Happy Returnuary

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Welcome back, Future Party. If you like movies, there’s a pretty good chance you caught Avatar: Fire & Ash over the holiday break. But filmmaker James Cameron is hedging his bet that the new title will be as successful as the first two installments (the first and third highest-grossing movies of all time). He announced plans years ago to make two more Avatar films — but if Fire & Ash doesn't blow up the box office, he says he may just call it quits and spoil the plots of the remaining sequels in a press conference. Not going to lie, we’d buy tickets to that.

Netflix will air a video version of the ultra-popular The Bill Simmons Podcast every Sunday to analyze the weekend’s NFL football games.

The Big Picture: Netflix is making a late push for podcast dominance as watching them increasingly becomes the preferred way for many people to tune in. Paying top dollar to license video podcasts is pennies on the dollar for a company accustomed to producing premium film and TV — and it gives the streamer plenty of lean-back content to keep users engaged.

Behind The Scenes: Netflix found an ingenious way to get football fans to fire up Netflix outside of their Christmas games.

Closing Thoughts: Bill Simmons’ appearance on Netflix is part of a wide-ranging deal the streamer struck with Spotify Studios and Simmons’ media network, The Ringer (acquired by Spotify in 2020), which will bring several shows to the platform next year. It’s all part of Netflix’s recent deal blitz in the space, which has included exclusive video-podcast agreements with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports.

The one place Simmons’ show won’t live is YouTube — Spotify’s archrival, and increasingly, Netflix’s too. Netflix maintains that YouTube is the only streaming platform that truly competes with it for users’ attention (at least, that’s the argument it’s making in its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery), which helps explain why it’s aggressively building out its podcast, gaming, and creator content. Netflix wants to be in every category.

Next Episode: If video podcasts take off on Netflix, we may be looking at the future of linear talk shows.

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After the highs of the holiday shopping season, retailers are prepping for the lows: the post-holiday return season.

Why It Hurts: For many, the week after Christmas is thankfully slow — a time to recoup before the new year. But for retailers, it’s one of the busiest periods as shoppers return the gifts they don’t want. That surge of returns cuts into the outsized revenues brands enjoyed in November and December.

Between The Exchanges: Axios reports that the last days of December and the first couple of weeks of January are known throughout the retail industry as “Returnuary.”

Final Receipt: So, what are people returning? Clothes and shoes usually top the list, mainly because sizing is so hard to get right. Next come accessories like hats and jewelry, followed by electronics and other gadgets. What people don’t return much of are toys and beauty products — items that move through fewer trend cycles.

Here’s something that might blow your mind: According to Emily Hosie, founder and CEO of open-box marketplace REBEL, most returned items get lost in the shuffle because there’s little infrastructure to get them back on shelves. Instead, they become part of the roughly 8.4 billion pounds of returns that end up in landfills every year. Sorry, grandma — it turns out that awful sweater really did wind up in the trash.

Next Order: With AI-powered shopping set to take off next year, it’s possible the rate of returns could change dramatically… but the jury’s still out on whether it’ll go up or down.

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61% of you voted Yes in Friday’s poll: Have you ever watched Stranger Things?

“I got sucked in on day one. The ’80s nostalgia drew me in, but the story and unexpected quality kept me coming back every season.”

“Watched and rewatched it three times. I’ve bought tons of merch — even the Eggos. I’ve traveled to events in other states with my sister. I guess I’m a diehard fan.”

“Yes, from the very beginning. This last season just feels like going through the motions, though. So much time has passed between seasons that I don’t feel as engaged with the story as before — I just want it to be over.”

“What started as a nice, little nostalgic ’80s-era creepy throwback has turned into a big, incomprehensible mess. Yet I still watch… insert eye roll.”

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.

🍿 Disney is the only studio this year to surpass $6 billion at the global box office thanks to Lilo & Stitch, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash.

🎥 Timothée Chalamet now officially rules the Christmas box office after successfully opening Wonka, A Complete Unknown, and Marty Supreme over the past three years.

🎤 Bad Bunny’s 31-show residency in Puerto Rico generated a minimum of $176.6 million in economic impact for the country.

🤖 Nvidia is dishing out $20 billion to license rival Groq’s tech and hire its leadership.

🚗 Waymo is developing its own in-car AI assistant, powered by Google Gemini.

🔋 Jaguar has built its last car with an internal combustion engine as it transitions to an EV-only brand.

📦 The White House has punted its planned semiconductor import tariffs on China to 2027.

🏦 JPMorgan Chase is suspending the accounts of stablecoin startups that do business in legally risky countries.

💸 Nike’s shares popped after Apple CEO Tim Cook bought $3 million in stock.