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👋 Good morning! The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are already the most-streamed Winter Games ever, with less than a week left to go. Olympic streaming has hit 6.3B minutes through last Wednesday alone, already topping the last two Winter Games combined. To put that in perspective, that's roughly how long it takes to pick something to watch on Netflix (we kid, we kid). Between the Super Bowl and the Olympics, Peacock, the perpetual streaming underdog, is finally having its moment. The Games wrap Sunday, so those numbers aren't done yet.
Welcome back to The Dailies. Yes, it's a Tuesday. No, you're not losing it. The holiday weekend shuffled our schedule a bit. We'll be back Friday, then back to normal next week. Now, let’s get into those holiday box office numbers. 👇
BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Four days, decent heights…
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in ‘Wuthering Heights’ (Warner Bros. Pictures)
❤️ Wuthering Heights: 🆕 $34.8M domestic 3-day opening ($38M 4-day), $83M global debut. Budget: $80M. Emerald Fennell goes mainstream with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's toxic love story, which rode Valentine's Day to a solid if slightly underwhelming opening. Women made up 76% of the audience, though a B CinemaScore and 60% on Rotten Tomatoes raise questions about legs. Netflix offered $150M to make this as a streamer, but Warners and Robbie opted for an $80M theatrical release instead. International holdovers will be key to proving that was the right call. This also marks WB's ninth consecutive #1 domestic debut, a streak that includes 'A Minecraft Movie,' 'Sinners,' and 'Final Destination Bloodlines.'
🏀 GOAT: 🆕 $26M domestic 3-day opening ($35M 4-day), $50.6M global debut. Budget: $80M. Sony Animation's Steph Curry-inspired basketball adventure just posted the biggest original animated opening since 'Elemental.' Audiences loved it too, with an A CinemaScore and 93% audience score, so there's a real shot this one has the slow-burn legs Sony needs to justify the price tag.
🔫 Crime 101: 🆕 $15.1M domestic 3-day opening ($17.7M 4-day), $28.3M global debut. Budget: $90M. Amazon/MGM put four Marvel stars on the poster and still couldn't crack $20M. Critics were on board (87% RT) but audiences were lukewarm with a B CinemaScore, which isn't great when you've paid $90M to produce the film.
🏝️ Send Help: (Wk 3) $9M domestic 3-day weekend (-1%), $47.9M domestic total, $72M global est. Budget: $40M. Disney's horror hit barely dropped at all in its third weekend, losing just 1%. That kind of hold is rare for any genre, let alone horror. Already well past profitability on a $40M budget.
❤️ Solo Mio: (Wk 2) $6.8M domestic 3-day weekend (-3%), $17.3M domestic total. Budget: $4M.
🐰 Zootopia 2: (Wk 12) $3.8M domestic 3-day weekend (-6%), $419.4M domestic total, $1.83B global. Budget: $150M.
🤖 Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die: 🆕 $3.6M domestic 3-day opening. Budget: $20M. Gore Verbinski hasn't directed a film in almost a decade, and this $3.6M opening probably isn't the comeback he had in mind. Critics liked it (84% RT), audiences didn't show up.
🩸 Iron Lung: (Wk 3) $3.5M domestic 3-day weekend (-49%), $37.5M domestic total, $44M global. Budget: sub-$3M.
🌋 Avatar: Fire and Ash: (Wk 9) $3.3M domestic 3-day weekend (-4%), $396.1M domestic total, $1.4B global. Budget: $400M+.
🧛 Dracula: (Wk 2) $3M domestic 3-day weekend (-32%), $9M domestic total, $38M global. Budget: $52M. A 32% drop and a domestic total still stuck in single digits is not where you want to be on a $52M budget. Vertical's vampire gamble is looking rough.
The bigger picture: Theaters got a much-needed Valentine's Day pick-me-up with a $118.7M 3-day weekend, nearly 50% up from the Super Bowl frame. It's still 34% behind this same weekend in 2025, when 'Captain America: Brave New World' opened to over $100M, but three brand-new, non-IP releases all connecting with different audiences is an encouraging sign. The 2026 box office is tracking 8% ahead of last year, and Disney just became the first studio to cross $1B in global ticket sales this year thanks to 'Send Help,' 'Avatar: Fire and Ash,' and 'Zootopia 2.' Up next: Paramount's 'Scream 7' drops Feb. 27.
WIDESHOT
🎬 WBD tug-of-war, unscripted A24, and AI fallout…
👀 Netflix's grip on the Warner Bros. deal is starting to slip. Maybe it was something in the Valentine's Day air: after rejecting Paramount nine times, WBD's board is finally thinking about texting back. News broke Sunday that the Warner Bros. Discovery board is seriously considering reopening talks following Paramount Skydance's latest revised bid, which includes covering the $2.8B breakup fee WBD would owe Netflix and paying WBD shareholders roughly $650M for every quarter the deal takes to close past Dec. 31. With Netflix stock already down 40% since June over deal anxiety, the last thing the streamer needs is a bidding war. But if WBD re-engages, Netflix gets the right to match any superior offer. So basically, that's probably what's about to happen.
📺 A24 is getting into reality TV. The indie studio behind 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and 'Uncut Gems' has been pushing to go mainstream in recent years. Its latest growth play: unscripted programming, a genre where the budgets are small and the upside isn't. Its first project is 'Neighbors,' an HBO docuseries about feuding neighbors across America, exec produced by 'Marty Supreme' filmmaker Josh Safdie. Also in development is 'Overcooked,' a reality cooking competition based on the video game for Netflix. A24 is in talks with major broadcast networks and quietly building a slate spanning competition, reality, and sports. The most curated brand in Hollywood just entered the least curated genre in television. We'll see.
🤖 The Seedance 2.0 fallout escalated quickly. ByteDance's new AI video generator Seedance 2.0 went viral last week for producing surprisingly convincing clips using Hollywood IP, and over the weekend the studios came swinging. Disney sent a cease-and-desist accusing ByteDance of a "virtual smash-and-grab" of its characters, and Paramount followed with its own letter covering 'SpongeBob,' 'Star Trek,' 'The Godfather,' and more. SAG-AFTRA piled on over unauthorized use of actors' likenesses. That hasn't stopped creators from experimenting with it, including acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, who produced an AI short film in just days. ByteDance says it's "strengthening safeguards," but hasn't offered any specifics on what that actually looks like yet.
AWARDS SEASON
🏆 The Spirit Awards crowned the indie faves…
Clint Bentley and the 'Train Dreams' team accept Best Feature at the 2026 Spirit Awards (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
The Independent Spirit Awards traded the usual Santa Monica beach tent for the Hollywood Palladium on Sunday, thanks to 2028 Olympics construction. Ego Nwodim hosted, and Clint Bentley's 'Train Dreams,' which quietly emerged from Sundance 13 months ago, ran away with three prizes: Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. The little Sundance darling that could. Some other highlights:
Rose Byrne won Best Lead Performance for 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.' She's building a nice little trophy collection heading into Oscar night.
Eva Victor took Best Screenplay for 'Sorry, Baby,' and co-star Naomi Ackie won Best Supporting Performance.
Alex Russell's stalker thriller 'Lurker' doubled up with Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
Netflix's 'Adolescence' swept every scripted TV category it touched: Best New Scripted Series plus all three acting prizes (Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty, Owen Cooper). The show has basically set up permanent residence on awards stages at this point.
'The Secret Agent' won Best International Film and 'The Perfect Neighbor' took Best Documentary. Both are also Oscar-nominated.
See the full list of winners here.
What it means for the Oscars: The Spirits cap eligibility at $28M budgets, so the heavyweights like 'One Battle After Another,' 'Sinners,' and 'Marty Supreme' weren't in the building. But the results do reinforce that 'Train Dreams' and 'The Secret Agent' are legitimate threats in their respective Oscar categories. Rose Byrne's win strengthens her Best Actress case too. The Oscars are less than a month out, March 15.
LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Sumerian Pictures nabbed Channing Tatum’s Sundance drama ‘Josephine’ in a seven-figure deal. (more)
Sony is developing a new ‘Charlie’s Angels’ movie with ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ writer Pete Chiarelli attached to pen the script. (more)
Daniel Kaluuya is in talks to star in Michael Shanks’ A24 sci-fi thriller ‘Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel.’ (more)
Reed Morano is set to direct a film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Player Piano,’ tackling automation and AI themes. (more)
Blumhouse-Atomic Monster set ‘The Conjuring,’ and ‘Crawl,’ vets to write the ‘Dead by Daylight,’ movie. (more)
Jason Statham and David Leitch are teaming on $80M+ action-comedy ‘Jason Statham Stole My Bike,’ now on sale in Berlin. (more)
Nicole Garcia reunites with Marion Cotillard on ‘Milo,’ as Studiocanal launches sales on the mystery drama at EFM. (more)
Doug Liman’s bitcoin biopic ‘Killing Satoshi,’ starring Pete Davidson and Casey Affleck, will use AI for locations and to tweak performances. (more)
TV Development 📺
Tèa Leoni is set to headline NBC’s multi-cam pilot ‘Newlyweds,’ officially securing the comedy’s green light. (more)
Elisabeth Moss is returning to Hulu to star in legal drama ‘Conviction’ from showrunner David Shore. (more)
Anderson Cooper is set to exit CBS News’ ‘60 Minutes,’ after nearly 20 years to focus on his CNN roles. (more)
Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore are returning for S2 of ‘The Assassin,’ with Prime Video greenlighting a new run. (more)
Netflix has acquired U.S. rights to Sony’s limited series ‘Lord of the Flies,’ following its BBC launch. (more)
Stephen Amell has been cast as Hobie Buchannon in Fox’s ‘Baywatch’ reboot, becoming the first star attached to the series. (more)
Business 🤝
Other News 🚨
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CALL SHEET
📅 The week ahead…
SUNDAY: BAFTA Film Awards 🏆
VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers
MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments
That's all for now. No Dailies tomorrow, so don't go refreshing your inbox like a maniac. We'll be back Friday, then it's our regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule next week.
-The Dailies Team
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