Behind the Scenes Buzz with Jump and Universal

UNIVERSAL IS B.O. HERO: Universal was studio non-grata for shortening its theatrical window to 17 days during the pandemic … but then Warners Bros. announced that its entire 2021 slate with bow in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Now, Universal is sitting pretty, with The Croods: A New Age topping the box office with $4.4 million.”Keeping up with the almost constant evolution of theatrical release strategies by studios in reaction to the pandemic over the past many months has been a challenge to say the least. Hardly a week goes by without a new – and increasingly confusing – variation of a hybrid, or big screen/small screen) release model,” says Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.

BILLY BRYK JOINS JULIANNE MOORE PIC: Billy Bryk (Wynonna Earp) has joined the cast of Jesse Eisenberg‘s directorial debut When You Finish Saving the World, with Finn Wolfhard and Julianne Moore on board to star, Deadline reports. The mother-son drama follows the pair over three decades.

THE REASON I JUMP TRAILER DROPS: The Reason I Jump, a documentary based on Naoki Higashida‘s book of the same name, which documented his experience with nonspeaking autism, has dropped its first trailer. The film will show how people with nonspeaking autism communicate and express themselves. The film will bow January 8^th.

MGM INKS DEAL WITH AMAZON: MGM is looking for revenue. In a bid to juice its bottom line, MGM is set to move all of its content to Amazon‘s cloud and use its software to revamp its media supply chain, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Our new cloud-based media supply chain will give us increased visibility into owned content, the ability to better inform our sales teams, and faster processing of licensing deal that will help us deliver more content experiences to viewers and grow new revenue opportunities,” said Doug Rousso, executive vp and CTO of MGM in a statement. MGM owns the James Bond and Rocky movie franchises, as well as TV shows like Fargo and The Handmaid’s Tale.