Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Cash now, more later from Opendoor gives you cash upfront for your home, plus all the profit later. That's no chaos now, no cash left behind later. Skip the showings now, pocket extra profit later. 0:13 This is so simple now. This is so awesome later. Or sell fast now and pop the champagne later. Cash now, more later. Now available nationwide. Start your offer at opendoor.com/acast. 0:26 Profits calculated after fees and costs. Eligibility and offer price may vary. [upbeat music] Hey, everyone. I'm Chris Sawtell, CEO and co-founder of Crosscheck Studios. 0:42 And I'm Paul Urich, co-founder of The Future Party. Welcome to the Future Forecast, a podcast where we explore the intersection between business, technology, and entertainment. 0:52 We've done the research so you don't have to. And let's jump into it. Hey, great intro. All right, what do we got, Paul? Great intro today. [laughs] I know our man Boye- You like that? Just like really-... 1:01 usually rolls out the fourth. That was good... you know? It's good. Boye who? [laughs] Boye what? I know. Boye could not be here with us today, so I am taking his place two weeks in a row. I'm honored. 1:14 Um, but- Listen, I think, I think you're gonna hold, I think you're gonna hold it down, uh, just fine. We're, we're, we're, we're two dudes wearing two white shirts- I know... and wearing hats. Yes. 1:24 And looking great doing it. I know, I know. Um, look, I mean, we have a lot of fun things to talk about today. Um, I'm curious, how was your Fourth? What'd you get into? I honestly had the most, 1:38 I had the most relaxed, boring Fourth you could ever imagine. Mm. Max and I were literally in bed by, by like 6:00. Wow. Like, I kid you not. It was- Well- We were taking, like, a vacation from the vacation, you know? 1:50 Yeah. So, uh, we, we ended up throwing, uh, uh, the... There was a party at the Crosscheck space. So there was a party and- Mm... some of the em- uh, the employees- Must have, uh, gotten my invite lost in the mail. 2:05 Thanks. It, it, it was- Appreciate it... it was really more like the employees were doing and whatever. Nice. Don't worry. You woulda... Y- you'll, you'll get invited next time. You would've been invited- [laughs]... 2:12 if I was going and I was doing the thing. It was, it was very much more the- I'm just giving you a hard time. 2:16 Hey, I'm just making sure that in public everyone knows that, that you would've had the invite if it was my actual event. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Uh, so honestly, super chill. Did nothing, relaxed. 2:30 Heard fireworks, didn't look at fireworks. Mm. Saw the photos. Yeah. I'm very, I'm very much in my, I'm in, I'm in a TLDR phase. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. I'm, it's like- Sure... give me the CliffsNotes. 2:42 Uh, I, do I need to see it? Do I need to really properly experience it? I, I, I, I, I, I don't have FOMO anymore. I'm not gonna, I'm not subscribing myself- Yeah... to having FOMO this year. 2:52 It's like I'm choosing what I'm choosing. I am showing up to what I wanna show up to. Yeah. My, my reaction will be, "Oh, no, I'm gonna miss it," but, like, I'm not gonna live in FOMO. 3:02 I, I, there's too many things, there's too many things people are throwing. Yeah. I support all my friends, I love all my friends. Just 'cause I'm not actually at your event, don't know that, like... 3:10 Don't, don't take that as me not actually supporting you. Sure. Just know that I'm reserving my own personal energy. But what did you do, Paul? [laughs] What were you, where were you off to? Um, well, 3:21 I am in the middle of a production for a movie, so I w- I had- Did you guys go through Fourth? Well, no. We had two days off, but we had two overnights. 3:30 And so the first, the third was kind of recovery day for me, and then the fourth, um, I went to Cenotaphia in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Kept it pretty low-key as well. 3:41 Watched, uh, Jurassic Park with some fireworks. Hold on. Hold on. What did you call it? 'Cause I'm gonna totally not let my friend... What did you say? Cenotaphia. I say Cenotaphia. But Cenotaphia. Yeah. 3:51 That, there's a, there's like a more, there's a much more, like- That's how they- There's a genetic quad to that... that's how they say it. It's, it's taken from- The, you... So, so you're right. 3:59 I've been saying it wrong my entire- It's okay. I, yeah... n- uh, my entire life. Yeah. Yeah. So I brought a friend who had never seen Jurassic Park, and that was a very fun experience. Um, and you can- That's crazy... 4:11 definitely be low-key. Yeah. You know. Also, for those not aware, shameless plug here, this is your second movie officially in the reigns. Is that fair, is that fair to say, Paul? 4:22 Yeah, that I'm a, a physical producer on, yeah. Can we talk about number one? I mean, like, I feel like we gotta just, just... Again, shameless plug, let's just do it here, but now- Sure... 4:32 knowing this is number two, what was number one? It got released, it got out there. Yeah. S- yeah. It, it, it did some, it did some work. Yeah. Do you wanna go, if you- We shot it last year... 4:40 guys watch it over the summer. Yeah. Yeah, fall. Um- What is it? What was it? Well, yeah. So it's called Breeder. Um, a good friend of mine, Alex Goyette, wrote and directed it. 4:50 He spent many years, um, trying to get it made, and we came on and, uh, had a really great team. And, um, it went to Tribeca and premiered there. 4:59 Uh, we have a couple more festivals, um, this summer in Europe, which will be really fun. And then, um, Shudder IFC, um, acquired it and they're putting it in theaters in the fall. So we don't have a date yet. 5:11 Snaps all around, guys. Yeah. Snaps all around. I appreciate you. No one celebrates the wins, and that's a fucking great win. Uh- Appreciate that... that's awesome. Appreciate that. 5:19 Congrats on, on, on movie number one, and stoked to see movie number two. Yeah. It's, it's, it's gonna be- If I get invited. I don't know if I'm gonna get invited to go see it, you know? [laughs] Yeah. 5:27 Your, your invite may be lost, but it probably won't. Yeah. We w- we want you there, Chris. Yeah. Hopefully you show up- Cool... once you're invited. Apparently that's- Yeah, fair. Yeah, yeah. 5:36 Th- look at that, look at that. I just gave a whole preamble about how I'm not showing up to anyone's shit. Yeah. [laughs] Oh man, that's so bad. Apparently that's the harder- That is not what I meant... 5:43 um, the, the, you know, conversion is, like, not just, you know, inviting you, but you actually accepting the invitation, so. Yeah. Do you think... 5:52 I imagine, like, how many celebrities do you think said that to Taylor and Travis for their wedding? Was it like, you know, Harry Styles was like, "You know what? I'm filling up my own cup. I have a performance today. 6:01 Fuck off, I'm not doing it." You know? But Travis said maybe. Some people were like, "I'm doing-" Filming the Batman. He, he said, "I want-" I think that's a very fair- That's a very fair argument to- Yeah... 6:11 you know, it's like, "I'm Batman." What a, what a great, what a great excuse. Are you sad- [laughs] Sorry, I can't go-... you didn't get an invite to, uh, Travis and, uh, Taylor's wedding? 6:20 Uh, you didn't get a Cartier watch at, in the gift- Oh, God, is that what they all did? They gave Cartier watches? [laughs] You know, I- no one actually... That's what... 6:29 I, I saw something online- That's a speculation... that, that's what happened. 