🎬 DIY Era

👋 Good morning! That's a damn fine cup of coffee you're drinking—and soon, you could be brewing it on David Lynch's actual espresso machine. More than 450 items from the legendary filmmaker's personal collection are hitting the auction block June 18th. From his La Marzocco espresso maker to the iconic red curtains from ‘Twin Peaks,’ fans can own a piece of the surreal magic behind Lynch’s classics. The visionary director left behind quite the treasure trove for cinephiles.

Happy Friday from The Dailies team! We’ll get you caught up on the latest in Hollywood before your coffee gets cold. First up, let’s take a look at what audiences were watching this week… 👇

TOP STREAMED
📊 What U.S. audiences were watching this week…

CLOSEUP
📺 News anchors are going DIY…

Big-name news talent are abandoning their network contracts in droves, trading corporate paychecks for creative freedom on platforms like Substack and YouTube. With CNN laying off 200 employees in January alone (part of 500+ cuts over the past three years) and networks slashing anchor salaries as viewership plummets, the exodus is real and it’s happening now. Just some recent examples:

• Jim Acosta left CNN after 18 years, gaining 300,000 Substack subscribers in just two months.

• Joy Reid's MSNBC show got axed, and she's testing the independent waters.

• Katie Phang tearfully said goodbye to MSNBC, only to pop up on YouTube with her own channel.

• Even Piers Morgan is exploring Substack and testing YouTube after his $65M deal expired.

• The trend isn't new—Tucker Carlson launched his own show after leaving Fox, while Don Lemon went independent after his CNN exit.

Why the exodus? Independent platforms like Substack let creators keep 90% of revenue while offering creative freedom networks can't match. Substack actively hunts TV talent, with executives reportedly calling anchors within minutes of their departures.

What it means for Hollywood: The Big Three agencies (CAA, WME, UTA) are panicking as their news talent revenue stream evaporates. Smart agents are pivoting to help clients launch independent media companies, taking equity stakes instead of commission deals. Meanwhile, independence means fewer jobs—what used to require 60 people (producers, fact-checkers, editors) is now a one-person operation producing less polished but perhaps more authentic content.

Bottom line: We're witnessing the creator economy finally hit mainstream journalism. The multi-million dollar news anchor is going extinct, replaced by scrappy independents building direct relationships with audiences.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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WIDESHOT
🎬 Reed Hastings, Broadway, and OpenAI…

👨‍💼 Some people collect stamps; Reed Hastings collects industry disruptions. The Netflix co-founder just joined the board of AI giant Anthropic. Hastings, who stepped down as Netflix co-CEO in 2023, was handpicked by Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust to help oversee the $61.5B AI company as it scales rapidly, while maintaining its focus on safety. Rather than taking a reactive approach to AI, Hastings is embedding himself directly in its development. Given that this is the same guy who murdered Blockbuster with DVD-by-mail, then turned around and killed his own DVD business with streaming, his influence on AI development could prove pivotal for an industry still figuring out how to coexist with the tech.

🎭 Broadway broke revenue records by poaching Hollywood's biggest names en masse. The 2024-2025 season hit a record $1.89B by basically turning into a very expensive Hollywood reunion. George Clooney's ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ shattered weekly records at $4.2M, while Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal's ‘Othello’ commanded an eye-watering $398 average ticket price. Add Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in ‘Glengarry Glen Ross,’ and Broadway resembled more of a Hollywood casting call than traditional theater. Though attendance actually dropped compared to 2018-2019, ticket prices jumped 4% as theaters capitalized on this celebrity exodus from screens to stage. The strategy worked: Broadway not only recovered from pandemic losses but set new financial benchmarks.

