In today’s Box Office segment of the “Daily Variety” podcast, Variety’s Rebecca Rubin talks about the weekend filled with the opening of Paramount’s “Scream 7.” And Riley Steele, an associate professor at Columbia Law School, discusses how the battle between Netflix and Paramount Skydance over Warner Bros. Discovery reflects a troubling collision of business, legal and political trends.
Rubin explains that series star Neve Campbell’s withdrawal from Scream 6 due to pay disputes set the stage for a major marketing campaign for her return in the seventh installment. Another factor boosting revenue was Paramount’s decision to make “Scream 7” available on Imax and other premium big screens.
“Horror as a genre isn’t that popular.[PLF screens]tend to do better with big action blockbusters and other films in that genre. This was the first Scream movie to be shown in premium large formats, from Imax to Screen “So this is just evidence of the fact that people will pay more for these premium screens. They’re more expensive than the average auditorium (ticket). But if it’s something the audience wants to see, they’re willing to spend the extra money. And this is non-existence. I think that’s always interesting to note, because a lot of the talk about box office numbers is people saying the tickets are too expensive, but it really depends on the facility. And when there’s something the audience wants to see, they’re willing to spend the money.
Riley Steele, an associate professor at Columbia Law School, offers perspective on the epic dramas that have engulfed Warner Bros. Discovery in recent months, as the media conglomerate has been locked in a tug-of-war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix. As of last week, Paramount Skydance won. Steele’s work focuses on the intersection of business, law, and politics, and the WBD story provides him with rich research material.
“What this story most exemplifies to me is the intensely political nature of enforcement today, not just in the antitrust arena but in other areas,” Steele says. “I spent a lot of time writing my dissertation in graduate school, trying to crunch all the numbers to figure out how this stuff happens behind the scenes. I tried to read the tea leaves to find out how companies use politics to influence law enforcement. But now it’s all out in the open. You don’t have to crunch numbers to see. The Truth. All you have to do is look at what’s the next post on Social, or what’s the next tweet or post from X. And this is very telling. It’s now in sharp relief how these political considerations that are not included in the letter of the law are creating a huge push and pull on the form of law enforcement.”
(Photo: “Scream 7”)
Listen to Daily Variety on iHeartPodcasts, Apple Podcasts, Variety’s YouTube Podcast channel, Amazon Music, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.
