union

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” opened to $360 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, pushing out 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” to claim the biggest domestic debut in history.

“Records are made to be broken,” Sony Motion Picture Group Chairman Tom Rothman said in a statement Monday. “But we will take great pride in this one, for as long as we hold it.”

Internationally, the web-slinger picked up an additional $572 million for a worldwide total of $932 million. The film, which stars Tom Holland and Zendaya, was produced by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios and Pascal Pictures on a production budget of about $225 million.

By Monday morning, nearly everyone in the exhibition business was cheering.

The chief executives of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Regal and Cinemark Holdings all put out statements about record revenue at their chains, plus deep demand for merchandise, food and drinks. Cinema United trade group chief executive Michael O’Leary applauded the “great slate of films” that have populated theaters this year.

There’s a lot to be excited about here. Expectations for the film were high, but breaking a pre-pandemic record — previously held by an “Avengers” movie, no less — is a big deal.

“The buildup to what ‘Endgame’ was at $357 million just seemed out of reach,” Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at entertainment data firm Exhibitor Relations, told me on Monday, referring to the previous domestic debut record. “It’s pretty gratifying to see that characters and emotions still matter in filmmaking. This movie was just really about relationships.”

That emotional core was a major focus for the filmmakers. When I spoke with producer Amy Pascal in the lead-up to the opening, she said there was no topping the multiverse storyline of 2021‘s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which featured the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Instead, the filmmakers chose to go smaller, focusing on the internal conflict and loneliness of Holland’s Peter Parker after a spell forces his friends to forget him.

Spider-Man has always been one of the most popular superheroes. But not every Spidey film has had this level of box office success. What “Brand New Day” shows is that a strong story matters more to audiences than the name of the superhero alone — an important distinction as the genre has weathered an uneven track record in recent years. Just this summer, we saw stumbles from Amazon MGM Studios’ “Masters of the Universe” and Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios’ “Supergirl.”

The next test arrives in December with Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday,” which “Brand New Day” teases in a post-credits scene, as well as throughout the film. “As audiences saw, it sets up exciting things to come,” Marvel Studios President and “Spider-Man” producer Kevin Feige said in a Sunday statement.

The recovery, by the numbers

Domestic box office revenue for the weekend totaled $436.5 million, according to data from Rentrak. Spider-Man accounted for 82% of it, but Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” also hauled in $51 million in its third weekend, on its way to worldwide revenue of more than $912 million.

Together, the pair have combined for a unique, and telling, one-two punch. It’s the same phenomenon that drove moviegoers to A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession.” Originality in storytelling really does matter, despite the plethora of reboots and sequels. And when moviegoers have more choices, they’re coming back, again and again, analysts say.

“These two films in particular have really turned moviegoing itself into the event,” Bock said. “The audience isn’t rejecting theatrical movies. They’re rejecting films that don’t feel essential.”

Domestic summer box office revenue to date now stands at nearly $3.6 billion, up 16.7% compared to 2025 and — importantly — only 0.7% behind the same period in 2019. Year-to-date revenue is about $6.2 billion, a 15.4% improvement from last year, though it still lags 2019 by 11.6%.

And with another blockbuster to come in December — Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “Dune: Part Three” — analysts now predict 2026 domestic revenue is on track to reach $10 billion, a milestone that hasn’t happened since before the pandemic.

What could undo it

Here’s the catch. A major part of that recovery rests on volume: more titles, more genres, more reasons to leave the house on a given weekend. Which is exactly what a federal judge in Oakland is weighing right now.

Paramount Skydance’s nearly $111-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has cleared the Justice Department, the European Commission and regulators in more than a dozen other countries. What it has not cleared is a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta, who sued July 13 to block the deal under the Clayton Antitrust Act.

On Friday, the parties each proposed their preferred dates for an antitrust trial over which U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will preside as Paramount argues for its merger to proceed and the state attorneys general argue against it. The judge has said the states had presented compelling evidence the combined company would hold a substantial share of the wide-release theatrical distribution market — enough, she said, to presume the deal likely violates antitrust law. The Writers Guild of America has joined the states’ lawsuit.

Paramount has said the merger will benefit consumers, workers and the entertainment industry, and that the states’ claims of anticompetitive effects “are without any basis in modern market realities.”

