Swift saves the fall box office

And 3 big shows get SAG-AFTRA production approval

What to know

• Taylor Swift bringing Eras Tour concert film to movie theaters October 13… All hail Queen Taylor who will grace movie theaters with a much needed blockbuster this fall. If you couldn’t get an Eras Tour ticket, this is a nice consolation prize. Tickets for this are already on sale and I have no doubt that these screenings are going to be immensely popular. Scoring/ tickets to the first showings in major cities might be as challenging as getting tour tickets themselves. AMC has reportedly updated its website in anticipation of high demand. Right now it looks like the movie will play Thursday to Sunday for 4 weekends starting Oct. 13. This is quite a fast turnaround to make a concert film, considering the tour is still ongoing worldwide and could come back to the states for more next year — but it’s not like this movie is going to stop people from going to see Taylor Swift live. AMC Theaters is actually distributing the movie, which is a first and should help its bottom line, but the movie will play in Cinemark Theaters and Regals as well — IMAX and Dolby included where available. Widely distributed concert films are a bit of a rarity these days, so this is quite cool to see. 🎸

Programming note: Due to the holiday weekend, Pop Culture Brain Daily will be back on Tuesday.

• AMC’s Walking Dead spinoffs and Interview With a Vampire will resume production after signing interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA… As if the strike rules weren’t confusing enough, these 3 shows from a major studio are going forward after agreeing to SAG’s terms. AMC is a part of the AMPTP, but is not participating in negotiations (so I guess it will just sign on to whatever the AMPTP agrees to) and this interim deal only applies to the 3 shows, not everything else AMC makes. Likewise, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopoils has also received an interim agreement. Hopefully these further pressure the studios to give SAG and the WGA fair deals and get everyone back to work. 🪧

• Warner Bros. Discovery might add CNN news alerts to Max shows and movies… People are justly up in arms about this, and I can’t blame them. But as long as Max allows you to turn this feature off, I don’t think it’s a problem. 🤔

• Adam Driver calls out Netflix and Amazon at Venice festival presser… Driver is allowed to be at the festival because Ferrari is a Neon film and has an interim agreement from SAG. All in all, good for him speaking out! 🏎️

• Ferrari reviews praise film and Adam Driver’s performance… Speaking of which, here’s some more good news about the movie. I wasn’t impressed with the trailer, but I’ll be happy to be proven wrong. 👍

• A B-movie studio is going to make a real Barbenheimer movie about dolls who make an atomic bomb… Because why not. 💣

Upgrade to a full Pop Culture Brain Daily subscription for $1/month or $6/year.

What’s new

• One Piece — Aug 31 | Netflix live-action anime series | 🍅 78%

• Spellbound — Aug 31 | Hulu dance drama series | 🍅

• Bottoms — Sept 1 | R-rated comedy in theaters | 🍅 94%

• The Equalizer 3 — Sept 1 | Action movie in theaters | 🍅 71%

• Returning: Archer s14, The Wheel of Time s2, Disenchantment s5

---

What to watch

Trailer: Saltburn - Nov 24 in select theaters

Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan.

As the fall festival season encroaches, we’re getting a steady drip of award hopefuls, and there are few I’m more excited about than this. Emerald Fennell’s filmmaking just feels fresh and new and provocative. When compared to Ferrari or even Maestro, I would take this 10 out of 10 times. In regards to what’s on display here, I was expecting something a little more pointed politically and satirically after Promising Young Woman, but this does seem to have undercurrent themes of inequality and sexual repression. Is this Fennell’s Parasite? Or maybe a fun-mirror Call Me By Your Name? Visually speaking, this trailer kicks ass. Like the aforementioned Maestro, it’s shot in letterbox — is that becoming a new trend? Which creates these contained by deep palettes, full of symmetry and chaotic colors. Promising Young Woman was no slouch in the cinematography department, but this looks like Fennell is upping her game. Speaking of kicking ass, this cast is *chef’s kiss.* Keoghan and Elordi as foils feels electric and then Fennell sprinkles Pike, Grant, and Mulligan on top for flavor. Let’s go.

For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!