🍿 The evolving movie theater

Plus: Wild numbers from around the web, mall smells, a growth newsletter, a capybara friend, and more. [View Online]( [The Hustle] Two lucky guests will win a ~$39 Airbnb stay in an opulent box-turned-bedroom at the Palais Garnier, the Parisian opera house that inspired The Phantom of the Opera. In today’s email: - Movie theaters: They’re getting smaller… and bigger. - Chart: Dude Perfect’s next trick. - Digits: Freezers, Pokémon, and more news numbers. - Around the Web: Mall smells ranked, the benefits of “third spaces,” a capybara pal, and more cool internet finds. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s podcast]( to hear about the future of the movie theater business, and a quick-hitting news rundown to start your week. The big idea [movie marquee]( Fewer movie screens, more fun stuff Movie theaters are ditching screens in favor of activities that lure viewers away from streaming. 2023-02-27T00:00:00Z Juliet Bennett Ryla Movie theater screens are disappearing — but it’s not a bad thing. Rolando Rodriguez, chairman of the National Association of Theatre Owners, [told]( CNBC that the 30-screen megaplex is out. Instead, new theaters have 12-16 screens, while old ones are converting space into arcades, bowling alleys, and bars. Why? We can watch almost anything we want at home in our pajamas now. Consumers need more incentive than mediocre, overpriced popcorn. Like what? Better sound and visuals, comfier seating, elevated food menus, and cocktails help. In 2022, 15% of domestic ticket sales were for premium screenings. A Chicago-area theater is [building]( a “Super EMX” auditorium featuring a 96-foot-wide screen and heated recliners so you can really be blown away by Avatar 3. But successful programming… … doesn’t have to include visually spectacular blockbusters — it just needs to be social and fun: - Warehouse Cinemas sold 1.4k $5 tickets to a “pajamas and popcorn” screening of 1988’s The Land Before Time. - Alamo Drafthouse’s Cocaine Bear [party]( featured an agility course and themed food. (BTW, Cocaine Bear earned [$28.4m]( opening weekend on a ~$35m budget.) - An Edinburgh theater [held]( a Magic Mike screening with scantily clad butlers serving prosecco. Meanwhile, Secret Cinema, known for immersive screenings, was acquired last year for [$100m+]( by TodayTix Groups to expand its offerings. It’s like malls… … elevating food courts and [adding]( experiential “[shoptainment](” offerings to compete with hassle-free online shopping. - Placier.ai found visits to a Pennsylvania mall in 2021 [increased]( 31%+ compared to 2018 after it turned a Sears into a casino. BTW: A recent 25th anniversary screening of Titanic in Rio de Janeiro [went viral]( after the theater flooded. While it may have been immersive, it was not intentional. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Fewer+movie+screens%2C+more+fun+stuff%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F02272023-movie-theaters%3Futm_campaign%3DMonday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D02272023-movie-theaters%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDING [eyeball wearing a hat] Po-po-po-poker face. A woman who was arrested in connection to the 2021 robbery of Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, and eventually returned them, is [suing Gaga]( for “defrauding” her out of a $500k reward. SNIPPETS Tweet tweet: Twitter [reportedly]( laid off 50+ people, including prominent product leader Esther Crawford and Martijn de Kuijper, founder of the Revue newsletter service that Twitter acquired in 2021. Faster… and faster. Amazon [plans]( to expand to 150+ same-day delivery centers in the coming years, which focus on delivering the site’s top 100k items. The phone company? Nokia, which hasn’t made mobile phones for ~10 years and now develops 5G equipment, [reworked]( its logo to reduce its public perception as a mobile phone company. The FDA [approved]( the first at-home combo test for covid and the flu. But it took so long that manufacturer Lucira Health has filed for bankruptcy. Drama: Warner Bros. Discovery. is [suing]( Paramount Global, MTV, and South Park Digital Studios for $200m+, alleging they conspired to use “South Park” content to bolster Paramount+, despite HBO’s exclusive streaming rights. Post Holdings is [introducing]( Sweet Dreams, a bedtime cereal designed to promote melatonin production. “Dilbert,” a long-running comic strip about office life, was [dropped]( by multiple newspapers after creator Scott Adams made racist comments on his YouTube channel. Telecom company Ericsson plans to lay off [~8.5k]( employees in an effort to cut costs by $859m by year-end. BBC News presenters can [relax]( their dress code as viewers find “sweaty and dirty” journalists more trustworthy, per the outlet’s director of digital Naja Nielsen. Manager burnout: Managers are people too, and being in charge is taxing. [Here’s how]( to reduce burnout so you can take care of yourself and your team. CHART [Dude Perfect's estimated revenue]( Singdhi Sokpo From backyard trick shots to a $100m theme park Dude Perfect’s next