Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Toy Story 5 Opens to $160 Million, Shattering Franchise Record and Leading 2026
Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 shattered franchise records with a $160 million domestic opening weekend, the biggest debut of 2026, besting Toy Story 4’s $120 million launch from 2019. The film opened June 19 across 4,425 North American theaters and collected $152 million internationally, totaling $312 million worldwide — the second-best global Pixar opening after Inside Out 2. A Taylor Swift song contribution debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 ahead of release and drove 26 percent of opening-weekend audiences to be women under 25, materially widening the franchise’s reach beyond core family demographics.
Supergirl’s $100M+ Brand Partner Campaign Is Biggest Ever for Warner Bros. DC
Warner Bros. and DC Studios have assembled a record promotional push for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, set to open June 26, with more than 80 brand partners delivering over $100 million in combined media value — the largest partner campaign in Warner Bros. DC history. Anchored by Kentucky Fried Chicken as lead partner, the roster includes Samsung, Ulta Beauty, OPI, American Airlines, Waymo, and Timex. Of the 80-plus partners, 65 are international while four — Samsung, OPI, American Airlines, and Timex — have global reach. Warner Bros. Global Partnerships framed the goal as introducing the edgy DC-verse to young women and families ahead of the theatrical bow.
Sources: Deadline
Emmy FYC 2026 Reaches Fever Pitch as Nomination Ballot Deadline Passes
With final Emmy nomination ballots due June 22 at 10 p.m. PT, the 2026 FYC campaign season reached unprecedented intensity, with one voting member reporting receipt of at least 450 official TV Academy invites and 210 Academy emails since May 1 alone. Networks, streamers, and studios saturated Los Angeles with out-of-home advertising along Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Santa Monica, and Vine. The field this cycle includes 110 drama submissions and 71 comedy submissions competing for a limited nomination slate. Observers noted that well-executed FYC events — screening plus panel plus reception — can materially move nomination tallies, keeping spending high despite industry belt-tightening elsewhere.
Eddy Cue and Jerry Bruckheimer Tease F1 Sequel and UAP Thriller at Cannes Lions
At the 2026 Cannes Lions festival, Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue — honored as Entertainment Person of the Year — appeared alongside producer Jerry Bruckheimer to confirm that a sequel to the 2025 blockbuster F1: The Movie is in development, with director Joseph Kosinski expected to return. Apple has not formally greenlit the project, but Cue said it will “hopefully” be coming. Bruckheimer also teased a new Apple thriller about government UAP cover-ups, describing the project as “kind of All the President’s Men about what the government has been hiding.” The conversation underscored Apple TV+’s deepening investment in theatrical-scale productions as a brand and subscriber-acquisition tool.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
Lionsgate Sets Blair Witch Project Reboot for September 2027 With Blumhouse and Atomic Monster
Lionsgate has set a new Blair Witch Project movie for theatrical release on September 24, 2027, announcing the date through a cryptic social media video in keeping with the franchise’s found-footage marketing roots. Dylan Clark is directing, with Blumhouse Productions and James Wan’s Atomic Monster producing alongside Lionsgate. The announcement arrives amid renewed horror box office strength in 2026, following record-breaking debuts for A24’s Backrooms and earlier entries in the slasher revival wave. The date reveal via social video — rather than a traditional trailer drop — reflects a broader industry shift toward building franchise mystique through platform-native content in the months ahead of theatrical release.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
Cannes Lions 2026 Draws Heaviest Hollywood Marketing Presence in Years
The 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, running June 22–26 in Cannes, France, features a heavier entertainment-industry footprint than in recent years, with media players including NBCUniversal, Tubi, Spotify, and Sirius XM alongside tech giants Meta, Amazon, and LinkedIn. Studios are increasingly competing for agency and brand-creative talent at the festival while the creator economy — and its intersection with AI and brand partnerships — dominates panel programming. Oprah Winfrey’s keynote drew one of the largest crowds of opening day. The festival’s Dan Wieden Titanium Lions shortlist recognizes game-changing creativity across 18 campaigns spanning entertainment, technology, and social-impact categories.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek
Box Office — Currently in Theatres
| # | Title | Release Date | Weekend | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toy Story 5 | Jun 19 | $159.7M | $159.7M |
| 2 | Disclosure Day | Jun 12 | $17.7M | $79.0M |
| 3 | Obsession | May 8 | $13.4M | $215.0M |
| 4 | Backrooms | May 29 | $7.2M | $175.1M |
| 5 | Scary Movie | Jun 5 | $6.4M | $97.2M |
| 6 | Masters of the Universe | Jun 5 | $6.2M | $57.5M |
| 7 | Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu | May 22 | $4.2M | $172.0M |
| 8 | The Death of Robin Hood | Jun 19 | $2.9M | $2.9M |
| 9 | Leviticus | Jun 19 | $2.6M | $2.6M |
| 10 | Michael | Apr 17 | $2.2M | $367.9M |
| 11 | Girls Like Girls | Jun 19 | $1.5M | $1.5M |
| 12 | The Furious | Jun 12 | $1.1M | $5.3M |
| 13 | The Sheep Detectives | May 1 | $1.1M | $64.6M |
| 14 | The Breadwinner | May 22 | $0.9M | $19.3M |
| 15 | The Devil Wears Prada 2 | Apr 24 | $0.6M | $219.3M |
| 16 | Stop! That! Train! | Jun 12 | $0.5M | $3.4M |
| 17 | Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul | Jun 19 | $0.4M | $0.4M |
| 18 | Pressure | May 29 | $0.3M | $15.1M |
| 19 | Tuner | May 15 | $0.1M | $4.0M |
| 20 | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Mar 27 | $0.1M | $429.6M |
Source: Box Office Mojo · Weekend estimates, June 19–21, 2026
Curated by JD · samwise.agency