☀️PAR, Trump Still Far Apart On 💰 As Deal Clock Ticks
AI Watch: NYT cuts deal, BI chops staff / SPC's Cannes buy / PAR eyes women's ⚽️ deal
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 Thursday, May 29, 2025.
Where, look out, SUNGLASS HUT! Zuck is apparently studying the notion of opening a series of META retail spaces to sell, uh, well, eyewear basically (META glasses, OCULUS headsets, etc.), according to Business Insider.
Yes, META has looked at the challenges AMAZON has had in its retail endeavors and told it to hold its beer (META products are made in America, right? Although I guess that really doesn’t matter as much this morning, for now). META has an existing store location on its CA campus and also previously operated a now-closed pop-up in L.A., which I’m sure you all frequented.
THEN: Kudos to the OKC THUNDER for making the NBA Finals last night. Those sounds you hear in the background are NBA execs praying for tonight’s KNICKS game to ignite what would be a historic KNICKS three-game comeback . . . so the NBA Finals doesn’t feature teams from the 25th biggest NIELSEN market and the 47th.
OKC is also already massively favored against either the PACERS or KNICKS in case you thought gambling might help the situation.
ALSO: The clamors from the folks of Mississippi have been heard, as Sinners will have a screening in Clarksdale, MS this week, which was the inspiration for the setting of the film. Coogler and some of the cast will also attend.
PLUS: Gotta love the growing list of tech titans who are finding out that they may as well have given $1M to me in January — although my offer to put one gif of you each week in The Wakeup in return still stands, which honestly seems like a better ROI than this:
APPLE still hangs under a 25% #TrumpTariff threat.
Zuck seemingly received zero help in obtaining any reprieve in antitrust proceedings related to META.
And now, sorry Elon . . . yes, you too (hint: the data center project is full steam ahead without xAI).
So yes, CBS NEWS — Elon will happily accept your interview request and knock big, beautiful bills . . . as he also exits his role as a top advisor to Trump, a little over four months after Inauguration Day. Don’t worry, guys — just 44 more months to go!
Elon also hasn’t quite come through on that $100M he said he would give to groups controlled by Trump’s team to help them in the 2026 midterms. 👀
THEN: Joanna Stern from the WSJ set out to create a three-minute faux-sitcom video starring Joanna and a robot using only AI tools (including GOOGLE’s new VEO3 and RUNWAY) — here are the results, followed by a reveal on how they put it all together.
AI certainly isn’t saving you too much time, and there’s still a considerable amount of post-production expertise involved . . . but the video definitely has some “efficiencies” to note, especially if you were hiring full crews to shoot something like this instead.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL x 2
Karate Kid: Legends seems to be tracking around $25M, although if you’re a stan of the franchise perhaps $30M is within reach. But I’ve also seen folks citing decreasing tracking indicators in recent weeks as reason for scaling back expectations . . . so I’d say the door is wide open for ya.
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
