Happy Friday! Welcome back to Jacob’s Letter, a pop culture newsletter with bad puns and funny dog photos.
This week was full of industry-shaking news as studios dealth with the fallout from Warner Bros.’ decision to embrace streaming as a release strategy. Throw Disney into the mix with Thursday’s announcement of all of the new streaming shows coming to Disney+, and a lot of people are freaking out. Keep reading for more.
Home Box Office…literally
This past week was historical for the medium of film. Warner Bros. Pictures Group announced last Thursday that it would be releasing its entire 2021 slate of movies in theaters and on HBO Max. The studio’s new distribution strategy starts on Christmas Day with a hybrid release of “Wonder Woman 1984” and will continue for all of next year.
This is an incredibly complicated development and it’s been a feat to parse out all of its implications, but I tried my best in this piece I wrote immediately after the news broke. Since then, Christopher Nolan and “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve slammed Warner Bros. for their decision, some film studios said they plan to sue because they weren’t consulted on the decision to move their films to streaming, and everyone has an opinion on the matter on Twitter.
I don’t think this is the death of movie theaters. This year has been hell for a lot of industries, and movie theaters have suffered greatly from a lack of business. But to think that one large sea change will wreck our country’s youngest art medium is shortsighted. Audiences were already moving away from the theater and toward a streaming system that priotirizes personal curation; I’m well aware that my weekday-matinee attending self is not the normal customer.
I do think the future of movie theaters is going to get smaller. If more providers move to a streaming/release day model, I think the eventuality is that there will be less AMCs, Regals and Cinemarks and more Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal theaters, like theme parks. Users will be able to see movies based on subsription fees. And then if someone wants to see an indie film, smaller theaters will serve the same purpose in their communities as independent bookstores like Powell’s Books or The Strand.
But to get to that point, people need to feel safe going to the movie theater in large quantities again.
And as if all that weren’t enough, the biggest stakeholder in the entertainment game just doubled (and tripled, and quadrupled) down on a whole mess of streaming content.
Report to the shareholders
Disney’s annual Investors Day was Thursday, and the company presented a lot of new movies and shows to its shareholders. Like, a whole lot. Disney continues to move toward streaming, as it said it would earlier in the year.
You can check out the full list of announcements here, but here are my highlights:
Disney+ will increase its price point to $8 a month starting in March 2021
John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will star in a live-action/animated hybrid movie version of “Chip and Dale”
“WandaVision” is coming Jan. 15
“Fargo” and “Legion” TV director Noah Hawley will make an “Alien” TV show for FX and Hulu
James Gunn will direct a “Guardians of the Galaxy” holiday sequel, set for 2022
Ryan Coogler will return to direct “Black Panther 2” and they will not recast T’Challa after Chadwick Boseman’s death
Marvel Studios is making a new Fantastic Four movie, making this the fourth official F4 movie out there
“Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” will tie in to both “WandaVision”and Sony and Marvel’s upcoming third Spider-Man movie (which also recently cast multiple past Spider-Men and franchise villains, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange).
10 new “Star Wars” series are coming to Disney+, including an Obi-Wan Kenobi show taking place in between “Revenge of the Sith” and “A New Hope” that stars Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprising their roles as Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker
“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins will direct a “Rogue Squadron” movie, becoming the first woman to ever direct a “Star Wars” movie
Chris Evans will star as Buzz Lightyear in a full-length Pixar film. But, like, not the Buzz you know:
I’m not a sk8er boi, I just play one on YouTube
A few weeks back I hyped up my friend Jesus Garcia’s YouTube show The Heyzeus Show. Each episode focuses on a different guest and the video game of their choosing, and tonight, we’re airing my episode!
Crank up your ska and punk music and join us on the livestream at 6 p.m. to see me talk like Benoit Blanc before I play some Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Remastered. Oh, and Opal makes her YouTube debut in this episode, too.
Watch here:
Some other news
I haven’t had time to watch “Mank,” about ‘30s Hollywood and the writing of “Citizen Kane,” but I got to write this piece about “Kane”’s legacy in filmmaking.
Larger-than-life movie villains Hugh Keays-Byrne and David Prowse died last week — Prowse, a bodybuilder and actor most famous for the physical performance of Darth Vader, died at 85 on Nov. 29, and Keays-Byrne, who played Immortan Joe and Toecutter in the “Mad Max” franchise, died at 73 on Dec. 2.
Letter of Recommendation
What I’m reading: “Sorry For Your Troubles”
I found this book through the On Being podcast, where poet and writer Padraig O'Tuama performed a reading of his poem “Facts of Life.” It floored me, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since, and I immediately grabbed the full collection. It’s a short read, and I felt both enlightened about a subject I know little about (The Troubles in Ireland) and emotionally replinished after reading it.
Friday News Dump
A list of online writing I really liked this week:
Hanif Abdurraqib don’t miss, especially when it comes to “You’ve Got Mail,” a holiday film. (via Hanif Abdurraqib in 4Corners)
That’s all, folks. If you liked what you saw here, click that subscribe button (promise I won’t send any annoying emails) and tell all your friends!
This newsletter is written by me and edited by my favorite person, Taylor Tompkins. Views expressed here are my own and don’t reflect the opinions of my employer, yadda yadda yadda.
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See you next week,
Jake