| Regal, the second-largest movie theater chain in the US, is hoping Dude Perfect can be the next Taylor Swift. Regal will release Dude Perfect: The Hero Tour, a documentary that follows the YouTube stars’ performances nationwide, on more than 800 screens across the US, UK, Western Europe and Australia. The film will run for two weeks starting Sept. 26 but can be extended, Regal’s Chief Commercial Officer Adam Rymer told me. This movie represents a major experiment for both Regal and Dude Perfect, a group of five friends from college who film videos that mix trick shots and humor. Their flagship YouTube channel has more than 61 million subscribers, making it one of the most popular in the world. Regal is looking for new kinds of programming to fill its theaters. Movie ticket sales are about 25% below their pre-pandemic level, and the number of wide releases is down, too. Theaters have dabbled in TV shows, sporting events and concert documentaries with mixed results. Now, like Hollywood studios and talent agencies, they are turning to YouTube for inspiration. The dudes have toured the country for the last few weeks, packing arenas. A camera crew filmed them behind the scenes at one of the early shows and has continued to add footage throughout the tour. While Regal operates movie theaters, it set up its own distribution team to release the project to other exhibitors, taking on the role typically played by a studio. It will supply the film to theaters owned by AMC Entertainment and Cinemark. “We need to innovate in the theatrical space, and this serves as a starting place,” Rymer said in an interview. Rymer met Dude Perfect Chief Executive Officer Andrew Yaffe at a dinner in Dallas — Dude Perfect is based in Frisco, Texas — and suggested the guys film their upcoming tour. AMC had great success a couple years ago with Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, a documentary of the pop star’s record-breaking concert series. That film grossed $261.7 million worldwide, the most-ever for a concert film, at a time when the Hollywood strikes had upended the movie release schedule. (The popular YouTube channels Ryan’s World had less success with its movie experiment.) While the dudes are unlikely to challenge that number, Regal is hoping they can draw their large and loyal fan base to the theater at an otherwise slow time. The release calendar in late September in early October is light, especially after a Michael Jackson biopic was delayed until next year. Dude Perfect began shooting the documentary at the outset of the tour just a few weeks ago and will need to have a finished product in less than two months. The dudes are completing the tour this weekend with shows in Indianapolis, Louisville and Nashville. “We are always excited to experiment and test new formats,” Yaffe said. “There probably aren’t that many feature films or docs that get put together in a couple of months.” Dude Perfect is looking to use its popularity across social media to build a proper media company and a family friendly entertainment brand that spans social media, film, TV and live entertainment. The company raised more than $100 million last year to increase its programming output and expand into live events and in-person experiences. The dudes brought on Yaffe from the NBA to serve as their CEO and oversee the business expansion. Yaffe has been shopping a TV show to different streaming services, and the dudes just opened a new production facility in Frisco. Movie theaters might seem a little retro for a brand born on YouTube, but Dude Perfect wants to test theaters as a distribution outlet for its programming. If the film does well, Regal hopes it will inspire other social-media creators to reach out with ideas. Rymer doesn’t envision this film as a one-off, but the start of regular releases from unconventional sources. The best of Screentime (and other stuff) | Testing the documentary market | Whisper, a UK-based production company, has hired financial advisers to explore a sale, according to Sky News. It’s looking to net at least $100 million. While I wouldn’t normally care too much about a boutique UK production company, this sale is an interesting test of the market for independent producers. The valuations of independent producers have plummeted in recent years as streaming services and other studios pull back on spending. The market for documentaries has contracted quite a bit as well. Whisper doesn’t just make docs. It produces game shows and programming around live sports. Sony Pictures is one of its investors. The No. 1 album in the world is…The soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters. We covered the success of this movie (and its soundtrack) a couple weeks ago, but its hold on culture remains strong weeks after its release. It has been one of the most-watched movies on Netflix for six weeks in a row, as new pictures like The Old Guard 2 and Madea’s Destination Wedding have come and gone. The film has amassed more than 130 million views and is about to become one of Netflix’s 10 most-watched movies ever. Its soundtrack has dethroned Justin Bieber as the most popular album in the world on Spotify. It’s ahead of new work from Tyler, the Creator and the irrepressible Morgan Wallen. The AI arms raceMicrosoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are going to spend more than $344 billion combined this year — much of it on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Amazon spent a record $31.4 billion on capital expenditures in its latest quarter — nearly double a year ago — but disappointed investors with its projected profit. Meta said sales this quarter are going to exceed investor forecasts. Deals, deals, deals - Warner Bros Discovery will change its name when it splits up. One company will be Warner Bros. and the other will be … Discovery. Warner Bros. film studio is cutting 10% of its staff.
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- Fox is paying about $130 million for a one-third stake in Penske Entertainment — the owner of IndyCar, not the Hollywood Reporter.
- Dozens of filmmakers have urged indie movie company Mubi to cut ties with Sequoia Capital.
Erykah Badu is going on tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mama’s Gun. The first Mama’s Gun tour was one of my earliest concerts. See you at the reunion. | 
