Hollywood Torrent: The Spider-Man drama is just beginning

Hollywood Torrent From FOLLOW US SUBSCRIBE   Good afternoon from Los Angeles, wherever you may be. One of the strangest partnerships in Hollywood has unraveled. Sony and Disney said their collaboration on Spider-Man movies would dissolve after the two parties couldn't agree to terms for future projects. The two studios partnered in 2014 when Sony was coming off two critically reviled Spider-Man movies and Marvel was ramping up phase three of its Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel wanted to bring Peter Parker back into the fold for some of its movies, while Sony needed help rebooting its "Spider-Man" franchise. (Marvel owns the Spider-Man character, but sold Sony the movie rights in a deal many years ago.) This partnership worked out well for both of them. Marvel's "Avengers" movies, featuring Tom Holland's Spider-Man, broke records. Sony's new "Spider-Man" movies delighted fans and critics; "Spider-Man: Far From Home" has grossed more than $1 billion, the first Spidey movie to do so. So what went wrong? Deadline's Mike Fleming broke the news in a story that sure felt like it came from Marvel. Disney wanted to change the terms of their partnership, in which it provides creative support and keeps the merchandising rights. Sony finances the movies, and thus collects the profits from them. Disney wanted to finance 50 percent of the movie and keep 50 percent of the profits. Sony said no. Fleming then revised his reporting to say Disney initially asked for a 25 percent stake in the films, while other outlets said 30 percent. Other reports also suggested Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige was already stretched too thin, which Fleming said was not the case. The reporting on this has been all over the map, but this much is clear: Disney wanted a piece of Spider-Man movie profits, and Sony, which already loses out on the merchandising money, said no. Sony's leadership is now more confident in its handling of the franchise. Their animated film, "Into the Spider-Verse," won an Oscar while a spin-off, "Venom," grossed more than $800 million worldwide. Feige didn't produce either film.  Unless the two sides resolve the dispute, this could be the start of a protracted battle between Disney and Sony, as Matt Belloni and I discussed on KCRW this week. Spider-Man is one of the only major Marvel properties Disney doesn't control. While Universal still has the rights to make Hulk movies, Disney's deal for Fox's movie studio gave it control over the X-Men and Fantastic Four.  Sony has expansive plans for a Spider-Man TV franchise. It's commissioned Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed "Into the Spider-Verse," to make a bunch of Spidey TV shows. Disney wants its forthcoming streaming service Disney+ to be the home for all things Marvel, and is already making at least 8 original Marvel series. But Sony is under no obligation to sell those shows to Disney. It will sell them to the highest bidder. That could be Disney+. It could be Amazon. It could be… Netflix. Now that would be fun. This is why major movie studios almost never collaborate on movies. They are happy to take outside money that limits their risk on big movies, but they engineer those deals so they still capture most of the upside. They don't share in success with rival studios. -- Lucas Shaw   Apple TV+: All the details about Apple's new video service Apple plans to introduce its new video service in November, and has debated charging $9.99 a month, many people familiar with the company's plans told Mark Gurman, Anousha Sakoui and me. Apple has guarded its plans with the utmost secrecy, as it does in all things, sharing very little with the people making its own shows. But we pieced together a few of the details. Here's what you need to know: Apple is taking a less is more approach. Apple wants to release a handful of high-quality shows, like HBO, instead of a constant stream of new product, like Netflix. It plans to release a few episodes of each show at first and then release subsequent episodes weekly, giving customers reason to come back at least once a week. The initial slate of shows includes: "The Morning Show," starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stores" and "See," starring Aquaman Jason Momoa. Apple is very interested in big, splashy names that will do a lot of the marketing for the service -- at least at first. About that price… $9.99 is not certain. We've heard that price floated. It is the price of Apple Music. It is the price of Apple News+. But Apple also plans to bundle its video service with other paid products, which include music, news and Apple Care. Without a bundle that's a steep price for the service because... Apple TV+ doesn't have a library. Most streaming services license thousands of old movies and TV shows for people to watch when there isn't a new show they love. Apple hasn't. Instead, it is counting on customers who already pay for HBO and Showtime to watch them within the app.  