Hollywood has seen this movie before. The last unaccounted-for variable from the pre-pandemic era is Disney’s 2019 acquisition of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox, which combined two studios and led to fewer theatrical releases.

Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison has promised the combined company will release a minimum of 30 films a year. Many in Hollywood have their doubts.

“If they’re able to execute on that promise of 30 titles a year, I think we’re going to accelerate even further,” said Daniel Loria, a senior vice president at The Box Office Co. “We’re on a great trajectory. But there are serious questions that remain on their capacity to do so, and what the impact of another slowdown in releases from a major studio would bring.”

Paramount has said it won’t close the deal before June 2027 unless the litigation resolves sooner, and is pushing for a November trial; the states want April 2027. Either way, the industry just posted its biggest opening weekend ever while the question of how many movies get made is sitting in a courtroom in Northern California.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has sued Jay Penske, Penske Media Corp., the Golden Globe Foundation and others over the 2023 acquisition of the Golden Globe Awards, alleging antitrust violations.

As my colleague Stacy Perman reported, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is seeking at least $150 million in damages.

The group, which founded the Golden Globes, said in its lawsuit that Penske and the other named defendants “orchestrated and participated in a clandestine scheme to fraudulently acquire the Golden Globe Awards, dismantle the HFPA [Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.], and exert monopolistic control over Hollywood trades and the awards circuit thereby violating California’s antitrust and consumer protection statutes.”

A spokesperson for Penske and the Golden Globes denied the allegations, saying the suit “continues the absurdity and irrationality that the industry has come to expect from the defunct organization formerly known as the HFPA.”

What I’m watching

I had a pretty hectic week, which didn’t leave a lot of time to catch up on TV. But I did go see the L.A. Sparks game against the New York Liberty, which unfortunately ended in a loss. We’ll see what happens now that star Kelsey Plum has been traded.

While the United States enjoys sufficient energy resources, thanks to shale oil, the European Union does not. To assure itself of the energy supplies in the Gulf that the European Union needs, the EU should consider assisting the Gulf States in the construction and operations of the pipeline. 

Building a large-scale, completely underground oil pipeline system from the Persian/Arabian Gulf oil fields to the Mediterranean Sea is estimated to cost between $40 billion and $60 billion and would take 5 to 7 years to complete. The exact metrics depend heavily on the chosen route, political alignment across transit countries, and the required total throughput capacity. 

Breakdown of Total Costs 

Modern mega-pipeline engineering over long desert and mountain distances faces massive cost drivers: 

· Construction & Trenching ($18B – $25B): Burying multiple large-diameter (e.g., 42 to 48-inch) pipelines entirely underground requires extensive trenching, rock blasting, and specialized anti-corrosion coatings. Global benchmarks show that large-scale overland pipelines average $8 million to $12 million per mile, but full underground burial heavily drives up labor and machinery costs.

· Pumping Stations & Terminals ($8B – $12B): Moving millions of barrels of crude daily across hundreds of miles requires heavily fortified pumping stations every 60–100 miles, alongside massive new storage and loading terminals on the Mediterranean coast. 

· Geopolitical & Geotechnical Risk Premium ($7B – $10B): Multi-billion dollar  contingencies are standard to absorb project snags, material inflation, and  complex international legal/right-of-way frameworks. 

· Security Infrastructure ($5B – $10B): Given the vulnerability of cross-border energy corridors, modern estimates for Gulf bypass networks integrate specialized defensive technologies (like automated drone surveillance or surface-to-air missile defenses) to protect critical facilities. 

Construction Timeline and Stages 

· Megaprojects of this length are restricted by a sequential project lifecycle that cannot easily be accelerated simultaneously: 

· Diplomacy & Right-of-Way (Years 1–2): Securing cross-border transit legal treaties (e.g., routing through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, or Syria/Turkey) and finalizing environmental impact assessments. 

· Material Procurement & Logistics (Years 2–3): Manufacturing and transporting millions of tons of high-grade steel line pipe and heavy industrial pumps. 

· Civil Trenching & Laying (Years 3–6): Heavy execution phase. Crews can typically lay roughly 1 to 2 miles of pipe per day per construction spread.

Multiple spreads working simultaneously across different geographic zones are required to finish within a 3-to-4-year active construction window.  · Testing & Commissioning (Year 7): Hydrostatic pressure testing of the lines to ensure underground integrity, followed by line fill and gradual commercial scale-up 

Proposed Alternative Routes 

Producers in the region actively advance or evaluate different variants of this corridor to bypass maritime chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz: 

· The Mesopotamian Corridor (Iraq/Syria route): A ~1,500 km route linking the southern oil fields of Basra to Mediterranean ports like Baniyas, Syria.  While geographically direct, it remains vulnerable to high regional instability. 

· The Trans-Arabian Upgrades: Adapting or running parallel lines to existing corridors (like the Saudi East-West Petroline, which travels 1,200 km to the Red Sea) and extending them northward to Mediterranean Sea terminals. 

How Standard Micro-Tunneling Works for Utilities: When pipeline engineers hit a mountain or an environmental zone where they cannot dig an open trench, they use Micro-Tunnel Boring Machines (MTBMs) or Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD). These systems are highly specialized to avoid the exact problems of passenger-sized tunnels: 

· Sized to the Pipe: Unlike a 12-foot-wide transit tunnel, an MTBM is built to the exact outer diameter of the oil pipe (typically 4 to 5 feet for a 48-inch line).  This means crews excavate 90% less rock and dirt.

· Pipe-Jacking Method: Instead of laying concrete tunnel walls and then trying to slide a heavy steel pipe inside later, MTBMs use a process called “pipe jacking.” Powerful hydraulic rams at the surface push the actual steel oil pipe directly behind the drilling head as it advances into the rock. 

· No Open Voids: Because the pipeline fits perfectly into the drilled hole, there is no empty space left around it. The pipe is completely surrounded by solid rock or stabilizing grout, eliminating the risk of dangerous, explosive gas pockets building up in an open tunnel. 

The Mountain Ranges the Route Must Clear 

· To get from the Gulf fields (like Ghawar in Saudi Arabia or Basra in Iraq) to the Mediterranean, a pipeline must breach the Syrian Desert and cross a series of rugged, geologically active mountain walls running parallel to the Mediterranean coast: 

· The Jordan Rift Valley & Dead Sea Fault: Before hitting the mountains, the pipeline must drop down into one of the lowest, most seismically active valleys on Earth (falling hundreds of feet below sea level) and then immediately climb back out. 

· The Judean Hills & Golan Heights: Depending on the exact coastal terminal, the line must climb over rugged limestone ridges ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 feet high.

· The Anti-Lebanon & Mount Lebanon Ranges: If the route takes a more northern path toward Syria or Lebanon, it faces severe alpine conditions with peaks soaring between 9,000 and 10,000 feet. 

The Geopolitical Treaties Required 

Building a multi-billion dollar piece of energy infrastructure across national borders requires an intricate web of international legal frameworks. Historically, cross-border pipelines are governed by Host Government Agreements (HGAs) and Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs). 

To make a Gulf-to-Mediterranean pipeline a reality, several unprecedented breakthroughs would be needed: 

· Transit Fees and Tariffs: The countries hosting the pipeline but not producing the oil (like Jordan or Syria) must negotiate “transit fees.” These are typically paid in cents per barrel of oil that passes through their territory, providing them with billions in long-term revenue. 

To make a Gulf-to-Mediterranean pipeline a reality, several unprecedented breakthroughs would be needed: 

· Transit Fees and Tariffs: The countries hosting the pipeline but not producing the oil (like Jordan or Syria) must negotiate “transit fees.” These are typically paid in cents per barrel of oil that passes through their territory, providing them with billions in long-term revenue. 

· The “Right of Way” Guarantee: Sovereign nations must sign legally binding treaties promising that they will not shut off or seize the pipeline during diplomatic disputes. A famous historical warning is the original Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline), which was repeatedly disrupted, sabotaged, and eventually shut down permanently due to border conflicts and transit fee arguments between Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. 

· The Abraham Accords Framework: If the pipeline takes the most geologically direct southern route to terminals in Israel (like Ashkelon or Haifa), it relies heavily on the long-term stability and expansion of the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia and Israel would need formalized economic treaties to protect a joint energy corridor from regional political shifts. 