6:33 Again, I'm waiting for, like, the documentary or some piece of content to drop that, like, tells it, you know, because they locked up people's phones. 6:42 And apparently there was the, um, Adam Aron, the CEO of AMC, made a long post about how beautiful it was and described it and said it didn't even look like a stadium inside, and they had all these different things. 6:55 That's so funny. And I think it's just- But, but if you think about it-... because of the venue and they know a lot of people. Like, why go through- Yeah, why?... 7:01 the headache of not inviting someone and dealing with that drama when you can just invite everybody? And on- It's so true... quite honestly, you can afford it. Like, what's stopping you? 7:11 But on, on the side, Boye, Boye had given some, uh, perspective on the idea that part of it also, speculation is that it's because of security, which I was like, "Whoa, really?" 7:22 But, like, to have that intimacy, uh, Madison Square Garden offers a significant amount of, like, the idea that- Yeah... they could have it out in the open and have the security in place to protect the sanctity of it. 7:34 Also, when you were mentioning Cartier gift, my brain went, "Eh, it's kinda cheap." [laughs] That's like a 12 to $15,000 watch. That's the gift for everyone? You own a Cartier watch, Chris? Uh, we're, we're... 7:45 Okay, don't, don't, don't Cartier shame me. [laughs] We're Rolex over here. So let's not, let's not, let's- Okay... you know. 7:51 But, but in retrospect, when you think about it, I was doing the math, I'm like, "Eh, 1,000 guests, 10 to $15,000. This is a million dollars just in, just in, like, a, a, a wedding gift alone." 8:04 Do we think they did- That's, that's pretty hefty... the donation to the nonprofit for, um, out of the, uh, kindness of their hearts, or do you think it was, uh- No... a nice tax write-off? 8:15 So I think, I think, I think both write-off, but also when you say it, when I think about the audience that she holds, there's an element of, "Look at this exuberance and extravagance you're about to spend." 8:26 I mean, lis- you had the biggest tour in the world. You're, you were anointed a billionaire by way of the people all going to your shows. You obviously did the work. You had to show up. Mm-hmm. You did all of that work. 8:36 And it was spectacular. Also, good on you. It's your wedding. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. But also, that audience might also say, "Oh, wow, like, spending all this money on your wedding?" Yeah. "Why don't you give back?" Yeah. 8:46 So I think there's a little bit of, like- Sure... little bit of PR there, for sure. Yeah, definitely. 8:51 I mean, I just saw it and went, "Eh, tax write-off," or the city was like, "Hey, we'll do this for you, but you have to donate somewhere," right? I'm sure- Oh, that's interesting... Emma Freeman. 9:01 But I do like your take, you know, that it is, "Hey, we're spending on us, but we're also gonna spend over here and, and do good with the money as well." I'd, I'd like to think that. Um- Yeah... but yeah. 9:14 Also, I thought maybe there'd be some gifting in that, but also when you think about it, during, like, in the midst of 4th of July and the World Cup, um, no one's getting, no one's getting freebies, right? Yeah. 9:26 Like, I have to imagine... My brain, when, when I first heard that it was at MSG, I was like, "Oh, odd, but okay." And I tried to rationalize it. I was saying to myself, like, "Why would you do that?" 9:37 Maybe, maybe they, l- like Justin Bieber got, got staples donated to him for a night for Selena. It made me go, "I don't know, maybe, maybe they gave it to Taylor for her wedding just to- Yeah... 9:48 for a relationship perspective." Listen, there's, there are very few people as wealthy as Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift combined, right? 9:59 And when you think about the level- There's very few people that are as wealthy of Taylor Swift. [laughs] Right. [laughs] Uh, uh, Travis Kelce is just like- Yeah. I wanna see that prenup, ladies and gentlemen. 10:11 It's, right. Yeah. So all I'm saying is, like, when, when weddings are publicized, you think of normal celebrity, they're having normal-ish extravagant weddings. 10:21 But, like, again, they can do this, and they have the ability to, so why wouldn't they? Which is like, I think it's only weird because we've never seen a wedding at MSG, at least that I can remember. And so- Yeah... 10:36 it's just unprecedented. But just because it's unprecedented doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to do it, right? Can I, can I throw a, can I throw a curveball here? 10:46 And, and stop me if, if this isn't the essence of it, but I am, I'm curious what the audience reacts to, particularly with our age range and as many of our audience members are either getting married or are already married. 10:56 We talk a lot about this on the, on this show. We talk a lot about pop culture, and we talk about entertainment and- Mm-hmm... 11:02 the, the cross-pollination of tech and pop culture and entertainment and how they all work together. But what, what... Something that might be worthy of touching on is more so the business of, of 11:18 marriage or partnership and the benefits or the pros and cons of what that relationship garners and what that gives. 11:24 Because there is something to be said, the anointment or the marriage of Taylor and Travis, they have built their own... 11:33 They have built a media business on top of the fact that they, they are both individually entertainers in their own right. Mm-hmm. 11:42 Travis started out, starting out as a football sports entertainer turned this new chapter, podcaster and- Podcast host, yeah... but, but them coming together is anointing a bigger media enterprise. 11:57 Obviously, your, you want your wife to do well. Your wife wants her, their, her husband to do well. But there's social trade as well as, like, favor trading that goes on within it. 12:06 She brought him into her tour to be a performer in it. That gains... And, and I, I, I'm-... curious, we don't talk a lot about it, or it's not covered in the same ways, but, you know, 12:20 there's been more and more stories of people paying people to be in relationships with them. What was it? Someone, uh, I, I don't wanna- Are you, are you, are you saying that they, there's a business deal happening here? 12:34 I'm saying that there is a- it is, it is well documented. Let, not Travis and Taylor, but it is sign- it is well documented that when people come together, there have, there... The Kardashians, for one. 12:48 I, I, I, I, I, I have been known... Pete Davidson came out on this, uh- Mm-hmm... not too recently. He was given $100,000 a week to be, not, not to be in the relationship with Kim, but it... I gotta pull the paper on it. 13:05 To put, put up with all the, everything that comes along with it. Bad Bunny- Yeah, yeah... said the same thing. Wasn't he dating Kylie Jenner? And he was like- Yes... he said the same thing. Yes. 13:14 He was like, "They wanted to know where we were at every moment and ev- e- any time we went out, any time we did anything." He was like, "I was not about that life." So I, this is, this is quite a tangent we've got here. 13:26 Um, I do have a question- But it's a real business. Sure. Think about Chalamet and, and, and Kendall. Mm-hmm. No, Kylie. Sorry, Kylie. Kylie, Kylie, yeah. There's been murmurs of Elordi and Kendall. Yeah. 13:40 I'm just saying, like- Good for both of them... you know, this, this, I think it's- I mean. [laughs] Yeah. Hopefully. It's much more prominent, I, I find i- it's much more prominent in the music world. 