Currently, per Rentrak, the North American box office for the first Friday in May through EOD today stands at $4.598 billion, officially the second-highest summer ever behind 2013. If this summer is going to beat 2013’s all-time high, it has $158M to gross. - Deadline
“She is part of a lineage that has gone dormant: larger-than-life, carefully curated personas bolstered by their market value at the box office and by how their sheer artistry shapes the texts that end up on the silver screen. These are women like Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Mae West.” - Vulture (MSN)
Love it or hate it, with its viewing figures fast overtaking traditional broadcasters’, YouTube is now undeniably a part of the U.K.’s broadcasting ecosystem. - Variety
The movies in the good-because-bad canon are not forgettably bad, like cheesy Hallmark fare or the thousandth predictable sequel in a superhero franchise; they are not skillfully and expensively bad, like botched Oscar bait. - The New Yorker
From its very first broadcast episode on September 8 1966, Star Trek established that its true subject was the exploration of humanity itself. - The Conversation
Internal documents show Meta knew for years that its youngest users were the most likely to be targeted by bullies, extortionists and sexual predators. - Los Angeles Times
Big, established names are using it to make more money. Non-stars say the number of jobs has plummeted and that they are being tricked into training their replacements. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
“The Odyssey,” an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem from Christopher Nolan, has surpassed “Deadpool & Wolverine” to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. - Washington Post
The effort secures the future of the more than 100-year-old facility and is just another investment by Steves in the local community over the past year. - KING 5
“Among creatives who spoke to TheWrap in the past week, skepticism still abounds that the studio could make good on such a lofty goal. ‘In the old days at Warner Bros. they released almost that many movies, but I don't know if the marketplace can bear that,’ said one veteran producer.” - TheWrap (MSN)
“In the era of streaming, binge-watching is easier than ever. So, it seems potentially incongruous that appointment viewing — watching a television show when it first airs — is so capable of seizing the collective attention of viewers. But fandom is a powerful force, and appointment viewing has tamed the beast into something fearsome.” - Variety
“Modern localization, especially for video games, happens at a massive scale today. … A large update for (a) game can contain about 200,000 words, enough for a lengthy novel; major expansions to its world and story can approach 500,000 words. The English localization team can grow to more than 10 people.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)
A prominent Latino group is raising fresh concerns about Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the blockbuster deal would crush Latino workers and small businesses that support Hollywood. - Los Angeles Times
Theater chain apps suffered apparent outages as moviegoers waited in long virtual lines, hoping to finally glimpse a seat map with some empty spots left on it. In Manhattan, those who have grown mistrustful of this unreliable tech found time on a weekday morning to line up around the block at AMC Lincoln Square. - Wired
