Weekend edition—Movie theaters will live on, vaccine anxieties, mental h ealth stigmas

Plus: We’re obsessed with holiday obsessions. [Quartz]( Sponsored by We’re taking Monday off, but we’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday, Dec. 29! Good morning, Quartz readers! Yesterday, the biggest Hollywood movie of the year debuted… online. In the US, Wonder Woman 1984—the sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman—was made available to HBO Max streaming subscribers on the same day it premiered in theaters. The historic decision to make a potential $1 billion blockbuster available to watch at home, at no additional cost to streaming subscribers, was clearly influenced by the pandemic. WarnerMedia, which operates the Warner Bros. film studio and the HBO Max service, didn’t want to further postpone the release of the film. Instead, it saw an opportunity to boost its fledgling streaming platform. WarnerMedia didn’t stop there. Earlier this month, it announced that all of its 2021 films will follow the same path as Wonder Woman 1984: [simultaneous releases]( in theaters and on HBO Max. For an industry that has for a century built on the primacy of movie theaters, the news was earth-shattering. WarnerMedia was tacitly admitting that growing its streaming offering was more important to [the future of its business]( than theaters. That move, combined with similar strategic shifts toward streaming from studios like Disney, has ushered in another round of [obituaries for the movie theater](. Theaters have survived technological revolutions before—they even survived the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic—but this time is different. Consumption habits have irreversibly shifted to hand-held devices and at-home experiences. And now the coronavirus has devastated what was an already struggling theater industry. But such pronouncements are probably shortsighted. There will still be a place for the movie theater five, 10, and 20 years into the future. What that place is—and what theaters will look like—is a matter of debate that won’t be settled quickly. What is clear is that theaters will change. “Theatrical might be a wounded creature right now, but it will come back and be a coveted partner,” says Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “These are businesses you’ll still want to be in.” —Adam Epstein ✦ We posed one big question to entertainment reporter Adam Epstein: What’s next for the moviegoing experience? He disappeared for a while (probably rewatching LOTR) and came back with answers—and a [field guide on how movie theaters avoid extinction](. To ensure Quartz avoids extinction, [take 50% off your first year]( of Quartz membership through Jan. 1, 2021, using the code BYE2020. Sponsor content by AWS Don’t rage against the machine. AI and machine learning are driving innovation across a variety of industries. Discover how these tools can help your enterprise with The AI & Machine Learning Imperative, an executive guide from MIT available through AWS. [Find out how your business can leverage automation](. SHARE THE DAILY BRIEF ‘Tis the season for sharing. Share the Quartz Daily Brief with friends, family, and co-workers and you’ll give them the gift of a better inbox. Plus, you’ll earn yourself premium bounty like a tote bag, coffee cup, and even a year of Quartz membership. [Start spreading the Daily Brief cheer!]( Five things on Quartz we especially liked You’re not an anti-vaxxer, but… Now that Covid-19 vaccines are no longer theoretical, concerns about receiving a shot can feel a lot realer, too. It’s rational to have questions! Quartz’s Annalisa Merelli and Katherine Foley dove into some of the most common worries about getting a vaccine, with the help of experts. [Read, communicate, and then vaccinate](. —Katie Palmer, science and health editor The nuclear option. If the US wants to reduce its carbon emissions in a meaningful way, it must keep nuclear energy in the mix. Unfortunately, most US plants are relics of an earlier era when environmental restrictions were looser, and their design may not account for today’s risks. Using the example of Florida’s Turkey Point, [Nicolás Rivero examines what’s at stake]( for regulators, energy companies, consumers, and the planet. —Liz Webber, deputy email editor Removing another mental health stigma. After surviving 2020, we’re all a little more open to talking about our mental health. But would you be as brave about it as Matthew Cooper? The EarnUp co-founder [went public with his decision]( to step down as the company’s CEO to focus on his mental health issues, and explains in Quartz at Work why he wanted to write about it. —Heather Landy, executive editor Culture shocked in India. Last spring’s quick shift to all-remote work didn’t feel revolutionary to people like me, whose employer had already warmed up to work-from-anywhere arrangements. In India, however, companies clung to old rules about clocking in and out until official orders forced them