Black Monday: Tariffs Cause Panic In Hollywood; SXSW Shake-up; Indie Documentaries Struggle To Sell; Prop Shop Fighting
A chaotic Monday, as Trump proposed 100% tariffs on foreign film production. Documentary filmmakers are struggling for sales and South By Southwest has a leadership shake-up.
Today is Monday, May 5th. There is a LOT happening today. Here's what you need to know.
🎥 Today's Headlines
Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films has caused widespread panic across the global film industry today. The tariff has potential impact on international production, streaming distribution, film production costs, and film-related jobs. (Source: Deadline)
Writer Stephen Follows explains that most Hollywood films are actually international co-productions, making it hard to define what counts as "American-made." (Source: Stephen Follows)
Jenny Connelly of PMC has replaced longtime executive Hugh Forrest as head of SXSW. This is a major leadership shake-up, marking a new era for the festival as it expands globally. (Source: Variety)
At Chicago’s Doc10 Festival, filmmakers declared the documentary streaming boom over, due to declining sales, prompting calls for new distribution models. Academy Award-winning producer Geralyn Dreyfous said: "The market for streamers is not coming back. To go into these film festivals like Sundance and think that you are going to get a big sale is la la land." (Source: Variety)
History for Hire, a beloved Hollywood prop house packed with meticulously curated vintage items, faces an uncertain future due to declining local film production and rising costs. (Source: New York Times)
💰 Box Office Rankings
Weekend - May 2nd-4th
1) Thunderbolts* - $76.0M
2) Sinners - $33.0M
3) A Minecraft Movie - $13.7M
4) The Accountant 2 - $9.5M
5) Until Dawn - $3.8M
Source: Box Office Mojo
🎬 MNP Studio Index
Monday, May 5th (Market Close)
📉 DOWN (-1.88%)
Summary: A bloodbath. A truly horrible day for the studios.
Notable: The threat of 100% tariffs on international film production crushed the industry, as costs could skyrocket.
Biggest gainer: No stock closed up.
Biggest loser: Lionsgate was down big (5%).
📱MNP Streaming Index
Monday, May 5th (Market Close)
📉 DOWN (-1.31%)
Summary: Brutal. The index closed down 1.31%, as tariff threats cause shocks through Hollywood.
Notable: 9 of 10 streaming stock were down on the day.
Biggest gainer: Alphabet actually closed up (0.11%). YouTube's content machine (individual creators) is outside of Hollywood, and likely won't be impacted by foreign production tariffs.
Biggest loser: Apple was down (-3.15%) on earnings fears, analyst downgrades and tariff pressures.
🍿MNP Theater Index
Monday, May 5th (Market Close)
📉 DOWN (-1.76%)
Summary: Every stock closed down for the day.
Notable: It's been a tough run for AMC. The popular theater chain is now down -10.77% since we started the index March 17th.
Biggest gainer: None.
Biggest loser: Marcus was down big (-3.36%).
Film Festivals & Conferences Today
- Milwaukee Film Festival, US – April 24–May 8
- IndieLisboa Film Festival, Portugal – May 1–11
- UK Asian Film Festival, UK – May 1–11
- Doc’n Roll Brooklyn, US – May 5–10
Upcoming Festivals & Conferences
- Screen Forever, Australia – May 6–8
- Cine International Film Festival, UK – May 7–10
- DocsBarcelona, Spain – May 8–18
- HipHop CineFest, Italy – May 9–10
- Cannes Film Festival, France – May 13–24
- Marché du Film, France – May 13–21
- Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, US – May 14–18
- Harlem International Film Festival, US – May 15–18
- Ridgefield Independent Film Festival, US – May 15–18
- Seattle International Film Festival, US – May 15–25
Watch This Tonight
Bottoms (2023), Directed by Emma Seligman
Need a laugh? Here's one of the funniest high school comedies of the last few years.
Disclaimer/Transparency
MovieNewsPro is a film industry news monitoring service. All stories have been previously reported elsewhere and are not exclusive stories to MNP. All information is believed to be accurate at the time of reporting. MovieNewsPro uses a full array of technology to gather information, including machine learning, automation and artificial intelligence throughout its business monitoring, editing and reporting process. MovieNewsPro sector indexes (Streaming, Studio and Theater) are virtual indexes - there are no actual funds invested. Sector index total value dollar amounts are based on an initial hypothetical investment of $100,000 on March 17th, 2025. We are not licensed investment advisors and our information should not be used as investment advice.
