UPDATE 3: The “spend much more to promote it” part is underway, as our insiders now say Harry Potter will stream on both HBO Max and Paramount+ with a big marketing push behind it.
UPDATE 2: The “pad the ratings” part is now on the scoreboard, as Lanterns‘ Nielsen viewership went up in the first full week after the backlash.
UPDATE: HBO boss Casey Bloys confirms Lanterns Season 2 is not in development or any other new DCU project. Plus, the same sources reveal the post-merger fix: Godzilla vs Transformers and “Make Movies Fun Again”.
Paramount is holding internal meetings about the growing backlash to HBO’s shows, sources tell Cosmic Book News.
“I heard ‘meetings’ are taking place to address the growing backlash to the shows,” a source said. “They’ve spent ungodly amounts of money on Harry Potter and they plan to spend much more to promote it.”
The shows drawing the fire: Lanterns, HBO’s Harry Potter, House of the Dragon, and now The People v. Gorilla Grodd.
Paramount is in the middle of closing its $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, the deal that hands the Ellisons HBO and HBO Max.
“Keep it in mind when you see bots swarming your posts and everyone else dunking on HBO slop,” the source said, referring to the bot accounts that swarm Cosmic Book News’ own posts and social media whenever these shows come up. “The growing backlash to Lanterns, Potter, House of Dragon, and now Grodd got them worried.”
Hate-Watching Doesn’t Sell Merch
Some of that backlash still shows up as viewership. People tune in to see the trainwreck.
The source says the studio knows that kind of watching doesn’t pay.
“Negative engagement might pad the ratings a bit but wrecks ancillary income channels,” the source said. “Hate watching does not translate into merch sales, DVD sales, book sales, etc.”
In plain English: a real hit sells more than the stream. Toys, shirts, box sets, books.
People watching a show to dunk on it don’t buy any of that.
And there’s a bigger problem than merchandise. It’s what HBO is supposed to be.
“One thing many are missing: HBO is supposed to be ‘appointment television, the home of The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, etc.,'” the source continued. “Having Grodd and Lantern Dicks be the new face of HBO is irking a lot of people.”
That’s the network that just greenlit a mockumentary where Jimmy Tatro plays Gorilla Grodd in a practical gorilla suit.
“Nothing They Can Do” About Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone premieres this Christmas on HBO. Asked what the studio can do about the show at this point, the source said the window has closed.
“Potter season 1 is done or very close to done,” the source said. “Nothing they can do except hype up the good elements and ignore the bad casting choices.”
The casting at the center of that line is Paapa Essiedu as Snape.
The first teaser has climbed to 375,000 dislikes on YouTube. When the second teaser dropped this month, J.K. Rowling herself posted it, and the replies filled up with Snape complaints.
That’s the show HBO needs to be its next Game of Thrones.
“It’s A Brand Problem”
The source was clear this goes beyond James Gunn’s DC shows.
“Not that Gunn is the only one producing slop for HBO, far from it,” the source said. “The problem is the backlash is going viral so HBO as a whole gets pushback and loses some shine.”
“Same thing that happened with GoT Season 8,” the source continued. “One terrible season destroyed fan good will and loyalty.”
Game of Thrones Season 8 aired in 2019. Fans never forgave it, and HBO has been chasing that goodwill back ever since.
Now the people writing the check are watching it happen again.
“It’s a brand problem. And the Ellisons are paying $$$$$ for that brand,” the source said. “They need that brand to be Peak TV, Emmy magnets, the home of great directors and producers. Not the brand that normies associate with whatever Lanterns is.”
Paramount Has Been Tracking The Damage All Year
This is the same track these sources have been on all year.
On July 4, they told Cosmic Book News that David Ellison and Paramount brass are sitting on internal data tracking the audience shift.
On September 9, on Warner Bros. finishing the summer box office down 76%: “Paramount execs are painfully aware of this disaster. BIG CHANGES coming.”
That same day, sources said HBO Max could be gone and Casey Bloys out once the deal closes, because Ellison wants DC as big as Spider-Man, not Lanterns.
The merger’s next court date is September 24, with a two-day settlement conference with California set for late October.
And per the source, the response has already started.
“Meetings are taking place,” the source said. “Brand damage is becoming a big problem.”
