🎬 Wicked Plot Twist

👋 Good morning. Our hearts are heavy this week as devastating wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles. Many of our industry colleagues have lost their homes. From Malibu to the Hollywood Hills, this is a developing crisis affecting thousands across our community. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted during this difficult time.

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:

• Awards Race Shapes Up

• ‘Wicked’ Crushes PVOD

• TikTok’s Uncertain Fate

• Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Release Radar: What to watch this weekend

• Martini Shot 🍸

But first, it’s Friday, so let’s take a look at what people were watching this week… 👀

TOP STREAMED
📊 What U.S. audiences were watching this week…

CLOSEUP
🏆 The awards race continues to shape up…

Academy voting has kicked off, but there's no clear frontrunner in sight. Even after ‘The Brutalist’ took Drama and ‘Emilia Pérez’ grabbed Musical/Comedy at the Globes, the race remains wide open. Now, a flurry of guild nominations are reshaping the awards landscape.

🎭 The Screen Actors Guild just revealed their nominations, and they're painting a very different picture than early awards season predictions suggested. Remember: actors make up the Academy's largest voting bloc, so these noms aren't just another trophy—they're a serious crystal ball for Oscar night. Some key developments:

• ‘Wicked’ joins an ultra-exclusive club, becoming only the sixth film ever to score five SAG noms. Fun fact: three of the previous five went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

• ‘A Complete Unknown’ emerges as a dark horse, nabbing four nods including the crucial ensemble nomination—impressive for a film that skipped the fall festival circuit.

• British charmer Jonathan Bailey scored a supporting actor nod for ‘Wicked,’ knocking out favorites like Clarence Maclin and Guy Pearce. Nobody saw that coming.

• Golden Globe champ ‘The Brutalist’ hits a speed bump, managing just one nomination.

• ‘Emilia Pérez’ keeps its victory lap going with three nominations fresh off its Globe win.

• Kieran Culkin (‘A Real Pain’) and Zoe Saldaña (‘Emilia Pérez’) cement frontrunner status

• Surprise acting nods for Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘The Last Showgirl’ suggest the industry veterans have serious support among their peers.

🎬 The Directors Guild threw their own curveball into the mix with an unprecedented slate of first-time nominees. Why it matters: Only twice in 95 years has a film won Best Picture without a DGA nomination. It’s also worth noting that while DGA voters typically favor mainstream American films over international fare (unlike the Oscars), this year they’ve gone surprisingly global.

• James Mangold lands his first DGA nom for Bob Dylan biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’

• Edward Berger makes the cut for religious thriller ‘Conclave’

• French auteur Jacques Audiard lands a spot for ‘Emilia Pérez’

• Notable snubs for Jon M. Chu (‘Wicked’) and Denis Villeneuve (‘Dune: Part Two’)

• First time in recent memory with no previous DGA nominees in the lineup

📅 As wildfires rage across Los Angeles County, Hollywood's carefully orchestrated awards timeline is getting an emergency rewrite. The new timeline:

• Oscar noms voting extended to Jan. 14, announcement moved to Jan. 19

• Critics Choice Awards postponed from Jan. 12 to Jan. 26

• WGA noms pushed to Jan. 13

• PGA noms delayed to Jan. 12

• Multiple Oscar shortlist screenings and "bake-offs" canceled or moved virtual

Looking ahead... With Oscar voting underway and these major guild nominations landing, the race feels more unpredictable than ever. ‘Wicked's’ SAG showing suggests major industry support, while the DGA's embrace of fresh voices could signal an appetite for change. The Academy Awards ceremony remains set for Mar. 2.

WIDESHOT
🎬 ‘Wicked’ crushes PVOD, and TikTok’s fate…

🎬💰 'Wicked' is challenging old Hollywood wisdom about theatrical vs. PVOD revenue streams. Universal reports the musical adaptation is crushing it in digital, raking in $70M in its first week of digital release—their biggest PVOD debut ever—after already conjuring up $682M at theaters. This success flips the script on traditional thinking: rather than hurting ticket sales, releasing films to digital just weeks after their theatrical debut might actually work in studios' favor. Universal's been testing these waters since COVID, moving away from the old three-month theater exclusive window to getting movies on digital platforms faster. While some fans grumble about paying premium prices for early home viewing, 'Wicked's' performance suggests the strategy works—at least for blockbusters. With studios keeping a bigger cut of digital sales (80%) compared to theater tickets (50-65%), and Universal's total PVOD revenue surpassing $1.5B since launching their shortened-window strategy, the industry might need to rethink its release playbook.

