WBD, Paramount talk merger / Star+ shutting down / Peacock NFL holiday game / "Red One" hits theaters in Nov.

Plus today's calendar, "Shining Vale" pulled from Starz, "Family Plan" is Apple's top film, "Crown" producer explains Ghost Diana, and more

Inside Streaming For December 21, 2023

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We've been hearing about Amazon's "Red One" movie for so long now, it's almost comical that there's not yet a plot synopsis available. What could they possibly be waiting for? What could possibly be the reason for keeping the basic storyline behind your holiday action-comedy a secret for literal years? Seriously, The Rock did an Instagram post about this movie a full year ago and teased that it's like "Miracle on 34th Street" meets "Jumanji" meets "Hobbs & Shaw," which I'm pretty sure doesn't even make any sense. There's a lot of talent behind this thing, in front of and behind the camera, but it's just been a baffling project since Day 1. I legit can't wait to hear what this is actually ABOUT! Enjoy today's issue. We'll be back here for one last newsletter before the holidays. Lon p/lon-harris

1 According to a report from Axios, later confirmed by CNN, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish met over lunch to discuss a potential merger between their companies. The combined media giant would control both the Warner Bros. and Paramount film studios, the Max and Paramount+ streaming services, along with CBS, CNN, and a vast collection of cable networks. More: Due to a tax statute, no acquisition deal can move forward prior to April 2024, which marks two years since Warner Media's merger with Discovery. The news follows months of rumors that Shari Redstone -- who owns Paramount Global's parent company, National Amusements -- was looking to sell her stake. Warner Bros. Discovery stock tumbled about 6% following the reports. Warner Bros. Discovery still holds $45.1 billion in debt, down from $49.3 billion at the start of this year; Paramount also holds $15.7 billion in debt. Following the report, media mogul Byron Allen increased his offer to purchase the BET Media Group from Paramount Global; Allen previously offered $2.7 billion for BET, and has upped that figure to $3.5 billion.

2 Disney plans to shut down the Star+ streaming service throughout Latin America. Programming that currently streams on Star+ in the region will move over to Disney+, starting in Q2 of 2024. More: The move roughly coincides with the merging of Disney+ and Hulu in the US, as well as the 2024 Latin American launch of Disney+'s ad tier. Disney picked up the Star network, along with the Hotstar Indian streaming service, as part of its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in 2019. Along with featuring Disney's more adult-oriented fare, Star+ also produced original content specifically for the Latin American market.

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3 DAILY CALENDAR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21 DR. DEATH: The scripted true-crime anthology series -- based on the Wondery podcast -- dramatizes real stories about shocking medical malpractice and the investigators who brought them to light. Season 2 stars Édgar Ramírez as Swiss-Italian thoracic surgeon and researcher Paolo Macchiarini, who's been accused of research fraud, causing bodily harm to patients, and manipulative behavior. Mandy Moore, Rita Volk, and Judy Reyes co-star. [Peacock] DR. DEATH: CUTTHROAT CONMAN: Documentary companion to the new season of "Dr. Death," looking into the real stories behind Dr. Macchiarini's deceptions and the aftermath of his disastrous surgical procedures. John Pappas ("The New York Times Presents") directed. [Peacock] THE CREATOR: 2023 sci-fi action film from co-writer/director Gareth Edwards (2014's "Godzilla"). During a future war against artificially intelligent machines, an ex-special forces operative (John David Washington) accepts an assignment to take out a mysterious new weapon. Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, and Allison Janney co-star. [Hulu] A VIEW TO KILL FOR: 2023 Lifetime original thriller starring Tiffany Montgomery as a mom who moves with her family into her estranged father's mansion, then begins receiving mysterious threats. Samuel Whitten, Brittany Goodwin, and Demi Lehman co-star. [Hulu] OPERATION NAPOLEON (NAPÓLEONSSKJÖLIN): 2023 thriller from Iceland, based on the novel by Arnaldur Indriðason, about a brother and sister who get sucked into an international conspiracy after discovering a World War II-era plane wreck on a remote glacier. Vivian Ólafsdóttir, Jack Fox, Iain Glen, and Wotan Wilke Möhring co-star; Óskar Þór Axelsson ("I Remember You") directed. [Hulu] HORIMIYA: THE MISSING PIECES: Anime series inspired by the manga "Hori-san to Miyamura-kun" by Hiroki Adachi, serving as a follow-up to the original "Horimiya" series, which aired in 2021. The story centers on two high school students leading double lives, who agree to keep one another's secrets. [Hulu] BEAU IS AFRAID: Surreal 2023 dark comedy/horror film from writer/director Ari Aster ("Hereditary," "Midsommar'). Joaquin Phoenix stars as an anxious, troubled man who embarks on a strange journey to visit his wealthy and powerful mother (Patti LuPone), during which he confronts many of his greatest fears. Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey, and Richard Kind co-star. [Paramount+] GARY GULMAN: BORN ON 3RD BASE: The comedian's fifth special is his first since 2019's acclaimed "The Great Depresh." It features material about growing up poor, pretentious suffixes, and his eccentric Jewish-American family. Conan O'Brien executive produced. [Max] ENGINEERING CATASTROPHES: The Science Channel educational series looks back at structural failures and engineering disasters throughout history, with a focus on how they were resolved and could've been prevented. The second half of the show's fifth season premieres on cable and Max this week. [Max] SUPA TEAM 4: The South African superhero series -- Netlfix's first animated series from Africa -- is back this week for a second season. It's about four teens who protect the neo-futuristic city of Lusaka from super-powered threats. [Netflix] LIKE FLOWERS IN SAND: Debut Korean coming-of-age romantic comedy series, starring Jang Dong-yoon as a Ssireum wrestler who's considering retirement, before his childhood friend (Lee Ju-myoung) is put in charge of his squad. [Netflix] GIGOLÒ PER CASO: Debut comedy series from Italy, starring Pietro Sermonti as Alfonso, who discovers that his dying father (Christian De Sica) worked for most of his life as a gigolo. Facing a life crisis of his own, Alfonso decides to try following in his dad's footsteps. Ambra Angiolini, Frank Matano, and Asia Argento co-star. [Amazon]

