☀️PAR, Trump National Nightmare Over — Now What
NEON buys again / Aniston, APPLE double down / KPop, 💩 Cruise rule NETFLIX movie viewing
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
Where congratulations, everybody! We’re now officially halfway thru 2025.
Alas, my $100M offer from Zuck still hasn’t arrived, and frankly I’m beginning to get a little concerned (Rushfield said that he told META he’s $125M or bust).
ALTHOUGH: The pride that the new nine-figure employees will have in telling their parents that they’re now part of the new “Superintelligence” group at META must be very sweet. Now, how to tell other folks that they’re subsequently being put in META’s “Borderline Dumbasses” group . . . 🤔.
THEN: PENSKE MEDIA is officially eliminating “all remote-only roles across PMC corporate by August 31, 2025,” mandating that all such employees be in the office 4 days a week (NY, L.A., Miami or Austin) as of about 8 weeks from now. Hey, as the saying goes — if it’s good enough for JP MORGAN CHASE, it’s good enough for PENSKE MEDIA.
If you decline the uh, invitation to return to corporate office life — it’s been nice working with you. “Employees who decide not to take an in-office position will conclude their employment with us, effective August 31.”
OH: We have a Diddy verdict — guilty on 2 counts, and could face a maximum 20 year sentence.
SO: To be fair, I don’t think Trump ever specified who exactly would be doing so much better if he were re-elected President (this translates to the Senate budget bill costing the bottom 20% about $560 a year more).
ALSO: Canada repealed its digital services tax that Trump said was a no-go for a trade deal to take place (it would have also hit streamers in addition to the #BigTech folks).
AH: WARNER MUSIC keeps “rightsizing” — ahead are $300M in cost cuts, including $170M derived from upcoming layoffs. Wait, I thought the music business was the one that figured out the streaming future? 🤔
WMG also announced a new $1.2B JV with PE firm BAIN to buy up more music catalogs (assuming there are there any left).
HMM: All AUDACY radio stations will now also be available to stream in the iHEARTRADIO app of its main competitor.
IHEART has 869 stations, AUDACY has over 220, including WFAN and 1010 WINS in NYC.
AND: Video game woes continue, as XBOX is looking at “substantial cuts” next week — its 4th round of cuts in the past 18 months.
FINALLY: While it’s no Wolverine mouth — nicely done ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE. 👏
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Ok dinosaurs, you’re up next. Looking at uh, at least $100M (though I don’t see most adhering to that), and up to $135M for the 5-day for Jurassic World: Rebirth.
The floor here seems to be more around $115M give or take, and note that it’s taking many of the PLF screens from F1 (which is keeping the IMAX).
BTW: F1 did another $7M at the box office on Monday.
JW: Dominion did $145M over the traditional 3-day weekend in June 2022, so this one is looking to be notably below — but what say y’all?
WEEKEND VIEWING
I’ll round out the top here today with a high recommend for this John Oliver dive from last weekend on AI Slop.
Whenever I talk with execs doing work related to AI and the question of “What impending issue isn’t being discussed enough?” comes up — “slop” (ok fine — perhaps I use a more uh, colorful word) is always the answer I give.
While yes, the larger societal and economic / employment issues are certainly the biggest impacts that I don’t think have been fully grasped (although to be fair — the timing and scope are hard to discern, other then they’re coming), and on the upside — the medical advancements keep showing more potential (including the potential for resulting job loss in that field too).
But to dial it into the most important aspect of all — us — the looming impact on all social media and digital video platforms from the impending tsunami of “AI Slop” is going to shove those platforms into their next business chapters.
And they’re probably not going to be chapters they want to remember (for those inclined, Music Business Worldwide delves into the already existing influx happening in the music world, which Oliver also examines).
Worth taking a look while your driverless taxi takes you around to your parties this weekend.
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
