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- š¬ The Cost of Best Picture šø
š¬ The Cost of Best Picture šø
SXSW Kicks Off, Neon's $18M Oscar Playbook, Monopoly Goes Hollywood, and MORE!

š Good morning! Bong Joon Ho could have chased Hollywood's biggest franchises, but when asked what franchise might tempt him, Bong revealed his dream project would be... an āAlienā musical. Yes, you read that right. Forget xenomorphs bursting from chestsāimagine them bursting into song! His actual new film āMickey 17ā hits theaters today.
Welcome aboard the Dailies. As you sip your morning brew, weāll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywoodāno need to chase down a newsstand, weāve got everything you need right here.
š Hereās whatās on the reel today:
SXSW Kicks Off
Franchise Fever Hits Unscripted
āAnoraāsā $18M Oscar Strategy
Last Looks: š Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects
Video Village: The latest trailers
Release Radar: What to watch this weekend
Martini Shot šø
But first, itās Friday, so letās take a look at what people were watching this week⦠š
TOP STREAMED
š What U.S. audiences were watching this weekā¦
FILM š„ Netflix: Despicable Me 4 Max: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Disney+: Ice Princess Prime Video: My Fault: London Paramount+: Gladiator II Hulu: Dead Money Apple TV+: The Gorge Peacock: Conclave | TV šŗ Netflix: Running Point Max: The White Lotus Disney+: Win or Lose Prime Video: Reacher Paramount+: 1923 Hulu: Devil in the Family: the Fall of Ruby Franke Apple TV+: Severance Peacock: Law & Order: SVU |
WIDESHOT
š¬ SXSW, Monopoly, and āAnoraāā¦

š¬šµ SXSW kicks off today. After years of overlapping with the Oscars, this 32nd edition claims the spotlight all to itself. The festival transforms Austin into cinema central through March 14, featuring 82 world premieres spanning big-budget sequels, indie darlings, and boundary-pushing docs. Here are some of the most buzzed-about projects:
'The Studio' (Opening Night TV Premiere) āSeth Rogen leads Apple's Hollywood satire with Catherine O'Hara and Kathryn Hahn about a studio exec navigating industry politics.
'Another Simple Favor' (Opening Night Film Premiere)āBlake Lively and Anna Kendrick reunite in Paul Feig's stylish sequel set in Italy.
'Death of a Unicorn'āPaul Rudd and Jenna Ortega headline A24ās dark comedy where they face consequences after killing a mythical creature.
'Holland'āNicole Kidman and Matthew Macfadyen star in this suburban mystery set in small-town Michigan.
'The Rivals of Amziah King'āMatthew McConaughey plays an Oklahoma honey farmer in this anticipated follow-up from āThe Vast of Nightā director.
See the full lineup here. šš
š²š¬ Hollywoodās IP obsession has now fully infiltrated the unscripted world. Networks and streamers are in a heated bidding war over Hasbro's upcoming āMonopolyā competition series, where contestants will "battle for fortune and navigate the fine line between capitalism and chaos." The IP-to-reality pipeline is expanding rapidly: Netflix is already coming back for seconds with āSquid Game: The Challengeā and has an unscripted āWilly Wonkaā project in the works. The trend continues with Fox's competition show āLego Masters,ā CBS's unscripted adaptation of āBuddy Games,ā and Peacock's game show series based on āFrogger.ā Sony's recent acquisition of Hasbroās āClueā rights points to even more adaptations ahead. The familiar strategy of recycling familiar IP we used to only see with scripted content is now reality TV's playbook too.
š°š Best Picture comes with an $18M price tag. Neon CEO Tom Quinn revealed they spent three times āAnora'sā modest $6M production budget on its Oscar campaignāapproximately $18Māto secure this year's Best Picture win. While most studios have gone digital, Neon doubled down on old-school tactics, shipping physical DVD screeners to Academy voters and creating buzzy unconventional moments like a pop-up merch sale from a tow truck. Quinn's reasoning: These moments help "position the film" and signal to voters that "we absolutely care." This isn't Neon's first rodeoāthey previously shelled out $20M to propel āParasiteā to Oscar glory. Quinn noted they spotted āAnoraā as an awards contender immediately after its Cannes premiere, strategically targeting six Oscar nominations based on test screening scores comparable to previous Palm d'Or winners. The campaign was a "big bet," but the strategy delivered exactly what they wanted: five Oscar wins from six nominations.
