🎬 "Moderately Reducing" American Films

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👋 Good morning! If you bet on “stunt professionals get Oscar recognition before Tom Cruise stops hanging off aircraft,” it’s time to collect your winnings. The Academy has announced a new Stunt Design category for the 100th ceremony in 2028. It only took a century, but Hollywood's most fearless professionals can finally add "Oscar winner" to their résumés. Congrats to the stunt community!

Welcome aboard the Dailies. As you sip your morning brew, we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood. Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here. 👈👀

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Hollywood & Silicon Valley Team Up

• Cannes Lineup Revealed

• UK Streamer Levy

• China Reduces Hollywood Imports

• 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
🤝 An AI emergency is uniting old rivals…

Nothing unites like a common threat. Hollywood and Silicon Valley—who've maintained a complicated relationship as both business partners and adversaries on copyright and control issues—are finding unprecedented common ground against AI replicas that can clone anyone from Oscar winners to YouTube stars with alarming precision.

Two major developments this week…

The NO FAKES Act is back with a vengeance. The bipartisan bill that stalled out in Congress last year has been reintroduced, and would establish America's first federal "right of publicity." In plain English: it would let creators stop AI companies from making fake versions of them without permission. This time around, the bill has backing from an unlikely coalition that includes:

• Google/YouTube (historically resistant to content regulations)

• Recording Industry Association of America

• Motion Picture Association

• SAG-AFTRA

Meanwhile, YouTube and CAA are rushing to expand their anti-AI partnership. For those who missed it: YouTube and CAA struck a deal late last year allowing CAA's roster of A-list actors, musicians, and athletes to identify and remove AI-generated content featuring their faces on the platform. Now they're extending these protections to include digital-native stars like MrBeast, Mark Rober, Marques Brownlee and others.

So, why the sudden kumbaya moment? 

The AI threat has evolved from theoretical to existential. Both sides have realized unauthorized AI replicas undermine their entire business models:

• For talent, anyone can now steal their likeness, profit from it, or make them say things they’d never endorse — all without permission.

• For platforms, deepfakes risk eroding viewer confidence and spooking advertisers—their main source of revenue. Worse, they could face legal blowback for hosting unauthorized or harmful content.

The bigger picture: This defensive pact signals a power shift. After decades of tech platforms dictating terms, we're seeing more balanced negotiation between these camps as they jointly lobby lawmakers. Both sides recognize their mutual dependence in the AI era.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 Cannes lineup, UK streamer levy, and China…

🎬🇫🇷 Cannes just dropped its 2025 lineup, and Oscars prognosticators are taking notes. The 78th festival announced 19 competition films—here are some highlights:

• Wes Anderson returns with ‘The Phoenician Scheme’

• Richard Linklater brings Paris-set ‘Nouvelle Vague’

• Palme d'Or winner Julia Ducournau debuts ‘Alpha’

• Horror auteur Ari Aster makes Cannes debut with A24's ‘Eddington’

• Kelly Reichardt presents ‘The Mastermind’

• First-time filmmaker Amelie Bonnin opens festival with ‘Leave One Day’

• Scarlett Johansson makes directorial debut with ‘Eleanor the Great’ in Un Certain Regard

The bigger picture: Cannes has transformed into a major Oscar launchpad—40% of last year's Academy Award winners premiered there. With the festival running May 13-24, these films could be your first look at next year's awards contenders.

🎬🇬🇧 UK to Netflix: “That’ll be 5%, mate.” The UK Parliament's Culture Committee has officially recommended a levy requiring streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ to contribute 5% of their UK subscriber revenue to help fund British TV shows. The money would flow into a fund managed by the British Film Institute specifically aimed at supporting content that reflects British culture but might not appeal to global audiences. Netflix has already pushed back, warning that subscribers would end up paying the extra costs through inevitable price hikes. The timing is notable as Netflix's British-produced ‘Adolescence’ currently dominates global charts. This follows similar approaches in other European countries—France already has a comparable system in place, and Germany just announced plans this week to require streaming giants to invest up to 25% of their German revenue into local productions. The message to streamers is clear: if you want European eyeballs, you’ll have to help fund European stories.

