Mr. Holland’s Opus: Sony Dates 'Spidey 4' for July 2026, Just One Week After Christopher Nolan’s New Film

Happy Friday, folks!

Sony has to be breathing a sigh of relief this morning, as box office estimates based on Thursday night’s early bird screenings of Venom: The Last Dance indicate an opening north of $50 million.

I may not have read a presidential endorsement in the L.A. Times and Washington Post — cowardly, but understandable, and certainly not worth resigning over — but I did read several interesting stories today, including THR’s feature about the demise of Snakes on a Plane writer John Connery Heffernan III; Variety’s interview with embattled actor James Franco, who is eager to put a dark chapter behind him and move on with his life; and NY Mag’s fascinating piece on whether the media business can survive these tough times.

Tonight, you’ll read about Sony’s wild decision to date Spider-Man 4 just one week after Christopher Nolan’s next movie, as both will star Tom Holland — and presumably eat into each other’s box office hauls.

There are also items about the latest blow to the Star Wars franchise, Jason Kelce hosting a late-night show for ESPN, the next gig for Netflix’s former TV boss Cindy Holland, Martin Lawrence’s latest Sony sequel, and the newest addition to the cast of Happy Gilmore 2. Plus, my thoughts on the trailer for Paramount’s Oscar contender September 5.

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