🎬 Biggest TV Deal in Years

👋 Good morning! The all-time trailer record just got run over, backed over, and run over again. Sony says the 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' trailer hit 718.6M views in its first 24 hours, nearly doubling the previous record held by 'Deadpool & Wolverine' (365M, which counted 100M+ Super Bowl TV viewers in its total). It cleared that bar in about eight hours. Tom Holland's last go-round made $1.9B globally, so Sony's spreadsheet people are sleeping well tonight. Check it out in our trailer section below.

Welcome back to The Dailies. You made it to Friday. Proud of you. Pour yourself something caffeinated and we’ll catch you up. First up, let’s take a look at what people were streaming this week. 👇

Sources: Top streamed chart (U.S.) via FlixPatrol; new release viewership data (U.S.) via Luminate.

Before his death, Val Kilmer was set to star in 'As Deep as the Grave,' an indie set in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. But between COVID shutdowns and the progression of his throat cancer, Kilmer never made it to set and sadly passed away in 2025. Now, with the full blessing of his estate and family, director Coerte Voorhees is using generative AI to put him in the film posthumously. Here’s how it’s happening:

Kilmer actually has an AI precedent of his own: After throat cancer left him unable to speak, he worked with Sonantic to create an AI voice for 'Top Gun: Maverick.' And by all accounts, he actively wanted to be part of 'As Deep as the Grave,' too. His family says he would have supported the AI route. But not everyone's on board. For a lot of actors, this kind of thing feels less like a tribute and more like a preview of being replaced.

The bigger picture: When SAG-AFTRA heads back to the bargaining table in June (their contract expires June 30), one of the headline proposals will be a “Tilly tax,” named after synthetic AI actress Tilly Norwood. The idea: if a studio uses a synthetic performer instead of a real actor, it pays a royalty into union pension and health funds, essentially making AI actors cost the same as (or more than) real humans. Projects like 'As Deep as the Grave' could be just the beginning.

Institutional giants use the $4 trillion rental market to compound millions. Now you can too. mogul offers fractional ownership in elite rental properties with 18.8% average IRR and zero property management required. Secure your share of the wealth Wall Street once kept for itself.

Skip The Line Now

Past performance isn't predictive; illustrative only. Investing risks principal; no securities offer. See important Disclaimers

📝 David Ellison is pledging to keep Paramount and Warner Bros. operating as separate studios. In a letter to Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Laura Friedman, the Paramount chief outlined his case for the mega-merger, committing to 15-film annual slates at each studio, a 45-day theatrical window, and preserving HBO. He argued the combined company would preserve and potentially grow Hollywood jobs, and urged Congress to pass a federal film tax incentive along with restoring a tax provision that lets U.S. productions deduct costs in the same year. On L.A. job protection specifically, though, the letter was long on optimism and short on specifics. Friedman said she plans to hold him to it.

🎤 Netflix is getting into the concert business. The streamer is in talks with promoters to take 'KPop Demon Hunters' on a global arena tour, looking to squeeze even more out of its most-watched movie ever ahead of a sequel. Netflix has already been offered tens of millions in upfront guarantees (so, some demand there). The tour would hit dozens of major cities and venues holding 10,000 to 20,000 fans, but the creative is still very much TBD: Netflix is weighing whether to feature the film's vocal trio (Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Remi Ami), go with virtual performers, or some mix of both. The whole thing could still fall apart over costs or creative, but if it works, Netflix will have gone from "we don't do theaters" to selling out arenas in about two years.

📺 The biggest local TV deal in years just closed. Nexstar says it has closed its $6.2B acquisition of Tegna following approval from both the DOJ and FCC, creating the largest local TV station operator in the country. The combined company now owns nearly 260 stations reaching ~80% of US households (the current federal cap is 39%, but the FCC granted a waiver). Nexstar agreed to divest six stations and make commitments around affordability and local news as conditions of the FCC waiver. Not everyone's celebrating, though: Eight state AGs and DirecTV filed federal lawsuits to block the deal, arguing it'll raise pay-TV prices, gut local newsrooms, and give Nexstar outsized leverage over distributors. Those lawsuits are still active.

🎥 THEATRICAL

📺 STREAMING

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'Project Hail Mary' is tracking for a massive $70-78M domestic debut (and potentially $100M+ worldwide), which would be huge for Amazon MGM, a studio still searching for its first bona fide theatrical hit. 'Ready or Not 2: Here I Come' is projected around $11M, a solid number for a $6-10M horror sequel. Behind them, 'Hoppers' ($15-20M) and 'Reminders of Him' ($10-15M) round out the top four.