🎬 Ending the Studio System

👋 Good morning! Hollywood's favorite guessing game just got a new player. The Hollywood Reporter is breaking down who's really who on Apple TV+’s ‘The Studio’ mapping potential inspirations from Amy Pascal to David Zaslav. While officially the characters aren’t based on anyone real, the LA premiere told a different story. One insider noted the nervous laughter as executives recognized themselves on screen: "You'd look around and there was like a flash of pain on people's faces."

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🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Box Office Breakdown

• Armageddon for Studios?

• Theatrical “Binge Fests”

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

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

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Warner Bros. plays both sides… and wins…

1. 🧛 Sinners: 🆕 $45.6M domestic opening, $61M global debut. Ryan Coogler's vampire thriller snags the first-ever "A" CinemaScore for a horror film in the poll's 47-year history. Premium formats delivered 45% of ticket sales, with IMAX alone accounting for 20%. Film struggled overseas compared to its domestic performance.

2. 🎮 A Minecraft Movie: (Wk 3) $41.3M domestic weekend (-47%), $344.6M domestic total, $720.8M global. Warner Bros.' video game adaptation surpasses Harry Potter's first film domestically and is now the highest-grossing Hollywood film of 2025.

3. 👑 The King of Kings: (Wk 2) $17.3M domestic weekend (-11%), $45.3M domestic total. Angel Studios' animated Jesus film benefits enormously from Easter with a spectacular hold, becoming the 11th highest-grossing faith-based film ever.

4. 🕵️ The Amateur: (Wk 2) $7.2M domestic weekend (-51%), $27.3M domestic total, $64.3M global. Disney's Rami Malek spy thriller continues to underperform against its $60M budget.

5. ⚔️ Warfare: (Wk 2) $4.9M domestic weekend (-42%), $17.1M domestic total. A24's combat thriller needs to keep fighting to recoup its $20M budget.

6. 📱 Drop: (Wk 2) $3.4M domestic weekend (-55%), $13.5M domestic total. Universal's film takes a steep dive in its second frame.

7. 🎤 COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing: 🆕 $2.8M domestic opening. GKIDS' Sega mobile game adaptation performs well in limited release.

8. 📚 Pride & Prejudice: (Re-release) $2.7M domestic weekend, $41.3M domestic total. Focus Features' classic maintains audience interest.

9. ✝️ The Chosen: Last Supper — Part 3: (Wk 2) $1.7M domestic weekend (-72%), $11.1M domestic total.

10. 👸 Disney's Snow White: (Wk 5) $1.2M domestic weekend (-60%), $84.6M domestic total. Disney's costly remake ($250M budget) continues to disappoint.

The Big Picture: The $134.6M total box office marks a massive +51.1% jump from the same weekend in 2024, though it's -10% from last week. Warner Bros. makes history with two $40M+ grossers in the same weekend, the first time a single studio has achieved this feat in over a decade. After a difficult Q1, Warner Bros' risky auteur-heavy 2025 slate is paying off, with more high-profile titles from Maggie Gyllenhaal and P.T. Anderson on the horizon.

CLOSEUP
🤝 Ryan Coogler’s deal has some execs “freaking out”…

Ushering in the "end of the studio system" wasn't on Warner Bros. executives' bingo card when they signed Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' contract. Yet that's exactly what some panicked executives are now saying could happen as a result of the deal. So what exactly is in this apocalyptic contract that has Hollywood sweating?

• 🎯 Final cut on the $90M supernatural thriller—meaning complete creative control and no studio notes

• 💰 First-dollar gross: Coogler earns from day one of release, not after the studio recoups—a perk usually reserved for Spielberg-level veterans

• 🔄 Copyright reversion after 25 years: ownership returns to Coogler in 2050

How did Warner Bros. get here? In early 2023, the studio was still reeling from its pandemic decision to simultaneously release its entire 2021 slate on HBO Max without consulting filmmakers—a move that drove away Christopher Nolan and damaged countless creative relationships. Facing box office uncertainty and streaming struggles, Pamela Abdy and Michael DeLuca desperately needed both a hit and industry goodwill. So when Coogler arrived with his $90M project and non-negotiable ownership conditions, WB won the bidding war by accepting terms no other studio would.

