As it happens, the hugely anticipated war for the future of Westeros in the HBO drama will coincide with the release of the latest Marvel sequel, which will feature its own separate melee to save the universe from the clutches of Thanos.The 'Avengers: Endgame' directors kindly ask fans not to ruin the movie's endingBeyond a "peak geek" moment, the twin arrival of these events — an overused term in entertainment circles that actually applies in these cases — says something about both the "show" and "business" side of the media landscape.Culturally speaking, both the movie and TV show reinforce the importance that science fiction/fantasy/comics have come to occupy in terms of the increasingly rare phenomenon of shared mass entertainment. At a time of a la carte TV viewing and "Netflix and chill," "Avengers" is likely to eclipse the record $257 million domestic haul of its predecessor "Infinity War," while "Thrones" surely has a good shot of surpassing the season premiere's record same-day rating of 17.4 million viewers.In terms of the business aspect, the two also demonstrate just how much studios have come to rely on such properties — with the avid followings they command — to drive their revenues, and stand apart in a crazily crowded stew of entertainment options.'Game of Thrones' ending comes with HBO at a crossroadsThat's especially true as the media shifts toward a pay-to-view streaming environment, as Marvel parent Disney embarks on its own streaming venture, and HBO becomes the linchpin of WarnerMedia's budding efforts in that arena. (CNN is also a WarnerMedia unit.)While there's no way to clearly determine the overlap between the two fan bases, it seems safe to say that many movie-goers will feel extra-inclined to frontload their weekends, seeing "Endgame" on Thursday, Friday or Saturday — on one of the thousands of screens that will carry the Disney release — before queueing up HBO to watch "Thrones" live on Sunday night.In each case, the fevered speculation is on who will die and who will survive, with plenty of noble sacrifice expected on both fronts.The ascendance of such fare has been evident for some time, illustrated every year when Comic-Con in San Diego becomes the centerpiece of the entertainment universe. But the juxtaposition of these two events is noteworthy, and will only be magnifiRead More – Source
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