🎬 HBO's Walk of Shame

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👋 Good morning! Finally, "true crime" and "the uncanny valley" are available in one convenient package. Law&Crime is using AI to recreate P. Diddy's federal trial where cameras are banned, turning official transcripts into digital reenactments of witness testimony and legal arguments. And yep, it’s just as creepy as you’re imagining. The virtual courtroom drama will be available on Law&Crime's YouTube channel. Black Mirror episode or legal innovation? You decide.

Happy Friday and welcome aboard The Dailies. Grab your coffee and we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood. Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• You’re Netflix’s New Product

• HBO: The Return Tour

• Studios Lose Copyright Shield

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Release Radar: What to watch this weekend

• Martini Shot 🍸

But first, it’s Friday, so let’s take a look at what people were watching this week… 👀

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

WIDESHOT
🎬 Netflix’s new ad tech, copyrights, and HBO Max…

🎯 Remember when you were Netflix's customer? Now you're their product. On the final day of upfronts this week, Netflix spent over 13 minutes of their 75-minute presentation on advertising technology before even mentioning upcoming shows. While competitors trotted out stars and sizzle reels all week, Netflix executives dove deep into their new "Netflix Ads Suite," a platform letting advertisers precisely target their 94M ad-tier viewers. This contained enough tech jargon to sound more like a Silicon Valley tech launch than a Hollywood event. It's quite an evolution for a company that once built its entire brand on being ad-free. With subscription growth plateauing, Netflix is betting big on ad revenue by transforming viewers into valuable data points for marketers. For Netflix's ad-tier subscribers, you're no longer just the customer—you're also the product. This balancing act between entertainment provider and advertising platform may define the next chapter for all streaming services seeking profits beyond subscriptions.

🔄 Warner just can't quit HBO. Warner Bros. Discovery announced it’s rebranding its flagship streaming service from Max back to HBO Max just two years after dropping the prestigious prefix. It’s basically an admission that Zaslav's vision of merging HBO’s prestige programming with Discovery's reality empire failed. Turns out subscribers willing to pay premium prices would rather watch ‘Succession’ than ‘90 Day Fiancé’ (shocking!). Their social media team came prepared, flooding Twitter with self-deprecating memes and clips before the internet could roast them first. By highlighting HBO again, WBD is essentially color-coding its assets for potential investors—premium content in one bucket, declining cable shows in another—following NBCUniversal's playbook of spinning off its cable channels while keeping its crown jewels. With $35B in debt, don't be surprised if Discovery's reality empire soon gets voted off the corporate island.

⚖️ Hollywood's copyright guardian just got canned. The U.S. Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, was abruptly dismissed last weekend just 24 hours after her office released a report stating AI companies can't freely use copyrighted movies and TV shows for training. The 108-page document concluded that using "vast troves of copyrighted works" to create competing content crosses the line of fair use. Though not legally binding, Copyright Office guidance typically influences court decisions. Studios now face uncertainty about whether the report will be withdrawn or revised under new leadership—potentially killing their leverage in negotiations with AI companies seeking to use their content. The situation leaves Hollywood executives and lawyers scratching their heads about what copyright protections they can reliably count on, right when many were figuring out how to both shield their content from AI training and use the technology themselves.

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LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Daisy Edgar-Jones will lead Netflix’s heist thriller ‘Here Comes the Flood.’ (more)

• IFC acquires ‘Over Your Dead Body,’ a dark comedy starring Jason Segel and Samara Weaving, for wide theatrical release. (more)

• Mel Gibson’s sequel ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ has landed at Lionsgate, with filming already underway. (more)

• Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor will star in Amazon MGM’s survival thriller ‘Devil’s Mouth.’ (more)

• Ryan Kiera Armstrong will star as the new slayer alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar in Hulu’s ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ reboot pilot. (more)

• Jeremy Allen White and Austin Butler will star as a detective and a contract killer in A24’s crime thriller ‘Enemies,’ directed by Henry Dunham. (more)

• Taylor Sheridan’s long-gestating action thriller ‘F.A.S.T.,’ starring Brandon Sklenar, is officially moving forward at Warner Bros. (more)

• Maika Monroe will star as a murderous governess in the period horror thriller ‘Victorian Psycho.’ (more)

• Shailene Woodley will star in ‘A Beautiful Journey,’ a New York-set mother-son dramedy from director Nathalie Marchak, shooting this fall. (more)

• Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson will star in Netflix’s romcom ‘Voicemails for Isabelle,’ directed by Leah McKendrick and set to film this July. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Netflix has officially ordered Dan Levy’s untitled family crime comedy series, co-starring Taylor Ortega and Laurie Metcalf. (more)

• A24 has won a bidding war for Harrison Query’s crime drama ‘Trigger Point,’ with Jeremy Saulnier set to direct and Joe Hipps producing. (more)

• CNN is expanding its ‘Searching For’ franchise with Eva Longoria set to host ‘Searching For France,’ debuting in 2026. (more)

• Netflix is rebooting ‘Star Search’ as a livestreamed talent competition series, with viewer voting and performances in music, dance, and comedy. (more)

• ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘My Life with the Walter Boys,’ ‘The Diplomat,’ and many more have been renewed at Netflix for additional seasons. (more)

Cannes Market 🇫🇷

• John Travolta will star in ‘Black Tides,’ an orca survival thriller from director Renny Harlin. (more)

• A ‘Rambo’ origin movie titled ‘John Rambo’ is headed to the Cannes market, with Jalmari Helander set to direct and filming planned for October. (more)

• Jackie Chan’s ‘The Shadow’s Edge’ locks global distribution deals ahead at Cannes, with buyers spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas. (more)

• Martin Freeman and Olga Kurylenko will star in ‘Let God Sort It Out,’ a new thriller and the first film from Cobalt Sky Motion Picture Group. (more)

Business 🤝

• ‘Longlegs’ director Osgood Perkins launches new banner Phobos and signs a first-look deal with Neon. (more)

• CNN Films is relaunching with a new 2026 slate, including a Chevy Chase documentary and a project on rising cancer rates in young adults. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Texas is ramping up its film incentives with a proposed $500M program to secure long-term productions. (more)

• IMAX redesigned its film cameras—making them lighter and quieter—so Christopher Nolan could shoot ‘The Odyssey’ entirely on IMAX film. (more)

• Feed your curiosity & expand your knowledge by joining 4M+ Americans who start their day with 1440. (more)*

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RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• Final Destination Bloodlines: The sixth ‘Final Destination’ film.

• Hurry Up Tomorrow: Musical psychological thriller starring The Weeknd.

📺 STREAMING

• Overcompensating: (Prime Video) College comedy-drama created by and starring Benito Skinner with Connie Britton and Kyle MacLachlan.

• Duster: (HBO Max) 1970s crime thriller series from creators J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, starring Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway.

• Murderbot: (Apple TV+) Sci-fi action comedy starring Alexander Skarsgård as a security cyborg with free will, based on Martha Wells' acclaimed book series.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW

'Final Destination Bloodlines' looks poised for a killer $35-40M opening weekend, easily setting a franchise record. 'Thunderbolts*' should add $14-18M in its third frame, while 'Sinners' continues its impressive run with another $10-14M. The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' faces a rough start with $5-9M despite the star power. Total box office should land around $85-95M, keeping momentum strong heading into Memorial Day weekend.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments