Hot Movie Summer

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Happy Wednesday, Future Party. Today, the world will finally lay eyes on Apple’s long-rumored foldable phone — the zenith of the device’s cultural return. Who knew that flicking open your phone to answer a call would become cool again? Feels like sixth grade all over again.

This summer’s box office was the biggest ever, crossing $4.76 billion worldwide.

The Big Picture: Plenty was written about the potential end of theatrical moviegoing during COVID, but 2026 has proven those headlines premature. People still love going to the movies, and this summer proved that making a habit of it is a tide that lifts all boats.

Behind The Scenes: This summer’s box office proved that Hollywood is still a very healthy business.

Deadline breaks it down:

Final Tally: Ultimately, the surge in demand goes back to the movies themselves. The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day were runaway hits, but a slate of surprise successes buoyed the box office, including Toy Story 5 (families), The Devil Wears Prada 2 (women), and Obsession (Gen Z). It underscored that not only do young people want to go to the movies to socialize, but older audiences who got used to staying home still feel FOMO.

Even more surprising, the box-office record was broken despite several high-profile tentpoles underperforming, including The Mandalorian and Grogu, Masters of the Universe, and Supergirl. If any of those had taken off, the box-office record could’ve stayed unbeatable for quite some time.

Coming Soon: Theatrical success is once again becoming the gold standard for cultural awareness, so it’s no surprise that even Netflix will start reporting box-office numbers. The company (and Apple) might even launch an official theatrical division sometime this year.

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There’s been a significant increase in “boomerang hiring” — companies welcoming back employees who previously worked there.

Why It Hits: The job market is in a weird place right now — there’s growth in some sectors, mass layoffs in others, and plenty of anxiety about how AI and high inflation are transforming the market on a daily basis. All that insecurity is pushing employees back to what they already know… and bosses are happy to oblige rather than sift through thousands of cold resumes.

Between The Lines: What goes around comes around — even in careers.

Closing Thoughts: According to Insider, what makes boomerang employees so valuable is that they already understand the company culture and processes, while also bringing new skills they learned at whatever company they left for. Of course, these employees have to have left on good terms.

Maybe the workforce is just becoming one big game of musical chairs.

The Future: In today’s competitive job market, the best way to get a promotion at the company you’re working for might be to leave it for a while.

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70% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever called a hotline?

“Unless you consider ‘911’ a hotline.”

“Poison control.”

“Many years ago, one of my dogs ate something he shouldn’t have. I needed to know how to induce vomiting — or if I even needed to do so — before going to an emergency vet that was over an hour away (when breaking the speed limit in a major way).”

“I volunteered to do the turkey one Thanksgiving. It was still frozen when I needed to start cooking it. I called the Butterball Turkey Hotline, and they helped me thaw it out, but I was really late getting it there for the meal. That was the last time I’ve ever done the turkey.”

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🎥 Congress has started drafting legislation for a baseline 20% federal film tax credit.

🎞️ Both the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter and the 50th anniversary screenings of the OG Star Wars are coming to IMAX 70mm.

👩‍💻 Stephen Colbert has raised $5 million to expand his cloud-based, collaborative screenwriting software, Scripto.

🧮 OpenAI claims to have solved one of the hardest math problems ever — the Navier-Stokes problem.

🤖 Meta officially rolled out its personal AI agent — Muse.

🧬 Google has debuted a tool called “AlphaGenome Atlas” that can allegedly track every possible DNA change in the human body.

👗 The 2026 LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers has been awarded to 27-year-old Belgian designer Julie Kegels.

🛋️ Zara Home released a 200-piece collection designed by filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and production designer Stefano Baisi.

👕 Duolingo debuted a fashion collection of apparel featuring brand names that are chronically mispronounced.