Cineverse’s Terrifier 3 has achieved remarkable box office success, generating a staggering $80M globally with just $500,000 in marketing spend. The secret? Well… wise marketing spend, honestly. CEO Chris McGurk and President Erick Opeka leveraged their unique media assets to create a highly targeted release strategy. While we know all too well that there’s no such thing as a true formula to success, there are certainly great lessons to be learned here for the indie industry, where marketing budgets are scarce on the ground. Entertainment attorney Los Angeles Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A. shares some of those lessons with us.

Brandon Blake

Using What You Have

Building on the unexpected success of Terrifier 2 ($15.7M), Cineverse used a diverse media portfolio, including horror blog Bloody Disgusting, podcast networks, and the Screambox FAST channel, to push up those numbers for Terrifier 3. Oh, and a little technology, too. Their proprietary c360 ad technology enabled precise fan targeting across platforms, achieving what McGurk estimates as $5-10 million in marketing value from their modest budget.

This unconventional approach skipped reliance on pricey traditional national media advertising in favor of hyper-targeted marketing to their exact audience — horror enthusiasts. As an independent distributor, Cineverse also had room to take creative risks major studios wouldn’t consider, such as releasing the movie with an unrated status and capitalizing on the hype generated from the many viral stories about audience reactions.

Knowing Your Market

Notably, their marketing efforts also focused on emphasizing scares over gore. This strategy achieved something notable for them—successfully expanding the franchise’s female audience demographic. It wasn’t a particularly novel or difficult-to-come-by strategy, either. They simply embraced the publicity around teenagers sneaking into screenings and reports of extreme viewer reactions. Then, they let social media go to work for them, with no ad spend needed.

It seems simple. It is. However, sometimes simple really is the answer. Today, we have a media landscape where targeted digital strategies and “leaning in” can outperform traditional advertising methods, particularly for genre films with dedicated fan bases. Indie producers take note.

While 2024 has taught us not to count our box office eggs before they hatch, everything is aligning for a spectacularly positive Thanksgiving weekend. With Moana 2 already looking set for a strong opening, there’s plenty to be positive about. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, shares the good news.

Brandon Blake

Moana 2 to Rule the Box Office Waves

The sequel to Disney’s Moana is already tracking for the best 4-day opening we’ve seen over the Thanksgiving weekend. It is currently expected to clear $135M through the Wednesday to Sunday period, which could well beat both Frozen 2’s $125M Thanksgiving takings and its precursor, Frozen’s $93.5M 5-day opening. 

Interestingly, Moana 2’s presales have already surpassed Incredibles 2 and Inside Out 2, which also promises good things for the Thanksgiving box office. The film is attracting significant interest from the Millennial demographic targeted by the first film and its target childhood audiences. Could it eclipse Inside Out 2’s lofty position at the 2024 box office? It’s certainly possible. 

Other Strong Contenders

Nor will Moana 2 be alone in its attempts to power up the Thanksgiving box office. With both Wicked and Gladiator 2 looking to open strongly ($80M and $65M projected, respectively) and play well throughout the holiday, we have a strong slate on offer to take advantage of this key holiday period. Historically, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is one of the best-grossing days at the box office. 

Looking beyond individual film performances, this Thanksgiving weekend could signal a broader renaissance in holiday movie going if its slate lands well, potentially setting new benchmarks for seasonal box office success. The varied slate offers something for every demographic, and it would be wonderful if the anticipated promising end to 2024’s theatrical calendar actually happens. Let’s hope to be able to share a positive report in the coming weeks.

While all market data indicates that the viewing public still has plenty of appetite for indie films, and several recent releases have performed excellently (for their class) at theaters, one thing is becoming ever more apparent. The difficulty of effectively marketing and releasing smaller film content in theaters has grown exponentially in ways that mainstream movies simply don’t face. One rising potential way to address this is micro-distribution. Today, our Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, examines the potential of this model for the indie industry.

Brandon Blake

Distributor Difficulties

One key hurdle for many smaller products lies in securing a distributor. We’ve seen this recently with The Graduates, which was hoping to build interest before its 2025 streaming debut. Small but good movies are struggling to sell on the current festival circuit, too, and limited resources create marketing issues. A more bespoke release strategy could be key to offsetting this.

