🎬 WB's Hot Streak 🔥

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👋 Good morning! For over 80 years, film buffs have mourned the butchering of Orson Welles' follow-up to 'Citizen Kane.' RKO executives literally burned 43 minutes of 'The Magnificent Ambersons' in 1942, cutting it from 131 to 87 minutes while ignoring Welles' own notes, potentially destroying what could've been one of the greatest films ever made. Cut to today: Amazon-backed Showrunner announced it's attempting to resurrect that lost footage using a mix of AI face-transfer tech, live actors, and 3D-reconstructed sets based on archive photos. The Welles estate, who wasn't even told, called it a "disappointing" publicity grab.

Hope you had a fantastic weekend. Monday means fresh box office numbers and weekend industry news to unpack. Grab your coffee and we’ll get you caught up. 👇

BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ Warner Bros. makes it 7 straight…

1. 👻 The Conjuring: Last Rites: 🆕 Warner Bros.' horror finale turned a $55M budget into an $83M domestic opening and $187M globally, landing the third-biggest domestic horror opening ever and absolutely dominating internationally with $104M—the biggest horror opening overseas ever.

2. 🎭 Hamilton: 🆕 Disney put the 2020 streaming version in 1,825 theaters and pulled in $10M. Not bad for a five-year-old filmed stage show at around $5,500 per screen.

3. 🔪 Weapons: (Wk 5) $5.37M domestic weekend (-49%), $143M domestic total, $252M global. Still pulling in solid numbers despite competing with its studio sibling.

4. 😱 Freakier Friday: (Wk 5) $3.8M domestic weekend (-44%), $87.8M domestic total, $142.9M global.

5. 🏃‍♂️ Caught Stealing: (Wk 2) $3.2M domestic weekend (-59%), $14.9M domestic total, $24.3M global.

6. 💔 The Roses: (Wk 2) $2.8M domestic weekend (-55%), $12.3M domestic total, $32.3M global.

7. 4️⃣ The Fantastic Four: First Steps: (Wk 7) $2.75M domestic weekend (-45%), $270.1M domestic total, $511M global.

8. 🐺 The Bad Guys 2: (Wk 6) $2.45M domestic weekend (-48%), $77.7M domestic total, $183.7M global.

9. ✝️ Light of the World: 🆕 $2.4M domestic opening from 2,075 theaters.

10. 🦸 Superman: (Wk 9) $1M domestic weekend (-61%), $353.3M domestic total, $614.1 global.

The bigger picture: The overall box office hit $124M this weekend, up from $65M last weekend. The Conjuring universe has now crossed $2.5B worldwide on a combined production budget of just $263M, making it one of Hollywood’s most profitable franchises ever. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. continues their insanely impressive hot streak with seven straight $40M+ openings this year, a feat no other studio has managed. Horror represents 15% of all ticket sales this year as the third-biggest genre—good news for upcoming films like ‘The Long Walk’ and ‘Black Phone 2.’

CLOSEUP
🇨🇦 TIFF hits its midpoint…

As the Toronto International Film Festival enters day 5, screenings are in full swing while buyers are circling available titles.

The marketplace that isn't (yet): Unlike Cannes or AFM, Toronto has never had an official market, just informal hotel lobby meetings. That changes next year with TIFF's first content market (backed by $23M CAD government funding). This year is more of a test run: fewer splashy packages, more finished films with trailers and campaign-ready materials to slot quickly into release calendars. Some titles generating buzz:

• 'Obsession': Horror from YouTube sensation Curry Barker (Focus Features in talks to acquire for $15M+)

• 'Christy': Sydney Sweeney boxing biopic (Black Bear produced and announced they will distribute in November)

• 'The Christophers': Soderbergh going full indie with no distributor attached

• 'Easy's Waltz': Vince Vaughn/Al Pacino drama from True Detective creator

• 'Dead Man's Wire': Gus Van Sant's return after 7-year feature hiatus

TIFF 2025 feels like a cautious but functional marketplace. Instead of wild bidding wars, you’ve got calculators out, spreadsheets open, and buyers carefully picking their shots. One reason for that is streamers have slashed the "Pay-1" and "Pay-2" licensing fees that distributors once counted on to cover theatrical losses. Without that safety net, buyers need to be sure any acquisition can break even on its own.

But there's still opportunity: Two well-capitalized newcomers (Black Bear, Row K) are actively buying and bringing fresh energy to the market. Plus, this year's slate leans heavily toward commercial titles with clear audience appeal rather than prestige-only plays.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 Venice, copyright settlements, and NFL vs. Nielsen…

🇮🇹 The 82nd Venice Film Festival wrapped Saturday night. Jim Jarmusch's 'Father Mother Sister Brother' took the Golden Lion, surprising many who expected the Palestinian drama 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' to take top honors. Jury president Alexander Payne defended the decision, noting they had tough choices among many strong films. Benny Safdie took Best Director for 'The Smashing Machine,' his first solo project without brother Josh. Acting prizes stayed international: Italy's Toni Servillo ('La Grazia') and China's Xin Zhilei ('The Sun Rises on Us All') took home the hardware. MUBI also emerged as a big winner, having acquired both Jarmusch's film and Poalo Sorrentino's 'La Grazia.' Cue the Oscar campaign machinery firing up.

