🎬 Streaming Winner

👋 Good morning! Only Neon would turn post-movie trauma into a marketing hook. The indie distributor is offering free couples therapy to anyone who sees their body horror romance 'Together' in theaters this weekend. Just upload your ticket to OurRitual and get a complimentary session to process whatever Dave Franco and Alison Brie's flesh-melding nightmare did to your relationship.

Welcome to the Dailies. Pour yourself some coffee and settle in—we've got the streaming numbers and headlines you need to start your day.

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

⛳️ ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ was last week’s streaming winner, pulling 19.5M U.S. views over its opening weekend (nearly double 'Back in Action's’ previous record of 10.8M) to become Netflix's biggest U.S. movie debut ever. According to Netflix, the sequel notched 46.7M global views in its first three days and even boosted the 1996 original to #3 on Netflix's global chart. Viewership's dropping off faster than typical Netflix hits, so we'll see how things play out. Still, with Netflix reportedly paying Sandler's Happy Madison around half a billion across multiple movie deals, this hole-in-one suggests they're not betting on the wrong horse. Or golfer. Whatever.

Top-streamed chart (U.S.) July 25 to July 31. Data provided by Luminate.

CLOSEUP
📺 Amazon just threw cash at the “Netflix of AI”…

Couch potatoes could soon be couch producers. Amazon has invested in the startup behind Showrunner, a streaming service that lets viewers create their own animated TV episodes. Dubbed the "Netflix of AI," it's got 100,000 people on the waitlist. Here's the pitch:

• Users type prompts to generate animated episodes up to 22 minutes long, with AI handling voices, dialogue, and character consistency.

• Users can make original shows from scratch or build new episodes using other users' characters and worlds—they can even insert themselves into shows as a character.

• If someone remixes your creation, you pocket 40% of what they spend.

• It’s free for now, but not for long. The platform will eventually charge $10-40/month for credits to generate scenes and episodes.

It’s got some limitations, though. Showrunner can only handle animation for now (live-action would melt the servers). It works best for simple episodic stuff, not prestige TV with complex story arcs. Even CEO Edward Saatchi admits: "Maybe nobody wants this and it won't work."

Studios are listening: Fable claims they've locked down one studio partnership and are in talks with Disney about licensing IP for fan remixes. They're selling studios on a simple idea—let fans pay to play with your shows while you collect licensing fees and keep ownership of everything they create. It's basically monetized fan fiction at a time when traditional TV is bleeding viewers to gaming and social media anyway.

The bigger picture: While Hollywood debates whether AI belongs in writers' rooms, Showrunner's taking a different angle: just give it to the viewers. The company’s pitching it as a way for Hollywood to stay competitive with social media and gaming.

Looking ahead… The platform's live now with two original shows—Silicon Valley satire ‘Exit Valley’ and Ikea rom-com ‘Everything Is Fine.’ Whether this becomes the future of fandom or the next Quibi is anyone’s guess, but 100,000 people are apparently ready to find out.

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ICYMI
🎬 Quick hits…

🔫 Amazon MGM Studios locked down ‘Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight to pen the next James Bond film, with Denis Villeneuve directing and Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing. Casting for 007 won’t happen any time soon, though—Villeneuve’s got a little movie called ‘Dune: Part Three’ to finish while Knight hammers out the script.

🪓 Warner Bros cut 10% of its Motion Picture Group workforce across marketing, distribution, production and more, merging its U.S. and international divisions into a single global structure. Industry folks are doing the math here—the studio’s had a string of hits lately, so why the cuts? Well, with WBD's planned split into two companies in mid-2026, the timing points to early cost-cutting ahead of the separation.

🇪🇺 European creators blasted the EU's implementation of its landmark AI Act, claiming the bloc "sold out" creative industries that contribute 7% of EU GDP in favor of GenAI giants like ChatGPT and Deep Seek. The coalition of writers, actors, musicians and producers warns that the new rules fail to stop AI companies from scraping protected content en masse without proper compensation.

🧑‍💻 Sony's 'Social Network' sequel is circling Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White to play Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and WSJ reporter Jeff Horwitz. Jeremy Strong's the frontrunner for Zuckerberg after Jesse Eisenberg passed, with Aaron Sorkin writing and directing this deep dive into the 2021 Facebook Files scandal.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Topher Grace has joined Cristin Milioti in Casper Kelly’s horror indie ‘Buddy.’ (more)

• Netflix will release Richard Linklater’s Cannes-hit ‘Nouvelle Vague’ in U.S. theaters on Oct. 31 before streaming on Nov. 14. (more)

• Lee Isaac Chung is in talks to direct a new ‘Ocean’s’ prequel for Warner Bros, following the success of ‘Twisters.’ (more)

• Lily James joins Chris Hemsworth in Amazon MGM’s ‘Subversion,’ a ‘Die Hard’-style submarine thriller directed by Patrick Vollrath. (more)

• Jim Parsons joins true-crime thriller ‘The Leader,’ inspired by the Heaven’s Gate cult, now filming with Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga. (more)

• Briarcliff Entertainment acquires animated feature ‘Stitch Head,’ set for U.S. theatrical release on Oct. 29. (more)

• Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ lands global deals ahead of its Venice premiere. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells will star in a Hulu series adaptation of ‘Stay Tuned,’ about a couple trapped inside binge-worthy TV worlds. (more)

• Robert Carlyle will play Sherlock Holmes in S2 of ‘Watson,’ opposite Morris Chestnut’s modern-day Dr. Watson. (more)

• Andrea Savage is set to write, executive produce, and star in Fox multi-cam comedy ‘Perf.’ (more)

Business 🤝

• SAG-AFTRA has renewed its deal with Nielsen to keep using its data for measuring streaming viewership and guiding union negotiations. (more)

• Fox Corp. has acquired a one-third stake in Penske Entertainment and extended its ‘Indycar’ media rights deal with Fox Sports. (more)

Earnings Season 📊

• Peacock held steady at 41M subscribers but trimmed losses to $101M as parent Comcast finalized its $9.4B Hulu sale and preps its cable spinoff. (more)

• Roku pulled off a surprise Q2 profit, with revenue up 15% to $1.1B thanks to strong ad sales and its acquisition of Frndly. (more)

• Apple Services (TV+, Music, Arcade, etc.) brought in $27.4B last quarter, helping push total revenue to $94B. (more)

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RELEASE RADAR
📅 This weekend’s new releases…

🎥 THEATRICAL

• The Naked Gun: Comedy reboot starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, directed by Akiva Schaffer.

• Together: Body horror film starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, directed by Michael Shanks.

• The Bad Guys 2: Animated heist comedy sequel with Sam Rockwell and Natasha Lyonne, directed by Pierre Perifel.

📺 STREAMING

• My Oxford Year: (Netflix) Rom-com starring Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest, directed by Iain Morris.

• Chief of War: (Apple TV+) Historical drama series created by and starring Jason Momoa.

• Eyes of Wakanda: (Disney+) Animated anthology series following Wakandan warriors throughout history, produced by Ryan Coogler.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'The Fantastic Four' looks to hold the top spot with $45-55M in its second weekend, while Liam Neeson's 'The Naked Gun' reboot and animated 'The Bad Guys 2' duke it out for second place with matching $22-28M projections. Body horror 'Together' aims for cult status with a $7-10M debut.

VIDEO VILLAGE
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