Entertainment Lawyers

  As streaming popularity goes, 2023 has been the year of Suits . While it’s rare indeed to see a show not currently in any production cycle gain such a stranglehold on viewership numbers, it seems there is at least one, more modern, rival to consider- Netflix’s The Fall Of The House Of Usher . Our Entertainment attorney Los Angeles Brandon Blake, of Blake & Wang P.A., looks at the figures. Brandon Blake Second Consecutive Week of Chart Dominance While no one is quite sure what has powered Suit’s indisputable dominance of this year’s Nielsen streaming charts, The Fall of the House of Usher managed to unseat it from No. 1 supremacy in the Oct 9-15 chart. Now, it’s kept that coveted No. 1 space for a second week on the Oct 16-22 charts, with an impressive 1.5B viewing minutes. This also represents a 19% increase in numbers from its initial Netflix debut. Since Suits first rose to its dominant place in the charts in June this year, that makes The Fall Of The House Of Usher on...

 With the news that Disney has officially committed to buying out Comcast’s remaining one-third stake in streaming platform Hulu dropping last week, it seems that Disney is keen to fast-track its integration into the wider Disney ecosystem even as formal valuation processes still need to be completed. Brandon Blake, our expert entertainment lawyer Los Angeles from Blake & Wang P.A shares what we know to date. Brandon Blake Addition to Disney Bundles The Hulu streaming platform will begin integration with existing Disney+ services from December 2023, ahead of the formal buyout formalization anticipated for early 2024. It will be available to all viewers currently holding a Disney Bundle subscription. Disney has already taken full control of Hulu from Comcast. Currently, they are anticipating being able to offer a full ‘one-app experience’ for Disney+ subscribers from March 2024. This means that Hulu originals, as well as ABC assets, will be on offer as part of the ‘Hulu o...

 Despite an odd choice to switch back to the day-and-date streaming release model for its Halloween-centric launch, Five Nights at Freddy’s has proven to be a box-office success for Universal and Blumhouse. Our local expert, Blake & Wang P.A.’s Brandon Blake, weighs in with an entertainment lawyers perspective. Brandon Blake A Cinematographic Experience Despite a 34% drop on Sunday from Saturday’s performance and a concurrent release on Peacock, Five Nights at Freddy’s still closes its opening weekend with a juicy $80 million in the bag. For those taking notes, this is just $2.4 million behind Oppenheimer, and vastly ahead of its predicted $50 million launch. While Universal no doubt hoped to pep up Peacock’s lackluster subscriber numbers with the day-and-date release, it seems fans were committed to a vibrant cinema experience for this film. And with Dune: Part Two now pushed back in the release slates, it should have the coming weekend all to itself, too. The only q...

 Lionsgate has its return to the Hunger Games franchise on track for a $50M opening weekend for its Nov 17 debut. Interestingly, the franchise demographics have also widened since the initial film releases. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A. takes a closer look. Brandon Blake Lionsgate’s Release Strategy The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is particularly notable in the current box office lineup, as they chose not to move back the release date due to the actors' strike as with many similar properties. This is likely a strategic move, given the shuffling of Dune: Part Two out of the November lineup opens up a lot of screen space- and hopefully less divided audience attention from two key fantasy franchises. Another $3B Franchise? Although based on the prequel novel (by Suzanne Collins) set 64 years into the past of Katniss Everdeen’s story, this return to the Hunger Games universe is also being billed as a ‘reboot’ for th...