Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Tuesday, November 25, 2025.
Where it’s finally time to get revenge on the fall 2025 streaming price hikes — welcome to Black Friday deal time!
The best time of the year to sign up for a streamer (that’s not NETFLIX or AMAZON).
Also, a deal for NYC folk — get a one-year TRIBECA MEMBERSHIP for 25% off, getting exclusive entry to premiere screenings and conversations.
So, take advantage of feeling like it’s 2018 again! Given that we’re talking about losing a movie studio once again, it should feel very familiar.
My mom taught me well. Via Giphy
ALSO: Guns N’ Roses is going back out on tour next year, hitting the states starting in late July. Presale tix go on sale Dec. 2.
YUP: A24 is once again going IRL, setting a deal with BARNES & NOBLE to set up branded A24 areas in stores, selling merch, books, DVDs (🤷♂️), and I heard they found a few more of those creepy blueberry pie Hugh Grant Heretic candles behind the interns’ desk.
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9 stores to start this year with more coming in 2026, and if you see a cardboard cutout of Chalamet for Marty Supreme at one of them next month — there’s 30% chance it might actually be Chalamet!
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BTW: Marty Supreme will be showing in 70mm next month.
WOW: Gotta love the potential $35M year-one target comp package outlined for new VERSANT leader Mark Lazarus, which certainly might contribute to the enthusiasm shared to date for leaving NBCU to take the job.
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Note that 💰 includes Lazarus hitting things like his full target bonus based on performance . . . so it may come in a bit under that, but either way — it’s nice to see cable TV still acting like it’s 2015.
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Oliver Darcy at Status has the comp breakdown for other top VERSANT execs as well.
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I break down VERSANT’s latest updates to its 2025 revenues down below today ⬇️, and relevant comps to recent years. These profit declines are something to behold — that cable TV melt is real, y’all.
AH: NETFLIX is looking to set a face for its sports efforts — the streamer is finalizing a deal to make ESPN’s Elle Duncan its first full-time on-air sports personality, per The Athletic.
THEN: Branded content, meet microdramas! MAYBELLINE is doing a 5-episode Christmas-themed one called Maybe This Christmas with Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan that’ll hit REEL SHORT on Dec. 2, from MAXIMUM EFFORT.
YA HUH: That mystery revolutionary AI device being whipped up by Jony Ive and Sam Altman is now going to arrive more like sometime 2027, not 2026. But they’re totally psyched for . . . whatever it is. Hopefully, it’s Gemini 3 Pro compatible.
OH: Here are your DOC NYC festival winners.
KUDOS: To moviegoers for raising $2.5M this year for the BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA through FANDANGO’s Rounding Up program (folks round up their ticket price to the nearest dollar with the difference going to the organization).
YUP: Just like your healthcare plan subsidy (uh, yeah — not sure Republicans are getting on board with that last-minute funding idea Trump floated, btw), DOGE is officially over.
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It was intended to be active for another 8 months, and let’s face it, it has probably been effectively over for months already. Great use of everyone’s time, thanks for playing.
PLUS: Jonathan Wen, the Australian arrested for trying to charge at Ariana Grande on the Singapore Wicked red carpet, has been deported and banned from Singapore. Wen also has a history of being an ass at other public events, including jumping on stage at a Katy Perry concert in his home country.
Just a viewing reco for over the holiday break — the Everybody Loves Raymond reunion on CBS last night was really a lotta fun (stream on PAR+ here). I forgot just how sharp the writing on this show was, going hand in hand with the performances.
It was also a stark reminder of how much the multi-cam / live-audience sitcom is sadly a lost art form on the whole — despite the continued popularity of TV hits from 20-30 years ago on streaming, especially among Gen Z, as The Ankler recently examined.
On the broadcast side — the few network multi-cam sitcoms that still do exist are not exactly led with new talent like Romano was in 1996 . . . when he was 39, mind you.
Our 3 current network TV multi-cam sitcom stars:
Thinking back to the other sitcoms of 20 years ago that are beloved by Gen Z today — Friends, Big Bang, HIMYM — as far as I can tell, the oldest actor was 34 when those shows debuted, with most in their twenties.
It’s also one of the rare genres that streaming just hasn’t either been able to continue, or had much interest in continuing — although PAR+ is giving it another go this month with Tracy Morgan’s Crutch. Tracy is at least under 60 at 57.
But thankfully — Raymond really is pretty timeless, so if your kid is into Friends, Big Bang, HIMYM, etc., maybe suggest checking out Raymond too.
This may be the most important poll I’ve done yet — eat the AMAZON football promo cereal for breakfast today . . . or no f’in way?
Just a copy idea for the back of the Welcome to VERSANT t-shirts. Via Giphy
While it’s not yet a public company — VERSANT gave us the latest snapshot into its numbers in Q3, as we await the official split of the company from COMCAST (which should happen by the end of the year).
And yeah — these trends are pretty bad. Take a good look, potential DISCOVERY GLOBAL spin co stockholders.
