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👋 Good morning! Apple just released a movie trailer you can literally feel in your hands. To promote their upcoming Brad Pitt ‘F1’ movie, they've created a haptic trailer that syncs the iPhone's vibration motor with every rev, crash, and gear-shift on screen. If you've got an iPhone with haptics turned on, you can check it out here and see what all the buzz is about (pun absolutely intended).

Welcome to The Dailies. Friday's here, which means you're probably thinking more about weekend plans than industry news. Lucky for you, we'll keep this quick and painless—haptic feedback not included.

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

CLOSEUP
🤖 The entertainment giants have had enough…

Disney and Universal just dropped the hammer in what could be the entertainment industry’s biggest legal war since Napster. The Hollywood titans are suing AI image generator Midjourney for what they're calling straight-up theft of their most valuable characters. Here are the legal smackdown details:

• Court filings show side-by-side comparisons of real movie scenes next to AI knockoffs that look identical. Think pristine copies of Darth Vader, Yoda, and those yellow Minions.

• The studios point out these characters took decades of creative investment and billions of dollars to develop, only to watch Midjourney copy them instantly.

• Disney and Universal are seeking up to $150,000 per infringement (and there are dozens of examples in the lawsuit).

• The studios tried playing nice with cease-and-desist letters last year—Midjourney basically ghosted them.

The receipts: The lawsuit includes some damning details. Midjourney's CEO essentially confessed in a 2022 interview, admitting they "grab everything they can" from the internet and "dump it in a huge file" without seeking permission from copyright holders. The studios are basically saying: "Your honor, here's the defendant admitting to the crime."

The bigger shift happening: This is Hollywood's first major offensive against AI companies. Up until now, the loudest voices against AI companies have been creatives—actors, writers, artists—while the actual studios mostly stayed quiet. Now the studios have entered the fight directly. It's 11 Midjourney employees vs. entertainment empires with their army of lawyers and bottomless legal budgets.

Looking ahead: The timing here isn't coincidental. Midjourney's video service is set to launch sometime this month, and the studios are asking the court for an injunction to kill it before it goes live. This lawsuit isn't just about past infringement—it's about stopping the next level of threat. If Disney and Universal win big, expect other studios to follow with a flood of similar cases.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

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CLOSEUP
🎬 The format Hollywood mocked is now hiring…

While traditional film and TV production continues its exodus from LA, an unlikely savior is keeping some Hollywood workers busy: cheesy, soap-opera-style "vertical dramas" designed for your phone screen.

These aren't your prestige HBO series. Think werewolf romances, billionaire contract marriages, and titles like ‘Mafia Daddy's Surprise Sextuplets’ (yes, that’s real)—all filmed vertically in 60-90 second episodes that viewers binge on apps like ReelShort and DramaBox. Some numbers:

• ReelShort alone generates over $1B annually

• They tripled their workforce to 1,000+ people in just this past year

• Monthly production jumped from 4 shows to 30+ since early 2023

• Soundstages report these vertical projects now make up 40-50% of their bookings

• The whole market could hit $5B in the next few years

Why it's booming: Unlike Quibi's spectacularly expensive faceplant, these apps cracked the mobile engagement code. Users get hooked on free episodes, then pay "coins" to unlock cliffhangers. Here’s what they got right: Don't fight the format—embrace the cheese. While Quibi tried to bring prestige TV to phones, verticals honor their trashy roots and lean into maximum melodrama.

The Hollywood lifeline: With LA production at historic lows, these non-union gigs have become a genuine employment lifeline. Shoots wrap in a week (not months), which means more projects and more opportunities. Actors can work multiple sets in a day, writers who master the cliffhanger formula are pulling six-figure salaries, and crew members are finding steady work when traditional productions have dried up.

Looking ahead… Legacy players are finally paying attention. TelevisaUnivision unveiled 40 microdramas at their upfront in May, streaming executives are reportedly exploring the space, and some agents are researching how their clients might slum it in werewolf content.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• A24 greenlights 19-year-old horror influencer Kane Parsons’ ‘The Backrooms,’ a sci-fi horror film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. (more)

• Mel Brooks will reprise his role as Yogurt and produce a ‘Spaceballs’ sequel, set to hit theaters in 2027 via Amazon MGM Studios. (more)

• Vincent Cassel will star as Quasimodo in Netflix’s upcoming film retelling the story of Notre-Dame’s bell-ringer. (more)

• Robert Eggers is writing and directing a new ‘A Christmas Carol’ for Warner Bros, with Willem Dafoe eyed to play Scrooge. (more)

• Universal has acquired the action comedy spec ‘The Worst Man’ from Matt Altman and Dave Matalon, with 87North set to produce. (more)

• Vanessa Kirby and Sebastian Stan will star in and produce ‘Ruins,’ a Miramax-acquired adaptation of Amy Taylor’s upcoming novel. (more)

• Ashley Nicole Black has been tapped to write ‘Ma 2,’ the Blumhouse sequel starring Octavia Spencer. (more)

• Voltage Pictures has acquired global rights to ‘The Sicilian,’ a new action thriller starring Michele Morrone, Megan Fox, and Iain Glen. (more)

• Aaron Pierre will star alongside Margaret Qualley in Amazon MGM’s ‘Love of Your Life,’ directed by Rachel Morrison and produced by Ryan Gosling. (more)

• Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Her Private Hell’ adds Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, Aoi Yamada, Shioli Kutsuna, and Hidetoshi Nishijima. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Starz has greenlit ‘Fightland,’ a British boxing drama from Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, marking its first series order since splitting from Lionsgate. (more)

• Amazon MGM Studios is developing ‘God’s Country,’ a dark comedy from John Owen Lowe and Samir Mehta. (more)

• Michael Notarile and Jon M. Chu are developing ‘Tuesday Night Titans,’ a professional wrestling drama series for Netflix. (more)

• Martin Scorsese will return to Fox Nation for S2 of ‘The Saints,’ an eight-episode docudrama premiering in November 2024. (more)

• Warner Bros. Animation and DC Studios are developing an animated ‘Mister Miracle’ series with comic writer Tom King as showrunner. (more)

• ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ is renewed for a fifth and final season at Paramount+. (more)

• David Letterman’s ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction’ is renewed through S7. (more)

Business 🤝

• John Solberg is stepping down as FX’s longtime head of publicity after 28 years with the network. (more)

• Fitch and Moody’s downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery to junk status following its plan to split into two companies. (more)

• The Motion Picture Sound Editors have banned projects using generative AI from Golden Reel Awards eligibility. (more)

• Patrick Whitesell and Universal Music Group have launched a joint venture to expand artist IP into film, TV, fashion, and more. (more)

RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• How to Train Your Dragon: Live-action remake of the beloved animated film.

• Materialists: A24 romcom from director Celine Song.

• The Life of Chuck: Sci-fi drama from Mike Flanagan starring Tom Hiddleston.

• The Unholy Trinity: Western starring Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson.

📺 STREAMING

• Echo Valley: (Apple TV+) Thriller starring Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney.

• FUBAR: (Netflix) S2 of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy series.

• Deep Cover: (Prime Video) Action-comedy starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: Universal's live-action 'How to Train Your Dragon' hits 4,000 theaters this weekend, eyeing $80-90M domestically and $175-185M globally. Meanwhile, A24's new-comer 'Materialists' is expecting around $7-8M.

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