
Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt and Dominic Sessa in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ (2025)
Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection
Angel Studios has done it again.
After winning over the heartland with the 2023 trafficking thriller Sound of Freedom which posted a 3-day of $19.6M (and a six-day start of $41.6M), the faith-based media company posted its best opening for a live-action feature with Jon Erwin’s historical period pic, Young Washington, which conquered its $15M forecast with a $20.8M opening.
Director, producer and co-writer Jon Erwin (I Can Only Imagine) hit social to announce that a Revolutionary War follow-up, 1776, is already in the works.
Young Washington among all of Angels Studios’ domestic openings, ranks second behind last December’s animated title David ($22M).
At a time when few distributors are making movies for the middle of the U.S. post Warner Bros’ 2014 mammoth American Sniper ($350M domestic), indie distributors like Angel Studios are picking up the slack; Sound of Freedom finaling at $184.1M stateside. Young Washington played big in the Mountain, Midwest, Southcentral, and South regions which drove 67% of the pic’s weekend take. And that’s without premium large format screens. The top grossing theater wasn’t the AMC Burbank in LA or AMC Lincoln Center in NYC, which is what we typically see on any big grossing movie, rather The Megaplex 18 Thanksgiving Point in Utah which collected $111K to date. On July 4th, Young Washington was No. 2 at the domestic B.O. with $7.6M behind Minions & Monsters‘ $9.4M.
The over 55 crowd showed up at a big 47% to Young Washington — remarkable, as that demographic has been even slower to trickle out post Covid. Overall CinemaScore was an A and a great 81% definite recommend on Screen Engine/Rentrak’s PostTrak.
In the movie, William Franklyn-Miller plays the Father of Our Country with Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Mary-Louise Parker and Kelsey Grammer co-starring.
Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt after seeing a screening, rounded up his fans on social, ordering them to “get off your ass and run to the movie theater, I’ve just seen Young Washington…it’s like The Revenant, it’s like Pride and Prejudice, it’s like Braveheart…”
Brandon Purdie, EVP of Theatrical at Angel, said in a statement this AM, “Seeing audiences across the country embrace Young Washington during our nation’s 250th anniversary celebration has been incredibly meaningful. This milestone is a testament to the power of great storytelling and to our outstanding partners at Wonder Project and 2521 Entertainment, who helped bring this remarkable film to life. We’re grateful to exhibitors nationwide, to every Angel Guild member, and to every moviegoer who chose to experience Young Washington together in theaters this holiday weekend.”
“The American experiment is one of the greatest origin stories in history, and George Washington’s journey through failure, perseverance, and sacrifice forged the leader who would help shape a nation,” said Erwin who is also the Chief Creative Officer of the pic’s production company, Wonder Project. “To share that journey with audiences alongside Angel as our nation marks its 250th anniversary has been one of the greatest honors of my career. My hope is that this is the beginning of many extraordinary American stories told through film and television.”
By the way, colonial has popped off cannons before at the B.O.: Remember the 2000 Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger action pic The Patriot from Roland Emmerich? That posted a 3-day of $22.4M, and a 7-day opening of $44.5M over the July 4th stretch, ending its run at $113.3M in North America.
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Two milestones helped Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks deliver strong viewership. The 50th edition of the special held on America’s 250th anniversary amassed 11.2 million viewers across multiple telecasts and platforms (NBC, Peacock and Telemundo), NBC said Sunday, citing preliminary Nielsen data.
The network did not release viewership last year, when the special was simulcast on NBCUniversal sibling Telemundo for the first time. According to the company, the special was up 59% in total viewers and 96% in the 18-49 demo from 2025, which would peg the total viewership last year at around 7 million.
In addition to the 8 PM main telecast and 10 PM rebroadcast on NBC, the network added a late-night 11:30 PM repeat this year for the first time, which is part of the 2026 viewership cume. In its original 8-10 PM airing on NBC, the fireworks drew 5.1 million viewers, which was up 42% from last year and the best since 2019; on Peacock, the hours watched were up 140% vs. 2025, per the network.
In 2024, the special drew 7.6 million viewers across two telecasts on NBC as well as Peacock.
According to NBCU, this is 4th of July Fireworks‘ largest viewership since 2018 when it only aired on NBC.
Last night’s event featured performances by Noah Kahan, Post Malone, Salt-N-Pepa, Bebe Rexha, Shaboozey and Blake Shelton. The celebration included more than 85,000 shells in 30 colors – paired with a laser show from the Brooklyn Bridge.
Produced by Grammy Award-winning composer Jason Howland, the 27-minute score featured a live performance by NBC’s The Voice Season 29 winner Alexia Jayy.
The Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks telecast is produced for NBC by Jesse Collins Entertainment with Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay executive producing and with Macy’s Studios and Universal Television.
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Ask many cinephiles to pick the best American film ever made and many might pick The Godfather. That’s long been the go-to answer for most.
But ask the question in a slightly different way — “What film most definitively captures the American experience?” — and The Godfather comes in second.
The New York Times recently put the latter query to readers on the country’s 250th anniversary. The 3,000 respondents most often mentioned a less vaunted 2006 picture: Mike Judge‘s Idiocracy.
The film, a science fiction vision set 500 years in the future, depicts the U.S. as an anti-intellectual dystopia. In it, Terry Crews plays President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, whose qualifications include being a “five-time ultimate smackdown champion and porn superstar.”
According to the Times, “Some commenters seemed almost sad to list it, linking it to their feelings about the country today, while more than one described it as a documentary.”
For some, the wrestling connection became even more relevant when President Trump hosted a UFC fight at the White House last month.
Among them was former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who wrote on X, “If anyone defends Trump saying there will be a ufc fight on the White House lawn never listen to them again. Plot to Idiocracy with an equally stupid ass president.”
As for The Godfather, well, it came in second.
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After three movies, Jesse Eisenberg is patiently awaiting another magical journey with the Four Horsemen.
The 2x Oscar nominee recently admitted he’s “never felt happier” than when playing street magician J. Daniel Atlas in the Now You See Me movies, noting that he’d “love to do” a fourth installment.
“Honestly, I’d love to do Now You See Me 4 more than anything else,” he told The Wrap. “I’ve never felt happier than when playing that part.”
Eisenberg continued, “Normally I play depressed people, which makes me depressed, but playing that confident, arrogant magician, I walk away everyday thinking, ‘That was amazing.’ It’s the only character where I get to stand up straight and wear a nicer outfit. It’s my happiest place.”
He most recently reprised his performance as Atlas in the Ruben Fleischer-helmed Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, which premiered in November, reuniting Eisenberg with Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo.

Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt and Dominic Sessa in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ (2025)
Lionsgate/Courtesy Everett Collection
The ensemble previously starred together in Now You See Me (2013) and Now You See Me (2016), which saw the elusive team of magicians, the Four Horsemen, as they carry out large-scale illusions across the globe in their mission to take down a corrupt and powerful few.
Last year, Lionsgate chair Adam Fogelson announced at CinemaCon that Fleishcher will return to direct the fourth installment in the Now You See Me franchise, which has grossed more than $932M worldwide.
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