The existential studio crisis…

Multiple anonymous studio executives have told Vulture that this deal is basically Armageddon for their business model. They argue studios fundamentally exist to build and monetize content libraries that generate value through decades of licensing, windowing, and IP exploitation. If top creators start demanding similar terms, studios lose their long-term revenue streams and potentially their acquisition value.

The reality check: This isn’t Hollywood’s first rodeo with ownership deals. Many industry insiders have called the panic “absurd” and “overblown,” noting only elite directors with proven track records can command such terms. Quentin Tarantino, Mel Gibson, and Richard Linklater have all secured similar deals in the past. Somehow, the credits still roll in Hollywood.

For his part, Coogler cited the symbolism of a Black director owning a film about Black ownership, calling it his “only motivation" and a one-off arrangement he won't seek for future projects.

Looking ahead… With ‘Sinners’ already bringing in $45.6M on opening weekend, all eyes are on whether this becomes a one-off exception or a new template for A-list filmmakers. Either way, studio lawyers are definitely ordering a big red "ABSOLUTELY NOT" stamp for the next time someone asks for rights reversion.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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CLOSEUP
🍿 Did Jesus just save movie theaters?

'The Chosen' is performing miracles at the box office: convincing Netflix-addicted homebodies to put on real pants and pay actual money to watch TV episodes they could stream for free. The streaming series about Jesus and his disciples just pulled in an impressive $40M+ with its fifth-season theatrical run.

Instead of dropping episodes directly on their dedicated app (yes, they have their own app), creator Dallas Jenkins and his team have split S5 into three "binge fest" theatrical events where multiple episodes play back-to-back. The episodes eventually follow a clever three-step journey: theaters first → Amazon Prime second → free on their app last. And boy is it working:

• S5 has already outperformed S4's $32M theatrical haul

• Its theatrical premiere had fans lining up days early, like it was an iPhone launch

• About 30-40% of viewers aren't even traditional churchgoers, meaning it’s popular beyond faith-based audiences

Both sides are counting their blessings…

Theaters fill seats with reliable audiences who actually show up and buy popcorn. Meanwhile, the show scores premium marketing buzz and extra revenue before it heads to streaming. Fans get to experience their favorite show as a communal event without roommates asking "who's that guy again?" every five minutes.

And that three-tiered release strategy (theaters → Prime → free app) squeezes maximum value from the same content three different ways—like selling the same product at premium, then standard, then budget prices. Smart business, people.

The bigger picture: In an industry where streaming and theaters have been painted as mortal enemies, ‘The Chosen’ shows they can actually be frenemies with benefits. With U.S. screen count down from 41,000 to 35,000 since pre-Covid and major studio theatrical output shrinking 25%, theaters are hungrier than ever for fresh content. This TV-to-theater pipeline could be a welcome boost the industry needs.

Looking ahead... This could become a template for struggling theater chains. Imagine season finales of prestige shows like ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Succession,’ or ‘The Last of Us’ getting theatrical treatment. Or picture special "binge weekend" events for highly anticipated new seasons of hit series. The question now: is this a one-off miracle, or the second coming of theatrical exhibition?

LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️

• Zoë Kravitz is in talks to direct ‘How to Save a Marriage’ for Sony, with Robert Pattinson producing the edgy new project. (more)

• Hayden Christensen is suiting up once again as Anakin Skywalker for ‘Ahsoka’ S2, officially announced at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo. (more)

• Darth Maul is getting his own animated series, ‘Maul: Shadow Lord,’ set to premiere on Disney+ in 2026. (more)

• Hulu’s ‘Murdaugh Murders’ series adds Noah Emmerich, Kathleen Wilhoite, and Tommy Dewey to its growing ensemble cast. (more)

• Lucasfilm is turning ‘The Ninth Jedi’ into a full animated series, expanding the fan-favorite ‘Visions’ short into a longer-form TV adventure. (more)

• Corey Stoll has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s ‘Imperfect Women,’ a psychological thriller starring Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington, and Kate Mara. (more)

Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌

• Amazon cancels ‘Clean Slate’ after S1. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Stop reading scripts. Start listening to them with Screenplayer. (more)*

  _*sponsored

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

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MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments