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| Good morning/afternoon and thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming brief. I take Ted Sarandos at his word that Netflix will be mostly unimpacted by the extended Hollywood strikes this year, and has enough good stuff in the hopper to keep customers satisfied throughout 2024. Still, I fear every network, studio, and streamer won't be quite so lucky. Six months is a long time to hit the pause button on all new shows and films, and by the back half of 2024, it seems likely that Americans (and streaming fans around the globe who watch American content) will start to notice the pack thinning out a bit. Seems inevitable to me -- particularly as we get word that Disney is padding its 2024 release schedule with Pixar films you can already stream on Disney+ -- but I guess we'll see how well they've managed their libraries soon enough. Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference this week in New York, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the streamer's release schedule was largely unimpacted by the Hollywood strikes. Sarandos told the crowd that he's "just thrilled" the strikes are over, and credited Netflix's strategy of banking content well in advance with avoiding "interruption in our delivery to customers." More: - Sarandos further credited the pandemic with preparing Netflix to continue "delivering content in an uncertain time."
- The streamer's 2023 spending on original productions will come in around $1 billion lower than anticipated, due to the strikes; the company's free cash flow for 2023 is expected to hit $6.5 billion, well over the January forecast of $5 billion.
- The streamer plans to spend $17 billion on 2024 content in total.
- Sarandos also acknowledged that Netflix will produce less original fare moving forward, while refocusing on licensing previously-released shows and films.
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| 2 | | Kim Kardashian joined the cast of a still-untitled Hulu legal drama from producer Ryan Murphy. Kardashian and Murphy previously collaborated on Season 12 of "American Horror Story." More: - The show will feature Kardashian as a successful divorce lawyer who runs an all-female firm.
- Jon Robin Baitz, a veteran of Murphy's "Feud" franchise, will write the new series and serve as showrunner.
- Kardashian also stars in the Hulu reality series "The Kardashians."
- This will be Murphy's first new project since exiting his overall Netflix deal and jumping over to Disney.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5 GEDDY LEE ASKS: ARE BASS PLAYERS HUMAN TOO? Four-part musical docuseries in which the legendary Rush guitarist hangs out with other famous bass players to talk about making music while enjoying some of their favorite hobbies. Guests include Metallica's Robert Trujillo, Nirvana's Krist Novoselic, Primus frontman Les Claypool, and Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole and Smashing Pumpkins. Documentarian Sam Dunn ("Metal: A Headbanger's Journey") directs. [Paramount+] STAVROS HALKIAS: FAT RASCAL: The podcaster and comedian's second special was recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, and features material about air travel, break-ups, and tech culture. [Netflix] GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE: Documentary from HBO, which premiered at this year's SXSW festival, in which photojournalist Amanda Mustard investigates the history of sexual abuse and violence within her own family, starting with allegations against her grandfather. Mustard co-directed alongside "Frontline" and "Vice News" vet Rachel Beth Anderson. [Max] THE MELODIC BLUE: BABY KEEM: Musical drama feature, inspired by Baby Keem's 2021 debut album "Melodic Blue," and starring the rapper alongside Amandla Stenberg. Music video vet Savannah Setten directed; Kendrick Lamar (Keem's cousin) and Dave Free produced through their company, pgLang. [Amazon] ISABEL PREYSLER: MY CHRISTMAS (MI NAVIDAD): Spanish-language holiday special in which the reality star and socialite (who's also the mother of singers Enrique Iglesias and Julio Iglesias Jr.) invites viewers into her home, to showcase her preparations for Christmas celebrations and family get-togethers. Tamara Falcó and Ana Boyer also make appearances. [Disney+] | | | |
| 4 | | Apple renewed the epic sci-fi drama series "Foundation" for a third season. The show -- about an interstellar organization determined to preserve human history ahead of an extended period of chaos and disorder -- is based on stories and novels by iconic author Isaac Asimov. More: - Showrunner David S. Goyer teased that Season 3 will center around a number of "fan favorites" from the books, including The Mule, Bayta, Toran, Ebling, and Magnifico Giganticus.
- The cast includes Lee Pace, Jared Harris, Lou Llobell, Leah Harvey, and Laura Birn.
- Season 2 wrapped up its Apple TV+ run on September 15.
- While "Foundation" is expansive and costly to produce, Apple spent just $45 million on the entire first season, well below the budgets for comparable Amazon series like "The Wheel of Time" and "The Rings of Power."
