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Speaker 1: Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and

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Speaker 1: analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Monday, October twenty seventh,

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am

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Speaker 1: co editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm

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Speaker 1: in La He's in New York, and Variety has reporters

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Speaker 1: around the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,

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Speaker 1: in our box Office segment, Variety's Rebecca Rubin hacks through

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Speaker 1: the receipts generated by chainsaw Man this weekend, it's an

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Speaker 1: anime world, people, and we'll hear from Nick Vivarelli in Rome.

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Speaker 1: He's about to go cover a comic fan convention that's

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Speaker 1: bigger than San Diego Comic Con and it's held in

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Speaker 1: a medieval Italian town about fifty miles west of Florence.

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Speaker 1: But before we get to that, here are a few

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Speaker 1: headlines just in this morning that you need to know.

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Speaker 1: The prolific Taylor Sheridan is sad up to make a

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Speaker 1: move to NBC Universal with a big new film and

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Speaker 1: TV deal. Sheridan has been based at Paramount ever since

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Speaker 1: the Yellowstone phenomenon took off his TV deal will have

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Speaker 1: to wait nearly three years until his obligations to Paramount

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Speaker 1: are over. His movie deal with NBC Universal starts next year.

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Speaker 1: Owen Gleiberman is raving about Song Sung Blue. Variety's chief

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Speaker 1: film critic, loves the performances by Kate Hudson and Hugh

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Speaker 1: Jackman in the film about two performers in a Neil

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Speaker 1: Diamond tribute act. Song Sung Blue comes from director Craig

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Speaker 1: Brewer and Focus Features. Hudson, of course, is one of

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Speaker 1: Variety's Power of Women honorees this year. We will shower

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Speaker 1: her with kudos at our event on the evening of

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Speaker 1: October twenty ninth. John Dickerson will leave CBS News at

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Speaker 1: the end of this year. Dickerson is high on the

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Speaker 1: list of the best journalists in this country. I can't

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Speaker 1: wait to see what he does next. All of these

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Speaker 1: stories and so much more can be found on Variety

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Speaker 1: dot com. Right now. Now we turn to conversations with

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Speaker 1: Variety journalists about news and trends in show business. If

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Speaker 1: it's Monday, we're talking box office with Rebecca Rubin, our

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Speaker 1: senior film and media reporter. Rebecca gives us the lowdown

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Speaker 1: on what has been an unpredictable October for the box office.

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Speaker 1: Rebecca Rubin, thanks for joining me, Thank you for having me. Well,

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Speaker 1: another interesting weekend at the box office, a couple of sleepers,

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Speaker 1: a couple of disappointments. Let me start by asking you,

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Speaker 1: when you sat down to prepare for this box office weekend,

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Speaker 1: did you think that the anime movie Chainsaw Man would

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Speaker 1: be number one?

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Speaker 2: Heading into the weekend? There was a sense that if

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Speaker 2: anything was able to break out, it was going to

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Speaker 2: be Chainsaw Man. And that is because anime has been

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Speaker 2: enjoying a theatrical hot streak with another movie Sony Crunchy

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Speaker 2: row Banner released called Demonslayer. That movie became a huge

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Speaker 2: hit and is now the highest grossing anime film ever.

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Speaker 2: And so this is the second consecutive number one hit

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Speaker 2: for Sony's Crunchy role. And so just given the appeal

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Speaker 2: right now of anime, there was a sense that this

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Speaker 2: had potential to become a sleeper hit, not quite on

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Speaker 2: the scale of Demons Layer, but at least a solid

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Speaker 2: number one.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that, like every major studio is going

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Speaker 1: to now scramble and try to develop an anime strategy,

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Speaker 1: or do you think that this is Sony's investment. Sony

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Speaker 1: has for a decade now really been investing in this

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Speaker 1: area in the US and Asia, and this is bearing fruit.

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Speaker 1: How do you think this will be read by Hollywood?

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Speaker 2: I would be surprised if there weren't some other studios

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Speaker 2: who were trained to cash in on this. But as

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Speaker 2: you said, Sony has really been cultivating this with crunchy

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Speaker 2: Roll for a while now. And there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: pedigree here because this movie, and particular chainsaw Man was

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Speaker 2: produced by a Japanese animation studio, so it's made by

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Speaker 2: people who are very intimately familiar with what resonates about

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Speaker 2: these properties. Chainsawmn and Demonslayer were extensions of popular anime

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Speaker 2: TV series and so there are deep roots here and

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Speaker 2: part of why there's fandoms that already exist.

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Speaker 1: I did, in fact, take in the Anime Expo in

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Speaker 1: July in downtown LA and it was mind blowing in

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Speaker 1: terms of opening my eyes to the depth of this

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Speaker 1: audience and the absolute passionate rabid fandom. I met people

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Speaker 1: that had flown in from out of the country, flown

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Speaker 1: in from Chicago, Atlanta, and downtown LA was just alive

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Speaker 1: with cosplay Rebecca. From that experience, I can guess who

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Speaker 1: the audience for Chainsaw Man was, but I never want

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Speaker 1: to assume who was the audience for this movie.

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Speaker 2: So nearly seventy five percent of crowds were male, and

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Speaker 2: about fifty percent were under the age of twenty five,

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Speaker 2: so it was definitely skewing a younger male demographic. But

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Speaker 2: what's notable about chainsaw Man being number one is that

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Speaker 2: it outpaced two movies from major studios. There's was Disney

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Speaker 2: in twentieth centuries, Springsteen biopic Delivered Me from Nowhere, and

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Speaker 2: Paramount's adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel Regretting You, And

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Speaker 2: So I think that really just underscores how much tastes

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Speaker 2: are changing at the box office.

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Speaker 1: Clearly there's an event around these anime releases, Rebecca, are

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Speaker 1: you getting anecdotal info about is there a lot of

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Speaker 1: coseplay at these screenings or is there people bringing like

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Speaker 1: fun props and stuff.

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Speaker 2: I think what is really resonating here is similar to

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Speaker 2: superhero movies, where they and horror movies that are very

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Speaker 2: front loaded. All the fans want to come out on

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Speaker 2: opening weekend and watch something like this with communal experience.

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Speaker 2: That's what we're seeing with these anime features, and so

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Speaker 2: as a result, they are usually front loaded, they have

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Speaker 2: really big debuts, and then in subsequent weekends they'll have

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Speaker 2: steep drop offs. And I think that is speaking to

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Speaker 2: the fact that they all are agreing to go out

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Speaker 2: opening weekend, watch it together, and then maybe from there

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Speaker 2: rewatches they'll settle for a streaming day.

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Speaker 1: And of course, the other continuing trend that we've been

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Speaker 1: talking a lot about is imax. The large format screens

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Speaker 1: were a big component of the box office that Chainsaw

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Speaker 1: Man hacked off. So let's talk about the other big

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Speaker 1: story of the weekend of the movie that didn't exactly

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Speaker 1: open to impressive numbers. Deliver Me from Nowhere on Paper

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Speaker 1: Bruce Springsteen a critically beloved album, Jeremy Allen White super

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Speaker 1: red hot talent, but it did not bring in huge

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Speaker 1: crowds to begin with, What do you think's going on

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Speaker 1: with this movie?

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Speaker 2: I think the film is struggling because unlike some big

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Speaker 2: crowd pleasing musical biopics of recent years, like Bohemian Rhapsody,

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Speaker 2: which was about Queen, Rocketman which is about Elton John,

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Speaker 2: those were expansive looks at the entire career of these

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Speaker 2: musical acts, and that's not really what this movie is.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't play like the greatest hits of his career.

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Speaker 2: It's actually a more intimate look at the making of

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Speaker 2: his beloved but less commercial solo album Nebraska. I think

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Speaker 2: the result here is it's not the all audience film

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Speaker 2: that audiences have become used to expecting in the musical

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Speaker 2: biopick genre. It's gotten pretty decent reviews. It has a

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Speaker 2: B plus on Cinema score that signals that it could

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Speaker 2: stick around.

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Speaker 1: Curious to see if there's any regional trends here. I

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Speaker 1: would imagine that New Jersey would probably be the home

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Speaker 1: of probably the highest grossing theaters for this one, but

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Speaker 1: you never know.

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Speaker 2: I think that the comparison to A Complete Unknown is

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Speaker 2: actually a good one, because it was tracking a similar

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Speaker 2: start to that film, but a few differences, I would say, actually,

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Speaker 2: One is that Timothy Shalom has proven himself before that

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Speaker 2: to be a bankable draw in the Dune franchise in Wonka.

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Speaker 2: He really can get audiences to go to theaters. And

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Speaker 2: another thing is that Bob Dylan was a little more elusive.

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Speaker 2: He wasn't out there promoting the film. I think he

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Speaker 2: said he gave it a thumbs up and said he

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Speaker 2: liked the script. But nobody saw him during this period.

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Speaker 2: And a big difference here is that Bruce Springsteen has

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Speaker 2: really been out promoting this film. He's been at every

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Speaker 2: premiere alongside Jeremy Allen White, and if anything, it's making

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Speaker 2: the comparisons pretty tough because it's putting the real guy

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Speaker 2: right in your face. Something Just to note, A complete

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Speaker 2: unknown opened around December or on the holidays, and that's

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Speaker 2: a period of time where films can really out and

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Speaker 2: that's what happened with that.

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Speaker 1: Film, Rebecca. What else do anything else stand out to you?

