🎬 Netflix-AMC Cold War

👋 Good morning! While Hollywood wrestles with AI making its way into filmmaking, Kevin Hart just decided to turn it into a game show. His company Hartbeat is teaming with Luma AI for 'Prompt Side Story'—it’s basically a live competition at LA Tech Week where five comedy teams battle to create AI-generated films in real-time. This weekend, they'll type prompts while an audience watches, competing for cash and spots on Hartbeat's LOL Network.

Welcome back to The Dailies. Friday's here, and so is your last hit of industry news before the weekend. Top off that coffee and let's get into it.👇

TOP STREAMED
📊 This week’s top-streamed originals…

How last week’s releases are stacking up…

• 🚢 The Woman in Cabin 10: (Netflix) Pulled in 5.4M views domestically in its opening weekend (21.2M globally), which landed it the top movie spot for the week. Pretty solid debut, though it's still running about half of what ‘Glass Onion’ did with its 10.7M domestic opening weekend.

• 🪖 Boots: (Netflix) Clocked 2M US views and 12.1M hours streamed in its first week. Not bad for what seems like a smaller Netflix release, but we're not looking at a breakout hit here either.

• 🧊 The Last Frontier: (Apple TV) Came in at 1.3M season views in the US across its first two episodes. That’s just a hair below ‘Chief of War’s’ 1.7M first weekend, which has since climbed to 3.9M views total.

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) Oct. 10 to Oct. 16. Data provided by Luminate.

CLOSEUP
🤝 AMC and Netflix have decided to work together…

Netflix's 'KPop Demon Hunters' is back in theaters for Halloween weekend, and this time AMC's actually playing it. The world's biggest theater chain will show the animated hit at 400 locations from Oct. 31-Nov. 2, joining Regal and Cinemark who are bringing it back after their successful September run.

The film has been crushing it: With 541.8M hours streamed, it's officially Netflix's most-watched movie ever. It also pulled in $19.2M at the box office in September despite being free to stream at home (and that was without AMC’s participation).

Is this the end of the AMC-Netflix Cold War?

While there's no personal beef here, the two companies have fundamentally different motivations that have kept them from working together. AMC sat out September’s 'KPop Demon Hunters' theatrical release in part because CEO Adam Aron has spent years fighting for 45-day theatrical windows with major studios. He wasn't about to break them for Netflix's two-day sing-along events. As Aron put it:

On the other side, Netflix's Ted Sarandos basically thinks theaters are "an outmoded idea, for most people." This divide has led to some painful near-misses: Aron spent hours trying to get Scorsese's 'The Irishman' into AMC theaters—no dice. Even the Duffer Brothers couldn't convince Netflix to give the upcoming 'Stranger Things' finale a theatrical release. Bottom line: Aron wants to protect the long-term health of theatrical exhibition; Netflix wants streaming supremacy.

What changed? In a year with historically low output from major studios, Netflix spotted opportunity on weekends with low competition from the majors. It worked in September, and Halloween weekend seems to be another gap.

Looking ahead… Adam Aron personally tweeted to confirm the collaboration, noting that both companies are "intrigued by the mutually beneficial opportunities" and that "discussions are underway" for future partnerships between Netflix and AMC.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 Experiences, Apple TV & Peacock, and K-dramas…

🦧 The creator economy and Hollywood are chasing the same IRL dream. Night, the agency behind mega-creators like Kai Cenat and Hasan Piker, is acquiring Experiential Supply Co., the marketing firm that creates viral stunts and experiences around movie launches. Remember those actual horse-riding apes that showed up in San Francisco for 'Planet of the Apes'? That was them. Their goal is to merge Night's viral expertise with Experiential's real-world spectacles to create marketing moments that dominate both streets and screens. The timing makes sense: Hollywood's two hottest growth topics right now are creators and experiences. Netflix is building Netflix House locations, Lionsgate opened a 'John Wick' experience in Vegas, and now creators want their slice of the IRL action too.

🤝 Even Apple is giving up on the go-it-alone streaming strategy. Starting Monday, Apple TV is bundling with NBC's Peacock, with one subscription unlocking both services for $14.99, or $19.99 without ads. The content will stay on separate apps, but it's still a notable shift for Apple, which has historically protected its premium brand and kept its subscriber numbers secret, while NBC's Peacock has publicly struggled to gain traction and hasn’t yet become profitable. The partnership is the latest sign of streaming's inevitable re-bundling. Disney already bundles with Warner Bros. Discovery's Max, and now even Apple needs a dance partner to share the massive costs of competing against Netflix and Amazon.

