🎬 Swinging the Axe

👋 Good morning! Just in time for Halloween, science has delivered the ultimate permission slip for your horror binge: watching scary movies can actually be good for you. New research from psychologists at Arizona State University and the University of Toronto shows that getting scared senseless by 'Terrifier 3' or 'Smile 2' actually helps develop emotional resilience and deal with real-world stress. So go ahead, feel virtuous about that horror marathon you've been mainlining all week.

Welcome to The Dailies, your three-times-a-week dose of Hollywood news. Grab your coffee and we’ll get you caught up.👇

CLOSEUP
🪓 The axe is falling at Paramount and Amazon…

Paramount's long-anticipated layoffs are finally here. About 1,000 workers are expected to be cut today with another thousand likely still to come. Some details:

• The cuts come two months after the $8.4B Skydance merger, where the company’s new leadership promised Wall Street $2B in cost savings

• The previous regime at Paramount had already done several rounds of layoffs leading up to the merger, significantly reducing workforce

• President Jeff Shell said cuts would be "painful" but swift: "We don't want to be a company that has layoffs every quarter"

• A new return-to-office mandate kicks in January requiring five days per week, and those unwilling to comply are offered severance packages

Amazon's joining the cutting spree…

Amazon announced yesterday it's slashing 14,000 positions across the entire company. The entertainment division isn't immune: Amazon MGM Studios is losing several executives, including casting chief Donna Rosenstein (‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'Reacher') and drama exec Meggie Choi ('The Summer I Turned Pretty').

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy explicitly cited AI as a key driver. While not every pink slip has ChatGPT's fingerprints on it, Jassy says the company expects to need fewer humans as artificial intelligence creates "efficiency gains" across the business.

Looking ahead… International divisions at both companies are planning additional cuts in the coming weeks. Expect more studios to announce their own restructuring plans as Q1 2026 approaches.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
🚨 Your friends are worried about you…

They've noticed you can explain the entire Paramount-Skydance merger but go silent when someone mentions "the Fed." You know which studios are bleeding money but not why your grocery bill keeps climbing.

Morning Brew speaks human. Business, finance, tech, world news—all translated from Corporate into English.

WIDESHOT
🎬 Paramount, IMAX 70mm screens, and Georgia…

🏗️ Paramount is planting a flag in New Jersey. The studio just signed a 10-year lease for 285,000 square feet at 1888 Studios, a production campus under construction in Bayonne. The studio hopes to tap into the state’s generous 40% tax credit that makes even Hollywood executives stop and do the math twice. Paramount COO Andy Gordon says scaling production is "central to our long-term strategy," which now includes an East Coast outpost. Paramount joins Netflix and Lionsgate, who've already set up Jersey operations. The state only allows three Studio Partner designations for the full 40% credit—Lionsgate and Netflix already have theirs, and Paramount's shooting for the final spot. The studio’s application goes before the state board tomorrow.

📽️ Cinemark is building new IMAX screens ahead of Christopher Nolan’s new movie. The theater chain will install three new IMAX 70mm film projection systems, plus four new IMAX laser screens, and upgrade its 12 existing IMAX screens to laser technology ahead of Nolan's 'The Odyssey' in July 2026. Currently, only 30 theaters worldwide can actually show the IMAX 70mm format, and Nolan's epic (the first theatrical release shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film) has already sold out 70mm screenings a year before it even hits theaters. Premium formats are having a moment with moviegoers: IMAX just reported its highest-grossing quarter ever, while premium screens are capturing 20%+ of major film revenues despite making up less than 1% of global theaters.

🍑 Marvel's old soundstages are getting new tenants: YouTubers. Trilith Studios in Georgia, which hosted blockbusters like 'Spider-Man' and 'Black Panther,' is pivoting to digital creators after film production in the state fell from $4.4B in 2022 to $2.6B last year. The drop came partly because Marvel decamped to the UK for better incentives for the foreseeable future. The facility owned by Chick-fil-A chairman Dan Cathy now plans to dedicate 35% of its resources to the creator economy, recently signing filmmaker-influencer Jeremy Garelick (4M YouTube subscribers, 10B views across platforms). Goldman Sachs forecasts a $480B creator economy by 2027. For a studio with empty soundstages, that's not a bad place to place your chips.

