🎬 Liberation Day Ripple Effects

👋 Good morning! The Rock is adding "author" to his already stacked resume. Dwayne Johnson and journalist Nick Bilton have scored a deal with Crown Publishing for a true-crime book about Hawaii's only mob boss, Wilford "Nappy" Pulawa. The book deal comes with a movie adaptation already set at 20th Century with some serious firepower: Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Emily Blunt are all involved.

Welcome to The Dailies! We'll get you caught up on the latest industry happenings while your coffee's still hot. This week we hit 80,000 subscribers—a milestone that has us genuinely humbled and grateful. 🎉 Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here and join the cool kids who know what’s happening before their boss does.

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

President Trump just dropped sweeping tariffs on virtually every trading partner in what he's calling "Liberation Day." Entertainment industry executives and analysts are now carefully assessing whether these trade measures will send ripple effects through their already challenged business models.

The Trump administration argues these tariffs will strengthen domestic manufacturing and bring jobs back to American soil—including potentially film and TV production. While proponents insist short-term pain will lead to long-term economic gains, Hollywood faces several immediate challenges.

The good news: TV shows and movies dodge a direct hit since they're services, not physical goods. International content can still flow freely across borders without getting slapped with extra fees.

Initial reaction: 📉 Stocks plunged as investors reacted to tariffs that landed on the more aggressive end of expectations. Entertainment stocks got caught in the crossfire, with several major media companies watching their share prices nosedive.

Media companies live and die by consumer spending, and if tariffs lead to broader economic weakness, here’s what could happen:

There are some bright spots: Demand for live sports programming remains robust—industry insiders confirm that advertisers are still fighting for those slots even as they slash budgets elsewhere. Second, according to research, streaming platforms with must-see content typically weather economic storms better than competitors—viewers might cut back, but they'll keep paying for shows they can't live without.

Production location showdown: While tariffs don't directly target production, they're part of the administration's broader "America First" playbook. A recent White House memo took aim at foreign rules requiring "American streaming services to fund local productions" abroad, signaling Hollywood might face pressure to bring those shooting dollars home.

The bottom line: Tariffs won't directly tax your favorite shows, but the economic aftershocks could create serious headwinds for an industry already battling disruption from every angle. It's too early to predict long-term impacts, but in the immediate future, entertainment companies will need to deliver exceptional value to viewers with potentially tighter budgets.

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📅🍿 Theaters are pushing for longer windows. The debate over how long movies should play exclusively in theaters before hitting streaming was a hot topic at this year's CinemaCon. AMC CEO Adam Aron says three major studios now agree with his call to bring back 45-day theatrical exclusivity before movies can stream at home. This would replace the current shorter windows (18-36 days for most studios) that emerged during the pandemic—a dramatic shift from the rigid 90-day standard that existed pre-COVID. Theater owners like Aron and Regal's CEO Eduardo Acuna call these shortened windows a "failed experiment" that teaches audiences to wait for streaming. They point to concerning data: before the pandemic with 90-day windows, the median opening weekend for wide releases was $17.5M—last year, it dropped to just $11.5M. Some are pushing back, though—Universal Pictures points to the fact that ‘Wicked’ made around $100M through early home release, claiming the approach has “made us more profitable” on small to mid-range films.

🎬 🏢 LA soundstages are gathering dust. A new FilmLA report shows only 63% of LA soundstages were occupied in 2024, down from 93.5% between 2016-2022—the fewest on-stage shoot days in recorded history. Meanwhile, competing hubs like the UK, New York, and Georgia have more than doubled their production space over the last five years, creating a perfect storm for Hollywood's bottom line. TV productions, which normally make up 30% of stage bookings, slumped to just 20% in 2023, aligning with industry-wide episode count shrinkage and longer gaps between seasons. Adding to the irony: this vacancy crisis hits just as investment firms went all-in on pouring money into acquiring and building soundstages, with 13 planned studio projects currently in the pipeline for LA. As these struggles continue, the "Stay in LA" initiative keeps fighting against runaway production, pushing for studios to commit at least 10% more LA-based filming over the next three years.

🔄👀 Weekly releases are staging a comeback. The traditional TV model of releasing one episode per week is gaining ground against Netflix's binge approach, with HBO's ‘The White Lotus,’ Paramount's ‘1923,’ and Amazon's ‘Reacher’ consistently dominating streaming Top 10 charts. These shows, each from different platforms but united by their weekly release schedule, have locked up the top three spots for much of the past month. While Netflix still placed four titles in the Top 10, including ‘Adolescence’ which briefly cracked the Top 3, the weekly model appears more effective at sustaining viewer engagement and cultural conversation. It’s the latest of several signs that streaming services are increasingly returning to traditional TV’s playbook.

🎥 THEATRICAL

📺 STREAMING

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW

Hollywood's months-long box office slump may finally break this weekend as ‘A Minecraft Movie’ shoots for a potential $85-100M domestic opening. After Q1 2025 finished 11% behind last year and no film has crossed $100M opening weekend since ‘Moana 2’ in November, the industry desperately needs ‘Minecraft’ to deliver. The weekend's top 3 will likely be rounded out by ‘The Chosen: Last Supper - Part 2’ ($10-12M) and ‘A Working Man’ ($7-9M).