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'Dune part two' POSTS Best preview GROSSES since barbenheimer
with $10 million-plus estimates, the sequel to denis villeneuve's sci-fi epic could be about to shake up the 2024 cinema landscape |
Here's some dialogue Denis Villeneuve can get on board with. Dune: Part Two is off to a seriously strong start with $10 million-plus in previews, per industry estimates Thursday. Deadline hears that figure includes $2M from the Imax fan event screening that took place February 25. Note that these numbers do not come from Warner Bros, so they might be higher or lower Friday morning.
If the estimates are realized, this could be the biggest preview cash we’ve seen since Barbenheimer on Thursday, July 20, when Warner Bros’ Barbie made $22.3M and Universal’s Oppenheimer did $10.5M. Slightly lower down the list, Five Nights at Freddy’s, despite going day-and-date on Universal’s Peacock streaming service, put up a great Thursday night preview of $10.3M on October 26. >>>Welcome Back To The Cinema |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Parting Of The Ways - Selma Blair has split with her representation team, including CAA and Narrative PR. The exits, which happened in recent days, come after Blair came under fire for making what were construed as Islamophobic comments earlier this month. >>>Swift Backlash
Burning Down The House - Judith Godrèche, who in recent weeks has taken a match to a culture of silence and denial within France’s cinema world, talked to Deadline about the scars of sexual violence and Harvey Weinstein. >>>Shaking The Foundations “Scandoval” Lawsuit - Vanderpump Rules' Rachel Leviss is taking Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix to court for claims of revenge porn, eavesdropping, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. >>>"An Object Of Scorn"
Extras Left Unpaid - UK unions Equity and Bectu have taken legal action against a 25-year-old casting agency that has failed to pay scores of clients. Those owed have worked on the likes of Doctor Who and Call the Midwife. >>>Strikes Blamed.
ElectionLine Podcast - “It’s not as simple anymore as sending the president out to stand behind the podium, letting the news media cover it and calling it a day,” former White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield says on today’s Deadline ElectionLine podcast about the of the 21st century press paradigm that even the most powerful person in the world battles. “That worked in 1992, that doesn’t work in 2024,” she adds. >>> Breaking Through
Border Crossing Movie - Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired U.S. to Zoe Saldaña's devastating thriller The Absence of Eden from first-time feature filmmaker Marco Perego. >>>Hellish Landscape
Casting Angst - The anticipated turnaround in job opportunities hasn't happened for actors as the epoch of “peak TV” drifts away. With words like “contraction” echoing in the trade, fear abounds. >>>Peter Bart Writes
Deadline Discourse: Diversity & Inclusion - Panelists on our roundtable include screenwriter and showrunner Mike Gauyo (Ginny and Georgia, Insecure, ALLBLK series Send Help); filmmaker, screenwriter and actress Numa Perrier (The Perfect Find, Jezebel, SMILF); #OscarsSoWhite creator and Gauge senior advisor in media and entertainment April Reign; and Jeanell English, CEO of Elizabeth, and former EVP of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. >>>Watch |
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Eduardo Acuna has kept a low profile since taking the top job at Cineworld last summer but he took a bow in NYC this week to showcase the world’s largest 4DX auditorium at the renovated Regal Times Square. The exhibitor partnered with CJ 4DPLEX, a cinema tech innovator of cutting-edge formats like this one that uses immersive audio, motion (the seats move, a lot) and environmental effects like water, wind and lightning. This is the biggest 4DX auditorium in the world, Cineworld says, with 296 seats, more than double the average, 60-foot screens, fog machines and rainstorm fans. Renovations to the former flagship started years ago but accelerated over the past six months. “We needed to open this. We had already put so much money into it. I can tell you that it was significantly more than we expected. It was significantly over budget. But I also don’t regret it. I think we needed to go big here,” Acuna told Deadline. >>> Read The Interview |
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QUOTABLE
“I know that a lot of you haven’t gotten a chance to see our movie. And sadly, it’s looking like you never will.” - 'Coyote Vs. Acme' star Will Forte on the film |
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Exclusive
Scott Foley (Scandal) has signed on to star in La Dolce Villa, a new romantic comedy for Netflix. Others cast in the film, from director Mark Waters (Mean Girls), include Violante Placido (The American), Maia Reficco (Do Revenge) and Giuseppe Futia.
Season 4 of Netflix‘s Outer Banks has some new cast members. Pollyanna McIntosh, J. Anthony Crane, Brianna Brown, Rigo Sanchez and Mia Challis have joined the Netflix breakout.
Exclusive
Lauren Holly and Bruce Boxleitner are the latest actors to join the holiday movie repertory at Great American Family. The duo will co-star in Aurora Christmas opposite network mainstays Jill Wagner and Jesse Hutch. |
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BY THE NUMBERS
1.7B minutes viewed - Total for Netflix's 'Griselda' from January 29 to February 4 |
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More News 🤖 Elon Musk has sued Sam Altman and OpenAI in San Francisco court for breach of contract, charging that large stakeholder Microsoft is positioning OpenAI for profit and not for "the benefit of humanity."
🤺 Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery are engaging in "borderline racketeering" with their joint sports streaming venture, Fubo CEO David Gandler said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. "This is a fight to the death," he declared after analysts asked how far he intends to take the case.
⚖️ Just over a week after Bill Weinstein left Verve, the former CEO of the agency he co-founded wants his old job back, at least for a while – and Weinstein’s filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit to get it.
💰 BBC Studios has bought out ITV's 50% stake in streamer BritBox International for £255M ($322M). As a result, BritBox International CEO Reemah Sakaan will exit the business.
🌍 Babylon Berlin has found a new U.S. home on the newly merged MHz Choice-Topic streaming service. The German hit has aired on Netflix for the past few years. Kino Lorber owns MHz Choice gained operational control of Topic last year.
🎓 Steve Coogan and the makers of his Lost King movie are being sued over the portrayal of an academic in the Stephen Frears-directed film. Richard Taylor’s barrister claimed the performance made him look “weasel-like” and “devious” as he began legal action in London yesterday. |
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Obituaries
🕯Nina Avramides, who managed Jimmy Buffett, Chicago and Whitesnake during a 40-year-plus career and also worked with Eagles and Steely Dan, has died. She was 82. 🕯 Anne Whitfield, who appeared at age 15 in the 1954 Hollywood Christmas chestnut White Christmas and went on to a prolific career in episodic TV throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, died February 15 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington. She was 85. Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024 Photo Gallery |
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On the Radar
Fri - Dune: Part Two released
Sat - ASC Awards; ACE Eddies
Mon - IATSE and AMPTP begin negotiations; Trump D.C. election interference trial begins
Tue - Bob Iger at Morgan Stanley conference |
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Seeing Red - Disney has unveiled the first still from Tron: Ares, the third film in the Tron sci-fi franchise, which went into production in Vancouver in January. |
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