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👋 Good morning! Jon Bernthal has something to tell you. He always does. Some version of the line "let me tell you something" has followed him through nearly every role since 'The Walking Dead,' where he says it just felt right, and screenwriters have been sneaking it into his scripts ever since. Fans now treat each new sighting like a rare bird, and this summer has delivered two: he says it in 'The Odyssey,' and as of this weekend, in 'Brand New Day.' Both times to Tom Holland. Tradition is tradition.
Welcome back to The Dailies. It's officially August, the box office just had its biggest weekend in history, and your inbox is about to make sense of all of it. Let's get you caught up. 👇
BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ A record entrance for Spidey…
Tom Holland as Spider-Man (Sony Pictures)
| WEEKEND TOTAL $429.2M| VS. 2025 +112.6%| VS. LAST WKND +100.7% | |
Spider-Man: Brand New Day NEW Sony/Marvel · $355M domestic weekend · Global total: $927M · Budget: $225M · 🍅: 90% Tom Holland's long-awaited return as Spider-Man just delivered the second-biggest opening in box office history, domestic and global, behind only 'Avengers: Endgame.' More on this below. 👇 | |
The Odyssey WK 3 Universal · $51M domestic weekend (-43%) · Domestic total: $395.5M · Global total: $911M · Budget: $250M Should cross $1B next weekend, and on pace to become the biggest R-rated movie ever, with a final tally now tracking toward $1.5B. | |
Toy Story 5 WK 7 Disney/Pixar · $6.3M domestic weekend (-38%) · Domestic total: $461.7M · Global total: $1.06B · Budget: $250M | |
Minions & Monsters WK 5 Universal/Illumination · $5.8M domestic weekend (-36%) · Domestic total: $168.4M · Global total: $427M · Budget: $85M | |
Moana WK 4 Disney · $5.3M domestic weekend (-50%) · Domestic total: $114.8M · Global total: $261M · Budget: $250M | |
Hadestown: The Musical WK 2 Bleecker Street · $2M domestic weekend (-80%) · Domestic total: $18.2M | |
The Invite WK 6 A24 · $1.2M domestic weekend (-52%) · Domestic total: $22.8M · Budget: $12M | |
I Want Your Sex NEW Magnolia · $600K domestic weekend · Budget: $20M · 🍅: 89% Critics liked Gregg Araki's Olivia Wilde-starrer. Audiences, not so much, and an $857 per-screen average probably ends any talk of a wider rollout. | |
Evil Dead Burn WK 4 Warner Bros. · $577K domestic weekend (-81%) · Domestic total: $31M · Global total: $66.3M · Budget: $20M | |
Young Washington WK 5 Angel Studios · $478K domestic weekend (-76%) · Domestic total: $46.4M · Budget: $20M | |
| YTD Domestic Box Office▲ +15% | ||||
| ||||
| Source: RENTRAK |
CLOSEUP
🍿 The biggest box office weekend of all time…
Tom Holland and director Destin Daniel Cretton on the set of 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' (Sony Pictures)
Movie theaters haven't had a weekend like this one. Ever. 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' showed up to dethrone 'The Odyssey,' and the two ended up making history together instead. Some numbers:
On its own, Spidey's $355M is the second-biggest debut of all time, just $2M shy of 'Endgame's' record (studios finalize the actuals today, so those numbers could flip it).
Together with everything else in theaters, the weekend hit $429M domestically. That's the biggest single weekend in American box office history, beating the $402M record set during 'Endgame's' debut.
Plenty of other records fell, too: biggest Thursday preview night ever ($72M), biggest opening day ever ($168M), and Sony's biggest global launch ever ($927M worldwide).
Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal star in both of the weekend's top movies, which combined for $406M. Holland has now appeared in the four biggest domestic openings in history.
So much for superhero fatigue. Hollywood has spent the last few years reading the genre its last rites ('The Marvels,''Thunderbolts,' 'First Steps,' and others all underperformed). Turns out audiences just got more selective: give them a superhero movie they actually want to see and they'll show up like it's 2019 (98% audience score, A CinemaScore).
