WGA Lawsuit vs Paramount Merger: Monopsony in Film Industry

[00:00:03]Well, greetings and SALUTATIONS EVERYBODY. WELCOME to the best Dan Mover related show on the planet Earth, the John Campia Show, coming from right here in our quaint little studio. I'm of course your host, John Campy. It's an awesome honor and a privilege guys to have you, our international friends, joining us here today as we talk about our favorite things in the world, movies and movie news, TV and streaming and all that good stuff. Joining me here today on the discussion, we of course got writer, director, producer, Mr. Robert Meer Bernett. Robert, how you doing today, sir?

[00:00:35]>> John, the Warriors, one of my favorite films of all time, was screening at our local local Harkkins Theater last night, and I didn't go. It's screening at 1:00 in the afternoon today, but I'm here.

[00:00:48]I'm here.

[00:00:48]>> Oh, wow. That's that's commitment.

[00:00:51]That's huge commitment. Also joining us here today, as he often does on Wednesdays, the incredible Sean Chandler is here, ladies and gentlemen. Sean, good to have you back, my friend.

[00:01:02]>> Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. My kids went back to school, so finally I'm not afraid kids are going to fly through that door while we're talking movies.

[00:01:11]>> And of course, most importantly, you guys are here. Thank you so much for being here, making our little show part of your day. And here's how our show goes. We're going to start off by talking about a number of news topics we got lined up for you guys. Then in the second part of the show, well that's the most important part. That's when we take your live comments and questions. If you guys have a thought, theory, opinion, question, or an issue you'd like me to address, as long as I deem it appropriate to be addressed on the show, go ahead and use the super chat feature and send it in. Of course, you have to be watching the show live in order to be doing that. But if you are watching live and you've got a thought to send in, go ahead and send it on in. All right, guys. With that all down, let's get things started here, shall we? And we're going to start off with this. You know, this one doesn't really um this one doesn't really fall under the category of a movie news story, per se, but it involves some might argue a top one or two most important person in the world of movies for the last several decades, and that is Big Papa Iger. Uh Bob Iger who recently stepped down for a second time as CEO of Disney. Um, he's got a new groove apparently because according to CNN and other outlets, uh, it actually initially broke on ESPN, the LA Lakers have just sold for $12.5 billion to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Jared Kushner, who is, of course, or or Jared Kushner's brother Josh Kushner. Uh, Josh is the brother of Jared. Jared is married to one of Donald Trump's kids and so there's a bit of a connection there which I find really interesting because Bob Iger and Donald Trump hate each other but anyway so so that's kind of interesting in of itself but I guess Bob Iger biggest entertainment guy in the world for at least for a number of decades most important figure in the world of movies for years has decided to go ahead and buy the LA Lakers I guess his time here in LA of being the head of Disney was kind of impactful on him. Um, this is interesting because for those of you who don't follow sports, you probably don't know this, but it was only about gosh um, a year ago that the owners of the LA Dodgers bought the LA Lakers. They literally just got bought and sold last year. Like it was literally last year. And then now along comes uh big Papa Iger and buys it again. Now for note, the guys who bought the LA Lakers last year bought it for $10 billion and in one year have turned it around for 12.5 billion. They just made $2.5 billion in one year.

[00:04:14]uh they made what Netflix made off of Paramount for breaking off their Warner Brothers uh deal$ two plus billion dollar. Now I've had a bunch of people writing into me and asking me how does this impact Disney.

[00:04:31]I could be wrong about this, but as far as I can tell, this doesn't impact or affect or have anything to do with Disney since Bob Iger no longer works for Disney. Now, somebody brought up a good question that I haven't had a chance, guys, to to look up the answer to this to. Somebody asked, "Is Bob Iger still on the board of Disney, and he might be I I do either of you guys know for certain whether Iger is still a board member of Disney?"

[00:05:00]>> I don't know.

[00:05:01]>> I know he's certainly not the chairman of the board anymore. Like, >> he must be a consultant of some kind.

[00:05:06]>> Oh, he he might be.

[00:05:07]>> A quick Google search, it says that Bob Iger remains on the Walt Disney Company board. Oh, so there you go.

[00:05:14]But as a board member, I don't >> serving as a senior adviser through December 20 through December of this year.

[00:05:22]>> Okay. Now, he's going to be on the board through December of this year or he's going to serve as an adviser until the end of this year because he is probably he's probably they keep him on obviously to be an adviser to the new CEO for a while. But either either way, it doesn't really impact Disney at all. like them.

[00:05:39]Him buying the LA Lakers doesn't impact it at all. I saw one theory online proposed that this is just the this is and and they weren't being facitious.

[00:05:50]This is to lay the groundwork for an LA Lakers movie of some kind. And whether it's a version of Angels in the Outfield or whatever, I have no idea. Maybe their own version of the Mighty Ducks. uh which was the team the the Charlie Sheen sports comedy where he was on the uh Cleveland Indians >> Major League. So whether it's it's they may be a major league. So I don't know if there's going to be a movie connection to this. I just found it interesting that arguably one of the most prominent and most important figures in all of movies has now stepped into my other favorite world of sports and now owns the LA Lakers for 12.5 billion. Anyway, Rob, I know you you're not a LA Lakers season ticket holder.

[00:06:35]Uh, but what do you think about this?

[00:06:37]>> No, but but John, you know, I come from Seattle where they stole >> the SuperSonics.

[00:06:43]>> Yeah.

[00:06:44]>> 197879. I mean, Slickquatch, Jack Sigma, Downtown, Freddy Brown. I mean, changed my childhood. I'm just saying >> they stole that team from us. However, when I moved to LA in 1988, the Lakers I I had I had I had never seen a city rally around a basketball team the way they rallied around the Lakers. I I arrived here in June 4th, 88, and I was like, "Oh my god, the Lakers must have some kind of It was an incredible It was incredible to join a new city that had such we have so many different kinds of people from all over the world in Los Angeles. We have people you can eat from every country here and every one of them are Lakers fans.

[00:07:28]>> Yeah.

[00:07:28]>> So, so the the Lakers unite and the Dodgers unite the world now with the Dodgers. But I think this is interesting. I think, you know, to see Bob Iger do this as, you know, if you read his book and you you hear him talk about like getting Frank Sinatra's watch and and I love seeing this as a part of a third act of his career, maybe.

[00:07:52]>> Yeah.

[00:07:53]>> And um say what you want about the Kushner bro or whatever, but I think that these are two guys. If there's one thing about Bob Iger, he knows his showmanship and he understands that the LA Lakers is one of the great dynasties in all of American sports.

[00:08:12]>> Yeah. And and therefore of all of American pop culture, >> all of Absolutely. And I think they'll be in good hands with Iger.

[00:08:24]>> Anyway, Sean, you had a chance to hear about this. I'm I'm not sure. I mean, obviously Austin doesn't have a pro basketball team, but Texas does. They have a couple of bangers, as a matter of fact. But what did you think about this when you first heard about it?

[00:08:38]>> Just one of those pieces of news that you're like, "Wait, what? Where did that come from?" Like, I didn't hear rumors, murmurss. It was just all of a sudden Bob Iger partnering up with one of the Kushner brothers to buy the LA Lakers.

[00:08:50]What did where did that come from? But like for all of my thoughts on Bob Iger and maybe some of the things he did with Disney, like he understands business. He wants the best. It doesn't like maybe he has his selfish purposes in why he's doing it, but his selfish purposes would also line up with wanting the team and the brand to be successful. So he obviously did incredible things with Disney um over the last 20 years. And so if he can work his magic in this final act of his life, as Robert said, more power to him.

[00:09:26]>> Yeah. So guys, again, this is not a big movie story. I just thought it was really interesting that Big Papa Iger now in his second stint having retired as the CEO of Disney is buying the Los Angeles Lakers, which in and of itself is interesting because the Lakers just sold last year. Uh, so this is kind of a crazy story. Anyway, whatever you guys think about all this, jump down to the comments section below and let us know your thoughts.

[00:09:55]All right, guys. With that down, let's move on to this, shall we? You know, San Diego Comic-Con uh just happened. And you know, I've probably gone, I don't know, like 13 of the last 15 years. I've probably at least gone for a day, usually for the whole weekend. And there's a lot of iconic things about going to San Diego Comic-Con, but one of the things that's really iconic in San Diego when you go to Comic-Con is as you get into the Gas Lamp District and you're walking towards the convention center, which is right on the shore for for lack of a better term, you walk down the street through this iconic arch. You guys know the arch I'm talking about the big arch that says like historic gas lamp right on it. It's it's a part of going to to ComicCon that you will at some point walk under that arch and it's pretty iconic. Well, this year uh Marvel took it over and they made it up into a big Avengers arch. Cool.

[00:11:02]Looked interesting.

[00:11:05]But there was a problem.

[00:11:07]They never got permission from the city to do it. And as a matter of fact, according to this report, they were specifically told not to do it. And they did it anyway. And now San Diego has slapped them with a fine. A fine ringing up to the tune of $160,000.

[00:11:27]Now, if as I'll scroll down here to the image in question, if I can get it on the screen. I hope I'll be able to.

[00:11:34]Yeah, there it is.

[00:11:36]They completely took over the arch and they did up. Now, the city says that their main problem with it was it was a safety hazard, which they're not wrong.

[00:11:47]Like, when you just quickly hang all this stuff off these arches, like, did engineers test it? Like, it it could fall and it could hurt people. So, I'm not I'm not trying to discredit that.

[00:11:59]But I think what the city's real issue was is that, hey, man, this is a big lampost of the GA the historic Gas Lamp District like this is advertising for our city and we did not tell you you could do this. Now I remember guys when I walked when Ann and I got to Comic- Con this year and the first time we walked down the street and I saw this thing I thought well that looks pretty awesome that looks great and I thought it was very cool and there was no doubt that there was going to be some big Avengers things when Marvel does its presentation. So, I thought it looked cool, but of course, I just assumed that obviously they had permission to do it, but according to a city representative, they said, "No, they didn't." And we told them multiple times to take it down. And so, we sued we fined them 10,000 one day, then doubled the fine the next day, then doubled the fine again, and then it ended up at $160,000.

[00:12:57]So, on the one hand, I'm thinking just because of how memorable that was and how awesome it looked, Disney might have thought and Marvel might have thought, h whatever they find us, it's worth it. I mean, everybody's going to remember this. This is going to put this makes everybody who's at Comic-Con and walk into the convention center, the first thing they're going to see as they're approaching the convention center is the big Avengers logo. Whatever the fine is, it's worth it. But I do have to ask though, I and I say this as a as a Marvel fan, isn't it kind of a dick move to say because essentially, isn't this Marvel going say saying we're above the rules?

[00:13:43]Like, we're not even going to ask I mean, yes, it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. But I mean, to just take a city's landmark like that and deface it, even if it's for something cool without permission, it belongs to the city. And then the city says, "Hey, take that down." And you say, "F you. We're Marvel. We're not going to take it down. Fine us whatever peasant amount of money you want to find us. We'll I'll write the check right now." I mean, it's it's a little bit of a dick move. So, I am torn. I am on the one hand I think this looks awesome and I loved it, but at the same time I kind of thought it was a dick move that they did it when they were told by the city not to. Anyway, Sean, uh you weren't at Comic-Con this year, so you didn't have a chance to see this firsthand, but you hear about this story. What What's your first response to it?

[00:14:35]>> Yeah, it it sounds kind of like the celebrity that gets a speeding ticket for $200.

[00:14:41]It it feels like it's just like it's nothing whatsoever. Something that's a deterrent for a normal person is just nothing for them. I mean like $160,000 is what onetenth of 1% of the marketing budget for this movie. So it kind of puts a gross taste in your mouth when it feels like Disney's just like we can do whatever we want. We can like like the idea of like wait a minute Disney threw up decorations without permission and actually was told not to and just kept doing it. What? Like you could do that.

[00:15:13]It sounds like someone should be in much bigger trouble than just a slap on the wrist to an enormous corporation.

[00:15:20]>> Rob, uh, I mean, you were at Comic-Con this year. I'm certain you walked under this very impressive Avengers arch.

[00:15:28]>> Oh, I have a great photo on my Instagram of me with it.

[00:15:30]>> Oh, it it's it's it it listen everything else we may say about this. It did look awesome. I mean, there's no no taking away from that. But you then saw you probably were like me where we just assumed they got full permission and everything to do it. I don't know. What do you think about when you hear this story?

[00:15:46]>> Okay, I got to call a little BS on this only because more well a month earlier than Comic- Con started, they were hanging on every lampost in San as they do every year. as they do every year. But they had their Avengers Doomsday because the lamposts are green. They had a whole campaign designed over promoting Doomsday at Comic-Con. And we were seeing it on social media and all of this. And what they put on that the gas lamp arch, they didn't come up with it yesterday. They had to take measurements. They had to design it. They had to fit it onto that that actual structure. This was not something somebody just decided to do at the last minute. This was designed from the very beginning. Look at that. That is that is designed to work with a structure that already exists. Marvel has advertised in San Diego for Comic-Con for decades.

[00:16:55]I find it extremely hard to believe that no one knew anything about this because they hung it on this. They didn't hang it like the day before.

[00:17:07]I call BS on this. I think somebody did not cross their tees or dot their eyes and got caught and now maybe they didn't want to. Who doesn't love this? How much money does Comic Con bring into downtown San Diego every year? Hundreds of millions of dollars. I think this is bogus. And look, I am no Disney shill, but there is no way that this wasn't thought about months in advance. And you cannot tell me that somebody in San Diego didn't know about this because someone had to call and go, "Can we get the measurements for the gas lamp arch to make that?"

[00:17:54]I called BS.

[00:17:56]>> I liked it. I thought it was awesome. I thought it was a great way to set off Comic-Con. And when you walked into the gas lamp, which San Diego makes how much money? I'll tell you how much money I spent there. I can't cuz I spent so much. And all that tax revenue goes right into the government and they're they're giving Marvel a hard time when when Marvel put up banners on every single lamp post.

[00:18:19]>> Yeah, but that's agreed. The lamp post thing is an agreed upon thing done every year by >> All right. Let me read the quote. Let let me read the quote.

[00:18:29]>> The exhibitor knowingly created a safety risk and refused to address it. Uh, city of San Diego spokesperson Richard Berg told the San Diego Union Tribute and it was cited and fined accordingly. The city initially hit the uh, exhibitor with a $10,000 fine on Tuesday before Comic-Con officially began. The penalties were then they were informed would be raised each day after the display remained reaching 10,000 again on Wednesday, 20 20,000 on Thursday, 30,000 on Friday, 40,000 on Saturday, and 50,000 on Sunday, bringing the total to 160,000. The exhibitor still did not respond or act accordingly. So, they're saying this they notified them every single day >> and and this isn't being whispered. This is on record. This is a city official saying on record and Disney Disney has not been able to refute it.

[00:19:22]>> Disney's not saying, "Wait a minute, they did give us permission." You know what I'm saying?

[00:19:25]>> But they all they also hung banners from every single >> standard. That's standard every year and a and given permission for.

[00:19:33]>> I get it, but I can't imagine that Disney just decided to do this without permission.

[00:19:38]>> There had to be some reason why they decided >> that I agree. I think there was probably somewhere along the lines, but if the city the remember the city is saying on public record, we told them Tuesday and they didn't address it.

[00:19:54]>> But we told them Tuesday was the day before Comic Con.

[00:19:59]>> Doesn't matter if the city tells you to take it down. Are are you not And then we told them again Wednesday and we told But >> but I would I would ask when did that I don't know when the display went up. I know those banners went up weeks before Comic- Con, >> right? And again, that's done every year. You and I have never seen them do the >> art. We I've also never seen the permissions. I I call I I want to see I think someone needs to do a deep dive on this and find out who did what because you have to design and make that thing and to design.

[00:20:32]>> Yeah. But you don't need the city to to design it. They just did. You can't tell me that somebody like a corporation like Disney who's who's paying for putting up those things on all of their all of those those lamp posts just randomly decide, you know what we should do? I mean, I would have done that if I was decid like, you know what we should do?

[00:20:52]I did that when I was in high school. I changed the the mural for my home. I was in charge of the homecoming mural and I put it on a different wall and I begged for forgiveness because it was awesome and they had to they had to give it to me. But Disney, I can't believe that they would do something like this and not because that's built, that's designed, that's that isn't made in a day or a week. That's >> Well, here's the thing, though. If if they did and everything was done right, then they could sue San Diego for going on record publicly and saying they didn't have permission to do this. So, >> Oh, yeah. If they don't, I mean, I don't >> But here's what I think probably happened. You know what probably happened?

[00:21:31]>> What probably happened? My guess, and it's just theoretical. I'm just theorizing here, is that they probably pitched an idea of, hey, what would you think about us also doing something on the arch, right?

[00:21:45]>> And then maybe something and somebody saying, well, that's cool, but never getting what they put on there approved.

[00:21:50]>> I told I think you're right about that.

[00:21:54]>> But you know what? It was awesome.

[00:21:57]>> It was >> and it was awesome. And now after the fact it's like what does San Diego I mean they already jack up the hotel prices and they make so much more tax on people. You're going to get mad at Disney for a couple of days putting smiles on people's faces cuz how many selfies were taken in front of that sign?

[00:22:15]>> It I again I was one of them >> I understand the spirit of it cuz I thought it was awesome too.

[00:22:22]>> If you don't have if everybody else has to follow the rules then Marvel has to follow the rules too. But it's gonna be interesting to see if anything more comes out of this. Maybe >> John maybe it was a it was it could have been an incursion.

[00:22:35]>> Maybe Marvel didn't do it.

[00:22:38]>> All right, >> but it was from the 828.

[00:22:41]>> With that down, question is for you.

[00:22:45]What do you think about this? That awesome arch display that they did over top of the gas lamp arch was looked awesome, but apparently they're saying they were told to take that down several times and they just refused to do it and now they're getting fined. Pocket change for Marvel. But I don't know. What do you think about it? Whatever your guys' thoughts are, jump down to the comments section below and let us know your thoughts.

[00:23:14]All right, guys. With that down, let's move on to this, shall we?

[00:23:20]You know, when the DC universe was coming out, they pitched out a whole bunch of different ideas for shows and movies we could see coming up. Now, of course, we've already seen a few. We've had uh the Creature Commandos, we've had Peacemaker, we've had Superman, we've had Supergirl, though rather not talk about Supergirl, and we've got a couple more coming out this year. We got Lantern starting up this week, which I'm extremely excited about. And then of course we've got Clayface which looks just absolutely phenomenal. So that's all coming to but there were a bunch of other things mentioned. We've heard whispers and reports that their booster gold series was probably pulled and cancelled. Uh so that's there.

[00:24:01]But there's also the potential here of the idea that maybe some other things are getting cancelled too.

[00:24:10]And that comes to us in a report from The Ankler. The Ankler put out a report talking about DC's TV trouble. Lanterns, not that Lanterns is in any kind of trouble, arrives, but two big shows die.

[00:24:25]And basically the reporting is saying that the shows the anchor is saying that the shows Waller of course from Peacemaker and and the DC universe and the island of themaara series Paradise Lost have both been cancelled. Now this has not come from anybody um at DC. This has not come from uh you know any of the actors involved or writers involved, but it is the ankler and and the anchor is usually pretty right on with their stuff. And they're saying both Waller and the Paradise Lost City have you can't really say cancelled if they never actually got going. But at least let's say their development has been ceased.

[00:25:11]The development has been ceased. At least that's what the report is saying.

[00:25:16]If this is true, I have a couple of thoughts.

[00:25:21]The first thought being that man, considering that the DCU has not been around that long, we're starting to get into Kathleen Kennedy level cancellation of projects.

[00:25:37]I mean, we we've already had the aforementioned booster gold. I don't know what is happening with the swamp thing that they pouted.

[00:25:48]Now we're hearing about Waller, Paradise Lost. I mean, again, it happens like you have things that you put into a development process and if it's not coming together, then you don't do it.

[00:26:01]Not a big deal. Kind of standard thing.

[00:26:04]It's not the same thing as say what happened with Marvel and Blade because they literally announced the project on the stage at Comic- Con, marched out their lead star and all that kind of like gave it a release date and everything a couple of times if I'm not mistaken. So, this is a bit of a different situation, but still only about four years in and we seem to have a lot of projects falling by the wayside. Listen, as a big DC fan, as a big fan of James Gun, I gotta say that's kind of concerning.

[00:26:40]Now, the other hand though, I'd have to say that I don't mind the idea of say a Waller and Paradise Lost being put on the back burner. I don't mind that idea because one of my criticisms of the current state of the DCU has been listen I love the idea of peppering in lesserk known smaller IP and not not have every movie be Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman. I I like that. Like I like that we had Peacemaker. I love that we have Lanterns coming. Although you can argue Lanterns is a big hit or two. I really I'm excited to see Clayface, but is now when we're getting into four years since all the announcements and we still don't have any definitive direction on a Batman at all. We still don't have Wonder Woman anywhere to be seen. And there hasn't even been mention or whispers of other core Justice League members, whether it's Flash or Aquaman or whoever else you want to mention. Is now really the time to be doing a Jimmy Olsen gorilla go garage show? Is this really the time? Like, don't get me wrong, I'm not against the idea of a Jimmy Olsen Gorilla Garage show, but is now the time to do that when we are years into this now and we don't even have Batman on the road map anywhere, is now the time to do that? And so to me, to me, if and this is a huge if, if this is all true and Waller and Paradise Lost have been put on the back burner for now, like maybe they'll come back into being a year down the line, three years down the line, five years down the line.

[00:28:38]But if it's true that these have been put on the back burner, I would like to believe, and again, this is just me as a fan theorizing, I would like to believe that the reason for doing so is to say we've got to get we've got to realign a little bit. We have to start repprioritizing some of the bigger hitters now because so far, all due respect to the Supergirl character, she is a derivative B-level character. All due respect, and I was super excited about the movie, but even when I was excited about the movie before watching it and being disappointed by it, but even when I was still in the very excited about it stage, I was like, but Supergirl is a derivative B-level character, very powerful one, but a derivative B level character nonetheless. We have, we are years in and really all we've had is Superman. Good starting point, but that's all we've had. So, if we find out two things, one that the report is true, and two, that the I wouldn't doubt it if the reason for them being sidelined right now is to just get a little bit of focus on some of the bigger higher profile IPs because guys, to me, these smaller things, a Paradise Lost, a Jimmy Olsen, a Waller, these are great projects to have to pepper in with the larger IPs to give more depth to the universe and to give more variety to the universe and that can be used really really well. I'm all for it. But it seems like we're having three of these lesser things for every one major thing we're getting addressed. So I don't know about this. Anyway, Rob, you you've heard the stories going around that they might be shelving these or just putting them on the back burner for a few years or whatever. Number one, what's your first thought about hearing that? And number two, what do you think the reasons behind that might be?

