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In his long-awaited debut in the revolving (or fifth?) fourth chair of The Box Office Podcast, long-time film pundit and action film expert Vyce Victus pops in presumably/theoretically to discuss the latest Jason Statham joint. And while we find enough time to discuss Shelter’s place in the Statham canon, as well as tipping our hat to Ric Roman Waugh as a regular director of high-quality “dad movie” action flicks, most of the chat is taken up by Scott, Jeremy, Max and Vyce taking stock of Markiplier’s genuinely impressive DIY accomplishment, the unto-itself aspirational launch for Sam Raimi’s Send Help and what a $7 million debut for Amazon’s $40 million Melania does and doesn’t mean for life, the universe and everyrhing. Lisa couldn’t make it, but… well… something-something post-credit cookie… Apologies, I’m behind schedule, so no “recommended reading” this week. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch). Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone Vyce Victus - Action For Everyone Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

I’m not thrilled that Lionsgate has already dropped The Housemaid onto PVOD, even if I’ll note that A) it got a now (kinda-sorta) standard 47-day window and B) it’s probably going to lose a bunch of screens and get steamrolled by Wuthering Heights the weekend after next anyway. This was recorded right as Lionsgate announced that the Sydney Sweeney/Amanda Seyfried/Brandon Sklenar-led flick had passed $300 million worldwide, partially on the strength of James Cameron-worthy holds in North America and especially overseas. Considering the decades of conventional wisdom arguing that Hollywood movies for women and/or minorities don’t travel overseas, well, it’ll top $200 million internationally over the next week. It’s no secret that I came out of CinemaCon 2025 declaring that the sizzle reel for The Housemaid was the best promotional item I had seen in Las Vegas that week and that the erotic thriller/psychological melodrama was #2 on my 2025 must-see list after Avatar: Fire and Ash. However, even being cautiously hopeful as to its commercial potential, even I wasn’t so optimistic as to expect the $35 million, R-rated old-school genre flick to pull the kind of domestic ($121 million) and worldwide (around $316 million) grosses that would have been aspirational even a generation ago. Anyway, to mark the special occasion, Paul Feig was nice enough to stop by to discuss how he made a crowdpleasing, buzzy adult-skewing genre flick. While we are as vague as possible, I would still argue that, yes, this conversation contains spoilers for The Housemaid. Meanwhile, the other areas of discourse include… * How Feig uses the test screening process for good rather than evil * How his lifelong interest in comedy and thrillers intermingle * Whether Hollywood will ever stop treating female-skewing successes as (my words, not his) exceptions to the rule or “flukes”? * What repeatedly stabbing Sandra Bullock in the leg taught him about playing laughs and gasps against each other * Why, he’d now prefer only to direct theatrical films * How the reception for his old(er) movies like Ghostbusters and Last Christmas can change when they are (re)discovered years after the initial SEO-friendly discourse. * Is he actually directing Mamma Mia 3? * And more! I hope it is as enjoyable to listen to as it was to record. In the meantime, the following Box Office Podcast episode will drop on Thursday morning, and I’m planning on another “paid subscriber chat” on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. PST. As always, if you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

The listeners demanded it, the author agreed to it, and so the podcaster (oh-so-reluctantly) allowed it. For those who came in late, Barry Hertz popped by on “An Hour With…”, the semi-regular offshoot of The Box Office Podcast, to discuss his sprawling and comprehensive literary deep-dive into the Fast and the Furious franchise. The book Welcome to the Family has been available in print and audio since late last year and primarily focuses on the first ten core Fast and Furious movies. As such, Mr. Hertz generously agreed to return on a future episode to discuss Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. As such, this shorter episode, at least initially, was going to discuss only the winding road that led to a Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham-led spin-off opening theatrically in August 2019. The David Leitch-directed action spectacular, also starring Idris Elba and Vanessa Kirby, earned decent notices, grossed more than a good-enough $760 million worldwide, but inspired little enthusiasm for either itself or the