Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon digest of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Kim Masters rings up horror auteur Zach Cregger and his producing partner, Roy Lee, to discuss the bidding war (and remarkable success) behind their hit movie Weapons, which just crossed the $150 million mark worldwide. They also dig into the genre’s dispiriting box office performance in recent years, Cregger’s forthcoming Resident Evil reboot, and the two fateful calls that kick-started his career…

Plus, below the fold: Lauren Sherman reveals what’s going on with Prada Beauty and Adanola’s economics in a special late-summer mailbag. Abby Livingston chronicles the Nancy Pelosi–Kevin McCarthy fundraising grudge match fueling California’s redistricting battle. And John Ourand chats with ESPN’s Jeff Passan about MLB’s simmering labor war between league owners and the players union—and whether a work stoppage is inevitable.

Meanwhile, on the pods: Matt Belloni reunites with Lucas Shaw on The Town to debate Hollywood’s 10 most disastrous inflection points over the past 15 years. On The Grill Room, Dylan Byers and former CBS Evening News executive Mosheh Oinounou discuss his leap from legacy media to independent journalism. On Fashion People, Lauren Sherman gabs with designer Aurora James about everything from Robin Givhan’s WaPo exit to Travis Kelce’s GQ cover. And on The Powers That Be, Julia Alexander and Matt break down how Sony fumbled KPop Demon Hunters, and the Duffer brothers’ jump from Netflix to Paramount.

A lively conversation with horror’s new reigning duo, writer-director Cregger and producer Roy Lee, on the Weapons bidding war, their new twist on Resident Evil, and a fateful early-morning phone conversation.

Our annual reader Q&A session answers all of your most burning questions: the problem with Prada Beauty, Adanola’s economics, the future of magazines, who’s sitting front row at fashion shows, and how not to regret your wedding dress.

In “Severance,” Mark S. leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself.

"Severance" is the most nominated series of the year, receiving

27 Emmy Nominations including Outstanding Drama Series.

Watch Now on Apple TV+

As the gerrymandering battle shifts to the West Coast, two fading California political heavyweights, Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy, are being drawn back into the ring for another round.

Baseball is facing a generational challenge amid labor unrest, the salary cap debate, Rob Manfred’s search for a new rights deal, and an industry-wide reckoning with the death of the R.S.N.s. ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan has a few thoughts on how it might all shake out…

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to look back on the past 15 years in Hollywood and determine which moments were the most detrimental to the industry. In descending order, they each rank and explain their top five moments that had the most meaningful and negative effect on the greater Hollywood ecosystem. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about Taylor Swift’s next act.

In “Severance,” Mark S. leads a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a severance procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Mark finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that will force him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself.

"Severance" is the most nominated series of the year, receiving

27 Emmy Nominations including Outstanding Drama Series.

Watch Now on Apple TV+

Mosheh Oinounou joins Dylan to discuss his leap from legacy media to independent journalism with the founding of Mo News, which, despite early challenges, has grown to more than 12,000 paid subscribers and expanded into podcasts and newsletters. Oinounou also digs into the importance of A.I. in news customization, the potential for future collaborations between independent creators and legacy media, and the challenges at CBS News following the Paramount-Skydance merger.

Designer, writer, and nonprofit founder Aurora James returns to Fashion People to discuss Robin Givhan’s exit from The Washington Post, the tariff nonsense, the nostalgia trap, Travis Kelce’s GQ cover, Taylor Swift’s political responsibility as a deeply influential famous person, flea markets, Alexander Wang Spring/Summer 2010, and so much more.

Matt Belloni joins guest host Julia Alexander to break down the massive success of KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s second-most-watched original film, and why it’s keeping Sony’s executives up at night. Then they debate the Duffer brothers’ jump from Netflix to Paramount—and whether their defection signals a broader shift in Hollywood.

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