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LAST LOOKS
Film Development šļø
Cynthia Erivo joins Lionsgateās action thriller āKaroshi,ā a corporate thriller with a samurai twist, alongside Teo Yoo and Isabel May. (more)
Matthew Modine joins the next āMonsterverseā movie at Legendary, starring alongside Dan Stevens and Kaitlyn Dever. (more)
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will write Lionsgate and LuckyChapās āMonopolyā movie, based on the classic board game. (more)
āWolfsā breakout Austin Abrams will star in 20th Centuryās āWhalefall,ā a survival thriller directed by Brian Duffield. (more)
Miramax acquires Brandon Cohenās spec āI Can See Youāre Angry,ā an R-rated comedy produced by BoulderLight Pictures. (more)
TV Development šŗ
Rick Hoffman reprises his role as Louis Litt in āSuits LA,ā appearing in one episode with potential for more. (more)
Sam Worthington will star in Netflixās āI Will Find You,ā a limited series based on Harlan Cobenās bestselling novel. (more)
āPowerā creator Courtney A. Kemp lands āNemesis,ā a new crime drama at Netflix starring Matthew Law and YāIan Noel. (more)
ClĆ©mence PoĆ©sy joins Apple TV+ās āNeuromancerā alongside Callum Turner, Briana Middleton, and Mark Strong. (more)
Apple TV+ās comedy āBrothersā casts five actors as the children of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. (more)
Keegan-Michael Key joins āOnly Murders in the Buildingā S5 in a recurring role. (more)
Amazon orders āBloodaxe,ā a Norse drama from āVikingsā creator Michael Hirst, centered on Viking warrior Erik Bloodaxe. (more)
Netflix sets its second live boxing event for July 11, featuring the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano trilogy at Madison Square Garden. (more)
Renewed & Canceled ā ā
Business š¤
Mediawan acquires a 51% stake in See-Saw Films. (more)
Lee Daniels extends his partnership with 20th Television under a multi-year first-look deal. (more)
Netflix stock dropped ($NFLX ( ā² 4.51% )) after analysts warned that the subscriber boost from its password-sharing crackdown may be slowing down. (more)
Jamie Foxx signs a first-look TV deal with Fox to develop scripted and unscripted projects. (more)
Other News šØ
RELEASE RADAR
š
What to watch this weekend?
š„ THEATRICAL
Mickey 17: Sci-fi dark comedy from Bong Joon-ho starring Robert Pattinson.
In the Lost Lands: Epic fantasy adventure based on George R.R. Martin's story, starring Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista.
Night of the Zoopocalypse: Animated comedy horror featuring the voices of David Harbour and Gabbi Kosmidis.
Queen of the Ring: Biographical sports drama starring Emily Bett Rickards as female wrestler Mildred Burke, with Josh Lucas and Walton Goggins.
šŗ STREAMING
CHAOS: The Manson Murders: (Netflix) Provocative documentary reexamining the infamous Manson Family murders.
Daredevil: Born Again: (Disney+) Marvel series starring Charlie Cox.
Deli Boys: (Hulu) Comedy series about Pakistani American brothers who discover their late father's criminal enterprise.
š® BOX OFFICE PREVIEW
March remains a box office desert with all eyes on āMickey 17'sā ability to break through. Warner Bros. is banking on auteur appeal and premium formats to drive turnout, but the film needs at least $240-300M globally to break even. The $118M production (after UK tax credits) represents WB's commitment to luring prestigious filmmakers back to the Burbank lot post-Nolan.
VIDEO VILLAGE
šŗ Latest trailers
INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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-The Dailies Team
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