🎬 A New Vision 👓

👋 Good morning! Looks like Hollywood's master of visual storytelling is ready to take things to the next level. Denis Villeneuve, the visionary behind ‘Dune’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049,’ has set his sights on a new cinematic frontier: a dialogue-free film. At the BFI London Film Festival, Villeneuve declared, "I hope one day I will be able to make a film that will not use spoken language."

Whether you're a seasoned subscriber or a new arrival, we're thrilled to have you here. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we'll deliver the most important industry scoops directly to your inbox.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Apple’s New Vision for Filmmaking

• Legendary Seeks a Buyout

• Theatrical Windows Shrink

• YouTube’s Horror Renaissance

• Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

But first, let’s take a look at what happened at the box office this past weekend!

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Battle of the clowns…

1. 🤡 Terrifier 3: $18.3M domestic opening. Microbudget unrated horror sequel shocks with massive debut, already surpassing predecessor's total run.

2. 🤖 The Wild Robot: $13.45M domestic weekend (-29%), $83.7M domestic total, $148.4M global. Strong hold for DreamWorks animated hit, sequel greenlit.

3. 🃏 Joker: Folie à Deux: $7.055M domestic weekend (-81%), $51.6M domestic total, $165.3M global. Historic second-weekend plummet for $190M sequel.

4. 👻 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: $7.05M domestic weekend (-30%), $275.6M domestic total, $415M global. Continues solid Halloween-season run.

5. 🧱 Piece by Piece: $3.8M domestic opening. Lego-animated Pharrell Williams doc debuts modestly.

6. 🚗 Transformers One: $3.65M domestic weekend (-32%), $52.8M domestic total. Struggling animated prequel.

7. 🎭 Saturday Night: $3.43M domestic weekend, $4.18M domestic total. SNL origin story expands wide with muted results.

8. 🦸 My Hero Academia: You're Next: $3M domestic opening. Fourth film in anime franchise opens in line with predecessors.

9. 💀 The Nightmare Before Christmas (re-release): $2.3M domestic weekend. Seasonal re-release for Tim Burton classic.

10. 🏢 The Apprentice: $1.58M domestic opening. Trump biopic stumbles despite festival buzz.

The Big Picture: This weekend's box office was a tale of two extremes, with ‘Terrifier 3’ shocking everyone while ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ took a historic nosedive. ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ now holds the dubious honor of the highest box office drop ever for a comic book movie, and it's likely to cost the studio over $150M in losses. This weekend’s total haul of $70.2M is down a hefty 47% from last year's Taylor Swift-dominated frame. It's becoming clear that microbudget horror still has some serious bite, while big-budget sequels are facing an increasingly tough crowd. Even well-received films like ‘The Wild Robot’ can't fully make up for underperforming tentpoles.

CLOSEUP
👓 Apple debuts its first immersive film for Vision Pro…

Edward Berger, the Academy Award-winning director of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ has created ‘Submerged,’ the first scripted film tailor-made for Apple's fancy new Vision Pro headset.

While the Apple Vision Pro wasn't explicitly marketed as a filmmaking or video editing tool, many creators and Apple enthusiasts had initially pointed out the potential for some mind-blowing film and video possibilities with this AR/VR gadget. Berger’s film might just be kicking off a whole new era of immersive storytelling that'll make you feel like you're right in the middle of the action.

Behind the Scenes:

• ‘Submerged,’ set on a WWII submarine, leverages Vision Pro's 180-degree field of view and spatial audio for an immersive experience.

• Berger and his team constructed a full-scale submarine set, innovating to work within the unique constraints of immersive filming.

• The production required rethinking traditional filmmaking techniques, from camera movements to lighting and set design.

Industry Challenges:

• Despite initial excitement, the Vision Pro has yet to see widespread adoption among filmmakers and video professionals since its launch in Feb. 2024.

• The $3,500 price tag and lack of a "killer app" for film production have been significant hurdles.

• Apple's recent focus on AI developments at WWDC suggests a shift in priorities away from AR/VR.

Looking ahead… Apple’s hitting pause on development for the Vision Pro 2 to focus on creating a more wallet-friendly, lightweight version. Smart move? It could be the key to getting more people on board and sparking filmmakers' imaginations. Apple CEO Tim Cook is optimistic:

But wait, there's more! Apple's not putting all its eggs in the narrative film basket. They're lining up some cool stuff like a short film from the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend and an immersive concert series called 'Concert For One,' demonstrating the platform's versatility across entertainment genres.

Closing thoughts: The jury's still out on whether Vision Pro will be the next big thing in filmmaking. The success of projects like ‘Submerged,’ along with this smorgasbord of content, could be crucial in showing off what the platform can do and might just kickstart a whole new wave of immersive storytelling tricks.

