On today’s episode, Variety's Rebecca Rubin explains why “Chainsaw Man” topped “Deliver Me From Nowhere” to lead the box office this weekend. And Nick Vivarelli reports on the scene in Lucca, Italy, where he’s covering a fan event that is bigger than San Diego Comic-Con.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Monday, October twenty seventh,
twenty twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am
co editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm
in La He's in New York, and Variety has reporters
around the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:29):
in our box Office segment, Variety's Rebecca Rubin hacks through
the receipts generated by chainsaw Man this weekend, it's an
anime world, people, and we'll hear from Nick Vivarelli in Rome.
He's about to go cover a comic fan convention that's
bigger than San Diego Comic Con and it's held in
a medieval Italian town about fifty miles west of Florence.
(00:52):
But before we get to that, here are a few
headlines just in this morning that you need to know.
The prolific Taylor Sheridan is sad up to make a
move to NBC Universal with a big new film and
TV deal. Sheridan has been based at Paramount ever since
the Yellowstone phenomenon took off his TV deal will have
to wait nearly three years until his obligations to Paramount
(01:14):
are over. His movie deal with NBC Universal starts next year.
Owen Gleiberman is raving about Song Sung Blue. Variety's chief
film critic, loves the performances by Kate Hudson and Hugh
Jackman in the film about two performers in a Neil
Diamond tribute act. Song Sung Blue comes from director Craig
Brewer and Focus Features. Hudson, of course, is one of
(01:38):
Variety's Power of Women honorees this year. We will shower
her with kudos at our event on the evening of
October twenty ninth. John Dickerson will leave CBS News at
the end of this year. Dickerson is high on the
list of the best journalists in this country. I can't
wait to see what he does next. All of these
stories and so much more can be found on Variety
(02:01):
dot com. Right now. Now we turn to conversations with
Variety journalists about news and trends in show business. If
it's Monday, we're talking box office with Rebecca Rubin, our
senior film and media reporter. Rebecca gives us the lowdown
(02:22):
on what has been an unpredictable October for the box office.
Rebecca Rubin, thanks for joining me, Thank you for having me. Well,
another interesting weekend at the box office, a couple of sleepers,
a couple of disappointments. Let me start by asking you,
when you sat down to prepare for this box office weekend,
did you think that the anime movie Chainsaw Man would
(02:44):
be number one?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Heading into the weekend? There was a sense that if
anything was able to break out, it was going to
be Chainsaw Man. And that is because anime has been
enjoying a theatrical hot streak with another movie Sony Crunchy
row Banner released called Demonslayer. That movie became a huge
hit and is now the highest grossing anime film ever.
(03:07):
And so this is the second consecutive number one hit
for Sony's Crunchy role. And so just given the appeal
right now of anime, there was a sense that this
had potential to become a sleeper hit, not quite on
the scale of Demons Layer, but at least a solid
number one.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Do you think that, like every major studio is going
to now scramble and try to develop an anime strategy,
or do you think that this is Sony's investment. Sony
has for a decade now really been investing in this
area in the US and Asia, and this is bearing fruit.
How do you think this will be read by Hollywood?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I would be surprised if there weren't some other studios
who were trained to cash in on this. But as
you said, Sony has really been cultivating this with crunchy
Roll for a while now. And there's a lot of
pedigree here because this movie, and particular chainsaw Man was
produced by a Japanese animation studio, so it's made by
(04:06):
people who are very intimately familiar with what resonates about
these properties. Chainsawmn and Demonslayer were extensions of popular anime
TV series and so there are deep roots here and
part of why there's fandoms that already exist.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I did, in fact, take in the Anime Expo in
July in downtown LA and it was mind blowing in
terms of opening my eyes to the depth of this
audience and the absolute passionate rabid fandom. I met people
that had flown in from out of the country, flown
in from Chicago, Atlanta, and downtown LA was just alive
(04:45):
with cosplay Rebecca. From that experience, I can guess who
the audience for Chainsaw Man was, but I never want
to assume who was the audience for this movie.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So nearly seventy five percent of crowds were male, and
about fifty percent were under the age of twenty five,
so it was definitely skewing a younger male demographic. But
what's notable about chainsaw Man being number one is that
it outpaced two movies from major studios. There's was Disney
(05:20):
in twentieth centuries, Springsteen biopic Delivered Me from Nowhere, and
Paramount's adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel Regretting You, And
So I think that really just underscores how much tastes
are changing at the box office.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Clearly there's an event around these anime releases, Rebecca, are
you getting anecdotal info about is there a lot of
coseplay at these screenings or is there people bringing like
fun props and stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I think what is really resonating here is similar to
superhero movies, where they and horror movies that are very
front loaded. All the fans want to come out on
opening weekend and watch something like this with communal experience.