[00:30:39]>> Well, John, first of all, I mean, the DCU under James Gun and Peter Saffron came out guns ablazing. I mean, they said, "Here's the Gods and Monsters plan. Here's what we are doing. We have an aggressive way to take the entire DC pantheon and turn what has turned into something mundane or mediocre into a brand new universe with a plan.

[00:31:07]Okay, we're all excited about this plan.

[00:31:10]Fantastic. I'm very excited about a lanterns TV series with two actors that are marquee names. Uh, and Damon Lindelof maybe my not my cup of tea, but he obviously did the Watchman series for HBO. He's not a stranger to HBO. I'm thinking great.

[00:31:29]>> Dude, the showrunner of the show was uh the guy from Ozark.

[00:31:33]>> I unbelievable talent associated with Lanterns. I can't wait to see it. I have been extremely disappointed in what DC has done in terms of their application of these um grand plans.

[00:31:51]And I think that it's it's it's really a missed opportunity because if I was James Gun, I would come out guns ablazing. And all we've seen is Peacemaker, second season of him and Superman. what we haven't seen. And then Supergirl, I mean, Craig Gillespie was a good choice to direct based on what he'd done before, but Supergirl was a huge monumental face plant on every level. And I was perplexed by this. I'm like, you didn't even You adapted a comic series. How about the color palette of that comic? Beautiful.

[00:32:31]Unbelievable. Um, wow. And then you decided to make it you you made space and you made the DC universe mundane by making every planet seem to have one bar on it and a bunch of bikers. Like where's where's the awe and wonder that DC comics have provided me my whole life? I am very disappointed by what's going on. And when we when we hear about a Jimmy Olsen series, I mean, I understand Superman's pal Jimmy Olsson the comic that Jack Kirby did, that's where they introduced all of the fourth world and they introduced Apocalypse and they introduced New Genesis and the entire New Gods.

[00:33:16]But is that the way to go?

[00:33:19]I think we all have to wait and see.

[00:33:22]Maybe at the end of this week, we can think, "Wow, man. Lanterns rules. I can't wait to say it. I hope I can say that because they've replaced the third season of House of the Dragon that ruled with Lantern.

[00:33:36]>> So good.

[00:33:37]>> And I'm hoping, dude, there's no one more than me. I love Green Lantern. I love Green Lantern my whole life. I want to see this. Aaron Pierre and Coach Taylor from one of my favorite shows of all time, Friday Night Lights, the actual Star Trek of West Texas football or East Texas football.

[00:33:56]>> Well, and you know, make it >> I always say on on this show, winning cures everything, right? Like it's funny how >> winning changes your perception of things and so does losing, right?

[00:34:09]Because like with Supergirl, it was the first real trip up, but it's painted our entire I include myself in this. It's it's painted our entire perception of what's going on. It will be interesting to hear our own donkey mouths talking.

[00:34:27]If we could jump ahead, okay, >> four months into the future and we and that's a future where lanterns absolutely ruled and Clayface was awesome. to hear then how we're looking at the general state. You know what I'm saying? I'm including myself in this.

[00:34:42]>> I hope I hope like I shank redemption.

[00:34:45]Hope it's that good.

[00:34:47]>> Hope it's so dangerous. Anyway, Sean, u you saw this report. So, the same two questions to you. What's the first thing that pops into your head or your first response when you hear that they may be shelving or at least delaying inevitably at some point Waller and Paradise Lost?

[00:35:04]And then what do you think the rationale behind that might be?

[00:35:09]>> Yeah. I mean, you mentioned Kathleen Kennedy earlier and kind of that Star Wars problem of announcing all these projects a little bit too soon and then cancelling them.

[00:35:19]>> And this has that same flavor to it of, man, I love Star Wars. I love DC. And when you get to a point in time where I'm not excited when you announce things because I no longer trust that it's actually going to happen, there's a sense of loss in that. And there's this isn't quite there yet, but we're moving in that direction of like this is a lot of projects that you announced >> that have gotten back burned. Authority swamp thing, two TV shows and other things as well. So that's concerning and just kind of to the point of because Supergirl was not so good and it had the same air of what previous DC EU movies had issues with of studio interference pulling it away from the director. And so it's like are we just doing the same thing again as James Gunn repeating the same mistakes and then projects announced but don't happen? you just kind of get that sense of like, oh man, I really want there to be two back-to-back wins in the back half of this year. That would make me feel a lot better because I only want the DCU to to win. But to the question of why, I I think you're right of they're just refocusing and Waller being the kind of third spin-off from the Suicide Squad after Creature Commandos in Peacemaker season 2.

[00:36:32]>> Yeah. Like that's a weird thing to do that many spin-offs of something that's not A-list and then doing a Wonder Woman spin-off prequel thing before you do Wonder Woman. Once again, it's like I don't know that we're heading in the right direction. Let's let's focus on the heavy hitters that really move the needle, make a big splash, and have are very broadly accessible. You know, um MCU didn't announce Guardians of the Galaxy until after Avengers. Like, let's take that big bold swing once we have our big win. Now we can take risks and I think they need to learn that lesson. I >> if if you want a good example of how our feeble little idiot brains can work, I you all know how huge and and this is not hyperbole. I am a huge James Gun fan. I love James Gun.

[00:37:24]But even I am to go back to the Kathleen Kennedy uh comparison when Kathleen Kennedy was handpicked by George Lucas himself to lead Lucas film on paper. I was like that is a great pick. Like other than I don't know maybe Stephen Spielberg nobody else knows the mind of George Lucas better. Nobody knows Stephen Spielberg himself calls Kathleen Kennedy the greatest producer of all time. She has an unimpecable first ballad hall of famer resume.

[00:38:00]Arguably one of the top two or three producer resumes in the history of Hollywood. She just does. If you don't recognize that, you're kind of an idiot.

[00:38:08]She just does. But what we found out was just because you're great at one job doesn't necessarily mean even if on paper it looks like a good fit doesn't necessarily mean that when you get into this other job that it's going to work out as well. And we clearly found out that being a Hall of Famer producer didn't necessarily mean she's going to be a great executive for a studio. My fear right now and again you're looking at one of the world's biggest James Gun fans here. My fear is that this might be Kathleen Kennedy 2.0.

[00:38:44]That maybe James Gun um who knows more about comics than any of the rest of you watching this show right now and knows more about the history of comics and all that kind of stuff. Maybe James Gunn who has yet to make a movie I don't love. Um yet maybe just because James Gunn has all that doesn't necessarily mean he was the right guy to be the head of a studio. I'm not saying I'm there yet.

[00:39:08]I'm not yet pronouncing this to be Kathleen Kennedy 2.0 yet. I want to see what happens with the lanterns and then I want to see what happens with Clayface and then I want to see what happens a little bit after that. But I have to admit, as one of the biggest defenders of James Gun and as one of the biggest fans of James Gunn, I got to say I'm starting to wonder if a year from now I'm not going to be thinking about this as Kathleen Kennedy 2.0.

[00:39:31]Again, I'm not there yet. Can't wait to see lanterns and winning cures everything because we could be singing totally different harmonies uh this point two months from now. But it's just kind of interesting to see where we're at. Anyway, guys, question is for you.

[00:39:47]What do you think about all this? These Waller and Paradise Lost series apparently maybe scrapped, maybe just put on the back burner for a few years, whatever. It's more things announced that are now getting either axed or delayed or whatever. and it seems to be a growing collection of them, which is a little concerning when we're only this far into a new cinematic universe. I'm still going to carry the torch and I'm still going to remain optimistic, but my optimism is starting to get a little bit shaky. Whatever you guys think about all this, jump down into the comments section below and let us know your thoughts.

[00:40:23]All right, guys. With that down, we still got a few other things we got to talk about, including IMAX. just sent out a big email today to everybody announcing tickets for Dune 3. More tickets for Dune 3 coming out next week.

[00:40:37]We're going to talk about that. Also, Coyote versus Acme, the Rotten Tomatoes critic scores are up now. And as of the last time I checked, it's sitting about 95%.

[00:40:47]And the Writer Guild of America, one of the two big bodies bringing lawsuits against Paramount to block the WB merger, just responded to David Ellison's threat to move the company out of California unless he gets what he wants. And they basically did the internet meme.

[00:41:06]Uh, and we're going to talk about that and a few things more. But before we do, we're going to take a quick second here and thank the sponsor of today's episode of the John Campia Show, our friends at Ultra Pouches. Guys, we want to take a second to thank a sponsor of today's video, Ultra Pouches. A lot of people use nicotine thinking it'll give them a little extra focus or even help before a workout. But nicotine is a vessel constrictor. It narrows your blood vessels and can actually work against that pump and recovery that you're looking for. That's where Ultra Pouches come in. What you're really going to like about them is that they're 100% nicotine free and caffeine-free. They're designed to give you smooth energy and focus without the nicotine crash. Pop one in before a workout or when you're sitting down for a long work session, and it's an incredibly convenient little boost. Ultra is the ultimate guilt-free pouch, delivering instant focus and mental clarity without nicotine or caffeine. New customers can use the code campia to get 15% off at takera.com.

[00:42:03]That's t a kelt r a.com for 15% off with the code campia. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them that our show sent you. And thank you to our friends at Ultra Pouches for sponsoring today's episode of the John Campia Show.

[00:42:23]Okay guys, with that down, let's move on to this, shall we?

[00:42:29]You know, it's become a trend since the Odyssey started it about putting these IMAX tickets on sale for these big movies like ages before the movies come out. We saw Odyssey do it. Obviously, we've now been talking about Endgame doing it recently, but you guys might remember a few months ago that Dune 3 also did that. IMAX put on sale some limited 70 millimeter screen selection tickets on sale and they sold out instantly. As a matter of fact, they sold out so fast that within a few days, people were literally not just selling, but buying those tickets on eBay for thousands of dollars. Uh some people charging $800, whatever. A few people bought pairs of tickets for $2500 for a pair. Uh one guy put his seats up for 1,500 bucks and sold a whole bunch of I mean, it it was crazy. Scarcity apparently creates demand and hysteria.

[00:43:30]So, people were buying those tickets for literally thousands of dollars ON THE SECOND MARKET. WELL, for those of you who don't want to pay $2,500 for a pair of tickets to see Dune 3 in IMAX on that opening weekend, IMAX says they've got you covered because IMAX put out a new uh thing today. They sent out an email to a bunch of people who are in the IMAX email list and they said this. They said, "Dear IMAX fans, you showed up in a big way when the first Dune Part 3 tickets were released.

[00:44:05]We've heard you uh and know you want more access to tickets and more time to plan. So, here you go. The opportunity to get Dune Part 3 tickets will arrive in one week on Tuesday, August the 18th at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The tickets uh the ticket drop will unlock more opening week Dune Insider screenings in both IMAX and IMAX 70 millimeter. I believe the first round of tickets they released were just for SE for some 70 millime. So mark your calendars and make your plans to get ready for the return to Arachus. Long live the fighters. So, we apparently have some more tickets coming uh for Dune part 3.

[00:44:51]It reminds me a lot of when the first OPET, not Oppenheimer, the first Odyssey tickets went on sale and they dropped and they just got sold out within again not hours but minutes they got sold out.

[00:45:05]We saw an incredible response for when Endgame uh dropped their big advanced ticket sales. Of course, we've got more on the way now coming this Friday reportedly and when Dune did their official offering a few months ago.

