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👋 Good morning. Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles, and also of Odysseus rallying his crew with a hearty "let's go!" The latest 'The Odyssey' trailer dropped last week, and the internet can't get past the fact that everyone in ancient Ithaca sounds like they ordered an iced oat latte on the way to set. Hollywood has an unwritten rule that swords-and-sandals casts do British accents, but Nolan has the entire 'Odyssey' ensemble going American, including stars Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson (both very English). Pattinson using the word "daddy" was, for some, the final straw.
Welcome back to The Dailies. It's Monday, the inbox is full, and the weekend grosses are in. Let's get you caught up. 👇
BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ ‘Prada’ landed a fatality this Mother’s Day…
‘Mortal Kombat II’ (New Line/WB)
| WEEKEND TOTAL $162.1M| VS. 2025 +63.4%| VS. LAST WKND -6% | |
The Devil Wears Prada 2 WK 2 20th Century/Disney · $41M domestic weekend (-47%) · Domestic total: $144.8M · Global total: $433.2M · Budget: $100M Nice hold for the Streep-Hathaway-Blunt-Tucci reunion, dropping basically the same 47% the 2006 original did in its second weekend. | |
Mortal Kombat II NEW New Line/WB · $38.7M domestic weekend · Global total: $63M · Budget: $80M The opening alone nearly matches 2021's 'Mortal Kombat' final domestic gross ($42.3M), though the B CinemaScore (vs B+ for the first film) and a Saturday drop to third suggest a front-loaded run. | |
Michael WK 3 Lionsgate · $36.5M domestic weekend (-33%) · Domestic total: $240.4M · Global total: $577.4M · Budget: $200M Now the highest-grossing music biopic ever domestically, passing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' ($216.6M), and tracking toward a $1B global finish. | |
The Sheep Detectives NEW Amazon MGM · $14.8M domestic weekend · Global total: $28M · Budget: $75M Hugh Jackman family comedy opens on par with 2005's 'Nanny McPhee' ($14.5M) and ahead of 'Paddington in Peru' ($12.7M), with an A- CinemaScore and 90% positive among under-12s pointing to school-break legs. | |
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard & Soft NEW Paramount · $7.4M domestic weekend · Global total: $20M · Budget: $20M acquisition The James Cameron-directed 3D concert film grabs the weekend's only A CinemaScore. Small numbers, strong reception. | |
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie WK 6 Universal/Illumination · $6.3M domestic weekend (-48%) · Domestic total: $411.8M · Global total: $941.2M · Budget: $110M | |
Project Hail Mary WK 8 Amazon MGM · $6M domestic weekend (-29%) · Domestic total: $327.7M · Global total: $655.8M · Budget: $248M gross | |
Hokum WK 2 Neon · $3.5M domestic weekend (-45%) · Domestic total: $12.7M · Global total: $14.6M · Budget: $5M | |
Deep Water WK 2 Magnolia · $784K domestic weekend (-63%) · Domestic total: $3.67M · Budget: $40M | |
Animal Farm WK 2 Angel Studios · $500K domestic weekend (-85%) · Domestic total: $5M · Budget: $35M | |
The big picture: 2026 keeps pulling ahead. YTD domestic is now $3.02B per Comscore, running 16% above where 2025 was at this point. And Disney just became the first studio to cross $2B globally for the year, mostly thanks to 'Prada 2,' which is closing in on a $700M franchise total.
CLOSEUP
🇫🇷 Cannes returns today for its 79th run…
Workers install the official 2026 festival poster yesterday (Aurore Marechal/Getty Images)
The red carpet is rolled out on the Croisette, and the American footprint is thin this year. Of 22 competition films, only two are from US filmmakers: Ira Sachs's 'The Man I Love' and James Gray's 'Paper Tiger.' The rest leans heavily international. Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' skipped Cannes; Alejandro G. Iñárritu's 'Digger' (with Tom Cruise) is likely skipping the festival circuit altogether. No studio tentpoles made the cut. The festival’s director had this to say:
"When the studios are less present in Cannes, they are less present full stop."
Pierre Salvadori's 'The Electric Kiss' takes the opening honors tonight. Check out the full festival lineup here. 👈👀
Park Chan-wook is running the jury this year (a Cannes first for a Korean director), backed by Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgård, Chloé Zhao, Ruth Negga, Isaach De Bankolé, Diego Céspedes, Laura Wandel, and Paul Laverty.
There is American action on the buyer side, though. Neon has distributed the last six Palme d'Or winners in a row ('Anora,' last year's 'It Was Just an Accident,' and four more before that), and they're back this year hunting for number seven, arriving with nine films already in the official selection. Warner Bros.' new specialty label Clockwork makes its Cannes debut with a 4K restoration of Ken Russell's banned 1971 fever dream 'The Devils.'
On the market floor, packages like Park Chan-wook's western 'The Brigands of Rattlecreek' and Kitty Green's 'The Spacesuit' are drawing early heat. Check out some of the top packages here. 👈👀
One thing won’t be on the table: generative AI is banned from the Palme race. Films where AI handles scripting, visuals, or performance synthesis can't compete. Standard tech like sound restoration is fine. Over at the Marché, there's an "AI for Talent" summit on the schedule. Cannes contains multitudes.
