Sony Patents A Ghost

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It’s a new week, Future Party! There’s a lot going on in the world these days… which makes it feel harder than ever to focus on anything. No wonder The WSJ says one of the most important skills to master this year is “critical ignoring” — the ability to protect your time by intentionally tuning out information overload. Hey, that’s why we’re here — we’ll monitor the headlines for you.

The Rip, an upcoming Netflix movie produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, may have just pulled off a streaming first — negotiating a deal that would give every cast and crew member a bonus based on how the movie performs.

The Big Picture: Artists Equity was founded on the idea that movies could be made for less — and turn out better — if everyone involved in the production was entitled to a bonus when a film sold well, became a box-office hit, or racked up views on streaming services. The company has delivered on that promise with acquired films, but The Rip deal marks the first time it’s secured this kind of unique arrangement with a streamer that’s also financing the movie.

Behind The Scenes: The Rip — a $100 million crime thriller directed by Joe Carnahan — wants to make all 1,200 people involved in the production a little richer.

Final Tally: While Netflix chief creative officer Bela Bajaria said she’s not opposed to making more deals like this, she also mentioned that no one else has opted to since Affleck and Damon did so a couple of years ago. That likely means all of Hollywood is waiting to see how The Rip performs — and, maybe more importantly, scrolling crew members’ IG feeds to see whether anyone posts a direct-deposit receipt tied to the movie. That could open the floodgates to similar deals… as long as people with the stature of Affleck and Damon are the ones spearheading them.

Coming Soon: As it becomes increasingly likely that Netflix will acquire Warner Bros., The Rip deal could foreshadow how Netflix plans to handle bonuses — both theatrical and streaming — for those titles.

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Sony Interactive Entertainment filed a patent for an “AI Ghost Player” that would revolutionize how people play video games.

Why It Hits: AI is quickly transforming video games more than any other form of entertainment — from design to world-building to game mechanics. If game developers can harness AI in ways that don’t diminish human creativity or lead to layoffs, it could unlock new forms of gameplay that people actually embrace.

Between The Levels: Guidebooks could soon become a thing of the past.

Final Boss: Hypebeast notes that the system would likely have to exist on-device, meaning the Playstation console would have to access serious processing power to run an AI this complex at the speed players expect — aka no one has the patience for lag or buffering. That presents Playstation with a unique challenge and could ultimately influence how much the company’s next console costs.

Next Round: With Ubisoft unveiling a game featuring voice-controlled AI companions, the era of AI-assisted gaming seems to be just around the corner… a concept that could reshape esports.

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33.7% of you voted Unexpected challenges in yesterday’s poll: If your (past or present) job were turned into a board game, which element would matter most for winning?

“Character is more important than strategy, which tends to be highlighted in challenging moments.”

“My past job was definitely like Game of Thrones, so a combination of Strategic Decisions and Risk Management mattered most — probably Allies, too, lol.”

“Seemed to be all about who had the most relatives in town and how one could best maximize the inner circle of cliques.”

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.

🏆 At the Golden Globes, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another won “Best Picture — Musical or Comedy” and Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet won “Best Picture — Drama.”

💰 Avatar: Fire & Ash has a chance of reaching $2 billion at the box office — just like its predecessors — which would give James Cameron three of the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time.

🪩 Disney, Lucasfilm, and LEGO teamed up to project a playable video game onto the side of the Sphere during CES.

🧬 Aurora Therapeutics is commercializing custom CRISPR treatments for patients.

☢️ Meta has made deals across the nuclear industry to power its AI ambitions.

🚀 NASA had its first-ever reported medical emergency aboard the International Space Station.

🤳 Kim Farrell, TikTok’s Global Head of Creators, is departing as ByteDance sells its US operations.

💻 Roblox is making its homepage one of the hottest ad spaces on the internet.

📱 YouTube is revamping its search engine to more clearly distinguish between long-form video and Shorts.