1
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,560
Speaker 1: Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and

2
00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 1: analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Monday, January twelfth, twenty

3
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,520
Speaker 1: twenty six. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co

4
00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,880
Speaker 1: editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Situda. I'm in

5
00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,800
Speaker 1: La He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around

6
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,160
Speaker 1: the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,

7
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,040
Speaker 1: we'll hear from Rebecca Rubin on the Box office, and

8
00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,880
Speaker 1: then I'll share some impressions of last night's Golden Globe

9
00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,159
Speaker 1: Awards ceremony, which was very long and very fun. But

10
00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,520
Speaker 1: before we get to that, here are a few headlines

11
00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,120
Speaker 1: just in this morning that you need to know. Paramount

12
00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,640
Speaker 1: Skuidance is taking their beef over Warner Brothers Discovery to court.

13
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,559
Speaker 1: The studio has filed suit against Warner Brothers, seeking to

14
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,440
Speaker 1: force more financial disclosures about the studio's sale to Netflix.

15
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,480
Speaker 1: The suit accuses Warner Brothers board members of violating their

16
00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,760
Speaker 1: fiduciary duties by not engaging more with Paramount and its

17
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,360
Speaker 1: many bids for the company. This process gets messier and messier.

18
00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,959
Speaker 1: New York's new mayor Zoron Mandani has made his choice

19
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,479
Speaker 1: to lead the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. That's

20
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,480
Speaker 1: the powerful office that oversees all filming as well as

21
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 1: nightlife in Gotham. Rafael Espinal is a former New York

22
00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,800
Speaker 1: City Council member and Freelancers Union executive director Rip Bob Weir.

23
00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,080
Speaker 1: The only job he ever had was being part of

24
00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,800
Speaker 1: the legendary Grateful Dead. He was a teenager when the

25
00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,120
Speaker 1: band started. The music will never stop. All of these

26
00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,640
Speaker 1: stories and so much more can be found on Variety

27
00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:48,440
Speaker 1: dot com. Right now, if it's Monday, we're talking box

28
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: office with Rebecca Rubin, Variety's senior film and media reporter.

29
00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,600
Speaker 1: She's keeping tabs on whether Avatar, Fire and Ash can

30
00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,160
Speaker 1: keep up its streak of number one finishes at the

31
00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,360
Speaker 1: box office, and there were good signs for Paramount's Primate

32
00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,400
Speaker 1: and Neon's latest No Other Choice. Rebecca Rubin, thank you

33
00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,200
Speaker 1: for joining me as always.

34
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:09,280
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me well.

35
00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 1: As you predicted, it wasn't a gigantic blockbuster of a

36
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,720
Speaker 1: weekend here in mid January, but there are definitely still

37
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,640
Speaker 1: some interesting threads and some green shoots for movies. Since

38
00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,400
Speaker 1: we talked last week, I've been very curious about can

39
00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:28,160
Speaker 1: Avatar Fire and Ash match or exceed the box office

40
00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,320
Speaker 1: streak of the previous title, and that one is, if

41
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,920
Speaker 1: I recall, right, was seven weeks. This Avatar Fire and

42
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,720
Speaker 1: Ash now has made it four weeks, so there are

43
00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,120
Speaker 1: a little more than halfway there. How do you assess

44
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,280
Speaker 1: the film after one month at the box offices, which

45
00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,640
Speaker 1: that seems like an eternity these days.

46
00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,840
Speaker 2: Yes, definitely. I am also curious to see how long Avatar,

47
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,280
Speaker 2: Fire and Ash will be able to top the box

48
00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,520
Speaker 2: office because the prior to films both were number one

49
00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,000
Speaker 2: for seven consecutive weeks. There are a few new movies

50
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:05,040
Speaker 2: premiering in January, and so it'll be interesting to see

51
00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,640
Speaker 2: if those movies are able to succeed or if Avatar

52
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,359
Speaker 2: is going to continue powering the box office. This weekend,

53
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,000
Speaker 2: the film brought in roughly twenty one million dollars in

54
00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,720
Speaker 2: its fourth weekend, and that's a drop of roughly fifty

55
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,560
Speaker 2: percent from the prior weekend. And so after about a

56
00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,760
Speaker 2: month in theaters, it's made three hundred and forty two

57
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,840
Speaker 2: million domestically and one point two billion dollars globally. It

58
00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:34,679
Speaker 2: reached the billion dollar milestone. Not as quickly as its predecessors,

59
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:39,280
Speaker 2: but pretty fast by any other blockbuster standards. So again

60
00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,480
Speaker 2: the question still looms of where does this top out.