to start experimenting. Now, as [Itika Sharma Punit writes in this eye-opening piece]( Indian tech companies are finally learning to trust employees to work without supervision and seeing the wisdom of flexible policies. All it took was a deadly pandemic. —Lila MacLellan, senior reporter, Quartz at Work Design’s biggest moment. We tend to take design for granted, but Anne Quito never does. She [points out in this illuminating story]( that 2020 was the design and architecture world’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to step up and show that design is not just about aesthetics, but about solving problems efficiently and thoroughly. And boy, did 2020 have some problems, so many of which were addressed by the design community at truly dizzying speed. —Susan Howson, email editor Quartz announcement How can Quartz make research more useful? From whitepapers to trend forecasts, we want to know how our users consume research, and how we can make that process better. [Take our 2 minute survey]( and help us help you. We’re obsessed with our holiday obsessions The ghost of Quartz Christmas past. After you finish writing your [holiday letter]( throw a [yule log]( on the fire and curl up with a mug of [hot chocolate]( and a [Danish butter cookie](. Enjoy classic holiday tunes like “[All I Want for Christmas Is You]( and “[Baby, It’s Cold Outside]( put on a [Hallmark holiday movie]( and [Love Actually]( or, if you can, simply admire the falling [snowflakes](. But be sure to read [this Quartz Weekly Obsession]( or [Krampus]( will come for you). Get the Weekly Obsession email sent to your inbox, for free! [⚡ Sign me up!]( Subscribe with one click. Five things from elsewhere that made us smarter A missing piece of the story. Narratives around famous chefs often ignore the darker aspects of daily life in the hospitality industry. Hannah Selinger’s [review of David Chang’s memoir]( for Eater goes beyond a book review. She provides a deeply thoughtful—and ultimately scathing—judgment of how Chang treated his restaurant staff. It includes her own memories, and a precise account of how his damaging behavior hurt so many people. Brave, comprehensive and well worth your time. —Karen K. Ho, global finance and economics reporter A big chunk of (climate) change Climate change is bad for most people. Still, some could be poised to benefit as rising temperatures in the Arctic make for easier agriculture and natural resource extraction there. As Russia, Canada, and a few other countries move to capitalize, Abrahm Lustgarten reports in the [final installment of a sweeping series on climate-related global migration]( for the New York Times, they could be helped by migrant workers from overheated lower latitudes. —Tim McDonnell, climate and energy reporter Was it something he said? How ethical is it to assume the identity of a fictitious high-ranking government aide in order to investigate your own assassination attempt after the government refuses to do so? That’s not a moral question one typically sees in news reports, but it’s one raised by Bellingcat in its gripping account of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s 49-minute phone call with a Russian federal security officer, [who inadvertently confessed]( to being part of the murder plot. —Mary Hui, reporter A deeply personal portfolio. Tesla’s addition to the S&P 500 this week was a big moment not just for Elon Musk, but also for the legion of retail investors who call themselves “Teslanaires.” As Bloomberg’s Dana Hull reports, Tesla [has embraced individual investors]( who often peruse internet sources to understand the company in lieu of analyst’s reports, like no other publicly traded company. Many, including Tesla itself, who recently credited them with “deeper and more accurate insights” see the climate-conscious Teslanaires as visionary. —Michelle Cheng, reporter, Quartz at Work A tale of a journalist and her source. This story dominated the Internet the day it was published, and for good reason. It recounts how former Bloomberg reporter Christie Smythe covered and later fell in love with the infamous “Pharma Bro,” Martin Shkreli. Smythe’s introspective recounting of the “little decisions she made that caused this giant break in her life” will have you thinking of the craziest thing you’ve ever done for love. A recommendation: stick it through [for the surprise ending](. —Annabelle Timsit, geopolitics Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, design ideas, and controversial romances to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by [downloading our app]( and [becoming a member](. Today’s Weekend Brief was brought to you by Susan Howson, Jordan Lebeau, and Adam Epstein. [facebook]( [twitter]( [external-link]( Enjoying Quartz Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here]( to sign up. If you’re looking to unsubscribe, [click here](. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10010 | United States Copyright © 2020 Quartz, All rights reserved.