notion of a sequel. However, the film remains a late-2010s time capsule that captures the constant push-pull as Hollywood struggled to expand successful franchises into secondary directions without harming the proverbial mother ship. Anyway, near the end of our conversation, we discussed the still-unknown fate of Fast & Furious 11. So, of course, three days later, Universal announced a March 17, 2028, release date for Fast Forever. As such, Mr. Hertz was nice enough to jump back on for a quick Friday afternoon mini-discourse, after exiting a (work-mandated) matinee showing of Melania, which I’ve cut-and-pasted into the end of the first episode as gracefully as possible. Alas, he lacked the courage or journalistic fortitude to ask the handful of Melania viewers their thoughts about the 11th and presumably final chapter in the Fast & Furious saga. Jokes aside, you’ve got the 30-minute conversation about Hobbs & Shaw, an 11-minute chat about Fast Forever, and then the conventional “Who are you and what the hell do you want?” show ending plug grabbed from the end of the Tuesday chat and affixed onto the end of the Friday one. Anyway, as far as “recommended reading,” I mean, obviously buy his book. But besides that, do read his Melania review so that his sacrifice need not be in vain. Plus, also read his terrific piece about how the straight-to-streaming structure has doomed a generation’s worth of movies, including many that in a prior time would have been considered big-deal theatrical releases, to essentially vanish into a black hole of cultural irrelevancy. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Comscore Sr. Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian returned to talk shop with the usual gang. He was only able to stick around for the first third before making like Steven Seagal in Executive Decision. Still, that first third covers the “Hey, the domestic box office cleared $9 billion after all!” results for the 2025 Jan-to-Dec slate. There is also chatter about our favorite films that didn’t receive a single Oscar nomination. This intro segment features, intentionally or not, Jeremy Fuster discussing Wake Up Dead Man in a way that makes me wonder whether Ted Sarandos really did have a multiplex-friendly awakening over the holidays. Anyway, “act two” is the three of us discussing the objectively terrible domestic and global debut for Mercy and emphasizing that Amazon MGM Studios, if they want to be treated as a major theatrical contender, cannot be graded on a curve when it comes to big-budget movies opening to far-lower-than-required grosses. Act three is the three of us gabbing about the Oscar nominations. Everyone is thrilled that Delroy Lindo finally got a damn Oscar nomination. Jeremy passionately “defends” F1: The Movie’s Best Picture inclusion. Scott Mendelson wonders aloud just how close Weapons came to scoring a Best Picture nomination. Lisa Laman mourns the Testament of Ann Lee shutout while wondering if the Searchlight release will even get a physical media release. Recommended Reading: * Scott Mendelson goes (too) deep on the monkey’s paw nostalgia at play in the first teaser trailer for Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe. * Jeremy Fuster details how Amazon’s Brett Ratner-directed Melania is slated to be the latest example of online and social media chatter not translating to real-world interest. We’ll see if Iron Lung, courtesy of longtime YouTube personality Markiplier, will be an exception to the rule. * Lisa Laman compares and contrasts the not-disimmilar endings to No Other Choice and The Irishman. * Ryan Scott dissects the grim domestic box office for Return to Silent Hill. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Aaron Neuwirth returns for… what is this, the sixth or seventh time (?) since March 2025, to pontificate about what went right (artistically) but wrong (commercially) regarding Nia DaCosta and Alex Garland’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Among the areas of discourse are whether a mixed reception for 28 Years Later led to this downturn or whether — barring new classic status — this was always going to be a “folks were only curious the first time” IP revival. Also on tap is the continuing plea for studios to actually release more movies in theaters more regularly so that multiplexes and moviegoers aren’t essentially told “take it or leave it” for a single commercially questionable release even amid a previously lucrative holiday weekend. Recommended Reading… * Scott Mendelson discusses the shocking news that Fathom Events will A) be distributing Laika’s Wildwood in North America and B) attempt to become a semi-regular old-school domestic distribution studio. * Jeremy Fuster declares that, yes, Timothee Chalamet is indeed the closest thing we’ve got (give or take Sandra Bullock) to a butts-in-seats movie star. * Lisa Laman offers her picks for the ten Netflix movies that are most in need of and/or deserving of a physical media (DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K HD, etc.) release. * Ryan Scott argues why one of 28 Years Later and The Bone Temple’s most interesting characters damn-well better show up in the third film. * Aaron Neuwirth picks his most anticipated films in 2026. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch). * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book, Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone * Aaron Neuwirth - The Code is Zeek and We Live Entertainment Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

While you’d think that the terrific trio, alongside producer Max Deering and special guest Rendy Jones (another superb fourth-chair occupant who’s so young but has been doing this for so long that I shudder to think how old they were when I first started reading their reviews and commentary), would spend most of the time discussing Primate and Greenland: Migration. And, yes, both films get their due discourse. And yes, the monkey business includes a digression into the infamous opening-night reaction to The Devil Inside. However, the first half is taken up by a conversation about everyone’s favorite studio logos and a tough-love chat about the many current struggles at Searchlight since its absorption into the Disney empire. The debate “rages” (not really) over why the former Fox Searchlight has struggled to at least remain as potent a year-end as Comcast’s Focus Features. Is it an inevitable consequence of consolidation? Is it an unwillingness to try and turn the likes of Rental Family into non-award-season hits? It’s probably a little of both. Here’s hoping that The Testament of Ann Lee A) scores its share of Oscar nominations and B) opens wide-ish next weekend with closer to $6 million than, I dunno, $600,000, just to make us look like idiots. We also discuss Neon’s slow-roll success as the hot spot for fans of international cinema, surefire ways to sell The Testament of Ann Lee to regular audiences (think Jermaine Stewart), fancasting for The Housemaid’s Secret and — because this is a box office podcast — the latest Jim Jarmusch flick. Recommended Reading… * Scott Mendelson argues that, with The Housemaid representing her third straight overperforming non-franchise mainstream studio programmer, Sydney Sweeney might just be a movie star. * Jeremy Fuster discussed how concerns and fears about almost inevitable corporate consolidation have dampened the mood even in an otherwise optimistic theatrical ecosystem. * Lisa Laman noted in an older article worth resharing amid the initial publicity run for Avengers: Doomsday that Fox’s 2015 SDCC panel highlighted a Marvel-specific future that never truly materialized. * Ryan Scott discusses how Ben Affleck and Matt Damon arranged for a performance-based bonus pool — to be shared among the cast and crew of Netflix’s The Rip — as a way to deal with (not unlike the Artist Equity arrangements for Air among other films) streaming-specific inequities in terms of profit sharing. * Rendy Jones shares the best (among those they’ve seen) of the indie/festival/arthouse gems we should keep our eyes on for 2026 If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch). * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone * Rendy Jones - Rendy’s Reviews Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

The new-to-the-show guest for the first episode of 2026 is Tre’vell Anderson, prolific author, podcaster and journalist (who was recently named co-director of the Trans Journalist Association alongside TJA co-founder Kae Petrin). Oh, and Jeremy Fuster recorded from Japan, making this another truly international episode. All respect to We Bury the Dead and KidzBop Live: The Concert Movie, the vast majority of the show is spent discussing holdover news alongside hopes and fears for the new year. Among the areas of focus are the sky-high — especially in Asia — success for Zootopia 2 (Jeremy Fuster recorded from Japan, making this another truly international episode), the robust legs for The Housemaid and the continued “absurd by any other standard” earnings for Avatar: Fire and Ash. This includes an important discussion about both the extent to which (and why it matters that) Zootopia 2 is “copaganda” and whether Gazelle is hotter than Judy Hopps. #TeamHopps, but after that, the final third pivots to a bit of “rebellions are built on hope” discourse. No, not about the real-world hellscape necessarily, but merely about what may or may not happen to Warner Bros. and the entire exhibition