61
00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,880
Speaker 2: It does seem to be experiencing diminishing returns compared to

62
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,160
Speaker 2: the first two, but diminishing returns for a movie on

63
00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,600
Speaker 2: this scale is still a huge, huge number.

64
00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,760
Speaker 1: When a movie's in theaters that long and you get

65
00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:57,320
Speaker 1: to like week four and you're going to go into

66
00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,440
Speaker 1: week five, do you see a lot of midweek business

67
00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,240
Speaker 1: or is it still powered by Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

68
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,680
Speaker 2: It depends on the time of year, So the week

69
00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,400
Speaker 2: between Christmas and New Year's definitely has huge midweek business.

70
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,200
Speaker 2: At this point kids are going back to school. When

71
00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,200
Speaker 2: people are back into the swing of things in the

72
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,960
Speaker 2: new year, midweek business slows down a bit, and then

73
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,120
Speaker 2: it really is the weekends that's packing in day attendance.

74
00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,360
Speaker 2: Sure that makes sense, Well, we'll keep watching the coming weekends.

75
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,479
Speaker 2: May ask you about a newcomer Primate, which I will

76
00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,359
Speaker 2: say they Paramount had a strong marketing campaign on that film.

77
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,120
Speaker 2: Those spots were pretty arresting for somebody who is not

78
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,599
Speaker 2: terribly in the market for horror movies, but it got

79
00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,279
Speaker 2: my attention. How do you assess that performance? It looks

80
00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,080
Speaker 2: like it's opening right now in second place. And they

81
00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,000
Speaker 2: brought in an estimated eleven zero point three million dollars

82
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,120
Speaker 2: domestically and about thirteen million dollars globally, and that's a

83
00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,720
Speaker 2: decent start. It's not electrifying the box office by any means,

84
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,839
Speaker 2: but it only costs twenty one million dollars and so

85
00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,839
Speaker 2: it's on the the lower end of what production budgets

86
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,159
Speaker 2: have been recently, and so it doesn't need to make

87
00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,400
Speaker 2: a ton of money to be a win for the studio.

88
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,400
Speaker 2: The film is actually the first release under the studio's

89
00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,440
Speaker 2: production deal with the former DC Film's chief Walter Harmada.

90
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,479
Speaker 1: Well, that's an interesting entry from the new paramount, and

91
00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,000
Speaker 1: obviously Walter Hamada is somebody who knows his way around

92
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,880
Speaker 1: genre pictures. Let's talk about the Housemaid. This, I know

93
00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,440
Speaker 1: has been such a success story for Lionsgate, and they

94
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:31,640
Speaker 1: really needed it because last year was a pretty hard

95
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,279
Speaker 1: year for them at the box office. And I have

96
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,640
Speaker 1: been a fan of Paul Feig for a long time,

97
00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,279
Speaker 1: and as I'm seeing the commentary on this movie, I'm

98
00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:45,520
Speaker 1: just thinking, is there anything he can't do slapstick genre hart.

99
00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:47,800
Speaker 1: I think he is a fantastic filmmaker.

100
00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,120
Speaker 2: The Housemaid has been having excellent staying power at the

101
00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,520
Speaker 2: box office, and it was number three this weekend. It

102
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,039
Speaker 2: made around eleven point two million dollars and that's in

103
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,279
Speaker 2: his fourth weekend of really so it's really great staying power.

104
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,000
Speaker 2: And so far the film has earned almost one hundred

105
00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,200
Speaker 2: million dollars domestically and then almost two hundred million dollars globally,

106
00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,159
Speaker 2: and it's just a great result for this mid budget

107
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,440
Speaker 2: filmed and this movie costs just thirty five million dollars

108
00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,239
Speaker 2: to make. It's hugely successful for Lionsgate. It's also hugely

109
00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:24,440
Speaker 2: successful for theaters, and it's I think it's just an

110
00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,599
Speaker 2: example of when there's a movie that is fun to

111
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,440
Speaker 2: watch with an audience, people will go out to see it.

112
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,880
Speaker 2: And that's definitely what we're seeing here with The Housemaid.

113
00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,280
Speaker 1: That's a really hopeful sign for exactly these kinds of movies.