Hundreds of Beavers, a somewhat madcap silent black-and-white comedy release from 2022 that only opened in theaters this year, has managed to reinvent itself as a cult classic and net $700,000 worldwide without ever finding an official theatrical distributor. The production team instead retained theatrical rights and made an “event” out of its “road tour” style screening. It has never been on offer at more than 30 screens simultaneously but has had an immensely successful theater run all the same.

Micro-Budget is Neglected

With the current focus on big-budget IPs, many distributors are not interested in the kind of profit margins indie films can generate. Yet, the audience’s appetite for them is there, and it is becoming increasingly clear that new content is critical to the health of theatrical overall. Rejuvenating this market through these micro-distribution models may place more weight on the producers’ shoulders, but does seem to be rising as an acceptable alternative for the indie market.

Of course, no single strategy provides all the answers. However, investing in a stronger focus on these micro-distribution styles could well become an important part of helping keep indie movies in front of the audiences that want them.

Spain is having something of an entertainment renaissance at present. Both an attractive destination for location shoots as well as having fantastic success with local productions, its film and TV industry is thriving. Last week, the Spanish government announced plans to boost the sector further. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer from Blake & Wang P.A., looks at what we know so far.

Brandon Blake

3 Years of Remarkable Growth

The Spanish production boom started in 2021, partially due to the launch of the Spain Audiovisual Hub, which offered $1.73B in backing for the industry. From there, we’ve seen considerable focus on local talent, compelling location tax incentives, key regulatory reforms, and a lowering of administrative barriers to help power the industry to new heights.

Spain, Where Talent Ignites

As MIPCOM’s 2024 Country of Honor and the EFM’s 2025 Country in Focus, the Spanish Government has now launched its ‘Spain, Where Talent Ignites’ campaign to further boost the recognition and marketability of the country’s entertainment industry.

It’s a smart move. 4 of Netflix’s Top 10 most-viewed non-English language films are of Spanish origin, and the same goes for its TV rankings. A report from Parrot-ICEX suggests that Spanish-origin content accounts for $5.1B in revenue generation over the last 4 years. Additionally, Spanish dramas, historical fiction, and crime genres are doing exceptionally well.

This is without even considering its appeal as a location shooting destination, where its diverse landscape, historic buildings, and simplified application processes have made it a good choice. Spain currently offers a 30% rebate on the first $1.08M of eligible spending, with 25% thereafter, and an even larger incentive specific to the Canary Islands.

With the planned further investment in developing local crews and infrastructure, Spain is poised to maintain its position as one of the most dominant non-US film and TV production markets.    

While Warner Bros. Discovery no doubt would rather forget the recent Joker: Folie à Deux fiasco, they are enjoying some successes with their theatrical properties. After an unusually short 32-day theatrical window, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is enjoying its own wave of SVOD streaming success. Entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A., Brandon Blake, takes a closer look.

Brandon Blake

Knocking Deadpool and Wolverine off the Charts

While the film is unlikely to unseat Deadpool and Wolverine from its cozy spot as this year’s second-highest-grossing box office release, it has managed to knock it down the SVOD charts after only one week. Interestingly, it’s in the No. 1 spot on Fandango, which purely counts revenue (unlike iTunes, which works by transaction volume and placed the film at No. 3). This is significant, as Deadpool and Wolverine cost 25% more to rent, making Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s victory remarkably clear. And all this came from a 5-day release alone.

Can it Keep the Crown?

However, its No. 1 spot may not be held for long. Alien: Romulus will be released this week, and after a generally successful theatrical run, it may have the power to knock it down the charts a rank or two. Reagan, which releases on the same day, may also attract some SVOD attention. 

There’s another unusual ‘glitch’ in the charting matrix this week. Despite a 4-month delay in moving to streaming, Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die took over the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s release list and seems likely to stay in the Top 10 for quite a while, based on its performance in other VOD lists. Twisters has also moved to VOD, and Universal has been remarkably successful at maximizing streaming rental revenues to date.

While nothing is likely to take the sting out of the disaster that was Joker: Folie à Deux, Warner Bros. Discovery has reason to celebrate this week. Whether it can sustain its SVOD success is a question for another week.