ecosystem if the streamer buys and (comparatively) kneecaps its theatrical ambitions. Recommended Reading… * Scott Mendelson offered the best movies of 2025 and predictions for the top global grossers for each month of 2026. * Jeremy Fuster’s 2026 box office preview is essentially (my words, not his) “things are looking up, but Netflix can still make it all irrelevant.” * Lisa Laman picked the ten best motion-capture characters, and (among others) I’m thrilled that I’m not the only one who remembers A Monster Calls. * Ryan Scott offered five (pretty reasonable) suggestions for whoever (presumably Dave Filoni) will replace Kathleen Kennedy as head of Lucasfilm. * Tre’vell Anderson’s Time Magazine cover story in May of 2021, interviewing Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir author Akwaeke Emezi. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch). * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone * Tre’vell Anderson - podcasts, books and articles Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

This may be the very first weekend since I started this podcast, nearly two years ago, when we literally ran out of time to appropriately discuss the relevant new releases (and higher-profile holdovers). However, unless Kids Bop: The Movie pulls an ERAS Tour, I imagine the next (mostly holdover-centric) episode will make up the difference. No matter, having too many movies that are doing “too well” in for one reasonably-sized episode is an excellent problem to have. Courney Howard, longtime freelance critic for (among other joints) Variety, The AV Club and FreshFictionTV, makes her “in the fourth chair” debut to discuss why Avatar: Fire and Ash is continuing to kick butt, why and how Timothee Chalamet’s Marty Supreme opened so darn well and what did and didn’t work (commercially and artistically) for Anaconda. Among the topics are Avatar 3’s marquee characters (including a raising of the glass for Zoe Saldana), A24’s comprehensive Marty Supreme marketing campaign, and whether Anaconda (which is doing fine on its own smaller-scale merits) would have played better as a scarier, more violent “horror comedy.” Recommended Reading… * Scott Mendelson discussed how The Housemaid gave Lionsgate its third (nearly) consecutive end-of-2025 success from the kind of films (The Long Walk and Now You See Me Now You Don’t that Adam Fogelson’s tenure should prioritize alongside franchise extensions and whatever nonsense Millennium wants them to distribute. * Jeremy Fuster’s year-end review (one of three parts) discusses how theaters can’t just survive on semi-regular or periodic hot streaks or occasional overperforming tentpoles. * Lisa Laman offered five New Year’s resolutions for movie studios and movie theaters. * Max Deering’s 70th-anniversary retrospective on Charles Laughton’s Night of the Hunter discusses the classic thriller’s influence on religious horror films. * Courtney Howard’s review of My Oxford Year for Variety, which got a (comparatively… and not positive) extended reference amid this week’s podcast episode. * Ryan Scott notes the skewed circumstances behind Thursday night’s theatrical screenings of the Stranger Things series finale, for which Netflix receives no box office revenue. The “price of the ticket” was a $20 coupon for concessions at that showing. It’ll help theaters but won’t explicitely boost year-end box office totals. Weirdly enough, it’s somewhat similar to my “modest proposal” for theaters to retroactively comp kids’ tickets to kids’ flicks upon purchase of concessions for that showing. Anyway, I took Ethan to Stranger Things this evening. The show itself was… fine (certainly better than the seven episodes that preceded it). However, it looked and played exceptionally well in my local AMC’s most enormous non-PLF auditorium. It won’t be, but it should be, a “come to Jesus” moment for the company likely about to buy Warner Bros. sometime next year. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone * Courtney Howard - Variety, The AV Club and FreshFictionTV Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Sure, you’ll probably be a bit today, celebrating either Christmas or National Jews Get Chinese Food and Go to the Movies Day. The plan is for our “mixed” family (Wendy is half-Jewish/half-Catholic/all-guilt) to do both: open presents in the morning and catch up with Anaconda later that afternoon. However, if you’re stuck at a Christmas gathering and wish to avoid small talk with relatives, here’s 95 glorious minutes to consume that’s subtler than trying to discreetly watch the next three episodes of Stranger Things on your phone. So do listen to our 100th (!) episode as you A) watch the world (of dread and fear) outside your window, B) dry your bitter, stinging