Nobody cannibalized anybody. 'The Odyssey' dipped just 43% in its third weekend, adding $51M to hit $911M worldwide. And Spidey did all of this without a single IMAX screen (Nolan has those locked through September), setting records in Dolby, 4DX, and ScreenX instead. Two behemoths, one weekend, no problem. Maybe the box office can hold more than the industry gives it credit for. Nobody dared open anything last weekend, and that empty runway suddenly looks like a missed opportunity.
Looking ahead… After a summer of pricey underperformers like 'Moana' and 'Supergirl,' the industry's big round numbers suddenly look reachable. A $4B summer is now firmly on the table, and so is Hollywood's first $10B year since the pandemic. The Nicole Kidman AMC ad hits different this week.
WIDESHOT
🎬 ‘Barbie,’ Warnamount, and copyright battles…
Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
💅 The 'Barbie' sequel is stuck in development limbo. Three years after 'Barbie' made $1.5B (the biggest haul in Warner Bros. history), negotiations with Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling have stalled out. If the deals aren’t done by December, the rights revert to Mattel and the franchise starts over from scratch. WBD chief David Zaslav reportedly thinks the offers on the table are too generous, while Gerwig and Noah Baumbach say they have a story ready to go, but they're not sharing it until the deals are done. The Kenergy remains in a holding pattern.
✋ Newsom thinks the Warnamount suit could backfire. California's governor has privately voiced concerns about the state's antitrust suit to block Paramount's purchase of WBD, telling people involved that killing the deal could cost Hollywood jobs. His office has been nudging Attorney General Rob Bonta (who has independent authority here) to work things out outside a courtroom. Meanwhile, the two sides are sparring over a trial date: Paramount wants November, the states and WGA want April 2027. Every day past September 30 costs Paramount $7M.
🎵 Another AI company just lost in a German courtroom. A Munich court ruled Friday that AI music generator Suno violated copyright by training on protected songs, ordering it to stop and pay damages. Rights group GEMA just played Suno's output next to the original songs and let the judges decide. The same court ruled against OpenAI last year, so it's safe to say AI companies are starting to fear German courtrooms. It's also a morale boost for Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, and Disney, who are suing AI image generator Midjourney for training on their IP.
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LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Samara Weaving is officially Marvel's new Emma Frost, landing the role in the studio's upcoming 'X-Men' movie. (more)
'The Catch,' Universal's baseball rom-com starring Emma Stone and Chris Pine, has added Chris Fleming and Irina Shayk. (more)
Paramount Primal has picked up high-concept erotic thriller 'Sweet Spot,' from screenwriters Nic Curcio and Kirby Gladstein. (more)
TV Development 📺
Dan Brown's 'The Secret of Secrets' is headed to Netflix as a series, with Morgan Spector and Rebecca Hall set to lead. (more)
Netflix is developing reality series 'The Leftovers,' from 'Jersey Shore' creator SallyAnn Salsano. (more)
DC Studios is revamping 'Booster Gold' with a new creative team after scrapping David Jenkins’ version. (more)
Colson Whitehead's 'Harlem' trilogy is getting the series treatment at Apple TV, with Graham Yost adapting. (more)
Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌
John Oliver has signed a one-year deal to keep 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' on HBO through the end of 2027. (more)
Business 🤝
'Hot Ones' is in talks to stream new episodes on Netflix alongside YouTube, though sponsorship rights remain a sticking point. (more)
FIFA has scrapped plans to sell private investment stakes in the World Cup after widespread opposition from global soccer federations. (more)
Fremantle has hired veteran executive Katie O’Connell Marsh to lead its newly created global scripted division. (more)
Other News 🚨
The Editors Guild is backing a California bill offering up to 50% in tax incentives to bring post-production work back to the state. (more)
AI is moving fast. Most people are already behind. Superhuman AI is the easiest way to catch up — a free newsletter that breaks down what matters and how to actually use it. (more)*
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CALL SHEET
📅 The week ahead…
TUESDAY: Paramount earnings announcement 📣
WEDNESDAY: Disney earnings announcement 📊
THURSDAY: Warner Bros. Discovery earnings announcement 💸
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VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers
MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest viral moments
That's a wrap on today's edition. Enjoy the rest of your Monday, ideally somewhere air-conditioned. See you Wednesday. 👋
-The Dailies Team
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