Looking ahead… The festival runs through May 23. The Palme d'Or ceremony closes things out. Brace for headlines reporting standing ovation times with the precision of an Olympic event and the accuracy of a fishing story.
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CLOSEUP
🤑 TV’s annual ad bazaar is back…
Radio City Music Hall in New York, where NBCU kicks off Upfront Week today.
Every May, TV networks throw themselves a three-day sales party. They roll out new shows, hire a late-night host, parade some stars, and try to lock advertisers into billions of dollars in commercial slots months before anything airs. That's the upfront. This year's edition kicks off today, with NBCU presenting at Radio City, followed by Fox and Amazon tonight. Disney’s on Tuesday, and WBD, Netflix, and YouTube wrap things up Wednesday at Lincoln Center. The current backdrop:
Linear TV ad commitments fell about 3% last cycle, the third straight year of decline. Cable revenue is projected to drop another 10% in 2026 (the cord, still cutting).
Streaming commitments rose nearly 18%, but now that Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Peacock, and Max all have ad tiers, there's a lot more inventory chasing the same dollars. Per-viewer rates are sliding.
Most of the ad market has migrated to digital. Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft now pull in roughly 65% of all U.S. ad spend. The upfront is a fight over what's left.
The one thing keeping the show on the road is sports. NBCU's upfront last year was its biggest ever, riding the NBA, the Olympics, and Super Bowl LX. Amazon's 11-year, $19.8B NBA deal, which kicked off last fall, is the biggest content bet in its history. And Disney is trying to charge $10M for a 30-second Super Bowl LXI spot on ABC in February, though buyers are balking. Live games are still the one thing that reliably pulls a crowd all at once.
The bigger picture: Upfront Week is increasingly a ritual that flatters legacy media's self-image more than its balance sheet. The actual ad market has moved to YouTube, Amazon, TikTok, and a long tail of creators who'd never set foot on the Radio City stage. Fitting that the closer this week is YouTube.
ICYMI
⚡️ Quick hits…
Stephen Graham accepts the Leading Actor Award for 'Adolescence' during the 2026 BAFTA Television Awards (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
📺 The BAFTA TV Awards were handed out yesterday in London. 'Adolescence' (yes, somehow still eligible) made history by scooping a record four wins. The Netflix drama nabbed best limited series, leading actor for Stephen Graham, and supporting wins for Owen Cooper and Christine Tremarco. Full list of winners here. 👈👀
🗣️ The DGA's heading into contract talks with the AMPTP today, the last of Hollywood's big three after WGA and SAG-AFTRA wrapped up early. As with those deals, healthcare's the top issue, with the DGA's plan losing $38.8M last year. AI, jobs, and contract length will round out the agenda.
⚖️ Warner Bros. settled its 'Matrix Resurrections' fight with Village Roadshow for $57M. The co-financier sued back in 2022 claiming Warner's day-and-date HBO Max release tanked the box office and breached their deal. An arbitrator originally sided with Warner, ordering Roadshow to pay $125M and bankrupting it.
🌋 James Cameron, Disney, and Fox are getting sued over Neytiri's chin. Actress Q'orianka Kilcher ('The New World') alleges Cameron lifted her face to design the 'Avatar' lead, citing Cameron’s previous comments. Lawyers call it frivolous, but the outcome could have implications for AI likeness rights.
LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Shawn Levy won a heated bidding war to direct Netflix's emotional sci-fi 'Somewhere Out There.' (more)
Renée Zellweger's joining Sissy Spacek and Mia Threapleton in Julia Cox's family drama 'A Woman in the Sun.' (more)
Jonathan Bailey and Natalie Portman will star in Mimi Cave’s cycling thriller ‘Pumping Black.’ (more)
Imogen Poots and John Reynolds will lead 'Sex Criminals,' Prime Video's adaptation of the hit Image Comics series. (more)
Greg Mottola's reportedly the frontrunner to direct DC's upcoming 'Deathstroke & Bane.' (more)
Magenta Light Studios picked up 'Lice,' starring Emile Hirsch, Justin Long, and Kevin Connolly, for a 2027 theatrical release. (more)
TV Development 📺
Netflix greenlit 'Florida,' a follow-up to Norwegian disaster hit 'La Palma,' this time with a tsunami bearing down on the Sunshine State. (more)
'The Walking Dead' is on the move, with AMC shopping the franchise to major streamers for a new home. (more)
NBC's 2026-27 slate landed four series orders: 'The Rockford Files,' 'Line of Fire,' 'Sunset P.I.,' and 'Newlyweds.' (more)
Business 🤝
WGA West struck a tentative deal with its own striking staff union, potentially ending a nearly three-month labor dispute. (more)
AMC Global Media's Q1 streaming revenue climbed even as it lost some subscribers and absorbed a $4M restructuring charge. (more)
Forget 10k steps - this viral walking routine is what you should actually do. (more)*
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That’s Monday. Meet you back here Wednesday for more.
-The Dailies Team
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