114
00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 1: And we talk often about just how hard they are

115
00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,240
Speaker 1: to open. Every successful movie and TV show is lightning

116
00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,840
Speaker 1: in a bottle, there is no question. But director Paul

117
00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,279
Speaker 1: fig has a pretty good track record and has his

118
00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,480
Speaker 1: hands on those thunderbolts. I can't help but think Rebecca

119
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,320
Speaker 1: Paul Feig was part of the great late nineteen nineties

120
00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,200
Speaker 1: NBC series Freaks and Geeks. And was there ever a

121
00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,240
Speaker 1: television show that yielded more super stars in our business?

122
00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,040
Speaker 1: That little show came from Judd Apatow, gave us Paul

123
00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,359
Speaker 1: fig who was a little bit on Cameron and also

124
00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,960
Speaker 1: a writer seth Rogen. There are more. It's really something,

125
00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,480
Speaker 1: so yay for Freaks and Geeks alumni. Since we're talking

126
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,680
Speaker 1: just a few hours before I head off to the

127
00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,800
Speaker 1: Golden Globes, let's talk about a couple of artsy contenders.

128
00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,240
Speaker 1: Marty Supreme certainly seems to be chugging along respectably. It

129
00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:29,240
Speaker 1: is definitely still chugging along. This weekend, it made around

130
00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,880
Speaker 1: seven million dollars, and that's a decline of around thirty

131
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,200
Speaker 1: eight percent from the prior weekend, and it pushes domestic

132
00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,880
Speaker 1: ticket sales past the seventy million dollar mark, and that

133
00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,520
Speaker 1: makes the movie one of A twenty four's highest grossing films.

134
00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,560
Speaker 1: And it's just starting its international rollout. It's only been

135
00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,160
Speaker 1: in a handful of theaters, so it'll be really interesting

136
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,120
Speaker 1: to see how it resonates overseas. It has a budget

137
00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,040
Speaker 1: of seventy million dollars, and so it definitely needs to

138
00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,640
Speaker 1: keep playing at this level because theaters get to keep

139
00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,080
Speaker 1: half of revenues. But speaking of a boards attention, like

140
00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,720
Speaker 1: you said, Timothy Schallome just won the Critics Choice Award.

141
00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,800
Speaker 1: He's nominated tonight at the Golden Globes. He's probably going

142
00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:14,920
Speaker 1: to find himself in the Oscar race, and so that

143
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,120
Speaker 1: definitely helps justify this bend to a studio like A

144
00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,280
Speaker 1: twenty four. And it's doing very well at the box office,

145
00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,200
Speaker 1: so overall, I think this is a big win for them.

146
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,240
Speaker 1: I was a the Cees show in Las Vegas this

147
00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,520
Speaker 1: week and so I've come back with all the jargon.

148
00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,760
Speaker 1: But in a world where it's all about the attention economy,

149
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,800
Speaker 1: Timothy Shalom deserves the Oscar for promoting this movie. You

150
00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,959
Speaker 1: can see his commitment to this and really getting people's attention.

151
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,120
Speaker 1: So good for him, Good for him. Anything else at

152
00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,160
Speaker 1: the box office that stands out to you, anything else

153
00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:47,920
Speaker 1: you want to point out.

154
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,680
Speaker 2: One other film that has caught my attention so far

155
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:55,520
Speaker 2: is Neon's dark comedy No Other Choice. That's from the

156
00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,800
Speaker 2: acclaimed South Korean director Park Chan wook, and it's still

157
00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,160
Speaker 2: in limited release. It's only playing right now in one

158
00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,320
Speaker 2: hundred and forty seven theaters, and just this weekend it

159
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,160
Speaker 2: made one point three million dollars and in total has

160
00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,480
Speaker 2: made three point four million dollars. And at a time

161
00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,199
Speaker 2: when a lot of platform releases really aren't working, this

162
00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:20,480
Speaker 2: is an example that is clearly resonating with moviegoers on

163
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,640
Speaker 2: the coast that's mostly where it's playing right now, and

164
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,080
Speaker 2: so it'll be curious to see when it expands nationwide

165
00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,360
Speaker 2: if it's able to sustain that momentum and it falls

166
00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,360
Speaker 2: into the category we've been talking about, where it's a

167
00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,119
Speaker 2: movie that's cinematic, feels fun to watch with an audience

168
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,360
Speaker 2: increasingly crazy high drinks are happening on screen, and so

169
00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:43,800
Speaker 2: it feels a little more fun to watch it with

170
00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,000
Speaker 2: other people versus at home streaming. And so that's one

171
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,400
Speaker 2: I'll continue to keep an eye on and see how

172
00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:51,239
Speaker 2: it performs.