· Joint Security Commands: Because a pipeline stretching thousands of miles across the Middle East is a prime target for non-state actors and drone strikes, treaties must establish a unified security framework. This allows military and intelligence sharing across borders to patrol the pipeline corridor with automated drone networks and satellite monitoring. 

Environmental Safeguards for Freshwater Aquifers The Jordan Valley and the surrounding mountain ridges contain critical freshwater sources, such as the Mountain Aquifer, which supply drinking water to millions of people in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. A single major crude oil leak could seep into the porous limestone and permanently poison these non-renewable water reserves.  To mitigate this, engineers deploy an array of specialized defenses: 

· Pipe-in-Pipe Technology (Double Containment): In high-consequence water zones, crews do not use a standard single-wall pipe. They build a “pipe-in-pipe” system where the main 48-inch crude oil line sits inside a larger, secondary outer steel casing. The vacuum gap between the two pipes is monitored 24/7 for pressure changes; if the inner pipe leaks, the outer pipe captures the oil before it touches the soil. 

· Fiber-Optic Acoustic Leak Detection: Continuous fiber-optic cables are buried directly alongside the pipeline. These cables can “hear” the micro-acoustic vibrations and sudden temperature drops caused by a pinhole leak. This allows operators to pinpoint the exact location of a breach within meters in less than a minute. 

· Emergency Remote Isolation Valves: The pipeline is segmented by heavy-duty, automated shut-off valves. In flat areas, these are placed every 20 miles. In critical aquifer zones or steep mountain drops, they are placed every 1 to 2 miles. If the control center detects a pressure drop, these valves slam shut automatically via satellite command to trap the oil inside a small, isolated section, preventing millions of gallons from draining into the environment. 

Daily Revenue for Transit Countries 

· Transit countries like Jordan or Syria do not own the oil, but they make massive profits simply by letting it cross their land. These fees are negotiated as a tariff—a fixed dollar amount charged per barrel of oil moved. 

· Assuming a modern mega-pipeline with a capacity of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) and a standard international transit tariff of $0.60 to $1.20 per barrel, we can calculate the massive financial impact on a host country’s budget:

DAILY TRANSIT REVENUE ESTIMATE │ 

Pipeline Throughput Capacity │ 2,000,000 Barrels / Day 

Average transit tariff rate: $0.90 USD per barrel 

Daily Revenue Generated │ $1,800,000 USD / Day 

Annual Revenue Generated │ $657,000,000 USD / Year 

The Broader Economic Impact 

· Direct Budget Injection: For a developing economy like Jordan, an extra $650M+ per year in pure cash represents a massive boost to their national budget, easily funding large-scale public infrastructure or health programs. 

· In-Kind Energy Off-Takes: Rather than taking 100% of the payment in cash, transit treaties often allow host countries to take a portion of the payment in free crude oil. This allows them to supply their local refineries and secure cheap domestic gasoline without relying on volatile global energy imports. 

· Long-Term Economic Leverage: Hosting the pipeline transforms these non-producing nations into critical gatekeepers for global energy markets, giving them significant diplomatic leverage when negotiating trade and security deals with major global superpowers. 

Maritime Shipping Insurance & The Strait of Hormuz Bypass  The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most sensitive maritime energy chokepoint. During periods of regional conflict, Lloyd’s of London and global marine underwriters designate

the Persian Gulf as a listed area (high-risk zone), triggering drastic shifts in shipping economics. 

· War Risk Premiums: When regional tensions spike, war risk insurance premiums for oil tankers navigating the Strait can surge from a baseline of 0.025% of the ship’s value to over 0.25% to 0.5% per voyage. For a modern $100 million Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), this adds an extra $250,000 to $500,000 in insurance costs for a single transit. 

· Bypassing the Chokepoint: Moving oil via the underground pipeline directly to the Mediterranean entirely eliminates the need for tankers to enter the Persian Gulf. Tankers load at secure Mediterranean ports (like Ashkelon, Haifa, or Baniyas) within standard, lower-risk European maritime zones. 

· Shipping Time Savings: Loading in the Mediterranean slashes the sailing distance to European and North American refineries by roughly 3,500 to 4,500 miles compared to sailing all the way around Africa or paying steep transit fees to use the Suez Canal. This reduces freight operating costs and completely erases the risk of a regional conflict stranding a fleet inside the Gulf. 

