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Briefed by Night Shift

Thursday, September 24, 2026 Evening Edition Entertainment · News · Sports

Above the fold

Executive summary

  • Weekend box office: Avengers: Endgame Encore (~$25–28M) battles Resident Evil (~$25–35M hold) for No. 1; Primetime, Heart of the Beast, and Forgotten Island fill out the top five.
  • Couch picks: Paramount+ Jackass: Best and Last tonight; Friday brings Netflix Unabomber (Russell Crowe), HBO Max Backrooms, and Apple TV’s Brothers.
  • Worth knowing: U.S. secondary sanctions grounded Iranian airline flights across the Gulf; Tehran floated a Hormuz reopen + talks proposal. Russia strikes killed at least eight in Ukraine hours after Zelenskyy’s UN speech.
  • Local: Rockies closed Coors with a 12–8 loss (57–102); Broncos host Rams Sunday Night at 6:20 p.m. MT; Buffs open Big 12 at Baylor Saturday; Avs open Sep 30.

Entertainment

Box office

Endgame Encore vs Resident Evil: a crowded weekend at the multiplex

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil reboot opened last weekend to about $60.15 million domestic, a franchise record, and had reached roughly $72.4 million domestically by Tuesday. Trackers disagree on week two: some still see a $30–35 million hold and another No. 1, while Gold Derby’s Thursday forecast puts Disney’s Avengers: Endgame Encore slightly ahead at about $25–28 million, with Resident Evil near $25 million as the two split Imax screens. Anything above about $25.6 million for Endgame would top Titanic’s 2012 3D re-release for the biggest re-release opening weekend.

New releases crowd the undercard. A24’s Primetime (Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen; ~$18M forecast) and Paramount’s Heart of the Beast (Brad Pitt and a combat dog in Alaska; ~$17M) open wide, with DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island (~$15M, 100% Rotten Tomatoes in early tracking) as the weekend’s best-reviewed animated title. If you want one theater night before Monday’s tally, it’s either Endgame nostalgia with a Doomsday peek or another Resident Evil walk-up.

Sources: Gold Derby weekend forecast, Variety opening weekend, The Numbers (Resident Evil)

Streaming

Thursday–Friday couch menu: Jackass farewell, Unabomber, Backrooms

Paramount+ adds Jackass: Best and Last today. Johnny Knoxville and the crew’s theatrical farewell mixes new stunts with greatest hits. Friday’s heavier slate: Netflix premieres Unabomber, with Jacob Tremblay as young Ted Kaczynski and Russell Crowe in the true-crime thriller; HBO Max brings Kane Parsons’s Backrooms feature (Chiwetel Ejiofor); Apple TV launches Brothers, a mockumentary-style comedy with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as possible half-siblings.

Also in the weekend pile: Netflix’s Great British Baking Show Season 17 (Nigella Lawson joining Paul Hollywood), the A Different World revival, FX’s American Horror Story Season 13 on Hulu, Sharon Horgan’s Youth on HBO Max, and Prime Video’s Spa Weekend (Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau, Anna Faris). Pick one short comedy or one true-crime night and leave the rest for Sunday.

Sources: When to Stream (9/20–9/27), Tom’s Guide Netflix thrillers, GamesRadar+ weekend streaming

News

World

Iran flights grounded as U.S. ‘economic D-Day’ hits; Tehran floats Hormuz talks

Reuters reported Thursday that Iranian airline flights to Gulf neighbors including the UAE were suspended after a U.S. deadline for companies worldwide to stop doing business with Iran’s carriers, the first sharp visible impact of secondary sanctions President Trump has dubbed “economic D-Day.” The UAE’s aviation authority said it was suspending Iranian airline flights until further notice; Iranian media also reported shutdowns toward Oman, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Baghdad, with authorities trying to reroute some traffic to Najaf.

Separately, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Washington Post that Iran has given the Trump administration a proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks on ending the broader war within seven days. Treat the dual headlines as one story: pressure on the air network and a diplomatic opening at UNGA week, both fluid overnight.

Sources: Reuters (Iran flights / sanctions), Washington Post (Iran proposal)

World

Russia strikes kill at least eight in Ukraine after Zelenskyy’s UN speech

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least eight people on Thursday as U.S. diplomacy continued on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Reporting from Al Jazeera and the Guardian put seven dead in a strike on a farm in Kharkiv region (about a dozen injured) and two more dead in Kyiv, including one near a damaged maternity hospital parking lot, with more injured. The strikes came hours after President Zelenskyy urged leaders to keep choking Russia’s revenues.

Diplomats kept talking: U.S. officials met separately with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts at UNGA, Germany’s foreign minister called for an immediate ceasefire starting in the Black Sea to protect grain exports, and Turkey’s Erdogan pressed Zelenskyy on commercial shipping safety.

Sources: Al Jazeera, The Guardian live blog

Sports

MLB

Rockies close Coors with a 12–8 loss; four straight 100-loss seasons

Arizona beat Colorado 12–8 on Thursday in the Rockies’ final home game of the season. Nolan Arenado and Gabriel Moreno homered in a six-run first; the Diamondbacks finished with a season-high 18 hits and a five-game winning streak heading into San Diego. Colorado dropped to a major league-worst 57–102, the third-most losses in club history, and became the first team since the 1962–65 Mets with four straight 100-loss seasons. The Rockies have lost 16 of 19 and been swept 13 times this year.

Cole Carrigg had four hits and a three-run homer in a four-run seventh; Kyle Karros and Zac Veen also went deep. It was a loud farewell for a long season at Coors, not a playoff race chapter.

Sources: Denver7 / AP

NFL · CFB

Broncos host Rams on Sunday Night; Buffs open Big 12 at Baylor

Denver (1–1) hosts the Los Angeles Rams (1–1) at Empower Field on Sunday, September 27, kickoff 6:20 p.m. MT on NBC (Peacock / NFL+ streaming). Bo Nix and the offense spent the week preparing for a remade Rams front that includes Aaron Donald’s return from retirement; Myles Garrett remains out after a Week 1 injury. L.A. is a slight road favorite and leads the all-time series.

College football Saturday: Colorado opens Big 12 play at Baylor in Waco (11 a.m. CT window on ESPN/ESPN2 per Baylor). Avalanche regular-season opener remains Wednesday, September 30, at Ball Arena against the Kings (7 p.m. MT). Weekend sports board: Buffs Saturday, Broncos Sunday night, Avs count starts next week.

Sources: Broncos Wire broadcast map, Rams how to watch, Mile High Report (Nix / Rams D), Baylor game center, Avalanche schedule