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Showing posts from May, 2022

Top Gun Hype Blossoms, But Will It Be Worth It?

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The Summer Box Office hype has been tremendous, and has mostly paid off to date, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even pulling off record-breaking numbers. This week we see the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick finally release, a tender two years after its intended release date. A key question, of course, is if it will have the traction among the younger viewers that comprise the bulk of cinema-goers at the moment, or if the franchise is a classic case of too little, too late. Entertainment attorney with Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, takes a look at the wider lessons to be learned from its release.                                                                Brandon Blake Cinema Demographics At this point, we all know that the 18-35 year old demographic has been the most invested in a return to movie theaters post-COVID. While Top Gun: Maverick has a ton of publicity and franchise appeal to offer, it’s still a nearly 60-year old actor reviving an IP that’s

Upfronts 2022 Kick into Gear, but CW Downsizes

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  We’re fast reaching one of the most exciting deal-making ventures of the year- the Upfronts. While it’s early days yet for the Upfronts, we’ve already seen some massive shifts from TV broadcasting company, CW. Entertainment attorney Brandon Blake, with Blake & Wang P.A, has the news.                                                               Brandon Blake Reduced Content The first takeaway was a notable reduction in original scripted series for CW, dropping from last year’s 19 to 11 picked up for the new year. It’s a significant drop, even with the overall contraction in the linear network market, and a noted contrast to their expansion over the last few years. CWs pending sale to Nexstar, closing in the next couple of weeks, is mostly to blame. Instead of the rubber-stamping of all series we’ve seen from them in recent years, only the strongest ratings survived.   Having long operated as an extension of its parent holdings- CBS TV Studios and Warner Bros- the CW has

Lionsgate Signs Multi Year Movie Deal with Peacock

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 All theatrically-released Lionsgate films will be heading exclusively to Peacock as their Pay 2 window over the next few years, starting with their 2022 theatrical slate. Brandon Blake, an entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A, has more details on this intriguing shift in the film content landscape                                                                Brandon Blake Included Content This new agreement with the NBCUniversal-owned streamer will open with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and also includes their planned expansions to the Expendables and Hunger Games IPs, John Wick: Chapter 4, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, and Borderlands, based on the popular video game franchise. This means that this content should debut on the streaming service in 2024. Lionsgate recently signed a deal with Roku to take over the Pay 1 window, meaning they will debut the same content immediately after its first pay theatrical session on Starz.  Echoing Trends Complex as

Comcast and Charter to Launch A Joint Streaming Option

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  As the cable and streaming spaces pull further into step with each other, we’re seeing a variety of interesting industry developments. Charter and Comcast, with the support of the Comcast-owned streamer Xumo, have announced a new joint venture that showcases this intriguingly. Entertainment attorney with Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, shares the news. Brandon Blake Next-generation Streaming? The 50:50 joint venture between the two cable giants has been boldly promised “to develop and offer a next-generation streaming platform on a variety of branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs.” Fighting words in a market already facing streamer saturation. It’s clear they’re thinking a little beyond just streaming, however. The venture is promised to offer streamers, retailers, hardware manufacturers, and app developers the opportunity to reach new markets, so they’re not merely focusing on content alone. The partne