☕ Flop era

Is the Pixar slump real this time? [Advertisement] June 16, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( TOGETHER WITH [Braun]( Good morning. It’s an extra sweet Summer Friday because today marks the beginning of another three-day weekend for many Americans. Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the US, is on Monday. And we’re still peeling from our MDW sunburn. With all the days off of work, it’s starting to feel like summer in Europe over here. —Matty Merritt, Cassandra Cassidy, Molly Liebergall, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 13,782.82 +1.15% S&P 4,425.84 +1.22% Dow 34,408.06 +1.26% 10-Year 3.723% -6.9 bps Bitcoin $25,672.10 +2.01% Microsoft $348.10 +3.19% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 2:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks climbed again—and it wasn’t just tech companies carrying the team this time. The industrials-heavy Dow was the best-performing major index, showing how the current market rally is [spreading]( beyond the AI frenzy. But the AI frenzy is still frenzied: Microsoft, seen as the de facto AI leader, hit a record high.  ENTERTAINMENT [Has Pixar lost its fastball?]( [Pixar elements water and fire in new film "Elemental"]( Disney/Pixar Elemental, Pixar’s newest animated feature, [debuts today]( and if you haven’t heard much excitement around it, it’s because there isn’t any. The movie, which follows two different anthropomorphic elements from different “cultures” who fall in love, was expected to disappoint before you could ask, “Wait, they live in…Element City?” The film is expected to gross $35 million–$45 million in domestic box office sales in its opening weekend, which, despite how much money that is to our brains, is pretty mid for the industry—especially for the famed studio behind megahits like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Up. (For context, the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse scored $120.5 million in its opening weekend.) The muted buzz around Elemental, arriving after an uninspiring slate of Pixar movies during the pandemic, has sparked another round of everyone’s favorite conversation starter: What happened to Pixar’s mojo? This question isn’t new. Every few years, culture writers declare that Pixar has lost its magic touch, blaming everything from its [sale to corporate overlord Disney]( to its [overreliance on sequels](. But, as soon as critics finish roasting The Good Dinosaur or Cars 2, Pixar responds with a right jab. Toy Story 4, released in 2019, was the studio’s second-highest-grossing film ever, raking in $1.1 billion. At the moment, though, the “Pixar slump” theory is winning. - Onward’s unfortunately timed early pandemic theatrical release only brought in $142 million worldwide. - Soul, Luca, and Turning Red were released directly on Disney+ between October 2020 and March 2022. And while they received great reviews, they weren’t commercial successes. - Pixar made its big return to theaters in summer of 2022 with the Toy Story spinoff, Lightyear. However, that film flopped with a meager $226 million in global box office sales, and Lightyear’s director and other Pixar execs were fired earlier this month. Big picture: You can bet that reviving Pixar to its former glory is near the top of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s to-do list. But now, like Nemo, it’s [not the only fish]( in the animated sea. Universal has emerged as a fierce rival, producing the last three highest-grossing animated movie releases: The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.—MM, NF   TOGETHER WITH BRAUN [Your custom cut]( [Braun]( Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all trim. With Braun’s [All-in-One Series 9 Trimmer]( you get precision trimming from head to toe in one portable, convenient package. This [13-in-1 Trimmer]( comes with 40 length settings, hair clippers, a beard trimmer, and a body trimmer for all your manscaping needs. And thanks to its precision ProWheel and lifetime-sharp metal ProBlade, you get 100% control that lasts. The Series 9 trimmer has a rechargeable battery with a 180-minute cordless runtime so you can freshen your look at home or on the road. Did we mention it’s 100% waterproof? Don’t overthink it…or overtrim it. [Get yours today](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [A banner for the Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava is displayed outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the company goes public on June 15, 2023]Spencer Platt/Getty Images Are IPOs back? The tzatziki flowed on Wall Street yesterday as Cava [went public]( in the sixth-biggest US IPO of the year. And it was a tasty one: Shares of the Mediterranean fast-casual chain popped 99%, giving it a market value of $4.9 billion at market close. Cava’s successful debut could inspire other restaurant brands, such as Panera and Fogo De Chão, to accelerate their plans to go public and wake up a sleepy IPO market. Suspected Pentagon documents leaker charged. Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, 21, was [indicted]( by a federal grand jury yesterday on six counts related to the willful retention and transmission of US defense intel. In April, Teixeira was arrested for allegedly publishing highly classified national security documents on a Discord server, including a top-secret analysis of the war in Ukraine. Each count carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. SCOTUS rules in favor of Native American tribes in adoption case. The Supreme Court ruled 7–2 to [preserve]( the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives Native American tribes preference in adopting and fostering Native children. The lead plaintiffs challenging the law were a white couple attempting to adopt a five-year-old girl from the Navajo Nation who has lived with them since she was a baby, sparking a legal fight with the tribe. Tribal leaders and President Biden praised the court decision for protecting tribal sovereignty. CONSUMER [Fees can run, but they can no longer hide]( [Interrogation light shining on the Ticketmaster logo ]( Francis Scialabba You might not know what a $75.33 service fee for concert tickets is for exactly, but soon, at least, you won’t be surprised by it. Yesterday, executives from Live Nation, Airbnb, SeatGeek, and other companies pledged to [increase transparency]( around hidden fees in a roundtable meeting with President Biden. Starting in September, Ticketmaster said it would display all-in pricing up front for its more than 200 venues, so you won’t be shocked by the cost of your ticket going up 27% on the checkout screen (you’ll just be shocked when you see the price of the ticket initially). Big picture: The decision by these companies to increase transparency is an attempt to get on Biden’s good side. The president called out “junk fees” at his State of the Union in February and has proposed legislation targeting them. But Ticketmaster, for one, will have to make a lot more amends to win back the goodwill of the government and consumers. - The company received intense backlash after it fumbled the rollout of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in November, and the Justice Department is investigating potential antitrust violations by Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster. - Of the top 100 amphitheaters in the US, 64% are operated by Live Nation and 77% use Ticketmaster as their sole ticket provider, according to an analysis of PollStar data by the American Economic Liberties Project. Big picture: Biden’s war on exorbitant fees has been making progress. Facing pressure from the White House, three US airlines agreed in March to start [allowing families]( to sit together for no extra cost.—CC   TOGETHER WITH THE TWO MILLION DOLLAR PUZZLE [ THE TWO MILLION DOLLAR PUZZLE]( This puzzle could make you a millionaire…The Two Million Dollar Puzzle is a 500-piece QR code puzzle that reveals a cash prize ranging from a buck to [$1,000,000](. A fun evening in and the chance to win some dough? Sign us up. Get yours for [$25 + free shipping](. CRIME [Ex-Harvard morgue manager charged with selling faces]( [Body parts from Harvard Medical School cadavers were illegally sold by the morgue manager.]( Harvard Medical School. VW Pics/Getty Images In a case that could’ve been written by R.L. Stine, the ex-manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue, his wife, and three others have been charged for allegedly trafficking human body parts that were donated to the school for research purposes. From 2018 through 2022, Cedric and Denise Lodge allegedly [sold]( brains, faces, and other bits he stole from the Harvard morgue he managed until his termination this May. Here’s how prosecutors say the operation allegedly worked: - Lodge sometimes let customers come in and pick their desired remains in person. Otherwise, he would take his work home with him and mail the body parts to buyers in exchange for a few hundred or thousand dollars apiece. - One defendant made 39 payments totaling almost $40,000 to a PayPal account in Denise Lodge’s name over nearly three years. A master of discretion, the buyer captioned one payment “head number 7” and another “braiiiiiins.” - Some buyers resold their purchased parts—one did so through her aptly named store, Kat’s Creepy Creations. A web of body snatchers: The Lodges and three buyers are facing charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods, which could carry a combined 15-year sentence if convicted. Two other people—one of whom allegedly did business with one of the Lodges’ buyers—are also in legal trouble for trafficking remains from the University of Arkansas.—ML   GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [The world's largest kidney stone]Sri Lanka Army Stat: Think you can guess what you’re looking at? That, folks, is the [world’s largest kidney stone](. This behemoth, which was removed from a patient in Sri Lanka on June 1, is 5.26 inches long and weighs 1.76 lbs—or, as CNN explains, “It’s about the size of a grapefruit, as long as a banana, and as heavy as four hamsters.” Brb about to chug some water… Quote: “You shouldn’t wait until someone is dead to meet up with them.” A Belgian man named David Baerten felt “unappreciated” by his family, so he took the logical next step: [faking his death]( and then showing up to his funeral in a helicopter to make sure they’d include him in plans going forward. Before deciding that your family deserves a similar reminder, know that Baerten later said he regretted going through with the stunt. Watch: The absurd logistics of concert tours. ([Wendover Productions]( QUIZ [Summertime, and the quizzing is easy]( [New Friday quiz image]( The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to remembering at 4pm that you already got in a workout early in the morning. It’s that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Virgin Galactic]( said it would begin its commercial space tourism service by the end of the month. It’s been a long time coming. - [Former UFC champ Conor McGregor]( was accused of sexually assaulting a woman during Game 4 of the NBA Finals last week in Miami. McGregor’s attorney denied the allegations. - [An American man]( is in custody for allegedly pushing two women down a ravine near Germany’s Neuschwanstein castle, killing one of them. - [Twitter]( is being evicted from its Boulder, CO, office since it owes its landlord three months’ rent. - [About 35 million people]( in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida are under some sort of heat warning as stifling weather hits the South this weekend. RECS [Friday to-do list] Prestige TV: The [livestream]( of I-95 getting rebuilt in Philadelphia is as good as anything on Netflix right now. Miss your knobs and dials? Here’s why new cars all have touchscreens. ([YouTube]( Logo factory: Watch your favorite apps [get molded on the assembly line](  Emblems of equality: Wondering what the different LGBTQ+ flags mean? [Here’s a good breakdown](.  Customer insights: Repeat shoppers and large basket sizes are every retailer’s dream. [Learn how to make them a reality](. Earn $200 after spending $500: That’s like 40% cash rewards on your first $500 in spend. Plus, enjoy unlimited rewards on purchases. [Start racking up huge cash rewards]( *This is sponsored advertising content. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Picdoku: Anchors aweigh in this nautical flag-themed Picdoku. [Play it here](. Friday puzzle A couple has nine children. They are named: Tom, Clo, Eve, Hope, Ike, Jed, Ken, and Jed. What is the ninth child named? SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=4904f90a]( AROUND THE BREW [Form & functions]( [Excel mug]( Coffee and Excel hacks? Our mug is out here serving both. [Shop now](. Healthcare Brew’s [State of the Industry Report]( dives into the looming exodus of healthcare workers to Big Tech and how hospital leaders are responding. Saving up for Apple’s new VR headset? Money Scoop explains how to tighten up your budget and build wealth. [Subscribe today](. ANSWER Al. Each name can be found in the nine principal Star Wars films in order. The PhanTOM Menace, Attack of the CLOnes, REVEnge of the Sith, A New HOPE, The Empire StrIKEs Back, Return of the JEDi, The Force AwaKENs, The Last JEDi, and The Rise of SkywALker. Brutally hard, but fun! Maybe. [Source: Braingle]( Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Molly Liebergall]( [Matty Merritt]( and [Cassandra Cassidy]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. 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