AUG 10 | EDITION #9 - Read Time: 8 minutes

Hope everyone’s having a great week…I’m on month four of the job search and trying to avoid crippling debt and anxiety, but I hit a new PR on bench in the gym and finally started The Bear, so is it all really that bad?

Let’s avoid overthinking and stress for the next two weeks before we can enjoy the great content on the horizon.

Weekly Highlights:

• A streamer is charged for inciting riots in NYC

• Fantastic Four casting rumors

• Blue Beetle box office tracking trending up

• Barstool Sports gets sold again

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.

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The Franchise Report

Content updates from our favorite IPs

🌌 From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ahsoka

Two weeks. The combined runtime of the two-episode premiere is 1 hour and 36 minutes - which means we’ll basically get a movie about getting the band back together. They also released the full streaming schedule here.

We cruise along with my Star Wars Rebels re-watch and this time I completed S2. There are some PHENOMENAL episodes in this season - capped off by the ‘Twilight of the Apprentice Part 1 & 2’…just some of the best storytelling we’ve seen in the franchise.

There wasn’t a great villain this season, but S2 really builds out the development of this Star Wars adopted family and how they’re growing together. The ‘Mystery of Chopper Base’ was a fun ride and we had some top-tier character moments in ‘The Honorable Ones’ and ‘The Call’. ‘The Seige of Lothal’ was also a fantastic opening to the season. It’s an improvement from S1 in every way.

We dealt with the complexity within the Rebel Alliance and Imperial Regime and saw these characters come into their own, which only built on the success of S3 and S4. Onward.

More

• If the animated Star Wars shows were filmed vertically. Love this trend and love these shows.

• If you missed it, a previous edition has the breakdown of must-watch episodes before Ahsoka. We’re under two weeks out…time to hit hyperdrive.

🦸‍♂️ Cape Shit

Marvel

Major Casting Rumors

Just a few hours after I sent last week’s Modern Mythos edition, we got some major, MAJOR casting rumors for the MCU.

It’s heavily rumored by industry scoopers that Vanessa Kirby will star as Sue Storm in the upcoming Fantastic Four film. Alongside this rumor, there is a possibility that Joseph Quinn will play Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play a key role not yet named. Galactus will apparently be the main villain for the film. Less substantial rumors have Matt Smith pegged to play Reed Richards - which I despise lol. I’m ready to throw all of this away.

Curious that we haven’t heard anything official prior to the strikes, but I imagine that all the deals are locked and loaded for whenever the studios and unions find an agreement. This film has been hell for the casting rumors and fan casts - so I’m looking forward to the finish line.

More Marvel

• Disney CEO Bob Iger changed his tone regarding the strikes for this quarter’s Disney Investors call, stating that he wants to be diplomatic. Time to put your money where your mouth is, brotha.

• Marvel Studios’ VFX workers have voted to unionize and are aiming to join IATSE. This is a big step for VFX workers who are largely overworked.

• Sydney Sweeny is Confirmed to be playing Julia Carpenter / Spider-Woman in the upcoming Madame Web film.

• We got a trailer for S2 of I Am Groot. They released it on National Tree Day, which is hilarious.

• Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse was released on digital earlier this week and fans are noticing some changes between the digital release and its run in theaters. Great thread on the changes here.

• Loki and McDonald’s are collaborating, featuring a ‘Loki Meal’ that includes McNuggets, Medium Fries, Sweet N Sour Sauce and a brand new McFlurry option. Classic.

• Adam Devine believes that the MCU ruined comedies. Read more here.

DC

Blue Beetle

In a stunning turn of events, Blue Beetle is now tracking for over $30M during its US opening, which is far from the $10M disaster the forecast had a couple of weeks ago. The fans have been rallying around the ‘Blue Beetle Battalion’ marketing tactic and public figures like Zack Snyder have outwardly supported the film, so hopefully the first Latino superhero movie doesn’t flop.

