🎬 Cancel-Happy

 👋 Good morning! Danny Boyle's zombie sequel is turning heads not just for its infected-filled streets, but for what's behind the lens. The '28 Years Later' trailer dropped yesterday, and while Twitter's busy dissecting every frame, cinematographers are doing double-takes at the stunning visuals—all captured on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Check out some of the shots here. 👈👀

Welcome aboard the Dailies. As you sip your morning brew, we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood—no need to chase down a newsstand, we’ve got everything you need right here.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Streamers’ Quick-Cancel Era

• OpenAI Drops Sora

• Profits Over Subscribers

• Global Ad Spend Hits a Milestone

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

CLOSEUP
🎬 Streamers got cancel-happy this year…

Looking back at 2024, streaming platforms turned into TV's toughest critics, hitting "cancel" faster than viewers could finish their popcorn. Even some of the most promising new series got axed after just one season, making "one and done" a painful new reality.

The casualties:

• Disney+ shocked everyone by axing ‘The Acolyte’—their splashy Star Wars series that actually performed well.

• Netflix cleaned house with freshman hits ‘The Brothers Sun,’ ‘Obliterated,’ and ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ all getting the boot despite ranking in their Top 100.

• Prime Video's ‘My Lady Jane’ got ghosted after one season so fast fans launched a petition (spoiler alert: still canceled).

• 19 streaming shows got the boot after just one season in 2024, following 25 similar cancellations in 2023.

Why the cuts?

• Peak TV’s hangover: During streaming's gold rush (2020-2022), platforms tried to match Netflix by spending billions on hundreds of new shows. Now, as Wall Street demands profits, that era of excessive spending is over—and many shows, even successful ones, are casualties of the cleanup.

• New success metrics: Pure viewership isn't enough anymore. Shows now need to either bring in new subscribers or keep existing ones from canceling—a metric that’s much harder to achieve.

• Discovery challenges: The tsunami of content means fewer shows get discovered in their first season—even good ones can get lost in the shuffle before finding their audience.

• Streaming's scheduling freedom: Unlike traditional TV networks, which had to keep shows running until they had ready replacements for specific time slots, streaming platforms can cut shows instantly without worrying about scheduling gaps.

Looking ahead: While the quick-cancel trend might seem harsh, there's hope for axed shows through content licensing. About 60% of viewers are seeing shows pop up on platforms different from where they started. This wave of cancellations is just one piece of streaming's growing pains. The future of streaming will likely feature fewer shows overall, but expect bigger budget, carefully developed projects built on proven IP and established genres.

WIDESHOT
🎬 Sora, profits vs. subscribers, and advertising…

🎬🤖 OpenAI dropped its buzzed-about Sora on Monday, but they might’ve bitten off more than they can chew. The text-to-video generator launched for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, but overwhelming demand forced OpenAI to temporarily halt new sign-ups. The tool’s capabilities are impressive: users can generate high-quality videos up to 20 seconds long, toggle between aspect ratios, and integrate their own footage into AI-generated content. Available through existing subscriptions (Plus at $20/month, Pro at $200/month), the service offers up to 50 videos at 480p or fewer at higher resolutions. Reception to this kind of tech has been mixed—while Lionsgate's cozied up to similar tools, Tyler Perry halted his $800M studio expansion after seeing Sora's capabilities. With these technologies becoming more widely available, the next chapter in Hollywood's relationship with AI is about to unfold.

📺💰 The streaming ecosystem is heading for a major shift, with profits—not subscribers—driving growth over the next five years, according to a new Ampere Analysis report. The days of unlimited content budgets are over—even Netflix has moved away from its former spending spree. Instead, all streamers are focused on squeezing more revenue from existing viewers through ad-tiers (projected to bring in $22B), password-sharing crackdowns, and leaner content budgets. The strategy's working—streaming revenues will outpace subscriber growth by 3x through 2029, hitting $190B annually, with Netflix claiming a third of that pie. While global subscriptions will still climb to 2B (up 200M), it's nowhere near COVID's explosive doubling of users. For raw subscriber growth, streamers are turning to less saturated markets in Asia-Pacific—with India being Netflix's second-biggest growth market in 2024—while North America hits peak streaming. Welcome to Streaming 2.0: where success isn't about subscriber count, but making each subscriber count.

📊💸 Global ad spending just hit a mind-blowing milestone, but traditional TV is getting left behind in the gold rush. A new forecast from GroupM, one of the world's largest media buying agencies, gives us a glimpse of advertising's future: global ad spending is about to cross $1T for the first time ever, with tech giants like Google, Meta, and TikTok's parent company scooping up more than half of all ad dollars. While old-school TV channels are facing a 3.4% decline in 2025, streaming services are the bright spot, with ad revenue projected to grow 19.3% and eventually overtake traditional TV by 2029. Here's the twist: even as streamers bet big on ad revenue, viewers are increasingly choosing to pay more for ad-free tiers on Netflix, Disney+, and Max, potentially limiting this golden opportunity. Meanwhile, movie theaters are showing modest signs of recovery in their ad business, but they're still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels. For Hollywood, these numbers tell a stark story about the future: while streaming is clearly where the industry's headed, the path to profitability remains murky as viewers resist ads and traditional revenue streams continue to shrink.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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_{Disclaimer: The content is not intended to provide legal, tax, or investment advice. No money is being solicited or will be accepted until the offering statement for a particular offering has been qualified by the SEC. Offers may be revoked at any time. Contacting Masterworks involves no commitment or obligation. “Net Annualized Return” refers to annualized internal rate of return net of all fees and expenses, calculated from the offering closing date to the date the sale is consummated. For additional information regarding the calculation of IRR for a particular investment in an artwork that has been sold, a reconciliation will be filed as an exhibit to Form 1-U and will be available on the SEC’s website. This communication is sent exclusively from Masterworks and is not endorsed by or affiliated with Bank of America. Masterworks did not contribute to the creation of the linked content. The report is not intended to be regarded as investment advice, an offer, or solicitation of an offer to enter into any Masterworks offering.}

LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️

• Jeremy Allen White joins Jon Favreau’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ as Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta. (more)

• Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner are in talks to reunite for a new ‘Meet the Parents’ film at Universal. (more)

• Halsey is creating, writing, and executive producing the dark comedy series ‘Bloodlust’ for Amazon MGM Studios, currently in development. (more)

• Jonny Coyne will reprise his role as an Imperial Warlord in Jon Favreau’s ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ movie. (more)

• Steven Soderbergh casts Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, and James Corden in ‘The Christophers,’ a dark comedy about a family forging art for profit. (more)

• Jake Bongiovi joins the cast of Maude Apatow’s directorial debut ‘Poetic License.’ (more)

• Apple has acquired ‘Deaf President Now!,’ a documentary co-directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim. (more)

• Linda Cardellini joins Jason Bateman and David Harbour in HBO’s darkly comedic limited series ‘DTF St. Louis.’ (more)

• Chris Evans returns to the MCU in ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ joining Robert Downey Jr. in the Russo Brothers-directed sequel set for May 2026. (more)

• Henry Cavill’s ‘Warhammer 40,000’ TV series is officially in development at Amazon. (more)

• David Tennant will return to host the 78th BAFTA Film Awards in Feb. 2025 after his acclaimed performance at this year’s ceremony. (more)

Business 🤝

• Omnicom acquires Interpublic Group in a $25.6B merger, creating the world’s largest ad agency with over 100,000 employees. (more)

• Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery ink a multi-year deal expanding Max and Discovery+ streaming rights and securing WBD content for Xfinity and Sky UK platforms. (more)

• J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot renewed its partnership with Warner Bros. under a two-year first-look film and TV deal, marking 20 years with the studio. (more)

• The Motion Picture Association posted a $2M surplus in 2023, boosted by member dues and a content protection initiative.(more)

• Rupert Murdoch’s bid to give Lachlan control of the Fox News empire failed after a Nevada commissioner ruled it was done in bad faith. (more)

• Canal+ will become a standalone company after Vivendi shareholders approved a spinoff plan with 97.5% support. (more)

Other News 🚨

• SAG-AFTRA members sue their health plan over negligence in a recent data breach. (more)

• Been enjoying The Dailies? Here are some other newsletters our readers also enjoy. (more)*

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