🎬 Reboot Cyclone

👋 Good morning! After months of pondering, the Sundance Film Festival has zeroed in on six contenders for its potential new home starting in 2027. In the running are Atlanta, GA, Boulder, CO, Cincinnati, OH, Louisville, KY, Santa Fe, NM, and a joint bid from Utah’s Park City and Salt Lake City. Each city is pulling out all the stops to win over Sundance’s decision-makers with promises of inclusivity, creativity, and eco-friendly vibes.

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🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Hollywood’s Reboot Cyclone

• Teamsters Turn Up the Heat

• SAG-AFTRA's Video Game Strike

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

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

LAST WEEKEND’S
🎟️ BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN 🎟️

1. 🌪️ Twisters: Debuted with $80.5M domestically and $123.2M globally. It significantly exceeded projections of $50-60M to become 2024's third-biggest opener, with audiences giving it an A- CinemaScore and 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.

2. 🟡 Despicable Me 4: Banked $23.8M domestically (-45%) for a $259.5M total, while its global haul hit $574.4M after crossing $500M worldwide in its third weekend. Adding $51.9M from 79 international territories, it's now outperformed the first ‘Despicable Me’ both at home and abroad.

3. 💭 Inside Out 2: Added $12.8M domestically (-36%), pushing its home total to $596.4M and global cume to $1.443B. It's set to overtake ‘Incredibles 2’ ($609M) as the top animated film domestically and is already the 15th highest-grossing film in U.S. history. Globally, it's surpassed ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ ($1.405B) and is closing in on ‘Barbie’ ($1.446B) for the 14th spot worldwide.

4. 🔪 Longlegs: $11.7M domestic (-48%), $44.7M total. Now Neon's second highest-grossing film.

5. 🤫 A Quiet Place: Day One: $6.1M domestic (-46%), $127.6M domestic total.

6. 🚀 Fly Me to the Moon: $3.3M domestic (-65%), $16.4M domestic total.

7. 🚔 Bad Boys: Ride or Die: $2.7M domestic (-37%), $189.3M domestic total.

8. 💃 MaXXXine: $819K domestic (-60%), $13.9M domestic total.

9. 🏍️ The Bikeriders: $700K domestic (+75%), $21.2M domestic total.

10. 🌄 Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1: $685K domestic (-69%), $28.5M domestic total.

This weekend’s total domestic box office hit $145.5M.

The big picture: The box office is showing signs of recovery in 2024 as ‘Twisters’ proves there's still life in the ol' box office yet. We’re still trailing last year’s ‘Barbenheimer’ weekend by about 47%, but hey, progress is progress. Recent hits have helped narrow the year-to-date deficit. With ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ set to slash its way into theaters soon (potentially as the first $200M R-rated opener), the summer box office looks primed for a strong run.

🎬 Reboot Cyclone 🕰️
Inside Hollywood's Obsession with Recycling Blockbusters

‘Twisters’ just blew away the box office with an $80.5M opening weekend, the latest in a cyclone of reboots sweeping through Hollywood. From ‘Top Gun’ to ‘Road House,’ it seems no '80s or '90s stone is being left unturned. Here are a handful of reboots on the horizon:

• ‘Ghost’ (Channing Tatum's taking Patrick Swayze's spot at the pottery wheel)

• ‘Barbarella’ (Sydney Sweeney's suiting up for this sci-fi revival)

• ‘The Running Man’ (Glen Powell's on his marks)

• ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’ (Miles Teller takes on the iconic Richard Gere drama)

• ‘The War of the Roses’ (Divorce drama, 2020s style)

So who's really spinning this reboot wheel? Is it cautious or lazy execs or are audiences genuinely hungry for nostalgia? And how long can it last?

Executive Strategy: Hollywood’s decision-makers, many in their 50s and 60s, are green-lighting the movies of their youth. With skyrocketing production costs and uncertain box office returns, familiar IP feels safer than a vault full of bubble wrap.

These savvy suits are also playing matchmaker, pairing seasoned stars with fresh faces (think Tom Cruise and Miles Teller in 'Top Gun: Maverick') in a bid to lure both nostalgia-hungry Gen Xers and their TikTok-obsessed kids.

Meanwhile, streaming platforms are growling for content like a hangry beast, and recognizable titles with built-in fan bases help cut through the noise.

Audience Dynamics: The audience side of this equation is trickier. On one hand, there's clear appetite for nostalgia. A recent Tubi/Harris Poll found that a whopping 96% of Americans are interested in nostalgia content.

Gen Z is stumbling upon old hits via social media like they're unearthing buried treasure. To them, it's all new IP—think Gen Z’s obsession with ‘Friends’ or ‘Suits.’ These reboots often come with timely twists—‘Twisters’ taps into climate anxiety, a hot-button issue for Gen Z, while ‘Road House’ capitalized on the current popularity of UFC and MMA.

However, there's a plot twist: The same survey revealed that 74% of Gen Z and Millennials actually prefer original films to remakes. This contradiction poses a challenge for studios banking on nostalgia's appeal to younger viewers. In general, studios are a bit in the dark at the moment as they try to figure out what will actually lure Gen Z away from their screens and into movie theaters.

The Bottom Line: Hollywood's reboot frenzy, albeit wildly successful at the moment, seems primarily driven by risk-averse executives and the demands of the streaming era, rather than overwhelming audience demand.

Short-term forecast: Expect more blasts from the past. The film slate for the next six months is packed with legacy sequels and remakes. Long-term outlook: While the reboot recipe is cooking up success now, studios might need to switch gears if younger audiences keep yawning at recycled stories.

Just when we thought Hollywood could breathe easy after the IATSE deal, the Teamsters are turning up the heat. Local 399 and Hollywood Basic Crafts are still duking it out with the AMPTP. After five weeks of talks, they're "far apart" on core issues. The July 31 deadline is looming, and the Teamsters aren't in the mood for overtime. If they can't seal the deal, we might see 8,000 workers—from drivers to animal wranglers—swap their gear for picket signs. If the Teamsters hit the brakes, Hollywood production would screech to a halt – sure, writers might still be typing away and actors could sign contracts, but without the truck drivers and craft wizards, cameras won't be rolling anytime soon. The studios better bring their A-game, or we might be in for Striketember: The Sequel.

Speaking of strikes, the voice acting world is on the verge of going silent mode. SAG-AFTRA's chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, just got the green light to call a strike against major gaming companies at a moment's notice. The core issue? Artificial intelligence and its impact on voice acting. After two years of negotiations, the union and game studios remain at odds over how AI should be used and regulated in the industry. A whopping 98% of SAG members are backing strike action. The last voice actor strike lasted six months, so brace for potential delays in your favorite game releases.

Development 🗒️

• NBC greenlights ‘Suits: L.A.’ and ‘Grosse Pointe Garden Society’, slated for midseason premieres. (more)

• Anne Hathaway and Elizabeth Banks are among those bidding in a fierce auction for Caro Claire Burke’s novel ‘Yesteryear.’ (more)

Other News 🚨

• Justin DiPietro relaunches MPI Media Group and Dark Sky Films, aiming to expand globally and tackle larger projects. (more)

• NBCUniversal closes 2024-25 Upfront with “modest” advertising growth, driven by Peacock, sports, and digital content. (more)

• Historic L.A. cinemas, the Bruin and Westwood Village Theater, are closing this week as Regency Theaters’ leases expire. (more)

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