💸 Authors just won the largest copyright payout ever. Anthropic agreed to shell out $1.5B to settle a massive lawsuit after getting caught downloading pirated books to train its AI models. The Amazon-backed company scraped millions of titles from sketchy online libraries like Library Genesis instead of, you know, buying them. The settlement, the largest in U.S. copyright history, will pay about 500,000 authors roughly $3,000 per book. The ruling draws a clear line: AI companies can train on purchased content, but pirating creative work is still pirating, even if a robot's doing the reading. Authors can opt into the settlement or decline and pursue their own damages in court.

🏈 The NFL says Nielsen's fumbling viewership numbers. The league claims the 80-year-old ratings giant is undercounting audiences by tens of millions. It’s a critical moment: more people are streaming NFL games than ever before on platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and YouTube. Since streamers are protective of their data, the NFL needs an independent firm to verify viewership, but Nielsen has struggled to adapt to today's fragmented media landscape. With $10B+ in annual media rights at stake, accurate numbers matter for ad rates and future deals. Nielsen rolled out new "Big Data + Panel" methodology last week in response, but the NFL says there's more work to do and is experimenting with rival VideoAmp.

STATISTIC
📊 The industry shed 7,600 jobs in August…

The U.S. added just 22,000 jobs in August (far short of expectations) with unemployment rising slightly to 4.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The entertainment industry took a particularly hard hit:

• 7,600 jobs were lost in movies/music, dropping total employment to 401,000

• Broadcasting held steadier, losing just 300 jobs

• This reflects a year of industry-wide cuts at Paramount (3.5% of its workforce in June), Disney (hundreds across divisions), Warner Bros. (10% of motion picture group), and most major studios

Looking ahead… Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has hinted at rate cuts later this month, which many hope could ease some of the financial pressures hitting the industry.

INTERMISSION: A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
The Dailies and Party Science teamed up at TIFF…

The Dailies and Party Science teamed up at TIFF for six hours of industry panels that brought 600+ filmmakers, producers, and executives together in Toronto.

Winston Baker hosted standout sessions including a deep dive into Gus Van Sant's ‘Dead Man's Wire’ with Cary Elwes, Cassian Elwes, Sam Pressman, and Paula Paizes, offering rare insight into indie filmmaking realities. Baker also led a state-of-the-industry discussion with reps from Republic Pictures and other key players.

Additional highlights included the ‘Holy Days’ creative team (starring Jacki Weaver) and a WeAudition panel with Jinny Wong and Peter Shinkoda (‘Normal’). The day fostered genuine dialogue between established and emerging talent.

Thanks to Echobend for supporting independent storytelling. For photos and highlights, follow Party Science on Instagram.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Tiffany Haddish and Isla Fisher will star in action-comedy ‘Double Crossed,’ which A Higher Standard is shopping to TIFF buyers. (more)

• Paramount has preemptively acquired James Vanderbilt’s untitled techno-thriller, ahead of his film ‘Nuremberg’ premiering at TIFF. (more)

• Djimon Hounsou has joined Henry Cavill in Amazon MGM’s ‘Highlander’ remake, alongside Russell Crowe, Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan. (more)

• Charles Melton, Rachel Brosnahan and Will Poulter will star in Netflix’s ‘Saturn Return,’ directed by Greg Kwedar and produced by Plan B. (more)

• Sean Penn has joined Brazilian Oscar hopeful ‘Manas’ as executive producer, backing Marianna Brennand’s Venice-winning debut. (more)

• Snoop Dogg and Eli Roth are teaming on horror film ‘Don’t Go In That House, Bitch!,’ with Roth directing and Snoop creating the original soundtrack. (more)

• ‘Cliffhanger’ is already getting a sequel in early development, ahead of the upcoming reboot starring Lily James and Pierce Brosnan. (more)

• Fede Alvarez will not direct the ‘Alien: Romulus’ sequel, though he co-wrote the script and will produce with Ridley Scott. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Piers Morgan is returning to U.K. TV as Paramount’s Channel 5 will air weekly highlights of ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ from YouTube. (more)

Business 🤝

• Lionsgate has signed a three-year first-look and co-financing pact with Daniel Grodnik and Jeffrey Reisner’s Golden Eagle Movie Studios. (more)

• LaToya Morgan has signed a mini first-look deal with Universal TV and will write and EP thriller adaptation ‘The Paris Widow.’ (more)

Other News 🚨

• AMC Theatres launched a $66.66 “Slash Pass,” offering six admissions to horror films through year’s end. (more)

• Classic ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are coming to YouTube in January 2026, creating the platform’s largest digital library of the show. (more)

• The Creative Arts Emmys took place this weekend; see the full list of winners here and here.

CALL SHEET
📅 The week ahead…

• FRIDAY: SAG-AFTRA national election ballot deadline 🗳️

• SUNDAY: 77th Emmy Awards ceremony 🏆

VIDEO VILLAGE
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