👋 Good morning! The Academy just made it possible for an actor to lose Best Actor to themselves. New Oscar rules allow performers to earn multiple nominations in the same acting category, so we're one prolific Timothée Chalamet year away from a Best Actor category that's just Timothée Chalamet four times. Oh, and AI-generated performances are officially ineligible (sorry, Tilly).
Welcome back to The Dailies. It's Star Wars Day, so May the 4th be with you and all that. Hope your weekend treated you well. Let's get you caught up. 👇
BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
🎟️ The summer box office has arrived. That’s all…
Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in 'The Devil Wears Prada 2.' (20th Century Studios)
| WEEKEND TOTAL $172.2M| VS. 2025 +17.6%| VS. LAST WKND +12.7% | |
The Devil Wears Prada 2 NEW 20th Century Studios · $77M domestic weekend · Global total: $233.6M · Budget: $100M The decades-later sequel nearly tripled the original's $27.5M opening, powered by a 76% female audience and monster international numbers ($156.6M offshore). With an A- CinemaScore, 87% RT audience score, and basically nothing competing for the same demo through June, expect long legs on this one. | |
Michael WK 2 Lionsgate · $54M domestic weekend (-44%) · Domestic total: $183.8M · Global total: $423.9M · Budget: $200M A rock-solid sophomore hold for the MJ biopic, which actually held the No. 1 spot above 'DWP2' in France, Spain, Netherlands, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Malaysia. Now Lionsgate's second-highest grosser post-Covid behind 'John Wick: Chapter 4' ($447M). | |
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie WK 5 Universal · $12.1M domestic weekend (-41%) · Domestic total: $402.7M · Global total: $894M · Budget: $110M | |
Project Hail Mary WK 7 Amazon MGM Studios · $8.6M domestic weekend (-33%) · Domestic total: $318.3M · Global total: $638.4M · Budget: $248M gross | |
Hokum NEW Neon · $6.4M domestic weekend · Budget: $5M Neon's folk horror entry starring Adam Scott quietly cracked the top five with solid genre marks (86% RT, B CinemaScore). | |
Animal Farm NEW Angel Studios · $3.4M domestic weekend · Budget: $35M Not the result Angel Studios was hoping for. Their animated Orwell adaptation managed just $1,308 per screen across 2,600 locations, with a C- CinemaScore and 24% RT working against it. | |
Lee Cronin's The Mummy WK 3 Warner Bros. · $2.2M domestic weekend (-59%) · Domestic total: $27.4M · Global total: $80M · Budget: $22M | |
Deep Water NEW Magenta Light Studios · $2.2M domestic weekend · Budget: $40M A quiet, forgettable debut that's already underwater relative to its price tag. | |
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie NEW Sony/Crunchyroll · $1M domestic weekend Solid PSA for a niche anime release, doing exactly what Crunchyroll theatrical runs are designed to do. | |
The Drama WK 5 A24 · $908K domestic weekend (-65%) · Domestic total: $46.9M · Global total: $115.9M · Budget: $28M | |
The bigger picture: The domestic box office is running 14% ahead of last year's pace ($2.79B YTD per Comscore), and summer just got a major first punch from 'The Devil Wears Prada 2.' Only a third of its opening came from North America, a healthy global spread that puts $700M worldwide in play. Meanwhile, there's no shortage of big swings ahead: 'The Mandalorian and Grogu,' Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day,' 'Toy Story 5,' and 'Supergirl' are all coming between now and late June.
CLOSEUP
🤝 SAG-AFTRA and the studios have a deal…
SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles (Getty Images)
And breathe. The Sean Astin-led SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP reached a tentative deal on a new four-year contract, officially closing the book on 2026 labor negotiations (for actors, at least). Here’s what we know so far:
Both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA have now agreed to four-year terms, giving studios labor peace through 2030. That's an extra year tacked onto the usual three, which the studios wanted badly enough to open their wallets for.
The AMPTP kicked in a "sizable" contribution to SAG-AFTRA's pension fund. How sizable? Nobody's saying yet. The WGA got $321M for its health fund in a similar swap, so that's the benchmark.
AI was the big sticking point. Executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland reportedly drew a hard line: if the studios wanted a fourth year, they'd have to pay for it with stronger AI concessions. The union's been gunning for tighter restrictions on AI-generated characters (like Tilly Norwood) since the last deal.
Streaming residuals were also on the table. Actors have long maintained that streaming payouts make broadcast-era residuals look like a golden age, which they were.
Terms stay under wraps until the board reviews, with ratification to follow (the WGA's deal passed at 90% approval, so that's the benchmark). The fine print is where the real stakes are, particularly the AI language. Whatever guardrails SAG-AFTRA locked in around synthetic characters will shape how studios use (or don't use) generative tools in production for the next four years. Stay tuned for the specifics.
Looking ahead… The DGA is now the last guild without a deal, and talks are set to begin May 11.
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CLOSEUP
🍿 Netflix is giving ‘Narnia’ a real theatrical release…
Greta Gerwig
For the first time in its history, Netflix is putting a film in theaters the way a traditional studio would. Greta Gerwig's 'Narnia: The Magician's Nephew' is moving from Thanksgiving 2026 to February 2027. Here's the plan:
Full wide theatrical release on February 12, 2027, across all circuits globally.
IMAX sneak previews begin February 10.
49-day exclusive theatrical window before the film hits Netflix on April 2.
Initially, this was supposed to be a two-week IMAX-only run starting Thanksgiving, then straight to streaming on Christmas. That didn't go over well. Exhibitors slammed the arrangement, and studios were furious that IMAX had handed prime holiday screens to a streamer at a time when they're fighting to rebuild the box office. Then a cast member injury delayed production six weeks, the Thanksgiving date collapsed, and the wide theatrical release took shape.
Exhibitors who torched the original IMAX deal are now fully behind the new one, and it's easy to see why. After a decade of treating theaters as an awards-qualifying formality ('Glass Onion' got one week, 'KPop Demon Hunters' got a singalong re-release), Netflix is finally making a real commitment to theatrical. The fact that it also pulls Gerwig, a 4x Oscar-nominated filmmaker, out of a prime awards corridor only adds weight. This wasn't about trophies. It was about showing up for the big screen.
The move also gives Netflix more leverage in talent conversations. The Duffer Brothers walked to Paramount partly over theatrical windows. Gerwig reportedly pushed hard for this one. Netflix now has a precedent it can point to when those conversations come up.
Looking ahead… Netflix says it has no plans to give other films the same treatment. But subscriber growth is leveling out, price hikes are drawing scrutiny, and they're about to find out what a $1.5B franchise can do at the box office. If the numbers are good, that could change.
LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️
Richard Gere and Diana Silvers are set to star in 'Asymmetry,' Edward Zwick's romantic drama adaptation heading to Cannes. (more)
'Wishful Thinking,' Maya Hawke and Lewis Pullman's SXSW winner, has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for worldwide release. (more)
Diego Luna is joining Disney's live-action 'Tangled' remake in a newly created role, starring alongside Kathryn Hahn. (more)
Dylan O’Brien, Lewis Pullman, and Kaia Gerber are lined up to star in erotic thriller ‘Bulls,’ launching sales ahead of Cannes. (more)
Kevin Hart is starring in a high-concept Netflix action comedy directed by McG, with Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds producing. (more)
Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell, and Wagner Moura will star in ‘Art,’ a satire from Fernando Meirelles launching at Cannes. (more)
John Travolta's JFK thriller 'November 1963' has been picked up by Ketchup Entertainment for a wide North American theatrical release. (more)
Dave Franco is joining Sophie Wilde in 'Soon You Will Be Gone And Possibly Eaten,' an alien invasion thriller from 'Sputnik' director Egor Abramenko. (more)
TV Development 📺
Business 🤝
Cinemark's Q1 losses are shrinking as more people show up and spend more, a good sign for the broader box office rebound. (more)
Other News 🚨
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