🎬 New Rules

👋 Good morning! Hollywood dialed back its Super Bowl presence to just 4.5 movie spots this year, while the ad game delivered some unexpected gems at $7.5M per 30 seconds. We watched Eugene Levy's eyebrows take flight for Little Caesars (Nick Offerman's mustache did the same for Pringles—great minds?), while Jeremy Strong took method acting to new depths by emerging from a vat of coffee bean slime for Dunkin', and Seal literally became a seal for Mountain Dew.

Whether you're a seasoned subscriber or a new arrival, we're thrilled to have you here. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we'll deliver the most important industry scoops directly to your inbox.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• PGA, DGA, and Critics Choice Awards Recap

• The Academy’s New AI Rules

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Call Sheet: The week ahead

• Martini Shot 🍸

But first, let’s take a look at what happened at the box office this past weekend!

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Box office takes a Super Bowl breather…

1. 🐕 Dog Man: $13.7M domestic weekend (-62%), $54.1M domestic total, $66M global. DreamWorks' family hit performs better than expected in its second weekend, but still leads a sluggish Super Bowl frame.

2. 🔪 Heart Eyes: $8.5M domestic opening. Rom-com slasher hybrid scores decent reviews (82% on Rotten Tomatoes) but struggles to make audiences swoon with a B- CinemaScore.

3. 💘 Love Hurts: $5.8M domestic opening, $6.87M global. Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose can't save this action-comedy from a C+ CinemaScore and brutal reviews (18% on Rotten Tomatoes).

4. 🦁 Mufasa: The Lion King: $3.92M domestic weekend (-38%), $235.2M domestic total. Holds strong in week 8.

5. 👻 Companion: $3.02M domestic weekend (-68%), $15.48M domestic total. Second-weekend plunge for the well-reviewed horror flick.

6. ☀️ One of Them Days: $3M domestic weekend (-49%), $39.37M domestic total. Mid-budget hit heading toward a solid $50M+ finish.

7. 🎸 Becoming Led Zeppelin: $2.62M domestic opening from 369 theaters. Rock doc strikes a chord as the biggest IMAX-exclusive music release ever.

8. ✈️ Flight Risk: $2.6M domestic weekend (-52%), $25.19M domestic total. Thriller continues descent in week three.

9. 🦔 Sonic the Hedgehog 3: $1.75M domestic weekend (-46%), $233.09M domestic total.

10. 🌊 Moana 2: $1.54M domestic weekend (-46%), $456.11M domestic total. Animation powerhouse still making waves in week 11.

The Big Picture: Nobody expected much from Super Bowl weekend, but hey—at least this year's $55M total beat last year by 50%.

International Highlights: Overseas, ‘Dog Man’ had a solid UK debut with $4M. Meanwhile, ‘Paddington in Peru’ is crushing it internationally with $104M before it even hits U.S. theaters next weekend. In China, ‘Ne Zha 2’ made history as the first film to hit $1B in a single market, with forecasts suggesting it could reach $1.48B.

CLOSEUP
🏆 We’ve got an Oscar front runner…

Hollywood just wrapped up one of its busiest awards weekends ever, with three major ceremonies crammed into just two days. The big story? Sean Baker's ‘Anora’ swept all three shows, emerging as the clear Oscar frontrunner.

Friday: Critics Choice Awards 🎭

• ‘Anora’ scored a surprise Best Picture win

• ‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘Wicked,’ and ‘The Substance’ each nabbed three awards

• Acting winners included Adrien Brody (‘The Brutalist’), Demi Moore (‘The Substance’)

• Kieran Culkin (‘A Real Pain’) and Zoe Saldaña (‘Emilia Pérez’) won supporting categories

• Jon M. Chu earned a Best Director win for ‘Wicked’

• Voted on by 600+ entertainment journalists, often predicting acting races

Saturday: Directors Guild Awards 🎬

• Sean Baker won the top prize for ‘Anora’

• RaMell Ross took home First-Time Feature award for ‘Nickel Boys’

• TV winners included Frederick E.O. Toye (‘Shōgun’) for drama

• Lucia Aniello (‘Hacks’) won for comedy series

• Steven Zaillian prevailed in limited series for ‘Ripley’

Saturday Night: Producers Guild Awards 💫

• ‘Anora’ completed its sweep with the Darryl F. Zanuck Award

• ‘The Wild Robot’ won animated feature

• TV wins echoed Emmys: ‘Shōgun,’ ‘Hacks,’ ‘Baby Reindeer’

• ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’ won documentary

Why this matters for the Oscars: The PGA Award is historically the best Oscar predictor—25 of its last 34 winners went on to win Best Picture. Combined with DGA (which predicts Best Director 19 out of last 22 times), ‘Anora’ has built serious momentum.

