🎬 Eight Figures, Sight Unseen

👋 Good morning! The internet has cooked up a wild conspiracy theory about A24’s 'Backrooms,' which opens today: the theory goes that 20-year-old Kane Parsons didn't actually direct it, and that some seasoned ghost-director secretly ran the set in his place. Instead of denying it, Parsons leaned all the way in. He "confirmed" the theory, joking that 96% of all movies are actually directed by one shadowy figure known as "The Older Gentleman," who collects everyone's IP and life rights on the way in. Mystery solved.

You made it to Friday, so consider this your industry debrief before the weekend kicks in. First up, let’s take a look at what people were streaming this week. 👇

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) May 20 to May 27. Data provided by Luminate.

While most studios are keeping quiet about their AI experimentation, Amazon decided to put it on the menu. At their “AI on the Lot” event in Culver City this week, Amazon MGM Studios and AWS (Amazon’s cloud computing division) took the biggest public step into AI of any major studio yet. Here’s what they announced:

Amazon is, of course, framing all this as “human-centric.” COO Albert Cheng was quick to say the AI tools are meant to back up creators, not stand in for them. He also floated AI-assisted shoots as a route to busier LA sound stages. The logic: smaller, faster AI-aided crews could turn out 10 shows in the place of one big-budget production, which (he argues) would create more steady work on the lot.

The bigger picture: Studios have been quietly using AI for a while now, mostly in post and VFX where nobody has to put it on a poster. This is one of the first times a major US studio has built a whole development slate around it and said so on the record. Amazon won’t be alone for long either. Netflix has been stitching together its own AI animation unit, and other studios almost certainly won’t stay quiet for much longer.

Brittany Broski’s Royal Court and Julian Shapiro-Barnum’s Celebrity Substitute represent a bold new generation of creator-driven television redefining audience connection and modern variety storytelling.

For Your Emmy^® Consideration, Royal Court transforms the celebrity interview into a fully immersive comedic world where theatricality, sharp hosting, and genuine intimacy collide. Meanwhile, Celebrity Substitute turns surprise celebrity classroom visits into emotionally resonant stories of joy, generosity, and real human connection, blending playful format innovation with unforgettable real-world impact.

Original, culturally resonant, and built for today’s audiences, both series are now streaming on YouTube. Television has a new home.

💸 An unnamed studio bid eight figures on Curry Barker's next movie. The reported $10M offer for the 'Obsession' director and YouTuber landed before Barker had pitched anything. Insiders think a bidding war could push the number toward $20M. Catch is, the 'Obsession' deal gave Blumhouse-Atomic Monster (which has a first-look deal with Universal) first dibs on Barker's next, so rival studios have to wait. 'Obsession' jumped 39% in its second weekend at the box office, may top opening again in week three (almost unheard of), and is on pace to cross $100M. Hot on his heels, fellow YouTube alum Kane Parsons opens 'Backrooms' this weekend, tracking as A24's biggest debut ever. The YouTube-to-Hollywood pipeline has graduated to producing real hits, and studios want in.

🎙️ Netflix and Spotify joined forces to poach a podcast star. Top self-help podcaster Jay Shetty just signed a multi-year deal reportedly worth up to $100M to bring the video version of his show, 'On Purpose,' exclusively to Spotify and Netflix starting July 13. Industry watchers have increasingly framed YouTube as Netflix's real competition. Netflix could easily be competing with Spotify, but the two are pooling resources to pull a marquee creator off a shared rival. Video podcasts have basically become the new daytime TV, and when a single host is pulling in $100M (a number that used to be reserved for big scripted talent), it's a clear sign of how much weight the streamers are putting behind the format.

🎟️ MoviePass is teaming up with America's independent theaters. The much-resurrected subscription service struck a deal with the Independent Cinema Alliance, a coalition of about 180 theater companies and nearly 5,000 screens across the US and Canada. Banding together makes them the third-largest exhibition group behind AMC and Regal, good for over $1B in annual box office. Subscription tech like AMC's A-List takes capital and engineering muscle no single indie can justify alone. The deal closes that gap, and gives indies the kind of loyalty engine that's helped the bigger chains capture the box office rebound, plus a pipeline to MoviePass's young, frequent moviegoers just as Gen Z attendance climbs.

🎥 THEATRICAL

📺 STREAMING

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: This weekend belongs to 'Backrooms.' A24's liminal-horror chiller is tracking for a $45-55M open (maybe even $65M), which would smash the studio's all-time opening record. The other newcomers play for scraps: Nate Bargatze's 'The Breadwinner,' headed for around $8M, and Focus's D-Day drama 'Pressure,' projected at $6M from under 2,000 screens.