The New Anna Wintour

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It’s already midweek, Future Party. How’s this for genius marketing — Lionsgate hosted an early screening of its adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk with a twist: mirroring the plot, audiences had to keep a treadmill pace of over 3mph or be escorted out of the theater. That meant walking for 108 minutes straight — possibly while snacking on popcorn. We wonder how many people made it to the credits without a stomachache.

With Labor Day behind us, the summer movie season — Hollywood’s most lucrative stretch of the year — is officially over. The box office receipts are giving the industry reasons for both optimism and concern.

The Big Picture: Hollywood is still recalibrating after COVID, dual strikes, and the streaming upheaval. The hope is to return to the record-breaking decade of grosses that preceded the 2020 pandemic shutdown. This summer's results, however, are a mixed bag.

Behind The Scenes: The summer 2025 box office pulled in $3.67 billion, yet played out like a sequel to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Final Tally: The data suggests audiences are showing up, but each film is earning less than it did pre-pandemic. A big reason: international markets have shrunk. Before COVID, blockbusters often made $100–200 million in China alone. Now, $50 million is lucky. Similar declines have hit Vietnam and South Korea, while Russia has vanished entirely from the global equation.

For the first time in years, Hollywood is making more money domestically than abroad. In 2019, eight of the top 10 films earned 60% or more of their revenue internationally. In 2025, only three have done so.

Coming Soon: For now, Hollywood’s strategy seems to be keeping budgets down to maximize returns while leaning into stories that resonate more with Americans. At least, Hollywood can rely on the kids to show up.

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Fashion queenmaker Anna Wintour is handing the American Vogue throne to Vogue.com editor Chloe Malle.

Why It Hits: Wintour has presided over Vogue for 37 years, becoming an icon in the process. When she announced she’d step back from the role — while remaining global editorial director and chief content officer of Condé Nast — the fashion world buzzed over her successor. Now, we know.

Between The Covers: Chloe Malle, daughter of actress Candice Bergen and director Louis Malle, has spent 14 years at the publisher and now takes on fashion’s most high-profile editorial role.

Last Looks: At 39, Malle inherits Vogue at a time when the publication is becoming more… well… millennial. Digital subscriptions are up, while print subscriptions continue to slide; live-event tours are becoming significant revenue drivers; and livestreams of the Met Gala and associated content are the talk of the internet.

That doesn’t mean Malle lacks big plans for the flagship print mag. She wants it to “feel more like a collector’s item, with fewer editions and thicker paper.” Very millennial, indeed.

Next Edition: It’s a long shot, but could Malle’s work on Dogue inspire a pup sidebar at the Met Gala? How could that not go viral?

56.5% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever used a dating app?

“Met my everything when we lived in the same apartment complex — random, we both were not looking, so beautiful.”

“I proudly met my husband in college when we were set up by friends. This was right as dating apps started to gain attention, so I always missed out on that. I’ve helped friends on apps, though.”

“Dating apps are challenging because it’s hard to truly get to know someone just from a profile. A profile only shows curated pieces of a person, and I value the genuine connection that comes from real conversations and shared experiences over surface-level information.”

“I met my now husband on Tinder back in 2017.”

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.

🎮 Paramount has struck a deal with Activision to bring the Holy Grail of video games — Call of Duty — to the big screen.

🎤 Bad Bunny’s residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will generate $196 million for the island’s economy.

📺 Saturday Night Live has named five new featured players for the upcoming season, including Ben Marshall of the Please Don’t Destroy comedy troupe.

👀 A federal antitrust judge ruled that Google doesn’t have to divest Chrome — but it must share data with rivals and is barred from exclusive contracts.

👨‍💻 OpenAI announced it will route sensitive chats to its GPT-5 model and introduce parental controls.

🤖 Elon Musk’s new Tesla “Master Plan” claims that Optimus robots will account for 80% of the company’s valuation in the future. Big grain of salt and all that.

🥤 Activist-investor Elliott Investment Management is taking a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo… and, yes, it plans on pushing for some big changes.

💸 Klarna is reviving its IPO plans, aiming to raise $1.27 billion for a valuation of $14 billion.

🧥 Canada Goose’s controlling shareholder, Bain Capital, says it has received recent take-private offers valuing the brand at $1.35 billion.