Industry context: It’s worth noting that voting for all three shows concluded before recent controversies surrounding ‘Emilia Pérez’ star Karla Sofía Gascón emerged. These results reflect industry sentiment from earlier in the season, when both films were viewed as frontrunners for Oscar consideration. Netflix has since adjusted its campaign strategy to highlight other aspects of the film, including Zoe Saldaña's Supporting Actress nomination.

Looking ahead... Perfect timing for ‘Anora’ as Oscar voting opens tomorrow, Feb. 11—these wins (and Baker's acceptance speeches) will be fresh in voters' minds. The film has two more chances to build momentum at BAFTA and WGA before final ballots close Feb. 18.

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CLOSEUP
🏆 The Academy’s getting serious about AI rules…

The Motion Picture Academy is making waves with a significant shift in its Oscar submission requirements: starting 2026, AI disclosure could become mandatory. While films can currently volunteer this information, growing industry adoption is pushing the Academy toward greater transparency.

Why now? Recent controversies surrounding AI use in Oscar contenders like ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘Emilia Pérez’ have sparked industry-wide debate. When ‘The Brutalist’ was identified for using AI in post-production, director Brady Corbet had to issue a clarifying statement explaining that the technology (Respeecher) was only used for Hungarian dialogue editing—not for modifying the Oscar-nominated performances of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.

AI's already more prevalent than you might think:

• ‘Dune: Part Two’ used it to nail those dreamy blue Fremen eyes

• ‘A Complete Unknown’ snuck it into three motorcycle shots for stunt doubles

• ‘Furiosa’ went all-in, using AI for 150+ shots to age-shift characters

• Even Maria Callas got the AI treatment in ‘Maria’ to clean up some vintage vocals

Inside the Academy’s push…

The SciTech Council is spearheading the initiative, working with each branch's executive committee to investigate how AI touches their craft. They're mapping out everything from visual effects to sound mixing, aiming to create comprehensive disclosure requirements that make sense across all disciplines.

Here’s the thing: The term "AI" in Hollywood covers everything from sci-fi level content generation to basic cleanup tools. The Academy's SciTech Council needs to sort out what counts—is using AI to touch up dialogue the same as using it to create entire scenes? Some of these tools are closer to traditional VFX than you'd think.

Looking ahead… Hollywood's trying to thread the needle here. Too restrictive, and smaller productions might lose access to cost-effective tools. Too permissive, and it could undermine artistic craftsmanship. The Academy's expected to unveil final guidelines in April.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• MUBI has acquired Sundance thriller ‘Lurker’ in a competitive bidding war and will release the film in theaters later this year. (more)

• Jessica Gunning has joined Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, and James Corden in Steven Soderbergh’s dark comedy ‘The Christophers.’ (more)

• Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe have joined Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer in Michael Sarnoski’s ‘The Death of Robin Hood.’ (more)

• John Travolta, Mandy Patinkin, and Dermot Mulroney will lead ‘November 1963,’ Roland Joffé’s JFK assassination thriller. (more)

• Natalie Portman will star in Lena Dunham’s rom-com ‘Good Sex,’ exploring an age-gap love triangle in New York. (more)

• Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry’s movie musical ‘Golden’ has been scrapped in postproduction after creators felt it didn’t meet their vision. (more)

• ‘Frontier Crucible,’ Armie Hammer’s comeback Western, is on sale at EFM with Voltage Pictures, featuring William H. Macy and Thomas Jane. (more)

• Madelyn Cline will co-star alongside Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz in Lionsgate’s crime thriller ‘Day Drinker,’ directed by Marc Webb. (more)

• ABC’s ‘The Bachelorette’ will skip its Summer 2025 season for the first time since 2003, with no return date announced. (more)

• Owen Wilson will star alongside Alan Ritchson in the action thriller ‘Runner,’ directed by Scott Waugh, filming in Australia this March. (more)

• Jason Winer will direct Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s untitled Apple TV+ comedy series. (more)

Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌

• ‘The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh’ is cancelled by Prime Video after S1. (more)

• ‘English Teacher’ is renewed for S2 by FX. (more)

Business 🤝

• Amazon MGM Studios is planning to launch its own international theatrical distribution division in 2026. (more)

• Paramount has struck a slate financing deal with Domain Capital for 30-40 films including remakes of ‘The Naked Gun’ and ‘The Running Man.’ (more)

• Sick of the news? Join the other 4M Americans and sign up free for the best newsletter for unbiased reporting. (more)*

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CALL SHEET
📅 The week ahead…

• TUESDAY: Oscars voting begins 🗳️

• FRIDAY: The BAFTA Film Awards ceremony 🏆

• SATURDAY: WGA Awards ceremony 🏆

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VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments