1-2 Special Could Be Looking at a Hit in Rose of Nevada

While it’s been a busy week for the indie and specialized box office, there’s another film quietly picking up its pace at the box office, and its worth noting. Entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, with Blake & Wang P.A., shares the secret. 

Brandon Blake 

Strong Performance in its Third Week

In just 3 weeks from release, Rose of Nevada has made a very credible $138k domestically, and has crossed the $1M line worldwide. That puts it at No. 3 on the specialized charts, a position it has held since last week. 

It has also added 23 new screens and seen a 42% rise in per-screen average, which now sits at $1,445. For a smaller art house distributor like 1-2 Special, that global amount must be a very special victory. Their biggest release to date has been Silent Friend, which, in its 9th week, had a stronger domestic performance but did not match its international tally. 

Blake & Wang Lawyer 

A Strong Indie Chart

Overall, A24’s The Invite is still topping the specialty chart, and is in the middle of a slow build-up to wide release. It has reached $1.2M, which isn’t that notable for a film of its size from A24. But what is notable is the $25,164 per screen that the total represents.

Magnolia’s Maddie’s Secret has also passed $500,000 domestically in its third week, with 80 new screens added. Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World was a new opener this week, a theatrical documentary release ahead of its shift to PBS in late August. It has taken just short of $30K, which is on par for that sort of title. 

It’s always good to see the specialized box office performing strongly, especially a victory like Rose of Nevada’s from a young indie distributor as well. Let’s hope they can build on this success. 

Peacock Adds Starz to its Add-On Lineup

As NBCUniversal braces for its split from its current parent, Comcast, they have announced a new partnership with Starz to beef up its add-on offerings. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, shares the details. 

Brandon Blake

New Add-On Subscription

For $11.99 a month, certain Peacock subscribers will now be able to enjoy the popular Outlander and Power franchises directly within their Peacock platform, including the select, premium, and premium plus tiers. Since its own split, Starz has seen surprising success as a standalone entity, a magic that NBCUniversal is likely hoping will rub off as they embark on their own split from Comcast’s more technology-focused offerings. 

More Revenue for Peacock

No doubt NBCUniversal is also hoping that expanding its available offerings will beef up Peacock’s revenue, as the platform remains rather slow to grow compared to other premium streaming platforms. Starz has also been looking to grow its subscriber base since its official split from Lionsgate, especially given some pressure from its linear TV customer base. They are also looking to expand their content library, especially with new originals, in a bid for even greater profitability. 

Blake & Wang 

With Peacock already home to Law & Order and its many spinoffs, as well as the Real Housewives franchise and its extensive catalog of Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation, and Focus Features titles, this could be a lucrative partnership on both sides of the table. It will also give NBCUniversal a nice boost in the face of that upcoming split from Comcast, which is expected to close within a year. 

As the streaming market moves away from subscriber numbers overall to an emphasis on profitability, we are seeing more and more of these deals, alongside bundle deals and other offerings, between streamers. Only Netflix has, to date, resisted the lure of a working partnership in favor of exclusivity. It will be interesting to see how this partnership works out for both Peacock and Starz in the coming months. 

A24 Buys into AI in a Big Way — But It’s Not Quite What You Think

Although many in the industry were rather disappointed to hear that A24 would be bringing AI into the fold, it isn’t quite what you might imagine. To share the full details, we have Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake.

Brandon Blake 

A $75M Deal

The deal with Google DeepMind will see A24 pass a cool $75M the AI company’s way. Supposedly, however, it’s for “research purposes,” rather than anything to do with production, and comes without any mandate, either. 

Given that A24 has made most of its reputation for high-quality (and very human) indie movies, many found the news that it was buying its way into the AI space a disappointment. However, they insist they only want to develop new workflows and techniques with the tech, rather than use it for any real creative purpose. 

A24 will get access to any research or infrastructure the company develops, while they get input from the studio about how to develop their tools. It’s a swing we’ve seen within the industry quite a lot over the last few months. It seems studios are moving away from the idea of actually developing films using AI generation, but rather putting it towards developing a new slate of filmmaking tools. A fine line, really, but an interesting one nonetheless.

Blake & Wang Lawyers

No IP Deal

What isn’t included in the deal, at least according to current reporting, is access to A24’s IP and libraries. It won’t be using them to train models or to produce future output. That’s quite different from Lionsgate’s deal with Runway, for one. It does, however, bring it in line with both Amazon and Netflix, which have taken their AI tool production in-house. 

It is a little tough to believe that Google is, essentially, getting nothing but “expertise” from the deal, but then again, the $75M price tag is a drop in the bucket for the tech giant. This is, however, at the very least the first time we have seen them collaborate directly with a studio or distributor, so it will doubtless be an inroad to the industry itself for the tech company.

Content Partners Adds New Capital for Growth

You’ll be forgiven if Content Partners hasn’t been on your Hollywood radar, but the company is surprisingly powerful as a blue-chip rightsholder. Now, it looks like there are even bigger plans afoot for them, as our Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, is here to share. 

Brandon Blake

A Quiet Force

Since it was founded in 2006, Content Partners has worked with many of the major studios, buying out backend profit participation after the initial run of many productions. This has left them with an outsized holding of titles, now including over 300 films on either partial or outright holding deals. But they’re not done yet.

Last Tuesday, they announced that they will be taking on new capital via global investment giant Carlyle and their Global Credit platform, with plans to fund further growth and new ventures. Existing investors will have a chance to cash out or to participate in future ventures. 

Blake & Wang Law Firm 

Expanding Content Partners Capital

This continues the growth of their Content Partners Capital division, which has been prominent in several indie film and TV projects since its 2024 inception. They will also be expanding into microdramas with a new licensing deal that will bring Forensic Files, their true crime docuseries, to the vertical video format. 

Private equity like this has become increasingly important to many independent film and TV projects over the last few years. While Content Partners does typically claim some ownership stake in any deal they participate in, this could open the door to even more successes from the indie industry, which has been having something of a renaissance in recent years. It will be interesting indeed to see how this new capital injection changes the investment space for both mainstream and indie titles as we head forward into their new growth era. 

Sumner Redstone’s Theater Franchise Finds New Owners

Harbor Lights Entertainment, which took over the holding company mantle from National Amusements when the Skydance/Paramount merger took place, has now sold off its 13-strong theater chain to Kinepolis. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, has the full story. 

Brandon Blake

New Name, New Deals

The deal, which reportedly closed at $30M, will see Kinepolis Group, a European theatrical exhibitor, take over all 13 theaters to expand its presence in the US. After the Redstone family exited both Paramount and National Amusements Inc. in the wake of the Skydance deal, National Amusements was moved over into Harbor Lights Entertainment, holding most of the preferred voting stock in Paramount itself. RedBird Capital maintains a minority stake in the company. 

Blake & Wang P.A. Reviews

Expanded US Presence

The theaters were operating under the Showcase Cinema label and primarily concentrated on the East Coast, namely Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio, where the Redstone empire first came to life. Kinepolis, meanwhile, has mostly been operating in Michigan. The acquisition will do much to expand their North American presence. 

Together, the theaters bring in about $90M in revenue and have been operating on a break-even level, which is pretty solid at a time when many theatrical chains are still recovering from the impact of pandemic closures. They will continue to operate as Showcase Cinema. 

LionTree Advisors were the financial advisers, with Latham & Watkins LLP acting as legal counsel for Harbor Lights Entertainment. EY-Parthenon acted for the Kinepolis group, with PwC as tax advisor, and Dentons as legal counsel.

As Paramount continues through the legal processes surrounding its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s interesting to see it selling off and consolidating other assets. Whether this is a sign of things to come for the many moving parts of the historic Warner Bros. empire, or simple financial consolidation remains to be seen.

Another Content Market Vies for Asian Supremacy

With the Toronto International Film Festival hoping to bridge the lengthy gap between the Cannes and Berlin Film Festival markets, we now have another new content market to look forward to as well, this time focusing on creating an Asian hub. Entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A., Brandon Blake, fills in the details. 

Brandon Blake

Bangkok International Content Market

The brainchild of the Creative Economy Agency and Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion, the inaugural market will run from July 20 to July 22 this year, in the Thai capital. They are currently courting more than 80 global investors and streamers across film and series, including animation titles. It will take place at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, and will be the first of a kind for the area. 

Thailand has been working hard to develop its screen entertainment sector for a while now, mostly under the government-backed soft drive, “Content Thailand.” Netflix has also been active in ordering Thai content, and the global market is already enjoying some breakout titles, although they haven’t quite reached the levels of success of, say, Korea’s Squid Game. 

Unlike the gap the TIFF market is hoping to fill, however, there are plenty of similar offerings across Hong Kong’s Filmart, Singapore’s Asia TV forum, Busan’s Asian Content and Film Market, and, of course, Tokyo’s TIFFCOM. 

Blake & Wang Lawyer

Joining the International Stage

However, the drive behind this one is less about closing a known gap and more about further promoting Thailand’s own offerings. Some recent studies have suggested that each baht spent on entertainment brings back 1.8 baht in economic value, so they are genuinely sitting on some promising content. 

Currently, they are planning to exhibit 55 titles, host 500 exhibitors, and anticipate 300 international buyers from a 10,000-strong audience of attendees. There will also be a series of talks and panels on offer. 

The State of Streaming: A Nielsen Roundup

Fittingly for its final season, The Boys has made it back to the top of Nielsen’s streaming charts, and we have yet another case of the “Netflix effect” for an old favorite in the latest edition of The Gauge. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Brandon Blake walks us through it all. 

Brandon Blake

Victory for The Boys

Up 7% from the previous week, The Boys accounted for 947M minutes of viewing time over April 27-May 3, enough to claim the top spot. This is also the first time it’s been in that position since its Season 4 finale in July 2024.

Right behind it was Netflix’s Running Point, which has improved on its Season 2 premiere to reach 900M minutes and the second-place spot. Man on Fire was the week’s best debut, at 805M minutes, while The Pitt continued to hold strong enough to make the Top 10, although this was 2 weeks after its season finale. 

Blake & Wang Lawyers

La Brea Sees the Netflix Effect

La Brea, which hasn’t aired since its original run on NBC, also did well for Netflix, with 881M viewing minutes in its new debut. Bluey and Man on Fire round out the Top 5 for TV series. 

On the movie side of the charts, Apex stayed in the top spot for the second week running, at 697M minutes of viewing, and Netflix again took second place with Swapped, for which it was the opening weekend. Unsurprisingly, the original The Devil Wears Prada saw a strong boost as the sequel headed to its amazingly successful theatrical run. Zootopia 2 held strong in the fourth spot, with Green Book taking the fifth-place slot. 

As always with Nielsen’s Gauge report, these viewing stats only cover TV set viewing in the US market and doesn’t include minutes watched across PCs or mobile devices.  All in all, it was another strong set of entries for the streaming market.