TL;DR
- The Odyssey held strong at $87 million in weekend two, marking one of the best R-rated declines ever.
- Ryan Gosling cast as Ghost Rider and David Jonsson as Black Panther's son at Comic-Con.
- Film Finances and Media Guarantors merged to create the largest independent completion-bond firm.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day presales hit $40+ million ahead of July 31 opening.
Box office and releases
Odyssey holds second weekend with $87 million
Nolan's three-hour R-rated epic showed rare staying power as it crossed $600 million globally.
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey pulled in $87 million across its second weekend, declining just 30 percent from its $123.5 million debut. That hold ranks among the best ever for an R-rated film (via Deadline). The Homer adaptation has now crossed $600 million worldwide, cementing itself as the summer's defining hit and the biggest global debut in Nolan's career.
Spider-Man presales crush records. Tom Holland's fourth outing as the web-slinger, arriving July 31, racked up $40 million in first-day presales. That's the strongest presale debut in five years, and it's tracking to open north of $180 million domestically (via Deadline). If it holds, that makes it the year's biggest debut and the second-largest Spider-Man opening behind 2021's No Way Home.
Studios play it safe. No major new releases challenged The Odyssey this weekend, leaving the field clear for Nolan's juggernaut as audiences avoided the late-July multiplex scramble.
Trailers and first looks
Comic-Con unleashes Marvel and Apple footage
Fresh Avengers: Doomsday footage and a slate of genre films arrived on the San Diego stage.
Marvel Studios debuted new footage for Avengers: Doomsday at Comic-Con's Hall H, giving fans their first look at the sprawling cast assembling to face Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom on December 18 (via Variety). The footage showed Doom raising an army of Sentinel robots against the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men, setting up what Marvel is positioning as the studio's next tentpole spectacle.
Apple TV counters with genre slate. The tech company's Hall H presentation unveiled trailers for Widow's Bay, a horror comedy, and the Ryan Reynolds action film Mayday, alongside footage from the John Cena thriller Matchbox (via Deadline). Apple is doubling down on theatrical-scale film projects to compete with legacy studios.
Casting and production
Marvel announces Ghost Rider and new Black Panther
Comic-Con brought two major MCU casting reveals and a Black Panther 3 shooting format milestone.
Ryan Gosling is officially the MCU's next Ghost Rider, starring in a solo film directed by Deadpool & Wolverine's Shawn Levy and arriving in 2028 (via Deadline). The casting pairs the Oscar-nominated actor with one of Marvel's darker antiheroes as the studio continues to expand its street-level canon.
Black Panther 3 names its new king. David Jonsson will portray T'Challa's son in Black Panther 3, scheduled for December 15, 2028, with director Ryan Coogler returning (via The Hollywood Reporter). The sequel will be shot on 70mm film (a first for an MCU movie) in a technical nod to the franchise's cinematic ambitions.
Hayley Atwell joins Doomsday. Hayley Atwell was confirmed as part of the Avengers: Doomsday ensemble cast, sharing the stage with Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, and Robert Downey Jr. at Comic-Con's presentation (via Variety).
Streaming
Streaming services claim summer's biggest theatrical hits
Project Hail Mary and other 2026 blockbusters arrive at home as their theatrical windows close.
Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir's $683 million-grossing sci-fi blockbuster starring Ryan Gosling, has arrived on Prime Video after its theatrical and rental runs (via The Wrap). For streamers, this is the payoff of letting hits play cinemas first: the biggest movies of the year showing up at home just as the buzz peaks.
Netflix leans on franchise sequels. Enola Holmes 3, the latest entry in Millie Bobby Brown's mystery franchise, is now available on Netflix, while Apple TV and other streamers continue threading theatrical releases into their vaults for the month.
Industry and business
Completion-bond giants merge as studios tighten ranks
A major industry consolidation reshaped independent film financing while studios battled over talent.
Film Finances and Media Guarantors announced a merger creating the largest independent completion-bond firm, a business that underwrites the cost overruns on indie productions (via Deadline). Media Guarantors founder Fred Milstein leads the combined entity, signaling a shift in how independent films secure financing as budgets climb and investor caution grows.
Google backs A24 with $75 million AI investment. Google committed $75 million to develop AI-powered filmmaking tools with A24, the indie studio known for prestige films (via Variety). The move positions the tech company as a direct investor in creative workflows alongside its existing entertainment plays.
Warner Bros Discovery sues Amazon over HBO Max hire. The studio giant filed suit against Amazon MGM Studios, accusing the tech company of poaching Pia Barlow, an HBO Max marketing executive, and other contracted staff (via Deadline). Talent wars between traditional studios and streamers have reached the legal stage.