Your daily digest of the entertainment business news you need to read. Welcome! Every so often, you get a stark reminder that the movie-going audience is more fickle than ever. Case in point: this past weekend's premiere of "M3GAN 2.0." The original was a hit buoyed by memes and social media fervor to the point that I, an official oldie, even caught on to it. Yet the sequel failed to make a dent as Apple's "F1" lapped the box office competition. So what does it mean for Blumhouse? Our own Jeremy Fuster breaks down the studio's recent cold streak. I'd also suggest checking out our second story, which is an in-depth overview of the Paramount-Skydance merger situation and whether it'll be able to get out of the penalty box imposed by President Donald Trump. With the Paramount shareholder meeting happening tomorrow, we could see movement in this soon, and the piece is an excellent way of staying ahead of the curve. Roger Cheng 
The weak performance of "M3GAN 2.0" has meant Blumhouse has been in a slump that has lasted 18 months -- and counting. Its last film to surpass $100 million globally was "Five Nights at Freddy's" in 2023, and that was an adaptation of a popular video game. While Blumhouse previously couldn't miss with its collection of low-budget, high-impact horror films, it's learning, just as Marvel and Pixar have, that a studio's reputation no longer means that much in the age of streaming and near-unlimited media options. What does this all mean? Read on to see what the big takeaways are, including what Blumhouse itself needs to do to get its mojo back. 
Catch Up 
In Other News...Jeff Bezos sold 3.3 million shares in Amazon for $736.7 million. To put that in perspective, those shares equate to about 0.4% of his total holdings (Reuters) Cloudfare, essentially an internet middleman and infrastructure provider, says it will block AI bots from visiting the sites that it hosts (MIT Technology Review) Law360 is employing an AI-powered "bias detection" tool for all of its articles (NiemenLab) Want more? Explore WrapPRO now. This report provides a high-level analysis of daily developments within the entertainment sector. It compiles crucial data points and insights from industry leaders, highlighting key trends and shifts in business strategies. |