AWARDS SEASON
🏆 The Gotham Awards noms just dropped…

The Gotham Awards dropped their nominations yesterday, and Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' made history with six nods, the most ever for a single film at the Gothams. This $130M Warner Bros. tentpole wouldn't have even been eligible three years ago, since the Gothams had a $35M budget cap until 2023.

Now PTA's epic is the odd man out among smaller indies in the Best Feature category: 'Bugonia,' 'East of Wall,' 'Familiar Touch,' 'Hamnet,' 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You,' 'Lurker,' 'Sorry, Baby,' 'The Testament of Ann Lee,' and 'Train Dreams.'

Awards season, activated: The Gothams kick off awards season proper and have some solid Oscar predictive power—'Spotlight,' 'Moonlight,' and 'Everything Everywhere' all won here before Best Picture. But they're voted on by critics, not industry, so they're not gospel. Also, 'Marty Supreme' and 'Is This Thing On?' weren't even finished for submission, so we’re not seeing the full field yet. The Gotham Awards take place on December 1st.

See the full list of nominations here. 👈👀

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Guy Pearce, Teresa Palmer, and Ann Dowd will star in the supernatural thriller ‘Poor Boy,’ with AMP launching world sales ahead of AFM. (more)

• Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to TIFF Midnight Madness hit ‘The Napa Boys.’ (more)

• Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas will star in Lionsgate’s ‘Power Ballad,’ a John Carney-directed music comedy set to hit theaters on June 5, 2026. (more)

• Sydney Sweeney will star in and executive produce Apple’s adventure comedy ‘That Man From Rio,’ directed by Justin Lin. (more)

• David Gordon Green will direct Miramax’s thriller ‘Supermax’. (more)

• Aura Entertainment has acquired the Kate Beckinsale action thriller ‘Wildcat,’ set for theatrical and digital release on November 25. (more)

• Josh Hartnett will star in and produce Tommy Wirkola’s action-thriller ‘All Day & All Night’ for XYZ Films, which launches sales at AFM. (more)

• Olivia Wilde joins Pedro Pascal and David Harbour in Tony Gilroy’s Searchlight drama ‘Behemoth!’ (more)

• Dennis Quaid, Milo Ventimiglia, and Mary Steenburgen join Netflix’s holiday family film ‘A Dog’s Perfect Christmas.’ (more)

• John Williams will reunite with Steven Spielberg to score the director’s upcoming UFO film, marking their 30th collaboration. (more)

• George Clooney has joined the cast of Netflix’s ‘Call My Agent! The Movie,’ as the star-studded reboot continues filming in Paris. (more)

• Miramax is developing an animated movie based on the 1962 Halloween hit ‘Monster Mash,’ turning the classic song into a spooky family musical. (more)

• Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Quentin Tarantino will star in ‘Only What We Carry.’ (more)

TV Development 📺

• John Dickerson is exiting CBS News and his co-anchor role on ‘CBS Evening News’ in December. (more)

• Netflix is developing a modern reimagining of ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ set in 2025 London from ‘Mood’ creator Nicôle Lecky. (more)

• NASCAR launches docuseries ‘Rising,’ a five-part YouTube series from Words + Pictures following three young drivers. (more)

• Aseem Batra takes over as sole showrunner of ABC’s ‘Scrubs’ reboot after Tim Hobert exits mid-production over creative differences. (more)

• Ken Leung will star opposite Lucy Liu in Peacock’s crime drama ‘Superfakes,’ playing her husband in the A24-produced series. (more)

• Erin Foster is developing a destination wedding comedy for Hulu with Adam Countee, following her Netflix hit ‘Nobody Wants This.’ (more)

• Caleb Hearon, Zooey Deschanel, Kyle Marvin, and Jaboukie Young-White will star in the comedy ‘Trash Mountain.’ (more)

• ‘Only Murders in the Building’ has been renewed for S6 at Hulu. (more)

Business 🤝

• Taylor Sheridan’s new NBCUniversal deal is reportedly worth over $1B, according to The Wrap. (more)

• YouTube TV has struck a deal with Bloomberg Media to add 24-hour news channel Bloomberg TV+ and Bloomberg Originals to its lineup. (more)

• CNN launches ‘All Access,’ a subscription streaming tier offering live CNN programming, on-demand originals, and exclusive digital content. (more)

VIDEO VILLAGE
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MARTINI SHOT
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