That's what we're seeing with these anime features, and so
as a result, they are usually front loaded, they have
really big debuts, and then in subsequent weekends they'll have
(06:10):
steep drop offs. And I think that is speaking to
the fact that they all are agreing to go out
opening weekend, watch it together, and then maybe from there
rewatches they'll settle for a streaming day.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
And of course, the other continuing trend that we've been
talking a lot about is imax. The large format screens
were a big component of the box office that Chainsaw
Man hacked off. So let's talk about the other big
story of the weekend of the movie that didn't exactly
open to impressive numbers. Deliver Me from Nowhere on Paper
Bruce Springsteen a critically beloved album, Jeremy Allen White super
(06:48):
red hot talent, but it did not bring in huge
crowds to begin with, What do you think's going on
with this movie?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I think the film is struggling because unlike some big
crowd pleasing musical biopics of recent years, like Bohemian Rhapsody,
which was about Queen, Rocketman which is about Elton John,
those were expansive looks at the entire career of these
musical acts, and that's not really what this movie is.
(07:17):
It doesn't play like the greatest hits of his career.
It's actually a more intimate look at the making of
his beloved but less commercial solo album Nebraska. I think
the result here is it's not the all audience film
that audiences have become used to expecting in the musical
(07:38):
biopick genre. It's gotten pretty decent reviews. It has a
B plus on Cinema score that signals that it could
stick around.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Curious to see if there's any regional trends here. I
would imagine that New Jersey would probably be the home
of probably the highest grossing theaters for this one, but
you never know.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I think that the comparison to A Complete Unknown is
actually a good one, because it was tracking a similar
start to that film, but a few differences, I would say, actually,
One is that Timothy Shalom has proven himself before that
to be a bankable draw in the Dune franchise in Wonka.
He really can get audiences to go to theaters. And
(08:21):
another thing is that Bob Dylan was a little more elusive.
He wasn't out there promoting the film. I think he
said he gave it a thumbs up and said he
liked the script. But nobody saw him during this period.
And a big difference here is that Bruce Springsteen has
really been out promoting this film. He's been at every
(08:42):
premiere alongside Jeremy Allen White, and if anything, it's making
the comparisons pretty tough because it's putting the real guy
right in your face. Something Just to note, A complete
unknown opened around December or on the holidays, and that's
a period of time where films can really out and
that's what happened with that.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Film, Rebecca. What else do anything else stand out to you?
Is significant about the box office this weekend.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The other major release is Regretting You, which is the
adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, and that opened above expectations
to twelve point eight million dollars. And if this film
manages to stick around, it's going to cement Colleen Hoover
as a major cinematic force. Of course, her novel It
(09:29):
Ends with Us was adapted last year by Sony and
that film stirred up a lot of drama with Blake
Lively and Justin Baldoni, but to his credit, it was
a huge winner at the box office, with nearly three
hundred and fifty million dollars worldwide. I don't see Regretting
You getting to those numbers, but it only cost a
(09:52):
modest thirty million, so it doesn't really need to get
anywhere near the three hundred to fifty million dollar mark
to count a six success. Hollywood is definitely leaning into
Colleen Hoover. Two of her other books, Verity and Reminders
of Him, are in the works at Amazon MGM and Universal.
They're both set to release next year, and so we
(10:16):
will see if the Colleen Hoover cinematic Universe is a thing.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I cannot physically resist the opportunity to point out that,
as impressive as it Ends with Us was at the
box office, I have to believe that the legal fees
this movie has now generated have probably approached that and
probably will eclipse it by the time it is all over.
Let's just hope that the folks on Regretting You all
got along a whole lot better. Rebecca, what are you
(10:43):
looking forward? At the November box office?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So Thanksgiving should be pretty robust this year because Universal
has wicked for Good, which is the second half, of course,
of Wicked, and that is expected to be another huge blockbuster.
Zoo Topia to the first Utopia actually gross to billion dollars.
But since the beginning of this year, every theater owner
(11:06):
I have spoken to has said that is the movie
they are most excited for, and audiences just absolutely love
this property. I think it's been really big on Disney
Plus as well, and so I think that will probably
be another billion dollar winner for Disney. And then of
course Disney has Avatar three in December ahead of Christmas.
(11:28):
And look, the first two movies gross two billion dollars.
So I'm not going to be somebody who bets against
James Cameron.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Well, always so much to discuss and so much to watch, Rebecca,
thank you as ever, thanks for having me. Now we'll
hear from Nick Vivarelli, Variety's longtime correspondent and wrong he
talks about the colorful scene he's about to take in
(11:58):
at the Luca Comics and Games Invention in Luca, Italy.
Luca draws an annual crowd of about two hundred thousand attendees.
That's about sixty five thousand more Cause players than gathered
in San Diego this summer for comic Con. Nick Vivarelli,
our man in Rome, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Thank you, Cynthia.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Nick. You are off soon on one of the many
trips that you take for Forridy every year. You are
off to Luca, about a three hour train ride from Rome. Nick,
tell us what you're going to cover in Luca.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, Cynthia, I'm going to cover this event called Luca
Comics and Games, which is a comic con type event
that spans the gamut from comic books to video games
to movies and TV series. And it's a rather old event.
It's been around since nineteen sixty six, but they've evolved
(12:54):
from being a print comics convention into video games and
then fifteen years ago they launched a new section called
the Movie Area, and they developed close relationships with the
studios and the streamers. And this year one of the
highlights is going to be a special fandom event where
(13:16):
they're gonna talk about the upcoming fifth season of Stranger Things.
So the Duffer Brothers are going to be there and
not represents a coup for Luca.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
It's a big deal. The Duffer Brothers started on the
cover of Variety earlier this month, and now the pr
campaign switches to Luca, Italy. Nick set the scene for us,
what is the environment in Luca.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Luca is sort of like a miniature Florence. So in
other words, it's a Renaissance gem. It's a medieval town.
It has beautiful ramparts, it has beautiful churches, it has towers,
it has cobble stone lined streets, so it's a very
(14:00):
picturesque of medieval type of environment. I think they have
actual dungeons that they use for immersive experiences connected to
dungeons and dragons. What you see when you go there
during this event is just thousands of cos players sort
of lining the streets, and they held parades and they mingle,
and they the line up for all kinds of gadgets
(14:23):
that are given out and for premieres. It's a very
vibrant experience within a medieval setting.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
The juxtaposition sounds at Taylor made for cosplay and imagination
and fantasy, and is Luca of a destination in that way.
The organizers picked Luca for a reason.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Cities in Tuscany like to create events. Comics have always
been really big in Italy. Italy has always been a
big consumer of comic books, but also producer of comic books,
so it was a very smart choice to go that route.
They were immediately aware of the importance of being international,
so over the years they forged close rapport with especially
(15:03):
with Japan and the whole manga world.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Talk about fandom upon fandom upon fandom, and they.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Like to develop the idea of community. Community is a
buzzword for them, a sort of mantra. So they basically
went from the print comic books into the video game world,
and then they veered into the scripted content of different types.