13:50 I think a lot of the times we'll notice that, uh, artists will pay women to be with them or what have you, or there's like a trade in that capacity- Mm-hmm... for attention and for eyeballs. Mm-hmm. 14:01 Again, I, I don't mean to go so off topic, but there is a true business discussion- Fair... around that, right? There's clickbait. People like, there, uh, people y- 14:10 in, in content creation, there's a lot of people that leverage, uh, create clickbait by way of creating racy content- Sure... 14:21 uh, that might garner more views, and sometimes they will leverage their significant other, and that's the social trade that, that, that, that occurs within- Don't love it, but- It's not, it's not, it's not... Yeah... 14:32 you never know. No, don't love it. Yeah. 14:34 [slurps] [instrumental music] Well, I, I have a question for you. 15:11 You kind of mentioned it earlier, but, uh, World Cup, you still watching? How are you feeling about it? Oh, God. You're really hitting me hard right now. [laughs] Uh, US, I- Yeah... 15:21 I thought we were gonna, I honestly, I really thought we were gonna get to quarters, to the quar- to the quarterfinals. Mm-hmm. I really believed in this team. I, I didn't think we were gonna win it- Yeah... 15:30 but I thought that we really were gonna have a great run, and, and we did. We had, we had a decent run, but we've had this run before. Sure. And 15:40 I thought that we were gonna get put out by, by Spain, and now it's Belgium, you know, for those that didn't watch. Belgium totally took it. And I, I, my money's on Spain to- Mm-hmm... 15:53 kick the shit out of Belgium and do, do the US justice. I, I was curious. I don't... Have you been watching? Uh, a little bit. In, in, in between, uh, the production I'm currently on and- Oh, sorry, sorry... 16:06 what I've been up to. Sorry Sorry. In, in, in, uh, in, in between your making a movie. [laughs] We understand the, the big undertaking that that is. We get it. Uh, I, I was curious about the numbers, and- Yeah... 16:17 you know, what I, what I had done some research on is they were showing like as of, as of July 7th, they were reporting that 16:27 in the, in, in the US, in the, in the group stages for, for US English speakers or speak, uh, US non-translated, uh, airings, the viewership on Fox, FS1 and Tubi, which is where it's predominantly aired, it's been on average 5.5 16:47 million, uh, views per game. Wow. Now, that's u- that's up 92%- Wow... since, uh, since 2022's. So it's the highest group stage viewership. Supposedly, uh- Do you think it's just more accessible than it ever has been? 17:02 Also- Yes... the volume, the marketing, I feel like it's so much bigger than this year. I'm really sad that I couldn't go to a game, um, in Los Angeles. I feel like we were pretty priced out, uh- Yeah, yeah... 17:15 which I heard was done on purpose, but, you know, uh, it could go either way. Uh, I, I, I think if I'm remembering correctly, this feels like a bigger year from partnerships, from advertising to... 17:32 I mean, it is in the US as well, so that, you know, plays a big factor into excitement and engagement. Uh, but I do feel that it's probably also because it's more accessible than it ever has been, um, you know? 17:47 And- I need to, I need to find out the particulars, but you know what I've also noticed is that Fox has been streaming it also via TikTok. Hmm. I've scrolled on TikTok and been able to see- Yeah... 18:00 to literally watch the game on TikTok, which is unprecedented in my, in my belief because- Yeah... I haven't watched... Now, again, there are some people that have cheated, uh, or, or will like cove- they'll, they'll-... 18:14 show you their screen, right? And you can watch pirating essentially happen on these platforms. It's hilarious. [laughs] But this wasn't- but that's not what this was. This is- They're full streaming it... 18:24 I, I've witnessed on multiple occasions just fully streaming via the Fox- I mean, it makes sense... Fox account. If, if G- if Gen Z 18:34 i- is on TikTok, that's where you have to meet them because it's not like they're gonna go- Right... log into the Fox app, right? 18:41 Again, they're making it more accessible than ever, meeting, uh, fans where they are and where they watch content, and I think that's a really smart play. 18:51 I also think it drives up the value of the license, um, for the next World Cup, right? Being able to have- Yeah... those numbers, you'll be able to charge even more next, the next time than you are now, right? 19:07 And we've talked about this. This is just another... I think it's just another strategy sports rights, uh, just inflame, just going up, right? Which is- I, I think that's also, that's a great indication. 19:19 That's, and that's also a really great flag given the fact that, uh, let's look at the rights that Fox really holds. We've seen Net- uh, we've seen Netflix and YouTube and Amazon very much come in- Yep... 19:30 and buy up a lot of these rights, and the fact that Fox, presumably Fox really is the one that is holding down the fort. Fox, I guess Hulu, Disney, whatever, the, you know- You have Sunday Ticket... 19:41 is holding down the fort as a pretend- Yep... that, like, that Wor- if, if they're owning World Cup, this is their moment to really go- Yep... go all out. And it's really TNT- What's interesting is-... as well. 19:53 TNT's a big player usually. Yeah, yeah. It, it's kinda all shifting now. We're gonna need to, we're gonna need to do a, a, a follow-up check-in to what the final baseline numbers are for 2026. Yeah. 20:07 But for those, just, just to do a check-in on what we're, w- w- what's been accounted for, in 2022, the global baseline was in total, in total 2.8, uh, billion minutes watched. 20:24 And for one minute, one minute plus. Like, like, like, like, uh- Okay... but 2.21 billion people or views, uh, watched 20 minutes plus. Wow. 20:37 So between 1 and 20, to know that, like, that's not that much of a drop-off, if you think about it. No. People, like, staying or, or, or, or participating in the viewership, to know that there's really only... 20:48 Th- That, that, that, that's not... Uh, that's pretty crazy to think about. Mm-hmm. But I guess when you watch a game, you wanna at least watch... You're not just watching the highlights perhaps. 20:58 You're at least watching- Yeah... like, the engagement for- And soccer's a fast m- or soccer and football is fast-moving sports. So y- Yeah... it's not like there's a lot of commercial breaks. It's very engaging, so. 21:10 [laughs] Did you, d- were you ever one to play? Were you a FIFA, uh- You know, I wasn't... when you were in college, did you play FIFA? I, I didn't. Would you, like, play the video games and do the thing? 21:21 A lot of, a lot of people around me did. I d- I didn't. I wasn't a big sports person growing up, so, like, sports games didn't really speak to me. I was more into- Did you game at all?... different games. 