There’s been many shifts in the entertainment landscape over the last few years. Perhaps one of the most concerning is the proliferation of new states and even countries fighting to secure themselves a share of the production pie through juicy incentives. With many projects across both film and TV opting for alternatives to LA as their production hub, is it time for an image renovation? Our local entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake from Blake & Wang P.A., examines why entertainment’s most iconic destination may need to fight a little harder to lower local shooting costs and reinvent itself as a production location.

Brandon Blake

World Class People, World Class Problems

While almost anyone in the industry will agree that LA offers some of the world’s best crews and cast, shooting in LA is not exactly simple. From permitting locations and fees to the price of doing business locally, the simple facts are that it’s gotten harder to film in Los Angeles— and more importantly, a whole lot easier (and cheaper) to film elsewhere. Trading on reputation alone is no longer enough when capable film hubs are easy to find.

Of course, these shifts are not new to the industry. However, it may be time for a facelift if LA wants to retain its reputation as the go-to filming hub.

Solving LA’s Filming Issues

It’s easy to judge from the sidelines. However, for most producers, a notable lack of stimulation for the film industry in LA remains a crucial issue, especially the lack of a standard permitting protocol and steep fees. Ironically, the state is no longer as film-friendly as other alternatives. Tax breaks and rebates now lag behind those offered in many other destinations. While hardly an LA-only issue, there is also a pressing need to bring entertainment industry inflation in line with overall inflation as well as the wider economic market.

As always, supply and demand are key to success. In a world where the supply of compelling filming destinations has expanded vastly, industry stalwarts may need to revisit the tried-and-tested strategies of yesteryear and ensure they’re still offering competitive services and incentives, not simply relying on past reputations to keep them moving to the future. It’s a lesson LA hopefully won’t have to learn the hard way — but only if stakeholders take note now and not when it’s too late.

As Disney+ looks to solidify its share of the live continuous programming market, four new channels for live shows will be added to its roster, joining the two they launched back in August this year. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles, Brandon Blake, unpacks what we know so far.

Brandon Blake

Targeting the FAST Market

This will bring Disney+’s live continuous programming channels up to six. While Disney itself was keen to avoid mentioning the FAST, or Free Ad-Supported TV, model, FAST programming has been something of a growth area recently. Now a billion-dollar market segment, the FAST space is booming.

Naturally, these aren’t exactly FAST channels, as they’re only on offer to Disney+ subscribers, but it is clear they are hoping to net some of that magic for themselves. Subscription streaming platforms have been reticent to embrace the FAST term, concerned about giving the wrong message to their paying clients.

For now, these new channels will only be offered to domestic subscribers and will be onboarded ahead of the anticipated subscription price hike in mid-October.

Success So Far

The two currently live always-on channels in the Disney+ stable, ABC News and Playtime, have already netted over 10M hours of viewing since they launched in late August 2024. Disney also noted that they have seen greater engagement from the subscribers consuming them. The overall Disney+ subscriber totals, including global customers but excluding Hotstar, sit at close to 120M subscribers. Last quarter, they finally turned a profit for the first time, ahead of their previous 2025 deadline.

The new channels will offer aptly timed seasonal-themed content, no doubt hoping to take advantage of the upcoming festive season. Hallowstream will focus on Halloween content specifically, and Throwbacks offers a nostalgic pop-cult content bouquet. Real Life will deliver documentaries, true stories, and biopic content, and Hits & Heroes will offer action content from their marquee brands.

It’s interesting to see Disney dip its toes in the FAST channel model, especially behind a general subscription paywall like this. Will other streamers hurry to emulate them? That remains to be seen.

Paid sharing is in, it seems. With Netflix having notoriously withdrawn its free sharing options for subscribers in what’s become known as their “password-sharing crackdown”, we are now seeing Disney+ following suit. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, has more.

Brandon Blake

Paid Sharing Across Key Territories

While Disney+’s new move is, essentially, the same as Netflix — subscribers will no longer be able to share access to their account with individuals outside the primary household — it’s being branded as a new feature across the Disney ecosystem. Paid sharing, or the ability to be added as an extra “member” on a subscription plan, will be rolled out in the US and Costa Rica, Canada, Europe, Guatemala, and their Asia-Pacific territories. This expands on a program we saw launched last summer.