You know, obviously movies, but TV shows and horror films,
(15:32):
and so they were able to ride this wave of
the cosplayers. I think the cosplayers played a really big
role in how they've evolved.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
How many people are attending this typically in recent years.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So they've reached an average attendance they cite at two
hundred thousand. The bulk of it are Italians, but it
does drop people from other parts of the world. And
they also have a huge online a community, especially in
the video game realm, so they organize big video game
(16:05):
tournaments that I know are participated by people from all
over the world.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Nick is there anything else you'll be looking for.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
The fact that venerated video game Japanese master Hideo Kjima
is going to be in Luca for the final stop
of his desk stranding too on the beach tour. That's
one of the exemplifications of the fact that Luca has
really become a prominent stop on the map when it
comes to launching ips or fandom related events.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
That's a big name in video gaming for sure. Well, Nick,
make sure you take lots of pictures and give us
a real sense of the color as cause players stream
into this medieval town. Well forward to your reporting.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Chao Chao. Thank you, Cynthia.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
As we close out today's episode, here's a few things
we're watching for. Comcast will report third quarter earnings on Thursday.
Variety Today is producing the first of three digital dailies
out of the Tokyo Film Festival, and later in the
week we'll be at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.
Do not miss Chris Willman's coverage of the Warren Zevon
(17:19):
tribute held in La on October twenty fourth. Ah it
sounds like it was a foot stomper, and of course,
in the hands of Chris Willman. It's a fantastic read,
even if you weren't there. Don't forget to buy your
tickets for Io Adebris and Don Chiedel headlining in a
Broadway revival of Proof directed by Thomas Cale. It opens
(17:42):
April sixteenth at the Booth Theater. Before we Go, Congrats
to Rebecca Glashow. She's been named CEO of Tribeca Enterprises,
succeeding the great Jane Rosenthal. Glashaw joins them from BBC
Global Media and Streaming. Rosenthal will shift to co chair
of Tribecca Enterprises alongside majority owner James Murdoch. Thanks for listening.
(18:06):
This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,
with contributions from Rebecca Rubin and Nick Viverrelli sticks Nick's
hick Picks. Please leave us a review at the podcast
platform of your choice, and please tune in tomorrow for
another episode of Daily Variety and Go Dodgers
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Monday, October twenty seventh,
twenty twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am
co editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm
in La He's in New York, and Variety has reporters
around the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:29):
in our box Office segment, Variety's Rebecca Rubin hacks through
the receipts generated by chainsaw Man this weekend, it's an
anime world, people, and we'll hear from Nick Vivarelli in Rome.
He's about to go cover a comic fan convention that's
bigger than San Diego Comic Con and it's held in
a medieval Italian town about fifty miles west of Florence.
(00:52):
But before we get to that, here are a few
headlines just in this morning that you need to know.
The prolific Taylor Sheridan is sad up to make a
move to NBC Universal with a big new film and
TV deal. Sheridan has been based at Paramount ever since
the Yellowstone phenomenon took off his TV deal will have
to wait nearly three years until his obligations to Paramount
(01:14):
are over. His movie deal with NBC Universal starts next year.
Owen Gleiberman is raving about Song Sung Blue. Variety's chief
film critic, loves the performances by Kate Hudson and Hugh
Jackman in the film about two performers in a Neil
Diamond tribute act. Song Sung Blue comes from director Craig
Brewer and Focus Features. Hudson, of course, is one of
(01:38):
Variety's Power of Women honorees this year. We will shower
her with kudos at our event on the evening of
October twenty ninth. John Dickerson will leave CBS News at
the end of this year. Dickerson is high on the
list of the best journalists in this country. I can't
wait to see what he does next. All of these
stories and so much more can be found on Variety
(02:01):
dot com. Right now. Now we turn to conversations with
Variety journalists about news and trends in show business. If
it's Monday, we're talking box office with Rebecca Rubin, our
senior film and media reporter. Rebecca gives us the lowdown
(02:22):
on what has been an unpredictable October for the box office.
