🎬 Hail Mary

👋 Good morning! The Sphere's executive chairman, James Dolan, just turned 'The Wizard of Oz' into ‘Where's Waldo?’. Hours before last night's premiere of the A.I.-enhanced adaptation at the Las Vegas Sphere, Dolan (yes, the guy who owns the Knicks) revealed he and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav have been digitally inserted as background characters in the immersive adaptation. "I challenge you to find it," he told reporters about the two-second cameo. Naturally, the A.I.-powered face-swap has quickly drawn fire from several industry voices.

Happy Friday. Quick heads up: we're going dark Monday for Labor Day, but we'll be back after the holiday with box office numbers and whatever drama unfolds while we're gone. Now, let’s take a look at what everyone was streaming this week. 👇

TOP-STREAMED
📊 This week’s top-streamed originals…

How last week’s new releases performed in the US…

• 📰 The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: (Hulu) Episode 1 opened to 793K views over the weekend per Luminate. For perspective, that's about half of what Hulu's 'Paradise' pulled in with 1.4M during its first three days.

• 🗺️ The Map That Leads To You: (Prime Video) This romantic drama film attracted 2.5M views in its first full week. Solid, though Prime’s 2024 hit ‘The Idea of You’ was in another league with 7.4M views.

• 🦸 Peacemaker: (HBO Max) Episode 1 of S2 took off with 2.5M views in its first weekend—more than double the 1.2M that S1 opened with.

• 🇬🇧 Hostage: (Netflix) The British political thriller delivered 2.6M views for the full season over its debut weekend. Decent numbers, though well below breakout hits like 'Untamed,' which opened to 7M views.

• 💔 Fall For Me: (Netflix) Netflix’s new romance logged 1.5M views opening weekend, making it the streamer’s #2 film domestically this week, right behind ‘KPop Demon Hunters.’

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) Aug. 22 to Aug. 28. Data provided by Luminate.

CLOSEUP
📺 NBC’s using the NFL as a lifeline for late-night TV…

NBC's turning to the NFL to save 'The Tonight Show,' piggybacking Jimmy Fallon onto 'Sunday Night Football' broadcasts this fall. The network will air special episodes after four NFL games, hoping ‘Sunday Night Football’s’ 21.6M viewers stick around for some late-night laughs. The game plan:

• NBC’s targeting high-profile games including two Chiefs matchups that'll be pop culture events thanks to Travis Kelce's recent engagement to Taylor Swift

• The network saw success with this last year: when 'Tonight' aired after 'Sunday Night Football,' it scored Fallon's best ratings of the season

• They’re also booking A-list guests for Sunday airings, with Matthew McConaughey and Eric Church already locked in

The bigger picture: CBS canceled Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' earlier this summer due to financial losses. NBC acknowledges that both Fallon and Seth Meyers face similar challenges: eroding viewership, shrinking ad revenue, and younger audiences preferring social media clips over traditional broadcasts.

But NBC's not giving up. Executives argue these shows are "amazing ecosystems" that promote Universal films, Peacock content, and other NBCUniversal properties, making them worth keeping around despite the financial losses.

Looking ahead… Fallon and Meyers are both locked in through 2028, with NBC fully committed to their success. NBC's also building Fallon's brand beyond late-night to potentially boost 'The Tonight Show.' His game show 'Password' just got renewed for S3 after reaching 32M viewers, and he's launching 'On Brand with Jimmy Fallon' this fall.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 California, copyright lawsuits, and ‘Taskmaster’…

💸 California just gave out $256M in tax credits. The state awarded $255.7M to 22 TV productions including 'The Studio,' 'Presumed Innocent,' and 'NCIS: Origins' in the first round since California expanded its film/TV incentive program from $330M to $750M in June and opened eligibility to half-hour shows for the first time. Following these changes, the California Film Commission saw applications jump nearly 400% compared to last year. An untitled Dan Fogelman drama for Hulu scored the biggest single allocation at $42.8M. The commission says these credits should generate around $1.1B in economic activity and create work for 6,500 cast and crew members across the state.

👩🏻‍⚖️ Hollywood copyright lawsuits are surging. The producers behind Viola Davis action thriller 'G20' were sued Wednesday by writer Clarice Eboni Boykin-Patterson, who claims they copied her screenplay about a Black woman politician saving hostages from terrorists while juggling family drama. The case reflects a broader trend: federal appeals courts have been telling judges not to dismiss copyright cases too quickly, sparking a wave of infringement lawsuits as writers see new opportunities. Still, plaintiffs face brutal odds. Cases against Disney ('Moana') and M. Night Shyamalan ('Servant') both ended in defense verdicts this year, with juries typically remaining skeptical that similar ideas constitute theft.