173
00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:53,960
Speaker 1: What are you looking forward to for the rest of

174
00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:55,600
Speaker 1: this month or into early February.

175
00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,760
Speaker 2: So January is known to be a slower time fourth featers,

176
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,199
Speaker 2: but it'll be interest interesting to see how a few

177
00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,959
Speaker 2: movies that are coming up perform. One is Sony's twenty

178
00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,200
Speaker 2: eight Years Later The Bone Temple, and that's the latest

179
00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:14,920
Speaker 2: movie in the twenty eight Days Year's trilogy. That's coming

180
00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,520
Speaker 2: about one year after the last film, and so I'll

181
00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,520
Speaker 2: be interested to see the appetite for this franchise if

182
00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,000
Speaker 2: they can sustain momentum just one year apart. Another film

183
00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,520
Speaker 2: that's releasing next weekend is an anime title called All

184
00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,160
Speaker 2: You Need Is Kill And of course, as we've been

185
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,280
Speaker 2: talking about, anime is one to keep an eye on.

186
00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,559
Speaker 2: That could be a surprise hit for sure. And Amazon

187
00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:43,480
Speaker 2: MGM is really starting to get in the theatrical game

188
00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:45,840
Speaker 2: in a big way this year, and their first big

189
00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,560
Speaker 2: release is the movie Mercy with Chris Pratt. It's a

190
00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:55,360
Speaker 2: big budget sci fi AI action adventure and that'll be

191
00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,840
Speaker 2: interesting to see how Amazon is faring in this unforgiving

192
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,960
Speaker 2: theatrical landscape. And so those are some movies I'm keeping

193
00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:04,959
Speaker 2: an eye. Your sense is that Amazon is going to

194
00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,600
Speaker 2: commit to theatrical releases like you know, go wide when

195
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,680
Speaker 2: they have the goods and stick around in theaters longer

196
00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:13,520
Speaker 2: than they have in the past. They have said that

197
00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,640
Speaker 2: they are committing to I want to say roughly twelve

198
00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,560
Speaker 2: to fourteen movies a year, but that takes time to

199
00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,640
Speaker 2: ramp up for sure, and so this year I'm not

200
00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,960
Speaker 2: sure exactly how many movies they plan on releasing, but

201
00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,400
Speaker 2: they definitely have an increase from last year where I

202
00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,760
Speaker 2: don't think they had any meaningful box office Well, they

203
00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,800
Speaker 2: have Sue Krol and Courtney Valenti to seasoned Warner Brothers

204
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,079
Speaker 2: veterans who know how to put make movies and put

205
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:42,160
Speaker 2: them in theaters. I can tell you for the latest

206
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,320
Speaker 2: twenty eight years later movie that has gotten heavy, heavy

207
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,560
Speaker 2: promotion in football, they are trying to reach football fans

208
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,280
Speaker 2: male and female. I mean every game that I have watched,

209
00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:54,839
Speaker 2: and I feel like I have watched every game in

210
00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,439
Speaker 2: the last probably ten days. Every game I've watched has

211
00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,199
Speaker 2: had heavy promotion for twenty eight years later. Rebecca, as always,

212
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,640
Speaker 2: thank you for shining a spotlight on the box office

213
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,520
Speaker 2: big and small and giving us those kernels that help

214
00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,040
Speaker 2: us interpret what's going on. He is so much for

215
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:09,559
Speaker 2: having me.

216
00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,520
Speaker 1: And now listeners permit me to clear out my notebook

217
00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:22,200
Speaker 1: after a long week. The juxtaposition of covering the Consumer

218
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,240
Speaker 1: Electronics Show in Las Vegas and being part of the

219
00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:29,480
Speaker 1: Golden Globes world this weekend has been fairly dizzying and

220
00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,000
Speaker 1: detrimental to my voice. Funnily enough, the mood at both

221
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,960
Speaker 1: events was surprisingly similar. There's excitement in the world of

222
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,440
Speaker 1: tech and next generation media because there is so much

223
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,720
Speaker 1: potential coming into focus. The generative AI revolution is real

224
00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,920
Speaker 1: and it is happening, but it is not a dark

225
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,600
Speaker 1: cloud that is going to envelop the creative community. AI

226
00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,760
Speaker 1: tools are a form of clay that can be molded

227
00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,320
Speaker 1: by humans to enable great things. It matters who is

228
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,120
Speaker 1: doing the molding, and it very much matters what material

229
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,080
Speaker 1: underlies all these programs, and speaking as an author who

230
00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,440
Speaker 1: is part of the anthropic settlement, it really matters how

231
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,400
Speaker 1: that training material is acquired. But you can't stop progress.

232
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,920
Speaker 1: So that makes events like CEES and the summit that

233
00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,800
Speaker 1: Variety hosted there that much more important as a forum

234
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,920
Speaker 1: to air all of these things. Coming back to La

235
00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,520
Speaker 1: I dove into the Golden Globes Party swirl. Yes, it's

236
00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,120
Speaker 1: a tough gig. Sometimes I've felt encouraged by conversations with

237
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,120
Speaker 1: industry insiders that I had about exciting plans and projects

238
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,320
Speaker 1: coming up for this year. There's a lot of talk

239
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,040
Speaker 1: about what's coming up at Disney with the Bob Eigers

240
00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,760
Speaker 1: succession drama that is coming to a head. There's a

241
00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,760
Speaker 1: lot of odds making going on about where Warner Brothers

242
00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,040
Speaker 1: Discovery ends up in the hands of Netflix or paramounts guidance.

243
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,520
Speaker 1: But there's also a strong feeling that the way forward

244
00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:58,440
Speaker 1: for traditional Hollywood is becoming more clear. There's increasingly a

245
00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,560
Speaker 1: clear path for how TV and film assets will be

246
00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:06,040
Speaker 1: threaded through to streaming platforms, how the wild world of

247
00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:11,120
Speaker 1: the creative economy will plug into traditional TV, film and advertising.

248
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,760
Speaker 1: Fast channels are the new syndication, and that's really good

249
00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,600
Speaker 1: news because it means another monetization event for creative talent.

250
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,440
Speaker 1: The box office had a very rough twenty twenty five,

251
00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,000
Speaker 1: but there were a lot of green shoots for mid

252
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,680
Speaker 1: range movies that are the toughest to get moviegoers into

253
00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,520
Speaker 1: theaters for, and the Film and TV Globe winners from

254
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,600
Speaker 1: last night demonstrated that cinema is truly a global business.

255
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,360
Speaker 1: From the secret agent to sentimental value to adolescence, there

256
00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,400
Speaker 1: is talent in all quarters of the world. None of

257
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,560
Speaker 1: this is to say that there aren't big problems that

258
00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,440
Speaker 1: need to be addressed. We try to tackle them every

259
00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,480
Speaker 1: day with our coverage in Variety, but there's more hope

260
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,400
Speaker 1: and direction on the horizon than I have felt for

261
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,480
Speaker 1: several years, and that's a good place to start the year.

262
00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,480
Speaker 1: As we close out today's episode, here are a few

263
00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,360
Speaker 1: things we're watching for A bunch of big TV series

264
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,560
Speaker 1: are rolling out this month. On January fifteenth, Paramount Plus

265
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,200
Speaker 1: raises the curtain on Star Trek Starfleet Academy, and on

266
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,760
Speaker 1: January eighteenth comes HBO's latest edition to the Game of

267
00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,840
Speaker 1: Thrones Canon, A Night of Seven Kingdoms. Definitely don't miss

268
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,960
Speaker 1: my colleague Clayton Davis's profile of actor Jesse Plemmons. He's

269
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,360
Speaker 1: a great besp who busted out on the NBC series

270
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:36,200
Speaker 1: Friday Night Lights more than fifteen years ago. Crucifixtorious Forever.

271
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,520
Speaker 1: We love to hear from listeners, so please send thoughts, gripes,

272
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:43,120
Speaker 1: and other feedback about Daily Variety to podcasts at Variety

273
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,760
Speaker 1: dot com. Before we go, congrats to Christina Garza. She's

274
00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,560
Speaker 1: joined UTA's Independent Film Group as an agent. She comes

275
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,880
Speaker 1: to the ten per Century from Fifth Season, where she

276
00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,000
Speaker 1: was Senior VP of TV Production and Distribution. Thanks for listening.

277
00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,200
Speaker 1: This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,

278
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,560
Speaker 1: with contributions from Rebecca Rubin Stick's Next hick Picks. Please

279
00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,360
Speaker 1: leave us a review at the podcast platform of your choice,

280
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,240
Speaker 1: and please tune in tomorrow for another episode of Daily

281
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:13,400
Speaker 1: Variety