[00:45:20]But the fact that they sold out so fast and the fact that they are now putting even more tickets on sale, I am going to be curious to see how fast these sell out because when the first round of Dune 3 tickets went on sale, guys, it was was for a very limited number of screens. I mean, IMAX 70 millimeter themselves are pretty limited and the number of showings you can have per day were pretty limited, but so it was limited. only so many tickets available, sold out instantly. Now that they're expanding it to even more screenings on 70 millimeter and the wider IMAX offerings that are out there, I'll be curious to see if these sell out, too.

[00:46:03]Because if they do sell out, are you going to want to be anywhere within 20 miles of any movie theater that's playing Doomsday?

[00:46:14]like it like Doomsday. We already know that Doomsday, which is of course December 18th when both Avengers Doomsday and Doom part 3 comes out on the same day. I still can't wrap my head around that. They're coming out on the same day. We already know how big Doomsday is going to be, but I mean, if these tickets sell out as fast as maybe we think they might, exactly how big can Doomsday be? Like we were just talking, you guys will remember, we were just talking the other day about the fact that Spider-Man and the Odyssey, Spider-Man, Spider-Man uh Brand New Day's opening weekend and Odyssey's third weekend. So that one weekend that was Spider-Man first and Odyssey's third combined to make guys you remember this the biggest single weekend in box office history.

[00:47:04]And a lot of people think, well, Doomsday won't be able to break that.

[00:47:09]Yeah, I think it might. I I'm starting to think it might. So Sean, let me start with you on this and and ask you these two questions, I guess. When these tickets go on sale on Tuesday, what are you expecting? Are you expecting Yeah. sold out quickly? Maybe not so quickly. I don't know what you're expecting from that. And if they do, the second question, if they do sell out rather quickly, I how ridiculous is this Doomsday 3 going to end up being? I I don't What do you think about all this?

[00:47:43]>> Yeah. Uh, I mean, I'm getting the impression that it probably will sell out. I I don't really like this thing where we're more and more selling tickets earlier and earlier in small batches. Um, almost fabricating demand or scarcity because we're only selling the extreme ones so it sells out and then we have something a little bit more. I don't like that because it's creating such extreme things where we're, you know, people are buying tickets for thousands of dollars for movies. Um, and it's starting to feel like what they're doing with concerts where everything the prices are just getting insane for everything. Um, but it feels like people love going to the movies again and after what just happened with the Odyssey, people like they want to repeat that. And Denny Vonu is the guy that's in that Nolan category of, you know, he's going to make something truly cinematic, something that is worthy of being seen on the biggest and the best screen. And so in its its own way, really, Doom 3 is the follow-up to the Odyssey for the Caphiles wanting that IMAX experience.

[00:48:49]And so, yeah, I I think they're going to sell really fast. Um, and I think it's very likely that we're going to have two different days this year that break the record for biggest box office weekend or break those records. Um, because this is just looking to be mammoth. I mean, Odyssey was in week three. And so, of course, Dune is going to beat that. And then we're talking about an Avengers movie, which of course it's going to be massive. So, I think it's very likely that it'll break the record again. And this is only one more reason that's going to happen.

[00:49:26]>> By the way, ju just to be clear, Sean's not saying that obviously Dune 3 will beat Odyssey. What he's saying is that the weekend one of Dune 3 will beat weekend three of the Odyssey. Um, anyway, Rob, you and I were act to this point, Rob, you and I yesterday were having a discussion about whether or not Dune 3 could also be a billion-dollar film and and all this kind of stuff. We were talking the other day, or it might have been Christian I was having that conversation with. Either way, >> um, that it that could Dune 3 also be a billion dollar film while Doomsday or Doomsday is coming out at the same time.

[00:50:02]So, the same two questions for you, I guess, is number one, when Tuesday comes and 9:00 a.m. hits, are we going to see ticket sites crashing again? Like, are these things going to sell out incredibly quickly? Maybe not so quickly. And how big can Doomsday actually be? Will it beat that Spider-Man Odyssey weekend? I don't know. What do you think?

[00:50:24]>> Well, I have to echo my esteemed colleague Sean's sentiments. I mean, what we are seeing, you know, it's funny. Two years ago, people like, "Oh my god, the theatrical business is dead."

[00:50:35]>> Yeah.

[00:50:36]>> And now a And now, like I've always said, every franchise is one great film away from being reinvigorated.

[00:50:44]Well, you know, um, say what you want, I like Thunderbolts. I like Fantastic 4: First Steps. Spider-Man, even though it's a Sony movie, the MCU is back, baby. Theatrically, it is. It is back.

[00:50:58]And I think that the thing about Dune is like a movie like Interstellar.

[00:51:03]Dune is a generational franchise. It is like I love it, but I got Dune in 84 then I got it on TV. But what Denuv has done with Dune has galvanized a a new generation that has been shown what is possible cinematically. And by the way, it wasn't possible when I was younger. I would say for this old Gen Xer, not Umer, for this Gen Xer, I watch Denal News Dune and I think to myself, I am seeing something cinematically I'd never seen before. I have seen literary sci-fi large on the big screen in a way I couldn't even conceived of in ' 84 when Lynch's Dune came out, which I loved and I reviewed my high school newspaper.

[00:51:52]We are we are now seeing gigantic talents creating massive massive tableau on the big screen and it's like one right after the other. I mean who would have thought we would get the Odyssey, we would get Dune 3, which is a combination of maybe Dune Messiah and Children of Dune and Doomsday the Avengers. I mean, we're getting gigantic amazing. I mean, these are like seeing the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin or you two in giant arenas and you have multiple generations galvanized by what we're seeing on the big screen. It It is, John. It is the the what you've always said since we've started streaming 11 years ago, you've always said when I first heard this, when you said movies are experiential events, I was like, ah, I like going to small theaters and seeing artouse films.

[00:52:53]I know what you mean. We are now getting experiential events writ large in the way we've never seen them before. And they're not just movies. They are public, cultural, social events and it's amazing. And I think that Doomsday, I mean, look, okay, Barbheimer, you had very different kinds of movies, but Doomsday appeals to the geek in me, the old school nerd from my elementary school days. You know, when people made fun of me for playing Star Trek when I was in kindergarten, I'm like, "Oh, really? Well, it's 2026 and we're going to see Dune 3 and Doomsday in one day. Who won?"

[00:53:46]>> We did. And I think it's going to be huge.

[00:53:51]>> Guys, question is for you. What do you think about this? They are now putting more tickets on sale this Tuesday for Dune 3. The last time they put bunches of tickets on sale, they sold out instantly and then we're not just being put on sale for cuz who cares what you put something on sale for if nobody buys them. They were being bought for like $2500 a pair. $1,500 for single tickets.

[00:54:18]It's crazy. How big of a sales rush do you think Dune 3 is going to have on Tuesday? You think they're going to sell out? Maybe not. And how big exactly is December 18th going to be with Doomsday happening? Whatever you guys think, jump down to the comments section below and let us know your thoughts.

[00:54:40]All right, guys. With that down, let's move on to this, shall we?

[00:54:46]Well, maybe not on the level of Avengers Doomsday and maybe not on the level of Doom 3, but there's a little film calling coming called Coyote versus Acme.

[00:54:57]And you know this at some point they're going to have to make a movie about this movie's path and journey, their their Odysius like journey to actually get onto the big screen. Because of course, as you guys know, uh the movie got made, but then the folks at Warner Brothers looked at and said, "We don't think this thing can even make back the money it's going to take us to market and put it out in theaters, so we're just going to shove it." Then they decided to, you know, a lot of people said, "We want this thing released." And Warner Brothers, unlike Batgirl, Warner Brothers thought the movie was really good. They thought it was good. They just thought, "We're going to lose money if we put it out." So to give it a chance to get into theaters, they put the movie on sale to all the other studios in town and they all passed.

[00:55:47]None of them wanted it because even though they thought the movie was good, none of them thought the movie could make any money. Well, then along came Ketchup Entertainment and Ketchup decided, we're going to take a chance on this and and they picked it up. Now, you guys remember we talked a few weeks ago that the first reactions to Coyote versus Acme were amazing. Like through the roof, amazing. So good.

[00:56:16]Which again, Warner Brothers thought the movie was good, too. So there you have it. But now the full reviews are out.

[00:56:23]And as of this recording, a little bit earlier it was at 95%.

[00:56:27]>> But right now, as of this recording, it's at 94%.

[00:56:32]Coyote versus Acme is sitting at a 94% critic rating. Let's go over and see what some of the critics are having to say about Coyote versus Acme. They're saying this. Daily Beast says they liked it. A clever and mad cap underdog saga that in light of real world events now resonates as a case of art foreshadowing life.

[00:56:51]>> Denniggeeek liked it. They said despite caveats and quibbles, it's a compelling testimonial that earns its day in the sun. For once, it feels great to see the little guy catch his Roadrunner. Screen International did not like it. They said, "The lackluster screenplay proves as faulty as Acme's crummy contraptions."

[00:57:11]Okay, that's actually kind of clever the way they wrote that. All right, Indie Wire, they liked it. They said, "The truth is the film is good. Clever and snappy, fresh and silly. A winning combination of classic Looney Tunes, gags, and contemporary concerns."

[00:57:26]Variety didn't like it. They said it c it could have been called Remembrance of Rube Goldberg Bomb's past. Yet, there's a certain way that Coyote versus Acme next to those cartoons feels neutered and tame. Polygon did like it. They said the first thing to love about Coyote versus Acme is that it's funny. Like really funny. The jokes in the film vary from big physical gags, background jokes, sharply written oneliners, and Easter eggs for Looney Tunes fans. IGN liked it. They said, "It's a savvy mix of absurd humor and satirical meta subplot and just enough emotional weight to make us care about these short form animated punching bags for a full featurelength runtime." Deadline Hollywood liked it. They said the delightful gem. It's a delightful gem of a movie for me at least, ironically, or uh not only the best Warner Brothers film released so far this year. It also is hands down the best animated liveaction hybrid since Robert Zmechus' classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The Hollywood Reporter liked it. They said, "It's a pleasure to report that the film is a hilarious delight, one of the best liveaction/animation films ever, and will be treasured by Looney Tunes fans. Uh, and who isn't one?" And then we'll end off with uh the film verdict who wrote who also liked it. They wrote, "Amid the pervasive wackiness which never gets tiresome. Uh Bur skillfully weaves in both a legitimate mystery, its real life ramifications bring to mind another Todd Haynes film, Dark Waters, and some genuine character moments." And and it goes on. Again, as of this recording, the movie is sitting at a 94%, which is just great.

[00:59:10]Now again I want to like re-emphasize that as many people try to draw the um the comparison between you know what happened with Batgirl and this the big difference was that Warner Brothers essentially said Batgirl is just isn't good and we can't put this in theaters. That wasn't the case with Coyote versus Acme. It was a matter of we just don't think this thing's going to make money. To that point about them think uh saying that. Let me see if I can pull this up. The uh earth blew up. Um so in comparison though to like that there's something you have to keep in mind.

[01:00:00]The last Looney Tunes movie that came out was also really loved. The Day the Earth Blew Up. A Looney Tunes movie had well not 94 only 8% off. It had an 86% critic rating and an 88% audience rating. Right? Very wellreceived.

[01:00:24]Super wellreceived. Here was the problem.

[01:00:28]The movie made $15 million, not on its opening weekend, not domestically, total worldwide, despite the fact that it was rolled out in a full full theatrical release of over 2,800 screens and it only made $15 million. I think that was always the point to which Warner Brothers took a step back and said, "We don't think this thing can make enough money to even justify a marketing campaign." Because remember, a marketing campaign can run 50 to 60 to 70 to $150 million. They would never spend $150 million marketing this one obviously, but still. So, that was their basic conceit.

