Those returns rank among the top 10 highest-grossing second weekends in domestic box office history. They also push “Top Gun: Maverick” to $291 million in North America, enough to overtake 2005’s “War of the Worlds” ($243 million) as Cruise’s highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office. - Variety
For much of its existence, Netflix has thought of itself as a tech company, moving fast and breaking things; now it’s seeking to emulate the dinosaurs it once thought it would effortlessly replace. - The New Republic
I’ll stipulate that the people who make movies may skew progressive in their beliefs, commitments and voting patterns. The movies themselves tell another story. - The New York Times
"For more than a century, filmmakers have been using the 'green screen' technique. ... So where did it come from? And why is it so popular? And most importantly: why is it green? It's time, for once, to let the green screen occupy the foreground instead of the background." - Quartz
"The good news is that the public broadcast group has been operating without much help from the state or its Board of Regents for years, … with more than 75% of its funding coming from individuals, businesses, and corporations." - Inside Radio
One of the things that brought me back to moviemaking was Netflix and the idea of streaming and a streaming series. I think theaters are dead. I think they’ll be a niche thing for superhero movies. I haven’t gone to the cinema for decades. You know, I just prefer to watch it at home. - APNews
Viki (meaning "video wiki"), which specializes in programming from East Asia, has an estimated 100,000 volunteers subtitling in 150 languages for 53 million subscribers. Those translators are fiercely proud of their work and say they have to redo the work of paid translators. (They went on strike over machine translation.) - Vulture
The departure in particular of hosts Audie Cornish (All Things Considered), Noel King (Morning Edition) and Lulu Garcia-Navarro (Weekend Edition), all women of color, drew considerable criticism. SVP Anya Grundmann said that there's simply a competitive market (all three left for commercial media jobs) and NPR's overall staff turnover is low. - Press Gazette
Theaters are finding workers harder to hire, and inflation is hitting costs. Perhaps most chilling, supply-chain issues are foreshadowing shortages behind the concession stand, a crucial profit driver for theaters. - The Wall Street Journal
After the English subtitles for Squid Game attracted a lot of criticism, "improving the quality of translated content has become a priority for streamers increasingly tapping into their international resources for the next big hit. It's a process that generally unfolds over the course of five steps." - Vulture
Cinemark's Movie Club ($10 monthly for one movie) has 1 million active members, and AMC's Stubs A-List ($19.95 a month for 3 movies a week) has nearly that many. Regal Unlimited offers unlimited movies starting at $18 per month. Here's a Q&A with Cinemark's CEO about the program. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
The Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency have exercised direct editorial control over more than 2,500 films and television shows. These discoveries raise questions about the government’s reach at a time when deciphering propaganda from fact has become increasingly difficult. - Los Angeles Times
“I (told Spielberg), ‘I always felt like I could play a conductor, but may I research the material and see if I can write it and direct it? Would you let me do that?’” Cooper said. - Variety
He was born into the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in 1879; his grandparents had survived the Trail of Tears. "Despite his consistent and very vocal pride about being Indigenous, his image did not fit with the public's assumptions of what a Native American ought to look like." - The Criterion Collection
