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👋 Good morning! Francis Ford Coppola is proudly owning being named "Worst Director" at the Razzies—those infamous awards given out right before the Oscars that "celebrate" the year's biggest movie flops. In a defiant Instagram post, Coppola blasted the "gutless" film industry that's "terrified of risk," comparing his $120M box office bomb, ‘Megalopolis,’ to classic failures that gained appreciation decades later. The ‘Godfather’ director seems unfazed by his passion project's brutal reception, insisting that "box-office is only about money" while art endures.

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🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Box Office Breakdown

• Oscars Recap

• Unions Head to Sacramento

• Golden Globes Voters Lose Salary

• Vegas Rivals Team Up

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Box office takes an Oscars break…

1. 🛡️ Captain America: Brave New World: $15M domestic weekend (-47%), $163.7M domestic total, $341.8M global. Three-peats at #1 but still struggling to reach MCU standards. Slightly better hold than recent Marvel titles.

2. 🤿 Last Breath: $7.8M domestic opening in 3,018 theaters. Focus Features' survival thriller starring Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu scores decent reviews (77% on Rotten Tomatoes) and B+ CinemaScore.

3. 🐒 The Monkey: $6.37M domestic weekend (-55%), $24.6M domestic total. Neon's horror film drops sharply in second frame despite adding screens.

4. 🐻 Paddington in Peru: $4.5M domestic weekend (-31%), $31.36M domestic total. Family-friendly adventure holding well in its third weekend.

5. 🐶 Dog Man: $4.2M domestic weekend (-28%), $84.06M domestic total.

The Big Picture: Hollywood took a breather on Oscar weekend with the box office hitting 2025's lowest point yet at just $53.3M total, even lower than Super Bowl weekend. ‘Captain America’ continues to lead by default despite underperforming by Marvel standards, while Focus Features' ‘Last Breath’ was the only notable newcomer. The weekend was down 53.5% compared to the same frame last year when ‘Dune: Part Two’ dominated. All eyes are on next weekend's ‘Mickey 17’ to inject some life into March's theatrical calendar.

CLOSEUP
🏆 ‘Anora’ sweeps Hollywood’s biggest night…

The 97th Academy Awards lit up the Dolby Theatre last night with Conan O'Brien running the show. The late-night veteran proved to be the host with the most, winning over both the theater audience and viewers at home with his trademark self-deprecating humor and lightning-quick ad-libs. After years as a streaming holdout, Hollywood's biggest night finally made the digital leap, streaming live on Hulu—though not without some technical drama (more on that later).

Sean Baker's 'Anora' cleaned up, snagging five golden statues and cementing its place as the indie darling that could:

• Best Picture

• Best Director (Sean Baker)

• Best Original Screenplay (Sean Baker)

• Best Film Editing (Sean Baker, in a surprise win over ‘Conclave’)

• Best Actress (Mikey Madison, pulling off one of the night's biggest upsets against frontrunner Demi Moore)

Other major category winners included:

• Best Actor: Adrien Brody (‘The Brutalist’)

• Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (‘A Real Pain’)

• Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña (‘Emilia Pérez’)

Check out a full list of winners here. 👈👀

Historic milestones…

• Paul Tazewell made history as the first Black man to win Best Costume Design (for ‘Wicked’)

• Zoe Saldaña celebrated being the "first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award"

• ‘Flow’ gave Latvia its first-ever Oscar win (Best Animated Feature), in a surprise victory over favored ‘The Wild Robot’

• ‘I'm Still Here’ became Brazil's first Oscar winner (Best International Feature)

• ‘No Other Land’ took home Best Documentary Feature with filmmakers delivering an impassioned speech addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

And a few things you didn’t see on TV…

• Halle Berry recreated history by planting a kiss on Adrien Brody on the red carpet—22 years after their iconic 2003 Oscar moment

• Conan O'Brien left personalized notes and snack packs under audience members’ seats

• Colman Domingo turned a commercial break into a dance party, getting audience members out of their seats between awards

Disney’s first-ever Oscars livestream on Hulu had a few minor issues—viewers were greeted with error messages right as the show kicked off. Oops! Hulu eventually fixed the glitch halfway through.

Despite the tech fail, Disney had plenty to celebrate on the business front. The telecast sold out all ad inventory, commanding a cool $1.7M-$2.3M per 30-second spot. First-time advertisers and international sponsors were lining up to get in on the action.

Looking ahead… The strong advertiser demand proves live events remain a goldmine even as streaming dominates scripted content. With the Oscars now airing on both ABC and Hulu (and ABC's deal expiring in 2028), this year's ceremony offers a glimpse of Hollywood's biggest night transforming into a multi-platform spectacle. Behind the scenes, the Academy has reportedly begun shopping for its next TV home, with Netflix and Amazon in the mix as potential suitors seeking global rights.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 CA tax credits, Globes pay cuts, and Vegas…

🎬🧠 Hollywood unions are headed to Sacramento this week to save California production. "Keep California Rolling" is the new battle cry from Hollywood unions as they send 100 members to convince lawmakers to back Governor Newsom's $750M tax credit plan—more than double what California currently offers at $330M. Also, two new bills introduced last week aim to make more types of shows and movies eligible, helping California compete against states stealing film jobs. Newsom calls the situation a "real crisis," with Georgia offering unlimited tax breaks worth billions and New York putting up $700M. The numbers paint a grim picture: 17,000 vanished entertainment jobs, 40% less production, and this telling stat: 77% of projects denied California tax credits simply pack up and shoot elsewhere. With budget hearings looming amid wildfire recovery, all eyes are on whether this union blitz can convince lawmakers entertainment jobs are worth the investment.

🏆💸 The Golden Globes are cutting their voters' paychecks. In a surprise Friday Zoom call, Golden Globes boss Helen Hoehne told about 50 members they'll no longer receive $75,000 annual salaries for picking award winners. Instead, they'll get a one-time $102,500 goodbye payment but can still vote without pay for future ceremonies. This change makes the Globes more like other major awards shows, where voting is considered an honor rather than paid work. The move comes as part of ongoing efforts to fix the Globes' damaged reputation following a 2021 scandal over ethical concerns and voting practices. New owners Todd Boehly and Jay Penske are clearly on a mission to scrub away any whiff of bias in the voting process. And hey, it seems to be working—their latest show on CBS pulled in over 9M viewers, way up from their rock-bottom numbers a few years back.

🎬🤝 Hollywood rivals are becoming Vegas roommates. Warner Bros. and Sony have ditched their competing Las Vegas studio plans to team up on a single $400M facility in Summerlin. This unlikely partnership formed after Nevada made it clear they'd only support one studio project, not two. The joint venture still needs $80M in yearly tax credits approved by skeptical state officials, who've already spent big money luring sports teams to Vegas. For Warner Bros., joining forces means scaling back their original grand plans of a larger standalone facility with a promised $8.5B in spending over 17 years. This collaboration reveals a growing trend in Hollywood: former competitors are increasingly sharing costs while keeping their separate identities—a sign of changing times as studios face financial pressures in an evolving entertainment landscape.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Al Pacino joins Gus Van Sant’s true-crime hostage thriller ‘Dead Man’s Wire.’ (more)

• Netflix drops $55M on ‘Good Sex,’ proving star-driven rom-coms are thriving in the streaming era. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Matthew Lillard joins ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ S2. (more)

• Tatiana Maslany will lead ‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed’, a darkly comedic thriller greenlit by Apple TV+. (more)

• Sharon Horgan lands a new HBO comedy series and a two-year first-look deal, following the success of ‘Bad Sisters.’ (more)

• Max’s ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ TV series is gaining momentum with a development room led by Adele Lim. (more)

• Lauren Tsai joins the cast of HBO’s upcoming Steve Carell-led college comedy from Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses. (more)

Business 🤝

• D. Matt Geller joins Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions as EVP, leading development and production of all scripted content. (more)

• Still reading scripts? Start listening to them with Screenplayer. (more)*

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VIDEO VILLAGE
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MARTINI SHOT
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