More DC

• The Rock appeared on Kevin Hart’s show and spoke about Black Adam. There are some interesting nuggets here.

• Zachary Levi (Shazam) called the actor strike rules “dumb” and was groaning that he couldn’t talk about his recent projects while at a fan event. This was likely a poor joke - but the more he says, the less I like him. Hilarious watching Levi and Amell have a mid-off .

• Here's the AMC-exclusive popcorn bucket for the movie. Yup.

🎥 The Rest

Streaming

• Disney+ and Hulu are raising their prices to $13.99 and $17.99 a month. They can catch these hands and this subscription cancelation (after Ahsoka).

• HBO has greenlit a comedy series about the making of a superhero movie called ‘The Franchise’, which follows the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. Might be a little too meta with this one, Warner Bros.

• We got a fun teaser trailer for UNTOLD: Johnny Football that tells the polarizing story of Johnny Manziel and his time in college and the NFL.

• A new reality competition series called Zombieverse is releasing on Netflix, where contestants are surviving a ‘real’ zombie apocalypse.

• Sounds like we’re getting back to the roots for Stranger Things S5 - with Will returning to the center of attention.

Films

• A24 has announced a sequel to the wildly successful horror Talk To Me. I don’t do horror, but this is a W for the genre and the response to this film has been overwhelmingly positive.

• Gran Turismo opened up to 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and is getting much better reviews than I expected.

• Meg 2: The Trench opened up to 28% on Rotten Tomatoes and I’ve seen nothing but hilarious comments on the film. Fuck it, I’m down to see some Jason Statham vs dino sharks.

• This Dune VFX work is hard to wrap my head around.

• Joe Rogan was appalled at the backlash of Barbie from that demographic, stating “It’s a fucking doll movie…how did people get outraged at that?” Rare Rogan W.

• Neil deGrasse Tyson did some research and found that if Barbie World were in the US, it would be somewhere in the Florida Keyes based on the Sun, Moon and latitude. Thanks for this vital information, Neil.

Box Office Talk

• Oppenheimer currently sits at $565M worldwide - a fantastic feat. They were also granted IMAX theaters for the entirety of August, so this figure is likely to rise.

• Barbillion dollars confirmed - Barbie officially entered the $1B club. It is now one of 53 films to ever hit $1B, and one of only 5 to do it since the pandemic.

• The Meg 2 opened up to $142M worldwide - overseas loves it.

The Gaming Industry

What’s new in the world of gaming & esports

Massive streamer Kai Cenat was charged by the NYPD on multiple counts for inciting a riot last Friday when he put out word that he’d be giving away some gaming gear in a park in NYC. Things quickly got out of hand, and there was a ton of destruction and mayhem - something he has recently condemned in his return to streaming.

This footage is fucking terrible and honestly a bit scary. Kai should know better than to do this without support from the NYPD or leadership, but it’s a lesson learned. He has way more real-life influence than he thought.

Gaming

• The Red Dead Redemption remake rumor was just essentially a re-release for Switch and PlayStation, though it’s being called a ‘new conversion’. Pain.

• Looks like Call of Duty is teasing the return of slide canceling - one of Warzone’s primary mechanics. It’s hilarious that they’re hyping up the release of something that should have never been removed.

• Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive success. No in-game purchases, a phenomenal, clean launch, an absurd amount of successful pre-orders and concurrent players. This review is incredible.

• Obama is a Captain Falcon main on Super Smash Bros? He’s just like me fr (I’m terrible).

Esports

• Sentinels, a prominent Esports brand, are spending nearly $700k a month on competitive players, content creators and staff and are tanking.

  • In a public statement, they announced that if they don’t successfully crowdfund, they only have 2 or 3 months left to operate as is. The esports industry is incredibly unstable.

• The boys can’t pack a couple of Zs on the main stage without getting fined? What happened to our glorious country?

Weekly Rant

The Barstool Pirates Are Back

Whether you like them or not, Barstool Sports is a mainstay in the industry and online conversation surrounding the content we all consume. They’re one of the only successful true media companies that we’ve seen and have constantly pushed the boundaries for what’s possible. A couple of days ago, they shifted the industry once again.

In 2020, Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy made a deal to sell the company to Penn Entertainment for $163M which gave them 36% ownership. In February of this year, Penn bought out the other ownership group to acquire the remaining 64% stake for $388M. They owned 100% of Barstool Sports and the partnership allowed for the creation of the Barstool Sportsbook - a sports gambling app.

Three years later, it became apparent that the occasional toxic and unruly nature of Barstool content became a point of contention for Penn, as they had a tough time getting certain licenses and necessary clearances in the highly regulated industry. Penn needed to be saved from a possible sinking ship, and ESPN swooped in…under one condition. They needed to get rid of all association with Barstool.

Earlier this week, Barstool did what they do best…caused chaos and shift the industry. Portnoy managed to buy back 100% of the brand…for $1.

ESPN and Barstool have beef going back YEARS, but Portnoy used that to his advantage. Penn wanted out of the deal, so Portnoy held them hostage and got what he wanted. A business that was bought for $551M was sold for $1, a non-compete in online gambling and one-half of the proceeds of a future sale of Barstool. Highway fucking robbery.

Moving forward, Penn and ESPN will now partner to create ESPN Bets - a sports gambling app that will replace the Barstool Sportsbook. Barstool will dive into content more than we’ve ever seen before, without any rules or regulations from ownership. They once again take control of the ship, steer it into a new direction and I’d bet on their success a million times over - because that’s what they do. I don’t always love their content, but the story and run are inspiring.

Now, there’s a lot I could rant about regarding the ethics of Disney and ESPN partnering with a gambling entity when they’re the largest sports production company on Earth - with the power to influence millions of viewers - but I’ll save that for another day.

Buckle up.

Quick Hits

⚡ What I’ve Been Watching

• The Bear S1 & S2

  • Why did none of you hold me hostage for not watching this show earlier? I cried like a baby during the final moments of the S1 finale and the first two episodes of S2 have been bangers. I love this.

• Star Wars Rebels S2

  • Mentioned this earlier, but S2 of Rebels is fantastic and provides dozens of top-tier character moments. The Ghost crew is my favorite.

• Big Brother 25

  • My wife loves this shit and I’ll get randomly attached to it as well. Started the new season and there’s already massive controversy, what the hell else is new?

💣 Random

• Sick ‘console explosion’ art. Will be buying these prints from their Etsy store soon.

• Brb blasting Jedi Temple March while doing cardio.

• This guy used a Pokemon Master Ball to propose to his partner. W.

• ‘Constantly visited by the horrors of the past and the specter of what is coming.’ Gold.

• Director filmography rugs from Culture Rugs. Need all of these.

• Really cool app that helps you find Lego pieces from a large pile.

• ‘A person’s quality of life drastically goes down when they don’t have a TV show to look forward to.’ Preach.

🎥 Video of the Week
Stages of grief after finishing a TV show. I feel this on a personal level.

📖 Read of the Week
Bob Iger Tries Diplomacy This Time On Strike: “I Am Personally Committed” to Finding a Solution by Erik Hayden of THR

🐦Tweet of The Day
Ewan and Hayden watching Revenge of the Sith together. Emotional.

📽️ Trailer Recap

• The Continental: From the World of John Wick | Official Trailer

• Marvel Studios’ I Am Groot Season 2 | Official Trailer

• Masters and Apprentices | Ahsoka

• Now or Never | Ahsoka

• UNTOLD: Johnny Football | Official Teaser

👀 Keep An Eye Out

• Aug 08 | Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the NY Jets

• Aug 11 | The Last Voyage of the Demeter

• Aug 18 | Blue Beetle

• Aug 18 | Strays

• Aug 25 | Gran Turismo

‘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!

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