act: building a theme park. 2023-02-27T00:00:00Z Jacob Cohen A fundamental truth of life is that people like trick shots. Dude Perfect, a group whose origins span back to a single [backyard video]( from April 2009, has built a remarkably successful brand around this idea. Since that clip, the group has continued posting videos of increasingly wild, record-breaking stunts that have garnered 15B+ views on YouTube. - The group, now a company with 20+ employees, has no formal CEO. - Last year, it brought in [~$25m]( in revenue, up from ~$20m in 2021, per The Wall Street Journal. Over the years, Dude Perfect has ventured into branded clothing and sporting goods; built partnerships with Nerf, Columbia Sportswear, and a canned bean company; hosted a TV show on Nickelodeon and “Thursday Night Football” for Amazon; and launched mobile games that have seen 50m+ downloads. The group’s next trick: Pulling off a $100m+, 30-acre theme park and HQ — called Dude Perfect World — featuring robotic goalies, spinning hoops, and an ultra-tall tower for launching basketballs. Architect Bryan Trubey, who also designed LA’s $5B SoFi Stadium, projects the park will see 1m+ visitors annually. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=From+backyard+trick+shots+to+a+%24100m+theme+park%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F02272023-Dude-Perfect%3Futm_campaign%3DMonday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D02272023-Dude-Perfect%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource 80+ professional bio samples and examples Remember: everybody’s pitching themselves. So be bold — knowing that you, too, can write whatever the hell you want. That can be the hard part. It’s no fun getting stuck on the introduction. If only there was a thoughtful modern resource made for this predicament. Inside this personal branding [kit]( are 50+ pick-and-plug bio templates, and a scenic ebook filled with 30+ real-life examples from the wise who pass the eye test. An easy bundle of inspiration. We zipped it up for you. [80+ assets for bios →]( Numbers Digits: Freezers, Pokémon, and more news numbers Plus: Wild stats about snow, crypto, and semiconductors. 2023-02-27T00:00:00Z Jacob Cohen 1) Unilever, the parent of ice cream giants like Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum, owns most of the [3m freezer chests]( in stores around the world that keep its ice cream at zero degrees Fahrenheit. The chests make up ~10% of the company’s carbon footprint; now its testing product performance at 10 degrees, which would reduce emission by 20%-30%. 2) Blake Martinez went from being a linebacker for the New York Giants to launching a company called Blake’s Breaks, primarily a Pokémon card reselling business, that’s brought in [$5m+ in revenue]( in the last seven months. 3) In the last year, [$200m+ in cryptocurrency]( has been raised for pro-Ukraine causes, with $80m+ distributed directly to the Ukrainian government. In total, the value of crypto fundraised for Ukraine is 44x greater than that of Russia. 4) Over the last decade, the French ski resort industry has spent [$42m-$69m every year]( on artificial snowmaking. Around the world, 95% of ski resorts rely on man-made pow to improve conditions or to prolong the season. 5) Globally, ~69.2k semiconductor patents were filed in 2022, up 59% from five years ago. The industry is forecast to be worth [$1T by 2030](, up from $590B in 2021. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Digits%3A+Freezers%2C+Pok%C3%A9mon%2C+and+more+news+numbers%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F02272023-Digits%3Futm_campaign%3DMonday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D02272023-Digits%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 🎉 On this day: In 1827, a group of students kicked off New Orleans’ first Mardi Gras [celebration](, a French tradition previously banned by Spanish governors. 👓 Read: [Growth Daily]( is “The WSJ for marketers” covering the news, tips, and tools marketers and growth-minded founders need to crush their day. 🍕 Haha: Mall food court smells, [ranked](. 🧑‍💼 How to: Harvard Business Review [found]( that “third spaces,” such as coworking spots and hotel lobbies, can benefit employees. Here’s how companies can encourage their use. 😍 Aww: And now, a man and his [capybara](. TWEET [Uno wildcard tweet] Asking till the day I die. ([Link]() TELL FRIENDS → GET PRIZES Help your friends aboard our growing pirate ship. Share The Hustle Daily to start winning loot. [all prizes]( [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? [Love It]( [Meh]( [Hate It]( Today's email was brought to you by [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, and [Rob Litterst](. Editing by: Mark “Draw 25” Dent. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. [PODCAST]( [JOBS]( [CONTACT US](mailto:news@thehustle.co) [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( 2 CANAL PARK, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02141, UNITED STATES  +1 888 482 7768 Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and [unsubscribe](list=thehustle). [The Hustle](