Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Friday, September 25, 2026
Alex Gibney’s “Musk” Full Trailer Drops; Bleecker Street Moves Release to Oct. 9
Alex Gibney’s documentary “Musk” released its full trailer Friday as distributor Bleecker Street moved the theatrical opening date forward to October 9 from a later scheduled window. The campaign accelerates ahead of a planned HBO debut in Q1 2027, a platform strategy that builds awards eligibility before the film reaches streaming. The trailer profiles Elon Musk through archival footage and employee interviews, arriving months after an initial teaser generated substantial online attention. The earlier release window signals distributor confidence in the film’s commercial and critical trajectory heading into fall awards season.
“The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” Full Trailer: Fincher/Pitt Netflix IMAX Sequel
Netflix released the official trailer for David Fincher’s “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” the sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Brad Pitt returns as Cliff Booth in a 1977-set story. The film is scheduled for a limited IMAX theatrical run beginning November 25 before streaming exclusively on Netflix December 23—a window that keeps it in awards contention. Netflix has designated the film as one of six titles for which it will publicly report box office figures, a notable shift in the streamer’s approach to theatrical transparency.
Avengers: Endgame Encore Opens With $3M+ in Thursday Previews; Disney’s Infinity Vision Drives Campaign
Avengers: Endgame Encore opened Thursday night with more than $3 million in preview grosses as Disney’s proprietary Infinity Vision format drives the re-release campaign. The re-release of the 2019 blockbuster includes remastered audio, expanded aspect ratios, and a post-credits sequence featuring footage from the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday.” That tease—generating social media momentum ahead of the formal opening—is part of Disney’s pre-release strategy for “Doomsday,” which has already crossed $50 million in advance ticket sales with three months remaining before release. The Encore event positions “Endgame” as both nostalgia play and promotional vehicle for the upcoming sequel.
Spain Selects TIFF People’s Choice Winner “La Bola Negra” for International Feature Oscar Race
Spain’s Academy of Cinema has selected “La Bola Negra” as the country’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The selection puts the TIFF 2026 People’s Choice Award winner in the Oscar conversation as awards season accelerates. The film is among six titles Netflix has committed to releasing with full theatrical transparency—including public box office reporting—and is set for a 47-day theatrical window opening October 16. Spain’s selection intersects both the festival circuit momentum from Toronto and a well-resourced streaming platform’s awards infrastructure, a combination awards prognosticators will be watching closely.
WBD Marketing Exec Exodus Amid Paramount Merger: Pia Barlow to Amazon MGM, Katie Martin Kelly to Netflix
Pia Barlow and Katie Martin Kelly, two senior marketing executives at Warner Bros. Discovery, have departed amid the company’s pending merger with Paramount—Barlow joining Amazon MGM Studios and Martin Kelly joining Netflix. The moves add a layer of complexity to an already fraught moment for WBD: the company has separately filed suit against Amazon over streaming rights issues—the same company that just hired one of its departed marketing leaders. The departures, arriving during active merger negotiations, signal that rival streamers are actively absorbing WBD executive talent ahead of any formal reorganization.
Weekend Box Office — Sep 18–20, 2026
| # | Title | Weekend | Theaters | Chg | Avg | Total | Wks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resident Evil | $60,152,878 | 3,684 | — | $16,328 | $60,152,878 | 1 |
| 2 | Practical Magic 2 | $12,158,856 | 4,163 | -59.5% | $2,920 | $50,035,443 | 2 |
| 3 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | $6,415,159 | 3,017 | -23.7% | $2,126 | $944,417,445 | 8 |
| 4 | The Odyssey | $4,953,955 | 1,546 | -34.8% | $3,204 | $609,811,695 | 10 |
| 5 | Coyote vs. Acme | $4,410,418 | 3,035 | -31.1% | $1,453 | $54,714,484 | 4 |
| 6 | Daniel and the Fiery Furnace | $3,303,548 | 1,525 | — | $2,166 | $3,303,548 | 1 |
| 7 | Transformers: The Movie 40th Anniv. | $3,103,922 | 1,454 | — | $2,134 | $4,156,531 | 1 |
| 8 | Runner | $3,007,648 | 2,472 | -53.5% | $1,216 | $11,814,476 | 2 |
| 9 | The Weight | $2,301,059 | 1,504 | — | $1,529 | $2,301,059 | 1 |
| 10 | Buddy | $1,951,447 | 1,543 | -46.1% | $1,264 | $24,855,411 | 4 |
| 11 | Insidious: Out of the Further | $1,852,614 | 1,740 | -45.6% | $1,064 | $63,757,218 | 5 |
| 12 | Shaun the Sheep: Beast of Mossy Bottom | $1,837,847 | 2,183 | — | $841 | $1,837,847 | 1 |
| 13 | The Uprising | $1,203,765 | 2,069 | -63.6% | $581 | $5,789,545 | 2 |
| 14 | Hope | $1,000,224 | 1,400 | -69.0% | $714 | $7,290,322 | 2 |
| 15 | By Any Means | $701,249 | 1,265 | -71.7% | $554 | $15,288,995 | 3 |
| 16 | PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie | $685,016 | 827 | -45.4% | $828 | $52,467,338 | 6 |
| 17 | Ghost in the Shell (2026 Re-release) | $486,025 | 850 | — | $571 | $486,025 | 1 |
| 18 | If I Go Will They Miss Me | $336,477 | 251 | +758.7% | $1,340 | $383,856 | 2 |
| 19 | The End of Oak Street | $323,652 | 461 | -69.8% | $702 | $54,012,346 | 6 |
| 20 | Tony | $218,793 | 236 | -55.5% | $927 | $15,194,788 | 7 |
Source: Box Office Mojo Weekend 38 — estimates, domestic only.
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