Rebecca Rubin, thanks for joining me, Thank you for having me. Well,
another interesting weekend at the box office, a couple of sleepers,
a couple of disappointments. Let me start by asking you,
when you sat down to prepare for this box office weekend,
did you think that the anime movie Chainsaw Man would
(02:44):
be number one?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Heading into the weekend? There was a sense that if
anything was able to break out, it was going to
be Chainsaw Man. And that is because anime has been
enjoying a theatrical hot streak with another movie Sony Crunchy
row Banner released called Demonslayer. That movie became a huge
hit and is now the highest grossing anime film ever.
(03:07):
And so this is the second consecutive number one hit
for Sony's Crunchy role. And so just given the appeal
right now of anime, there was a sense that this
had potential to become a sleeper hit, not quite on
the scale of Demons Layer, but at least a solid
number one.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Do you think that, like every major studio is going
to now scramble and try to develop an anime strategy,
or do you think that this is Sony's investment. Sony
has for a decade now really been investing in this
area in the US and Asia, and this is bearing fruit.
How do you think this will be read by Hollywood?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I would be surprised if there weren't some other studios
who were trained to cash in on this. But as
you said, Sony has really been cultivating this with crunchy
Roll for a while now. And there's a lot of
pedigree here because this movie, and particular chainsaw Man was
produced by a Japanese animation studio, so it's made by
(04:06):
people who are very intimately familiar with what resonates about
these properties. Chainsawmn and Demonslayer were extensions of popular anime
TV series and so there are deep roots here and
part of why there's fandoms that already exist.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I did, in fact, take in the Anime Expo in
July in downtown LA and it was mind blowing in
terms of opening my eyes to the depth of this
audience and the absolute passionate rabid fandom. I met people
that had flown in from out of the country, flown
in from Chicago, Atlanta, and downtown LA was just alive
(04:45):
with cosplay Rebecca. From that experience, I can guess who
the audience for Chainsaw Man was, but I never want
to assume who was the audience for this movie.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So nearly seventy five percent of crowds were male, and
about fifty percent were under the age of twenty five,
so it was definitely skewing a younger male demographic. But
what's notable about chainsaw Man being number one is that
it outpaced two movies from major studios. There's was Disney
(05:20):
in twentieth centuries, Springsteen biopic Delivered Me from Nowhere, and
Paramount's adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel Regretting You, And
So I think that really just underscores how much tastes
are changing at the box office.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Clearly there's an event around these anime releases, Rebecca, are
you getting anecdotal info about is there a lot of
coseplay at these screenings or is there people bringing like
fun props and stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I think what is really resonating here is similar to
superhero movies, where they and horror movies that are very
front loaded. All the fans want to come out on
opening weekend and watch something like this with communal experience.
That's what we're seeing with these anime features, and so
as a result, they are usually front loaded, they have
really big debuts, and then in subsequent weekends they'll have
(06:10):
steep drop offs. And I think that is speaking to
the fact that they all are agreing to go out
opening weekend, watch it together, and then maybe from there
rewatches they'll settle for a streaming day.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
And of course, the other continuing trend that we've been
talking a lot about is imax. The large format screens
were a big component of the box office that Chainsaw
Man hacked off. So let's talk about the other big
story of the weekend of the movie that didn't exactly
open to impressive numbers. Deliver Me from Nowhere on Paper
Bruce Springsteen a critically beloved album, Jeremy Allen White super
(06:48):
red hot talent, but it did not bring in huge
crowds to begin with, What do you think's going on
with this movie?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I think the film is struggling because unlike some big
crowd pleasing musical biopics of recent years, like Bohemian Rhapsody,
which was about Queen, Rocketman which is about Elton John,
those were expansive looks at the entire career of these
musical acts, and that's not really what this movie is.
(07:17):
It doesn't play like the greatest hits of his career.
It's actually a more intimate look at the making of
his beloved but less commercial solo album Nebraska. I think
the result here is it's not the all audience film
that audiences have become used to expecting in the musical
(07:38):
biopick genre. It's gotten pretty decent reviews. It has a
B plus on Cinema score that signals that it could
stick around.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Curious to see if there's any regional trends here. I
would imagine that New Jersey would probably be the home
of probably the highest grossing theaters for this one, but
you never know.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I think that the comparison to A Complete Unknown is
actually a good one, because it was tracking a similar
start to that film, but a few differences, I would say, actually,
One is that Timothy Shalom has proven himself before that
to be a bankable draw in the Dune franchise in Wonka.
He really can get audiences to go to theaters. And
(08:21):
another thing is that Bob Dylan was a little more elusive.
He wasn't out there promoting the film. I think he
said he gave it a thumbs up and said he
liked the script. But nobody saw him during this period.
And a big difference here is that Bruce Springsteen has
really been out promoting this film. He's been at every
(08:42):
premiere alongside Jeremy Allen White, and if anything, it's making
the comparisons pretty tough because it's putting the real guy
right in your face. Something Just to note, A complete
unknown opened around December or on the holidays, and that's
a period of time where films can really out and
that's what happened with that.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Film, Rebecca. What else do anything else stand out to you?
Is significant about the box office this weekend.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
The other major release is Regretting You, which is the
adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel, and that opened above expectations
to twelve point eight million dollars. And if this film
manages to stick around, it's going to cement Colleen Hoover
as a major cinematic force. Of course, her novel It
(09:29):
Ends with Us was adapted last year by Sony and
that film stirred up a lot of drama with Blake
Lively and Justin Baldoni, but to his credit, it was
a huge winner at the box office, with nearly three
hundred and fifty million dollars worldwide. I don't see Regretting
You getting to those numbers, but it only cost a
(09:52):
modest thirty million, so it doesn't really need to get
anywhere near the three hundred to fifty million dollar mark
to count a six success. Hollywood is definitely leaning into
Colleen Hoover. Two of her other books, Verity and Reminders
of Him, are in the works at Amazon MGM and Universal.
They're both set to release next year, and so we
(10:16):
will see if the Colleen Hoover cinematic Universe is a thing.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
I cannot physically resist the opportunity to point out that,
as impressive as it Ends with Us was at the
box office, I have to believe that the legal fees
this movie has now generated have probably approached that and
probably will eclipse it by the time it is all over.
Let's just hope that the folks on Regretting You all
got along a whole lot better. Rebecca, what are you
(10:43):
looking forward? At the November box office?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So Thanksgiving should be pretty robust this year because Universal
has wicked for Good, which is the second half, of course,
of Wicked, and that is expected to be another huge blockbuster.
Zoo Topia to the first Utopia actually gross to billion dollars.
But since the beginning of this year, every theater owner
(11:06):
I have spoken to has said that is the movie
they are most excited for, and audiences just absolutely love
this property. I think it's been really big on Disney
Plus as well, and so I think that will probably
be another billion dollar winner for Disney. And then of
course Disney has Avatar three in December ahead of Christmas.
(11:28):
And look, the first two movies gross two billion dollars.
So I'm not going to be somebody who bets against
James Cameron.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Well, always so much to discuss and so much to watch, Rebecca,
thank you as ever, thanks for having me. Now we'll
hear from Nick Vivarelli, Variety's longtime correspondent and wrong he
talks about the colorful scene he's about to take in
(11:58):
at the Luca Comics and Games Invention in Luca, Italy.
Luca draws an annual crowd of about two hundred thousand attendees.
That's about sixty five thousand more Cause players than gathered
in San Diego this summer for comic Con. Nick Vivarelli,
our man in Rome, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Thank you, Cynthia.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Nick. You are off soon on one of the many
trips that you take for Forridy every year. You are
off to Luca, about a three hour train ride from Rome. Nick,
tell us what you're going to cover in Luca.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, Cynthia, I'm going to cover this event called Luca
Comics and Games, which is a comic con type event
that spans the gamut from comic books to video games
to movies and TV series. And it's a rather old event.