Naval Defense Infrastructure at the Mediterranean Terminal 

Because the new Mediterranean pipeline terminal would handle up to 2 million barrels of oil per day, it becomes a high-value strategic asset. Protecting it requires a multi-layered naval defense perimeter extending miles out to sea:

· Anti-Drone & Anti-Torpedo Netting: Heavy, underwater physical barriers and sensor nets are deployed around the loading buoys and piers to catch or detonate incoming unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) or loitering aquatic explosive drones. 

· Phalanx CIWS & Missile Batteries: The onshore terminal facility integrates close-in weapon systems (CIWS) and surface-to-air missile batteries (like Iron Dome or Barak MX systems) to intercept incoming rocket, drone, or anti-ship missile strikes launched from sea or land. 

· Active Naval Patrols: Host nations deploy continuous maritime security cordons using fast attack craft, sonar-equipped corvettes, and aerial reconnaissance drones to enforce a strict 5-to-10 mile exclusion zone around the offshore loading terminals, vetting every incoming commercial vessel. 

Conclusions 

With political tensions between the United States and the European Union increasing and confidence in the United States’ foreign policy falling, Europe needs to find and secure an energy source that is not dependent on either the United States or Russia.  An agreement, both economic and political, would in the long run make Europe independent from energy sources from either country. The idea of an overland pipeline to the Mediterranean is both economically and engineeringly possible. What is needed is the political will to make it happen.

SACRAMENTO — One of California’s most powerful labor unions declined to endorse a proposed state billionaires tax, a blow to its backers and a sign of simmering divisions on the left over the controversial ballot measure.

The executive board for Service Employees International Union California voted Wednesday to take a neutral position on the tax, which will appear on the November ballot as Proposition 40. It would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the assets of billionaires who resided in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026.

In a statement, the 750,000-member union noted revenue from the “one-time tax proposal [is] dedicated 90% to healthcare,” echoing concerns from other unions opposed to the measure. Teacher, police and firefighter unions argue the tax would largely benefit the healthcare sector and fear it would destabilize the state budget and, along with it, services such as education and public safety.

SEIU California is a parent organization of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the union that crafted the measure and moved to put it on the ballot before securing broad support from other labor groups.

SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan said he pushed the tax to backfill an estimated $100 billion in cuts to healthcare and food assistance programs that California is expected to shoulder under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Trump last year.

“Trump’s ‘Big, Ugly Bill’ slashed funding for healthcare in California to pay for more billionaire tax breaks. Now, millions of Californians are losing their health coverage, and millions more are being forced to pay skyrocketing costs,” SEIU-UHW Press Secretary Renee Saldana wrote in a statement to The Times.

Saldana pointed to an internal poll showing 70% of union members in California would support the billionaire tax, adding: “We’re confident that SEIU members will be joining millions of their fellow Californians and voting YES on Prop. 40 this November to protect healthcare, keep hospitals and clinics open, and stand with California working families.”

In negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, Regan offered to pull the tax from the ballot in exchange for concessions for his union, including help securing contracts at several medical facilities around the state, two sources told The Times. Regan denies making the demand, and said the proposal is meant to solve an impending “catastrophe in California’s healthcare system.”

Several unions and Democratic allies, including Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, argue the one-time tax is the wrong solution for the cuts, which are unlikely to be reversed while Republicans hold power in Washington.

SEIU California said its members are focused on “a multi-year campaign to secure California’s fiscal foundation with ongoing revenue,” including an effort to tax large companies that pay wages low enough that their workers rely on public benefits.

Surrounded by members of the SEIU California executive board, Newsom this month signed a bill punting the “Fair Share” measure to next year, when a new governor will take office.

Some labor unions and elected Democrats worry that, in the long run, the proposed billionaire tax will hurt the state budget — which raises more money from wealthy people taxed at higher rates — by pushing rich Californians to move to other states.

Some already have. Google co-founder Sergey Brin last year moved to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe to preemptively avoid the tax, and has pumped $82 million into a committee fighting Proposition 40.

Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential contender, has begun arguing for a federal wealth tax that the rich could not escape by moving to a new state.

