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‘Saiyaara’ Soars; ‘Superman’ Hangs Tough; Stephen Colbert Fallout

‘Saiyaara’ Soars; ‘Superman’ Hangs Tough; Stephen Colbert Fallout

Indian moviegoers are abuzz about the Gen Z romantic comedy “Saiyaara” that has lit up the box office in Bollywood and beyond.

On today’s episode of “Daily Variety,” Variety correspondent Naman Ramachandran gives the backstory on “Saiyaara” and why it’s the first rom-com to hit big in Bollywood for years.

On the North America front, “Superman” held up well in its second weekend, as Rebecca Rubin, senior film and media reporter, explains. And senior TV editor Brian Steinberg discusses the fallout from CBS’ monumental decision to draw the curtain on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” after the 2025-26 season.

With “Saiyaara,” which translates to “Wandering Star” in English, the movie touched a nerve, and distributor Yash Raj Films took an unusual approach to marketing the movie, Ramachandran says.

“They adopted the less-is-more strategy. They let the content do the talking,” Ramachandran says. “So they put out the songs. They put out the trailer, which was a very well-cut trailer. They kept the lead pair [of actors] fairly quiet. It’s only the director who spoke to the media, including to Variety. Stars Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda did not do any promotional appearances. They did not visit malls. They did not visit cinemas. There were no influencer appearances, and they were not all over social media. So, there was a thirst for people to know more.”

“Saiyaara” is contributing to a 14% year-over-year gain for the Indian box office, Ramachandran adds.

As for “Superman,” Rubin says the second weekend of its run was solid but there are still questions about whether it is strong enough to lay the foundation for 10 years’ worth of movies to come. Next year Warner Bros. and DC will look to build on the momentum with “Supergirl” and “Clayface.”

“The second weekend shows that there is genuine interest in this movie. It’s been well received, which is very important in terms of earning back the goodwill of DC fans, but it’s really not this runaway, undeniable smash,” Rubin says. “So there’s still this wait-and-see element about how much excitement there will be for the franchise without Superman as the marquee character.”

In tracking the response to the bombshell July 17 news that CBS will ax “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” after the 2025-26 season, Steinberg says this news has hit so much harder than most cancellations because of what it says about the state of broadcast network TV. And the Trump factor — the fact that CBS parent company just reached at $16 million settlement with the president — is impossible to ignore, given Colbert’s history of skewering Trump.

“Yes, there’s still some debate over whether CBS canceled this because of this upcoming merger with Skydance and Stephen’s tendency towards anti-Trump humor, or just because late-night’s not doing so great,” Steinberg says. “But the fact of the matter is, this show is going away. CBS is going to get out of this business. They’ve been getting out of it for the last couple of months, canceling the 12:30 show with Taylor Tomlinson. And now this program as well. It is a sizeable shrinking of late night TV as we know it. And a sign that a very significant piece of Americana — late night TV — is having a tough time staying relevant in today’s digital world.”

(Pictured: “Saiyaara”)

Listen to Daily Variety on iHeartPodcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify and other podcast platforms.


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