tears, C) tune out the clanging chimes of doom and… sing it with me now… D) Thank God it’s them instead of you! To the business at hand. With a $347 million global opening weekend and a (by the time you read this) global total just over/under $500 million, Avatar: Fire and Ash looks to be doing that thing that every James Cameron movie since Piranha II has done. Onto the matters at hand... Yes, I checked, and even The Abyss ($53 million from a $9.5 million launch in 1989) and True Lies ($146 million from a $26 million debut in 1994) both legged out like proverbial motherf***ers, even if the underwater sci-fi flick barely doubled its $45 million budget in global grosses. Also, I’ll assume that Piranha II: The Awakening did eventually recoup its alleged $146k budget, but I digress. In a skewed irony of sorts, both of the elder statesmen (Luke and I) have mostly nice things to say about the third Avatar, while the comparative “barely old enough to rent a car” co-hosts are far sharper and crankier. To be fair, I actually agree with 85% of the criticisms offered, I just didn’t find them dealbreakers, and seeing it a second time in IMAX 3-D honestly “helped” with many of my initial comparative misgivings. Nonetheless, all parties are more than satisfied with the money procured by Jake and Neytiri and overjoyed with the strong grosses offered up via the slew of new movies in what looks to be an “everybody wins” year-end holiday blitz. Topics of discussion… — Jeremy Fuster offers the bluntest and most straightforward explanation of the ongoing divide between the Avatar franchise’s lack of comparative non-theatrical monetization (ie, merchandise) and the sheer-of-the-moment popularity of each respective chapter. He’ll eat his words when Payakan becomes next Halloween’s most popular costume, but he’s right for now. — Lisa Laman expresses frustration with Cameron’s comparative “just because he can” use of high-frame-rate, in a far more regular and less concentrated way than in The Way of Water. — Luke Thompson contrasts the conversation about the repetition of elements from Way of Water in this new chapter with the initial 45-year-old criticism lobbed at the “barely a single movie” The Empire Strikes Back. Scott Mendelson, meanwhile, compares Fire and Ash to the “Richard Donner Cut” of Superman II. — Scott Mendelson, alongside all of the Avatar 3 chatter, gives a hearty horay for everything else in the marketplace while arguing that The Housemaid, not Americana or Christy, is the kind of movie that should be a measuring stick for Sydney Sweeney’s alleged box office bankability. — There’s quite a bit more, including Action For Everyone’s Max Deering debuting as a real-time engineer/producer for the first of… well, however many times he finds it convenient to hide in the corner, while inquiring as to what Avatar 4 might look like, especially if (speculation alert) Cameron opts to produce instead of direct. Recommended Reading… — Scott Mendelson argues that the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer is an admission that Disney has spent the entire 2020s failing to cultivate new-to-MCU heroes, while debunking the “Avatar 3 only opened well because of that teaser for The Odyssey” narrative. — Jeremy Fuster explained why another $2 billion-plus worldwide gross is probably not in the cards for Avatar 3. — Lisa Laman offered up her picks for the best trailers of 2025. — Ryan Scott discussed the late James Ransone’s under-the-radar MVP status in a slew of iconic horror movies over the last 15 years. — Max Deering discusses the Alan Wake video game series and how it deals with hyperstition. — Luke Y. Thompson defends ten ill-received TV series finales. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Since neither Ella McCay nor Silent Night Deadly Night caught fire (and ash) this past weekend, we invited Greenlight Analytics Director of Insights & Content Strategy Brandon Katz to discuss (among other things) the whole “Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros.” situation beyond just what it does or doesn’t mean for theatrical cinema. Among the topics of discourse… * The challenges with Hollywood still wanting to make “old-school movies” with little outside-the-bubble awareness of newer filmmakes and young(er) would-be movie stars, creating a reliance on decades-past-their-prime talent and decades-past-relevancy IP or (in terms of biopics) real-life historical figures. * Whether Netflix’s attempt to buy Warner Bros. for all of its network television shows and previously theatrical movies is an admission that the streamer broke the system for making new monetizable favorites and now must overspend to get all of the comfort food created and released by its “out of touch” competition. * Our