Little Mermaid Bombs Abroad + The End of Star Wars?
Does Hollywood prefer directors over actors and writers? + Nintendo’s next movie: Zelda?
The Agenda:
Opinion
The Little Mermaid bombs abroad. [Hollywood, IP]
How to make “diversity” work in global entertainment. [Hollywood, IP]
The end of Star Wars? [Hollywood, IP]
Does Hollywood prefer directors over actors and writers? [Hollywood, AI]
How actors and writers could win vs. AI. [Hollywood, AI]
Animation moves into a bold new era, beats AI? [Hollywood, Media, IP, AI]
Succession: Loved by the media. [Hollywood, Media, IP]
How VR headsets could become profitable. [Tech, Media]
Reddit begins charging for its IP. [Tech]
A woman from the BRONX marries AI based on Attack on Titan. [Japan, AI, IP]
Hello Kitty is still making money! [Japan, IP, Gaming]
Japanese-language pop song breaks Billboard record (Oshi no Ko). [Japan, IP, Music]
Nintendo’s next movie: Zelda? [IP, Gaming]
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before evolves, merges with Korean content. [IP, Hollywood, South Korea]
SEC sues Binance and Coinbase. [Crypto]
Monday Motivation
"Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition.” (Michael Porter)
MOVING FORWARD!!! Stay tuned for news on my startup.;)
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Opinion
Hollywood
The Little Mermaid bombs abroad. [Hollywood, IP]
A follow up to last week’s writeup on Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid and the issue of race-swapping, which many of you seem interested in. The numbers are out, and it looks like The Little Mermaid bombed in China - a major market for Disney - and… South Korea, where the controversy has even made headlines. Though, in the US, the movie has done quite well.
Who wants to talk about the mermaid-sized elephant in the room? You? Me? *Sigh* okay here goes…
First, I refer to my statement last week that Cross Platform is a place for every identity and we all respect each other. With that out of the way: I reiterate the point from last week too that many people want to see what they remember. It might be that Ariel is just such an iconic character in many people’s minds that they immediately associate a name with a face. After all, there have been race-swapped characters that haven’t generated so much controversy (see below).
There’s some talk too about how Hollywood movies in general have been underperforming in China post-pandemic. Maybe there’s some truth to that, but Avatar: The Way of Water did well in China. And it appears that the just-released Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which features a minority-led human cast, is doing well there, too. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse got rave reviews in China (Does the groundbreaking animation help? More on that below!), and it seems to be doing well there, perhaps despite initial assertions of a so-so opening. As far as South Korea goes, I don’t have much data, but I do note that a TV show based on a webtoon, Itaewon Class, featured a South Korean character of African descent, and it was a hit in its home country.
Of course, a more cynical take on most of the examples above is that the actual main characters are more race-free avatars than anything else. Everyone wears a mask in Spider-Man, Transformers is actually about alien robots, and Avatar is about… avatars, conveniently blue-skinned.
This newsletter and my app are all about creating globally-appealing IP. So, what to do? Read on, dear reader, right below…
[Cultural globalization.]
How to make “diversity” work in global entertainment. [Hollywood, IP]
You either 1) create new characters that reflect diversity, or 2) you change the identity of an existing character. Spider-Man has clearly gone with option #1, which is probably one appeal of mask-wearing IP, since anyone can be behind the mask. (I say “mask-wearing” instead of “superhero” because other IP like Top Gun fall into this category, with the characters wearing face-obscuring helmets and having call signs.)
It seems to me that, re: #2, the less iconic a character is, the easier you can race-swap, though I wonder about doing other kinds of identity-swaps (ex. gender, orientation, etc.). Batman has done this several times, not only in the recent 2022 movie, but also back in the 1960’s with Eartha Kitt playing Catwoman (that probably took a lot of guts).
As far as controversial issues go, it seems to me that they can actually be baked into the plot in a way that isn’t IP-destroying. As much as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been financially successful, the movie did have its gibes against the police and capitalism, plus Gwen Stacy and her father are advocates for trans rights. But none of this got in the way of the plot. Creative writing 101: Don’t be preachy.
Itaewon Class took another approach re: LGBTQ and racial minority issues by adding a twist to the Cinderella trope by revealing that Cinderella herself can be a bigot, too, but also has the Prince Charming character show her the errors of her ways. All in a way that was organic to the plot.
[Cultural globalization.]
The end of Star Wars? [Hollywood, IP]
Fortune published quite the oped written by Christiaan Hetzner, titled “‘The Force has left Lucasfilm’: What has gone wrong for the studio behind ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’—and how Disney’s Bob Iger can salvage his $4 billion investment”. Please read it because my words can’t do the oped justice. Regarding how to handle popular IP, it seems to me that: 1) Even if you come up with new stories, you have to stay true to the IP’s core theme in one way or another, and 2) it’s not a good idea to reverse a character arc.
[Evolving the IP.]
Does Hollywood prefer directors over actors and writers? [Hollywood, AI]
Update on the creatives’ strikes in Hollywood. Even as the Writers Guild of America continues its strike, in a dramatic (sorry) turn of events, the Directors Guild of America struck a deal with the suits, which didn’t go over well with some members of the WGA. Meanwhile, the actors guild SAG-AFTRA has authorized a strike ahead of negotiations.
The key point I want to zero in on here is AI. I’ve talked about this issue at length before but TLDR, IMO over the longer term, assuming no meaningful regulation, AI is going to hollow out the number of writers and actors for middle-of-the-road content. What’s interesting about the DGA agreement with the AMPTP is that AI cannot replace director duties, whereas the AMPTP’s offer to writers were “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology.”
I’m an outsider here, so I’m just speculating, but it appears to me that, in the curator analogy I’ve used several times to describe AI-generated Hollywood entertainment for the future, the curator looks to be the director. If that is indeed the case, I could see why the studios would still need directors.
