From ‘American Hostage’ to Podcasts, Hollywood Digs Deeper Into Digital IP — But Will the Same Stories Told on Different Platforms Hurt Business?

Sep 12, 2026 6:05am PT From ‘American Hostage’ to Podcasts, Hollywood Digs Deeper Into Digital IP — But Will the Same Stories Told on Different Platforms Hurt Business?

By Gregg Goldstein

Plus Icon

Gregg Goldstein

@GCGoldstein

Latest

• Bill Condon and Laura Bickford Take ’The Road Home’ With Cynthia Erivo 4 months ago
• Berlin Panorama Pic ‘A Russian Winter’ Probes War and Extremism With a Twist: ‘The Key Was to Make It as Universal as Possible’ 7 months ago
• How Screenwriters Faced the Challenges of Adapting a Living Person’s Life for the Big Screen  10 months ago

See All

Steven Ackerman/MGM+/Sony Pictures Television

Watching the MGM+ limited anthology series “American Hostage” with exec producer and star Jon Hamm at its Sept. 12 Toronto fest premiere, you might be reminded of last year’s Sept. 7 Toronto premiere, Gus Van Sant’s thriller “Dead Man’s Wire,” about the same 1977 Indianapolis hostage crisis. Or the 2022 podcast “American Hostage” with Jon Hamm. Or the 2018 doc “Dead Man’s Line,” whose directors were consultants on “Wire.”

Welcome to a new level of déjà view. There have long been competing projects (on killer asteroids, volcanoes, etc.), but with an increasing reliance on reboots and new-to-you IP, an overabundance of outlets, and more mediums like audiobooks, podcasts and YouTube videos at viewers’ fingertips, audiences are experiencing more projects about the same subject than ever before.

Related Stories

‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ Sequel Set Up at Paramount; Kate Hudson to Produce (EXCLUSIVE)