Scouting Hollywood: Feb. 8 - 14

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

MRI-Simmons’ “National Consumer Study” from fall 2023 asked: Which political party streams the most? Of the American adults surveyed, Democrats were more subscribed to nearly all the major streaming platforms than Republicans, the exception being Paramount+, which only narrowly has a majority conservative audience. Netflix, Hulu and Max subscribers lean left by more than 10 percent each. Programming offers some insight: Paramount+ is home to blue-collar procedurals, such as NCIS and Blue Bloods, as well as spinoffs to hit Yellowstone, all of which appeal to more conservative audiences. Netflix backs plenty of LGBTQ-friendly shows such as Queer Eye while Hulu and Max stream left-leaning comedies like Modern Family and South Park.

January has passed and all five top movies at the box office have been playing in theaters for weeks. Taking top Box Office for the week was The Beekeeper at $7.4 million followed by Mean Girls at $7.3 million. Both were in their third week of wide release. Wonka took third at $5.9 million, with a seven-week tally of $195 million. Anyone But You was fifth with $4.8 million and a six-week total of $71.2 million. In early February expect the comedy/horror offering, Lisa Frankenstein; the family animation Turning Red and then Madame Web and the bio/drama Bob Marley: One Love which both open mid-month.

As the Warner Bros. subsidiary, DC Entertainment, works to re-boot its comic book to film franchise, one rather strange quirk in the process has raised a few eyebrows. With just a script and no director attached, the company announced that Australian actress Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon) will star in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Casting is one of a director’s most important jobs and to have the company executives ignore that creative component doesn’t bode well for anyone put into the director’s chair that wants to exercise creative control.

Spotify’s The Joe Rogan Experience podcast has consistently been the number-one rated podcast worldwide since it went exclusively to Spotify in 2020. The company has announced it has renewed the show with a multi-year pact for up to $250 million. The kicker is the show will no longer be exclusive to Spotify but will now be available on other audio platforms including Apple, Amazon and YouTube.