📱⚖️ TikTok's fate hangs in the Supreme Court balance today. The social media powerhouse is fighting to avoid a Jan. 19 shutdown that could cut off its 170M U.S. users. The stakes are particularly high for entertainment marketers, who've made TikTok a cornerstone of film and TV promotion—the platform's algorithm has proven uniquely powerful at driving youth audiences to theaters and streaming platforms. The drama has a political twist: President-elect Trump, now a TikTok super-user with 14.7M followers, is pushing for time to broker a deal after dining with CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, content creators who've turned TikTok into a booming short-form entertainment ecosystem are anxiously eyeing backup platforms. The platform's potential shutdown threatens to disrupt both traditional studios' marketing playbooks and an emerging generation of digital storytellers who've found success with TikTok's vertical video format. With the company claiming it could lose a third of daily users from just a month-long shutdown, the court's decision could reshape not just social media, but much of Hollywood's digital strategy.

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LAST LOOKS
Development 🗒️

• Tom Holland will star in and produce Universal’s adaptation of John Grisham’s ‘The Partner,’ with Graham Moore penning the script. (more)

• Colman Domingo joins Edgar Wright’s ‘The Running Man’ as the charismatic game-show host in Paramount’s reimagining of the dystopian thriller. (more)

• Donnie Yen is in talks to direct and star in a ‘John Wick’ spin-off centered on his character Caine. (more)

Business 🤝

• NBCUniversal and Nexstar renew a multi-year distribution deal covering 33 markets and over 14M households. (more)

• DirecTV and EchoStar evaluate options after the Venu Sports settlement, warning of antitrust concerns and competitive disadvantages. (more)

• Comcast NBCUniversal’s “SpinCo” fills key leadership roles, appointing Val Boreland as head of entertainment ahead of its year-end launch. (more)

• Warner Bros. shakes up leadership as Josh Goldstine and Andrew Cripps exit, with Jeff Goldstein leading global distribution. (more)

• Disney reports an average of 157M global monthly streaming users, including 112M domestic, over the past six months. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Letterboxd hits 17M members in 2024, cementing its role as a key driver for indie films and celebrating ‘Dune: Part Two’ as the year’s top-rated movie. (more)

• The Emmys introduce new rules barring repeat Guest Performer nominations for series regulars, expanding directing eligibility, and refining casting and music criteria for future awards. (more)

• Netflix’s inaugural ‘Monday Night Raw’ event drew 2.6M same-day U.S. households, surpassing the show’s USA Network average and marking a milestone under WWE’s $5B streaming deal. (more)

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RELEASE RADAR
📅 What to watch this weekend?

🎥 THEATRICAL

• Den of Thieves 2: Pantera: Crime thriller sequel with Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr., directed by Christian Gudegast.

• Better Man: Musical biopic about Robbie Williams expands wide, directed by ‘The Greatest Showman's’ Michael Gracey.

• Hard Truths: Family drama from acclaimed director Mike Leigh starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

• The Last Showgirl: Drama starring Pamela Anderson in a Golden Globe-nominated turn, directed by Gia Coppola.

📺 STREAMING

• The Pitt: (Max) Medical drama series starring Noah Wyle as an ER doctor, from ER veterans R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells.

• American Primeval: (Netflix) Western miniseries starring Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin, directed by Peter Berg.

• Goosebumps: The Vanishing (Disney+) S2 of the teen horror series adapting classic R.L. Stine stories.

• Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger: (Netflix) British comedy-drama sequel, with Hugh Bonneville and Dan Fogler.

• The Traitors: (Peacock) S3 of the Emmy-winning reality competition returns with Alan Cumming hosting.

🔮 BOX OFFICE PREVIEW

As devastating wildfires impact Los Angeles communities, with multiple theater closures in the nation's top market (including marquee locations like AMC Universal CityWalk and AMC Americana), this weekend's box office will be significantly affected. Three films are projected to finish close together: 'Mufasa' and 'Sonic 3' each tracking for $12-15M in their fourth weeks, while newcomer 'Den of Thieves 2' aims for a similar $12-15M opening. 'Better Man' expands to 1,200 theaters with expectations in the low single digits.

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments