Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Lee A Stewart]

Will never go to court. It will go to arbitration behind closed doors and a settlement will be reached which will not be revealed: Nondisclosure Agreement.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Will never go to court. It will go to arbitration behind closed doors and a settlement will be reached which will not be revealed: Nondisclosure Agreement.

source ?
or just your Magic 8 ball

I agree that seems the likely thing but who knows. ...

I want to think of something to sue Di$ney for now, I bet that settlement is #1 solution because anything else just costs them more.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Seems like all of this is nonsense unless one knows the content of the contract. If breached then Disney needs to own up to the contract, if not then the suit should be dismissed.

I saw that Emma Stone Reportedly Considering Suing Disney Over Cruella Release - Screen Rant 7/30

Emma Stone is reportedly considering suing Disney over the release of Cruella on Disney+. The villainous origin story premiered simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ on May 28, utilizing the $29.99 Premier Access feature that previous pandemic pictures Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon launched. While the Stone-led flick was considered a success amongst audiences and critics, the box office numbers weren't terribly impressive. Many speculated that Cruella's hybrid release cut into its overall numbers.

Brent Lang, executive editor of film and media and Variety Magazine NY bureau chief, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit accusing Disney of breaching their contract for the 'Black Widow' movie.

Disney blasts Scarlett Johansson over Black Widow streaming lawsuit - YouTube

[bhampton]

Raya should sue them too.

Disney should refund my premium access cost .... seeing Scarlett going through this strife has caused my daughter emotional distress. (Think they would buy that?)

I bet suing is more lucrative than shilling to try to raise the stock price.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by bhampton

source ?
or just your Magic 8 ball

I agree that seems the likely thing but who knows. ...

I want to think of something to sue Di$ney for now, I bet that settlement is #1 solution because anything else just costs them more.

Source:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...it-1234990644/

[bhampton]

That only speculates like you did.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by bhampton

That only speculates like you did.

The article made a lot of good points. But at least its well thought out, not just the usual contract terms either were, or were not, violated argument.

I don't think we'll get Disney to fess up how much a continuing bonus she gets as the film is still in theaters world wide and D+ Premiere access. Currently $159,351,514 Domestic, Worldwide $319,451,514 and was released to
4,275 theaters at its widest point.

Yes it will be settled as her agent is the one that really wanted this to go public hoping it would create bad publicity, but then as pointed out he previously messed up also in a previous instance.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Her net worth and whether or not she is "hurting" is just as irrelevant as Disney's net worth and whether or not they are hurting. What is relevant are the terms of her contract.

If those terms were violated, then she deserves whatever compensation that entails. If they were not, she deserves squat and she should have to reimburse Disney for all legal costs resulting from her bringing this lawsuit.

Under arbitration I think Disney can win rather easily between the pandemic and the waiting a year for release they made efforts and the contract never said it would be exclusive as far as I have read. the contract also specifies this would be settled in arbitration between marvel and scarlet but shes trying to go around that by saying Disney broke it though marvel which I doubt will stick.

it will probably be settled with Disney giving her residuals of box office plus Disney plus premier which I believe they already have going off their statements.

End result lawyers make some money scarlet will get a little money to no money out of this whole thing and Disney and most other studios wont work with her again or drastically reduce what they are willing to pay her (she basically guaranteed that they reduce her salary to cover the risk of her doing this again)



I remember how Disney screwed over robin Williams and it was pretty egregious but this whole case seems kind of petty. premier wasnt what killed black widow it was the pandemic and Disney didn't sabotage the movie to rip her off.

[JohnAV]

Olympics TV Ratings Haven’t Fallen More Than Broadcast TV as a Whole - Hollywood Reporter 7/30

NBCUniversal has suffered steep losses from the 2016 summer games, but they're very much in line with the contraction that has afflicted all of linear TV.

Over the same period in 2016, NBC’s coverage from Rio de Janeiro averaged a little more than 30 million viewers.

The 2016 Olympics had some built-in advantages: Rio is only an hour ahead of Eastern time in the United States, allowing for more live events to air in primetime. It also wasn’t conducted during a pandemic, which meant unlike the Tokyo games — already delayed a year due to COVID-19 — stadiums and arenas in Rio were full of cheering fans, which tends to make for a more enticing TV experience too.

Those factors, plus things like Simone Biles’ withdrawal from the women’s gymnastics competition, have all likely pushed NBCU’s numbers down. But the Olympics’ audience hasn’t shrunk any more than broadcast TV as a whole.