👨‍💻 British comedy ‘Taskmaster’ is skipping US networks and going direct to fans. The competition series, where comedians complete absurd challenges judged by hosts Greg Davies and Alex Horne, releases S20 in full on YouTube starting Sept. 11, an hour after UK broadcast. After failing twice with traditional distribution in the US (a cancelled Comedy Central version in 2018 and removal from The CW in 2020), ‘Taskmaster’ found success going direct to viewers online, where S19 alone pulled 19M North American views. The show's YouTube channel has surpassed 1.2B total views with nearly 2M subscribers worldwide, proving YouTube is becoming a legitimate distribution strategy for major shows.

ICYMI
⚡️ Quick hits…

🇮🇹 Venice Film Festival kicked off with its first major premieres including Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Bugonia' starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, Noah Baumbach's 'Jay Kelly' featuring George Clooney and Adam Sandler, and Paolo Sorrentino's 'La Grazia.' More anticipated titles including Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' still to come.

🌄 The Telluride Film Festival kicks off today in the Colorado Rockies with over 60 features. World premieres include Scott Cooper's Bruce Springsteen biopic 'Deliver Me From Nowhere,' Chloé Zhao's 'Hamnet' with Paul Mescal as Shakespeare, and Edward Berger's 'Ballad of a Small Player.'

📺 'SNL' is undergoing its biggest cast shakeup in years with four departures: Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim. Lorne Michaels told Puck he felt "pressure to reinvent this season" after keeping the cast intact for the show's 50th anniversary, deliberately avoiding disruptions during the milestone year.

🤝 Fox and YouTube TV reached a last-minute carriage deal yesterday, keeping Fox broadcast network, Fox News, FS1 and other channels on the streaming platform. The agreement came after public warnings from both sides and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr urging Google to "get a deal done."

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Todd Haynes’ shelved romance ‘De Noche’ is being revived, with Pedro Pascal circling to star alongside Danny Ramirez. (more)

• Milly Alcock will star in dark comedy ‘Thumb,’ about a woman obsessed with returning a severed thumb to its owner, from Weed Road and Bluestone. (more)

• Lucasfilm has set the cast for ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’, adding Amy Adams and Aaron Pierre alongside Ryan Gosling in Shawn Levy’s 2027 film. (more)

• Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen are in talks to star in comedy ‘Babies,’ directed by Lauren Miller Rogen and launching at the TIFF market. (more)

• Thomasin McKenzie and Toby Wallace will star in Frances O’Connor’s sophomore film ‘Sister Maria Goes to Rome.’ (more)

• Princ Films has picked up worldwide sales rights to Martin Freeman and Malin Akerman’s comedy ‘Let’s Love’ ahead of the TIFF market. (more)

• John Cho and Alexandra Daddario will star in horror-thriller ‘Inground,’ produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free and launching at the TIFF market. (more)

TV Development 📺

• John Malkovich has joined Apple TV+ comedy ‘Bad Monkey’ as a series regular for S2. (more)

• HBO has won a bidding war for Seth Harp’s nonfiction book ‘The Fort Bragg Cartel,’ with Harp and Len Amato executive producing. (more)

• Hilary Duff will star in and executive produce Hulu’s comedy ‘Pretty Ugly,’ based on Kirker Butler’s novel about an obsessive pageant mom. (more)

• BBC has acquired Apple TV+ sitcom ‘Trying,’ marking its first deal to buy a series from the streamer. (more)

• Elizabeth Banks will star as Karen Read in Prime Video’s limited series about the infamous court case, from David E. Kelley and Justin Noble. (more)

Business 🤝

• Warner Bros. has named former ValueAct partner Brad Singer as CFO ahead of its 2026 post-split launch. (more)

• Peacock will launch on Prime Video Channels under a new Comcast–Amazon deal at $16.99/month. (more)

• FuboTV will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny sports-focused streaming plan, on Sept. 2 with 20+ networks and bundled ESPN+ access. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Anonymous Content is laying off about 15% of its staff across departments amid broader industry cutbacks. (more)

RELEASE RADAR
📅 This week’s new releases…

🎥 THEATRICAL

• Caught Stealing: Comedy crime thriller starring Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, directed by Darren Aronofsky.

• The Roses: Satirical dark comedy remake of ‘The War of the Roses’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as a warring couple.

• The Toxic Avenger: Superhero comedy reboot starring Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood, directed by Macon Blair.

📺 STREAMING

• The Terminal List: Dark Wolf: (Prime Video) Action thriller prequel series starring Taylor Kitsch and Chris Pratt.

• My Life with the Walter Boys: (Netflix) S2 of the teen drama series starring Nikki Rodriguez.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'Weapons' and 'Caught Stealing' are locked in a dead heat for #1 this weekend, both eyeing $8-12M. The horror hit should edge out Austin Butler's crime thriller by Sunday, though neither will save us from the typical late-August slump. Total weekend box office looks to land under $75M as we wait for September's bigger releases.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments