Ben Fritz
@benfritz.bsky.social
Entertainment industry reporter @wsj. Formerly AI Editor. My podcast: "With Great Power." My book: "The Big Picture." My email: ben.fritz@wsj.com
Spider-Man is totally defying Hollywood's superhero slump, as evidenced by the huge opening weekend "Brand New Day" is about to have. Why? The insanely popular preschool cartoon "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" is part of the reason. www.wsj.com/business/med...
Eye-opening analysis by Jonathan Weil of how a potential AI bubble is being built right now by Wall Street analysts who cover the hyperscalers. www.wsj.com/finance/big-...
Big Tech Stocks Are Pricing In a Miracle on Costs
Analysts’ models are assuming new efficiencies, but some of the numbers look too good to be true.
wsj.com
Eye-opening analysis by @JonathanWeil of how a potential AI bubble is being built right now by Wall Street analysts who cover the hyperscalers. www.wsj.com/finance/big-...
Big Tech Stocks Are Pricing In a Miracle on Costs
Analysts’ models are assuming new efficiencies, but some of the numbers look too good to be true.
wsj.com
Fun detail in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day": They turned the Marvel Studios animated logo into a "previously on" montage reminding viewers what happened at the end of "No Way Home." Very efficient!
It's official! Opening in 2028, when renovations are complete. And food will not be served in the Dome.
Universal is releasing its Snoop biopic on Aug 6, 2027. Opening against "The Bluey Movie," which feels like a different audience.
Swaybox animators have unionized. And apparently the budget for "Dynamic Duo" is about $90 million.
Pixar layoffs aren't a referendum on how its movies have performed (Toy Story 5: great; Hoppers: mediocre). It's about the output going forward. Three movies every two years, two of which are sequels, which typically require less time (and thus manpower) than originals.
My long held dream of seeing a close up of my thumb in America's highest-circulation print newspaper has finally been realized.
More layoffs at Disney today. Several hundred people at divisions including Pixar and ESPN. As we previously reported, job cuts are going to keep coming all year at Disney (and maybe beyond)
The idea that it's a problem Dune and Avengers are opening within a week of each other is post-pandemic brain nonsense. Multiple movies can succeed around Christmas. It has happened many times. Star War / Jumanji; Aquaman/Spider-Verse; Rogue One/Sing/Hidden Figures
Disney theme parks are all about immersing yourself in the magic. But to effectively use Lightning Lanes, you have to be buried in your phone making and revising ride reservations. My story on the new, phone-first Disney park experience. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...
Disney is the Happiest Place on Earth, Unless You’re the Designated Scroller
To avoid endless lines, one person in every party has to manically book and revise ride reservations on their phone .
wsj.com
Huge opening for "The Odyssey" isn't just a win for Nolan and Universal, but for auteurs over franchises. www.wsj.com/business/med...
Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Proves Hollywood’s Top Directors Are Franchises Now
The big-budget epic opened with $264 million at the global box office, besting many franchise films.
wsj.com
Just saw the first real estimate, based on early ticket sales, for the domestic opening gross of "The Odyssey": $117 million.
Christopher Nolan's Contemplative Expression
ALT: Christopher Nolan's Contemplative Expression
static.klipy.com
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters on becoming more like Tubi: "A free offering could make sense in some markets... free is something we're going to continue to consider, but we have no near-term plans to launch something."
Microsoft poured $80 billion-plus into its Xbox business to build the Netflix of video games. Now it's laying off 3,200 people and radically restructuring Xbox. What went wrong? Watch our video (featuring, I regret to inform you... me!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpqT...
Why Microsoft's $80B Xbox Bet Backfired | WSJ What Went Wrong
YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal
youtube.com
I'm no critic, but one thing I want to say is that Chris Nolan loves making his scores indistinguishable from his sound effects and he takes that to the Nth degree in "The Odyssey"
Paramount landed the next "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie because Wes Craven's estate got the rights back from New Line with help from everyone in LA and SF's favorite lawyer, Marc Toberoff. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
I am fascinated by the magazine in "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" where the reporters hack into phones like a scummy British tabloid but there is also a fact-checking department
The creator of Siren Head never made a penny from his viral horror creation despite the deluge of TikTok videos, knockoff Amazon merch, and video games. Now, thanks to the post-"Backrooms" gold rush, Hollywood has made him a millionaire. www.wsj.com/business/med...
Hollywood’s Horror-Meme Gold Rush Is Minting Millionaires
The creator of a monster called Siren Head scored a rich deal as studios hunt for the next “Backrooms”-style hit.
wsj.com
Netflix is considering live channels and bundling other SVOD services in its app as executives scramble to turn around an alarming drop in engagement. www.wsj.com/business/med...
Exclusive | Netflix Is Exploring Live TV and Bundles as It Struggles to Keep Viewers Hooked
The streamer is rethinking some of its core strategies to compete with rivals.
wsj.com
There are a million sad things about this, including that people who don't read books are simply missing out on fun. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.
theatlantic.com
Extremely well funded tech startups throwing money at smaller startups to try and lock them in as customers. 🤔 www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-g...
Why is Microsoft's Xbox business in such bad shape? When making investment decisions a few years ago, the company projected Game Pass would currently have 77 million subscribers. The actual number now? About 30 million. www.wsj.com/tech/microso...
Microsoft Is Cutting More Than 3,000 Jobs in Xbox Division
The videogame unit’s revenue has fallen and its Netflix-like subscription service is far below expectations.
wsj.com
This piece on the post-production drama behind "Supergirl" by @boryskit.bsky.social shows how silly it is to blame the screenplay if you didn't like the film. As with most high pressure, big budget movies, they didn't simply take a bad script and make that. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Behind the ‘Supergirl’ Bomb: Competing Cuts, Creative Differences (Exclusive)
For months, DC Studios knew the film wasn't working. Things came to a head in March when the studio tested its own cut against one from filmmaker Craig Gillespie.
hollywoodreporter.com
