🎬 Dead on Arrival

👋 Good morning! Timothée Chalamet is about to join an incredibly exclusive SNL club as only the fifth non-professional musician to pull double duty in the show's 50-year history. The star is set to host and perform musical guest duties on January 25th—a feat that hasn't been attempted by a non-musician in 30 years. Fresh off playing Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown,' Chalamet's bringing those Dylan covers to Studio 8H, joining the ranks of legendary dual-duty hosts like Paul Simon, Ray Charles, and Taylor Swift.

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:

• Venu Sports is Dead on Arrival

• UFC Hunts a Massive Payday

• Amazon Enters the News Game

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Call Sheet: The week ahead

• Martini Shot 🍸

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

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ ‘Den of Thieves’ tops, ‘Better Man’ flops…

1. 🦹‍♂️ Den of Thieves 2: Pantera: $15.5M domestic opening from 3,008 theaters. Gerard Butler's heist sequel matches its predecessor's $15.2M launch from 2018. B+ CinemaScore and 58% on Rotten Tomatoes.

2. 🦁 Mufasa: The Lion King: $13.2M domestic (-44%), $188.8M domestic total, $540M global. Disney's $200M prequel showing decent legs in its fourth frame.

3. 🦔 Sonic the Hedgehog 3: $11M domestic (-48%), $204.5M domestic total, $384.8M global. First live-action video game movie to cross $200M domestically.

4. 🧛‍♂️ Nosferatu: $6.8M domestic (-48%), $81.8M domestic total, $135M global. Focus Features' vampire remake continues to overperform, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated horror films of recent years.

5. 🌊 Moana 2: $6.5M domestic (-48%), $434.9M domestic total, $989.8M global. Disney's animated sequel about to cross the coveted $1B mark worldwide.

6. 🎸 A Complete Unknown: $5M domestic (-39%), $50.8M domestic total. Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan biopic holding steady.

7. 🧙‍♀️ Wicked: $5M domestic (-50%), $458.9M domestic total, $698M global.

8. 👶 Babygirl: $3.1M domestic (-31%), $21.7M domestic total. A24's indie sensation showing strong holds.

9. 💃 The Last Showgirl: $1.53M domestic from 870 theaters. Pamela Anderson's awards contender goes wide after December qualifier.

10. 🏛️ The Brutalist: $1.39M domestic (+468%), $2.7M domestic total. Fresh off multiple Golden Globe wins, A24's historical epic impresses with $20.4K per-screen average on just 68 screens.

The big picture: This weekend's total box office hit $76.4M, down 21.4% from the same frame last year. External factors like devastating wildfires in Los Angeles and winter storms in Texas dampened attendance. Still, there were reasons to celebrate: Lionsgate finally broke its dry spell with ‘Den of Thieves 2’ swiping the top spot, while ‘The Brutalist’ proved indie films can still pack a punch. ‘Better Man,’ the unconventional Robbie Williams biopic featuring a CGI monkey as its star, stumbled hard with just $1M in its wide expansion, failing to even crack the top 10. The box office might be in winter hibernation now, but February's looking brighter as ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ and ‘Paddington in Peru’ aim to jumpstart 2025's box office.

WIDESHOT
🎬 Venu is DOD, UFC billions, and Amazon news…

🎯📺 The streaming world's most ambitious team-up just collapsed. Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have killed Venu Sports—their planned joint streaming service that would have put most major sports under one digital roof. The venture hit the rocks after streaming underdog Fubo blocked the launch with an antitrust suit, Warner lost its NBA rights, and TV providers started offering cheaper packages with fewer channels. Last week, Disney tried to salvage the situation by buying 70% of Fubo for $220M and merging in Hulu's live TV business—a deal that is set to create the second-largest streaming TV service after YouTube TV. But continued legal pressure from DirecTV and Dish proved the final straw. The fallout reshapes streaming's future: Disney can now focus on launching ESPN's standalone service in 2025 while controlling Fubo's planned sports bundle. Fox needs to figure out how to stream its sports (possibly through Disney/ESPN), while Warner starts over. Ironically, Fubo—the upstart that derailed Venu—becomes Disney's new vehicle for reimagining TV packages.

🥊💰 The UFC is swinging big in its next media rights deal. The MMA powerhouse is seeking over $1B annually, which would dwarf their current $450M ESPN package. After seven years of partnership that's transformed them from scrappy outsider to mainstream sensation, they're not ruling out re-upping with ESPN—but they're also taking a page from the NFL/NBA playbook by potentially splitting rights between multiple buyers. The timing couldn't be better: with the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL all locked into long-term deals, UFC's rights are among the biggest sports packages up for grabs. Netflix's interest is particularly telling—fresh off their $5B WWE deal to make WWE's Raw its first-ever weekly live program, it's the latest sign of streaming giants going all-in on live sports to fuel subscriber growth. As traditional networks and tech giants square up for these rights, UFC's deal could rewrite the playbook for how second-tier sports properties cash in on their content.

📺🗞️ Amazon's dipping its toes into news waters. Brian Williams made quite a splash on Prime Video's Election Night special, pulling in 4M viewers and leaving CBS News in his wake. The tech giant's exploring an event-based news strategy that mirrors its sports playbook—think project-based talent deals rather than full-time contracts. While traditional networks are wielding the axe (CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC are all trimming staff), Amazon's fresh approach is attracting TV veterans like Williams, Shepard Smith, and Don Lemon, who suddenly find themselves with more free time thanks to traditional media's belt-tightening. Instead of building a full-blown news division, Amazon's cherry-picking specific events with politically neutral coverage. With 58% of Americans getting their news fix digitally and traditional outlets struggling, Amazon's move could signal a bigger shift—one where streaming giants become the new power players in news.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
🚨 It’s your last chance…

Registration closes tonight for Develop Your TV Pitch, the 7-week online course starting this Thursday, January 16.

Chris Amick—who’s sold hit shows to Netflix, Max, and DreamWorks—knows exactly what it takes to get a “yes” in the room, and in this course, he’ll teach you step-by-step how to:

• Craft a pitch that sells.

• Learn what networks want.

• Build the confidence to own the room.

👉 This is your final chance to join— registration closes at midnight.

LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️

• Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi film ‘Mickey 17,’ starring Robert Pattinson, will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival ahead of its global release. (more)

• Universal delays ‘Shrek 5’ to December 2026, moves up ‘Minions 3’ to July 2026, and shifts an untitled Illumination film to June 2027. (more)

• Disney+ is producing a documentary about Caroline Flack, following her mother’s journey to uncover the events leading to the former ‘Love Island’ host’s tragic death in 2020. (more)

• Meghan Markle delays Netflix’s ‘With Love, Meghan’ to March 4 to focus on Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts with full support from the streamer. (more)

Business 🤝

• Priya Aiyar joins Warner Bros. Discovery as Chief Legal Officer, bringing extensive experience from American Airlines and U.S. government roles. (more)

Other News 🚨

• The Producers Guild Awards nominations are delayed again due to L.A. wildfires, joining several other postponed awards season events. (more)

• SAG-AFTRA donates $1M to its Disaster Relief Fund to support members impacted by the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. (more)

• Disney donates $15M to support relief and rebuilding efforts following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. (more)

CALL SHEET
📅 The week ahead

• MONDAY: WGA Awards nominations announced.

• TUESDAY: Oscar nominations voting closes.

• SUNDAY: Oscar nominations revealed.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 800,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.

Sign up to start learning.