“You may not be able to pick up and move to Texas or Florida to shelter your income from taxation, but I promise you that billionaires can, and do,” he wrote on Substack in June. “The fight belongs at the federal level, where this broken system was created in the first place.”

SEIU California on Wednesday also announced “strong opposition” to Proposition 39, a proposed voter ID measure; and Proposition 43, which would make it harder for local governments to raise taxes.

Other than “The Odyssey,” the biggest news in Los Angeles film circles last week was the return of the Cinerama Dome.

The iconic theater, which has been closed since March 2020, will be restored and reopened by Sony Pictures Entertainment and its Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. As my colleague Cerys Davies reported, renovations begin next month and will continue until early 2028.

For more than 60 years, the dome has been a landmark on Sunset Boulevard. With its 86-foot-wide curved screen, it has premiered such iconic Hollywood films as 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and made a cameo of its own in 2019’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”

Ever since the dome closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been questions about whether it would return. Filmmakers like “Anora” director Sean Baker and “Baby Driver” director Edgar Wright publicly called for its reopening, while a “Save Your Cinema” preservation campaign led by Benjamin Steinberg kept the geodesic icon in the public eye.

“It was definitely the capital of, like, the movie-going experience in L.A.,” Steinberg told my colleague, adding that he plans to visit the theater two to three times a week when it reopens. “I can’t wait to go back inside the Cinerama Dome and watch movies.”

The theater will be operated by Alamo Drafthouse, though Sony says it plans to keep the “Cinerama” name and exterior branding, as well as the dome’s “traditional concession experience” — meaning you won’t be able to order food and drinks to your seat. (Cinephiles recently have criticized the chain for changing its in-seat ordering system to require use of mobile phones in the theater.)

Alongside traditional theatrical showings, the dome also will include some Alamo Drafthouse specials, including repertory screenings, premieres, events and filmmaker series.

Adjacent to the dome, the 14-screen former ArcLight Cinemas will reopen as an Alamo Drafthouse, Sony said, offering dine-in food and beverages, as well as karaoke rooms and “fan celebrations.”

Sony was interested in the dome even before the Culver City-based studio acquired Alamo Drafthouse in 2024.

“It’s such a great location,” Ravi Ahuja, chief executive and chairman of Sony Pictures, told me. “It’s historic, people love it and the theater was successful before it closed. It’s one of a kind, which is the kind of experience we’re after.”

The move also highlights the opportunity Sony sees in the experiences business — an increasingly important strategy for Hollywood.

The Alamo Drafthouse acquisition was part of this, as was the studio’s recent $100-million investment and minority stake in Cosm, a virtual reality venue operator that has a location at Inglewood’s Hollywood Park.

The studio also has “Wheel of Fortune Live!,” a touring version of the popular game show, “Jeopardy! Bar League,” which was incubated at Alamo Drafthouse, and events for its streaming service Crunchyroll at anime conventions.

“It’s another leg of the franchise stool,” Ahuja said. “Fans want to engage in person with each other. It’s part of a human need when you have deep fandom around something.”

As the theatrical market waxes and wanes and the television business has become more unpredictable, it makes sense that studios like Sony increasingly look to diversify and attract fans in new ways.

After all, people have a lot of things they can do with their time and money. And after a period of slow returns since the pandemic, they’ve increasingly been coming back to in-person activities. To keep loyal fans in the fold, studios need to give them more ways to interact with the stories and entertainment they love, or they’ll move on.

Betting on the experiences business isn’t new. Walt Disney Co. makes the majority of its operating income not from its theatrical movies or streaming service, but from its theme parks and cruise line division. Last year, Universal opened Epic Universe, a major investment in its Orlando theme park resort that indicates the importance of this business for the company and owner Comcast.

But not every company wants or needs to start a theme park business. For one, it’s expensive. And for a studio like Sony, which doesn’t have a lot of kid-focused franchises, it doesn’t really make sense.

As a result, some are getting into the experiences space in more specific and limited ways, such as studio tours or branded attractions.

For Sony, that’s meant building a business around these in-person offerings that align more with its adult-leaning audiences. Lionsgate has a “John Wick Experience” in Las Vegas, while Warner Bros., among other things, recently debuted “Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure” train event at the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris. (Universal licenses Harry Potter from Warner Bros. for inclusion in its parks.)

