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🎬 This Is Unreal
Unreal Engine Takes Hollywood, Reality TV's Nosedive, and MORE!
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👋 Good morning! The hottest ticket at this year's New York Film Festival wasn't a film at all—it was a van. Criterion Collection's mobile "Closet," a miniature version of their famed DVD-packed stockroom, drew lines around the block outside Lincoln Center. Film buffs waited up to 10 hours for a 3-minute browse, mimicking the popular celebrity ‘Closet Picks’ videos.
Welcome aboard the Dailies. As you sip your morning brew, we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood—no need to chase down a newsstand, we’ve got everything you need right here.
🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:
Reality TV’s Nosedive
Unreal Engine in Hollywood
Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects
Video Village: The latest trailers
Martini Shot 🍸
CLOSEUP
📉 Reality TV’s taking a nosedive
Once Hollywood's golden goose, reality TV is facing a steep decline. The first half of 2024 saw series orders plummet to their lowest since 2019, signaling a major shakeup in the unscripted world.
Some key developments:
Series orders peaked at 637 in Q2 2022, plummeting 22% to 493 in Q2 2024.
Recent fan-favorites like ‘Darcey and Stacey,’ ‘The D'Amelio Show,’ and ‘FBoy Island’ have gotten the axe.
Even promising newcomers like ‘Couple to Throuple’ are facing indefinite holds.
86% of some sound pros' client rosters have vanished in just three years.
Plus, production companies are packing their bags, with many leaving LA and NYC for cheaper filming locations both domestically and internationally.
So why’s it all happening?
The reality TV landscape is shifting due to a perfect storm of industry changes:
End of "Peak TV" era: Networks and streamers are tightening their belts after years of content over-saturation.
Studio consolidations: Mergers like Warner Bros. Discovery have shrunk the buyer pool, intensifying competition for remaining slots.
Streaming disruption: Platforms like Netflix are making their own international versions for different countries (think ‘Love Is Blind: Japan’). This cuts off a key revenue stream for production companies.
Post-pandemic correction: As scripted content catches up, there's less demand for quick-turnaround unscripted filler that boomed during lockdowns.
Budget Tightening & Rising Costs: Industry-wide cuts are squeezing reality TV's already low-cost model even further. At the same time, higher talent fees and COVID-19 protocols strain budgets in an already low-margin business.
Advertising shifts: Some advertisers are moving to digital platforms, reducing traditional TV ad revenue that funds productions.
Looking ahead…
Reality TV's not throwing in the towel just yet, but the industry is adapting. Studios are getting pickier, mainly green-lighting shows with recognizable IP (like Max’s ‘Friends’-inspired ‘Fast Friends’), big name producers (Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine rebooting ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’), or shows involving digital creators who come with their own young fanbase (hello, Hulu's 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives').
There are some silver linings in this remodeled landscape:
Longer development cycles are the new norm, with execs betting on quality over quantity. It's less "rapid-fire reality" and more "slow TV" these days.
Niche genres, especially sports-related reality TV, are having a major moment. From Netflix's ‘Simone Biles Rising’ to the flood of sports docuseries, this genre is sticking the landing.
TV networks aren't footing the whole bill anymore. Now, brands are stepping in, turning shows into part entertainment, part super-sized commercial. That conveniently placed soda can? It's not just for quenching thirst—it's paying the bills.
Who knows, today's slump could be tomorrow's comeback story. Reality TV 2.0, anyone?
CLOSEUP
🎮 Move over, green screens…
Gaming giant Halo just announced they’re ditching their in-house engine for Unreal Engine 5. The first images from this switch have hit the web, and let's just say Master Chief has never looked so good. But what's the big deal with Unreal Engine 5, and why is everyone from game developers to filmmakers jumping on this bandwagon?
For the uninitiated, Unreal Engine 5 is a super-powered software toolkit that helps create stunning 3D graphics and immersive environments in real-time. Originally designed for video games, it’s now flexing its muscles in film and TV production too. Imagine being able to build entire virtual worlds, complete with lifelike lighting and intricate details, all at the click of a button. That's the magic of UE5. It's like having an entire VFX studio packed into your laptop.
From Arrakis to Mandalore
Let’s take a whirlwind tour of some of the recent productions that have embraced UE5:
‘Dune: Part Two’ (2024): Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic used UE5 for pre-production planning. The team created virtual environments of the desert planet Arrakis, allowing them to pre-visualize complex shots and optimize their time in the actual desert.
‘The Mandalorian’ (2019-present): This Star Wars series was a pioneer in using Unreal Engine (then version 4) for real-time backgrounds on LED walls. This groundbreaking technique creates immersive, photorealistic environments that actors can see and interact with during filming.
'Megalopolis' (2024): Francis Ford Coppola utilized UE5 for virtual production, including LED volume stage work, embracing the tech for its ability to blend experimental theatricality with fantasy imagery.
‘The Batman’ (2022): While not used in the final film, Unreal Engine was utilized in pre-production to plan out and visualize complex action sequences.
Why everyone’s jumping on the Unreal bandwagon
Real-time rendering: No more waiting hours for that one scene to render. Directors can now tweak lighting and environments on the fly.
Cost-effective: Virtual sets mean less location scouting and more budget for, well, whatever else you want (more explosions, anyone?).
Limitless creativity: From alien landscapes to historical recreations, if you can dream it, UE5 can probably render it.
The Robin Hood of software
Epic Games offers UE5 for free to start (yes, you read that right), with a 5% royalty on projects making over $1M. It's like they're saying, "Go ahead, make something awesome. If you strike gold, we'll high-five and share a small slice of the pie." This model has made UE5 accessible to indie creators and big studios alike, fostering innovation and democratizing high-end graphics across the industry.
As Unreal Engine 5 evolves, it's set to revolutionize both film and gaming. As more industry giants adopt it, UE5 could blur the lines between pre-production, production, and post-production. Tomorrow's creators might need to master game engines alongside traditional tools.
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LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️
Christopher Nolan’s next film is set at Universal, with Matt Damon in talks to star, aiming for a July 2026 IMAX release. (more)
Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried will star in Paul Feig’s adaptation of Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel ‘The Housemaid’ for Lionsgate. (more)
Will Smith is reuniting with Michael Bay for Netflix’s action movie ‘Fast and Loose,’ where he’ll star as a man living two secret lives. (more)
Jeff Celentano and Warren Ostergard launch Enliven Content, debuting with the true story film ‘Cody’s Wish.’ (more)
John Boorman’s animated feature ‘The Honey Wars’ is in development with a star-studded voice cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Vanessa Kirby, and Patrick Stewart. (more)
André Øvredal is set to direct an untitled horror film for Paramount, produced by Walter Hamada’s 18hz and Gary Dauberman’s Coin Operated. (more)
‘Virgin River’ creator Sue Tenney and Amy Palmer Robertson are adapting Amanda Eyre Ward’s novel ‘The Lifeguards’ into a TV series for Wiip. (more)
Ron Perlman reunites with ‘Sons of Anarchy’ co-star Theo Rossi in the thriller ‘Come With Me.’ (more)
Sony Pictures Classics acquires the Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones romantic drama ‘On Swift Horses’ following its world premiere at TIFF. (more)
Keke Palmer, Demi Moore, LaKeith Stanfield, and Naomi Ackie will star in Boots Riley’s next film ‘I Love Boosters,’ produced by Neon. (more)
Universal Pictures sets a 2026 release for Colleen Hoover’s ‘Reminders of Him,’ with Hoover co-writing and producing. (more)
Nicole Kidman, Liane Moriarty, and Bruna Papandrea reunite for a TV adaptation of Moriarty’s mystery novel ‘Here One Moment.’ (more)
Lionsgate teams up with Chad Stahelski’s 87Eleven and Mandalay Pictures for ‘The Professionals.’ (more)
Sam Hargrave will direct a ‘Shinobi’ video game adaptation for Universal, bringing SEGA’s iconic ninja franchise to the big screen. (more)
Drew Hancock will write and direct the supernatural horror ‘My Wife and I Bought a Ranch’ for Amazon MGM. (more)
Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌
Netflix cancels Jeff Goldblum’s comedy ‘Kaos’ after S1. (more)
Business 🤝
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-The Dailies Team
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