Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Dan Lin Out as Netflix Film Chief in Latest Executive Purge
Netflix has dismissed Dan Lin as its film boss, Deadline reports, after the ouster of chief content officer Bela Bajaria and roughly 1,000 layoffs, or 6% of its global workforce. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos praised Lin’s “rigor around dealmaking and strategy.” Per sources, a successor will not be named until Peter Rice arrives to take over as chief content officer. Lin’s exit comes as Netflix tests longer theatrical windows and official box office reporting. In its four-theater debut, La Bola Negra posted a $69,300 per-screen average, the best opening average for a Spanish movie, according to Deadline.
Netflix Faces Wall Street Scrutiny as Third-Quarter Earnings Arrive
Netflix reports quarterly earnings after Tuesday’s stock market close, with analysts eyeing revenue of $12.8 billion, up 11.8% from a year earlier, and earnings per share of 82 cents, Deadline reports. The call follows roughly 1,000 job cuts and an executive shakeup that installed Peter Rice as chief content officer. Shares are down 25% year to date. David Joyce of Seaport Research Partners said investors need “indications toward confidence in the growth trajectory.” Analysts pointed to live sports, advertising, third-party partnerships and theatrical experiments as levers. Netflix has forecast $3 billion in ad revenue this year.
A24 Weighs Oscar Push for ‘You Can See Everything’ Beyond Documentary
Fresh off a $15 million-plus opening, A24’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything drew an estimated 530 people to its official Academy screening Sunday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Deadline’s Pete Hammond reports. Pundits are already discussing Best Picture, where no documentary has ever been nominated. Hammond reports A24 believes a fully credited star who appears in the film’s second half is eligible for Best Supporting Actress and is mulling a campaign. No actor has ever been nominated for appearing in a documentary. The Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim film is also up for five Critics Choice Documentary Awards on November 8.
Sony Unveils ‘Jumanji: Open World’ Poster Ahead of Christmas Day Release
Sony Pictures on Monday released the poster for Jumanji: Open World, showing the faces of Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan stacked vertically, The Hollywood Reporter reports. The film, billed as the final installment in the trilogy, opens in theaters on December 25. Johnson promoted the poster on Instagram: “Two worlds collide. One final game.” Jake Kasdan returns to direct, and the first trailer was released online over the summer. Predecessor Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle surpassed $950 million at the global box office in 2017, while the 2019 sequel, The Next Level, topped $801 million globally.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter
Nicolas Cage Plays a Con Man in ‘Best Pancakes in the County’ Trailer
The trailer is out for Best Pancakes in the County, writer-director Ken Sanzel’s crime thriller starring Nicolas Cage as a fast-talking con man named The S.O.B., The Hollywood Reporter reports. IFC Films releases the film in select theaters and on digital platforms on November 20. The story centers on an unimpressive small-town diner that becomes the location for a violent standoff involving rogue federal agents. In the trailer, Cage asks, “Why do you think I insisted on meeting here? For the pancakes?” Justin Long, Shelley Hennig, Lauren German and Ravi Patel also star in the film, which counts Eduard Osipov among its producers.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter
Amazon MGM Dates Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Lizard Music’ for Christmas 2027
Amazon MGM Studios has set Lizard Music, Benny Safdie’s live-action and CGI hybrid starring Dwayne Johnson, for theatrical release on December 25, 2027, Deadline reports exclusively. Johnson plays an eccentric septuagenarian nicknamed The Chicken Man, transformed with extensive makeup and prosthetics, in Safdie’s adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater’s novel. Deadline notes a Christmas launch is ideal for reaching family audiences given the film’s fantasy nature. It arrives after the December 17 releases of Avengers: Secret Wars and Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and shares Christmas Day with Amazon MGM’s Ron Howard-directed Alone at Dawn and a Nancy Meyers film from Warner Bros.
Warner Bros Communications Head Chelsey Summey Departs as Paramount Takes Over
Chelsey Summey, head of communications at Warner Bros, has departed the Burbank lot, Deadline reports exclusively, with more exits expected later this week as Paramount seizes the studio. Summey joined as SVP Communications in January 2024 and later reported to motion picture bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, overseeing communications across Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and other labels. She previously led film corporate communications at Amazon MGM Studios and spent nearly a decade at 20th Century Fox, where she oversaw media relations and awards-campaign strategy, working on titles including Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman.
Ex-UTA Agent Dante DeSario Launches Collage to Broker AI-Native Production
Former UTA film agent Dante DeSario and media investor Michael Lambert have launched Collage, a management company devoted to AI-native production, Deadline reports. The firm closed a seed round with Black Bear and Fundamental Films investing. Its stated goal is to bridge AI production companies and Hollywood studios, streamers, filmmakers and brands by identifying suppliers, matching production methods to projects and pricing work. Launch clients include Asteria, Secret Level and Native Foreign, creator of the OpenAI-backed franchise Critterz. “We saw extraordinary creative companies emerging around generative production, but very little infrastructure around them,” DeSario said in a statement.
Box Office Top 20 — Domestic Weekend, October 16–18, 2026
Source: Box Office Mojo
| # | Title | Distributor | Weekend | Total | Wks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Street Fighter | Paramount | $30,775,377 | $30,775,377 | 1 |
| 2 | You Can See Everything | A24 | $15,601,418 | $15,601,418 | 1 |
| 3 | Other Mommy | Universal | $8,204,680 | $44,709,120 | 2 |
| 4 | Whalefall | 20th Century | $7,837,153 | $7,837,153 | 1 |
| 5 | Sense and Sensibility | Focus Features | $7,203,465 | $7,203,465 | 1 |
| 6 | Verity | Amazon MGM | $6,046,599 | $65,927,001 | 3 |
| 7 | Resident Evil | Columbia | $5,501,456 | $148,459,411 | 5 |
| 8 | Heart of the Beast | Paramount | $4,740,501 | $58,228,952 | 4 |
| 9 | Jailer 2 | — | $3,260,000 | $3,260,000 | 1 |
| 10 | Forgotten Island | DreamWorks | $2,349,725 | $35,206,990 | 4 |
| 11 | The Devils | — | $1,725,458 | $1,725,458 | 1 |
| 12 | Primetime | A24 | $1,674,273 | $45,337,119 | 4 |
| 13 | The Social Reckoning | Sony | $1,403,313 | $8,135,370 | 2 |
| 14 | Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother | Orion | $1,164,506 | $2,242,377 | 4 |
| 15 | Digger | Warner Bros. | $900,774 | $17,222,732 | 3 |
| 16 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | Sony | $673,884 | $958,264,412 | 12 |
| 17 | The Odyssey | Universal | $559,220 | $624,908,045 | 14 |
| 18 | Crawlers | Roadside Attractions | $462,691 | $462,691 | 1 |
| 19 | Angel and the Badman | Angel | $433,220 | $3,584,015 | 2 |
| 20 | Practical Magic 2 | Warner Bros. | $366,008 | $68,247,312 | 6 |
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Curated by JD · samwise.agency