🎬 Making Box Office History

👋 Good morning! Hollywood's most important casting call just dropped, and it's not for the next Marvel hero… it's for a very good boy. Cineverse and Air Bud Entertainment are launching a nationwide talent search for the next golden retriever to dribble their way into our hearts in ‘Air Bud Returns.’ Dog parents can submit their purebred golden retrievers through the official Air Bud website. No basketball skills required, just star quality.

Welcome to The Dailies. Monday means fresh box office numbers and weekend industry news to unpack. Grab your coffee and we’ll get you caught up. 👇

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Warner Bros. just made box office history…

1. 🔪 Weapons: 🆕 $42.5M domestic opening, $70M global debut. Zach Cregger's follow-up to 'Barbarian' took the #1 spot with a rare A- CinemaScore, already beating his first film's entire domestic run in just three days.

2. 🔄 Freakier Friday: 🆕 $29M domestic opening, $44.5M global debut. Disney's nostalgia play lands in second place, with millennials and women driving strong word-of-mouth (A CinemaScore).

3. 🦸 The Fantastic Four: First Steps: (Wk 3) $15.5M domestic weekend (-60%), $230.4M domestic total, $434.2M global. Marvel's first family continues its steep decline. $500M worldwide is looking like the best-case scenario.

4. 🐺 The Bad Guys 2: (Wk 2) $10.4M domestic weekend (-53%), $43.4M domestic total, $84M global. DreamWorks' animated sequel is hanging in there, though not quite matching the first film's pace.

5. 🔫 The Naked Gun: (Wk 2) $8.4M domestic weekend (-50%), $33M domestic total, $56.4M global. The comedy reboot keeps chugging along with decent holds.

6. 🦸‍♂️ Superman: (Wk 5) $7.8M domestic weekend (-43%), $331.2M domestic total, $578.8M global. DC’s flagship hero just passed 'Batman v Superman' domestically.

7. 🦖 Jurassic World Rebirth: (Wk 6) $4.7M domestic weekend (-46%), $326.8M domestic total, $800M global.

8. 🏎️ F1: (Wk 7) $2.8M domestic weekend (-32%), $178.6M domestic total, $560M+ global. Apple's racing drama becomes summer's biggest surprise hit, nearly matching ‘Superman's’ global haul.

9. 👫 Together: (Wk 2) $2.6M domestic weekend (-62%), $17.2M domestic total. Neon's drama loses significant ground in its second frame.

10. ✏️ Sketch: 🆕 $2.5M 3-day domestic ($5M since Wednesday opening). Angel Studios' horror-comedy for kids got great reviews (96% RT, A- CinemaScore) but couldn't draw a bigger crowd.

The big picture: The box office pulled in $130M this weekend, up 6% from last week but still trailing last year's 'Alien: Romulus' frame by 17%. Summer's sitting at $3.26B (+3% vs 2024), and while that $4B mark remains out of reach, at least we're headed in the right direction. Warner Bros. is on a hot streak with over 26% of the entire 2025 box office so far ($1.45B domestic and counting). They just made history as the first studio to land six straight $40M+ openings: 'Minecraft' ($162.8M), 'Sinners' ($48M), 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' ($51.6M), 'F1' ($57M), 'Superman' ($125M), and now 'Weapons' ($42.5M). Looks like their strategy of balancing original fare with established IP is paying off.

CLOSEUP
💰 Welcome to the sponsored blockbuster era…

Brand partnerships used to mean awkward Coke cans in the background. Now they're custom-designed for each film's world, offsetting millions in costs through integrations so authentic you forget they're ads. Just take a look at this summer’s biggest blockbusters:

• ‘F1’ brought in $40M from Tommy Hilfiger, Mercedes, Expensify and others, with logos authentically plastered across racing suits and cars just like real Formula 1

• ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ featured Jeeps in chase scenes (at this point, as essential as the dinosaurs) plus Dr. Pepper and Frito Lay products, while themed cans and chip bags at 7-Eleven doubled as movie ads

• ‘Superman’ partnered with Milk-Bone for super-dog Krypto, creating pet store scenes, co-branded treats, and DC comics

Here's what's changed: Ad avoidance has hit all-time highs; viewers skip, block, and scroll past traditional commercials. Meanwhile, marketing costs can now match or exceed production budgets, and studios in defense mode are desperately trying to offset risk wherever they can. Enter the new brand partnership: sophisticated integrations that solve all three problems at once.

