👋 Good morning! A 25-year-old TikToker who has never spoken on camera just closed an almost $1B deal: Khaby Lame sold a stake in his company to Hong Kong-based Rich Sparkle Holdings for $975M. His entire creative output is eye-rolls and exasperated gestures at overcomplicated life hacks, a bit so universal it doesn't need translation. The deal gives them 36 months of exclusive rights to his brand, likeness, and an AI clone to post while he sleeps. The man turned a shrug into IP worth more than some studio franchises. 🤷♂️
Welcome back to The Dailies. It's Friday. Grab your coffee, and we’ll get you caught up so you can coast into the weekend fully briefed. First up, let's take a look at what people were streaming this week.
TOP STREAMED
📊 This week’s top-streamed originals…
Alex Honnold climbing in Taipei, Taiwan, for ‘Skyscraper Live.’ (Source: Netflix)
FILM 🎥
Netflix: The Rip
HBO Max: Caddo Lake
Disney+: Luca
Prime Video: The Wrecking Crew
Paramount+: Finestkind
Hulu: Prey
Apple TV: The Lost Bus
Peacock: Praise This
TV 📺
Netflix: His & Hers
HBO Max: The Pitt
Disney+: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Prime Video: Steal
Paramount+: Landman
Hulu: 11.22.63
Apple TV: Hijack
Peacock: The Traitors
How last week’s releases are stacking up…
🏙️ Skyscraper Live: (Netflix) Alex Honnold's free solo climb of Taipei 101 pulled 6.2M views per Netflix’s own numbers. Solid for a niche spectacle, but nowhere near the streamer’s live-event ceiling. For comparison: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson drew 60M, Paul vs. Anthony Joshua hit 33M, and the Christmas Day NFL games landed 20-27M per game.
🔍 Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart: (Netflix) Opened to 5.6M US views in its first week per Luminate, landing at #2 on the domestic film chart behind 'The Rip.' True crime remains Netflix's most bankable genre.
🤵No Time To Die: (Netflix) Pulled ~10M global views in its first week on the platform, according to Netflix. Amazon's licensing Bond to Netflix ahead of 'Bond 26' is a clever bit of cross-platform marketing: keep 007 in the cultural conversation while the next installment comes together.
🏦 Steal: (Amazon Prime) The heist series stumbled out of the gate with just 7M hours watched and 1.4M US viewers in its first week per Luminate. Early miss for Amazon.
Top-streamed chart (U.S.) Jan. 23 to Jan. 29. Data provided by Luminate.
CLOSEUP
🍿 A YouTuber’s film is outselling studio movies…
Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach attends the ‘Iron Lung’ premiere in Los Angeles, Dec. 2025 (Natasha Campos/Getty Images)
Mark Fischbach (better known to his 38M YouTube subscribers as Markiplier), opens his indie horror film 'Iron Lung' today on 4,100+ theaters worldwide with $7M in presales. No distributor. No paid marketing campaign. Just a decade spent building a loyal YouTube following, and fans who literally called theaters until they booked it.
We’ve seen a few instances of creator theatrical releases building momentum in recent years, but nothing like this:
'Ryan's World The Movie' (2024): $624K across 1,285 theaters
'Dude Perfect: The Hero Tour' (2025): $450K across 1,060 screens
'Sam and Colby: The Legends of the Paranormal' (2024): $1.76M across 302 theaters
'Iron Lung' presales alone: $7M across 4,100+ theaters
Fischbach self-financed the indie horror film as a SAG low-budget shoot for under $2M, adapted from a video game. He turned down distributor offers, bet on himself, and appears to have already recouped his budget before opening day.
The secret sauce wasn't virality, which powered those earlier creator films. It was relational. Fischbach spent years bringing fans along on his filmmaking journey, treating them as collaborators rather than consumers. His distributor initially suggested starting with three theaters. After he posted the trailer and asked fans to request screenings at local theaters, the calls flooded in so heavily that one theater chain asked him to "turn off the bots." They weren't bots.
Bill Herting, a film-buying veteran who's spent 50 years in exhibition, is handling Fischbach's theater bookings. Even he was caught off guard:
"I hope it's a glimpse of the future because there's some magic pixie dust going on here. And I don't think it's just a one-off."
Looking ahead… Projections now have 'Iron Lung' tracking for a $10-15M opening weekend, which would put it in competition with studio releases like Sam Raimi's 'Send Help' and Jason Statham's 'Shelter.'
INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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WIDESHOT
🎬 Darren Aronofsky, the NFL, and the Emmys…
Darren Aronofsky
🤖 Darren Aronofsky's AI studio has its first real product. Primordial Soup, the director's venture with Google DeepMind announced last May, debuted 'On This Day … 1776,' an animated short-form series about the American Revolution on Time's YouTube channel. The project uses generative AI for animation while employing SAG-AFTRA voice actors, but the union-friendly casting hasn't softened the blow. Filmmakers and film Twitter have been brutal, with critics calling the visuals "AI slop" and questioning why an acclaimed auteur would lend his name to it. Episodes will continue rolling out throughout 2026, timed to the Declaration of Independence's 250th anniversary.
