🎬 Conjuring Up a Win

👋 Good morning! Tom Cruise finally got his Oscar. At this weekend’s Governors Awards, he accepted his Honorary statue (presumably after running there from Burbank), telling the room "making films is not what I do, it is who I am." After four nominations and zero wins since 1989, Cruise got his award from Alejandro G. Iñárritu (who's directing him in something for 2026).

Happy Monday from a rain-soaked Los Angeles. We’ve got fresh box office numbers and weekend industry news to unpack. Grab your coffee and we'll get you caught up. 👇

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Lionsgate conjures up a win…

1. 🎩 Now You See Me: Now You Don't: 🆕 $21.3M domestic opening, $75.5M global debut, $90M budget. Lionsgate's magician heist threequel surprised with a #1 finish, with women driving 54% of ticket sales and China delivering a massive $19.2M.

2. 🏃‍♂️ The Running Man: 🆕 $17M domestic opening, $28.2M global debut, $110M budget. Glen Powell's first stumble since achieving movie star status as Edgar Wright's dystopian reboot fell below tracking, unable to escape its R-rating limitations. 35% of international territories have yet to open (including China, Korea, and Brazil).

3. 👽 Predator: Badlands: (Wk 2) $13M domestic weekend (-68%), $66.3M domestic total, $136.3M global, $105M budget. The Elle Fanning-led reboot dropped harder than expected despite already becoming the franchise's second-best performer behind 'Alien vs. Predator.'

4. 💔 Regretting You: (Wk 4) $5M domestic weekend (-25%), $45.9M domestic total, $83.5M global, $30M budget.

5. ☎️ Black Phone 2: (Wk 5) $2.65M domestic weekend (-49%), $74.7M domestic total, $127.7M global, $30M budget.

6. 🕯️ Keeper: 🆕 $2.5M domestic opening, $6M budget. Osgood Perkins' third Neon horror collab disappointed with a D+ CinemaScore, a far cry from 'Longlegs' success.

7. ⚖️ Nuremberg: (Wk 2) $2.4M domestic weekend (-37%), $8.5M domestic total.

8. 👧 Sarah's Oil: (Wk 2) $2.3M domestic weekend (-45%), $8.7M domestic total, $18M budget.

9. 👩‍🦲 Bugonia: (Wk 4) $1.6M domestic weekend (-53%), $15.7M domestic total, $30.4M global, $55M budget.

10. 🪚 Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc: (Wk 4) $1.6M domestic weekend (-53%), $41.2M domestic total, $161.2M global.

The big picture: Hollywood managed to bring in $75.2M this weekend, up 7.1% from last year's comparable frame but down 9.5% from last week. Next weekend Universal's 'Wicked: For Good' arrives to potentially save the pre-Thanksgiving frame.

CLOSEUP
📽️ The boutique distributor boom is here…

When Kristen Stewart's directorial debut premiered at Cannes, you'd expect Sony or Focus Features to snap it up. Instead, 'The Chronology of Water' went to The Forge, a distributor so new that industry insiders literally had to Google it.

Why Stewart's film isn't alone: Traditional distributors used to scoop up these films, but they've pulled back as marketing budgets shrink and box office revenue disappoints. Now dozens of great films premiere at Sundance, SXSW, and Cannes every year with no buyers in sight. The boutiques are stepping in to fill that gap, testing new models to make indie distribution actually work. Here's what they're doing differently:

• Ultra-niche targeting: Each distributor picks a specific audience—Watermelon Pictures for Palestinian cinema, Future of Film Is Female for women directors, Suncatcher for disability stories—then tailors their release strategies to build buzz within these communities specifically.

• Theatrical as loss leader: They lose money on theater runs on purpose, accepting 50/50 ticket revenue splits (much more favorable to theaters than traditional deals). Why? Because having your film in theaters generates reviews and credibility needed to sell to Netflix or Hulu later.

• Filmmaker-first payment terms: Producers actually get paid from box office revenue immediately, not after the distributor recoups expenses. In traditional deals, filmmakers wait months or years to see any money (if ever). Some boutiques are flipping this completely.

The big picture: Companies this small handling prestige films like Stewart's is becoming the new normal. With traditional buyers MIA, these boutiques are rewriting how indie films reach audiences. Not all will survive, but they're proving the old model wasn't the only model.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 YouTube, Disney, and MS Now…

🎙️ YouTube wants its own Jimmy Fallon. As advertising dollars flee traditional TV for the creator economy, YouTube has started backing exclusive shows to capture them. First up: Julian Shapiro-Barnum's 'Outside Tonight,' a weekly late-night show filmed on location around New York City. It's part of a broader YouTube slate that includes everything from stand-up specials to preschool programming. Last week in New York, YouTube executives pitched these platform-backed shows to advertisers looking for premium inventory. It's a pretty big shift for the platform: YouTube built its empire hosting whatever creators uploaded independently. Now it's actively curating and elevating select content to compete with traditional media.

💋 Disney and YouTube TV kissed and made up after their two-week standoff. The companies called a truce on their 15-day blackout, inking a multiyear deal that brought ESPN, ABC and other Disney networks back to 10M YouTube TV subscribers. Those subscribers are also getting a bonus: Disney's new ESPN streaming service at no extra charge when it launches next year. The drama exposed how the tables have turned in TV distribution. YouTube TV, once the new kid on the block desperate for content deals, now has the clout to let ESPN go dark during football season while they haggle over fees. Analysts predict it'll soon become America's largest pay-TV provider, and the streaming service is calling the shots in ways traditional cable companies never could.

📺 The deed is done: MSNBC officially becomes MS NOW. The cable news network officially rebranded Saturday as Comcast spins it off into Versant, joining other media companies isolating cable's decline from their healthier businesses. Hosts have spent months reassuring viewers that programming and personalities will stay the same, but executives will still be watching this week's Nielsen ratings for any audience defection. The network did beat CNN covering November 4 elections under its old branding, giving them some momentum. The real test comes today when viewers wake up to 'Morning Joe' on a channel that sounds like a Windows error message.

MARKET WATCH
🤔 The race to buy Warner Bros. is intensifying…

First-round bids for Warner Bros. Discovery are due this Thursday, with Netflix, Comcast, and Paramount circling David Zaslav's empire. Paramount, which already saw three offers rejected, is back for another round.

Antitrust concerns are mounting. Rep. Darrell Issa warned regulators last week that combining Netflix with WBD would give them over 30% of the streaming market, a threshold that typically triggers regulatory scrutiny. He argues this could harm both consumers and industry jobs.

Then there's the Saudi angle. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts was spotted meeting Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund last week, and there are reports the Saudis are allegedly close to a deal. Comcast has already hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to evaluate a bid, but why would they need the Saudis? The company's market cap is under $100B, and WBD could sell for $60B+. That's a tough financial stretch without deep-pocketed partners.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Ryan Coogler confirmed that ‘Black Panther 3’ is officially his next film and is already in active development. (more)

• Angel Studios has acquired the IP rights to ‘Tuttle Twins,’ ‘Homestead,’ and ‘The Wingfeather Saga’ in an $89M deal. (more)

• Sony Pictures is developing a feature film based on the viral Chinese toy sensation Labubu, aiming to launch a new franchise. (more)

• Alexa Swinton, Margarita Levieva, and Matthew Lillard have joined Tony Gilroy’s Searchlight thriller ‘Behemoth!’ alongside Pedro Pascal. (more)

• Atlas Entertainment and Ghost Machine are developing a feature adaptation of Geoff Johns’ bestselling comic ‘Redcoat.’ (more)

• Scott Eastwood and Susan Sarandon have joined Rosario Dawson in the supernatural thriller ‘Unmerciful Good Fortune,’ now selling at AFM. (more)

• Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley will write, produce, and direct a new standalone ‘Star Trek’ film for Paramount. (more)

• The Asylum is reviving the franchise with ‘Sharknado Origins,’ a prequel set to begin production this year and release in summer 2026. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Crave has begun production on ‘Late Bloomer’ S3 with Jasmeet Raina and Nelu Handa taking over as showrunners. (more)

• Lala Kent and Tom Schwartz are joining ‘The Valley’ S3 as full-time cast members following their ‘Vanderpump Rules’ cameos. (more)

• Lesley-Ann Brandt has joined S2 of Apple’s ‘Presumed Innocent’ as a series regular alongside Rachel Brosnahan and Matthew Rhys. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Cris Abrego has been re-elected to a second term as chair of the Television Academy, continuing his leadership through 2027. (more)

• SAG-AFTRA has rebranded the SAG Awards as The Actor Awards, aligning the show’s name with its iconic statuette. (more)

VIDEO VILLAGE
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MARTINI SHOT
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