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| 5 | | Writer/director Adam McKay canceled an upcoming Netflix project, set to star Robert Pattinson and Amy Adams. The satirical "Average Height, Average Build" centers on a serial killer who hires political lobbyist (Pattinson and Adams) to alter the legal code, making it easier for him to get away with murder. More: - Robert Downey Jr., Forest Whitaker, and Danielle Deadwyler had also been cast in the film.
- Multiple studios had passed on the project before it wound up at Netflix, including Apple, where McKay has a first-look deal.
- McKay ultimately decided to exit the film and pursue a climate-related project instead; Netflix will not seek to continue development with a different director.
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| 6 | | Amazon's "Cruel Intentions" series adaptation will officially stream on Prime Video. Though the project was ordered back in April, it was unclear whether it was headed to Prime Video or Amazon's Freevee platform. More: - Most of the show's cast was announced in June, but has now been confirmed by Amazon; the list includes Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess, Savannah Lee Smith, and Sara Silva.
- The show takes inspiration from the 1999 YA drama feature "Cruel Intentions," which was inspired by the classic novel "Dangerous Liaisons."
- Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher -- both vets of Amazon's "I Know What You Did Last Summer" series -- wrote the new adaptation and will executive produce the series.
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| 7 | | The fantasy comedy "Barbie" -- the highest-grossing theatrical film of 2023 -- begins streaming on Max in the US on December 15. The fim was originally released to theaters on July 21, and earned over $1.4 billion at the global box office. More: - "Barbie" is now the fourth highest-grossing film of all time, and the most successful release in the history of the Warner Bros. studio.
- The film also features three hit songs: Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night," Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?," and "I'm Just Ken," performed by actor Ryan Gosling.
- Max will also feature an American Sign Language (ASL) version, performed by Leila Hanaumi.
- Margot Robbie stars as Stereotypical Barbie and also produced; "Lady Bird" and "Little Women" vet Greta Gerwig co-wrote and directed.
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| 8 | | In 2024, Disney plans to give theatrical releases to three Pixar films that went direct to Disney+. "Soul," "Luca," and "Turning Red" will all hit theaters in the first quarter of 2024 for what the studio is calling "special engagement theatrical runs." More: - Pixar's next original film -- the hotly-anticipated sequel "Inside Out 2" -- comes to US theaters in June.
- Each of the special engagement films will be preceded by a short; "Soul" opens with "Burrow," "For the Birds" plays with "Luca," and "Kitbull" joins "Turning Red."
- All three of these Pixar films were released direct to Disney+; both "Soul" and "Luca" arrived at the height of the pandemic and lockdown, whereas "Turning Red" arrived in 2022 after movie theaters had reopened.
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| 9 | | QUICK HITS - The Kubernetes Cookbook is your comprehensive companion equipping you with the knowledge and techniques to harness the full potential of Kubernetes.*
- "Golden Bachelor" Gerry Turner responded to allegations that he dated multiple women following the passing of his wife, Toni, but before his appearance on the ABC reality series, along with questions about his role as a "retired restauranteur."
- Google TV added an "advent calendar" to its homepage featuring 25 days of holiday movie recommendations.
- Martin Scorsese's acclaimed period crime drama "Killers of the Flower Moon" is now available for purchase on a number of VOD platforms; the film will eventually stream on Apple TV+, but no release date has been set.
- YouTuber Trevor Daniel Jacob has been sentenced to six months in federal prison in connection with his 2021 video "I Crashed My Airplane"; the pilot and skydiver was convicted of obstructing the investigation into the crash of his small engine plane in California's Los Padres National Forest.
- The FBI plans to exhume the body of Joyce Malecki, a Baltimore woman who was murdered in 1969; Malecki's case was featured on the Netflix true-crime docuseries "The Keepers."
- While promoting his new Netflix film "Leave the World Behind," "Mr. Robot" vet Sam Esmail teased his long-awaited Peacock reboot of "Battlestar Galactica"; Esmail told The Hollywood Reporter that his new take has "a great outline" and will likely record a pilot "soon."
- Two of Jacob Elordi's co-stars from Netflix's "The Kissing Booth" franchise -- Taylor Zakhar Perez and Joey King -- responded to his negative comments about the film series.
- Toast to 2024: Key affiliate marketing trends to help your campaigns start off on the right foot in the new year. Get the free report.*
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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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