favorite horror remakes, with an early-show conversation about the glories of Franz Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors and its original grimdark finale. * The tragedy of a once-viable high concept flick like The Dust Bunny debuting to relative theatrical obscurity. * Pre-release chatter about how Avatar: Fire and Ash might perform in relation to its predecessors both on opening weekend and (presumably) well into 2026. * And more, including A) Jeremy’s deadpan hilarious response when asked if he has seen Ella McCay and B) what Steven Spielberg should have called Disclosure Day. Recommended reading… * Scott Mendelson explains how Wicked For Good became one of those big-deal sequels that’s viewed as a commercial disappointment only because it’ll only earn about what was (at best) expected from its over-performing predecessor. * Jeremy Fuster offers a deep dive into India’s globally expanding theatrical footprint and its emerging issues, as seen in Hollywood, with a comparative “event movie or bust” mentality. * Lisa Laman offered her preemptive picks for the most likely surprise hits and biggest bombs of 2026 (I, for one, have faith that WB’s animated remake of Funny Games might be a big hit) and runs down the few(er) and not-so-proud big mid-to-late December releases that tanked even amid the end-of-year holiday blitz. #Justice4MortalEngines and/or #Justice4PeterPan. * Ryan Scott discusses IDW’s new imprint, IDW Dark, which will offer comic book expansions for ongoing theatrical horror franchises like Smile and A Quiet Place. * Brandon Katz dug into a “favorite” topic of mine (and presumably yours, if you’re here), namely the commercial decline of the mid-budget “just a movie” movie. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch). * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Brandon Katz - Greenlight Analytics and The Observer Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

The good news is that the theatrical ecosystem is exactly as alive as the main distribution studios allow it to be, as Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s notches what is now the third straight $60 million-plus opening weekend in a row. The bad news is that, once again, the fate of the multiplex ecosystem finds itself in existential peril through no real fault of its own. Yes, Warner Bros. gets caught… yet again… in a tug-of-war over the imaginary value of theoretically valuable IP in spite, or perhaps because, of its aspirational year at the box office. Needless to say, none of us are happy about what’s sure to be a definitive story that stretches well into 2026 if not well into 2027 or 2028, as any optimism afford to theaters now sits alongside a lit fuse and the likelihood of another legacy studio being taken off the board for no good reason. So… uh… well, at least this episode has jokes? Recommended reading… * Scott Mendelson explains how and why, for those new to this game, Avatar: Fire and Ash will not need an opening on par with an Avengers or Star Wars movie to potentially soar to the upper rungs of the domestic and global box office. * Jeremy Fuster notes how, despite constant proclamations of doom, gloom and cultural irrelevancy, indie theaters have continued to comparatively thrive. * Lisa Laman explains quite simply why “There are no good corporate mergers.” * Ryan Scott discusses how and why Alien Vs. Predator became one of 20th Century Fox’s most profitable movies. If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected] (which I finally fixed so that it’ll forward to my personal business email, natch). * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

As we wait and see if and how Universal chooses to embark on a presumably final film in the $7.3 billion-grossing Fast & Furious saga, Barry Hertz’s recently released Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, The Blockbusters That Supercharged The World offers an impressively comprehensive and potentially definitive look at the 25-year underdog success story. The author stopped by to offer his thoughts, some of which are in the book and some of which are “new to you,” regarding the many unexpected and unpredictable ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, lucky breaks and unprecedented missed opportunities that slowly turned “a little car movie for spring break” into the top-grossing real-world, non-fantastical action-adventure franchise in Hollywood history. Without rehashing the book’s highlights, I’ll note that Hertz, Chief Film Critic for Toronto’s The Globe and Mail, knows that many of the readers know many of the key events along the way. As such, he uses the history we know as the starting point for a dissection into the how, why and why not related to the movies