By the by, the Financial Times reported Apple has set aside $6 billion for original programming. It didn't provide a time frame. That likely covers shows it has already made, as well as future programs that will come out in later years. It's still hard to compare Apple's annual budget to Netflix or Amazon, but it's safe to assume it's a lot smaller.  Disney teases Disney+ Disney turned its biennial fan convention D23 into one big marketing show for its forthcoming streaming service. The three-day event included more than 20 panels, sneak peeks or presentations linked to online TV shows and movies. The $7-a-month service consists of five categories: Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, Disney and National Geographic. The company plans to release dozens of new series and movies, as well as use it to host its deep library of old movies. Over the weekend, Disney announced plans for 3 new Marvel series, an Obi-Wan Kenobi project starring Ewan McGregor and a reboot of Lizzie McGuire starring Hilary Duff. Here's a good breakdown of what we know about the programming lineup so far. The week that was YouTube is going to stop targeting ads on kids' videos. YouTube will still serve ads on videos watched by kids, but will select them based on the video being watched and not the user. YouTube is being investigated  by the Federal Trade Commission for violations of the Children's Online Privacy Act (COPPA). Viacom CEO Bob Bakish will earn about $31 million a year after his company's merger with CBS closes. Acting CBS chief Joe Ianniello will receive a payout of $70 million for not being named CEO of the combined company. Hasbro is buying Canadian media company Entertainment One for $4 billion. The toymaker has already turned toy properties like "Transformers" into movies, but buying eOne gives it a true in-house studio. eOne makes the kids' shows Peppa Pig and PJ Masks; get ready for a Peppa Pig Transformer toy. Google disabled 210 YouTube channels that coordinated influence operations related to the Hong Kong protests. Facebook and Twitter took similar action a few days prior. Madison Square Garden had its worst week as a public company after it said the budget for a new Las Vegas Venue had ballooned to $1.7 billion. Owner James Dolan had a rough week. MSG Networks, another company he controls, said it lost 6.5 percent of its cable subscribers last quarter. Taylor Swift is going to do what?! Swift released a new album Friday, titled "Lover." It is safe to assume the album will debut at No. 1. When I last checked the Spotify charts, Swift had four songs in the global top 10. Swift is also the rare artist who still sells albums. Swift has in the past assailed streaming services for not compensating artists enough, but the growth of streaming has forced her to change her tune. Swift has embraced Spotify and YouTube with a gusto she hasn't' before. She hosted a live stream on YouTube, and appeared on Spotify billboards in New York. The most interesting T-Swift news of the week was this: Swift told CBS News she plans to re-record her old music so that she can control her catalog. In case you missed it, Swift complained when her old label, Big Machine, sold itself (and her catalog) to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings. Swift said she wanted to buy back her recordings, but Big Machine wouldn't let her. Big Machine said it offered her a path to do so. Those initial recordings aren't going anywhere, but, provided her publisher assents, Swift can take her initial songs and re-record them. Then she could try to get streaming services to promote the new versions over the old ones.  The No. 1 movie in the world is… "Hobbs & Shaw." The film grossed more than $100 million in China this weekend, and is nearing $600 million worldwide. The top movie in the U.S. is "Angel Has Fallen," the third film in Gerard Butler's "Fallen" franchise. Discoveries "Live PD," a "Cops"-like program on A+E, is one of the most-watched shows on cable. "Crime is hot," says analyst Scott Robson. Sports media company The Athletic has surpassed 600,000 subscribers – almost as many as the Financial Times. Investors value the company at about $500 million. Aretha Franklin's children are fighting over control of her estate. The soul singer died without a will, but some of her children argue some documents found in her home qualify. Al Franken is going out on the speaking circuit, and has signed with Hollywood talent shop UTA. The former senator, who resigned after being accused of sexual harassment has been tiptoeing back into public life for the past few months. Amazon is starting to have the same problems as Google and Facebook. By allowing thousands of companies to upload their own products, it is also enabling the sale of unsafe goods. Weekly playlist The new Raphael Saadiq. Listen to it once. Listen to it twice. Then read this Alex Pappademas profile.    You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg newsletter Hollywood Torrent. You can tell your friends to sign up here.   Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022