For most studios without a major theme park presence, this kind of location-based entertainment is still likely a relatively small part of their corporate revenue, potentially less than 1%, said Dennis Spiegel, founder and chief executive of the International Theme Park Services, Inc. consulting firm. But what these experiences do is help lengthen the life of a franchise by keeping licensing revenue flowing and keeping brands relevant between film releases, he said.

“Hollywood increasingly sees it as an essential part of maximizing the lifetime value of its intellectual property,” he wrote in an email. “In many ways, we have seen how these experiences have become as much of a marketing engine as they are a profit center.”

As for the Cinerama Dome, don’t take it as a sign that Sony is looking to build out an exhibition empire. The studio is looking for only special and selective deals like the dome, Ahuja said, and there are no plans to add more L.A. exhibition locations.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” continued its dominance at the box office in its second outing with a three-day domestic haul of $90 million, down only 27% from its debut weekend.

Internationally, the Universal Pictures film raked in $137.6 million for a worldwide total of $652 million.

The big box office performance came as an unauthorized copy of the film leaked online over the weekend. The studio said it “immediately initiated takedown protocols” once it became aware of theillegal posting on X and “will pursue all appropriate remedies to protect our content and intellectual property rights.” The post was viewed more than 2.1 million times before a takedown notice replaced the copy of the film.

What I’m watching

I did not expect Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Sheep Detectives” to deliver a profound message on death and grieving when I sat down to watch it with a friend, but those talking ovine sleuths really got to me.

SACRAMENTO — As the architect of a one-time tax on California billionaires, Dave Regan says he’s pushing the measure to raise $100 billion to protect low-income patients, workers and hospitals from President Trump’s cuts to healthcare.

The behind-the-scenes negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office in June to pull the measure off the ballot, however, revealed another possible goal, according to two sources familiar with the talks who requested anonymity to share details of the discussions with The Times.

Regan, the president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, asked for union contracts with two hospitals in San Diego and Fresno and a clinic in Imperial County, among a list of sweeping demands to grow his union, in exchange for rescinding the measure, the sources said.

The union leader denied that he asked for concessions for his union in exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot, calling the allegations “categorically false.”

“We are trying to solve a problem,” Regan said. “The problem is to prevent a catastrophe in California’s healthcare system. We put forward a proposal. Nobody else has offered a solution, and none of what you are referencing happened.”

The talks failed to result in a deal and the measure will appear as Proposition 40 on the November ballot, leaving California voters to decide pivotal tax policy that has roiled the Democratic Party and opponents worry could ultimately reduce revenue for the state budget.

The terms Regan allegedly laid out raise the question of whether he intended for the billionaire tax to go on the ballot, or if it was designed as a leverage play to expand his union, which represents more than 120,000 workers and is among the largest healthcare unions in the nation.

Regan, who has been elected to five consecutive terms as union president since 2011, has a record of launching ballot initiatives at the state and local level to use as leverage for union expansion and to thwart his political opponents.

His foes say that this year he went too far.

“It’s no secret in Sacramento that the ballot initiative has been used this way by UHW as a weapon,” said Francisco Silva, president of the California Primary Care Assn., which represents community clinics. “They’ve been very vocal about it and we think it’s a bigger risk to the safety net than any benefit that it brings.”

Known as a stubborn negotiator and a brash personality, Regan has filed multiple ballot initiatives against the healthcare industry.

His opponents say his strategy centers on launching initiatives that would hurt employers, which forces them to come to the table to negotiate. Regan’s union then requests union contracts or other concessions that could pave the way for a collective bargaining agreement. If employers resist, the initiative advances to the ballot. Voters consistently reject his measures, but companies still spend millions of dollars campaigning against them.

Over the years, Regan has proposed multiple measures that would have limited charges and executive salaries at hospitals and dropped the initiatives after landing temporary deals with the California Hospital Assn. that could help his union’s organizing efforts.

This year, UHW agreed to call off an initiative to again cap compensation for hospital leaders, and the hospital association rescinded its dueling proposal to require the union to seek approval from its members to spend more than $1 million on a statewide ballot measure campaign.

