Welcome back to Hollywood After Dark, your nightly breakdown of the wild, weird, and just plain unpredictable world of movies and TV. Tonight’s episode dives headfirst into six massive stories shaking up the entertainment industry, and none of them are pulling punches.
First up, Christopher Nolan’s next epic The Odyssey has had its teaser trailer leak online ahead of its official debut before Jurassic World: Rebirth. The teaser gives fans a first glimpse at Nolan’s Greek myth adaptation, featuring Matt Damon as Odysseus and Tom Holland as Telemachus. The scale is huge, the cast is stacked, and the internet is buzzing. But Universal can’t be thrilled that their theatrical-first marketing strategy got undercut within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, South Park fans are furious after Season 27’s premiere was pushed back two weeks—thanks to the ongoing chaos of the Paramount–Skydance merger. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone publicly slammed the merger as a “shitshow” and accused the studio of “f***ing up” the series’ future. Add in unresolved streaming rights and the threat of legal action, and the show’s future feels just as volatile as its punchlines.
Over in horror land, Blumhouse is licking its wounds after M3GAN 2.0 opened to just $10.2 million domestically—far below expectations. A genre shift to sci-fi action and a crowded summer schedule likely played a role in the flop, and even Jason Blum has admitted they misjudged the brand’s strength.
Neil Druckmann is officially stepping back from The Last of Us HBO series ahead of Season 3 to focus on Naughty Dog’s next big game. While Season 2 delivered strong global numbers, it ended with a sharp drop in live viewers and divided fans. Craig Mazin will now be the sole showrunner moving forward.
AMC Theatres is now running up to 30 minutes of pre-show content, including new premium ads, which has reignited debates about customer experience vs. financial survival in the post-pandemic movie landscape.
And finally, Superman (2025) may not fly as high as hoped. After a strong pre-sale surge, projections for opening weekend have cooled considerably, with some insiders now predicting under $100 million—well below WB’s expectations for their new DC Universe launch.
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