🤖 Hollywood's playing hard to get with OpenAI. While the company has been cutting deals left and right with publishers like News Corp and AP, Hollywood studios remain absent from their client roster. Any potential deals have stalled despite reports that OpenAI was courting Hollywood earlier this year, with COO Brad Lightcap admitting what many suspected: their AI tools simply aren't ready for primetime. Lightcap conceded that Sora, their text-to-video model, "isn't good enough" for production-level content, describing current efforts as building "trust" rather than closing deals. His comments came after Brian Grazer and Ron Howard said they've experimented with AI tools and are "excited" by the technology's potential for filmmakers, while emphasizing they don't believe it will replace writers or other creative roles anytime soon.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Olivia Cooke will star in ‘Brides,’ a psychological thriller from ‘Watcher’ director Chloe Okuno, set to be released theatrically by Neon. (more)

• Alex Garland is in talks with ‘Warfare’ star Kit Connor to lead A24 and Bandai Namco’s upcoming ‘Elden Ring’ film adaptation. (more)

• Miramax has acquired ‘Supermax,’ a high-stakes FBI thriller from David Weil and David J. Rosen. (more)

• Ruth Madeley will star in ‘Being Heumann,’ a new Apple film from ‘CODA’ director Siân Heder. (more)

• ‘Moana 2’ director David Derrick Jr. is leaving Disney to direct an original animated feature at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. (more)

• J.K. Simmons will lead ‘The Westies,’ a newly greenlit MGM+ crime drama about a brutal Irish gang in 1980s Hell’s Kitchen. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, and Stephen Graham will lead a new Apple series based on Lars Kepler’s bestselling crime novels. (more)

• Julia Garner and Anthony Boyle will star in Netflix’s ‘The Altruists,’ a series about Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and the FTX collapse. (more)

• Graham King and Ray Winstone are teaming up for ‘It’s a F*cking Liberty,’ a decades-spanning crime drama set in London’s East End. (more)

• Anne Watanabe and Jasper Pääkkönen lead ‘Blood & Sweat,’ a Japan-Finland noir series from Wowow and Boat Rocker. (more)

• At its first Canadian upfront, Prime Video unveiled new unscripted series ‘Trailer Trash’, ‘Romcon’, and ‘Karaoké Club.’ (more)

• CBS will retain distribution rights to ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ while its legal battle with Sony continues. (more)

• CBS revealed the returning cast for ‘Survivor 50,’ including Mike White, Cirie Fields, and Colby Donaldson, ahead of its February 2026 premiere. (more)

Business 🤝

• Nathan Kahane will step down as Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president, with Erin Westerman set to lead studio production. (more)

• Jonathan Tropper has extended his overall deal with Apple TV+ as his series ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ sets a premiere record. (more)

• Paramount is reportedly offering $15M to settle President Trump's $20B lawsuit over 60 Minutes editing ahead of its $8B Skydance merger. (more)

• CAA hires Brent Weinstein to oversee digital, podcasts, games, and M&A after his stint at UTA and Candle Media. (more)

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

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RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• Karate Kid: Legends: Martial arts drama starring Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, directed by Jonathan Entwistle.

• Bring Her Back: Supernatural horror directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, the duo behind 'Talk to Me.'

📺 STREAMING

• Mountainhead: (Max) Satirical comedy-drama starring Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef.

• And Just Like That…: (Max) S3 of the rom-com drama sequel to 'Sex and the City,' starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis.

• Dept. Q: (Netflix) Crime thriller starring Matthew Goode and Kelly Macdonald, created by Scott Frank.

• The Better Sister: (Prime Video) Thriller limited series starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks, directed by Craig Gillespie, based on Alafair Burke's novel.

• Netflix Tudum 2025: (Netflix) Live global fan event hosted by Sofia Carson, featuring exclusive reveals and performances by Lady Gaga and Hanumankind.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW

'Lilo & Stitch' is set to take the top spot again with an estimated $60M second weekend, while Sony's 'Karate Kid: Legends' is expected to take second place with a projected $25-30M debut. Not bad for a franchise that's been dormant theatrically for over a decade. 'Mission: Impossible’ rounds out the top three with an expected $32M sophomore frame, giving us a solid $115-120M total weekend that should keep exhibitors smiling as summer officially gets underway.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments