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WITH THE FIRST STAR WARS FILM IN EIGHT YEARS, SOME SAY DISNEY'S FRANCHISE IS GETTING LONG IN THE BOX OFFICE TOOTH |
The last time a Star Wars movie under Disney ownership registered a low opening, it was 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story with an $84M 3-day, $103M 4-day and $153M WW (in like for likes). We criticized that result, although that ambitious Star Wars expansion pic's ticket sales were impacted by behind-the-scenes drama.
Now, Disney's latest Lucasfilm title, the holiday weekend's Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is opening even lower, with $81M 3-day and 4-day $100M debuts in the U.S., trailing Solo: A Star Wars Story's domestic start. Global is at $163M with $63M from 51 offshore territories. The movie was made under the previous Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy, but it is executive produced and co-written by Dave Filoni, who is the new co-Lucasfilm head.
Disney is cheerleading the opening, saying the movie was cheaper than Solo (whose cost ballooned due to the switch of directors halfway through shooting). Internal estimates put the budget at $165M net to $300M before global P&A. When you factor merchandise revenue, Disney says it will be fine. >>>Analysis
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Deadline Exclusives & Originals
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Mayor's Race Stuck In The Mud - Among plenty in Hollywood, the race for Los Angeles mayor isn’t so much a question of who to support, but rather how did it come to this? “A continued mess,” laments one top industry donor.
>>>How L.A. Got Here
Colbert's Next Act - Stephen Colbert may have revealed what his next move is now that the Late Show is over on CBS. At the same time, CBS has revealed that it was behind Colbert’s May 22 Michigan public access special, the one that aired the day after the long-running network's late-night franchise came to an end. >>>Caught In A Firestorm
"Bezos" Joins AI Movie - Doug Liman‘s much-discussed AI-enabled satire Bitcoin, starring Casey Affleck, Pete Davidson, Gal Gadot and Isla Fisher, will also have some well known supporting characters. Versions of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Eric Trump are due to populate the movie. >>>Zuckerberg Most Prominent
New Tegna CEO - Tegna has named Fox Television Stations vet Patrick Paolini CEO as the station group looks to resolve litigation seeking to undo its merger with larger rival Nexstar. Tegna and Nexstar revealed their $6.2 billion combination last summer but there is currently a "hold-still" order from a judge in place after pay-TV operator DirecTV and the attorneys general of several states filed a lawsuit seeking to undo the deal on antitrust grounds. >>>26-Year Veteran
Roberts Books Role - Sony’s 3000 Pictures has acquired rights to Katy Hays’ forthcoming novel Home Economics, with Oscar winner Julia Roberts attached to star. Roberts will also produce. >>>Publishing In 2027
Stiller & Judge Team Up - Ben Stiller is set to star in and executive produce Protective Custody, a new comedy series from Mike Judge, Steve Hely (Common Side Effects) and Dave King (Parks and Recreation) that Apple is developing with an eye toward a series order. >>>First Scripted Lead TV Role
Premier League Productions Comes To An End - When IMG’s Barney Francis and John Hollywood sit down with Deadline, they’ve just left a monthly ‘Premier League Huddle’, but this one had added significance, being the final meet before IMG-owned Premier League Productions‘ (PLP) 22-year run producing coverage of the English Premier League around the world comes to a close. >>> Going In-House
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Apple TV has, throughout the years, cemented itself as a platform of curiosities, offering televisual projects that resist easy genre categorization. David J. Rosen‘s Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, starring Tatiana Maslany, is no exception, following a single mom fighting for custody when her life is upended by being a witness to a murder.
Rosen tells Deadline that the concept of the twisty, often buoyant thriller came about during the pandemic, while meditating on his wife’s myriad responsibilities and the increasingly suffocating terms of our digital existence. >>>Read The Interview
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QUOTABLE
"They get their feelings hurt" - Nicolas Cage on directors who never offered him another role after he declined a part
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MORE NEWS
🤖 In his new encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), Pope Leo XIV warns that artificial intelligence “threatens to normalize an anti-human vision” and strongly cautions against the concentration of the new technology in the hands of the few.
🐻 Amando Iannucci has been confirmed as co-writer on Paddington 4 alongside long-time collaborator Simon Blackwell.
👩 Samantha Bee will play Canada’s unorthodox ambassador to Bulgaria in a comedy for pubcaster the CBC.
👩🎤 The previously announced Broadway revival of Evita starring Rachel Zegler will begin performances Saturday, February 27, 2027, at the Winter Garden Theatre, with an opening night of Thursday, March 25, 2027.
🧛 A fully restored 4K version of 1958's Horror of Dracula starring Christopher Lee as Bram Stoker’s nightmarish creation will be released into cinemas, in time for Halloween, John Gore owner of the Hammer Horror Films label, tells Deadline.
📺 Wil Wheaton, who recurred as a heightened version of himself on Big Bang Theory, makes a very quick cameo appearance in a new sizzle reel for spinoff Stuart Fails to Save the Universe released on Sunday.
🤦 A new analysis of the top-grossing UK films of the past three years has revealed that they are more likely to star actors named Chris or feature a talking animal in the lead role than a woman over the age of 60.
🐾 Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies has revealed his dream lead for an American version of upcoming Channel 4 drama Tip Toe, which he has described as his "angriest and darkest series yet." Davies wants Matt Bomer, star of Showtime series Fellow Travelers.
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OBITUARIES
🕯️ Sonny Rollins, a giant of jazz who was often called the music’s “greatest improviser” died today at his home in Woodstock, NY. The saxophonist was 95. 🕯️ Jeffrey Lane, an Emmy-winning writer and producer with TV credits spanning the sitcom Mad About You, dramas Cagney & Lacey and Lou Grant, soap opera Ryan’s Hope as well as Tony Awards broadcasts and the Broadway musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, died May 20 in New York following a lengthy illness. He was 71. 🕯️ Dick Parry, whose saxophone solos on Pink Floyd‘s classic albums The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here helped place such songs as “Money”, “Us and Them” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” in the classic rock firmament, died May 22. He was 83. 🕯️ Grizzwald “Grizz” Chapman, the fan-favorite 30 Rock star who played Grizz on the NBC sitcom for its seven-season run, has died. He was 52.
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ON THE RADAR
Wed - AI on the Lot; Jennifer Lopez on Kimmel
Thu - ATX Festival begins
Sat - Deadline Contenders TV: Doc + Unscripted; Produced By conference
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Top Of The Kpops - Jung Kook, Jin, RM, Jeongjin Park, V and Suga of BTS accept the Artist of the Year award onstage at The 52nd American Music Awards.
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