🏈 The NFL is treating creators like broadcast partners now. The league is bringing 160+ social media creators to Super Bowl LX next month, naming YouTube studio mogul Dhar Mann its "Chief Kindness Officer" and staging a flag football game that'll stream on YouTube rather than broadcast TV. NFL SVP Ian Trombetta said the push is about reaching younger fans who prefer getting their football through creators rather than traditional coverage. Even the most TV-dependent property in sports is quietly planning for a future where the next generation watches the Super Bowl on their phones, vertical.
📺 Late-night is shrinking at the Emmys. The Television Academy voted to merge its Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and Outstanding Talk Series categories into a single award, undoing a split made back in 2015. Emmy rules require categories to merge when eligible shows drop below 20. Late-night finally hit that threshold. The genre's been contracting for years, and the exits keep coming: Corden's gone, Colbert wraps soon, Kimmel's year-to-year. Under the new setup, the merged category becomes an "area award," where any nominee receiving 90% approval from voters wins an Emmy. That means John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and ‘SNL’ could all take home trophies in the same year.
LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Sony Pictures Classics buys Sundance crowd-pleaser ‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!’ scoring the festival’s first competition sale. (more)
Erin Doherty and James McAvoy are teaming on supernatural drama ‘Faith,’ now in production from writer-director Paul Andrew Williams. (more)
Amazon MGM Studios sets Cameron Diaz and Stephen Merchant to star in an untitled rom-com that Merchant will direct with Point Grey producing. (more)
Odessa A’zion exits A24’s ‘Deep Cuts’ after backlash over her casting as a Mexican character, saying she stepped aside for authentic casting. (more)
Kate Beckinsale has signed on to star in the kidnap action-thriller ‘The Savior,’ from 308 Ent. (more)
Ana de Armas will star as a troubled fitness influencer in J Blakeson’s psychological thriller ‘Sweat.’ (more)
Sam Worthington and David Duchovny are set to star with Ke-Xi Wu in Asia-set crime thriller ‘The Exiles,’ from director Midi Z. (more)
TV Development 📺
HBO added Helena Bonham Carter, Chris Messina and Marissa Long to ‘The White Lotus,’ S4. (more)
Netflix ordered ‘Breakers,’ a new series starring Antony Starr as production gets underway in Australia. (more)
HBO gave a straight-to-series order to Damon Lindelof’s eight-episode adaptation of ‘The Chain,’ based on Adrian McKinty’s thriller. (more)
ITV set Aidan Gillen, Anjli Mohindra and Shaun Parkes to headline legal thriller ‘Saviour,’ executive produced by ‘Your Honor,’ writer Peter Moffat. (more)
Netflix added Odessa Young and Will Poulter to Adam Driver-led hostage thriller series ‘Rabbit, Rabbit.’ (more)
Prime Video ordered an eight-episode series adaptation of ‘Sex Criminals,’ from Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon. (more)
Netflix will stream Tyson Fury’s return from retirement against Arslanbek Makhmudov in April, marking its first live event broadcast from the U.K. (more)
Business 🤝
Comcast reported weaker Q4 results as cable revenue fell and Peacock losses widened, partly offset by gains in ads, wireless and theme parks. (more)
GammaTime named ReelShort executive Sandra Yee Ling as head of production to build its microdrama pipeline and shape creative strategy. (more)
18M pounds lost: Experts say this is the future of weight loss, and it doesn't require GLP-1, diets or calorie counting. (more)*
*sponsored
RELEASE RADAR
📅 This week’s new releases…
🎥 THEATRICAL
Send Help: Survival horror thriller from director Sam Raimi starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien.
Iron Lung: Sci-fi horror from YouTuber-turned-filmmaker Markiplier, who wrote, directed, and stars in this adaptation of David Szymanski's video game.
Melania: Documentary from director Brett Ratner following First Lady Melania Trump in the twenty days before her husband's second inauguration.
Shelter: Action thriller starring Jason Statham, directed by Ric Roman Waugh.
📺 STREAMING
Bridgerton: (Netflix) S4, Part 1 of the Regency romance series.
Shrinking: (Apple TV) S3 of the comedy-drama starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, with Michael J. Fox guest-starring this season.
🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: Four new releases duke it out for the top spot as the Christmas holdovers finally fade. Sam Raimi's 'Send Help' ($12-17M) has the edge with 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Markiplier's self-financed 'Iron Lung' ($10-15M) could ride Gen Z presales to an upset. Jason Statham's 'Shelter' ($5-8M) rounds out the podium unless the 'Melania' doc ($2-5M) surges in red-state markets. Any of them could knock 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' off its six-weekend throne.
VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers
MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments
Aaaaand... that’s all we’ve got for today. If you're reading this email because a friend hooked you up, hit that subscribe button and join the party. 📧👇
Have a great weekend! See you back here Monday.
-The Dailies Team