21:32 Oh, yeah, for sure. Um- Oh, so you gamed. You gamed. Oh, yeah. I did game. So when you hear the news that, like, PlayStation is doing away with physical discs- [laughs]... do you have, like, a reaction to that? 21:44 Do you go, "Oh, man," like- Yeah... "the, the disc is dying," and you go- Yeah, yeah... or, or do you go, "Eh, whatever. Come on." Well, it's- "We'll get with the times"?... it's twofold. I love, I, I own... Well, okay. 21:56 So first of all, I wanna... This is a good... You segue. You did this is such a good way. [laughs] Did you like that? Did you like that? 22:03 I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk, I'm gonna give the headline of, like, what we're about to talk about. Yeah, yeah. You got it. You got it. So that- Yeah, yeah. You got it. I just wanted- Let's do this... I just wanted to... 22:10 Yeah. This is great. Yeah, yeah. Uh, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on July 1st that physical disc production for new PlayStation games will end January 2028. 22:20 All new games releasing after that date on PlayStation consoles will be digital only. 22:26 On the same day, Rockstar Games confirmed that GTA VI, which is launching in November 19th 2026, shout-out, ooh, ooh, finally, will have its physical box contain a download code rather than a disc. Xbox- Wow... 22:40 s- is separately developing a feature called Disc to Digital, currently in employee testing, that will allow users to convert their existing physical game collections to digital entitlements. So- Wow. Wow... 22:53 back to what you were asking, Chris, this is tough- Yeah... right? Because I love a good physical disc. 23:00 I don't own tons of them because space, but, like, the key titles I do have, like, I have Last of Us, and I have, um, like, Kingdom Hearts, and I have games that, like, really mean a lot to me and I've played over time. 23:15 Would I have bought GTA VI physically? Yeah, probably I would have. What really scares me, though, is the same conversation I've been having with people when it comes to movies, is you don't really own them. 23:31 You own a license for as long as they- Yeah... decide to allow you to own that license. So if I buy something- This is a really good-... on iTunes- This is good... 23:41 and, and say I buy Avatar on iTunes, and then Disney goes, "I, we don't want it t- for sale on iTunes anymore," and they take it away, guess what? iTunes can take it away. 23:52 I w- I, I am curious the fine print of what this means for, um, video game users. 23:59 The other thing that I think about is, like, now these hard drives on consoles are gonna have to be so big because you have games like- Yeah... 24:08 GTA VI, which are massive games, and you're gonna have to figure out how to store all of it on your console. You're gonna have to have fast internet to download it. There are a lot of factors that play into this. 24:22 My head-... went to, okay, what happens to GameStop? What happens to these stores that are physically, you know, brick-and-mortar stores? 24:33 Are they gonna go away like, you know, Best Buy stopped selling DVDs after a while? Or, you know, things like that could happen in a consolid- again, we are seeing more consolidation. And I'm just curious, like, 24:47 if I was a PlayStation executive, why they wouldn't want this, you know, and what the CEO of GameStop is thinking amongst, amidst all of this, you know? 24:58 Well, you don't think, you don't think from a price, from a margins perspective they're just... One, I mean, I look at it, it's their way of owning the ecosystem that much more, right? Yeah. 25:07 I mean, GameFly, uh, if those remember, GameFly was essentially Blockbuster but i- or it was Netflix is a, is a better, is a better example. GameFly, which was a company that built itself on being a- Mm-hmm... 25:20 game rental business that you could al- uh, uh, as well as subscription, it was doing numbers. It did, did very well for, for a duration of time. And they essentially- I remember using it. I would use it- Yeah... 25:31 rent games and then send them back. Yeah. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, they went out of business. Or may- maybe they're still around and I, I'm, I'm not familiar. I should double-check. 25:41 Max, do you mind checking to see if Gam- GameFly is even still in existence? Uh, but... And just give us an update if you see it, if it says that it went defunct. But they went out of business. 25:53 If, and if they did, I mean, they, they're, th- there were significant layoffs if they're not out of business- Yeah... because literally Microsoft and PlayStation just built their own- Cloud... service- Yeah... 26:03 so that... Yeah. Th- they just put the cloud system up there and said, "Hey, you can download whatever games you want. You can pay a subscription for, you know, $10 a month, and we'll give you the ability to like... 26:15 a license to play these games under the duration." 26:18 You know what's not al- another topic that we should also talk about, and it's really to your point around the needing enough data or enough, enough of a dr- uh, hard drive to download these games. 26:29 What's, what still hasn't been a problem to solve for is many of these games now are built to play online. Mm. 26:37 They're multi, you know, they're, they're multiplayer games that have servers that have to be held up and have to be financed and s- uh, and there have been several games that have been decommissioned and completely made obsolete. 26:53 So people, people who have paid for some of their favorite games can never play those games again- Yeah... because the server... 'Cause you could only play it online. 27:03 Well- Can you imagine at some point, like, Arc- I play Arc Raiders. Arc Raiders is a game- Cool. I was just about to ask... that's available. It's, it's- Yeah. And Arc Raiders, there's only one version. 27:12 There isn't a single player mode. Right. So when you play, if the server goes down or if they take it down, you'll never be able to play that game again. Or it's like, yeah, can you imagine Fortnite going down? 27:24 I mean, it will never happen, but, like, that's pretty wild. You say that, but it would go down if you, people stop playing, no? Sure. 27:31 I think, I think, I think if I'm not mistaken, didn't, uh, a couple games have had this issue- Do you have-... of, of, of significant note. Overwatch. What was, what was the details on Overwatch? 27:41 Didn't Overwatch have an issue at one point? Did you, do you watch G- GameFly still does exist, by the way. It does? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Cool. But significant... Yeah, yeah. It... 27:50 By the way, by the way, listen to that voice. I love it. Thanks. GameFly. You said GameFly, correct? GameFly still exi- It was such a soft but, like, beautiful- [laughs] It's like, it's like right before a theater show. 28:01 "Ladies and gentlemen, please get ready to sit down- [laughs]... and, uh, take your seats." Anyway, you were saying? Oh, I was just gonna ask, do you play, um, Arc Raiders on, like, PlayStation? Do you play it on PC? 28:12 What, what console are you on? I play it on PlayStation. I, I'm a console guy still. I'm a console guy through and through. Yeah. I, I, I know everyone talks about the reaction... 28:20 My, my brother is a huge, my youngest brother, is a huge PC player. He's like- Yeah, I have friends who are PC players... I scroll up, like, he's doing this fucking scroll shit- [laughs]... 28:28 and throwing it around, and I'm like, "What are you doing, dude?" Like- I started-... I don't need to play a video game where you can scroll it like that to snipe someone. Do you, do you, do you... 28:36 Are you, are you a PC user? No, no, no. I used to play a lot of PC games, um, but it was more so because I didn't have 'em on the consoles. But I grew up, I had a Nintendo, Super Nintendo. 28:48 I was a big Dreamcast guy for a while. Genesis. I- Really? Oh, wow... 'cause I had sisters and they had the games too growing up, so... And then I remember having the Nintendo 64. 28:58 Listen, listen to you blame your sisters for having a Dreamcast. I mean, they owned the Nintendo. Look at you and be like, "Oh, yeah, the Dreamcast wasn't like-" I liked the Dreamcast. It was awesome. 29:05 You had the little, like, game in the memory card. I thought it was ahead of its time. Yeah. Uh, and then I remember getting a N64 and loving that. I had GameCube as well for a while. I played a lot of GameCube. 29:18 So once you got the GameCube- And just... 'cause correct, correct, correct, correct, correct me if I'm wrong. Correct, correct me if I'm wrong. In the timeline, 'cause I think this is such a great moment to really... 29:26 You really get to divide the- The console wars... the true... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something that to this day, for those, for those, for our listeners, if you haven't done, do... 29:35 Uh, if you haven't listened to Business Wars ever, Paul, if you haven't, uh, go on Wondery, listen to b- uh, go on Business Wars. Yeah. Do yourself a favor. 29:44 I'm telling you, one of the best episodes of podcasts, of, of, of document, documentary podcasting is the Wars- I've actually heard it... the console wars. It was, it was awesome. Yeah, I've listened to it. It's great. 29:56 Some of the best retelling. The Blockbuster Netfl- The, anyway, listen to us plenty, but- Yeah... do yourself a favor. It's some of the best documentary work I've ever listened to. So are you- But yeah, where... 30:07 I wanna know- Yeah... where did you divide? What I'm curious and what I wanted to get to is you, you got all the way to GameCube, right? Mm-hmm. At some point... And, and so I... 30:16 If I, if I hear you correctly, "Chris, my family had money, so we had all the consoles and all the family members were happy." I just worked at the mall. So everyone would go from PlayStation to... Yeah. 30:25 No, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm... No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No. But- But at some point, rubber meets the road, right? 30:30 You get to, you, uh- I skipped out on PS2 because a lot of my friends had it, and I would play it, and it was too expensive- Wow... at the time. I had a PlayStation 1, and I had a GameCube. 30:40 I really wanted a PlayStation 2, but I missed the boat there. And then I ended up- Right... with Xbox 360 when that came out, and I played the Xbox 360- Got it... for a long time with Halo. I was a part of that wave. 30:53 And I think- Yes... like, really, like, there were no really good offerings for the PS2 other than... Like, I can't even remember. I just remember Halo being like, "You have to have an Xbox for Halo," right? 31:04 And that was the- Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That very much was the thing. That and gaming. It was that... Uh, sorry, that and sports games was, the licenses were there for Xbox. Yeah. 31:14 That, that's, that's really what they- And a lot of my friends had PlayStation 2s, so we would just play on, with theirs or whatnot, and a lot of people had it for the Blu-ray player at the time. 31:22 And, um, I have a PS5 now. I love it. I haven't played an Xbox in a really long time. I mean, uh, I, I, I'm very excited- They don't have the same games. Yeah. I just had to do this console war issue. My, uh, my... 31:36 And, and I, I, I think PlayStation is the superior product. Yeah, it totally is. I mean, I bought it to- Now... for the 4K player It wasn't before. Now. Right. I use it for the 4K DVDs, and I love that. Really? Yeah. 31:49 Wow. Um, because for a while, like, Netflix wouldn't stream at the higher bit rate. Like, even though they said it was 4K, it's still going... You know, anyway, it's... So I like my physical media. 32:00 So you're really, you're going out and you're buying 4K discs- Yeah... and putting them in your PlayStation? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that's a little old school, I'm not gonna lie. Sorry. That's a little old school. 32:12 Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm, I'm, I like physical media. No, no, no, you... Don't, don't apologize. Oh, I'm not. Yeah. Okay. I'm not apologizing for it. Yeah. Okay. I, uh... 32:20 Are you going to play Grand Theft Auto when it comes out? I will dabble with it to explore and understand. I, I... You know, for me, sometimes when a game is so vast that it... 32:32 When, when a game is so, is too open play- Mm-hmm... I get a little too, not overwhelmed, it's just, it's too, it's too overbearing. I have to make too many decisions, where in a way it almost feels like the game... 32:47 This is horrible to say, it's not, this is not reality that I live in here and what, the comment I'm making. But it doesn't feel designed well enough. Like, it, it, it's almost like a lazy choice. 32:57 You gave, you're giving me too many decisions, at which point, because you gave me too many decisions... GTA is just recreating Earth in simulation form in just, like, a different seedier... 33:08 Like, you can explore, like, the darker- Yeah... parts of the world. Well, you know when it comes out- And-... it's not gonna be online for, at first. They want people to play the game. So, like, at- That's cool... 33:17 yeah, so apparently- That's cool... it's, the online is gonna start later, but you can actually play the story with friends too. So it's not just gonna be open. Interesting. 33:27 You can actually be a part of the storylines together, which I think is really cool. You know what's... [sniffs] That's cool. 33:33 What, what I'm kinda hearing is, "Hey, we still need more time, and so we have to delay a little bit more, and so we're building the story-" [laughs] "... so we can continue to, like, figure out the issue." 33:40 Like, that's what I hear. Right. Or that, that's what I would think. Or maybe they don't wanna cross servers. They want it to be a smooth update. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like, there are so many reasons. 33:46 I wish- 'Cause by the way, Arc Raiders, that was a huge Arc Raiders issue, is Arc Raiders- Yeah, I remember that... had huge server issues. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 33:53 Uh, getting back to the business of it all and, and to the topic at hand, 'cause I think you, you touched on something really remarkable, is what does this do? What does, what, 34:04 what does losing the physical disc form do to the business of gaming? And I'll, I'll, f- I'll, I'll... Let, let's... 34:15 I'll lead with that question, and with a follow-up being, or a preface being, for so long in social commentary or, or, or when you would go to the watering hole and talk to people- Mm-hmm... 34:27 back in the 90, 80s, ni- uh, 90s when CD discs were the thing, the collection, the ability to say, the, the, the ability to have your CD collection or your book collection or being able to file through all your vinyls, there's something really tangible, physical, and there's a lot of enjoyment to that. 34:48 Sure. Are we moving into a world as we lose physical touch? Do we need that? Are, is the new... 34:55 Is, is it, is it better for, uh, one could argue it's better for society, but, or, or for the environment, but are we moving less into... Or are those just gimmicks that we're getting sold? Well, I... 35:06 Well, physical media is up this year. Vinyls, DVDs, all of that are up. I think the last stat I saw was somewhere around 40%. Max, feel free to check me there. 