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Speaker 1: Is significant about the box office this weekend.

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Speaker 2: The other major release is Regretting You, which is the

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Speaker 2: adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, and that opened above expectations

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Speaker 2: to twelve point eight million dollars. And if this film

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Speaker 2: manages to stick around, it's going to cement Colleen Hoover

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Speaker 2: as a major cinematic force. Of course, her novel It

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Speaker 2: Ends with Us was adapted last year by Sony and

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Speaker 2: that film stirred up a lot of drama with Blake

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Speaker 2: Lively and Justin Baldoni, but to his credit, it was

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Speaker 2: a huge winner at the box office, with nearly three

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Speaker 2: hundred and fifty million dollars worldwide. I don't see Regretting

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Speaker 2: You getting to those numbers, but it only cost a

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Speaker 2: modest thirty million, so it doesn't really need to get

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Speaker 2: anywhere near the three hundred to fifty million dollar mark

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Speaker 2: to count a six success. Hollywood is definitely leaning into

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Speaker 2: Colleen Hoover. Two of her other books, Verity and Reminders

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Speaker 2: of Him, are in the works at Amazon MGM and Universal.

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Speaker 2: They're both set to release next year, and so we

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Speaker 2: will see if the Colleen Hoover cinematic Universe is a thing.

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Speaker 1: I cannot physically resist the opportunity to point out that,

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Speaker 1: as impressive as it Ends with Us was at the

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Speaker 1: box office, I have to believe that the legal fees

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Speaker 1: this movie has now generated have probably approached that and

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Speaker 1: probably will eclipse it by the time it is all over.

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Speaker 1: Let's just hope that the folks on Regretting You all

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Speaker 1: got along a whole lot better. Rebecca, what are you

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Speaker 1: looking forward? At the November box office?

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Speaker 2: So Thanksgiving should be pretty robust this year because Universal

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Speaker 2: has wicked for Good, which is the second half, of course,

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Speaker 2: of Wicked, and that is expected to be another huge blockbuster.

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Speaker 2: Zoo Topia to the first Utopia actually gross to billion dollars.

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Speaker 2: But since the beginning of this year, every theater owner

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Speaker 2: I have spoken to has said that is the movie

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Speaker 2: they are most excited for, and audiences just absolutely love

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Speaker 2: this property. I think it's been really big on Disney

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Speaker 2: Plus as well, and so I think that will probably

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Speaker 2: be another billion dollar winner for Disney. And then of

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Speaker 2: course Disney has Avatar three in December ahead of Christmas.

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Speaker 2: And look, the first two movies gross two billion dollars.

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Speaker 2: So I'm not going to be somebody who bets against

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Speaker 2: James Cameron.

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Speaker 1: Well, always so much to discuss and so much to watch, Rebecca,

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Speaker 1: thank you as ever, thanks for having me. Now we'll

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Speaker 1: hear from Nick Vivarelli, Variety's longtime correspondent and wrong he

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Speaker 1: talks about the colorful scene he's about to take in

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Speaker 1: at the Luca Comics and Games Invention in Luca, Italy.

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Speaker 1: Luca draws an annual crowd of about two hundred thousand attendees.

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Speaker 1: That's about sixty five thousand more Cause players than gathered

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Speaker 1: in San Diego this summer for comic Con. Nick Vivarelli,

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Speaker 1: our man in Rome, thanks for joining me.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, Cynthia.

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Speaker 1: Nick. You are off soon on one of the many

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Speaker 1: trips that you take for Forridy every year. You are

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Speaker 1: off to Luca, about a three hour train ride from Rome. Nick,

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Speaker 1: tell us what you're going to cover in Luca.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Cynthia, I'm going to cover this event called Luca

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Speaker 3: Comics and Games, which is a comic con type event

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Speaker 3: that spans the gamut from comic books to video games

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Speaker 3: to movies and TV series. And it's a rather old event.

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Speaker 3: It's been around since nineteen sixty six, but they've evolved

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Speaker 3: from being a print comics convention into video games and

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Speaker 3: then fifteen years ago they launched a new section called

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Speaker 3: the Movie Area, and they developed close relationships with the

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Speaker 3: studios and the streamers. And this year one of the

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Speaker 3: highlights is going to be a special fandom event where

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Speaker 3: they're gonna talk about the upcoming fifth season of Stranger Things.

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Speaker 3: So the Duffer Brothers are going to be there and

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Speaker 3: not represents a coup for Luca.

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Speaker 1: It's a big deal. The Duffer Brothers started on the

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Speaker 1: cover of Variety earlier this month, and now the pr

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Speaker 1: campaign switches to Luca, Italy. Nick set the scene for us,

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Speaker 1: what is the environment in Luca.

