🎬 Proof of Taste

👋 Good morning. Remember 2016, when creepy clown sightings across the U.S. had police fielding panicked calls and schools on lockdown? Well, HBO's decided to recreate that energy (intentionally this time). Yesterday, Pennywise from the 'IT' films appeared on streets in nine cities worldwide (New York, Paris, Madrid, and more), complete with signature red balloons, to promote 'IT: Welcome to Derry.' We think it's safe to assume HBO's marketing team successfully ruined at least a few thousand commutes yesterday.

Welcome back to The Dailies. Look at you, making it all the way to Friday. Impressive. Pour yourself something caffeinated and let's dive into what's moving the needle in the industry, starting with the latest streaming data. 👇

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

How last week’s releases are stacking up…

• 🇬🇧 The Diplomat: (Netflix) Came in as the most-watched show of the week across platforms in the US. S3 opened with 3.7M US views and 23.7M hours watched in its first week, nearly matching S2’s debut (4.3M views, 21M hours watched).

• 🏘️ The Perfect Neighbor: (Netflix) The most-watched movie this week across platforms in the US with 6.3M views in its debut weekend. That puts it in line with recent Netflix crime docs like ‘The Menendez Brothers’ (3.7M in 3 days) and ‘A Deadly American Marriage’ (3.1M in 3 days).

• ⚖️ Murdaugh: Death in the Family: (Hulu) 2.3M season views in week one. That’s a strong debut as Hulu’s top true-crime series of the year, but still shy of recent Hulu hits like ‘Paradise’ (2.7M in week 1).

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) Oct. 17 to Oct. 23. Data provided by Luminate.

CLOSEUP
📽️ Indie studios want to be lifestyle brands…

Focus Features, A24, and Neon aren't just selling movies anymore. These indie studios are pivoting hard into experiential marketing with festivals, merch drops, and Instagram-worthy activations, betting that audiences will pay premium prices not just to watch their films, but to buy into the studio brand itself.

How we got here: The arthouse audience used to skew 50+—reliable viewers with disposable income who showed up for prestige cinema. Then COVID hit, streaming democratized access to auteur films, and suddenly 18-34 year-olds discovered Yorgos Lanthimos. Now the traditional arthouse demographic typically stays home while younger audiences fill those seats, craving IRL experiences they can share on social and flex on Letterboxd. Here's how indie players are responding:

• Focus Features launched FocusFest, charging $78 for a full day on the Universal lot with screenings, themed meals, and custom merch. The studio also threw 'Pride & Prejudice' balls at luxury hotels and 'Nosferatu'-themed crypt dinners.

• A24's $99 annual membership program includes opening weekend tickets to every release, early merch access, and exclusive events like screenings in the tiny New Mexico town where films were shot.

• Neon hosted ‘Anora’ pop-ups where fans waited hours to buy exclusive thong underwear and tees, including one event at the actual strip club where the Cannes winner was filmed.

• Criterion's mobile DVD closet tours festivals and cities with shelves of Blu-rays, generating 8-hour wait times for a 3-minute shopping experience that exists purely to be filmed and shared.

Welcome to the identity economy: These studios are no longer just content distributors but cultural gatekeepers offering young audiences what they crave most: proof of taste. They’re betting that community, experience, and generating a sense of FOMO will keep cinephiles loyal to their aesthetic. As Focus Features VP Jason Cassidy admits, creating IRL experiences has become "paramount" to opening movies.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
Finally, skincare made for men’s skin…

Stop borrowing your partner’s moisturizer. Men’s skin is thicker, tougher, and needs a formula built just for it. That’s why over 1 million men worldwide trust Particle Face Cream, a 6-in-1 anti-aging solution designed specifically for men. It reduces eye bags, wrinkles, and dark spots while moisturizing and soothing skin after shaving. Start today and save 20% with promo code DAILIES20. If you don’t see results in 30 days, get your money back.

WIDESHOT
🎬 Micro-dramas, Star Wars, and the Writers Guild…

🤳 Hollywood keeps betting on tiny screens: Former Miramax CEO Bill Block launched GammaTime, a micro-drama streaming platform backed by $14M from Alexis Ohanian, Kris Jenner, and Kim Kardashian. The app features 20+ bite-sized originals from creators like 'CSI' creator Anthony E. Zuiker, and it uses predictive AI to test how audiences respond to story concepts before greenlighting full production. Block joins a growing crowd chasing a market projected to hit $8B globally: Fox just invested in Ukrainian verticals studio Holy Water, TelevisaUnivision is producing 40 microdramas for its ViX platform, and in China, micro-drama revenues hit $7B in 2024, exceeding the country's traditional box office. The vertical land grab continues.

🗑️ Two top directors just got their Star Wars pitches shot down. Adam Driver revealed this week that he spent two years developing a Ben Solo sequel with Steven Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns (which Driver called "one of the coolest scripts" he'd ever read). But Disney executives Bob Iger and Alan Bergman killed it over continuity concerns, unable to accept Ben Solo surviving Episode IX. Soderbergh's not the only one: David Fincher pitched a film about a recent trilogy character, but talks fell apart when he wanted final cut. Fans weren't happy about the news: a group paid for a plane to fly over Disney Studios yesterday with a banner that said "Save ‘The Hunt for Ben Solo.’" Still, Disney's got plenty of Star Wars coming down the pipeline, including 'The Mandalorian & Grogu' movie hitting theaters May 2026.

🙅 Writers say WBD's sale would be a "disaster." The Writers Guild of America is vowing to work with regulators to block Warner Bros. Discovery's potential sale to Paramount Skydance, arguing that combining WBD with another major studio would “harm workers, diminish competition and free speech, and waste billions better invested in organic growth.” The guild says that mega-mergers have consistently led to anti-competitive practices, massive layoffs, and billions in cancelled projects as debt-burdened companies slash costs to justify their deals. Three years after its own $43B merger created the current WBD, the company's officially for sale. This week they're asking bidders to sign NDAs to see the books, having already turned down three separate offers from Paramount.

MARKET WATCH
📈 IMAX just had its best quarter ever…

IMAX dropped its Q3 earnings yesterday, and the premium theater chain is crushing it while the rest of the box office struggles. Here are the main takeaways:

• Moviegoers spent a record $368M on IMAX tickets globally in Q3. IMAX's cut of those ticket sales brought in $106.7M in revenue (up 17% from last year), while the regular domestic box office fell 11% in the same period.

• Movies in local languages are huge now—$343M this year, up 40%. Asian audiences are packing IMAX theaters for their own blockbusters like 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.'

• Apple's 'F1' was IMAX's highest-grossing Hollywood release this quarter at $97M globally.

• IMAX has been increasingly teaming up with streamers like Netflix, Apple TV+ and Prime Video to turn streaming content into theatrical events. The biggest experiment lies ahead with Greta Gerwig's 'Narnia' getting a four-week IMAX run starting Thanksgiving 2026.

Looking ahead… IMAX is adding 150-160 new theaters to its global network this year and is on track to hit a record $1.2B in global box office for 2025.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Nikki Glaser will star in and co-write an “edgy romantic comedy” for Universal, produced by Judd Apatow. (more)

• Johnny Depp will star in Paramount’s ‘Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol,’ directed by Ti West and co-starring Andrea Riseborough. (more)

• Jason Statham will star in Lionsgate’s action thriller ‘Mutiny,’ set for release on August 21, 2026, and directed by Jean-François Richet. (more)

• Amplify Pictures and Duplass Brothers Productions are teaming to finance and produce the comedic crime-thriller series ‘Sleep King.’ (more)

• Kingsley Ben-Adir and Archie Madekwe will star as estranged brothers reuniting in ‘The Arrival,’ the feature debut of director Bijan Sheibani. (more)

• Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to ‘Carolina Caroline,’ a romantic crime thriller starring Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner. (more)

• Hayden Panettiere stars in psychological thriller ‘Sleepwalker,’ produced by Appian Way and Verdi Productions, releasing January 9, 2026. (more)

• Apple Original Films has acquired ‘Sponsor,’ a psychological thriller starring Jason Segel and directed by James Ponsoldt. (more)

TV Development 📺

• CBS has ordered ‘Cupertino,’ a Silicon Valley legal drama from Robert and Michelle King. (more)

• David Chase is developing HBO limited series ‘Project: MKUltra,’ about the CIA’s real-life mind control program based on John Lisle’s book. (more)

• Netflix has ordered ‘Black Hole,’ a series from Jane Schoenbrun based on Charles Burns’ graphic novel. (more)

• A24 and Team Downey are producing Netflix’s adaptation of Brian Watkins’ hit play ‘Weather Girl,’ with Julia McDermott reprising her lead role. (more)

Business 🤝

• Amazon MGM paid $20M to Eon Productions for creative control of the James Bond franchise, far lower than the $1B+ figure previously speculated. (more)

RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere: Biopic starring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen.

• Blue Moon: Biopic starring Ethan Hawke, directed by Richard Linklater.

• Regretting You: Colleen Hoover adaptation starring Allison Williams and Mckenna Grace.

• Shelby Oaks: Horror debut from Chris Stuckmann, produced by Mike Flanagan.

• Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc: Anime film from Sony/Crunchyroll.

📺 STREAMING

• Nobody Wants This: (Netflix) S2 starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody.

• Harlan Coben’s Lazarus: (Prime Video) Horror-thriller starring Sam Claflin.

• The Hand That Rocks the Cradle: (Hulu) Psychological thriller remake starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe.

• A House of Dynamite: (Netflix) Kathryn Bigelow thriller starring Idris Elba.

• It: Welcome to Derry: (HBO) Stephen King horror prequel series.

• Mayor of Kingstown: (Paramount+) S4 of Taylor Sheridan's crime series with Jeremy Renner.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'Black Phone 2' should hold the top spot for a second week with around $17-18M, while the five newcomers split audiences with modest debuts. Don't expect any breakouts; it's a crowded weekend with no clear winner among the new releases.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments