Basque nationalist group, ETA. The group, sometimes referred to as a terrorist gang, is at the forefront of the Basque National Liberation Movement. [Netflix] YOH! CHRISTMAS: Holiday romantic comedy series from South Africa, starring Katlego Lebogang as a 30-something who lied to her family about having a boyfriend. Now she has just 24 days to find one for real before everyone gathers for Christmas. [Netflix] CMA COUNTRY CHRISTMAS: Annual ABC holiday music special, recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and featuring country music stars performing festive classics. This year's performers include Jordan Davis, Trisha Yearwood, Amy Grant, Lady A, Jon Pardi, Lindsey Stirling, Zach Williams, and more; Grant and Yearwood co-host. [Hulu and Disney+] SUCH BRAVE GIRLS: First-year "gross-out" comedy series from the UK, which originally aired on BBC Three. Creator Kat Sadler co-wrote and co-stars in the series alongside her real-life sister Lizzie Davidson. It follows a single mother (Louise Brealey) and her two daughters (Sadler and Davidson) as they cope with the recent departure of their husband and father from the family. [Hulu] THE RETIREMENT PLAN: 2023 crime comedy/thriller from writer/director Tim Brown. Nicolas Cage stars as a beach bum with a shadowy past who comes to the aid of his estranged ex-wife and daughter after they're targeted by a mob boss. Ashley Greene, Thalia Campbell, Ron Perlman, Jackie Earle Haley, and Ernie Hudson co-star. [Hulu] FINESTKIND: Crime thriller film from writer/director Brian Helgeland (who previously wrote the Oscar-winning "LA Confidential" screenplay). Ben Foster and Toby Wallace co-star as half-brothers who make a fateful deal with a Boston crime syndicate that ends up involving their father (Tommy Lee Jones) and a mysterious young woman (Jenna Ortega) as well. "Finestkind" premiered at this year's Toronto Film Festival. [Paramount+] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16 LEO REICH: LITERALLY WHO CARES? The writer and comedian's debut special finds him asking the "big questions," like "is this helping?" and "am I hot?" It was produced by the A24 studio and features original songs by Toby Marlow. [Max] THE SECRET GIFT OF CHRISTMAS: Holiday rom-com from Hallmark starring Meghan Ory as a personal shopper whose new client is a widower (Christopher Russell) desperate to reconnect with his daughter. [Peacock] SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17 WILLIE NELSON'S 90th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: CBS concert special recorded at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, featuring performances from Nelson alongside Beck, Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Snoop Dogg, Dave Matthews, Keith Richards, his sons Lukas and Micah Nelson, and many others. Jennifer Garner, Chelsea Handler, Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke, Helen Mirren, and Owen Wilson make appearances. The show starts Sunday night at 8:30 pm ET/PT. [Paramount+] THE CHRISTMAS DETECTIVE: Holiday mystery film, produced for the Oprah Winfrey Network, starring Javicia Leslie as a former beauty queen-turned-private investigator. Her latest case involves an art gallery heist, and finds her working alongside a police detective (Brad James). [Max] SEALED WITH A LIST: Holiday rom-com from Hallmark, starring Katie Findlay as Carley, who attempts to fulfill all of her abandoned New Year's resolutions before the clock runs out. Evan Roderick co-stars. [Peacock]

4 The first part of "The Crown" Season 6 was viewed for 943 million minutes in its first week on Netflix, back in mid-November. That's less than half of the viewership for Season 5's first week, which hit 2.13 billion minutes. More: While Season 5 was released all at once, only the first four new episodes of "The Crown" Season 6 were released on November 16. The final six episodes -- which Netflix called Part 2 of the season -- debuted this week on December 14. "The Crown" was the only original streaming series in the Nielsen Top 10 for this week; 8 spots were filled by licensed shows, while David Fincher's crime drama "The Killer" took the #10 spot with 557 million minutes viewed.

