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
The non-rave "Lanterns" reviews are like "the comic book stuff ruins it" or "why make a Green Lantern show with so little comic book stuff?" Which goes to show that the right amount of comic book stuff in an adaptation is totally subjective based on your personal geekdom
For the people in Hollywood constantly wondering whether Sony Pictures will be sold, the CEO of Sony Corp.'s says its primary business is now entertainment. So no. www.wsj.com/business/med...
How a Sony Veteran Is Overhauling the Company He Grew Up In
The Sony veteran says the future of the electronics business is entertainment.
wsj.com
Having to effectively monitor which tech tools are enabled for which students sounds like a fun additional job for school administrators and teachers. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/b...
Google Turns On Gemini A.I. for Students Using Its Classroom App (Gift Article)
Google enabled A.I. features for K-12 schools that have allowed student access to Gemini. Until this week, Google automatically enabled Gemini in Classroom only for students 18 or older.
nytimes.com
I wouldn't personally dispense it as bullet pointed advice, but I've absolutely done something like this while reading particularly dense novels and found it quite helpful. Seems pretty snobby to mock it IMO.
While on vacation I learned that Premiere magazine is still a thing in France. Lucky them! (Also had a great time taking my son and father on a WWI/II military history tour)
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
