🎬 Distributor of the Year 🏆

👋 Good morning! A recent study reveals TikTok users are far more likely to visit theaters, with one in three users crediting the app for their decision to see a new film. Major studios like Universal and Sony are already tapping into TikTok's trends and creator network for marketing hits like 'Twisters' and 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die.' As the 4th most popular content category on the platform, movies are finding a powerful new promotional home on TikTok.

Welcome aboard the Dailies. As you sip your morning brew, we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood—no need to chase down a newsstand, we’ve got everything you need right here.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Fall Festival Update

• Neon Nabs ‘Distributor of the Year’ Award

• SAG’s Video Game Strike Win

• Last Looks 👀: Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Release Radar: What to watch this weekend

• Video Village 📀

• Martini Shot 🍸

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

TOP STREAMED THIS WEEK IN THE US

📽️ Fall Festival Updates 🍿

🇮🇹 Venice Film Festival

As the 81st Venice Film Festival enters its final days, the Lido's screens continue to light up with high-profile premieres:

• ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ earned a 12.5-minute ovation. Early reviews praise performances but note Gaga is "criminally underused."

• ‘Queer,’ Luca Guadagnino's adaptation, earned a 9.5-minute standing ovation. Daniel Craig's racy turn opposite Drew Starkey drew wild praise from the audience.

• Kevin Costner's ‘Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2’ is set to close the festival tomorrow.

🇨🇦 Toronto International Film Festival

Meanwhile, TIFF kicked off yesterday and has already seen a flurry of high-profile acquisitions:

• Lionsgate/Roadside secured 'Riff Raff' starring Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, and Bill Murray. (more)

• Amazon landed international rights to sci-fi thriller 'The Assessment' with Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Olsen in seven-figure deal. (more)

• Sony Pictures Classics acquired global rights to 'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' ahead of premiere. (more)

• Netflix snapped up Stephen Chbosky's 'Nonnas' featuring Vince Vaughn for $20M+, bypassing TIFF screening. (more)

🎬🏆 Neon just snagged THR's Independent Distributor of the Year title, heating up its rivalry with A24. Tom Quinn's upstart company is celebrating a big year, with horror hit 'Longlegs' breaking box office records and an impressive five straight top prize wins at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Neon and A24, both New York-based independent distributors, are neck-and-neck in 2024's box office share, separated by a mere $15M. While A24 often steals the spotlight, Neon's been quietly making waves, especially with foreign films and documentaries—they've released 64 in just seven years, dwarfing A24's six. Neon's clever marketing, like 'Longlegs' mysterious billboard campaign, is turning heads too. From 'Parasite's' historic Oscar win to growing their 52-person team, Neon's reshaping what indie success looks like. As they take on bigger releases and produce their own films, it's clear this ambitious company's story is far from over in the competitive world of independent cinema.

🎮🤖 SAG-AFTRA has scored a win in its video game strike: 80 game projects have signed the union's interim agreement, allowing work to continue amid the ongoing dispute. The main sticking point is how to protect actors from AI replicas. While major studios balked at SAG-AFTRA's proposed safeguards against digital replication, smaller developers like Lightspeed L.A. have embraced them. This move not only provides employment for union members but also challenges the stance of larger companies. SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland argues this proves their AI terms are "reasonable, feasible, and sustainable." The strike is now entering its sixth week.

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Development 🗒️

• Peacock announces its first live comedy special, ‘New York After Dark,’ hosted by SNL’s Colin Jost and Michael Che. (more)

• Will Smith exits his starring role in the action film ‘Sugar Bandits’ due to scheduling conflicts. (more)

• Keke Palmer will star in Peacock’s remake of ‘The ‘Burbs,’ with Seth MacFarlane and Brian Grazer as executive producers. (more)

• Netflix orders an animated ‘Twilight’ series adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Midnight Sun,’ with Sinead Daly set to write and executive produce. (more)

• Edward Berger is being courted to direct ‘Ocean’s 14,’ with George Clooney and Brad Pitt expected to return to the franchise. (more)

• Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will star as JonBenét Ramsey’s parents in Paramount+’s limited series ‘JonBenét Ramsey.’ (more)

• Amy Adams will produce and star in the comedy ‘Lazy Susans,’ currently in development at 20th Century Studios. (more)

• Katie Dippold and Hiro Murai team up for ‘Widow’s Bay’, a 10-episode horror-comedy series for Apple TV+. (more)

• Disney has paused its adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Graveyard Book’ amid sexual assault allegations against the author. (more)

• Phoebe Dynevor joins Zac Efron in A24’s celebrity thriller ‘Famous,’ directed by Jody Hill and based on Blake Crouch’s novel. (more)

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Tom Hardy team up for Jo Nesbø’s crime-thriller adaptation ‘Blood on Snow,’ directed by Cary Fukunaga. (more)

• ‘Dune’ screenwriter Jon Spaihts will make his directorial debut with a sci-fi thriller for Laika’s live-action division. (more)

✅ Renewed & Canceled ❌

• ‘Only Murders in the Building’ is renewed for S5 at Hulu. (more)

Business 🤝

• Damon Wayans Jr.’s Two Shakes Entertainment renews its CBS Studios deal and sets firefighter drama ‘Ten House.’ (more)

• ‘Monarch’ showrunner Chris Black signs a two-year overall deal with Legendary Television. (more)

• Larry Ellison is set to hold a controlling stake in Paramount Global through a trust owning 77.5% of National Amusements after Skydance’s merger deal closes. (more)

Other News 🚨

• The filmmakers behind Trump biopic 'The Apprentice' turn to Kickstarter to bolster theatrical release amid distribution challenges and legal threats. (more)

• Top actors are using this science-backed method to memorize lines faster. (more)*

What to watch this weekend? 👀

🎥 THEATRICAL

• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Sequel directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Jenna Ortega as Lydia's daughter.

• The Front Room: A24 psychological horror debut from the Eggers Brothers, starring Brandy.

📺 STREAMING

• Selling Sunset: (Netflix) S8 of the reality series about high-end LA real estate, featuring the Oppenheim Group agents.

• His Three Daughters: (Netflix) Drama starring Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen, directed by Azazel Jacobs.

• Rebel Bridge: (Netflix) Action thriller starring Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson, directed by Jeremy Saulnier.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW

Looks like ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is about to dominate this weekend. We're talking a projected $100M-$110M domestic opening (Warner Bros. is more cautiously estimating $80M+). The sequel is making history with a massive 4,575 theater count in the US—the widest release ever for Warner Bros. That kind of saturation, combined with strong reviews and nostalgia factor, could propel it to become the second-biggest September opener of all time, just behind 2017's ‘It’ ($123.4M). Meanwhile, A24's horror offering ‘The Front Room’ is aiming for a more modest $3M-$4M opening, hoping to carve out its own niche in Beetlejuice's shadow.

Looking ahead, 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' is expected to kick off a strong fall season, with other highly anticipated releases like 'Joker: Folie à Deux' and ‘Gladiator II’ on the horizon. The success of these films could help make up for the industry's underwhelming summer performance and set the stage for a robust holiday movie season.