Get Your Tickets For 2026

PRESENTED BY SUPERHUMAN AI

Happy Wednesday, Future Party. As summer heats up, the mosquitoes come out. But now we have the technology to literally shoot those blood-sucking insects out of the sky with the Photon Matrix. Chinese engineer Jim Wong has outfitted a black box with AI that can pinpoint and zap 30 mosquitoes per second with lasers. Yes, lasers. Round of applause for Wong.

Tickets to see Christopher Nolan’s next epic, The Odyssey, in IMAX will go on sale July 17th — a full year before the movie releases.

The Big Picture: Releasing tickets for a movie a year in advance has never been done in Hollywood history (as far as we can tell), with even the biggest blockbusters typically making showtimes available only a couple of months ahead at most. But with Nolan essentially serving as the biggest IP in movies and IMAX commanding unprecedented demand, Universal is betting that it’s never too early to start building hype.

Behind the Scenes: Universal has a lot of confidence in The Odyssey — a big-budget adaptation of the classic Greek epic poem — which is set to open on July 17th, 2026.

Final Credits: IMAX is quickly becoming synonymous with big-screen moviegoing. As typical movie theater screens often lag in quality at many locations, IMAX has cemented itself as the best format for watching something epic and has evolved into a filmmaker-approved immersive experience that justifies a premium ticket price — especially in the limited 70mm format.

In other words, IMAX is a bona fide event. It’s why people crossed state lines to watch Oppenheimer on IMAX screens, why audiences waited weeks to see Sinners in the format earlier this year, and why Barbie filmmaker Greta Gerwig strong-armed Netflix into releasing her next movie, Narnia, in the format before it debuts on the streamer.

Coming Soon: We wouldn’t be surprised if the major cinema chains rushed to build more IMAX 70mm screens ahead of The Odyssey’s release.

Join 1M+ top performers learning AI tools and skills in just three minutes a day.

Sign up now!

Roblox wants to make it easier to create experiences based on big IP by rolling out a dedicated hub that connects blue-chip entertainment companies with game developers.

Why It Plays: Roblox has proved that it can make a serious impact on demand for entertainment properties, whether it’s driving ticket sales for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, launching a gamified trailer for the latest Godzilla x Kong movie, or creating original content tied to Gabby’s Dollhouse. That exposure is crucial for entertainment companies seeking to capture younger audiences who may not be reached through other marketing channels.

Behind the Experiences: Netflix, Lionsgate, Sega, and manga/anime company Kodansha are the first companies on Roblox’s new “License Manager.”

Final Level: To start, Netflix is giving developers the opportunity to play around with Stranger Things and Squid Game; Lionsgate is giving access to Twilight, Saw, Divergent, and Now You See Me; Sega is adding Like A Dragon; and Kodansha is putting up Blue Lock and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Considering that Epic Games’ Fortnite has inked a wide-ranging partnership with Disney to bring Star Wars into the battle royale game, it looks like the metaverse-esque IP war among Hollywood studios is about to heat up.

Prediction: Studios will likely develop a Fortnite or Roblox strategy for their franchises to help expand awareness among Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Big things are happening in sports and entertainment. If you’re having trouble keeping up, then you need to join Boardroom.

Co-founded by NBA star Kevin Durant and entrepreneur Rich Kleiman, Boardroom is a media network that covers the ways athletes, entertainers, and execs are moving the business world forward.

Boardroom’s daily newsletters bring you the latest blockbuster media deals, athlete investments and partnerships, and industry-shifting trends… in just three minutes a day. 

Get in the know and subscribe like a pro.

55.7% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Do cupholders influence your overall opinion of a car?

“Sigh, such an American thing. -Signed, an American.”

“Cupholders are certainly not the prime reason I consider a vehicle... or even the second or third. But I can picture ongoing frustration if the design fights its function.”

“I want to see a car designed for a woman driver where she can safely store her pocketbook. Maybe a bigger space between the seats or a pop-out compartment on the back side of the driver’s seat. My purse is small, but there’s still no good place to put it. I drive a Mazda CX-5.”

“Yes, a good cupholder is crucial, especially if you’re someone who commutes a lot for work or takes road trips!”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🏆 HBO scored its most Emmy nominations ever — a whopping 142 nominations — thanks to The White Lotus, The Last of Us, Hacks, and The Penguin.

📺 South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are preparing for a legal battle with the new Paramount owners.

🤣 Influential comedy festival Just For Laughs has scored $20 million in TV deals.

💰 Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab is already worth $12 billion from its seed funding round led by a16z alone.

💊 SpaceX is developing an in-orbit drug development program using its troubled Starship.

🤖 The White House organized billions of dollars in investment from Blackstone, Google, and CoreWeave to build a new AI hub in Pennsylvania.

₿ The Department of Justice has dropped its investigation into the crypto-based prediction market Polymarket.

🛒 Shopify made moves to bar third-party AI agents from making purchases on the platform without final human review.

👗 Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen and biodesigner Chris Bellamy created a dress using 145 million bioluminescent microalgae. Whoa.