5 George Clooney and Adam Sandler will co-star in the new Netflix original film from "Marriage Story" director Noah Baumbach. Baumbach co-wrote the film with actor Emily Mortimer. More: Sandler and Baumbach previously collaborated on the Netflix film "The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)"; this will be Baumbach's first film with Clooney. The director's "Marriage Story" and "White Noise" were also produced for Netflix. Netflix's film chief Scott Stuber had previously described this project as a "funny and emotional coming-of-age story about adults." Baumbach also co-wrote this year's mega-hit "Barbie" with his long-time girlfriend, filmmaker Greta Gerwig.

6 Apple picked up the sci-fi drama series "Murderbot," inspired by author Martha Wells' "The Murderbot Diaries" books. "Succession" vet Alexander Skarsgård will star in the series, which comes from writers, directors, and showrunners Chris ("The Creator") and Paul Weitz ("Fatherhood"). More: The series centers on a security android who has developed self-awareness, and the ability to hack itself, but keeps this a secret from its human clients. Apple expressed strong interest in the project last year, but development was interrupted by the Hollywood strikes. David S. Goyer -- who created the "Foundation" series for Apple -- is among the executive producers.

7 Netflix shared a trailer for the fourth "Beverly Hills Cop" film, subtitled "Axel Foley." Eddie Murphy returns in his iconic role as Detroit police officer Foley, who continually finds himself drawn back to Southern California. More: No set release date has been announced; the film will arrive sometime in 2024. A number of franchise veterans return for the new installment, including Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot; new arrivals include Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Taylour Paige. The original "Beverly Hills Cop" debuted in 1984, and was one of the films that made Murphy an international superstar; the most recent sequel hit screens in 1994. Several previous attempts to revive the franchise, including a planned TV reboot, all stalled out.

8 QUICK HITS The Kubernetes Cookbook is your comprehensive companion equipping you with the knowledge and techniques to harness the full potential of Kubernetes.* Apple renewed the comedy series "Platonic" for a second season; the show, starring Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen as platonic friends who reconnect after a long time apart, ranked among the top comedies on TV+ in the second half of 2023. Starz ordered a third season for the crime drama "Power Book IV: Force," one month after the conclusion of the show's second season; the network also recently picked up "Power Book III: Raising Kanan" for additional episodes. A number of notable character actors joined the Hulu ensemble drama "Nine Perfect Strangers" ahead of its second season, including Murray Bartlett ("The White Lotus"), Annie Murphy ("Schitt's Creek"), and Christine Baranski ("The Gilded Age"). Library-connected streamer Kanopy released the list of its Top 30 most-watched films of 2023; Oscar winner "Everything Everywhere All At Once" topped the list, followed by the arthouse satire "Triangle of Sadness" and Alex Winter's documentary "The YouTube Effect." Hulu acquired "Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story," an inspiring documentary short about a charitable candle shop owner in West Hollywood, California; the film, from executive producers Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, made the shortlist for Oscar voting this year. The CBS procedural drama "Tracker" -- based on Jeffrey Deaver's novel "The Never Game," and starring Justin Hartley as a survivalist who uses his tracking skills to help people in need -- makes its broadcast and Paramount+ debut right after the Super Bowl on February 11. Lisa Kudrow, Linda Cardellini, Abbi Jacobson, and Luke Wilson joined the cast of "No Good Deed," the latest Netflix dark comedy series from "Dead to Me" vet Liz Feldman; they join Ray Romano in the growing ensemble. TV vet David Nutter -- whose credits include "Game of Thrones," "The Sopranos," "Entourage," "The Flash," and "Smallville" -- will receive a lifetime achievement award at 2024's DGA Awards; he's only the sixth director to receive the recognition. Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ renewed its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring content produced for WBD cable networks to the platform; Spain and a number of other European countries will get the rebranded Max service in Spring 2024. Dr. Francis Martinis -- who made a guest appearance on the Bravo reality series "Below Deck" -- has been accused of stealing the identities of cast members as part of a scheme to acquire the prescription drug oxycodone. Savvy billionaires are hedging their portfolios with farmland. New REIT goes public, and stock price increases 12.20% in its first quarter opening.*  *This is sponsored content

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Lon Harris 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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