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Happy Friday and welcome back to The Dailies. The Super Bowl is Sunday, the Winter Olympics kick off today. Big weekend for sitting down. Here's what's happening in Hollywood before you disappear into the couch. 👇
TOP STREAMED
📊 What U.S. audiences were watching this week…
Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista in ‘The Wrecking Crew’
FILM 🎥
Netflix: Copshop
HBO Max: If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Disney+: TRON: Ares
Prime Video: The Wrecking Crew
Paramount+: The Running Man
Hulu: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Apple TV: F1
Peacock: Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
TV 📺
Netflix: Bridgerton
HBO Max: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Disney+: Wonder Man
Prime Video: Fallout
Paramount+: South Park
Hulu: Grey’s Anatomy
Apple TV: Shrinking
Peacock: The Office
How last week’s releases are stacking up…
💥 The Wrecking Crew: (Prime Video) The Jason Momoa/Dave Bautista action film pulled 10.3M US views in Week 1 per Luminate, topping last year's Prime Video breakout 'Heads of State' by roughly 1M views over the same window. Looking on track to become one of Amazon's biggest original films to date.
🎩 Bridgerton: (Netflix) S4 pulled 8.9M US views and 38.3M hours watched domestically in Week 1 per Luminate, making it the most-watched series of the week across platforms. But it opened softer than S3, with views down 25% and hours off about 12% from the previous season's debut. Still dominant, just no longer the culture-stopping event it once was.
Sources: Top-streamed chart (U.S.) via FlixPatrol; new release viewership data (U.S.) via Luminate.
CLOSEUP
🎿 NBCU is sending influencers to the Italian Alps…
The 2026 Winter Olympics kick off today in Milan Cortina, and NBCUniversal isn't just relying on broadcast and Peacock to carry the load. The company put together a 'Creator Collective' of 20+ social media creators across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. It's building on the strategy they used in Paris 2024, which they said pulled in over 300M video views across social platforms.
Rather than lumping 'social' into one bucket, each platform gets its own roster: YouTube has Olympian Tom Daley, tech explainer Cleo Abram and gaming creator MMG. TikTok gets lifestyle creators like Molly Carlson and Anna Sitar. Instagram has ATFrenchies, Carlo & Sarah and Rylee Arnold. The marquee picks are Kylie Kelce and Bowen Yang, not traditional creators but celebrities with built-in younger audiences. Less dream team, and more stream team. Somewhere, Bob Costas is processing this.
It's opening up new ad revenue for NBCU. The company is turning its Olympic access rights into a sellable ad product, pitching advertisers on sponsored creator posts alongside traditional broadcast sponsorships.
NBCU is also quietly coaching athletes to become creators themselves. Last year they literally bussed Olympic hopefuls to TikTok's LA headquarters like a field trip for adults who can land a triple axel. The goal is simple: help athletes build followings so fans actually tune in when they compete.
Looking ahead… As younger audiences keep drifting from traditional TV, this creator model is how NBCU plans to keep up. They've got six more Games to figure it out, with U.S. Olympic media rights locked up through 2036. The 2026 Winter Olympics run through Feb. 22.
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EARNINGS SEASON
📈 YouTube just had a monster year…
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported Q4 earnings this week, and YouTube pulled in over $60B in total revenue for 2025, up roughly 20% YoY. Yeah, that's a lot. To put that in perspective:
Ad revenue alone ($40.4B) is more than most Hollywood studios' ad revenue combined
Google made more profit in Q4 ($34B) than Paramount is expected to make in total revenue all year (~$29B)
Netflix's full-year revenue ($45.4B) is still 25% smaller than YouTube's total
YouTube now averages 182M hours watched daily on U.S. TVs alone, more than Disney's entire portfolio. It has the eyeballs and the revenue to back it up.
Still, YouTube has a few hurdles to clear. Despite all that scale, most major advertisers still lump YouTube into their "digital" budget alongside TikTok and Instagram rather than their "television" budget. Visa's CMO openly admits their YouTube budgets lag "dramatically" behind equivalent TV campaigns, sometimes by 4-5x. And YouTube's biggest creators are increasingly cutting sponsorship deals directly with brands through talent agencies, bypassing YouTube's ad platform entirely. YouTube doesn't see a dime unless it helps broker the deal.
The bottom line: If there was any doubt YouTube belongs in the TV conversation, $60B and more daily watch time than Disney's entire portfolio is a pretty loud rebuttal. Every network exec who ever said “YouTube isn't real competition” just felt a small chill.
