🎬 Netflix is Top-Heavy

👋 Good morning! When Hollywood's A-listers walk the red carpet at this Sunday's Oscars, they'll be treading on the handiwork of unsung hero Steve Olive. His company has been crafting the Academy's iconic 50,000-square-foot "Academy Red" carpet for nearly 30 years. Beyond the Oscars, he's the mastermind behind custom carpets for everything from the ‘Barbie’ pool-inspired premiere to ‘Ghostbusters’ ectoplasm drips—all to make stars shine before they even step inside.

Welcome aboard the Dailies. Grab a cup of coffee and we'll give you the industry rundown as we head into Oscar weekend—no need to chase down a newsstand, we've got everything you need right here. Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here. 👈👀

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• MrBeast’s $5B Valuation

• WBD: Cable King No More

• Netflix’s Hit-Dependence

• Legacy Games Go Digital

• 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
🔄 MrBeast is worth more than Lionsgate…

Hollywood execs might soon be pitching their shows to MrBeast instead of the other way around. Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) is raising hundreds of millions at a staggering $5B valuation.

That's not a typo—MrBeast LLC is now worth more than double Lionsgate's market cap ($2.41B) and is closing in on MGM's $8.5B sale price to Amazon. Not bad for someone who started by filming videos in his childhood bedroom. According to recent reports:

• His business generated $400M in sales last year while staying profitable—numbers many traditional studios would envy

• The company encompasses his video production operation, chocolate brand Feastables, and snack company Lunchly

• He's built a direct audience of 368M+ YouTube subscribers that follows him across platforms

The power flip is what makes this truly revolutionary. Unlike traditional actors who work as talent-for-hire, MrBeast owns his production company, consumer brands, and direct fan relationships, making him more like a media conglomerate than a performer.

For his Amazon Prime series ‘Beast Games,’ MrBeast willingly lost "tens of millions" despite Amazon's $100M commitment. This reverses the traditional model in three key ways:

• The creator sacrifices immediate profits for long-term brand building

• The creator takes creative control at their own financial risk

• The streaming giant functions as distribution partner rather than gatekeeper

Looking ahead… As more creators build direct audience relationships and diversify across platforms, traditional studios may increasingly find themselves auditioning for creators rather than vice versa. While studios have always courted talent, the key difference is in the power balance—instead of offering actors roles in their productions, studios might need to pitch their distribution services to creators who already own the IP, audience, and production capabilities.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 WBD, Netflix, and legacy game shows…

🎬🔄 WBD is having an identity crisis—and Wall Street is here for it. Warner Bros. Discovery is ditching its cable king persona to bet big on being a pure content company. In Thursday's Q4 earnings call, Zaslav & Co. made it crystal clear: they're done trying to be ESPN, CNN, and HBO all at once—they're betting their future on owning hit movies and TV shows from their studios instead. Most telling was their surprising retreat from the sports rights gold rush, dismissing the need for additional deals when competitors are throwing billions at games. It’s a bit of a zig while others zag: WBD is betting that in streaming's future, owning valuable franchises and IP will be more profitable than renting expensive sports content. Wall Street seems to like the clarity, sending shares up 4.76% yesterday, though the company still needs to wean itself off the cable TV business that makes up half its revenue. Here are some key numbers from the earnings call:

• 📈 Streaming profit: $409M in Q4, projected to reach $1.3B in 2025

• 📱 MAX subscribers: Added 6.4M in Q4, reaching 116.9M globally

• 💸 Debt reduction: $19B paid down in less than 2 years

• 📉 Linear TV decline: Ad revenue down 16% year-over-year

• 🎯 Future goal: 150M global streaming subscribers by 2026

📊📺 Netflix's top 1% of shows drive nearly a quarter of all viewing. The streamer's latest data dump reveals a seriously top-heavy content ecosystem, with this tiny elite generating 24% of all viewing hours while the top 10% gobble up a whopping 68% of eyeballs. ‘Squid Game’ S2 is the poster child for this phenomenon, becoming the half-year's #1 show in just six days with 86.5M views, leaving runner-up ‘Monsters’ eating dust despite a three-month head start. This extreme concentration explains Hollywood's current playbook: bet big on potential blockbusters while mid-budget projects get the squeeze. When the average title pulls a measly 1.4-1.7M views against ‘Squid Game's’ stratospheric numbers, it’s clear these mega-hits are carrying the whole team. This hit-dependency is reshaping the entire industry.

