Spider-Man premieres tomorrow with record presales; Hadestown nearly tops Hamilton
Plus: Peacock and YouTube bundle for 2027, Venice kicks off with Boyle's Murdoch drama, and Homer's translator takes aim at Nolan's adaptation.
TL;DR
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day set record presales (fourth-highest in history) before July 31 opening; red carpet streams on Amazon July 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
- Hadestown: The Musical opened to $9.69 million at 1,949 locations, nearly matching Hamilton's Broadway capture record of $10.1 million.
- NBCUniversal and YouTube announced Peacock Premium bundling with YouTube Premium starting early 2027, marking Peacock's largest wholesale distribution partnership.
- Venice Film Festival 2026 opens September 2 with Danny Boyle's Ink (Rupert Murdoch drama); director Maggie Gyllenhaal presides over competition jury.
Box office and releases
Spider-Man closes gap before tomorrow's arrival
A presales surge sets the stage for July 31 as Amazon streams the red carpet premiere tonight.
Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Brand New Day shattered presale records yet again, landing the fourth-highest first-day presales in history across all platforms. Amazon will livestream the red carpet premiere Monday night at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, with coverage across Amazon Live, Prime Video, Twitch, IMDb and Amazon.com (via Deadline). The web-slinger opens nationwide July 31.
Hadestown brings Broadway to multiplexes. The Tony-winning musical's filmed capture opened to $9.69 million at 1,949 locations, nearly matching Disney's Hamilton record of $10.1 million from last September—the second-biggest opening for a live Broadway capture ever (via Deadline). Demand forced Crosswalk and LD Entertainment to extend the initial five-day theatrical run with added dates and showtimes.
Streaming
Peacock lands biggest wholesale deal with YouTube bundle
NBCUniversal's streamer joins YouTube Premium starting early 2027, reaching millions of new subscribers in a landmark partnership.
Peacock Premium is heading into YouTube Premium subscriptions starting early 2027, marking the NBC streamer's largest wholesale distribution deal ever. The multiyear pact between NBCUniversal and YouTube will add Peacock's full catalog—NFL and NBA games, Universal theatrical releases, and Bravo originals like Real Housewives and Love Island USA—to the YouTube Premium tier at $15.99/month, though final bundle pricing remains unannounced (via Deadline). The deal brings Peacock to millions of YouTube Premium subscribers.
Awards and festivals
Venice opens with Boyle's Murdoch drama as Gyllenhaal takes the jury
Danny Boyle's Ink premieres at the Lido as the festival director, who helmed The Lost Daughter, steps into the competition jury president role.
Homer translator Emily Wilson this week called Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey "abysmal," saying it transforms Odysseus into a "simple action hero" who merely "feels bad about being an action hero." Wilson's acclaimed 2017 translation has surged to Amazon's top five after Nolan cited her opening line, but she argues the film misses the psychological depth that sustains Homer's poem (via Variety).
Venice opens September 2 with Boyle's Ink. Danny Boyle's Murdoch biography starring Jack O'Connell and Claire Foy kicks off the festival at the Lido on September 2, marking Boyle's first Venice competition premiere (via Deadline). Director Maggie Gyllenhaal presides over the competition jury, becoming the third woman to lead the panel in five years (via Variety).