🎬🇨🇳 China’s giving Hollywood the “we should see other movies” talk. The China Film Administration is pumping the brakes on American film imports in response to Trump's 125% tariffs, opting for a "moderate reduction" rather than the total ban many feared. This reduction comes at a critical time when China's box office is up 42% in 2025, though almost entirely due to homegrown hit ‘Ne Zha 2's’ staggering $2.1B haul. Not the best timing for Hollywood—recently approved films like Marvel's ‘Thunderbolts’ may now face uncertainty, while summer tentpoles including ‘Superman’ and ‘Mission: Impossible’ were expected to help sustain theater recovery. The move accelerates Hollywood's already fading influence in China, where audience tastes have been shifting toward local fare for years. Without the guarantee of Chinese box office revenue, studios may have to rethink the financial calculus behind big-budget productions.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Briarcliff Entertainment has picked up U.S. rights to ‘The Thing With Feathers,’ a psychological drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch. (more)

• Tyriq Withers will star opposite Maika Monroe in Universal’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestseller ‘Reminders of Him.’ (more)

• Brittany Snow will lead Hulu’s upcoming limited series on the Murdaugh murders. (more)

• Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society is developing a film adaptation of horror novel ‘The House of Last Resort’ by Christopher Golden. (more)

• John Turturro will star in ‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,’ a new thriller from Noah Segan, now in production for MRC and T-Street. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Brad Pitt’s Plan B is in early talks to develop a second season of Netflix hit ‘Adolescence’ following its massive global success. (more)

• A U.K. adaptation of ‘Saturday Night Live’ is coming to Sky in 2026, with Lorne Michaels executive producing the live London-based series. (more)

• Amazon is developing a ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ series from Jason Ning and Ron Moore. (more)

• Sarah Michelle Gellar will star in and executive produce ‘Bad Summer People,’ a TV series adaptation of Emma Rosenblum’s bestselling novel. (more)

• Zach Galifianakis has joined AMC’s newly titled ‘The Audacity,’ a Silicon Valley drama from Jonathan Glatzer set to premiere next year. (more)

• Emma Corrin, Jack Lowden, and Olivia Colman will star in Netflix’s upcoming ‘Pride and Prejudice’ miniseries. (more)

• Kathryn Newton will star in and produce ‘Just One Day,’ a new Amazon series based on Gayle Forman’s bestselling YA novels. (more)

Greenlights, Renewals & Cancellations ✅ ❌

• Fox has ordered ‘Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service.’ (more)

• AMC has greenlit ‘Gold Rush,’ a docuseries on the San Francisco 49ers’ 1980s–90s dynasty. (more)

• Prime Video has greenlit Mike Flanagan’s ‘Carrie’ TV series, based on the Stephen King classic. (more)

• ‘The Last of Us’ is renewed for S3 by HBO ahead of its S2 release. (more)

• ‘Mayfair Witches’ is renewed for S3 by AMC. (more)

Business 🤝

• CBS loses its bid to block Sony from taking over distribution of ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ (more)

• The partners of powerhouse PR firm Slate are dissolving the company after 15 years to launch new individual ventures. (more)

• Melissa Aouate has been named President of Blumhouse Television, where she will lead the company’s scripted TV division. (more)

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

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RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• The Amateur: Action thriller starring Rami Malek.

• Drop: Thriller starring Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar from Blumhouse.

• The King of Kings: Animated Christian film featuring voice work from Kenneth Branagh, Oscar Isaac, and Mark Hamill.

• Warfare: Real-time war action film co-directed by former SEAL Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland.

📺 STREAMING

• The Last of Us: (Max) S2 of the post-apocalyptic video game adaptation starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

• Black Mirror: (Netflix) The dystopian sci-fi anthology series returns for S7.

• Hacks: (Max) S4 of the Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder comedy.

• G20: (Prime Video) Action thriller starring Viola Davis.

• Your Friends and Neighbors: (Apple TV+) Drama starring Jon Hamm, with Olivia Munn and Amanda Peet.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW

'A Minecraft Movie' is set to top the box office again in its second weekend with a projected $65-70M haul. Meanwhile, it's a three-way race for second place with Rami Malek's spy thriller 'The Amateur' ($12-15M) battling faith-based toon 'The King of Kings' ($12-18M) and A24's war film 'Warfare' ($7-9M).

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
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