For the 2015-16 TV season, the average primetime network show averaged about 7.18 million viewers, including a week of delayed viewing. Thirty-five series (excluding sports pre- and post-game shows) averaged better than 10 million viewers.

In the just completed 2020-21 season, the average audience for a primetime network series was 4.4 million — a decline of 39 percent, only three points lower than the dip for the Olympics thus far. Only eight series broke the 10 million viewer mark for the season.

Where’d those viewers go? Well, five years ago, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu had between 40 and 50 active original series. HBO Max, Apple TV+ and Peacock didn’t exist yet; Paramount+ forerunner CBS All Access wouldn’t debut its first original series until 2017.

Now, streaming services have hosted premieres at least 47 series … in June and July alone. Scripted streaming series alone will likely count more than 200 before the year is out. That fact, coupled with millions of TV homes getting rid of traditional cable bundles in past half-decade, has shrunk the available audience.

A higher (though still small) percentage of viewers is also streaming its Olympics content in primetime. Streaming is up 19 percent vs. 2016, with users watching 2 billion minutes of coverage in the first week. Streaming viewers make up about 4 percent of the total primetime audience for the games so far.

I watched the Olympics off and on through many years, but while it is attractive to sports fans, its way too broad based as far as sport categories, that is consumes way too many hours. Its a example of adding additional events to sell tickets to make more money then concentrate on what matters.

Then we have the fact that rather then a well choreographed presentation its overly saturated with commercials that in a lot of instances completely preempt a event that is currently running. So I have lost interest totally in this behemoth marketing spectacle that ignores the original purpose of gathering the athletes together in olympic fashion. Its 17 days long, running on the following

• TV channels: NBC, USA, NBCSN, CNBC, Olympic Channel, Golf Channel.
• Live streams: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC Sports App, fuboTV.

Like so many things its a marathon that badly needs to stop being so commercial centric and be a celebration's of many participating countries rather then tailored to specific audiences where you live.

Thanks goodness for the immense wealth of entertainment on media, streaming, and other channels available to take in then instead of being a captive audience participant to one particular broadcast company.

[cheez avenger]

The Green Knight was exquisite. I do sense that it will drop off by next week, because my nearly sold out showing had about every other person groaning that they didn't like it. I guess the trailer makes look like it might be action-packed, but it really isn't. It's quiet and esoteric. It's one of the best films of the year and the 4K disc will be mine. Here's hoping A24 does a special set like they did with Midsommar.

[unberechenbar]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

The Green Knight was exquisite. I do sense that it will drop off by next week, because my nearly sold out showing had about every other person groaning that they didn't like it. I guess the trailer makes look like it might be action-packed, but it really isn't. It's quiet and esoteric. It's one of the best films of the year and the 4K disc will be mine. Here's hoping A24 does a special set like they did with Midsommar.

How did the PQ compare to that of Midsommar? Do you think it could be a reference disc?

[JohnAV]

Box Office: ‘Jungle Cruise’ Climbs to $13.4M Friday, Sets Course for $30M Debut Despite Delta - Hollywood Reporter 7/31

The Disney adventure stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. 'The Green Knight' and Matt Damon's 'Stillwater' are also opening at the domestic box office this weekend.

Disney’s Jungle Cruise set sail Friday with $13.4 million, putting the event pic on course to reach $30 million in its domestic box office opening and come in on the higher end of expectations.

Jungle Cruise is playing in 4,310 theaters in North America, the widest count of the pandemic era.

The family-friendly adventure — based on the iconic Disneyland ride — is also being made available simultaneously in the home via Disney+ Premier Access because of ongoing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most recently, the virulent Delta variant has resulted in a surge in cases in California and other select states, leading to a new recommendation from the CDC that even the fully vaccinated wear masks again in public indoor spaces. In Los Angeles, county officials have reinstituted a face covering mandate for everyone.

Box office analysts say delta doesn’t seem to be having a dramatic impact on moviegoing this weekend — the box office had never fully recovered even before the variant — but need more data before reaching any conclusions.

They note that Jungle Cruise, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, is actually coming in ahead of projections. Heading into the weekend, the movie had been tracking to open in the $25 million to $30 million range. Jaume Collet-Serra directed the $200 million tentpole, which hopes to launch a new franchise, much as the first Pirates of the Caribbean did.

Overseas, Jungle Cruise is setting sail in a number of territories across the globe. In some major markets, it is going up against James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which is opening internationally a week ahead of its domestic bow.

