With world-wide subscriptions surpassing 1 billion last year, every movie studio and every television network is pouring money into streaming video services. They’re hoping to make more money with subscribers than the untold billions they’ve been raking in for decades at the box office, through advertising, in syndication or sales of Blu-Rays. And while these services are quick to tell us how many subscribers they have, it’s anyone’s guess as to how many people are actually tuning in to their programming.
Theatrical box office is another statistic that has gotten harder to track during the pandemic with many distributors delaying the reporting of grosses. Even so, the Motion Picture Association added up all the numbers for 2020 and reported that global box office was down over 70 percent to $12 billion.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including the NFL’s new relationship with Amazon, Hollywood agencies are getting into celebrity estate management and a trip to this year’s SXSW Film Festival.

China Box Office: ‘Avatar’ Leads With a Further $14 Million
https://variety.com/2021/film/box-office/avatar-china-box-office-21-bridges-1234935360/
L.A. Box Office Blasts Off To $1.55M
https://deadline.com/2021/03/weekend-box-office-kelly-marie-tran-los-angeles-raya-and-the-last-dragon-1234718593/
SXSW Film Awards: ‘The Fallout’ and ‘Lily Topples the World’ Win Top Prizes at Festival
https://www.indiewire.com/2021/03/sxsw-film-awards-2021-1234624681/
‘Promising Young Woman’ and ‘Borat’ Win at Writers Guild Awards
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/21/movies/promising-young-woman-borat-writers-guild-awards.html
Oscars Broadcast in China in Jeopardy Over Nomination of Hong Kong Protest Documentary
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-broadcast-in-china-in-jeopardy-over-nomination-of-hong-kong-protest-documentar
Class Action Claims “Sweetheart” Deal Between Writers Guild, Viacom Over Streaming
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/class-action-claims-sweetheart-deal-between-writers-guild-viacom-over-streaming
WME Moves Into the Celebrity Estate Business With Legends Group: Andy Kaufman, Eartha Kitt, Peter Tosh, CBGB First Up
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/wme-legends-celebrity-estate-reps-andy-kaufman-eartha-kitt-1234931914/
Beijing Asks Alibaba to Shed Its Media Assets
https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-asks-alibaba-to-shed-its-media-assets-11615809999
What the NFL’s New TV Deal Means for the League, Fans and Networks