Now brands are part of greenlight conversations from day one, with each film crafting its own unique approach. Deals range from $50K for passive background placement to $5M+ for prime positioning (like Expensify landing on Brad Pitt's racing jacket). Beyond offsetting budgets, these brands often tap their millions of followers or customers to promote films they’re actually in, essentially delivering free marketing.

Looking ahead… After ‘F1’s’ massive haul in brand deals, Hollywood's rethinking what’s possible here. Expect more films to chase similar paydays. Some industry watchers are predicting multi-year, multi-franchise partnerships where brands back entire studio slates rather than single movies.

Related: Some brands are bypassing studios altogether. Dick's Sporting Goods launched its own production studio last week to make sports documentaries, joining a handful of other brands who've decided it's easier to create content than negotiate for placement.

WIDESHOT
🎬 WGA expulsions, Netflix, and Bollywood…

🚫 The Writers Guild just kicked out two acclaimed showrunners. Writers Park Chan-wook ('Oldboy') and Don McKellar were expelled from the union for writing on HBO's 'The Sympathizer' during the 2023 strike—basically the harshest penalty available that bars them from working with Disney, Netflix, HBO, and other major studios. They also suspended member Anthony Cipriano until 2026. This follows the Guild's discipline of seven other writers earlier this year, with the WGA now making all punishments public as the industry heads toward 2026 contract negotiations. While Park and McKellar can still work internationally, their high-profile expulsion is the WGA's way of saying the gloves are off for the next labor showdown.

🥅 Netflix is betting on women's soccer as its next undervalued sports play. The streamer just snagged exclusive Canadian TV rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments, matching its earlier U.S. deal. It's a savvy move that builds on Netflix's growing live sports lineup (think WWE Raw, NFL Christmas games, and boxing matches) with one key difference: instead of shelling out billions for pricey NFL or NBA packages, they're targeting undervalued rights with room to grow. Netflix is expected to roll out documentary series spotlighting players before the tournaments kick off, basically using their content ecosystem playbook to build hype around the live events.

🇮🇳 YouTube just became Bollywood's new movie theater. Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan turned down $14M from streaming platforms to release his latest film 'Sitaare Zameen Par' on YouTube's pay-per-view for ₹100 (about $1.20) per rental. India's got a theater problem: only 10,000 screens serve 1.4B people, meaning even blockbusters reach just 2-3% of the population. But YouTube reaches 4 out of 5 internet users in India, making it the perfect distribution bridge. Khan's creating a new window (theatrical, then YouTube rentals, then streaming) betting on direct-to-consumer access. His model could inspire U.S. mid-budget films struggling with limited theatrical slots and picky streamers to try a compelling alternative: skip the upfront deals and go straight to your audience.

In partnership with

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LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• New Line is bringing back ‘Bloodlines’ co-writer Lori Evans Taylor for the next ‘Final Destination’ after the last film’s record-breaking run. (more)

• Orion will release ‘Is God Is’, Aleshea Harris’ star-studded stage play adaptation, in theaters on May 15, 2026. (more)

• New Line has hired Ben Zazove and Evan Turner to write a ‘Space Invaders’ film based on the classic Taito arcade game. (more)

• Vertical has picked up North American rights to sci-fi thriller ‘Motherland’, set for a Sept. 12, 2025 release. (more)

• Netflix is developing action comedy ‘The Leading Man’ with Kevin Hart and John Cena set to star and produce. (more)

• Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner will star in Will Gluck’s ‘One Night Only,’ hitting theaters Aug. 7, 2026. (more)

• Kristen Wiig will star opposite Jonah Hill in Warner Bros’ comedy ‘Cut Off,’ set for a July 17, 2026 theatrical release. (more)

• Pedro Pascal is in talks to star in Tony Gilroy’s ‘Behemoth!’ for Searchlight, set to film this fall in Los Angeles. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Apple TV+ is developing an A24 series from Emily Ratajkowski, Stephanie Danler, and Lena Dunham. (more)

• Netflix has renewed ‘One Piece’ for S3 and dropped first-look images for S2, debuting in 2026. (more)

Business 🤝

• Gray Media is buying 10 Allen Media Group TV stations for $171M, with the deal expected to close in late 2025. (more)

Other News 🚨

• TIFF has unveiled its 2025 Wavelengths lineup. (more)

• Fran Drescher will not seek reelection as SAG-AFTRA president, with Sean Astin and Chuck Slavin entering the 2025 race. (more)

• AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan says the company’s new AI push with Runway is “a technology play,” not a surrender of IP or creative control. (more)

• Like The Dailies? Meet Morning Brew: A free, witty, 5-minute read on business, finance, and tech. Over 4M professionals swear by it—your inbox will thank you. (more)*

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