35:17 Um, but- But is that, but it, but, but caveat, is that because, when you say, when you talk about vinyl, is that because the people that were producing those things are no longer producing them, so it's more of a nostalgic purchase? 35:30 No, I think it's... Well, number one, I think, um, artists in general are pushing vinyls more on people with the limited editions and things because that's what charts them, physical media sales. 35:42 So they figured out that component, and they have made it a FOMO experience, Taylor Swift be leading the cause of that. 35:48 But a lot of artists will release, like, four, five, six different editions of vinyls, limited editions. So it drives up sales. People will buy multiple copies. I think with physical- Got it... 35:58 media, people are starting to realize, people like Chris Nolan are kind of ringing the alarm bell, where people are starting to realize, "Oh, I wanna go to Netflix to watch Oppenheimer. But wait, it's not there anymore. 36:10 I, well, now I have to go buy it digitally. But wait, I don't own it. So, like, why not just go on Amazon or wherever to go buy it and have it in my library forever, and I can watch it whenever I want?" 36:21 I think people are waking up to that, which is why I find it so interesting that PlayStation and Xbox are making these moves, and I'm, I'm curious about the backend data that we're not seeing and if they're just noticing a trend of people downloading more than they are buying physical media, and what's happening is they're manufacturing a ton and it, they're just sitting around. 36:44 Who... I, I don't know But it is really sad because it's creating more consolidation through, in, within the industry, right? Right. 36:54 Well, 'cause also, like, when you think about it, what's so funny is, like, I just purchased, or what I thought I was purchasing, The Devil Wears Prada 2, which, meh movie. Yeah. 37:06 Uh, Devil Wears Prada 2 via Apple- Yeah... for 30 bucks. But what I'm really buying is the license. Yep. And I could have spent that same exact amount of money to own the physical form- Forever... so, forever. 37:23 So what am I really, what's, what am I really getting? Convenience. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They got me. Yeah. They got me. And trust me, I own hundreds- It's-... of movies on Apple, and you know what? 37:35 I forget I own them because I forget to go there and look, you know? Uh- You know what's crazy? I was watching, I was watching... 37:42 I, I, I saw a clip, uh, of a, of a Twitch stream of a streamer talking about, it was an economic lesson, and it was a clip that basically signified that they had purchased water from the grocery store, 37:57 a liquor store, the airport, and the movie theater. In each one, the price changed. At the airport it was $6. [laughs] At the movie theater it was $9. At the grocery store it was $2. 38:15 At home via the sink it was free. And the result being that, or the lesson being that the water never changed. It was the same bottle of water that he was purchasing, minus the, the water at home. 38:31 It was the same exact bottle, but it was solely in the basis of where the bottle was housed. Mm. 38:38 And the final note or the final anecdote of it was, if where you currently exist or where you're, where you are is not appreciated or is being valued enough, find a new location for yourself- Mm... 38:53 to be valued at the price you're looking to receive. And I don't mean, like- Yeah... to financial value. So anyway, anyway, uh, and- One final thought there, which is really interesting. 39:04 I went to a store the other day to get something, and it had a bunch of, like, discounted DVDs and, uh, they had a bunch of Xbox games that were discounted. That can never happen again. 39:15 I can never go and find an Xbox One game for $699 that someone traded in on the shelf. Do you know why? Because Xbox now controls the output of that, and they control the pricing of that. 39:27 Just like you said about the water. So- Yeah... this is really interesting. Let's definitely keep an eye on it. 39:33 I'm sure we'll be talking about it more as it unfolds, but, um, for now, I'm keeping my PlayStation 5 with my disc. [laughs] Noted. All right, uh, well, next topic. 39:45 Um, the domestic box office in 2026 is tracking toward potentially crossing $10 billion for the first time since 2019. According to- Wow. 39:55 The films driving the recovery include Toy Story 5, the Super Mario Galaxy movie, Michael, and Backrooms. 40:03 At the same time, Nielsen data shows that on virtually every major streaming platform except Netflix, the mot- most watched content is old catalog ti- catalog titles, Friends, Suits, and older films. 40:17 Supergirl, DC's latest, opened to $37 million against projections of fi- 65 million. Such a bummer... dropped 74% in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to approximately 58.4 million against $170 million 40:35 production budget. Yeah. So- Wow... a lot, uh- I mean, they've lost $100 million on that movie already. Yeah, yeah. 40:45 Um- On the flip side, on the flip side, just a shout, an extra shout-out 'cause I saw this anecdote today. Got through- so, you know, we're talking about box office successes and, and losses. New world record. 40:56 Obsession has become the most profitable movie ever. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's- Ever... I mean, yeah. It's wild. Shout out Kary Barker and Kristen Johnston. It's a good movie. It's just crazy to think. 41:12 But, like, could you imagine, you make that for 750, it's now the most profitable movie... Uh, it's the world record. It's the most profitable movie ever made. Yeah. Again- It's, it's incredible... they've got paid fine. 41:24 But, like, if you're the producer on that or you're the buyer of that, anyway, look at Focus raking it all in. They're the ones raking it in. What is... 41:32 Like, what's the signifier for this in the end, uh, uh, in, in the long run? I mean- So a few things. I mean, uh, um, so Gen Z has been going to the movies a lot more this year. Uh, R-rated horror is up. Um, you know, 41:51 87% of Gen Z-ers and 82% of millennials saw at least one movie theatrically in the past 12 months, um, compared to 70% Gen X-ers and 58% baby boomers, right? So, like- Wow... 42:06 there is a strong pull for content, and what we've seen this year is if the content is good, people will go and see it. A lot of it has to do with word of mouth, right? Yeah. 42:19 I will say, like, it's a mixed bag on IP this year. You know, Monsters and Minions was, um, debuted lowest in franchise history, uh, and it was the best rated of the franchise, which is wild. Really? Wow. 42:35 It made 61 million, um, worldwide, um, and, uh, for a four or five-week run Do you, do you think, do you think the monsters, do you think the monsters ruined it at all? Like, like, do you think the title- Potentially... 42:49 of that- Potentially... uh, these movies are known to be opening at, like, double that. 123 million- Yeah... 122 million. So 60 million is pretty average. 43:02 I would say, if anything, it's time to just, like, pump the brakes and give it a second. And, like, just maybe it's oversaturated, maybe it's a bad holiday weekend, people aren't going. 43:12 Maybe it's because there's so many other films coming out. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is predicted to have one of the biggest domestic openings. They're saying half a billion dollars. 43:24 You know, 500 or so million dollars opening weekend for Spider-Man. Wow. Um, you know. I'm... By, by, by... I'm, I'm, I'm gonna go see it, but I'm also nervous for it. I'll say that. Like- Predicted at 228 million. 43:40 So still a lot. I'm nervous for this Spider-Man. I'm gonna go on record to say that. Okay. I am nervous for this one specifically. Not because I don't think that it will... It'll do well as it pertains to... 43:53 It will do well as a, a, I guess, on paper. Mm-hmm. But I d- when we talk about superhero fatigue, Spider-Man's the one that has always stood the test of time to, 44:10 to not be affected by- Yeah... by said, by said fatigue, right? And I think what, what I'm worried about is they've already shown, like, the Hulk is in it. Mm-hmm. The, there's- Which I'm happy about... 44:23 the Hulk, they have- I'm so happy about that. I, I, I think it's cool. There obviously has to be a reason as to, like, what it's... 44:27 The, the Hulk mutagen is going to have to be a pl- uh, or the gamma ray e- evolution is gonna- Yeah... take place in terms of, like, how he... There, there's speculation of him becoming the Human Spider. 44:37 The evolution of what Spider-Man is going to be is gonna be interesting, 'cause, like, for those that are... Not, not to be all nerdy out on IP right now, but Scorpion's in there, which, okay, cool. Yeah. 44:48 Formidable foe that we're all familiar with. But then, but then they have, um, I, I, I'm blanking on- The Shadow... the- Right? The Shadow. They have the Shadow ninja regime. Yeah. 44:59 And that's where I get, that's where I get nervous. Yeah. That's the piece to me when I'm looking at the, when I'm looking at the marketing. Just to be very clear in what I'm watching. 45:07 When I'm seeing the m- 'Cause I think so much of the effects of what we're talking about these days, these movies, these games, everything is based on the marketing. We're... 45:17 I think we're in a world now, we've always been in marketing, but I think there's m- more and more what we are learning is that our ability to market to our consumers is of the utmost importance. 45:29 And the product, the quality of the product comes after. Iro- Yeah... you need a good product. Yeah. Right? But you can still get butts in seats and get money. Uh-huh. 45:40 I think specifically with Spider-Man, they're trying to keep a lot out of the marketing. So I think they're just hodgepodging a lot of stuff. I'd be curious. 45:49 It seems like Tom Holland's more invested than he ever has been from a story perspective. You know, Daniel Destin Cretton is an amazing director that I have a lot of faith in. Yeah. 45:59 So, like, I'm more o- probably more optimistic than you, but, like, I am pumped. It's my favorite superhero. Yeah. He always has been. The reason I said I love the Hulk- Yeah... 46:09 they're gonna have to ha- the, the Hulk's story only can advance with other superheroes, because Marvel doesn't have sole rights to the Hulk. Which is why he hasn't had a standalone movie. Universal owns that property. 46:21 So that's where they pi- slot him in, and it seems like it's gonna be great, because he's gonna need a scientist and a, someone that's not Tony Stark- Right... in his corner, like, helping him with some of this stuff. 46:34 Which is awesome. I'm like, "He's a great character. I'm here for Mark Ruffalo's Hulk." Um, we don't get enough of him. But I guess- I will say, by, of all, of all the Hulks, 46:45 I, and no discred- not, not to discredit Eric Bana or Ed Norton- I mean, he's, yeah... no disrespect to them, I, I just think that they, those were just... I don't even think it's their fault. 46:55 I think they're just miscast or just not the right journey to be taken. Sure. Well- Mark Ruffalo is given the best b- he's the best Hulk. No question. 100%. I, I- The b- the most range... I think it's gonna do fine. 47:07 I think people are gonna like it. Um, it, it's, I've been looking forward to it for a while. It's everybody's favorite superhero. It has the most high mileage. Yeah. Um, but I do wonder, 47:18 you know, in general, like, uh, thinking about s- you know, Supergirl, it didn't look great. I didn't see it, which is rare for me. Even if something's kinda bad, I'll go t- just go for the fuck of it. Yeah. Yeah. 47:29 I still haven't seen it. I agree. Partially due to a busy schedule, but I'll just catch it. It, they already announced it, that it's coming to digital on the 28th. They're just dumping it. 47:39 Like, is it because- But I'll watch it then. I'm not gonna lie to you. Yeah. I'll watch it then. I'll watch it then. I- is it because Gen Z is growing up, and they're growing out of superhero movies? 47:51 Or is it just because we can kinda tell now after 10 years of watching these films what's gonna be worthwhile and what's not? I, I, I can't, I can't get behind the, the former. I know, I know you're not suggesting that. 48:04 I know you're just posing that. But, like, look at ourselves. We're the perfect gamut of, like, we were just as young as Gen Z at one point. 48:11 Like, the Sup- the Toby Maguire Superman movie, the Super- the Spider-Man movies started, all those superhero movies started when we were in middle school, right? Right. 48:18 So, and we're still, and we're still going, and we're still watching them. So- Sure... I, I don't have the superhero- They were more novel for us, though... fatigue. 48:26 Like Spider-Man and X-Men, like, those were, like, the first of its kind. Now the generation that's growing up has had 10 years of oversaturation of all of this. 48:35 So- But then, but they haven't, but they didn't wa- they didn't grow up... Even though they watched Hugh Jackman play Wolverine first, like, they weren't really aware, they weren't... Like, they didn't watch that one. 48:48 Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Like, it was like... Also, if you look back, no offense to Bryan Singer, but you look back at X-Men, like- I think, I still think it's pretty good I look back and I go- X2 holds up... 48:59 wow, you're ni- you're, you're, you're nicer than me. I look at ba- I look back on those movies and I go- Okay... like, like, yeah All right. I liked X2 You know? I thought X2 was great. Yeah. 49:07 I can't say the same about X3, but. Okay, so I guess the question is, like, are we learning the right r- lessons from Obsessions and Backrooms, right? The 49:17 driving younger people to the theater, getting them, you know, putting things out that they want to see. Are we gonna see more of that? Because clearly we're seeing things that work and things that don't work. 49:30 Supergirl being one of them, you know, Minions and Monsters maybe being another one. Um, so I'm just curious to see where this is gonna end. We have Odyssey, Odyssey coming out. It's gonna be a massive weekend. 49:44 I think it's gonna make $100 million its first weekend. Um, and it's gonna be a huge success, and people are gonna watch it and talk about it. Um- I- Are you excited to watch The Odyssey? 49:56 I hate saying this, I'm a bit mid on it, if I'm being really real. And I'm a huge Nolan fan. 50:06 My- Yeah That said, I think that if the marketing of this, or if the conversation is a prolific, a historical filmmaker 50:18 wants to cement himself in the timeline as recapturing one of the prolific Greek stories, and this is his homage to not only Odysseus, but to Homer, then I, I'm on board for that- Yeah... 50:37 and I respect that creative choice to do justice to what his version of, you know, the Greek tragedy of... It's, I guess it's not a tragedy. The Greek, uh, the Odyssey that is Odyssey and Odysseus's story- Sure... 50:54 pun intended, then I'm on board for that. But what I can't- Well, let's, let's see if we're... Yeah. Go ahead... 51:00 what, what I can't get on board for is I'm not, I'm not really seeing a lot of the storytelling in the marketing. I'm not captured by way of... I don't, I don't really know yet what I am going to get, right? 51:14 Like- I think that's on purpose. Again, you don't need to sell it. It's Chris Nolan. He's got a, like, huge cast. Like, I think he's holding back on purpose. All the initial reaction's good. Right. 51:25 That- So let's just see... that's what I'm trying to say, though. Um, I'm curious- If he doesn't deliver, that's all I'm trying to get at. If, for example- Right... 51:31 s- spoiler alert, if the Cyclops is just what I imagine I've s- uh, how many times have we... All I'm trying to get at, how many times have we watched The Odyssey? The Odyssey has been remade several times. And- 51:48 I've personally never seen a, a, a- Really?... like an Odyssey- Oh, wow... movie. Okay. Yeah. Well, then you're in s- you're in store for a great journey. 51:57 I would just say, though, is it s- [laughs] Do, are you f- you know... Did you read The Odyssey? Are you familiar with it? Okay. I did. Yeah. So- Mm-hmm... 52:04 the point I'm getting at, as someone that has been raised on The Odyssey, I've watched it since I was in fourth grade all the way... I, I've seen many iterations of this, of this tale. Yeah. 52:16 There's only so much different- differentiation one can create. 52:20 And when I think of Chris Nolan, and when I think of what he's done as it relates to literally reima- my reimagination or my understanding of the world with Inception, with Memento. 52:33 Like, what he has done for storytelling and cognitive awareness, I'm also now, not to say speculative, but I am deeply excited and tentatively discerned around what will come to life. 52:51 Okay, so I guess I'm curious, like w- uh, going back to the topic, like all the streaming platforms are retaining their subscribers from Friends and Seinfeld and Suits- Yeah... and reruns. 53:04 So people are clearly loving the nes- these shows that they've grown up with, they're sticking to. We know Netflix invests heavily into new content. Apple TV does the same. They're very invested in doing that. 53:18 Um, and, and so we're seeing different patterns for TV watchers, the film, you know, movie theater goers. I- it's gonna be interesting to see what's, what's gonna happen. 53:30 Obviously, huge, huge box office for, um, Super Mario Galaxy, although it didn't hit the original numbers, but still massive. Toy Story 5 was incredible. I think word of mouth spread. It still stayed strong. 53:45 But I wanna see more IP like Obsession. I wanna see more found IP... or I s- I should say original movies- Yeah... 53:52 like Obsession, found IP, you know, meaning like found through Reddit or cr- created through a fan base, like Backrooms. I wanna see more of this happen so that we can get more original storytelling. 54:07 You know, even though Backrooms, I wouldn't call it or- original storytelling, it's not based off of massive IP, it's based off of a person creating it- Yeah... on YouTube, right? And so it, it feels different. 54:19 So I just wanna s- continue seeing more of that. We still have a lot of movies this summer. Um, you know, w- we're seeing different things perform in different ways. Um, so I'm just curious, at the end of the day, like 54:34 where, where what people are going to show up for at... You know, we're gonna get into Oscar season soon, prestige movies, dramas, all the film festival stuff, and we're gonna see how the box- box office performs there. 54:46 But so far it's been really strong with, um, the demographics and, um, the, uh, audience participation going to the theater, and I think that's a good sign. Uh, this is a crazy thought. 55:01 We're just, 'cause we're talking about award season now. And I don't even know if they would be availa- or able to apply. I don't know the rulings. 55:10 Do we think, given all of the, the, all of the work and all of the things, all the movement that Obsession has done, could it apply for a Golden Globe? Do, do, do we think it hits that stage? Like the popcorn- Yeah... 55:22 the box office- Like, like-... the box office... does Obsession win a Golden Globe? Sure. That would be sweet. I'm, I'm here for it. Let's see. Is that gonna be, is that gonna be your take? I... The... If they... 55:34 They should absolutely if they're not thinking that way. Okay. They should, yes. I think Obsession wins box office. Okay. Yeah. Just lock in. I think that they could totally do that. 55:45 I, I, I think it'll have a, I, I think it deserves... Same time that, you know, the Golden Globe circuit, it's gonna have to... It's, it's made such n- m- such noise that 55:57 if they don't have a seat at the table at the, in, at, at, at that award ceremony, if they don't do spoofs around that- Yeah... I think that's a huge miss. I think that shows, I think it shows a level of disrespect. 56:09 I agree. It's culture. It's locked with the culture now. I, yeah, I think it shows a la- For real, yeah... a, a, a huge... 56:13 If that, if it doesn't, if they don't allow the organ to take and to include Curry in a way, or that film to include, uh, to be included in a capacity, it only showcases an element or a level of disrespect a- and, and, and a lack of anointing of- Yeah... 56:29 what they've done. I would love Curry and Cooper to co-host an awards show together. Oh, that would- That would be incredible... that would be... 56:38 I've seen them live, so that would be very interesting, I'll tell you that. I'll say that much for sure. Um- Okay, okay... yeah. I don't know them personally, so. 56:46 All right, well, this was a fun conversation today, Chris. I think it's the first time you and I have ever gotten to, uh, pod together. Um, so thank you for having me, and I hope to do it again- Yeah... soon. 56:58 Um, do you have any final thoughts or anything before we wrap up? We're gonna be doing all... We're all, we're, we're around all summer long, guys. So get ready, gear up. We got some guests- Mm... 57:08 prepped and ready for everyone to participate. Yep. Gear up. It's gonna be, we're gonna be navigating s- travel schedules. We're gonna have some guests. Uh, thank you for sticking along with us. 57:21 Um, please subscribe to our YouTube. Follow us on Spotify. We have video now on Spotify. You can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio. 57:32 Uh, make sure to follow, uh, g- Chris, our boy Chris Sawtelle on Instagram, and, um, you can find me @futurepaul on Instagram as well, and The Future Party. Um, and we'll see you next week. 57:47 Or at least Chris will see you next week. Peace. [outro Jingle] Cash now, more later from Opendoor gives you cash up front for your home, plus all the profit later. That's no chaos now, no cash left behind later. 58:03 Skip the showings now, pocket extra profit later. This is so simple now. This is so awesome later. Or sell fast now and pop the champagne later. Cash now, more later. Now available nationwide. 58:16 Start your offer at opendoor.com/acast. Profits calculated after fees and costs. Eligibility and offer price may vary. [outro jingle] This show is brought to you by The Future Party and Crosstalk Studios. 58:28 Produced by Chris Sawtelle, Bua Khalida, and Paul York. Special shout-out to our production team, Araseli Rubalcava, Max Goolen, Shannon Klein, and Eli Tafur