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Speaker 3: Luca is sort of like a miniature Florence. So in

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Speaker 3: other words, it's a Renaissance gem. It's a medieval town.

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Speaker 3: It has beautiful ramparts, it has beautiful churches, it has towers,

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Speaker 3: it has cobble stone lined streets, so it's a very

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Speaker 3: picturesque of medieval type of environment. I think they have

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Speaker 3: actual dungeons that they use for immersive experiences connected to

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Speaker 3: dungeons and dragons. What you see when you go there

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Speaker 3: during this event is just thousands of cos players sort

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Speaker 3: of lining the streets, and they held parades and they mingle,

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Speaker 3: and they the line up for all kinds of gadgets

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Speaker 3: that are given out and for premieres. It's a very

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Speaker 3: vibrant experience within a medieval setting.

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Speaker 1: The juxtaposition sounds at Taylor made for cosplay and imagination

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Speaker 1: and fantasy, and is Luca of a destination in that way.

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Speaker 1: The organizers picked Luca for a reason.

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Speaker 3: Cities in Tuscany like to create events. Comics have always

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Speaker 3: been really big in Italy. Italy has always been a

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Speaker 3: big consumer of comic books, but also producer of comic books,

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Speaker 3: so it was a very smart choice to go that route.

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Speaker 3: They were immediately aware of the importance of being international,

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Speaker 3: so over the years they forged close rapport with especially

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Speaker 3: with Japan and the whole manga world.

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Speaker 1: Talk about fandom upon fandom upon fandom, and they.

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Speaker 3: Like to develop the idea of community. Community is a

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Speaker 3: buzzword for them, a sort of mantra. So they basically

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Speaker 3: went from the print comic books into the video game world,

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Speaker 3: and then they veered into the scripted content of different types.

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Speaker 3: You know, obviously movies, but TV shows and horror films,

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Speaker 3: and so they were able to ride this wave of

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Speaker 3: the cosplayers. I think the cosplayers played a really big

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Speaker 3: role in how they've evolved.

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Speaker 1: How many people are attending this typically in recent years.

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Speaker 3: So they've reached an average attendance they cite at two

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Speaker 3: hundred thousand. The bulk of it are Italians, but it

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Speaker 3: does drop people from other parts of the world. And

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Speaker 3: they also have a huge online a community, especially in

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Speaker 3: the video game realm, so they organize big video game

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Speaker 3: tournaments that I know are participated by people from all

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Speaker 3: over the world.

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Speaker 1: Nick is there anything else you'll be looking for.

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Speaker 3: The fact that venerated video game Japanese master Hideo Kjima

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Speaker 3: is going to be in Luca for the final stop

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Speaker 3: of his desk stranding too on the beach tour. That's

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Speaker 3: one of the exemplifications of the fact that Luca has

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Speaker 3: really become a prominent stop on the map when it

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Speaker 3: comes to launching ips or fandom related events.

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Speaker 1: That's a big name in video gaming for sure. Well, Nick,

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Speaker 1: make sure you take lots of pictures and give us

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Speaker 1: a real sense of the color as cause players stream

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Speaker 1: into this medieval town. Well forward to your reporting.

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Speaker 3: Chao Chao. Thank you, Cynthia.

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Speaker 1: As we close out today's episode, here's a few things

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Speaker 1: we're watching for. Comcast will report third quarter earnings on Thursday.

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Speaker 1: Variety Today is producing the first of three digital dailies

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Speaker 1: out of the Tokyo Film Festival, and later in the

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Speaker 1: week we'll be at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.

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Speaker 1: Do not miss Chris Willman's coverage of the Warren Zevon

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Speaker 1: tribute held in La on October twenty fourth. Ah it

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Speaker 1: sounds like it was a foot stomper, and of course,

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Speaker 1: in the hands of Chris Willman. It's a fantastic read,

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Speaker 1: even if you weren't there. Don't forget to buy your

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Speaker 1: tickets for Io Adebris and Don Chiedel headlining in a

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Speaker 1: Broadway revival of Proof directed by Thomas Cale. It opens

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Speaker 1: April sixteenth at the Booth Theater. Before we Go, Congrats

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Speaker 1: to Rebecca Glashow. She's been named CEO of Tribeca Enterprises,

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Speaker 1: succeeding the great Jane Rosenthal. Glashaw joins them from BBC

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Speaker 1: Global Media and Streaming. Rosenthal will shift to co chair

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Speaker 1: of Tribecca Enterprises alongside majority owner James Murdoch. Thanks for listening.

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Speaker 1: This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,

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Speaker 1: with contributions from Rebecca Rubin and Nick Viverrelli sticks Nick's

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Speaker 1: hick Picks. Please leave us a review at the podcast

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Speaker 1: platform of your choice, and please tune in tomorrow for

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Speaker 1: another episode of Daily Variety and Go Dodgers