Additional Costs

This additional subscription is currently set at $6.99 for Disney+ basic, and will be $9.99 per month for those looking for the premium ad-free experience. Additionally, only one extra member can be added per account, and it will not be on offer to those with Disney bundles or who access the service through partners; it will only be for accounts billed from Disney directly. On the plus side, if the added member chooses to go solo down the line, they can transfer everything from their profile, including settings and watch history.

They have also set up a feature for supported devices to be used outside of the household, under an “away from home” function, and made provision to transfer accounts should the account holder move. Both will require a specific one-time passcode to enact.

Overall, however, the deal fails to match up to Netflix’s own forays in the area, costing 87% of the cost of another account (on basic). However, those prices are likely set with the upcoming subscription hike anticipated for Disney, which would bring it down to 70% of the cost of a new account. Doubtless, they hope to encourage users to take up their own plans, especially the bundle options, which have been noted to have considerably less churn.

Building on its promise to expand its in-theater offerings over the next 3 years vastly, Amazon Prime Video and its Amazon MGM Studios arm are now officially the seventh member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). Entertainment lawyer Los Angeles from Blake & Wang P.A., Brandon Blake, covers this exciting announcement.

Brandon Blake

First Since 2019

This makes them the first new inclusion in the MPA ranks since Netflix in 2019. Their membership will formally begin on Oct 1 this year. As two of the key “tech giants turned streamers” of recent years, both Amazon and Apple have had question marks hanging over their heads about their real commitment to theatrical releases, both internally and externally.

While the MPA does have a significant interest in boosting theatrical exhibitions, it plays a more neutral role than organizations such as the National Association of Theater Owners. It has significantly broadened its interest in TV and streaming work since Netflix was onboarded in 2019. With Amazon MGM having pushed nine films into theaters this year, however, it is now ahead of traditional MPA stalwarts like Paramount, which has only released six.

A Return for MGM

Not that Amazon has been wholly separate from the MPA to date. Not only has the company itself had a leading role in the MPA’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, mostly working on piracy concerns, but MGM was a member from 1928 through to 2005. Amazon has owned the company since 2022.

This move signals another shifting power dynamic in Hollywood, as the streaming giants increasingly influence the more traditional industry structures. The inclusion of Amazon may also impact MPA’s lobbying efforts, potentially advocating for policies that benefit both theatrical and streaming models. As the lines between tech companies and studios continue to blur, other players like Apple TV+ may also eye similar moves in the future. For now, however, the MPA has gained another streaming stalwart with an eye on theatrical releases.

Despite Paramount’s enduring high-profile woes in finalizing its impending M&A deal, media deals are very much back on the scene. Fox, it would appear, is now keen to find themselves a great deal among current offerings. Our Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, analyzes this intriguing development further.

Brandon Blake

A Strong Balance Sheet 

Speaking at the end of their recent Goldman Sachs media conference session, CEO Lachlan Murdoch gave a rather unusual hint that Fox is looking for new M&A opportunities in answer to questions about the company’s projected evolution over the coming few years. 

Not only is it odd for a CEO not to focus on current growth and investments, but the M&A space has been more characterized by very rocky deals than it has smooth ones in recent years. After all, neither Paramount nor Warner Bros. Discovery had a textbook merger experience. However, as he swiftly pointed out, Fox itself is in a far stronger position, including in its balance sheet, than either of those entities. A smart deal may, indeed, be only a “modest” investment for them, as he stated.

Potential Deals

We already know that Fox intends to exercise its option to take control of 18% of the FanDuel sports betting platform sometime before 2030, as they have kicked off licensing approval with regulators for the deal. However, where else may they be looking?

It’s unlikely to be linear entertainment. With cord-cutting set to accelerate and the company already having its Fox network and stations, it’s unlikely to turn up a compelling deal. Likewise, their foray into a streaming sports venture was recently blocked legally, although that matter is still working its way through the courts. 

For now, we can only speculate. However, this will be something to watch going forward. Perhaps Fox will be the company to succeed in giving us the first smooth M&A takeover of recent years.