In pre-pandemic times, a $30 million domestic opening would be considered a troubled start for a Disney event title featuring one of the world’s most popular stars. Jungle Cruise can also rely, however, on Disney+ Premier Access revenue.

Many box office pundits believe that such a day-and-date release threatens the future of theatrical.

Actress Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the Walt Disney Co. breached her contract when deciding to do the same sort of theatrical-streaming release for Black Widow. The claim says making the Marvel superhero title available resulted in diminished box office sales, which in turn hurt her compensation.

Disney shot back, saying that Johansson received $20 million in compensation and that she would have ultimately benefited from Disney+ revenue. The company declared that her claim showed “callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Disney earlier this month said Black Widow earned $60 million on Disney+ during its opening weekend but hasn’t provided any updated numbers (at the box office, it debuted to $80 million domestically and $158 million globally).

Dwayne Johnson has publicly endorsed a hybrid release for Jungle Cruise, saying it is the best way to provide consumer choice.

Elsewhere, A24’s new Arthurian fantasy The Green Knight earned $2.9 million on Friday for a projected domestic start of roughly $6 million, also slightly ahead of expectations. Directed by David Lowery, the critically acclaimed film stars Dev Patel.

Matt Damon-starrer Stillwater, directed by Tom McCarthy, also debuted this weekend and earned $1.8 million on Friday for an expected opening of $4.5 million to $5 million. Focus Features and Participant recently debuted the movie at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Green Knight is headed for a third-place finish behind Jungle Cruise and holdover Old. Black Widow is slotted to come in fourth, with Stillwater rounding out the top five.

Jungle Cruise received an A- CinemaScore from audiences, while Stillwater got a B-. Green Knight — the best-reviewed film among the three — was slapped with a C-.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by unberechenbar

How did the PQ compare to that of Midsommar? Do you think it could be a reference disc?

Hard to say right now, because Green Knight is literally a much darker film. Lots of scenes taking place in the dark, whereas Midsommar had plenty of lush landscapes and took place in the colorful Scandinavian country side.

[avs commenter]

Average movie but Jungle Cruise looks really good in UHD

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by avs commenter

Average movie but Jungle Cruise looks really good in UHD

Easy for me to wait for the UHD disc for that one.

Bet it sounds really good in lossless ATMOS.

[cheez avenger]

I have no interest in Jungle Cruise. I'll watch it for "free" when it's on Disney+.

[bhampton]

Whatever is happening to Fandango's online movies merging with Vudu is in progress.

Hopefully it's painless for the users. But if people do lose stuff I hope they realize how much control they have over online movies (none.)

I have one or maybe two Fandango accounts but I abandoned them years ago. I still find Vudu useful and still have some movies that I can only access there. I use the Vudu "lists" feature to keep a list of things I can only access there while I find them hopefully on disc but otherwise at least in iTunes. One online movie library is enough for me to manage.

-Brian

[bhampton]

Hey,

Scarlett is done with the D+. Not voicing her character in Marvel's What If series.


https://www.koimoi.com/hollywood-new...-show-what-if/

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Whatever is happening to Fandango's online movies merging with Vudu is in progress.

Hopefully it's painless for the users. But if people do lose stuff I hope they realize how much control they have over online movies (none.)

I have one or maybe two Fandango accounts but I abandoned them years ago. I still find Vudu useful and still have some movies that I can only access there. I use the Vudu "lists" feature to keep a list of things I can only access there while I find them hopefully on disc but otherwise at least in iTunes. One online movie library is enough for me to manage.

-Brian

I have a Fandango account, but I never bought or redeemed anything there; it is just linked to my MA account.

I have used Vudu (via Walmart sign-in) almost exclusively for digital purchases and redemptions. Hopefully, this merger won't muck anything up for me or for anyone else.

Still, these closures and mergers cause many digital customers plenty of anxiety with all of the "what if" questions that result whenever these things happen. It is a bit unnerving to realize at times such as these that we have really no say in anything at all. The digital providers will do as they please everytime whether we like it or not.

Oh well; it makes me appreciate my disc collection all the more. I have full control over it...today and tomorrow.

[Vilya]

I watched both of the A Quiet Place movies on 4K disc a few nights ago. They were both rather unquieting, thanks to their Dolby Atmos tracks. Watching them back to back was the way to do it. I had a great time.

Here's hoping that there will be a part three on par with the first two.