While Kim Masters reported on creative confusion and frustration at Amazon Studios, others looked into expenditure on highly anticipated original series including “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” and “Daisy Jones & The Six.” With neither show accumulating the expected viewership, Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw writes that Amazon.com Inc. CEO Andy Jassy is now asking for detailed budget breakdowns of all the biggest shows made by the company's Hollywood studios.
Was Amazon.com Inc. paying attention? Why is Jassy looking into the studios’ expenditure now? Has Amazon been overpaying for talent and projects? And what happens if Amazon stops producing original content? How will this affect the larger Hollywood ecosystem? Masters and Matt Belloni look into these questions.
Plus, further discussion of controversy involving Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav. This time, GQ editor Will Welch — who is producing a movie at Warner Bros. — has pulled an article that was critical of Zaslav.