It's been around since nineteen sixty six, but they've evolved
(12:54):
from being a print comics convention into video games and
then fifteen years ago they launched a new section called
the Movie Area, and they developed close relationships with the
studios and the streamers. And this year one of the
highlights is going to be a special fandom event where
(13:16):
they're gonna talk about the upcoming fifth season of Stranger Things.
So the Duffer Brothers are going to be there and
not represents a coup for Luca.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
It's a big deal. The Duffer Brothers started on the
cover of Variety earlier this month, and now the pr
campaign switches to Luca, Italy. Nick set the scene for us,
what is the environment in Luca.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Luca is sort of like a miniature Florence. So in
other words, it's a Renaissance gem. It's a medieval town.
It has beautiful ramparts, it has beautiful churches, it has towers,
it has cobble stone lined streets, so it's a very
(14:00):
picturesque of medieval type of environment. I think they have
actual dungeons that they use for immersive experiences connected to
dungeons and dragons. What you see when you go there
during this event is just thousands of cos players sort
of lining the streets, and they held parades and they mingle,
and they the line up for all kinds of gadgets
(14:23):
that are given out and for premieres. It's a very
vibrant experience within a medieval setting.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
The juxtaposition sounds at Taylor made for cosplay and imagination
and fantasy, and is Luca of a destination in that way.
The organizers picked Luca for a reason.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Cities in Tuscany like to create events. Comics have always
been really big in Italy. Italy has always been a
big consumer of comic books, but also producer of comic books,
so it was a very smart choice to go that route.
They were immediately aware of the importance of being international,
so over the years they forged close rapport with especially
(15:03):
with Japan and the whole manga world.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Talk about fandom upon fandom upon fandom, and they.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Like to develop the idea of community. Community is a
buzzword for them, a sort of mantra. So they basically
went from the print comic books into the video game world,
and then they veered into the scripted content of different types.
You know, obviously movies, but TV shows and horror films,
(15:32):
and so they were able to ride this wave of
the cosplayers. I think the cosplayers played a really big
role in how they've evolved.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
How many people are attending this typically in recent years.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So they've reached an average attendance they cite at two
hundred thousand. The bulk of it are Italians, but it
does drop people from other parts of the world. And
they also have a huge online a community, especially in
the video game realm, so they organize big video game
(16:05):
tournaments that I know are participated by people from all
over the world.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Nick is there anything else you'll be looking for.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
The fact that venerated video game Japanese master Hideo Kjima
is going to be in Luca for the final stop
of his desk stranding too on the beach tour. That's
one of the exemplifications of the fact that Luca has
really become a prominent stop on the map when it
comes to launching ips or fandom related events.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
That's a big name in video gaming for sure. Well, Nick,
make sure you take lots of pictures and give us
a real sense of the color as cause players stream
into this medieval town. Well forward to your reporting.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Chao Chao. Thank you, Cynthia.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
As we close out today's episode, here's a few things
we're watching for. Comcast will report third quarter earnings on Thursday.
Variety Today is producing the first of three digital dailies
out of the Tokyo Film Festival, and later in the
week we'll be at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.
Do not miss Chris Willman's coverage of the Warren Zevon
(17:19):
tribute held in La on October twenty fourth. Ah it
sounds like it was a foot stomper, and of course,
in the hands of Chris Willman. It's a fantastic read,
even if you weren't there. Don't forget to buy your
tickets for Io Adebris and Don Chiedel headlining in a
Broadway revival of Proof directed by Thomas Cale. It opens
(17:42):
April sixteenth at the Booth Theater. Before we Go, Congrats
to Rebecca Glashow. She's been named CEO of Tribeca Enterprises,
succeeding the great Jane Rosenthal. Glashaw joins them from BBC
Global Media and Streaming. Rosenthal will shift to co chair
of Tribecca Enterprises alongside majority owner James Murdoch. Thanks for listening.
(18:06):
This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,
with contributions from Rebecca Rubin and Nick Viverrelli sticks Nick's
hick Picks. Please leave us a review at the podcast
platform of your choice, and please tune in tomorrow for
another episode of Daily Variety and Go Dodgers
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