The Great Musk Merger

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Happy Monday, Future Party. Just how cold was it this past weekend? After temperatures plunged into the teens in Orlando, Florida, icicles formed at Disney World and Universal Studios. That’s right — ice in Florida. 2026 is really proving to be a wild year.

Elon Musk is reportedly considering merging Tesla or xAI — or both — with SpaceX ahead of the space startup’s blockbuster IPO this year.

Why It Launches: SpaceX’s IPO alone was expected to be one of the largest ever — and potentially the largest American IPO to date. But a merger with either Tesla or xAI would likely send the company’s valuation skyrocketing… and have Wall Street firms, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, and every retailer trader doing whatever they can to get in on the action.

Behind The Idea: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, would really like to be CEO of the world’s biggest company.

Final Deal: Other than the enormous sums involved, Musk hopes a merger between all three companies could supercharge their biggest ambitions — including putting AI data centers in space, integrating Grok into SpaceX’s military contracts, and sending Optimus robots to colonize the Moon.

Is it just us, or does that feel like something out of a Bond villain’s playbook?

The Future: Musk says he’d like SpaceX’s IPO to coincide with a planetary alignment in June. While that may be an ambitious timeline, we wouldn’t be surprised if he does announce one of these mega-mergers around then.

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Iron Lung, the debut feature from popular YouTube creator Mark Edward Fischbach (aka Markiplier), was a surprise box office success this past weekend.

The Big Picture: Vying for the top spot at the box office against 20th Century’s Send Help (directed by genre legend Sam Raimi), Fischbach can now boast a real hit movie to match his internet stardom… and use that credibility to bounce between the biggest and smallest screens.

Behind The Scenes: Fischbach’s 38 million YouTube subscribers showed up for the creator in a big way.

End Credits: Fischbach, known for his popular “Let’s Play” videos of indie horror games, joins a growing roster of digital creators who’ve made the jump to genre filmmaking. That includes the Philippou brothers (aka RackaRacka), who made Talk to Me and Bring Her Back for A24; Michael Shanks, who made Together for Neon; Curry Barker, who made the upcoming Focus Features movie Obsession; and Kane Parsons, who made the upcoming A24 movie The Backrooms.

It’s another reminder that horror is one of the best entry points for new filmmakers — and may also be the definitive genre for creators transitioning into mainstream productions. Why? It’s the genre that best allows them to put all of their DIY skills to the test.

Coming Soon: With the self-distributed Iron Lung breathing new life into the theatrical marketplace, expect theater chains to seek out more digital creators for direct deals.

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49.4% of you voted I don’t follow pop culture closely in Friday’s poll: How do you experience pop culture today?

“I haven’t seen any of the movies up for awards this year, I listen to my own CDs, and I certainly don’t follow any so-called influencers.”

“I love pop music, which I get from the car radio. Pop culture as it is today, I have no interest — everything got too decadent for my taste.”

“As a longtime sci-fi and horror fan, finding new stuff has always required research and pursuit. If anything, finding community in pop culture is much easier now.”

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.

🎞️ Beth de Araújo’s Josephine won both the US Dramatic and Audience Awards at the Sundance Film Festival, while Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman’s Nuisance Bear took home the top documentary prize.

🎥 Nathan Kahane, the former president of Lionsgate, is launching a film production and finance outfit, True North, with backing from Entertainment 360.

🏆 Warner Bros. Discovery has inked deals with X and TikTok to be the official social media partners for the Olympic Winter Games.

🥡 Nearly three in four restaurant orders are now takeout, according to the National Restaurant Association.

🎮 GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is planning a major acquisition of a public company in the consumer or retail space to turn GameStop from an $11 billion company into a $100 billion one.

🏈 The NFL has turned down showing any ads for prediction markets during the Super Bowl.

🎤 TikTok’s Global Live Fest scored Keke Palmer and Demi Lovato as this year’s headliners.

🥊 Patreon and Apple are locked in a heated battle over App Store fees… and it could kick Patreon out of the Store’s ecosystem.

👀 OpenAI wants to use biometrics to build a human-verified social app… which feels like a push to get more people to use Sam Altman’s eye-scanning World device.