No Laughing Matter

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Happy Monday, Future Party. In what has to be the pinnacle of snacking while gaming, someone created a 3D-printed McDonald’s french fry holder that attaches to Nintendo Switch controllers — dubbed the “GamiFries” rig. It even features the golden arches logo in the center. Considering a Campaign study found that gamers’ top snack of choice is salty food, we can see this invention really taking off… and maybe even getting the official McDonald’s sign-off.

All of Hollywood is watching Paramount’s The Naked Gun — only the second big-screen comedy to hit theaters this year, and easily the one carrying the highest expectations — to see if it can revive the genre after a decade-long drought.

The Big Picture: Comedies used to be a mainstay on the big screen but have vanished from marquees seemingly more than any other genre. Yet people still love to laugh — stand-up comedy is bigger than ever, short-form comedy rules TikTok and YouTube, and last week’s Happy Gilmore 2 became the biggest film debut on Netflix ever. A theatrical-comedy renaissance feels overdue.

Behind The Scenes: Here’s why there’s so much pressure (probably too much pressure) on The Naked Gun to perform:

Last Laugh: The Naked Gun, which cost a relatively low $42 million to make, is projected to open between $15 and $17 million… a modest sum, but the hope is that great reviews and great word of mouth can keep people laughing for weeks on end. It’s an outcome that comedy filmmakers are rooting for, including Bridesmaids filmmaker Paul Feig, who told The WSJ that his last two movies, which went to streaming, played great when tested in a theater with a crowd but got a more mixed reception when released on Prime Video.

When it comes to comedy, getting the opportunity to laugh with strangers in a dark room can really make all the difference… for audiences, for filmmakers, and for the movie industry still needing people to come back at the same rate they did prior to COVID.

Coming Soon: If The Naked Gun succeeds, expect Hollywood not only to ramp up development of more straight-comedy films, but also to push for discovering a new generation of comedy stars — from SNL to stand-up stages to TikTok — who can keep the genre sustainable for years to come.

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Jake Adler, the 21-year-old founder of biotech and defense startup Pilgrim, cut his leg open on camera to show off his wound-healing gauze, Kingsfoil.

The Big Cut: Founders using their bodies as test subjects has ramped up in recent years, especially in the world of biotech, with figures like Bryan Johnson and Josie Zayner leading the charge. The practice comes with complex ethical considerations… but it’s also become a symbol of the “hardcore” work ethic currently celebrated in Silicon Valley.

Behind The Slice: Adler really wanted to show that he had full faith in his invention.

Last Wrap: Despite the existence of other hemostatic competitors, Adler’s stunt landed the California-based Pilgrim $4.3 million in seed funding in a round led by Cantos and Refractor. Ian Rountree, the founder of Cantos, said, “Maybe Jake took ‘blood, sweat, and tears’ a little too literally, but we co-led his pre-seed round [...] because of that intoxicating mix of intensity and a space sorely in need of innovation.”

Military applications are becoming the hottest sector in tech, so Kingsfoil is initially focused on serving the defense industry. And to demonstrate its commitment to current Silicon Valley culture, Pilgrim is squarely following the trends of other successful startups in the military space, including naming Kingsfoil after an item from The Lord of the Rings (see: Anduril, Palantir, and Erebor). 

Prediction: Even though Kingsfoil is aimed at serving the battlefield, it may only be a matter of time before it finds a way into every civilian first-aid kit.

Since 2020, the average annual growth rate of insured pets has grown by 20%. So if you’re also part of the growing movement of pet parents who want to go the extra mile to protect their furry children, check out this list of top-rated pet insurance companies.

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87.8% of you voted Yes in Friday’s poll: Have you ever watched a movie in IMAX?

“But always at a science museum.”

“The IMAX experience is great for action movies.”

“The ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast was worth the ticket price.”

“They give me vertigo, so no more!”

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.

📹 Meta is in talks with Pika, Runway, and Higgsfield about collaborating on AI-video tools.

🤖 Anthropic is building an “AI psychiatry” team to help give chatbots a personality.

👀 Public ChatGPT queries are being indexed by Google, allowing them to appear in Search results.

📈 The focus may be on Bitcoin’s growth in recent months, but rival crypto Ethereum has surged 54% over the last month.

💸 Shares of Carvana, one of the current meme stocks, popped a whopping 10,000% since late 2022… causing a $7 billion short squeeze.

😵‍💫 Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS has developed shapewear… for your face.

🚰 MrBeast and Mark Rober have launched the biggest fundraiser on YouTube ever for TeamWater.

📱 TikTok is rolling out its own Community Notes-esque fact-checking feature called “Footnotes.”

👨‍💻 A study out of Carnegie Mellon University found that 1 in 400 YouTube channels are being sold and repurposed to spread scams and share disinformation.