4 This Saturday's "Peacock Holiday Matchup" NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers will feature the league's first-ever commercial-free fourth quarter. The game streams exclusively on Peacock from Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, starting Saturday at 8 pm ET. More: The lack of fourth-quarter ads means the broadcast will feature around 12 additional minutes of original content. The game is being sponsored by Capital One, Hyundai, and Walmart, who will get a special thanks for making the ad-free quarter possible. The game will stream with a new spot produced for Walmart by NBCUniversal, featuring "Football Night in America" co-hosts Chris Simms and Devin McCourty.

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5 The holiday action comedy "Red One" hits theaters in November 15, 2024, before landing on Amazon Prime Video. The film stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- who also executive produced -- and Chris Evans, along with JK Simmons, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, and others. More: No plot synopsis has been released; in a 2022 Instagram post, Johnson described it as a "fresh new take on Christmas Lore" combining elements of many classic holiday films, including "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life." Jake Kasdan, who previously worked with Johnson on the "Jumanji" films, will direct. Chris Morgan, who wrote several "Fast & Furious" films and the spinoff "Hobbs & Shaw," penned the script. Amazon MGM Studios produced "Red One"; Warner Bros. is handling international distribution.

6 Starz canceled the horror comedy series "Shining Vale" after two seasons. Both seasons will be removed from the Starz streaming service on December 31. More: A Starz insider told Variety that the show had failed to build a strong enough audience to make additional seasons feasible. Co-creator Jeff Astrof has apparently already begun writing Season 3, and hopes to move the show to a different network or streamer. Courteney Cox stars in the series as a wife and mom who moves with her family into a haunted house, filled with spirits that only she can see.

7 According to Apple's internal metrics, the action comedy "The Family Plan" had the most-watched debut of any film in TV+ history. The film premiered on December 15 on Apple TV+; the company did not release any specific viewership numbers. More: Apple further reported that Season 3 of "The Morning Show" also broke viewership records for the service, with per-episode audiences up by around 20% over Season 2. Recent arrivals "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" and "Lessons in Chemistry" were the year's best-performing first season drama and limited series, respectively. In general, Apple TV+'s viewership was up 42% in 2023 over 2022, with double the total hours of content viewed. Apple also co-produced this year's theatrical films "Napoleon" (which was theatrically distributed by Sony) and "Killers of the Flower Moon" (on which the streamer collaborated with Paramount).

8 QUICK HITS Stocks come with voting rights that can yield an extra 5% each year. Get started on Shareholder Vote Exchange to start earning today.* "The Crown" executive producer Suzanne Mackie responded to criticisms of the show's decision to feature the "ghost" of Princess Diana in the final season, explaining that the creative team wanted to demonstrate the strength of her "life force," and the difficulty those around her had in letting go. "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" creator Chad Feehan spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about making the Western drama series, shooting in North Texas, and the so-far vague plans for Season 2, which may or may not continue to feature David Oyelowo as the famed US Deputy Marshal. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) sent out a petition to 1,400 members, asking the Television Academy to return the "Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series/Special" category to the Emmy Awards broadcast; last month, the TV Academy announced plans to drop the award from the live telecast and hand it out at the Creative Arts Emmys instead. French streaming service TF1+ -- an offshoot of the TV network Tf1 -- launches on January 8; both ad-free and ad-supported subscription tiers will be available. 100k companies automate scheduling with Calendly. Teams are seeing 2x conversion rates, 30% increased customer retention, and 323% ROI. Sign up free.* *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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