What I’m Hearing: A Netflix Casualty, Spidey in China, & Morrell Blame Game

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Welcome to May! I’m gonna skip Cannes this year, but I’ll be in New York during the TV upfronts in a couple weeks, so include me on your event invites or let’s set a meeting if you’re there and we’re long overdue.

Discussed in this issue: Ted Sarandos, Jerry West, Geoff Morrell, Tony Vinciquerra, Tom Holland, Dan Levy, Jim Packer, Keke Palmer, and Meghan Markle’s axed kids’ show.

But first…

Who Won the Week: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

The directing duo, known as the Daniels, broke into the top 5 at the box office this weekend with Everything Everywhere All at Once, which is at $35 million domestic after six weeks and is on track to usurp Uncut Gems as A24 studio’s top grosser ever.

Now for some international relations…

The Chinese Had One Note on Spider-Man

Here’s a crazy anecdote: Back at the end of 2021, Sony Pictures was stressing over whether Chinese regulators would allow Spider-Man: No Way Home into the country. The previous two Tom Holland Spideys, produced by Marvel Studios, had grossed $116 million and $200 million in China, respectively. So getting the film in, despite all the recent rejections of big-budget U.S. tentpoles, was a top priority for Sony’s leaders, Tony Vinciquerra and Tom Rothman.

According to multiple sources, when the authorities got back to Sony, they had a request: Delete the Statue of Liberty from the ending of the film. Yes, seriously. As anyone who’s seen No WayHome knows, the entire climactic action sequence takes place with a trio of Spider-Men swinging over and around Lady Liberty as they battle the supervillains. Plus, without getting too into MCU plot points, the Statue plays a larger role in the Marvel movies. It was an outrageous ask...

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One Sign Netflix May Be Up Schitt’s Creek

A year or two ago, Ted Sarandos might have paid the $1.2 million an episode to keep the popular comedy as part of his spend-all, be-all strategy. Now, with Netflix’s valuation cut by two thirds, it’s a different calculus.

MATTHEW BELLONI

In the days following the recent Great Netflix Correction, its legion of haters in Hollywood have been treated to one negative media story after another—the low morale, the underwater stock options, the actual and impending layoffs, the executive blame game, the fact that not even Meghan Markle is safe from cancellation. Netflix once benefited from, by far, the most sycophantic coverage in entertainment; now every Netflix headline comes with an “Embattled” at the beginning or an “Amid Cutbacks” at the end. It’s like reporters are atoning for all those skepticism-free stories over the years.

Still, few of these articles actually delve into specifics—how the loss of 70 percent of a company’s market value in six months actually trickles down to the content. So today I decided to do that, using as an example Schitt’s Creek, one of Netflix’s signature hits, which, it was announced Wednesday, will defect to Hulu in October.

If you’ll recall, the dysfunctional family sitcom originated in 2015 on CBC in Canada. To fund production, the global distributor ITV, working with the family of stars and creators Eugene and Daniel Levy, sold the U.S. linear TV and streaming rights to PopTV, the little-known, mostly unwatched cable network that was co-owned by CBS and Lionsgate...

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