📺🎮 The OGs of primetime are going digital. ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ broadcast TV's biggest streaming holdouts, are finally making the leap. Sony is soliciting bids for streaming rights to these 7M-nightly-viewer juggernauts, with next-day streaming starting September and exclusive same-day rights available in 2028. Sony prepared by hiring new hosts Ken Jennings and Ryan Seacrest with long-term contracts. With 425 annual episodes, these shows offer streamers a coveted "daily habit" to reduce churn, plus $175M in yearly ad revenue. The broadcast fortress continues crumbling as holdouts surrender: WWE Raw to Netflix, NFL to Amazon, Oscars to Hulu, and now Alex Trebek's legacy gets digitized. What's left? We'll take "Not Much" for $800.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Zendaya joins ‘Shrek 5’ as Shrek and Fiona’s daughter, starring alongside Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz in the 2026 sequel. (more)

• Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler will star in ‘Deep Cuts,’ a 2000s-set romance directed by Sean Durkin and produced by A24. (more)

• Apple will premiere ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender’ on May 30, including an immersive version of the film for Apple Vision Pro. (more)

• Jason Statham is returning for ‘The Beekeeper 2,’ with Timo Tjahjanto set to direct the sequel to the 2024 action hit for Miramax. (more)

• Magnolia Pictures has acquired ‘The Assessment,’ a sci-fi thriller starring Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen, and Himesh Patel. (more)

• Mike Colter, Raúl Castillo, Matt Frewer, and Thomas Lennon join Gabrielle Union in horror thriller ‘The Casket Girls.’ (more)

TV Development 📺

• ‘MobLand,’ Guy Ritchie’s crime drama starring Pierce Brosnan and Tom Hardy, moves from Showtime to Paramount+ and premieres March 30. (more)

• ESPN is launching ‘SC+,’ a new daily ‘SportsCenter’ show streaming exclusively on Disney+ starting March 3. (more)

• ‘The Rings of Power’ S3 adds ‘Stranger Things’ star Jamie Campbell Bower as a series regular and Eddie Marsan in a recurring role. (more)

• Sharon Stone has officially joined the cast of ‘Euphoria’ S3, which is set to return in 2026 after a nearly three-year hiatus. (more)

• Lauren McQueen will star as Marian in MGM+’s ‘Robin Hood’ series in a modern take on the legendary tale. (more)

• Netflix has ordered a six-part limited series from ‘The Umbrella Academy’ co-showrunner Jesse McKeown (more)

• Netflix has acquired ‘Impact Winter,’ a post-apocalyptic vampire series based on the hit podcast, with Francis Lawrence set to direct. (more)

• Oscar Nuñez will reprise his role as Oscar Martinez in Peacock’s upcoming ‘The Office’ spinoff. (more)

Business 🤝

• Francesca Moody Productions has signed a two-year first-look TV deal with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Wells Street Films. (more)

• Paramount has renewed its first-look deal with State Street Pictures, extending their partnership for future film projects. (more)

• Paramount posted a $286M streaming loss ahead of its pending sale to Skydance, despite box office boosts from ‘Gladiator II’ and ‘Sonic 3.’ (more)

• Pete Distad, former Apple TV+ and Hulu executive, has been named CEO of Fox’s upcoming streaming service, set to launch by late 2025. (more)

• NBC News is developing a subscription streaming service aimed at mobile viewers, with a planned launch in late 2025. (more)

Other News 🚨

• YouTube podcasts now attract 1B monthly viewers, solidifying the platform’s dominance in the podcasting space as TV-based streaming surges. (more)

• Sick of the news? Join 4M Americans who get clear, unbiased updates from 1440's free newsletter. (more)*

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RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• The Last Breath: Survival thriller starring Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Finn Cole, directed by Alex Parkinson.

• My Dead Friend Zoe: Comedy-drama starring Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales, with veterans Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.

📺 STREAMING

• Running Point: (Netflix) Kate Hudson leads an NBA front office comedy series created by Mindy Kaling.

• House of David: (Prime Video) Historical drama series starring Michael Iskander as the Biblical king, developed by Jon Erwin.

🏆 AWARDS SEASON

• The Oscars 97th Academy Awards: (ABC/Hulu) Hosted by Conan O'Brien, streaming on Hulu for the first time on Sunday, March 2 at 7pm ET/4pm PT. Download our 2025 Oscar ballot and fill out your predictions here. 👈👀

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments