🎬 Selling Their Voices

👋 Good morning! Pope Leo XIV is hosting Hollywood's A-list at the Vatican this Saturday as part of the Church's Jubilee year celebration. The guest list reads like someone threw darts at an IMDb board: Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee, George Miller, Chris Pine, Judd Apatow, Adam Scott, Dave Franco and Alison Brie. The Vatican says the meeting's about "deepening dialogue with the World of Cinema" and exploring how art can serve the Church's mission. Ralph Fiennes is free that day and already owns the costume, just saying.

Welcome back to The Dailies for your mid-week edition. Grab your coffee and we'll catch you up on Hollywood's latest developments, holy and otherwise. 👇

WIDESHOT
🎬 Netflix House, AI voices, and specialty streamers…

🏠 Netflix House opens today outside Philly. The streaming giant's first permanent physical location spans 100,000 square feet at King of Prussia Mall. Fans can explore immersive experiences based on hits like 'Wednesday' and 'One Piece,' a 200-seat theater, themed restaurants, and merch galore. Netflix is chasing Disney-level fandom, betting that the deepest emotional connections (and biggest revenue streams) happen when superfans can physically step inside their favorite stories. As streaming subscriber growth plateaus, platforms are realizing digital-only relationships aren't enough, and sometimes monetizing your superfans means getting them off the couch and into a giant red envelope entrance. Dallas opens next month, Vegas in 2027.

🗣️ Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine are selling their voices to AI. The actors have partnered with ElevenLabs to create AI-generated versions of their famous voices. McConaughey is also investing in the company and using the tech to launch a Spanish-language version of his ‘Lyrics of Livin’ newsletter in his own synthesized voice. Through ElevenLabs' new Iconic Voice Marketplace, companies can request licenses to use celebrity voices for creative projects. They’re joining a growing roster that already includes deceased stars like Judy Garland, John Wayne, and Babe Ruth. The deals make them some of the first A-listers to proactively license their voices as AI technology continues finding its footing in Hollywood. Scarlett Johansson’s lawyers are taking notes.

🤝 The streaming underdogs just joined forces. Fifteen specialty streamers including Tubi, Crunchyroll, Roku, and AMC Networks' services banded together as "Beyond Mainstream: A Global Streaming Alliance" to create their own advocacy group for policy debates. Governments worldwide are forcing streamers to produce or fund local content, but these rules designed for Netflix-sized players could crush niche services that mainly license existing content. France already requires streamers to invest 20% of local revenue into French productions, while Australia now mandates that services with 1M+ subscribers spend on Australian drama and documentaries. Together the coalition members reach audiences in nearly every country, including heavy hitters like Tubi's 100M monthly users and Crunchyroll's 17M subscribers.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
For Your Consideration: BLUE MOON from Sony Pictures Classics…

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
🇨🇴 Colombia’s having a major production boom…

Colombia is quietly becoming a major player in the global production wars. After introducing incentives in 2012, the country has seen steadily growing interest from international productions. Now it's hit a milestone: both the cash rebate AND the 35% tax credit programs were fully allocated by mid-September (unprecedented) as everyone from Netflix to Zack Snyder races to set up shop in Bogotá. The momentum is real:

• Netflix has been ramping up investments year over year, including 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' its priciest Latin American project ever

• Major names are flocking there: Omar Sy and Kerry Washington shot 'Shadow Force,' BBC filmed 'The Night Manager' S2

• Local production service companies like Dynamo and Jaguar Bite have become go-to partners for Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios, and Lionsgate

• The tax incentive program has generated $861M in investment and 130,000+ jobs since 2012

Colombia's actively building infrastructure to meet this demand. The country trained 810 crew members in English in 2024, funded in part by the program itself (2% of tax credits go toward the film commission's operations and promotion).

Colombian talent just got a major vote of confidence from Zack Snyder. The guy who normally commands $200M blockbuster budgets ('Justice League,' ‘Man of Steel’) went totally guerrilla for his passion project 'The Last Photograph.' Snyder operated his own camera, cranking out 40 setups a day, and brought just four crew from home (gaffer, first AC, producer, still photographer). Everyone else was hired locally. Kiefer Sutherland's singing the same tune, calling the Colombian actors he worked with "truly exceptional."

EARNINGS SEASON
📈 Paramount’s first post-merger report card…

Paramount just delivered its first earnings report under David Ellison's leadership. Q3 revenue came in below expectations ($6.7B versus the $7B Wall Street wanted), but investors apparently love a good turnaround story, and shares moved higher on his ambitious 2026 targets. Some key takeaways:

• Streaming's actually working: Direct-to-consumer revenue jumped 17% to $2.17B, and Paramount+ now has 79.1M subscribers. They're planning price increases for Q1 2026, joining the industry-wide trend of hikes.

• Deep, painful cuts: They're upping their cost savings target from $2B to $3B. That means laying off about 2,000 people total (they just cut 1,000, with another 1,000 coming), plus 600 employees took buyouts rather than return to office. They're also selling off international assets like Argentina's Telefe.

• Big content ambitions: The film slate is expanding from just 8 movies to 15+ theatrical releases in 2026, and they're planning major growth for their TV studios despite losing Taylor Sheridan to NBCUniversal in 2028.

• Still chasing Warner Bros: Ellison's made three offers for Warner Bros. Discovery that all got rejected. He's being cagey about it now, but another attempt seems likely.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Watermelon Pictures has picked up Julian Assange doc ‘The Six Billion Dollar Man’ from Eugene Jarecki after its strong Cannes premiere. (more)

• Nicole Kidman is joining Osgood Perkins’ new Neon horror film ‘The Young People,’ riding the wave of his ‘Longlegs’ and ‘The Monkey’ success. (more)

• Sabrina Carpenter will star in and produce a musical ‘Alice in Wonderland’ adaptation for Universal, with Marc Platt producing. (more)

• Dakota Johnson will star in sci-fi action film ‘Trudy Blue,’ directed by Angus MacLane, as sales launch at AFM. (more)

• Ed Helms will star in and produce the spy thriller ‘The English Tutor,’ directed by Gaz Alazraki and set in Mexico City. (more)

• Idris Elba will return for a new Netflix ‘Luther’ movie, reuniting with Ruth Wilson and Dermot Crowley under director Jamie Payne. (more)

• Philip Barantini's turning the Ukraine war doc 'Hell Jumper' into a Netflix feature with writer Matthew Orton penning the script. (more)

• Thunder Road Pictures is teaming with Renny Harlin and Aaron Eckhart on ‘Trial by Combat,’ an ’80s-style action thriller. (more)

• Amazon MGM just won the rights race for Rebecca Yarros' romance novel 'The Last Letter,' with Anna Klassen circling the writing gig. (more)

• Ella Hunt's headlining 'Bella,' a new horror-thriller from 'The Conjuring' writers Chad and Carey W. Hayes launching their production banner. (more)

• Phil Johnston will write a live-action ‘View-Master’ movie for Mattel, Sony Pictures, and Escape Artists based on the classic 3D image toy. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Apple Original Films has acquired J.S. Mayank and David Carlyle’s sci-fi manuscript ‘Fallen Astronaut.’ (more)

• HBO has begun filming S2 of ‘Dune: Prophecy,’ expanding to eight episodes and adding ‘Game of Thrones’ alum Indira Varma to the cast. (more)

• FX has renewed ‘Alien Earth’ for S2 as creator Noah Hawley signs a new nine-figure overall deal with the network. (more)

• HBO is developing a ‘V for Vendetta’ TV series from writer Pete Jackson, with James Gunn and Peter Safran executive producing for DC Studios. (more)

• 20th Television is developing a series adaptation of Sarah Hoover’s memoir ‘The Motherload,’ with Stuart Zicherman set as showrunner. (more)

• Aaron Zelman and Glenn Kessler have taken over as co-showrunners of Fox’s ‘Memory of a Killer,’ the Patrick Dempsey–led thriller. (more)

• DC Studios and HBO Max are developing ‘DC Crime,’ a ‘Superman’ spinoff from the ‘American Vandal’ creators starring Jimmy Olsen. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Prime Video’s ad-supported tier now reaches over 315M monthly viewers across 16 countries, up from 200M in 2024. (more)

• Netflix’s animated hit ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ was ruled ineligible for the BAFTAs due to release rules but remains eligible for the Oscars. (more)

• FCC Chair Brendan Carr's calling out Disney and YouTube TV to fix their blackout and get viewers their paid programming back. (more)

VIDEO VILLAGE
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MARTINI SHOT
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