Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Verity Heads for $32M Start as Tom Cruise’s Digger Eyes Lowest Opening in 19 Years
Amazon MGM Studios’ Colleen Hoover thriller Verity led Friday with $14.5M, including $4.5M in previews, and is shaping up for a $32M start at 3,510 sites, Deadline reports. Warner Bros.’ Digger, the $125M–$160M+ Tom Cruise satire from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, is headed for a $10M opening at 3,321 theaters, which would be Cruise’s lowest in 19 years. The last time Cruise opened this low was 2007’s Lions for Lambs at $6.7M. Rivals have Digger lower still, with a high single-digit opening. Sony’s Resident Evil is estimated at $11.5M in second place in its third weekend, with a running cume of $123.8M by Sunday.
Ellison Calls De Luca and Abdy to Confirm Warner Bros. Exit They Read About in the Press
Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy received a call Friday morning from Skydance CEO David Ellison confirming they will not join the merged Warner-Paramount studio, TheWrap reports. The pair had first read about their exit the previous night in an anonymous online report. According to individuals with knowledge, Ellison told them the merged companies have a ton of debt and needed to restructure; the combined entity is expected to carry around $80 billion in total debt. They were not offered a production deal. Their slate, including “Batman 2” and “Gremlins 3,” will be handled for the moment by Presidents of Production Jesse Ehrman and Mike Ireland.
Skydance Brand Slide Hints HBO Max and Paramount+ Will Be Bundled, Not Merged
A video from Paramount CEO David Ellison announcing that the merged company will be called Skydance ended with a slide of its key brands, including both HBO Max and Paramount+, Deadline reports, offering more indication the two streamers will be bundled rather than merged. The company has not confirmed plans for the streaming operation, which is expected to be overseen by Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content. Asked about bundling versus full integration, Bloys pointed to the HBO Max-Disney bundle, which he said “has been very successful.” Paramount will become Skydance on Oct. 6 when the WBD acquisition closes.
Why the Skydance Name Works but Carries Less Weight Than Paramount or Warner Bros.
David Ellison’s decision to name the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. company Skydance drew a wave of criticism on social media, writes The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd. Ellison has reassured that the 103-year-old Warner Bros. brand and the 114-year-old Paramount brand will stick around, and his logo graphic placed Skydance front and center, orbited by small icons for Warner Bros., Paramount, CBS, HBO Max, DC, CNN and Nickelodeon. Hibberd says it is unclear how much the legacy brands will mean going forward and calls the naming choice “rather egoic.” Still, he argues that as corporate names go, Skydance “isn’t terrible.”
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter
Disney Licenses Ice Age, Percy Jackson and More to Netflix to Promote Upcoming Releases
Disney Entertainment and Netflix have entered an expansive content licensing agreement, and part of Disney’s strategy is to drum up interest in upcoming releases, Variety reports. Seasons 1-2 of Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians arrive on Netflix globally Oct. 4 in a three-month promotional window ahead of Season 3’s Nov. 20 Disney+ premiere. All five Ice Age films also land Oct. 4 in a separate window ahead of Ice Age: Boiling Point, opening in theaters Feb. 5, 2027. Will Trent Seasons 1-4 join Netflix globally Nov. 3, ahead of Season 5 on ABC, while Disney and Pixar films including Soul and Elio follow beginning in early 2027.
Bleecker Street CEO Says Elon Musk Is Bringing Attention to ‘Musk’ Documentary
Bleecker Street CEO Kent Sanderson told IndieWire the indie studio will release Alex Gibney’s documentary Musk in U.S. theaters on October 9, despite legal threats from Elon Musk. Facebook and YouTube initially refused to run ads for the film before backtracking, and the fracas has only elevated its profile. “You can’t deny that he’s bringing attention to the movie,” Sanderson said. The company is also back in the Oscar race with Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, Guy Nattiv’s The Liberation and Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder, following a strategic pivot to getting in at the script stage rather than buying finished films at festivals.
Venice Prize-Winner ‘NAZA’ Opens U.S. Run with Sellouts Ahead of Wider Expansion
NAZA, the documentary from Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, began its U.S. run at New York’s IFC Center on Wednesday, with most shows sold out through the weekend and the film eyeing more than $70k for its first five days, Deadline reports. The doc, which won a Special Jury Prize at Venice, is set to expand to 60+ theaters in more than 30 markets next weekend. It opened in Italy with €1.81 million ($2.1 million), and sales company mk2 films has deals in 56 markets. In an unusual move, producer The Guardian plans to stream it internationally for free in six to eight weeks.
Fox Releases Four New Teasers for ‘Baywatch’ Reboot Ahead of January Premiere
Fox has released four new teaser promos for its Baywatch reboot, Deadline reports, pairing Stephen Amell and Jessica Belkin, Hassie Harrison and Noah Beck, Shay Mitchell and Brooks Nader, and Livvy Dunne and Thaddeus LaGrone. Amell leads as Hobie Buchannon, now a Baywatch Captain, whose world is turned upside down when Charlie (Belkin), the daughter he never knew, shows up eager to become a lifeguard alongside him. Original series star David Chokachi reprises his role as Cody Madison, while Erika Eleniak, Michael Bergin and Kelly Packard guest-star. Co-produced by Fox Entertainment and Fremantle, with Matt Nix as showrunner, the series premieres this January on Fox and next day on Hulu.
Box Office Top 20
Domestic weekend of September 25–27, 2026 · Source: Box Office Mojo
| # | Title | Release | Weekend | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avengers Endgame: Encore (2026 Re-release) | Sep 25, 2026 | $26,106,643 | $26,106,643 |
| 2 | Resident Evil | Sep 18, 2026 | $23,012,848 | $103,189,095 |
| 3 | Heart of the Beast | Sep 25, 2026 | $20,042,473 | $20,042,473 |
| 4 | Primetime | Sep 25, 2026 | $18,830,798 | $18,830,798 |
| 5 | Forgotten Island | Sep 25, 2026 | $13,007,005 | $13,007,005 |
| 6 | Practical Magic 2 | Sep 11, 2026 | $5,600,274 | $59,762,967 |
| 7 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | Jul 31, 2026 | $4,054,489 | $950,637,311 |
| 8 | The Odyssey | Jul 17, 2026 | $3,802,065 | $616,623,710 |
| 9 | Coyote vs. Acme | Aug 28, 2026 | $1,915,685 | $58,393,726 |
| 10 | Daniel and the Fiery Furnace | Sep 18, 2026 | $1,540,161 | $6,229,247 |
| 11 | Princess Mononoke (Studio Ghibli Fest 2026) | Sep 26, 2026 | $847,515 | $847,515 |
| 12 | Runner | Sep 11, 2026 | $798,889 | $13,830,071 |
| 13 | Insidious: Out of the Further | Aug 21, 2026 | $735,312 | $65,173,475 |
| 14 | Buddy | Aug 28, 2026 | $697,411 | $26,359,915 |
| 15 | Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom | Sep 18, 2026 | $422,041 | $2,823,841 |
| 16 | The Paradise | Sep 24, 2026 | $407,343 | $2,039,287 |
| 17 | The History of Concrete | Sep 18, 2026 | $384,059 | $545,280 |
| 18 | Hanuman Ansh | Sep 11, 2026 | $301,304 | $2,332,308 |
| 19 | PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie | Aug 14, 2026 | $239,182 | $52,902,179 |
| 20 | Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! | Sep 25, 2026 | $219,700 | $219,700 |
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Curated by JD · samwise.agency