and moments that made headline news in the entertainment ecosystem and beyond. For example, Hertz discusses the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson feud in terms of Vin being a Sylvester Stallone-ish “serious artist who found success only as a beefcake action hero” and Dwayne being an Arnold Schwarzenegger-ish “anything to please the crowds” showman. Maybe it’s good that Sly and Arnie didn’t truly team up until 2013’s Escape Plan, by which point neither of them had the butts-in-seats stardom to justify inflated egos. And, without giving too much away, he drops at least two nuggets here that A) didn’t make the book and B) genuinely surprised me. Okay, so one of them — a most unusual but on-brand request/demand regarding failed attempts to lure Vin Diesel back for a straight-up Fast and the Furious 2 — might make you laugh out loud. Oh, and gasp when I foolishly reveal my initial thoughts 25 years ago upon seeing a trailer for that first Fast and the Furious. But beyond that, we discussed the unassuming nature of that first summer 2001 B-movie, which turned out to be, well, Fast and the Furious is to Speed as Driven is to Blown Away. We noted how Universal’s failure to lock a conventional sequel in place until years after the fact, with two kinda-sorta sequels arriving in the interim, played a crucial role in crafting a before-it-was-cool cinematic universe. We also noted the notion of many as “fan” — such as myself — coming late to the party, as I was among many who were otherwise indifferent to the first four films, only to be knocked out by the inexplicably spectacular Fast Five. Anyway, among many other pleasures to be found in the prose and the conversation, I was most compelled by the in-hindsight reevaluation of Furious 7’s success in terms of keeping a post-mortem Paul Walker alive enough onscreen to bow out with grace. At the time, James Wan’s 2015 installment was an aspirational, fist-pumping, look-what-Hollywood-can-do success, in terms of technology, filmmaking craft, commercial success, and overall pop culture impact. Today? Well, like a lot of franchises, brands and showbiz players that inspired and entertained in the 2010s, there’s a particular “Die a hero or live long enough to become a villain” sentiment. Cut to 2025 as Vin Diesel teases a “return” for Paul Walker’s protagonist that few fans actually want amid a still-in-limbo “final” chapter that will arguably only get made, presuming it does, because Fast X ended on a cliffhanger. For all that naval gazing and more (less stick-up-Scott’s-ass) conversation about what’s still among Hollywood’s definitive “rip-off, don’t remake” triumphs (Fast & the Furious in 2001 > Point Break in 2015), check out the conversation and then order the book, courtesy of Grand Central Publishing. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Somehow (an invitation, natch), Aaron Neuwirth returned. In a lengthy but dense Thanksgiving weekend wrap-up episode, the subject is, of course, Walt Disney’s Zootopia 2. The acclaimed and buzzy WDA sequel has thus far earned (counting its $7.5 million “second Thursday” in China) $170 million in North America, $315 million in China and $635 million worldwide. Beyond obvious “What went right?” and “Does the bonkers-bananas Chinese opening mean anything beyond a deep decade-long Zootopia fandom?” Lisa Laman discusses the disturbing circumstances in which the holiday weekend has just eight wide releases in play, and (be it correlation or causation), tentpoles like Zootopia 2 and Wicked For Good are taking up more screens and more showtimes per theater than ever before. Scott Mendelson agrees, noting that A) the kind of films that used to qualify as counterprogramming now barely exist at the theatrical level and B) Warner Bros., Disney, and Universal are essentially the only studios that “matter” in macro terms for the theatrical ecosystem, thereby improving their bargaining positions. Jeremy Fuster eventually unloads with two years’ worth of justified indignation, lashing out at Bob Iger’s semi-regular strawman arguments equating Disney’s early 2020s struggles with the “not a white guy” stories being told — often created by “not a white guy” filmmakers, no less. Trust me, I’d cue up the Independence Day theme music for the occasion. Aaron Neuwirth declares war on previous guest Ryan Scott for his harsh words directed at Godzilla: King of the Monsters. So, there’s a for-charity-bonus-episode if/when the time comes. As Jeremy notes, the unexpected 60-day window being afforded to Hamnet, Aaron discusses the complicated circumstances of successfully platforming well-liked but not necessarily crowdpleasing award-season fare. That’s just a sample — including Scott’s realization that The Housemaid could turn out to be a remake of Mary Poppins Returns — of the treats in store for those brave enough to press play on this uncommonly uncaged and feral episode of The Box Office Podcast. No recommended reading as I got caught up elsewhere, but if you like what you hear, That said, if you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Aaron Neuwirth - The Code is Zeek Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

This is a kind of half-and-half in terms of The Box Office Podcast. It’s technically an hour-long conversation with Bruce Nash, owner of The Numbers, as he prepares to release the site’s first-ever full-year market forecast. However, Jeremy Fuster and Lisa Laman were able to jump in amid this mid-week pre-Thanksgiving chit-chat, so it’s a bit of both worlds. In the 60-minute discourse, we discuss Nash’s site and why it’s better or different from all other sites of its nature. Among other things, unlike its chief competitor, it didn’t set itself on fire six years ago, in terms of data availability and usability, for no good cause. The core topic is what we all think may or may not happen in the 2026 theatrical calendar year. Everyone agrees that even the rosiest predictions, for the theatrical ecosystem as a whole, are predicated on Warner Bros. *not* being swallowed up and stripped for “Batman-or-bust” parts by whichever suitor wins this most egregious season of The Bachelor. Lisa wins the “quote of the episode” award, which I just made up right now, when she declares (paraphrasing) that we need “fewer mergers and more movies.” I’d put that bumper sticker on my car in a heartbeat. However, at least from the start, 2026 will get a boost from Avatar: Fire and Ash and a busy January slate that looks closer to 2023 than 2024. The bad news is that there aren’t many titles with even the potential to be a breakout overperformer on par with Barbie or Inside Out 2. However, Chris Nolan’s The Odyssey seems the most likely such candidate by default. The good news is that most 2026 releases may perform as well as hoped (or better) with the bonus of Michael and Mortal Kombat II juicing the overall revenue totals for the first half of the year. There’s plenty of that kind of punditry and analysis, some of it more serious (At what point do we accept that the consistent “This year will be back to normal!” drumbeat is a mirage?) than not (the key circumstance by which Mortal Kombat II could post Avatar-level grosses). Still, we do our best not to make Mr. Nash spend the duration thinking to himself, “Oh god, what have I done?” No recommended reading, but I completely forgot to link to the GoFundMe Lisa mentioned two weeks ago, specifically for the slew of journalists laid off from Vibe following a merger with Rolling Stone. For those able and willing… go *here*. As always, if you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. The regular Box Office Podcast episode, discussing the Thanksgiving box office, should drop within the next 24 hours.. * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Before we see to what extent Zootopia 2 ($39 million on Wednesday and $81 million worldwide thus far, or $100 million if you’re counting its $34 million Wednesday and $20 million Thursday in China) reaches the Thanksgiving weekend heights of Moana 2, listen to this extensive, comprehensive and almost intentionally random dissection of Wicked For Good’s $147 million domeatic and $223 million worldwide debut. Chrissi Michael, content strategist by day and box office nerd by night, stops by in this 90-minute chat that features #importantjournalisms related to Muppet Clue, Repo: The Genetic Opera and, spoilers, whether “it’s” made of… corn. Fear not, there is also more… mature discourse about breakout sequels, what Broadway favorites should or should not get the big-budget movie treatment and the importance of adaptations that grow an existing fanbase. Also on tap were thoughts on what studios might be thinking when they split a long book or play into two movies, the logic of making films for/from/about women, and whether Zooptia 2 will give Wicked more of a hassle than Moana 2 did. Most importantly, discover what exactly Lisa was talking about when she declared, “For the first time in my life, I feel… Phantom of the Opera 2007 revival!” Apologies, but I’m running behind, so no “recommended reading” for this week. That said, if you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected]. * Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News * Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap * Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle * Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria * Chrissi Michael - c(ine)m(a) studies Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe