JUL 21 | EDITION #6 - Read Time: 11 minutes

Barbenheimer is upon us…pure cinema is back. I’ve been having a bit of a rough mental health week, but Nolan, Greta and Tom Cruise definitely got me.

Over the last week, there’s been a lot of discourse around what media publications, content creators and influencers should or should not be doing during the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. Before nerding out on the films ahead of us this weekend, I want to start here:

Modern Mythos Media stands with the writers and actors who are striking for a fair deal with the studios. To show solidarity, we will be joining other content creators to spread awareness - and will not be accepting paid promotions or premiere invites from any struck studios until a resolution is met. I believe it’s important to discuss the issues at hand and raise awareness of the harm these studios are causing - we have to support the unions. If you wish to do your part, you can find picket locations here and a donation link here.

Let’s get into it.

Highlights:

• Happy Oppenheimer, Barbie and MI7 week

• WGA & SAG-AFTRA strikes explained

• The Dark Knight 15-year Anniversary

• Modern Warfare 2 (2009) is BACK

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of writers and actors currently on strike, the movies and shows being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Created by Sean | Subscribe

The Franchise Report

Content updates from our favorite IPs

🌌 From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

We really don’t have a lot of Star Wars news here besides John Boyega expressing his interest to come back to the franchise (which is a new revelation from him) and telling the world that The Last Jedi is his least favorite of the Sequel Trilogy. I can’t go there when Rise of Skywalker exists, but I get it.

🦸‍♂️ Cape Shit

Marvel

Secret Invasion

I’ve caught up on Secret Invasion and I’m feeling the MCU exhaustion. If this came out during the hype from Endgame or right after Wandavision, this would have done NUMBERS. The fatigue is hitting where some of these reveals aren’t ‘break the internet’ moments anymore, which is something these shows heavily relied on in years past. I’ll do a full spoiler review after the conclusion next week.

Various Marvel News

• It might feel a bit performative, but seeing high-caliber influencers like Hassan on the picket line shutting down a Marvel shoot is great.

• Bob Iger, everyone’s favorite corporate mogul, says that Disney will be reducing Star Wars and Marvel content.

• Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine for over 23 years, which is the longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero. Here are all of his looks across the films.

• Across The Spider-Verse is releasing on digital on August 8th. For those of you that missed the theater run, this is your moment.

• Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3 releases on Disney+ on August 2nd. Bring your tissues.

DC

Aquaman 2

A DC blockbuster undergoing massive reshoots, delays and leadership changes. What could go wrong?

Per Borys Kit, Aquaman 2 recently wrapped their THIRD round of reshoots and has reportedly been in post-production for over 18 months, which is unheard of. They scrapped multiple versions of the film with different Batman actors (Keaton & Affleck) once Gunn got the keys to the future of the DCU in order not to promise a universe or future films that will never see the light of day and put his own stamp on the film. A chaotic mess.

Aquaman made over a billion a few years back and I love Jason Momoa and James Wan as much as the next guy, but I’m nervous about how turbulent things have been. This movie is going to be horrendous, book it.

The Dark Knight 15-Year Anniversary

The Dark Knight is one of the greatest films ever made and has been a pop culture icon since its release. The 15-year anniversary brought some great highlights, like when Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless reviewed and argued over the film on ESPN’s First Take. Maggie Gyllenhaal catching STRAYS. This one actually made me laugh out loud, a must-watch, especially for sports fans.

And as we do every week, here's a feature from All The Right Movies, showing the filmmaking process and Nolan crafting The Dark Knight. Steve Carell wanted to play The Joker and Matt Damon was the first choice for Harvey Dent but had scheduling conflicts….can you imagine?

🎥 The Rest

Oppenheimer

I haven’t been this excited about a film in a long, long time. Premiere’s just hit different when it’s one of the kings of the industry, and Nolan is at the very top. It debuted with a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Oppenheimer is getting almost nothing but praise to the highest order. Robert Downey Jr is getting a ton of Oscar buzz, alongside Cillian Murphy and a lot of credit for Emily Blunt and Matt Damon. RDJ came out and said this is the best film he’s ever been in. I believe him.

I highly recommend you find an IMAX theater for this one, and if you live near one of the locations listed here, you're lucky enough to see it in true, 70mm IMAX format. Here’s the difference between 70mm and normal IMAX, it makes a difference.

Before seeing the film, I highly recommend watching this 5-minute tiktok clip from a documentary on this story. It provides some much-needed background.

The film is tracking for over $50M opening weekend, which would be a win. I’m seeing this film tonight…I’ll see you guys on the other side.

Barbie

Barbie premiered to fantastic reactions, praising its meta-commentary for being perfectly woven into a fun story with excellent performances. It debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a 90%

I’ve also seen a ton of film creators give the film more of a mixed-bag review. It’s one thing to make a mindless film based on a toy. It’s another to use it to build a commentary on society, toxic masculinity, etc. Curious to see how the general public, and not movie nerds, feel about this one.

AMC’s Barbie popcorn bucket is $65 and comes with a Corvette and a doll - what the actual fuck are we doing lmao.

Barbie is looking to break the $110M mark for opening weekend - I imagine this gets smashed. I’m seeing this with the wife next Tuesday. Bring your Kenergy to a theater near you.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

I spent the last five days binging all of the MI series as it’s been a blind spot in my filmography. I completed all 6 films in time to see Dead Reckoning in theaters for its final IMAX showing before Oppenheimer takes them over, and I’m stoked. It’s currently sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The MI7 and Oppenheimer double feature is on my plate for today and I’ve never been more excited for a day in film. Next week’s edition will include a ton of top-billing film reviews. If you’re going to go to the movies anytime this summer, this weekend is it.

More

• Jason Momoa is hosting Shark Week on Discovery which begins July 23. My wife and dogs will see nothing but sharks 24/7.

• We got a new trailer for The Creator. Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) will be directing. Greig Fraser (The Batman, Dune) will be the cinematographer. HANS FUCKING ZIMMER is doing the music. I couldn’t dream up a better sci-fi trio if I tried.

• New posters for both Invincible S2 and Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Trailers coming soon, I hope.

• Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd will be starring in a new film by A24 called ‘Death of a Unicorn’. The film will follow a father & daughter’s story after they run over a unicorn on their way home. Just yes.

• We got a write-up on every important character in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon - who is involved, their story, who the actor is, etc. Love this.

The Gaming Industry

What’s new in the world of gaming & esports

The rumors are true. The old Call of Duty servers are back and pumping. The glory days are here.

After recent pushback and issues with the current version of Warzone 2, the community has rushed back to the old games, most notably Modern Warfare 2 (2009) and the servers feel clean.

Old-school lobbies are back, those of you that grew up with this game will have nostalgia here and matches can be found instantly. As recently as a couple of weeks ago, there were less than hundreds playing. This week? Tens of thousands. Fans have been reporting that Xbox Series X’s are sold out EVERYWHERE. Time to go up in the attic and pull out the old 360 console.

1v1 me on rust, bitch.

Other News

• The train sequence from Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 was heavily inspired by an eerily similar sequence from Uncharted 2. The director of the game took it as flattery, seemingly.

• The Apex Legends Esports team DarkZero just won the second split of the Apex Legends Global Series, taking home $300k. Here are the comms of the final winning moments.

• All of the upcoming Star Wars games. I doubt we see half of these, but my most anticipated would be the KOTOR remake.

• The most dramatic, cinematic Mario Kart W ever - outside a few games of Beerio Kart during my college years with the guys, of course.

• Xbox Live is being terminated in September and being replaced by Game Pass. Here are the details.

• This meme of the plane lady and Tyr made me lol.

Weekly Rant

WGA & SAG-AFTRA Strikes

Here it is. After the writers had been striking for over 2 months, the actors decided to join them - marking the first co-strike between the WGA & SAG-AFTRA since the 60s. Hollywood is at a standstill.

It’s estimated that 95% of the SAG cannot claim benefits due to low pay - making less than $26k a year despite working full-time in the industry. We look at actors as rich, larger-than-life movie stars - but outside of the household name stars, the reality is that most are just like us, trying to get by and feed their families.

Support for the cause has been overwhelming from the industry’s biggest figures. Christopher Nolan said that he will not be developing more films until the strikes are resolved, showing solidarity with his peers. Actors like Tom Cruise were present in negotiating sessions between the studios and unions. Other actors like Sean Gunn are speaking out publically and emphatically. “That’s a fucking shame, Bob.”

While support is there from the good guys, the studio moguls are in defense. I’ve seen multiple studio lead interviews about how they’re hemorrhaging money and stating that the writers/actors are being unrealistic, which is obvious bullshit. Their plan, on record, is to wait until the union members begin to lose their homes. Cartoonishly evil, but this is the sad reality.

Here’s a breakdown of what the writers specifically want from the studios, which equates to $430M a year. Realistically, this total is only a percentage of a percentage loss for the studios yearly. Every week that the strikes continue, it’s reported by Variety that the studios are losing at least $600k for each halted production - all due to their unwillingness to pay actors and writers fairly.

The strikes are expected to move into the Fall, and delays for shows and movies are inevitable, but they need to happen, and the studios have to meet the requirements. This is a critical moment in the relationship between studios and working people, and they can’t fuck it up without irreparable damage. Change is needed.

Quick Hits

👨‍🍳 Weekly Ranking
Christopher Nolan supremacy. Here’s where I stand pre-Oppenheimer.

💣 Random

• If Stranger Things was British…loled more than I care to admit.

• ‘Hello, Peter.’ LeBron cosplaying as Doc Ock LMAO.

• The Buffalo Bills social team is unhinged. Shitpoasting and ‘Core Core’ in the offseason. Love it.

• Barbie girlfriend, Oppenheimer boyfriend.

• This man made a chicken sandwich from absolute scratch and it cost $1,500 and took over 6 months. The internet is alive and well.

• The memes from the new Vegas Sphere are hilarious. Here’s a favorite.

• This NPC trend is a plague to society.

📹 Video of the Week
Witness Oppenheimer as god (Nolan) intended.

�� Read of the Week
Showstopper! Strikes Plunge Hollywood Into Chaos With Pricey Movie Delays, Pay Battles and AI Anxiety by Brent Lang, Tatiana Siegel, Matt Donnelly at Variety.

🖌️ Community Artwork
Beautiful mockup for a (fake) game by @GavMakesGames. Perfection.

📽️ Trailer Recap

• The Creator | Official Trailer

• Harley Quinn Season 4 | Trailer

• The Wheel of Time Season 2 | Official Trailer

• UNTOLD Vol. 3 | Jake Paul, Johnny Manziel, Gators

• Disney’s Haunted Mansion | New Trailer

🐦Tweet of The Day
My brain after my Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning & Oppenheimer double feature.

👀 Keep An Eye Out

• Jul 21 | Barbie

• Jul 21 | Oppenheimer

• Jul 21 | They Cloned Tyrone

• Jul 23 | SHARK WEEK

• Jul 26 | Secret Invasion Episode 6 (finale)

All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.”

Would love to meet some of you and get some feedback for the newsletter. Too long? Too boring? Love it? Feel free to reach out and yell at me.

See you next Thursday!

Twitter | Instagram | Letterbox