[01:01:13]So, I was like a lot of people, guys, in the sense that, man, I would have liked to have seen it, but I totally get it. I mean, I I I totally get why you shove this thing and not lose more money, but then I saw the last trailer and man, that last trailer was great. It was so fun. I I still every like even just yesterday, there was something came up and I remembered John Cena saying, "What did you tea? What did you to?" And I just start like I'm just sitting there doing something, right? and I just start giggling because I just I just think of that light. It looks so good. So, look, I still don't know that this thing's going to make any money. I I I really don't I have no idea if this thing's going to make any money. Not even enough money to justify whatever they spent on the marketing campaign. I don't know. I think at the end of the day, Warner Brothers will probably end up being proved right that it would have cost them more money to release it than to just shove it. I hope not, but I I think that's what will happen. But I also know this gentleman.

[01:02:17]I can't wait to watch this movie. I cannot wait to watch this movie. But unlike The Odyssey or Dune on IMAX, I don't think I'm going to have a problem finding tickets. Uh regardless of that, I'm real excited to see it.

[01:02:36]Anyway, Rob, you know, we've been covering this Odysius like journey of Coyote versus Acme for years now. We we've been talking about >> this whole thing. It is now nigh. The reactions were great. The now full critic reviews are extremely good.

[01:02:56]>> Two questions, I guess. Let's start with the the first one. Where's your anticipation level like for this movie?

[01:03:02]Are you excited to see it? Not so excited, whatever. And then number two, despite the great reactions and my excitement and the really great reviews, is this movie going to be a money maker?

[01:03:15]I I don't know. What do you think? Well, first of all, you know, I I read the original essay that this whole concept was based on, and I thought it was hilarious. I've wanted to see this movie since I knew it went into production. I thought the idea is hilarious. I mean, here's the thing about this movie relies on a cultural memory of Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons.

[01:03:41]>> Yes.

[01:03:41]>> It it it is literally based on our collective memory. The problem is how many people in the 21st century remember Looney Tunes cartoons and understand what this is? That's one thing.

[01:03:57]Unfortunately, because of the transition of of the rights or who had to buy what, and no one has done a really great job explaining why this movie matters and why you should see it and why it's funny because it's it's literally based on something everybody who grew up in the latter half of the 20th century understood. We all watch Looney Tunes cartoons and even animeiacs.

[01:04:23]So the whole premise of this movie has kind of been lost in the last 20 years. So you needed a marketing campaign to kind of explain what this is. I think a lot of the audiences today just don't know.

[01:04:40]And unfortunately because of that it's not going to do if this movie came out in 1995 it would have been huge. It would have been gigantic because everybody grew up with Looney Tunes and they would have understood Wy E Coyote's plight.

[01:04:59]They would have understood because we all are the coyote. All of us are the coyote. Our entire lives are spent that way. That's the whole point of the thing.

[01:05:12]>> Chasing that uh chasing our own individual road runners. Every one of us is chasing the Roadrunner. And you know what? Me meep is exactly the the sound effect of when something went south.

[01:05:26]When I did poorly on a test in high school, me I would hear it and and and look, I can't wait to see this film, but nobody's going to go.

[01:05:38]>> Yeah. And the marketing hasn't been they haven't explained they haven't um they haven't contextualized what this is which I think is a problem but that last trailer was great and I will be there with bells on opening day.

[01:05:54]I can't wait to see this Friday maybe Thursday Friday but I'll be there. So the the thing is >> we've been seeing these these studies coming out recently, Sean, >> about how everybody's going back to the movies again. We we've started going back. But one of the key things in every one of those data points and studies and articles has been Gen Z is leading the charge of everybody going back to the theater.

[01:06:24]Does anybody in Gen Z know the phrase I taught I taught a putty tat? Like I I I I just don't. And this is the part where I'm like I think both things can be true. I think number one, Warner Brothers is going to be proved right that if they try to release it, they were just going to lose money.

[01:06:44]But at the same time, the movie can be awesome and completely funny. I I don't know, Sean, you've been following this story. So I guess the two questions are where's your anticipation level? Are you looking forward to this? And secondly, can this thing make money regardless of how good it is? What do you think?

[01:07:04]>> Yeah, I I was interested in it just on a conceptual level because of its bizarre history getting it to the big screen. So just as a curiosity, I was interested, but generally speaking, I'm not like running out to go see a Looney Tunes movie. And then I watched the trailer and I was like, "This is a really clever premise." Y this this the jokes are funny. I'm really enjoying this. And I showed it to my kids and they're like, "Okay, that's that's I guess that was good." Because they've never watched Wy Coyote. They've never watched these classic Looney Tunes cartoons. That hasn't been a part of the popular culture. It hasn't had anything to revitalize it. And I think Robert phrased it really nicely that this project is built on a cultural memory that young children or even people in their late 20s or in their 20s have not experienced. They don't remember it.

[01:07:58]It's built entirely on something from the last century.

[01:08:03]And when you're trying to make something that is clearly family entertainment, you need a franchise builder or rebuilder. And this isn't the premise that's a franchise rebuilder. Even if it's great, it's not a franchise rebuilder because it's built on already having an understanding of the property.

[01:08:20]And it's it's a shame. The projections don't look optimistic. It's like opening to like $15 million is what it looks like um when it cost $70 million to produce it. So, in that regard, yeah, it looks like Warner Brothers will probably be proven correct, but um also it looks like they've made a good movie.

[01:08:40]>> Uh yeah, and this is going to be one of those things where man, I I hope I hope it does. Well, if it's as good as it looks like it is, I hope something happens. I hope a movement gets pushed behind it. Like, maybe we could see an obsession effect where it just maybe it doesn't have the biggest opening in the world, but it just keeps going and going and going.

[01:09:00]So, here's hoping, guys. Question is for you. What do you think about this? The reviews now have come out for Coyote versus Acme, not just the first reactions. And they're really, really good. Are you planning on seeing it? I know I am. I just don't know if we're going to have any problems whatsoever.

[01:09:20]Coyote versus Acme isn't going to be crashing any movie ticket sites, I don't think. Anyway, whatever you guys think, jump down to the comments section below and let us know your thoughts.

[01:09:33]All right, guys. With that down, let's move on to this, shall we?

[01:09:40]Well, you guys might remember that on yesterday's uh John Campia show, we talked about the fact that in the midst of the lawsuit going on, and let's not forget there's two different lawsuits, but in the midst of the lawsuit going on between all the different states that are suing to stop the Paramount merger, David Ellison, who had been walking around and telling everybody that would listen to him, "We're going to win this lawsuit. We're going to win. We're going to win. No problem. We're going to win.

[01:10:10]showed his real thoughts that he has no belief that they're going to win when he decided to publicly issue a threat and issue a blackmail statement basically saying, "Hey, you guys back off. Give us what we want or we're going to pull Paramount out of California."

[01:10:28]to which of course uh I said to the 5 to 8,000 employees that Paramount Studios has in California. Hey guys, David Ellson just put you on the wall like the children in House of the Dragon. He sees you as expendable and as bargaining chips, nothing more. And no matter what happens in this lawsuit now, whether Paramount wins, the states win, the merger goes through, the merger doesn't go through, whatever happens, I need all of you 5 to 8,000 employees of Paramount in California to remember that moment and remember exactly what David Ellison thinks of you. Just keep that in mind.

[01:11:09]But the thing is, when he came out and made that assertion, there was another group.

[01:11:16]That group was the Writer Guild of America. The Writer Guild who are themselves engaging in their own lawsuit against the Paramount merger. Now, there is a big significant difference though between the two different lawsuits.

[01:11:32]Okay, we've talked about it, but before we go into what what the writers get of of America said here, it's important for us to revisit this to lay this as a foundation. So, follow along with me here for a second.

[01:11:44]The basis of the state's lawsuit against Paramount is a question of a monopoly.

[01:11:53]Now, in a monopoly, you have one or a very few concentrated number of sellers on the market. Uh, and yet have many buyers. The seller has the power over price. Example, one company is the only provider of a product or service. Think of it in the terms of a kingdom of turnups.

[01:12:14]Follow me here. A monopoly says you have a kingdom full of people that are desperate to eat turnipss, but only the king sells turnipss.

[01:12:25]That is a monopoly. All right. Well, let's go back to this thing here.

[01:12:32]What the basis of the WGA lawsuit is the complete opposite. Actually, they're suing on the basis of a monopsin, not a monopoly, a monopsani.

[01:12:45]And it's the opposite. In a monopsami, they're saying there's one buyer, but many sellers.

[01:12:53]One buyer, but many, many sellers. The buyer has the power over what it pays.

[01:12:57]Example, one major employer buying labor in a small town. Going back to the example of a kingdom of turnups. Instead of being a kingdom full of people who want to eat turnipss and only the king provides them, think of it in reverse.

[01:13:11]All the people in the kingdom are turnup producers, but only one person in the land is allowed to buy them and that's the king. So the king can set whatever price he wants, all that kind of stuff what it'll get. Now the reason that's important to understand with the WGA is the WGA are just just came out and put out a statement that basically says see this is exactly they're saying David Ellison's statement yesterday proves their point because their point is that if this merger goes through you're still going to have all these writers but now you're going to have an even smaller amount of people who can hire them. And if David Ellison, they say, has more power, he will mistreat the writers. He will, you know, screw us on setting wages because if you don't like it, I'm sure I'll find somebody else more desperate than you to take it. That he will essentially screw them over. And this was the WGA's statement uh to in response to what David Ellison said yesterday. The WGA said this, "By threatening to leave the state because it doesn't want the government to enforce the law, Paramount further proves the danger of its outsized power over the industry and what that will mean for writers and the creative community." The Guild said on Tuesday, "This type of behavior is precisely why the merger should be blocked." In other words, the WGA is saying, you see how Ellison just acted? That's how he's going to act against all of us. That's how he's going to respond to the writer's guild. That's how he's going to respond to the actor's guild. That's how they're going to respond to the director's guild. That the moment there's any legitimate push back for real reasons, he's just going to pull out the take it or leave it, I'll find somebody more desperate than you card.

[01:15:13]This is it. Exactly. This he just proved why we're bringing this lawsuit because that is how he acts and that's how he will act. That's basically the WGA's statement here. You know, guys, I don't I I'm a I haven't played lately. I'm thinking about starting up again, but I've spent a good 10 years playing World of Warcraft. I I don't know if either of you guys ever played World, but I'm a huge WoW player.

[01:15:38]>> I've dabbled. Then for those of you who have dabbled like Rob, there's this moment in the story of World of Warcraft that reminds me a lot of this situation.

[01:15:50]And I just just a show of hands in the live chat. Who of you recognize the name Sylvanas Windrunner? Just just say if you do or don't. But anyway, there's this moment in in the story. It might have been a battle for Azeroth expansion, maybe one that came before it. But basically, Sylvanas Windrunner took over the Horde.

[01:16:12]Okay, she became the leader of the Horde. The problem is there was a bunch of people in the Horde, including some of their more senior people, who realized she's not taken the Horde in a good direction. So basically one of the big war chieftain orcs who has like gone outside of the horde now because of what Sylvanas is doing to the Horde, he challenges Sylvanas to a one-on-one duel, right?

[01:16:38]And before they start their duel, he starts to bait her, talking about how the Horde is more important to you, the Horde is strong, blah blah blah. and he tricks her into yelling out, "The Horde is nothing."

[01:16:53]To which everybody in the Horde kind of looks at her when she says that, like, "This is the leader of the" and she's saying that, right? He got her. Kind of like the way that Tom Cruz baited Jack into saying, "You can't handle the truth." GODAMN RIGHT. I GAVE the order.

[01:17:08]For those of you who understand that reference, basically what the WGA is saying, this is that moment. This David Ellison is Jack in that stand. David Ellison is Sylvanas Windrunner standing in front of the horde. He basically just tipped his hand and revealed exactly who he is and revealed exactly how he's going to handle things and just proved why we feel the need to bring this lawsuit because he is going to horribly misuse this new power and authority to trample on writers. They might be right or wrong, but that's what they kind of take away from all this. Anyway, Rob, um, you know, you and I have been following this story for for a long time here. We talked about it a bit yesterday, but >> you know, what do you think about the WGA's response to them? They're basically saying, "Hey, he just proved our point."

[01:18:04]>> Are they right in saying that? I I I don't know. How What do you make of their statement?

[01:18:09]>> Well, John, last night I talked to a friend of mine who's an executive at Warner Brothers about unrelated things, who's doing great work and uh their division's killing it. and he expressed kind of in a in a a sideways sort of a way, but all of this great progress we're making, we have no idea where we're going to be in a year and this whole merger, forget what's going to happen in the future. You have two companies full of thousands of people that are in a state of flux.

[01:18:46]They can't do their jobs right now. They don't know what's going to happen. They don't know like while we talk about these mergers what two guys have done a father and son have done and what there has put thousands if not tens of thousands of people on notice and everybody some of these people have worked at studios Paramount Warner Brothers for years decades and they're all running around going what are we doing man what what what's going to happen. Where are we going to be? And they look to Disney and Fox and they think or what Fox was and they look at the fact that you you dude LA Confidential is owned by Disney.

[01:19:35]Where is it? Can you get it on 4K? Can you see it? I mean, none. We have an entire cultural legacy that can be suppressed and absconded with. So when the writers guild comes out and they they're what they are fighting for is the continued vibrance of an industry that we look at right now that is making more money this year than since I mean pre- pandemic. We're at pre- pandemic levels now. We see an excitement, a great excitement being whether it's Obsession for $750,000, back rooms for 10 million, The Odyssey for how much that cost, Spider-Man, we have a vibrant industry that's making money and then everybody is is worrying it because there's now what four major studios that might become one.

[01:20:26]There's no The Writer Guild is correct.

[01:20:30]I mean, everybody wants to know what's going on. What are you going to do with our cultural legacy?

[01:20:37]This is a boondoggle that a family has caused that has what's your plan? What do you want to do? You want to consolidate all these different things? How is that going to benefit anybody but your family? Are we going to get better movies, better stories, better TV shows, better news, better home video? From my perspective, what's the answer? I mean, I want to know what they're going to do. And the writer's guild wants to know, what are you going to do for our business? Are we going to make money? Are all of these talented people going to continue to make great stuff that, by the way, this summer proves how vibrant cinema is?

[01:21:27]I don't see any of it happening with this merger.

[01:21:31]It's turning into more folly as the days go by. Show me, are you going to benefit us? Are we going to get better news? Are we going to get better TV shows? Are we going to get better movies?

[01:21:45]Are we gonna get better culture?

[01:21:48]I don't know. I don't see it.

[01:21:51]>> Yeah. And and you know to the word writer guild their question is are we going to get better opportunity and better options and better pay if you merge this in? And their point here Sean seems to be when David Ellison gets any push back his first reaction is take it or leave it. I'm going to take my ball and go home. that's how he's going to treat us as writers. Again, maybe the Writer Guild is right or wrong in saying that, but that that is their perception and that's what they're saying here in their response to him. What do you think of their response? Did anything in their response stand out to you? What do you make of this whole thing?

[01:22:29]>> Yeah, I mean, their response makes total sense to me that this feels like, as Robert said, it's only good for one family. Everyone else in this creative ecosystem, in this business ecosystem, has serious concerns. Everyone, government, writers, everyone is going, "Hey, wait a minute. I don't think we're going to have as many good opportunities here." They keep raising concerns. And the response isn't satisfying answers.

[01:22:57]It's not a plan. It's trust me, bro. or this current response which is the the spoiled kid response like well if if you don't I don't want to share my toys so I'm going to go to Georgia like it just has that spoiled kid energy to it rather than a collaborator trying to create a robust ecosystem that's good for everyone where he's working with them he's listening to their feedback he's listening to their concerns and trying to build bridges no this just feels like he's storming out of the room which right that's everyone's concern that the whole thing feels like it's entirely motivated by selfishness, not based on what is best for the companies, for the industry as a whole. And so, right, of course, they're seriously concerned.

[01:23:44]>> Yeah. Somebody's put a great comment in the live chat. They said David Ellison is Sid from Toy Story all grown up. Uh, and I guess I guess yes, that is that is the case. Anyway, guys, question is for you.

[01:23:58]What do you think about this? The Writers Guild of America, who is, you know, engaged in their own lawsuit against Paramount to stop the merger, they came out and said, "David Ellison's statements yesterday just exactly proved our point about why we're bringing this lawsuit because that is who he is." I don't know. Whatever you guys make of all that, jump down to the comments section below and let us know your thoughts.

[01:24:24]All right, guys. With that all down, it is time for us to get on to the most important part of our show, which is of course taking your live comments and questions. And just so you know, I had to turn off the super chats like a good half hour ago. They they all filled up.

[01:24:37]But we're going to get to those questions now. But before we do, we're going to bid good afternoon to writer, director, producer Robert Meer Bernett.

[01:24:44]Great job as always, Rob. We'll talk to you later.

[01:24:46]>> Thank you, sir. I will see you on Friday.

[01:24:49]>> And of course, Sean Chandler brings his talents to South Beach. Thank you so much for being here, Sean. and we'll talk to you next week.

[01:24:57]>> Always a pleasure. Looking forward to next week.

[01:25:00]>> All right, guys. With that down, let's now get over to your live comments and questions, shall we? You guys sent in a bunch. Like I said, I had to turn them off a while ago, and I will do my best here now to get through all of them as I take my headphones off. So, let's get into it here, shall we? We're going to start off with Yakov, who writes, "Did Disney acquiring Fox run into the Clayton Act?" Also, my name is pronounced Ya Kovi.

[01:25:26]Yakovi. Oh, interesting. Like we go. I met you at the New York meetup and it was awesome. Oh, thank you for coming to our New York movie meetup, man. I appreciate that. So, yes, you know, I'm going to be doing an editorial video in the next day or two about because a lot of people bring up this qu totally fair question to ask. Absolutely fair. Which was why did the Disney Fox merger not face a lawsuit? I mean, not to this degree. And why is the Paramount Warner Brothers one doing that? Well, it really come there's a bunch of different things and I'll go into it in the editorial, but to simplify it, it basically comes down to the Clayton Act. The Clayton Act, particularly section seven of the Clayton Act, basically lays out this uh notion of what does or does not constitute a monopoly.

[01:26:22]Now, the Clayton Act says, and I'm going to read this because I I happen to have it up on my screen here, the law, the text of the law prohibits mergers or acquisitions where the effect of the merger or acquisition may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.

[01:26:46]So the law says that it is prohibited to allow a merger or an acquisition where the effect may be to substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly. Well, then the question comes up, all right, but who's to say whether the Paramount merger may tend to lessen competition or may tend to lead towards a monopoly? Well, the Supreme Court a few years later made a ruling on this where they basically set a threshold. I know this sounds like boring technical speak, but follow me here. It's it's actually quite important. The Supreme Court set a threshold ruling that if a merger or an acquisition means one company takes over 30% or more of the space in a particular industry that triggers the Clayton Act rule. It's they set that it's about 30% 30% is the line. If a merger acquisition means one company is taking over 30% of an industry, that constitutes what the Clayton Act says lessening competition and may lead to a monopoly and therefore can be stopped.

[01:28:08]Back to your question of did Disney acquiring Fox run into the Clayton Act?

[01:28:14]And the answer to that is no because at that time Fox acquiring or uh Disney acquiring 20th Century did not constitute 30% or more control of the industry.

[01:28:29]Therefore, it did not run a foul of the Clayton Act.

[01:28:36]The reason the lawsuit is being brought by the states today is because Paramount taking over Warner Brothers does, they argue, represent a greater than 30% concentration of market control into one company.

[01:28:56]And when they presented their arguments to a judge trying to get a restraining order to temporarily stop Paramount from merging with Warner Brothers, the judge said, "Yes, it looks like when this goes to trial, you are likely to succeed in proving that this new merger does constitute more than the 30% threshold.

[01:29:20]Therefore, this lawsuit blah blah blah blah blah blah blah." So, to answer your question, no. Disney acquiring 20th Century. Remember, Disney did not acquire Fox. Fox still exists as its own thing. Fox News, Fox Sports, it's still its own thing. Disney just acquired a number of their assets, including 20th Century. But that merger did not run a foul of the Clayton Act because it fell below what the Supreme Court said was the threshold, which is 30%. I'm oversimplifying it a little bit, but you understand, you get the point of what I'm saying. So, there you go. That's why. And again, I'll explain it more in a full uh in a full uh editorial breakdown. Anyway, later.

[01:30:04]All right. Next up, uh we've got Gary Mayer who writes, "Uh, do you think that if Netflix had won the WB bid that we'd still be in this mess of multiple lawsuits?" No. And the reason why we wouldn't still we the reason we would not still be in this mess is because Netflix is not a the a u theatrical movie company.

[01:30:27]Netflix right now has zero control over theatrical movies. None.

[01:30:35]So, one of the arguments I've made about preferring Netflix taking over, say, Warner Brothers, I mean, I'd rather nobody take over Warner Brothers, just to be clear. But the reason I would rather Netflix take over Warner Brothers as opposed to Paramount is because if Paramount takes over Warner Brothers, one studio disappears.

[01:30:59]If Netflix took over Warner Brothers, you'd be bringing a new company into the theatrical business, right? Warner Brothers would still be there. Warner Brothers would still be operating. It wouldn't disappear. And this big huge company with all of its money, Netflix, which is not in the theatrical movie business, would now be coming into the theatrical movie business. So them taking owner over Warner Brothers would not have created them controlling more than 30% of the movie industry. So yeah, it wouldn't have had the same problems.

[01:31:32]It could have had other problems. Don't get me wrong. It could have run into other problems, but no, it would not have run into this particular problem, especially when it pertains to the Clayton Act. Anyway, uh let's see. Next up, Sam Fischer writes, "I bought my tickets for a Coyote versus Acme for the 27th because I go away on the 28th for a week and I wasn't sure it would still be in theaters. So excited." Yeah, I don't know how long it'll be in theaters. I don't know how many tickets it's going to sell. I might be alone when I go to see it in the at the movies, but I am still going to go, Sam, and I'm still really excited to check it out. All right. Uh, Tundi writes, "Um, oh, okay, John, that cabbie lame screen saver is priceless. You probably mean the thumbnail I put on the thing today.

[01:32:17]I got my popcorn ready." Yeah, I I that's the first thing I thought of when Warner Brothers came out. Warner Brothers when The Writers Guild came out and said um that hey, you know, what David Ellson just said and did proves our point. The first thing that came to my mind was uh was him doing his little hand saying, "See, that was the first thing that came to my mind." So, I'm glad you liked that. Uh, Tundy, I was very happy with that thumbnail I made, actually. All right, next up. Christian writes, "In Fast Forever, what are your hopes with seeing Brian appear? A brief cameo at a family barbecue at the end or fully interacting with the cast like an F7?" I don't have any hopes. And when I say I don't have any hopes, what I mean is I don't have any expectations.

[01:33:08]I'm totally cool if they want to try a quick cameo. I'm totally cool if they want to have one of his brothers taking over the role and fully integrating the character. I'm totally cool with whatever. As long as the movie's good, because their movies haven't been good lately. Let let's let's just be honest.

[01:33:27]Their movies have not been any good lately. At least the last two ones I haven't liked at all. But whichever they decide to do, I'm okay with. Uh my first concern is that the movie's done well.

[01:33:39]And if the movie's done well with a quick cameo of Brian or having Brian Moore fully integrated into the movie, I'm good with it either way as long as the movie's good. But I'm not going into it, Christian, with any expectations.

[01:33:51]All right. Curtis Lopez writes, "Uh, did you appreciate the Lord of the Rings reference in Brand New Day?" If you're talking about the incident with the dragon, I was barely involved. Yes, I always appreciate a good Lord of the Rings uh reference. All right, keep your secrets. It was very, very well done.

[01:34:10]And and you know what?

[01:34:12]It was perfect for that moment in the movie because it showed even though Ned doesn't know who he is or remember him at all, that their natural personalities make them best friends. And I love that in in it, not just because it was a Lord of the Rings reference, but it was a great reminder to us as the audience is that the two of them are just naturally best friends. And I really like that part of it. All right. The Fergus Review Channel writes, "Uh, what do you think will be 2026 billion dollar uh movie?" So, right now we 2026 has five billion dollar films.

[01:34:47]The box office is coming back.

[01:34:50]And so we've got Michael, we got the Mario movie, we got Toy Story, we got Odyssey, and we got Spider-Man.

[01:34:58]It is possible that we end up with seven, but I think the reality is that it's going to be six and the sixth one will be Avengers Doomsday. I mean, I think I think Doom 3 has a shot. I think it's got a shot at a billion, but if I had to put a dollar on it, my guess would be my dollar would be on um would be on uh it not reaching a billion and the it we'll end up with six billion dollar films this year, which is great. Which is absolutely great. All right, next up we've got Amin. And Amin writes, "What was your favorite part of watching and following the World Cup?

[01:35:40]And what's something you learned about the sport/fandom you didn't know before?

[01:35:44]I think my favorite part of it was just the quality of the games. The quality of the games were amazing. Particularly like all the Argentina games like were just like nailbiters and great. That game against Cape Verde was just amazing. Like just absolutely amazing. I don't think I learned anything more though that I didn't already intellectually know about the sport and about uh the fandom behind it.

[01:36:14]I've always known how passionate the fandom is when it comes to that. I have.

[01:36:19]But what I really just loved was the quality of the games. Cuz not every Stanley Cup final, not every Super Bowl, not every World Series, not every big UFC, not every big Olympic finals end up being great matches, but the World Cup this year was filled with great matches. Great matches. Um anyway, all right. Next up, Mike T sends in a $20 super chat. Thank you, Mike.

[01:36:45]Appreciate that, man. Appre very very much. And Mike writes, "Hey, John, regarding the Paramount stuff, let's assume everything goes their way with the US-based lawsuits before they kill before the kill switch deadline. Could the UK and EU legal stuff add more delays to get to that deadline?" Or am I wrong? No. Because the UK and the EU, this is like when I remember I made this statement a couple of months ago and people for some reason got upset with me for saying it, but I think it's because they didn't understand what it was I was saying.

[01:37:17]I said, "Look, the UK and the EU stuff is not really important. It it it's not a big deal. It's the States lawsuit that's going to be the important one."

[01:37:25]And people saying, "John, why don't you think the EU matters? Why don't you think the UK matters?" That's not what I meant. What I meant was that the problems that the EU had with the merger and the problems that the UK had with the merger were totally different than the problems that the states have with the merger because the problems that the states have with the merger does not affect the UK or the EU. the UK and the EU was only concerned as far as monopolies and less competition when it comes to EU broadcasting. That's it. So to address that, Paramount said, "Okay, we'll give up these properties and we'll give up these channels so that way we don't interfere with your regulations."

[01:38:15]And the EU and the UK were okay, great, because the stuff that the states are concerned about is none of their concern at all. the EU and the UK stuff is basically all settled. That that's not a problem. The the Paramount merger with Warner Brothers doesn't really present a problem to the UK and the EU. Hence, that stuff got resolved quickly. So, no, that stuff isn't going to add to any of the delays. Uh, in theory, it's not going to add to any of the delays. All right. Good question, though, Mike. All right. Uh, next up, we got Final Cut by Chris writes, "Do you think Avengers Secret Wars or Doomsday will be bigger at the box office?" Well, I it depends.

[01:38:52]If Doomsday is really good, Secret Wars will be bigger.

[01:38:57]If Doomsday sucks, less people will go out to see Secret Wars. So, it really all depends. I think Doomsday will be really good. So, I think Secret Wars will end up being the bigger one. We'll find out in a year and a half final. All right. Next up, Blake Deers writes, "Papa Iger and Kushner bought the Lakers." Yep, we talked about a little bit earlier in the show. Um, again, really, look, it's not the guy who bought the Lakers with Big Papa Iger is not related to Donald Trump. He is the brother of a guy who married Donald Trump's sister. Uh, which again or or daughter, I should say, which I still is interesting because like I Trump do not like each other at all. So, it's kind of funny that he's in business with that guy. All right, next up. Uh, Corey Lou writes, "How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes out next year." Uh, you read that correctly. Yeah. I mean, listen, How to Train Your Dragon One was so surprisingly good. I mean, the live action version, so surprisingly good. I I I just I just can't believe how much I enjoyed it. I'm not saying it's better than the original animated one. I'm just saying I was completely shocked and surprised by just how good that movie was. So, you got the same director coming back to direct the second one. I know they were already in production on the second one by the time the first one came out. So, I I can't wait to see the the new one. All right.

[01:40:18]Upside Downr writes, "You said your wife Anne was a fan of the Monkey Island games. Major fan." Yes. Uh with it having a good but funny story. Do you think it could be made into a crazy movie?

[01:40:30]Yes, I think you could make a fun funny movie out of Monkey Island, but I don't know that anybody would care and I don't know that anybody would go see it. It's an older property now. I I think it could run into the same box office uh problems that um the same box office problems that Coyote versus Acme is going to run into.

[01:40:56]And so, could you make that movie and could you make it entertaining and funny? Yeah, I think you could. But would it be commercially viable?

[01:41:06]Honestly, I don't know. I I I think if I was an executive out of a at a movie studio and somebody came in and pitched the idea, I would probably love the pitch but then still say no because I just don't know that it would be a money maker. But I don't know, man. Anything's possible upside down. Anything is possible. All right, next up. Uh Espinosa writes, "The Lakers got swept by the Thunder so bad the team got sold. Why couldn't the Angels be sold also?" Well, yeah, but I mean the Thunder also swept the Lakers who were without their very best player.

[01:41:46]I mean, don't go crowing too much about sweeping a team that limped into the playoffs without two of their three best players and then their third best player only being at 50% and their real best player couldn't play at all. Don't be too proud of that. And listen, SGA is from my hometown. He's from Hamilton, Ontario, the Hammer. So, not only is he a good Canadian kid, he's actually from my hometown.

[01:42:20]I I mean, so obviously I'm very biased for SGA, but don't go crowing too much about beating a team that was without its best player when you played them.

[01:42:30]That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. All right. Tomas writes, "Did you see that the people who bought Lord of the Rings extended edition on Google Play suddenly had no access to the Lord of the Rings movies and weren't reimbursed? It it was a rights issue.

[01:42:45]Yeah. And this is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Again, it's still a 0.00001% problem, but it's getting bigger.

[01:42:59]And again, I like as somebody who owns like a lot of movies, not as many as you might think, but I own a lot of movies on digital. I've never once had any issue with any of my collection. A lot of my physical movies, when I own physical things, a lot of things went wrong with those. Easily get lost, easily get damaged, easily get borrowed, all that kind of stuff. I've never once had a single digital movie I've ever bought ever go missing, get damaged, not know where it was, or not have access to it wherever I was in the world. But this is something that's got to get addressed. All right. Uh, let's see.

[01:43:35]Mike sends in another $20 super chat.

[01:43:37]Thank you, Mike. And Mike writes in, "Hey, John. I'm a big gamer and I'd like your input. Why does it seem that games with really good stories can't seem to capture that same magic in movie form?

[01:43:48]TV seems to be doing good with video game IP. Why can't movies do it? Be because the problem is that and and I've had this argument with gamers forever and gamers always disagree with me and they're wrong. It's often lonely being right.

[01:44:03]The reality is 99% of games are not created to primarily be narrative story vehicles.

[01:44:14]They're created to be great gameplay vehicles with hopefully good narrative thrown in along the way. But it is good narrative is not nor should it be the number one priority of game designers.

[01:44:28]The number one priority is creating a fun, engaging game. That's the number one priority. And then you add in good narrative, too. I've always believed there have only been a very select handful few of video games that truly have a narrative that could truly be translated to the big screen.

[01:44:49]The other big problem I think a lot of movies have had, uh, video game adaptation movies is that they literally try to, some of them have just tried to stick to the game too much. You need to adapt it. A game's a game. A movie is a movie. You got to change it. Like, you got to adapt it. And when you look at things like Fallout and whatever, and you see some excellent adaptation being done, I think you're just what you're seeing here, it's not just TV, you're also seeing it improve a lot in the movies. you're seeing the movies getting better because I believe studios both on the television and the movie side have embraced that hey capture the spirit of the game but your first priorities to make a good movie or TV show start there and u and then it can work but yeah I I I still am of the contention that 99% of games even the best of them do not carry with them legitimate screenw worthy standalone stories without gameplay couple of them are exceptions I I think Red Dead Redemption 2 is an exception. I think obviously God of War I think is an exception. Uh there are a couple that I think are exceptions, but otherwise it's just adaptation, man. All right, thanks for writing that in, Mike. Next up, uh Raymond Ver writes, "With Iger on board, the buses not in control, will they invite Magic back?" I'm I'm not Here's the thing. I'm not sure the buses aren't in control anymore.

[01:46:10]I I I just don't know how the deal is structured. Like the news literally just came out. I we haven't seen the finer details of the news cuz when the LA Dodger guys bought the Lakers last year, they bought it from the buses, but they left the buses in control to run the operation.

[01:46:28]I don't know if that's changed here, right? So, I'll have to find that out a little bit later. All right. Next up, uh Thomas writes, "You think since Steve carries the guilt of pulling Tony into uh Endgame and that kind of leads him to kind of sympathizing with Dr. Doom?" No, I don't think that has anything to do with it. I don't think that has anything to do with it. Um like at all. I mean, they they've been fighting beside each other with each other all they know they know the risks.

[01:46:59]They know what they're in for. Um, Steve did not pull Tony into Endgame.

[01:47:07]He pulled him into the part of trying to figure out time travel, but by the time Thanos shows up with his intergalactic army, uh, then Tony's going to have to get involved anyways, right? So, no, I don't I don't think that is that plays I mean, it's a fair question, Thomas, but I don't think that plays anything into uh into the movie. All right. Joe Adonis also sends in a $20 super chat. Thank you, Joe. Appreciate that, man. And Joe writes, "Hey, John. Uh, I'm in Anaheim for D23 weekend. Do you have a recommendation for the best steakhouse other than Morton's and Ruth's Chris?"

[01:47:39]Nope. I I listen, honestly, I really like Irvine in Orange County. I don't go there a ton. Um, so I don't I'm a half hour away from it, which is not terribly far, but it's far enough that I don't just hang out there regularly. When I'm in the mood for steak in Irvine, I go to Ruth's Chris. that that's where I go when I'm in the mood for steak in Irvine. U another place I really highly recommend is there there's this iconic restaurant in Hollywood called Rosco's Chicken and Waffles. It's legendary. It's referenced in a lot of movies. It's actually right around the corner from where David Zen or Dennis Zen lives. But anyway, so sometimes Ann and I would literally drive into Hollywood, park at Dennis's place, and then just walk to Rosco's.

[01:48:25]Anyway, they opened a location in Anaheim.

[01:48:29]So, I would highly recommend going and checking out. I know it's not a steakhouse. I would highly recommend going and checking out Rosco's Chicken and Waffles in Anaheim. But if you get a chance to ever visit the actual real location in Hollywood, go check that one out, too. All right. Uh, let's see. Next up, GK writes, "You say viewer questions are the most important part of the show, but it's always the part that gets cut off if you have to cut out early. What gives?" Well, because the reason people tune into the show is for the news stories. I mean, that's that's why people tune into the show. Generally speaking, people don't come to the show to hear me answer viewer questions, right? So, if there's a part of the show that I need to cut off, it's going to be the viewer questions because this is a movie pundantry talking about the movie news. There's no if we don't have the movie news stories, there's nothing to talk about in Q&A. Right. Right. So there would be no point to the Q&A if the movie news stories weren't there.

[01:49:24]It's also a truism that you know today I'll just give you an example that while we were doing all the news stories we had like nearly 4,000 live viewers once we get into the live questions it drops a lot um because you know most people are interested in the movie news stories not me answering questions. Why then do I say the most important part of the show?

[01:49:51]That's really more of a philosophical thing. Like I think taking the input from the viewers is probably the most important thing that I do on the show, but it's not why most people come to the show, right? There's a distinction. Both can be true at the same time. Uh so that's that's what I fair question but that's why I would that's why I say that and that's why when there I can only have time to do either topics or answer questions well there's no point in answering questions if there are no topics right and most people come to the show for the topics and yet philosophically it is still the most important thing for me to get to the questions but I don't I'm not always able to because of my schedule so that's that although I do 95% of the time right 95% of for the shows. We do have time for the viewer questions. It's just very rare that once in a while, maybe once or twice a month, I'm not able to do that. Anyway, uh Double writes, "Regarding the Avengers logo at Comic-Con, feels like something the actual Avengers and Tony Stark would do." And that's hilarious if you're talking about the arch. Yes, it does.

[01:50:55]Well, yeah, not something Cap would do.

[01:50:57]Cap would say, "Uh uh uh, you're breaking the rules." But yes, it does totally feel double like something Tony would have done. All right. Fabricio writes, "Going to make two predictions here. One, the Paramount WB merger does not go through, and two, James Gun will step down as head of DC Studios, but will continue to make movies for them, but do more advising. I agree with number one, it's it's going to be it's not impossible. It is not impossible for this deal to still go through. However, it is going to be difficult because of that July 4th deadline date or that June 4th deadline. Even if everything goes well for Paramount, there's still a high likelihood they're still going to run into that June 4th deadline and the deal gets killed anyway. So, it's going to be tough. Not impossible, but tough.

[01:51:45]I've said for months that if Paramount takes over Warner Brothers, I believe James Gunn is going to leave. He'll wait till his contract's done in 2027 and then he's going to leave because I don't think he wants anything to do with Paramount.

[01:51:59]If the deal gets killed, I think James Gun stays.

[01:52:06]I don't think he'll leave. Uh if the if the Paramount deal gets killed, I don't think he'll leave. Now, I don't know that James Gun obviously doesn't talk to me about this stuff, so I wouldn't know.

[01:52:15]But my guess is that yes, I think the deal doesn't go through, but it's still possible it could. And if it does, I think James Gun stays. So, we'll see.

[01:52:25]We'll see. We've got uh a little while to figure that out to see how it all turns out, but that's how I think it's going to go. All right, well said, Fabricio. Terrence just sends in a super chat bad badge to be supportive. Thank you, Terrence. Appreciate that, man.

[01:52:38]Mark Branson writes, "John, super excited for the next leg of your movie meetup tour. I know that a lot of us would love to have you in our various cities. Would you have Ah, there we go. Would you have interest in submitting a 60-second video explaining why our city might be a good stop, like various highlights or food or landmarks or or iconic local? No, I don't think that's necessary. I'm not important enough that people need to compete to get me to their city. I'm a nobody. Okay? I'm a nobody.

[01:53:09]Irrelevant zero. Uh there there is no world that exists where people should put together pitches to try to convince John Campia to come to their town. that that's no. Um I I simply base it on if I have enough viewers there that I think like there's no point in me going to a town because remember it's not nothing to go and do these. I literally have to give up days away from home driving. Um, spending hundreds of dollars in gas and hundreds of dollars at campsites and and RV parks and stuff like that along the way and time away from home and all that kind of stuff.

[01:53:49]So, there's really no point in me say going to a town where we have five people who watch the show there like that. that's if if there's only five people that are going to be able to appreciate and and and do that, then it's not much of a choice. So, I basically just look to see, you know, which cities um have enough viewers to meet each other and and hang out with each other and whether or not I think there's going to be the infrastructure there, like basically a big enough movie theater with a parking lot I can park my van.

[01:54:18]It's really nothing much more than that.

[01:54:20]Really isn't. There's no point in having a competition over it. So, the next um I am starting to plan the next leg of the movie meetup tour. I'm going to be getting back out on the road probably in a month or so. I know we're going to hit Nashville. I know that. And I know we're going to hit Atlanta. I know that. So, I'm just trying to figure out what other cities to be doing. And by the way, to our Canadian friends, yes, I will I will be doing a full Canadian leg where I'm going to go up to Vancouver and then work my way across Vancouver or work my way across Canada. So, I'll do Vancouver, probably Calgary, probably Saskatoon, probably Winnipeg, and then and back up in the East Coast. So, it's coming. Keep your ears open. All right.

[01:55:05]Thanks for that, Mark. That was very kind of you to say that though, Mark.

[01:55:08]Very kind of you to say. All right. Next up, Mike T writes in again. He writes, "For Magneto, do you So, let me try that again. For Magneto, do you feel his backstory with the concentration camps is mandatory?" No, absolutely not. Uh, and if so, how do you think MCU will handle it? Unless Magneto will be in his 70s, maybe 80s. No, the problem is Magneto would have to be in his 90s now.

[01:55:30]That's the problem.

[01:55:32]Magneto would have to be in his 90s now.

[01:55:34]I've actually said for a very long time, Mike, that Magneto, who is my favorite character in in comic books. Um, and by the way, that has not always been his background in the comics. His com his his origins have been different in the comics at different times. Just the way it is there. It's not like there's only one untouchable, all holy origin story. But I've said for a long time that you're going to have to change that background a little bit. The important thing wasn't the concentration camps.

[01:56:06]The important part to the character is that he experienced and witnessed and saw at a young age the absolute horrors and worst of humanity. That would forever turn his heart against humanity.

[01:56:22]Now, in one era, you could make that, oh, in World War II, he saw the concentration camps. That's great.

[01:56:30]But you can't do that anymore.

[01:56:33]Now it has to be something else because unless of course we want a 90-year-old Magneto which I don't think is the way to go. So they need to change. Now the story has to remain the same that at a young age young Eric witnessed the horrors and worst of humanity. That does not change. That is the story. That has to stay intact.

[01:56:55]But what that horror was that he saw, that part has to change because we're living in 2026 now and we don't want a 90-year-old Magneto. Anyway, so there's that. All right, thanks for the question, Mike. Next up, we got Mark who writes, "Oh, we already did that one."

[01:57:13]Uh, Christopher Diaz writes, "Thoughts on Nicholas Holt casting for Harry Potter as Gilroy Lockheart?" Yeah, I thought that was interesting. I re You guys know I really like Nicholas Hol. I like him a lot, but I mean, it's not going to be popping up in season one, so that's probably gonna be a season two thing. Uh, but yeah, I Hey, listen, adding great talent's always a good thing. I love Nicholas Holt. And remember, like Gilroy never really had Gilderoy never really had a big role to play. It's It's not a major character.

[01:57:43]Uh, so it's not that big of a deal, but I love Nicholas Hol and I think it's really interesting that they're adding yet another great piece of talent. All right, next up. Um, oh, sorry. There was a third part to Mark. Uh, local theater history. Just something to make the stop worthwhile for you and your crew traveling with you. Uh, thank you for bringing your agame daily to us. Well, thank you again, man. I appreciate that.

[01:58:06]All right. Connor writes, "At what point do the Paramount shareholders tell David Ellison to back out of the merger? They have to be losing money." Yeah, they are. Uh I I mean I really don't know. It'd have to be the major players, but I don't know what the current nature is of the shareholders and who owns the most share. I don't know what that structure is for Paramount right now.

[01:58:34]Um I mean maybe at the next annual meeting of shareholders, but I don't know when that would be for Paramount. So I mean yes theoretically that's a possibility but I mean it's the board the board decides what they can do and you know becomes a mess but it it is possible at some point the next time the shareholders get together that they may just say to the to the board of Paramount cut this out maybe I don't know we'll see but it's an option Connor uh double B studio rights regarding the DC cancellations I think uh I think have everything to do with money and contract negotiations for directors, writers, and producers than story. I don't think so.

[01:59:14]I don't even think it has to do with story. I think it has to do with the state that DC is in as a whole.

[01:59:20]I I don't think it has nothing to do with actors or director. Has nothing to do with that. They they've never gotten to a point where they're saying they're they're even casting, right?

[01:59:32]So, no, I think it has absolutely nothing to do with contract negotiation because if that was a problem, they just move on to another actor or another director. I don't think that's an issue at all. I I think the what's really at the heart of it is that they are re-eval re-evaluating where things like these third tier level things like a Waller or a a Paradise Lost fall when they still haven't got let alone an Aquaman in their universe, a Flash in their universe, uh a Wonder Woman in their universe, a Batman in their universe. Like it is like Rob raised the point and I think you raised it really well that there's something silly about the idea of having a Wonder Woman spin-off property Paradise Lost when we don't even have Wonder Woman yet. Like you're doing a spin-off of something that we don't even have in the universe yet. And that's that's kind of silly at this point. All right, but you never know. Double B, you might be right. I'm just saying I I don't think that's what it is. All right, senior AJ uh writes, "What will happen with the kid from the Fantastic Four?" Well, I'm not going to talk about that. You're going to have to see Doomsday to know that. Um, and all right, guys, that will do it for today's installment of the John Campia Show. Thank you so much for being here, guys, and making our little show part of your day. Big special thank you to the thousands of you guys in the live chat. Thank you for hanging out here and hanging with us all the way to the very end. Also, big thank you to all of you guys who sent in the super chats.

[02:01:00]Number one, because he gave us great fun things to talk about, but number two, you supported our channel as you did it.

[02:01:05]and all of us involved with the show.

[02:01:07]Thank you guys so very much for your support. Hey guys, make sure you come back tomorrow. Of course, Chris Parker, the great 3C Films is going to be on the show with me tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that. We've already got a couple of small things lined up that we're going to talk about and hopefully you guys will be here to be a part of it. That will do it for me for now, guys. Thank you so much for being here.

[02:01:27]And until next time, my friends, bye-bye.