🎬 Liberation Day Ripple Effects

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🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Hollywood Assesses “Liberation Day”

• LA Soundstages Gather Dust

• Theaters Call for Longer Windows

• Weekly Releases Make a Comeback

• 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…

CLOSEUP
📊 Hollywood’s assessing “Liberation Day” ripple effects…

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.

Potential economic ripple effects…

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

• 💸 Shrinking discretionary budgets: As everyday items get pricier, entertainment subscriptions and movie tickets often become early casualties when household budgets tighten.

• 📱 Subscriber churn: Price-sensitive consumers may cycle between streaming services, making it harder for platforms to implement planned price increases. According to a recent Deloitte survey, 47% of consumers already believe they pay too much for streaming services.

• 🎢 Tourism decline: Oxford Economics recently predicted that U.S. inbound visits could decline 5.1% due to an expanded trade war, potentially affecting attendance at destinations like Disney and Universal theme parks.

• 📊 Advertising cutbacks: Major advertising sectors are already hitting the panic button, with analysts lowering 2025 ad growth forecasts.

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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WIDESHOT
🎬 45-day windows, soundstages, and weekly vs. binge…

📅🍿 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.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Disney has paused development on its live-action ‘Tangled’ remake following the underperformance of ‘Snow White’ and ongoing strategic shifts. (more)

• Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael’ may be split into two parts, with its October release date now uncertain. (more)

• Ron Howard’s survival thriller ‘Eden,’ starring Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby, has been acquired by Vertical for a U.S. release on Aug. 22. (more)

• Alec Baldwin will star in psychological drama ‘The Cutting Room Floor.’ (more)

• Naomi Baker and Jay Reeves will star in new Tyler Perry drama ‘Doing Life.’ (more)

• Ice Cube is set to write and star in ‘Last Friday,’ a new sequel in the ‘Friday’ comedy franchise, at Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Jeff Blitz will direct and executive produce NBC’s cheerleading comedy pilot ‘Stumble,’ a mockumentary from Liz and Jeff Astrof. (more)

• Juno Temple will star in Apple TV+’s new A24 series ‘The Husbands’ while continuing talks to return for ‘Ted Lasso’ S4. (more)

• Angel Studios has acquired fantasy comedy ‘Sketch,’ starring Tony Hale and D’Arcy Carden, for theatrical release on Aug. 6. (more)

Greenlights, Renewals, & Cancelations ✅ ❌

• Universal has greenlit a remake of ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ for 2027, with Nico Parker and Gerard Butler set to return. (more)

• Hulu orders pilot for ‘Group Chat,’ a comedy from Kenya Barris, Kim Kardashian, and La La Anthony. (more)

• ABC has renewed ‘9-1-1,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘The Rookie,’ ‘Will Trent,’ and ‘Shifting Gears.’ (more)

Business 🤝

• The 2025 VMAs will air on CBS for the first time, with a simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+. (more)

• Peter Berg’s Film 44 has renewed its Netflix deal. (more)

• The Daily Mail has partnered with Storied Media Group to license its articles for TV and film adaptations for the first time. (more)

• Amy Pascal has signed a multiyear first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios, following her recent involvement in the next James Bond and ‘Project Hail Mary’ films. (more)

• Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions signs first-look deal with 20th Television to develop scripted series for Disney platforms. (more)

Other News 🚨

• L.A. officials are pushing a new plan to cut fees and streamline permits in hopes of bringing mid-budget film production back to the city. (more)

• Turn screenplay PDFs into listenable audio in minutes—only with Screenplayer. (more)*

  _*sponsored

RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• A Minecraft Movie: Fantasy adventure comedy based on the blockbuster video game, starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black.

• Freaky Tales: Action comedy anthology starring Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, Jay Ellis, and Normani.

• Hell of a Summer: Comedy horror film co-directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk.

• The Luckiest Man in America: Drama starring Paul Walter Hauser and Walton Goggins.

• The Friend: Drama based on Sigrid Nunez's novel starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray.

• The Chosen: Last Supper—Part 2: Biblical historical drama from creator Dallas Jenkins.

📺 STREAMING

• The Bondsman: (Prime Video) Action horror series starring Kevin Bacon from creator Grainger David and Blumhouse TV.

• Pulse: (Netflix) Medical drama series starring Willa Fitzgerald.

• Dying for Sex: (Hulu) Comedy-drama miniseries starring Michelle Williams as a woman exploring her sexuality after a terminal diagnosis.

🔮 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).

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers & teasers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments