🎬 Indies Are Alive 🙌

👋 Good morning! Welcome aboard the Dailies.

Whether you're a seasoned subscriber or a new arrival, we're thrilled to have you here. Twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, we'll deliver the most important industry scoops directly to your inbox.

🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Closeup: AFM Recap

• SAG Weighs “Final” Offer

• HBO’s Hidden Trolls

• Streaming’s Fickle Fans

• 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. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Dips but still rules the box office with $19.4M, becoming the year's top horror. 🎮👻

2. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour: Holds strong with $13.5M, crowned the highest-grossing concert film ever. 🎤✨

3. Killers of the Flower Moon: Slows down with $7M, totaling $52.3M domestically. Not DiCaprio's best, but not bad! 🕵️‍♂️🎥

4. Priscilla: Rocks a $5M wide release debut, strumming a chord with audiences and scoring well compared to Sofia Coppola’s past openers. 🎸💃

5. Radical: This inspiring Spanish-language drama surprises with a strong $2.7M opening in limited locations. 🏫🌟

Indies Are Alive
Highlights from The American Film Market 2023

Just like that, the American Film Market (AFM) has closed its curtains in Santa Monica. For those not in the know, AFM is a bustling hub where the global film industry gathers in November for a crucial confluence. It’s a marketplace that centers around the licensing and distribution of the hottest new feature films. Picture over $1B exchanging hands as films are showcased and buyers ink deals on what indie films they will distribute next.

AFM shined a light on new and exciting projects, some having already received interim agreements from SAG-AFTRA to shoot early next year. Here are a few highlights: 🍿✨

• 'Turn Up the Sun!,' a thriller featuring James McAvoy and an international ensemble, kicks off despite industry strikes, shooting under an Equity-PACT agreement in the U.K.

• Guy Pearce and DeWanda Wise team up for 'Killing Faith,' a supernatural thriller set to start filming in New Mexico with a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement in place, securing multiple international pre-sales.

• Naomie Harris stars in 'Robin and the Hood,' a family adventure comedy with an environmental twist, already completed and set to premiere as a Sky Original.

• 'Last Meals,' featuring Samuel L. Jackson as a former White House chef, secures a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement for a late November shoot in Atlanta.

• Matthew Wilder is set to direct a creative biopic delving into the life of renowned writer Joan Didion, with plans to film in Los Angeles next year.

• See more of the major market projects from AFM 2023 here 👈🏻

Despite operating under the looming presence of the SAG strike, AFM has showcased indie filmmakers’ resilience, adaptability, and a steadfast commitment to storytelling. The interim agreements and pre-sale successes signal a collective determination to keep the cameras rolling and the stories flowing.

SAG Weighs “Final” Offer 🪧🚨 The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has laid down what they're calling their "last, best and final" offer to SAG-AFTRA. Talks have become increasingly serious over the past couple weeks with studio CEO’s once again pulling up their chairs to the bargaining table. Members of the AMPTP have made clear that they’re not budging any further, with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos reportedly telling SAG negotiators, “we didn’t just come toward you, we came all the way to you.” The guild announced over the weekend that it will be taking a beat to review the offer. If the guild doesn’t bite, we might see the studios playing hardball and stalling talks until January, which would be bad news for everyone in the industry who is waiting patiently to get back to work. The strike is currently in its 116th day. As always, we’ll keep you in the loop.

HBO’s Hidden Trolls: Execs Caught in Undercover Twitter Drama 🤫😰 Well, HBO’s got some real-life drama that could give its shows a run for their money. Turns out execs like Casey Bloys, HBO’s CEO, weren’t just making TV—they were making fake Twitter accounts to clap back at critics of shows like ‘Perry Mason,’ trying to make them feel bad for their takes. These covert Twitter ops were exposed as part of a lawsuit filed by a former HBO staffer, who claimed he faced a toxic workplace that had him crafting these fake accounts. In the age of online anonymity, it’s not surprising that HBO would try to sway the digital court of public opinion, and some speculate they may not be alone in employing such tactics. Bloys has since apologized for using fake accounts and said the following:

Gen Z: Streaming’s Fickle Fans 🎬📲 Gen Z is getting pretty quick to hit the cancel button on streaming services, according to a new survey by TransUnion. The data tell us that 60% of these young streamers have nixed at least one subscription in the past six months—more than any other age group. Price hikes are the big deal-breaker here, prompting 52% of all of those surveyed, including 43% of Gen Z and 53% of millennials, to say goodbye to their subscriptions. Other reasons? Many cancelled subscriptions due to finishing their favorite shows or due to a lack of new content. About 17% of those surveyed canceled a subscription when given credentials to another persons’s account. If streamers want to keep younger audiences, it looks like they’d better keep their content fresh and the plans wallet-friendly.

Development 🗒️

• Hulu is developing a new 'Prison Break' installment by Elgin James, set in the same universe but with fresh faces. (more)

• Paramount delays 'Yellowstone's' final episodes to Nov. 2024 and announces two new spinoffs, '1944' and '2024.' (more)

• ‘Letterkenny’ will end with upcoming S12 at Hulu. (more)

• ‘Superman & Lois’ will end with upcoming S4 at CW. (more)

• The live-action adaptation of 'How to Train Your Dragon' has been delayed to Jun. 2025, due to the SAG strike. (more)

• Lucy Hale to lead the comedy-thriller 'F*** Marry Kill' by Lionsgate and BuzzFeed Studios. (more)

• BBC's 'The Traitors' secures a third season renewal ahead of its second season airing. (more)

• ‘Futurama’ receives two-season renewal at Hulu. (more)

Releases 📅

• HBO has made a handful of announcements regarding upcoming releases and development:

  • ‘The Jinx - Part Two’ will stream in 2024.

  • ‘House of the Dragon’ S2: Early summer 2024, 8 episodes

  • ‘Euphoria’ S3: 2025

  • ‘The White Lotus’ S3: 2025

  • ‘It’ Prequel Series (‘Welcome to Derry’): 2025

  • ‘The Last of Us’ S2: Likely 2025, begins production in spring 2024

  • ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight’: Hopes to begin shooting in spring (pending actors strike resolution)

Business 🤝

• Paramount Global's streaming losses are narrowing, signaling potential growth ahead, but analysts remain cautious, expressing mixed sentiments on the company's future. (more)

• Netflix has laid off several executives from its drama and overall deals divisions, including those involved with notable series and overall talent deals. (more)

• AMC Networks reports an 18% drop in U.S. ad revenue and a slight streaming subscriber growth to 11.1 million. (more)

• FuboTV celebrates a record 1.47 million paid subscribers in North America, with a revenue boost and raised forecasts for 2023. (more)

• Paramount CEO Bob Bakish hints at U.S. 'hard-bundle' deals akin to the recent Charter-Disney pact, which could integrate streaming services with traditional pay-TV. (more)

• Starz is laying off 10% of its workforce and withdrawing from the UK and Australia markets to streamline operations in preparation for its 2024 split from Lionsgate. (more)

• Cinemark celebrates a record-breaking third-quarter revenue of $875 million and a profit of $91.2 million, buoyed by blockbuster hits and the ‘Barbenheimer’ craze. (more)

Other News 🚨

• The WGA Awards are set for Apr. 14, over a month after the Oscars, due to the impacts of the ongoing strikes on the awards season. (more)

• 'Loki' debuts at No. 6 in Nielsen's streaming originals, while 'Grey's Anatomy' experiences a resurgence, possibly influenced by its Season 19 release on Netflix. (more)

Are you ready to take your creative projects to the next level? Kive’s cutting-edge AI-powered platform is your secret weapon for managing visual assets, winning pitches, and unleashing your creativity, 10x faster.

Kive is more than just a tool; it’s your creative partner. Whether you're a director, producer, designer, or visual researcher, Kive empowers you to effortlessly craft your best ideas through:

• Fast Search: Find your creative assets in seconds. No more wasting time searching for files.

• Curated Inspiration: World-class inspiration, from some of the best creatives around the globe.

• Seamless Collaboration: Get feedback. Skip the emails.

Join some of the world’s leading creatives in Kive today. Use the code THEDAILIES for 15% off your first month.*