But maybe, just maybe, there’s a path forward for Hollywood writers and actors:
How actors and writers could win vs. AI. [Hollywood, AI]
Rob Long, in his podcast Martini Shot, discussed a hypothetical situation where writers and actors could own their own curated data sets - writing, voice, appearance, etc. of themselves plus anything else they can legally add to the data set. Oh, gee, does this meaning owning your IP as a key differentiator? Though Long admits this would make things in the acting world even more cutthroat (same in the writing world?). But at least, it’s something.
[The importance of IP in the digital economy.]
Animation moves into a bold new era, beats AI? [Hollywood, Media, IP, AI]
Some in the animation world are excited in the wake of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s success. I highlight the comments of Latifa Ouaou, EVP of Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation: “[Spider-Man: Across the] Spider-Verse was the beginning of a new wave in animation. It gave us the freedom to move away from conventional realism and into bold and abstract expressions of realities. The future is no longer predictable in terms of what to expect next. And that is exciting.”
I find that exciting too! Both Spider-Verse movies successfully took so many artistic risks, with the recent one even merging multiple art styles. IMO, since there are no boundaries to art styles, it comes down to individual expression and the ability to do what hasn’t been done before, which by definition stands in contrast to gen AI, which relies on data that has come before.
It’s also worth noting, per Grace Randolph, is that Across the Spider-Verse is also a win for Western animation targeted toward adults, as reportedly 61% of US opening weekend audiences were in the 18-34 demographic. YES!!!!!!!!!
Succession: Loved by the media. [Hollywood, Media, IP]
Axios published an article titled “Media's "Succession" obsession”, which discussed the disproportionate amount of US media coverage of Succession, a TV show about the media industry, vs. other shows that may be much more popular with non-media types, such as Young Sheldon. Hmmm…
Tech
How VR headsets could become profitable. [Tech, Media]
Meta and Apple released VR headsets. According to the WSJ’s Joanna Stern, at least for Apple, re: use case, it’s something of a “throw it at the wall and what sticks” strategy. As for me, I share the view that these headsets are for early adopters and the LT goal is to evolve it to mixed-reality glasses. That’s something that I think would gain mainstream adoption. Let’s see what happens. Also worth noting the entertainment aspect of this tech. Meta announced new games for its Quest headsets, while Disney’s Bob Iger was at Apple’s Vision Pro launch.
Reddit begins charging for its IP. [Tech]
Now that we are well past The Age of Easy Money and it appears that companies have to be profitable now, it’s honestly no surprise Reddit is looking for more ways to monetize. Reddit is now charging for use of its API, and some are not happy about that. I suppose the raising of interest rates’ second-order effect in the tech industry is the raising of walls for platforms and the charging for use of their IP. Remember that some platforms are looking to charge AI companies for use of their data…
[The importance of IP in the digital economy.]
Japan
A woman from the BRONX marries AI based on Attack on Titan. [Japan, AI, IP]
I love this article because it somehow manages to tie in seemingly disparate themes that reoccur in Cross Platform. So, someone married an AI chatbot based on a character from the manga/anime Attack on Titan. If this news came from Japan, I wouldn’t be surprised, but no, the individual in question is a 36-year-old mother-of-two from the Bronx!
[Cultural globalization.]
Hello Kitty is still making money! [Japan, IP, Gaming]
I am still reading Matt Alt’s Pure Invention, about the global success of Japanese cultural products (also check out his newsletter), and the chapter about Hello Kitty and the IP’s parent company, Sanrio, is nuts. It is also a great business case study, so if you aren’t into reading the book, I recommend you watch the Netflix show The Toys That Made Us, specifically Hello Kitty episode. Any business that is able to sell a commodity at a premium must be studied.
Anyway, perfect timing, because I just read some news about one of the most successful brands on Roblox - Hello Kitty. This is an excellent analysis courtesy of Metaverse Marcom. Also, Hello Kitty and friends are influencers as well.
[Premiumization.]
Japanese-language pop song breaks Billboard record (Oshi no Ko). [Japan, IP, Music]
The English-language version of “Idol”, the opening theme of the anime Oshi no Ko, recently became the first original Japanese-language song to top Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart. I recall BTS (or was it Blackpink?) doing something similar years earlier, if my memory serves me right.
[Cultural globalization.]
IP
Nintendo’s next movie: Zelda? [IP, Gaming]
THAT’S THE RUMOR! Although many are hesitant if Illumination is working on the animation. Illumination may have been a fit for Super Mario but… The Legend of Zelda?
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before evolves, merges with Korean content. [IP, Hollywood, South Korea]
Saw this on Grace Randolph’s channel, apparently the To All…spinoff XO, Kitty, set in South Korea and featuring Korean content, is doing very well in English-language Netflix. Although that may not be the case with South Korean audiences…
[Evolving the IP; Cultural globalization.]
Crypto
SEC sues Binance and Coinbase. [Crypto]
I really don’t have anything to add here, but as many of you know, I’m a crypto skeptic. Anyway, here is a breakdown of the lawsuits courtesy of Yahoo Finance. Please do note that the issues can be quite complex, with arguments for and against.
Monday Motivation
"Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition. It’s not a matter of being better at what you do — it’s a matter of being different at what you do.” (Michael Porter)
I got this quote from the legendary expert on business strategy from game developer Joakim Achrén’s newsletter, and I thought I’d share it with you. An apropos quote given what I wrote above re: Hollywood writers and actors - own your IP and differentiate. But that goes for everyone else as well, as we enter a world of AI and a highly competitive global labor force. Differentiate, differentiate, differentiate to succeed!
GO FOR IT! REACH YOUR GOAL!