🇰🇷 HBO Max just entered the K-drama chat. Warner Bros. Discovery is teaming up with CJ ENM, the Korean studio behind Oscar-winner 'Parasite.' They'll co-produce original K-dramas and create a hub for TVING (CJ's streaming service) inside HBO Max across 17 Asia-Pacific markets starting in 2026. The deal also brings hundreds of hours of existing CJ and TVING shows to HBO Max. This comes as Korean studios hunt for new revenue amid a brutal prolonged theatrical downturn (their box office is still down about 40% from pre-pandemic levels). Warner Bros. wants 150M subscribers and 100+ territories by the end of 2026, and this deal helps by letting them drop a local streamer right into HBO Max instead of competing against it or building from scratch in the market.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Miramax has acquired Terry Rossio’s pitch ‘London Ghost Tour’ in a seven-figure deal, with Josh Cooley set to direct. (more)

• Amazon MGM has acquired ‘Lizard Music,’ starring Dwayne Johnson with Benny Safdie writing and directing. (more)

• Vertical has acquired North American rights to Luca Guadagnino-produced Sundance winner ‘Atropia,’ with a theatrical release set for December. (more)

• Jim Carrey is in talks to star in a live-action ‘The Jetsons’ movie, with Colin Trevorrow set to direct for Warner Bros. (more)

• The Daniels have set their next untitled Universal film for Nov. 19, 2027, marking their first feature since ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ (more)

• NEON has acquired worldwide rights to Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Christophers,’ starring Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen. (more)

• Panoramic Pictures has acquired Kristoffer Polaha’s directorial debut ‘Mimics,’ set for theatrical release on February 6, 2026. (more)

• George Clooney and Annette Bening will star in ‘In Love,’ Paul Weitz’s film adaptation of Amy Bloom’s memoir. (more)

• Ashley Park, Leighton Meester and Taylor John Smith star in the indie comedy film ‘Basic,’ directed by Chelsea Devantez. (more)

TV Development 📺

• MGM+ has ordered ‘Bosch: Start of Watch,’ a prequel series starring Cameron Monaghan and Omari Hardwick. (more)

• Netflix has ordered four-part docuseries ‘Marines,’ from Amblin and Lucky8 TV, offering unprecedented access to the U.S. Marine Corps. (more)

• FX is developing comedy series ‘Last Night Was a Movie’ from sketch group Almost Friday and producers BoulderLight Pictures. (more)

• Richard Gadd’s new drama ‘Half Man’ has sold to Stan in Australia and Crave in Canada as global demand builds ahead of its 2026 debut. (more)

• A24 and Channel 4 have begun filming comedy series ‘It Gets Worse,’ starring Leo Reich with Lena Dunham and Amelia Dimoldenberg joining. (more)

• Netflix has picked up ‘Pop Culture Jeopardy!’ for a second season, moving the game show from Prime Video ahead of its 2026 debut. (more)

Business 🤝

• Canal+ has acquired a 34% stake in French cinema chain UGC. (more)

• Paramount Pictures has renewed its multi-year deal with producer Walter Hamada to continue developing horror films under 18Hz Productions. (more)

• Paramount has hired Josh Goldstine as president of worldwide marketing and distribution following its merger with Skydance. (more)

RELEASE RADAR
📅 This weekend’s new releases…

🎥 THEATRICAL

• After the Hunt: (Expands wide) Psychological thriller starring Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri, directed by Luca Guadagnino.

• Good Fortune: Aziz Ansari's directorial debut, with Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen.

• Black Phone 2: Blumhouse horror sequel with Ethan Hawke.

📺 STREAMING

• The Diplomat: (Netflix) S3 of the political thriller starring Keri Russell and Allison Janney.

• Murdaugh: Death in the Family: (Hulu) True crime drama miniseries starring Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette.

• Loot: (Apple TV) S3 of the comedy series starring Maya Rudolph.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'Black Phone 2' is tracking for a $20-25M debut this weekend, with potential to reach $30M if its strong reviews (74% RT) translate to audience enthusiasm. Blumhouse needs this win—they haven't had a film open above $12M since 'Five Nights at Freddy's' two years ago. Meanwhile, 'Good Fortune' is looking at a modest $8-12M opening.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments