Welcome back to Hollywood Signal and Happy 4th of July! We’re the anti-gossip newsletter for creators and execs, distilling market data, buyer mandates and cultural trends into actionable intel. We remain focused on what matters: mandates, money, and market logic. Let’s dive in.

Legacy IP holds strong with $88M across the top three — but Pixar’s Elio stumbles, marking the studio’s weakest debut and raising flags on original animation risk. Exec reshuffles at Netflix, Paramount, and Amazon suggest strategic tightening: fewer buyers, faster greenlights, and tighter verticals. Meanwhile, streamers double down on genre-forward half-hours (Too Much, The Bear S5) and theatrical docu-events gain steam — from The Eras Tour to Amazon's Blue Angels blueprint. TikTok AR drives 48M hits for WB’s F1 play, heatwave content surges, and Brad Pitt’s F1 drama proves engineered realness can sell without IP. July’s stacked: Jurassic World: Rebirth, TIFF deadline, Superman reboot, and the Skydance merger vote.

IP Surveillance will return next week.

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The Pulse

Box Office Top 3 • June 21–23

1

How to Train Your Dragon

Universal

$37.0M

Weekend

📈 WEEK 2 -40% DROP Total: $160.4M

Live-action remake held the top spot in its sophomore frame with strong family turnout driving solid retention.

2

28 Years Later

Sony

$30.0M

Debut

🧟 HORROR NEW Global: ~$60M

Danny Boyle's long-awaited zombie threequel opened solidly, marking one of the year's bigger horror starts and nearly matching the previous installment's entire run in week one.

3

Elio

Disney/Pixar

$21.0M

Debut

⚠️ LOWEST PIXAR OPENING ORIGINAL IP

Original animated sci-fi reflects brand challenges but could still find family success if word-of-mouth builds like Elemental did.

Also of Note

Lilo & Stitch fell to #4 with $9.7M but has amassed a massive $386M domestic after five weekends, proving the power of Disney IP legacy.

$88M

Top 3 Total

2

New Releases

Mixed

Performance

🎬 THE SIGNAL: Family franchises continue to dominate while original content struggles. Horror delivers solid returns, but Pixar's brand challenges signal broader animation industry shifts.

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