Got a Vision Pro? Lucky you! Check out ‘Submerged’ here. 👈👀

WIDESHOT
🎬 Buyouts, release trends, and YouTube horror…

🎬💼 Legendary Entertainment is in talks to buy out Dalian Wanda Group's stake. This could undo Wanda's massive $3.5B buy-in from 2016, as the Chinese giant scales back its Hollywood dreams amid Beijing's foreign investment crackdown. It's a stark contrast to the mid-2010s China-Hollywood romance, when cross-cultural blockbusters were the golden ticket. The move is reflective of the bigger trend we’ve been seeing of ongoing consolidation, and with Apollo Global Management in the mix, it underscores private equity's growing appetite for showbiz. Legendary, the studio behind hits like ‘Dune’ and ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ boasts a spotless balance sheet and $500M in cash. CEO Josh Grode's got his sights set on expanding the empire, targeting US and European entertainment assets across film, TV, gaming, and AI. As other streaming giants duke it out, and traditional studios wobble under debt, this deal just might birth a new entertainment behemoth.

🎬⏳ Hollywood’s shrinking its bring-screen exclusivity. Films from summer 2024 are hitting home screens nearly a week earlier than they were last year, averaging about 35 days in theaters. It’s a trend that’s been accelerating—down from 41 days in summer 2023. While Disney’s keeping longer windows for blockbusters like ‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ at 67 days, others are racing to Video On Demand: Universal's ‘Despicable Me 4’ and ‘Twisters’ dropped at 34 and 25 days, respectively. So why the shift? When a movie hits VOD, studios pocket a whopping 80% of the revenue after platform fees. Compare that to theaters, where they typically split ticket sales roughly 50-50 with exhibitors. It's a delicate balancing act: cashing in quickly without undermining theatrical buzz that drives VOD value. Surprisingly, theaters aren't panicking—blockbusters still get longer runs, and the overall impact on ticket sales has been less severe than anticipated. Plus, a robust theatrical release still drives higher VOD demand, keeping exhibitors in the game.

🎥👻 Horror’s been huge on YouTube since day one, and lately these online scares are breaking into Hollywood big time:

• Sam and Colby: Paranormal investigators with 13M subscribers, their doc ‘Legends of the Paranormal’ just pulled in $1.76M on only 350 screens earlier this month.

• Chris Stuckmann: YouTube critic turned filmmaker, his debut ‘Shelby Oaks’ was snapped up by Neon after a $1M+ Kickstarter campaign.

• David F. Sandberg: Parlayed his viral ‘Lights Out’ short into a Warner Bros. feature, launching a successful directorial career.

• RackaRacka: Aussie duo known for bloody YouTube skits, their A24 debut ‘Talk To Me’ conjured $92M worldwide on a $4.5M budget.

• Ken Parsons: At just 18, this ‘Backrooms’ creator inked a deal with A24 to turn his viral series into a feature film.

But here’s the rub: YouTube's strict content policies, aimed at attracting high-quality advertisers, pose challenges for horror creators. Age restrictions and demonetization hinder discoverability and monetization, pushing some to seek opportunities elsewhere. YouTube's been the go-to launchpad for up-and-coming horror filmmakers for years, but as it competes with major streaming platforms, it risks losing horror talent it once nurtured. We'll see if YouTube responds by developing new strategies to keep these creators from ghosting the platform for good.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️

• Netflix is developing a new ‘Pride and Prejudice’ series with scripts by Dolly Alderton. (more)

• A sequel to ‘The Wild Robot’ is officially in development at DreamWorks Animation, with director Chris Sanders confirming the follow-up. (more)

• The ‘Peaky Blinders’ movie adds series stars Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, and Ian Peck. (more)

• Disney’s ‘Freakier Friday’ and live-action ‘Lilo & Stitch’ are set for summer 2025 releases. (more)

• Talia Ryder joins Marc Maron in Rob Burnett’s upcoming comedy ‘In Memoriam.’ (more)

• ‘Ready or Not 2’ is officially in development, with Samara Weaving and Radio Silence returning to continue the cult horror hit. (more)

• Angel Studios is adapting Philip Gulley’s ‘Home to Harmony’ books into a family TV series. (more)

• ABC is delaying the premieres of ‘Celebrity Wheel of Fortune,’ ‘Press Your Luck,’ and ‘Scamanda’ to 2025. (more)

Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌

• ‘Unstable’ is canceled by Netflix after S2. (more)

Other News 🚨

• The Critics Choice Association’s 4th Annual Celebration of Latino Cinema & Television is set for Tuesday, Oct. 22nd at the Egyptian Theatre. (more)

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments