🎬 Losing Heavy Hitters

👋 Good morning! Anne Hathaway got a doctor's note to skip 'Hot Ones,' which is kind of like the movie-star equivalent of getting out of the mile run. She figured she’d do the wings to promote 'Verity,' which is out this weekend, but her doctor ruled the spice could induce early labor, and nobody wants Sean Evans's "Congratulations" to mean anything other than "you finished the wings." She's earned the pass: 'Verity' is her fifth press tour this year, most of it done pregnant. The wings can wait.

Welcome back to The Dailies, midweek edition. Top off your coffee and we'll get you caught up. 👇

Shawn Levy, the 'Stranger Things' producer (and 'Deadpool & Wolverine' director), is moving his company, 21 Laps Entertainment, from Netflix to Disney's 20th Television on a five-year overall deal reportedly worth nine figures. That's rare money for any producer, especially one who doesn't write. The details:

Why Disney wants him: Execs reportedly saw a cut of 'Star Wars: Starfighter' this summer and started talks soon after. Safe to say the screening went well. Levy has now directed for 20th Century ('Free Guy'), Marvel, and Lucasfilm, so he basically has a keycard for every building on the lot. Disney's betting that Levy can take its movie IP, apply the touch that made 'Stranger Things' a four-quadrant phenomenon, and finally give Disney+ a broad-appeal hit of its own.

One of Netflix's longest-tenured creators (he's been there since 'House of Cards'), Fincher reportedly won't renew his deal when it expires next year. He's made his last three movies there: 'Mank,' 'The Killer,' and next month's 'The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,' which Netflix is giving a rare wide theatrical run. He isn't jumping to a rival, and he could still make his next movie at Netflix. He just doesn't want a big overall deal anymore.

A string of exits: Earlier this year it was the Duffers (to Paramount). A few weeks ago it was Noah Baumbach (to Warner Bros.). This week it's Levy and Fincher. It's probably not the backdrop Netflix wanted while its stock is down 20%+ on the year and investors are still waiting for a growth story after its Warner Bros. bid fell through.

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Meta's giving VR another go. The company just showed off its new VR Glasses, which ship in spring 2027, and for once the thing doesn't look like you strapped a toaster to your face (they're real glasses, roughly the weight of a deck of cards, no controllers).

Meta's selling it as a personal cinema, a courtside seat, a workspace and a console in one pair of glasses. That's a real shift from the metaverse years, and Meta's leaning on Hollywood to help make the entertainment half of that pitch land. What's different this time:

Meanwhile, in the "we've been here before" department… Apple's Vision Pro launched in 2024 with a $3,500 price tag and even got Edward Berger to shoot 'Submerged,' a WWII submarine short made just for the headset. Filmmakers were curious. Consumers, not so much. Maybe Meta's turn finally moves the needle for the format.

🕷️ Sony's already planning a theatrical re-release of 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' with new footage. The film's at $950.7M domestic, and a re-release could push it past $1B, a first for any movie. Rumored additions include a cut Rosario Dawson hospital scene as Claire Temple. No word on timing.

⛙ Warnamount latest: Paramount and 12 state AGs are urging the judge to ignore Sen. Cory Booker's concerns about their WBD merger settlement. The blue-state coalition calls the deal a fair compromise. Meanwhile, Paramount's tapping investors for $44.4B in bonds to fund the WBD merger once approved.

📺 Cindy Holland is out at Paramount+, and Casey Bloys looks set to run all of Paramount-WBD's streaming. Holland stepped down as Paramount+ chief yesterday, days before the deal's expected to close, saying David Ellison is "optimizing for HBO stability." Bloys, an HBO vet of nearly 25 years, would run HBO Max and Paramount+.

🪓 The layoffs many Disney employees were bracing for have arrived. A couple hundred jobs were cut, mostly in tech and HR, with TV and film spared. It follows Disney's top lawyer warning his legal team of a "much smaller organization" as the company automates work.

28 Wishes sells ice cream in Los Angeles. Below 70°F, sales fall about 20%. So the owners put about $20 a day into Kalshi weather markets, taking the cold side. The days that keep customers away now pay something back. See how other owners are doing it

See how hedging works