ICYMI
⚡️ Quick hits…
Svedka's Fembot returns (this time AI-generated) for Sunday's Super Bowl
🏈 This Sunday's Super Bowl will feature the first ad created "primarily" through AI, a 30-second Svedka spot produced in part by the same studio behind Coca-Cola's widely roasted AI holiday ad. Bold pedigree. The company says it didn't actually save any money or time doing it that way.
🪚 A24 landed the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' franchise rights, with a TV series and new film in development. Glen Powell is executive producing, extending his streak as the guy who somehow shows up everywhere. JT Mollner ('Strange Darling') directs, with the original's co-writer Kim Henkel on board.
🤝 Neon won a bidding war for Sundance doc 'Once Upon a Time in Harlem,' beating out Netflix, Sony Pictures Classics and Mubi. The film captures a 1972 party where Harlem Renaissance legends reminisced, debated and drank on camera, shot by the late William Greaves and restored by his son.
🤖 Lionsgate hired its first-ever Chief AI Officer, tapping Kathleen Grace to lead the studio's AI strategy. Grace comes from Vermillio, an IP-protection-focused AI platform. The move suggests renewed commitment after a splashy 2024 partnership with AI startup Runway has been less “cutting edge” and more “finding the scissors.”
LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Sean Baker and Michelle Yeoh will world premiere their fashion-backed film ‘Sandiwara’ at the Berlin Film Festival later this month. (more)
‘Smile’ producers Temple Hill have begun filming ‘Rule of Three,’ launching a new horror trilogy led by Thomasin McKenzie and Chloe East. (more)
Pedro Pascal is set to star in Todd Haynes’ revived romance ‘De Noche,’ now financed by France’s MK2 Films. (more)
Ketchup Entertainment has acquired Owen Wilson/Matt Rife comedy ‘Rolling Loud,’ set at the hip-hop festival. (more)
Asa Butterfield is starring with Mark Strong and Kyra Sedgwick in John Carroll Lynch’s comedy ‘Happy.’ (more)
Kate Hudson and Javier Bardem will star in rom-com ‘Hello & Paris,’ written and directed by Elizabeth Chomko. (more)
Karen Gillan, Josh Hutcherson, and Clive Owen will star in supernatural thriller ‘Blasphemous,’ which is launching worldwide sales at EFM. (more)
Chiwetel Ejiofor has joined Scarlett Johansson in Blumhouse’s new ‘Exorcist’ horror film, with Mike Flanagan writing and directing. (more)
Alexander Ludwig and Emma Roberts will star in true-story indie drama ‘Hal,’ directed by ‘Ozark’ co-creator Mark Williams. (more)
TV Development 📺
Jeremy Strong is set to star and exec produce Netflix’s series adaptation of ‘Crossroads,’ based on the Jonathan Franzen novel. (more)
HBO is developing a ‘Baldur’s Gate,’ TV series from Craig Mazin. (more)
Disney+ has set Todd Harthan and Todd Helbing as co-showrunners on its live-action ‘Eragon’ series. (more)
Other News 🚨
Dan Trachtenberg has signed a three-year first-look directing and producing deal with Paramount Pictures. (more)
The Academy has launched Academy Studios, putting Jennifer Davidson in charge of its new in-house content arm. (more)
The Horror Movie Report (Film Pro Digital edition) is a toolkit for raising money for a horror project. Includes budget figures, profitability analysis, editable data/charts for decks, a license for commercial use, and a bonus guide dedicated to making the investment case for horror. (more)*
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RELEASE RADAR
📅 This week’s new releases…
🎥 THEATRICAL
The Strangers: Chapter 3: Final installment of the horror trilogy.
The Moment: Mockumentary starring Charli XCX as a fictionalized version of herself, with Alexander Skarsgård and Rachel Sennott.
Dracula: Gothic romantic retelling of Bram Stoker's classic from director Luc Besson, starring Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz.
Solo Mio: Romantic comedy starring Kevin James.
📺 STREAMING & LIVE
Super Bowl LX: (NBC/Peacock) New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks, live from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. Kickoff at 3:30 p.m. PT.
The Lincoln Lawyer: (Netflix) S4 of the legal drama starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.
The Burbs: (Peacock) Comedy series adaptation of the 80’s film, starring Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall, produced by Seth MacFarlane and Brian Grazer.
🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: Super Bowl weekend is historically one of the deadest frames of the year, and 2026 won't be any different. Expect a sub-$60M total.
VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers
MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments
That’s all! Enjoy the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and whatever's left of your attention span. We're back Monday when SAG negotiations begin, and we'll have you covered. If someone forwarded you this, subscribe below. 📧👇
-The Dailies Team