Resident Evil Sets a Franchise Record, Widow's Bay Dominates the Emmys, and Hollywood's Sept. 14-20
Resident Evil opens to the biggest debut in franchise history, Widow's Bay sets a comedy record at the Emmys, and Nielsen starts delivering streaming charts nearly three weeks sooner.
The Sept. 14–20 week brought two records — the best opening in Resident Evil's 24-year film history, and the most Emmys ever won by a comedy series — along with a Netflix cancellation, a ratings rebound, and another turn in the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger fight.
| Story | Lane | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Evil | Box office | Zach Cregger's reboot is tracking toward a franchise-record $53M–$60M. |
| Practical Magic 2 | Box office | The sequel fell 64% in weekend two, to an estimated $10.85M. |
| Nielsen streaming charts | Streaming | The gap between viewing and publication shrank from 28 days to 11. |
| Netflix | Streaming | Shares fell nearly 5% after a Wells Fargo downgrade on engagement. |
| Sweet Magnolias | TV | Netflix canceled the drama after five seasons and ordered a replacement. |
| Dancing With the Stars | TV | Season 35 premiered to 6.67M viewers, a 24% gain. |
| The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping | Film | A third trailer landed ahead of the Nov. 20 release. |
| 78th Primetime Emmy Awards | Awards | Widow's Bay set a comedy record; The Pitt repeated as best drama. |
| Emmy telecast | Awards | Viewership fell to 6.8M as the Academy talks with Prime Video. |
| Hayden Panettiere | Celebrity | Ruby Rose paid tribute to her best friend at a Fox premiere. |
| California film incentives | Industry | Gov. Newsom signed SB 186 and a postproduction tax credit. |
| Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery | Industry | Settlement talks advanced as the FCC cleared foreign backing. |
Box office and streaming
1. Resident Evil posts the biggest opening in franchise history
Sony and Constantin's Resident Evil reboot from director Zach Cregger is tracking toward a $53 million–$60 million opening at 3,684 theaters — the biggest debut in the franchise's 24-year film history and the best of Cregger's career, ahead of last year's Weapons ($43.5 million). Thursday previews hit a franchise-record $8.8 million, and the film is carrying a 96% Rotten Tomatoes critics' score plus a B+ CinemaScore, both series bests. The weekend overall is running at about $111 million, up 51% from the same frame a year ago.
2. Practical Magic 2 sheds two-thirds of its opening audience
Practical Magic 2 dropped 64% in its second weekend to an estimated $10.85 million, seven days after Warner Bros. and Alcon's sequel opened at $30 million. The slide came even after the film added 17 theaters, and its running domestic total of roughly $48.6 million now sits above the 1998 original's entire North American run of $46.7 million.
3. Nielsen starts publishing streaming numbers nearly three weeks sooner
Nielsen cut the lag on its weekly streaming charts from 28 days to 11, a reduction of more than 60% that the measurement firm calls the biggest change to its streaming data since the charts launched in 2017. Prime Video's Reacher leads the first chart under the new schedule, covering Aug. 31–Sept. 6, with 1.25 billion viewing minutes — its fourth straight week above a billion — followed by The Big Bang Theory at 1.07 billion and Netflix's Beauty in Black at 1.06 billion.
4. Netflix shares slide after an engagement warning
Netflix stock fell nearly 5% Friday after Wells Fargo downgraded the company and cut its price target in a note titled "Engagement Risk." Analyst Steven Cahall pointed to the streamer's decline in the Nielsen Gauge and a slight year-over-year dip among the top 100 titles, writing that Netflix "has lacked big original series & it's showing" while it spends more on podcasts, creator deals and games.
TV, trailers, and release dates
5. Sweet Magnolias is canceled, and its team already has a new show
Netflix canceled Sweet Magnolias after five seasons, three months after the fifth premiered, as the drama's audience fell off in seasons four and five. The streamer is staying in business with the show's team: showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson and star JoAnna Garcia Swisher are executive producing Ladies of the House, based on Lauren Edmondson's novel, with Garcia Swisher possibly taking an on-screen role.
6. Dancing With the Stars opens season 35 to its biggest crowd since 2020
ABC's Dancing With the Stars premiered its 35th season Tuesday to 6.67 million viewers, up 24% from last year's opener and the show's most-watched season debut since season 29 in September 2020. The adults 18-49 rating climbed 40% to 1.48, the best for a premiere since 2017, although a glitch in the show's website voting sent viewers to vote by text on night one.
7. A third Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer arrives
Lionsgate released a third trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the Francis Lawrence prequel set 24 years before the first film, with Joseph Zada playing a young Haymitch Abernathy and Woody Harrelson narrating. Ralph Fiennes plays President Snow, Kieran Culkin is Caesar Flickerman, and the film opens Nov. 20.
Awards, celebrity, and industry
8. Widow's Bay sets a comedy record on Emmy night
Apple TV's Widow's Bay won best comedy series at Monday's 78th Primetime Emmy Awards and finished the night with six trophies — 14 in total once the Creative Arts ceremonies are counted, a record for a comedy series in a single year. The Pitt took best drama for the second straight year with Noah Wyle repeating as lead actor, Rhea Seehorn won her first Emmy for Pluribus, and Matthew Rhys became the first man to win two lead acting Emmys in the same year, for Widow's Bay and The Beast in Me. Apple TV ended the night as the most-honored platform with 28 Emmys.
9. Emmy viewership slips, and the show may move to Prime Video
Final same-day figures put Monday's Emmys at 6.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and other digital platforms, down about 10% from last year's 7.59 million on CBS. It was the final ceremony under the Television Academy's four-network rotation, and the academy is in talks to move the awards to Prime Video, which would make the Emmys a streaming-first event for the first time.
10. Ruby Rose remembers Hayden Panettiere
Ruby Rose got emotional discussing Hayden Panettiere at the premiere of Fox's Special Forces, telling Entertainment Tonight that the two spoke every day for five years and that Panettiere "wanted her story told her way, on her terms." Panettiere, whose credits include Heroes, Nashville and Scream, died Aug. 16 at 36; local and federal authorities are still investigating the circumstances.
11. Newsom signs two film incentive fixes for California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 186 at Warner Bros. Studios on Friday, exempting independent productions from caps on the use of state tax credits and letting productions monetize 95% of a credit instead of 90%, with payouts in two years rather than five. He signed a standalone postproduction tax credit into law the same day, answering an industry push that argued this year's budget bill put the state's expanded $420 million-a-year production incentive at risk.
12. Paramount and California's attorney general edge toward a merger settlement
Paramount and a dozen states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta are in advanced talks to settle the antitrust suit over the studio's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, with a reported deal that would keep the two companies' film studios running separately for a period. The FCC cleared three Middle East sovereign wealth funds to back the bid on Thursday — roughly $24 billion in financing that would leave foreign investors collectively holding 49.5% of the combined company — while an Oct. 1 deadline looms that would start a $7 million-a-day ticking fee.
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