Who actually paid for the fourth quarter
Three financiers, one streamer and a telco underwrote most of what reached screens between October and December. The ledger, as best as it can be reconstructed.
Public numbers in this industry are partial by design, so treat what follows as a reconstruction rather than an audit. It is assembled from filings, distributor statements, and conversations with people on both sides of the money.
The headline finding is concentration. A small number of balance sheets stood behind a large share of the quarter, and the terms attached to that money were, in several cases, more expensive than the headline budgets suggest.
Where the risk actually sits
Producers are carrying more of the downside than the announcements imply. Several of the quarter’s larger titles were structured with recoupment positions that leave the production company last in line, behind a financier, a distributor fee, and a marketing advance.
That structure works when a film performs. It is punishing when a film merely does fine, which is what most films do.