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They’re back, baby. After a decade-long hiatus, the animated sci-fi sitcom Futurama has returned (once again) for its 11th season. Despite multiple cancellations over the years, the award-winning series recently debuted on Hulu after signing a new 20-episode deal with the streamer in 2022. But as they say, “third time’s a charm.” We only hope this time around is a little smoother for the show than its run at Fox.
In other news… “Barbenheimer” breaks the box office, Twitter officially rebrands as X, and the creator economy gets reshuffled.
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ENTERTAINMENT
“Barbenheimer” rules the box office in a win for movies
The Future. With Greta Gerwig’s Barbie making $162 million domestically, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer pulling in $82.4 million, some major box office records were shattered, reinforcing that two blockbusters can open simultaneously and not cannibalize each other. In the best-case scenario, prepare for studios to no longer worry about stepping on each other’s toes when releasing blockbusters — a big win for both audiences and the theatrical business.
Original marquee
“Barbenheimer” dropped into cineplexes… and made quite a boom.
The two films powered the fourth-biggest domestic weekend at the box office, with $311.1 million.
It’s the first time two movies opened to more than $80 million each in the US simultaneously.
And the movies fueled each other, not just as an online phenomenon, but also because 6% of Oppenheimer’s audience saw it after Barbie was sold out, according to The Quorum.
Oh, and together, they accounted for $511 million in revenue worldwide — a massive haul.
So, how did Barbie and Oppenheimer blow away expectations? Tom Brueggemann of Indiewire points to audiences’ latent desire for originality in a sea of franchises, while Owen Gleiberman of Variety points to two visionary filmmakers having the freedom to craft stories that surprised us.
No matter the reason, the achievement comes at the worst time for the entertainment industry, which is in the throes of a double strike, is tinkering with pushing big theatrical releases to next year, and has the largest exhibitor in the country saying it may go bankrupt. In the words of Universal’s chief marketing officer, Michael Moses, “It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times.”
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SOCIAL MEDIA
X marks the ambition // Illustration by Kate Walker
Elon Musk reboots his X dreams
The Future. With Twitter’s latest rebranding move, Elon Musk hopes to transform the platform into a super app that’s much more than a text-based social platform and fulfill a lifelong ambition to run a payments company called “X.” The problem is super apps, while popular in China, may not be appealing in the US… and may make Twitter execs desperate to find an X on a treasure map to solve their ongoing financial problems.
Bye bye birdie
Musk just can’t let his X dreams go.
Twitter is already stripping the nest of all things blue bird, including the logo, the HQ sign, and even the name of tweets. But the endeavor is still half-finished.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, though, as Musk has a longstanding obsession with X, starting with his first company that became PayPal (he also wanted to rename that company X before getting the boot).
And since then, he has included X in the names of all his companies… and even one of his children.
With X, Musk hopes to transition the app-formerly-known-as-Twitter into a super app that covers everything from banking to payments to video.
But there’s one problem. According to THR’s Alex Weprin in a tweet… er… x (we’ll get a handle on this), “It appears Instagram and FB owner Meta holds the trademark for ‘X’ as it relates to ‘online social networking services... social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming, and application development…’”
That’s some next-level trolling from Musk’s arch nemesis.
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TOGETHER WITH RYSE
Last chance to invest in the company that slayed the Dragons
The pioneers in smart doorbell technology, RING, pitched their business on the hit show Shark Tank at a valuation of just $7 million — and the Sharks shut them down.
Five years later, the company sold to Amazon for more than $1 billion, turning the 10% stake offered to the Sharks from $700,000 to $100 million.
A similar story is brewing in the smart shades segment of the industry. A company called RYSE pitched on the Canadian version of Shark Tank called Dragon’s Den.
The difference? RYSE received two offers and has an addressable market that could be significantly larger than RING’s.
The hallmark of all successful smart home products is their ability to launch into retail, and RYSE’s recent deal with Best Buy has put them miles ahead of the competition.
ENTERTAINMENT
Actor or influencer?
Hollywood strikes could rearrange the creator economy
The Future. Similar to how the 2008 writers strike fueled the rise of reality TV, the current double strike may spark a surge in the creator economy’s influence. But digital creators may be in solidarity with striking writers and actors more than studios expect, which could develop further crossover between the two creator classes. When the strikes inevitably end, the potential work done today on social media could be the basis of tomorrow’s premium movies and TV shows.
Picket content
Some think as the strikes rage on, studios will turn to digital creators for new content, as they’re seemingly the only people they can still work with.
But SAG-AFTRA has made clear any work done by creators that promotes titles for struck companies is considered scabbing and will bar influencers from joining the union.
Many creators are taking that seriously, agreeing their work is in lockstep with the work of Hollywood professionals — especially as SAG lets creators join with “influencer agreements.”
Meanwhile, analysts believe the strike will actually inspire more professional writers and actors to give the creator economy a try, as Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel did during the pandemic with their Twitch channel, “FriendZone,” which garnered millions of viewers and scored a sponsorship deal with Hyundai.
As the work stoppage dwindles savings accounts, the opportunities presented by TikTok, Twitch, and Instagram may be too hard to pass up… or Hollywood professionals may just find they’re the best places to grow followings for independent projects or show a different side of their creativity.
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Leagues like the NFL, NBA, and MLB are reportedly in talks with ESPN to take a minority equity stake in the brand — a move that would ensure the network gets both extra capitalization and first dibs on in-demand content. Read more → cnbc
Despite never grabbing headlines, no genre of music sells more physical albums than Rock — seven times more than the next seven genres put together. Read more → robabelow
Comic-Con is hitting the high seas in 2025 with Comic-Con: The Cruise. Read more → thr
Fashion & E-Commerce
Saint Laurent is selling secondhand band T-shirts for a pretty penny as part of its new collection, “The Vintage.” Read more → bof
MSCHF and Crocs are collaborating on a Big Yellow Boot… and got Paris Hilton to go full Kill Bill to show them off. Read more → highsnobiety
adidas made $565 million when it offloaded the rest of its unsold YEEZY footwear earlier this year, fulfilling over four million orders. Read more → forbes
Tech, Web3, & AI
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is scanning eyeballs with a giant metallic orb for his newly launched crypto project, Worldcoin, which aims to create a unique digital identity based on “proof of personhood.” Read more → bloomberg
Churn, baby, churn: the US government is considering updating the laws around the difficulty of canceling a digital subscription, opting to make it much easier, potentially. Read more → thr
200 school districts are suing social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat over the alleged harm it causes students. Read more → wsj
Creator Economy
Marc Hustvedt, president of MrBeast’s sprawling empire, believes sticking to YouTube, programming for a global audience, and owning your work are key tenets of a successful influencer career. Read more → insider
While Musk starts making Twitter about more than text, TikTok is moving to take over the turf. Read more → tubefilter
Analytics company Emplifi found that while Instagram gives creators more reach, TikTok gives them more engagement. Read more → insider
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.