Regan led and lost measures against the dialysis industry in 2018, 2020 and 2022 as he struggled to force dialysis companies to recognize his union and negotiate a contract.

Silva accused Regan of using the same playbook in negotiations around another measure on the November ballot, Proposition 44, which would restrict spending at nonprofit community health clinics.

Regan drafted Proposition 44 to require that community clinics spend 90% of revenue on patient services, which he said ensures that money is aligned with the mission of the health centers. But Silva said the measure dramatically reduces funding for other essential services in the community care model, such as community outreach, education, overhead costs, technology and medical equipment investments, and programs that bring people living on the streets into the healthcare system.

About 70% of the patients community clinics serve are insured through Medi-Cal, and the rest are either on Medicare or uninsured, with a small portion on private insurance, Silva said. The measure would result in layoffs and clinics being forced to close, and ultimately reduce access to care for low-income Californians, he said.

“One of the things that stands out that really highlights the abuse of the ballot initiative process in this instance is that the substance of what’s on the ballot has nothing to do with what he wants to negotiate with us,” Silva said. “The request was to guarantee 25,000 workers, or else.”

Regan also denied that he asked the clinics to support his unionization efforts in exchange for dropping Proposition 44.

“We wanted to construct a relationship with the clinic association that prioritized appropriate funding of the community clinics in California, including restoring the healthcare cuts that were introduced by the ‘One Big [Beautiful] Bill,’” Regan said. “It was a strategic relationship where we’re working in a mutually cooperative way to properly fund the healthcare system to respect workers, and they were not interested in that.”

Regan’s opponents say his strategy runs afoul of the purpose of direct democracy and pushes the bounds of legality.

During negotiations on the billionaire tax, essentially put the onus on Newsom to force unrelated private hospitals and clinics to unionize their employees, the sources said.

Despite a desire to call off the tax measure, Newsom’s office couldn’t provide guarantees to satisfy Regan’s demands, according to those sources.

California legislators changed state law in 2014 to provide more flexibility around initiative negotiations and to allow proponents to pull measures off the ballot after they gather enough signatures and qualify for the election, said Mary-Beth Moylan, an associate professor of law at McGeorge School of Law.

State law also prohibits a proponent of an initiative from bargaining for money or a thing of value in exchange for abandoning their measure, which hasn’t been tested in court, she said.

“I think the intention behind the law allowing the ballot measures to be negotiated off was that the negotiation would be for the Legislature to do the thing that you’re bringing about in the measure,” Moylan said. “It is not to use it as leverage for obtaining something else.”

Regan’s wealth measure retroactively applies a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires who were residing in California as of Jan. 1, 2026.

He and advocates of his proposal cast it as a solution to the healthcare cuts from the Trump administration. It comes as the progressive message on wealth inequality has gained support in California and beyond.

“What’s remarkable about the situation is that everyone — the governor, the Legislature, the healthcare industry — everyone agrees that the ‘One Big Beautiful’ bill is going to result in 3.5 million people losing healthcare coverage, 150,000 frontline healthcare workers losing their jobs, community clinics and hospitals closing, and all of us who buy or receive our healthcare through job-based insurance are spending more on premiums, deductibles, and copays because the legislation defunded healthcare and in return gave yet another round of huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans,” Regan said. “That’s why we have put Proposition 40 forward.”

Newsom contends that Regan’s solution won’t work.

Instead of paying more California taxes, billionaires would simply pick up and move to another state with a lower tax rate before the start of the year, the governor warned. The state budget is dependent on income taxes the rich pay on stock market and similar profits.

A report from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University estimated that the tax would generate only $40 billion, not the $100 billion proponents claim, largely because of an expected exodus of billionaires. Overall, the tax would result in an estimated loss for the state of $24.7 billion, with the permanent decline in future income tax revenue due to billionaire migration eclipsing any gains from the one-time levy, according to the report.

Regan rejected the findings of the report and cast doubt on the amount of taxes that billionaires actually pay in California.

Newsom sought to negotiate with Regan to remove the billionaire tax from the ballot before the beginning of the year. At the time, Regan said he wanted an extra $20 billion for healthcare in 2027-28, which is beyond Newsom’s time in office and not something the outgoing governor could promise, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.

Regan said he never asked for $20 billion in funding for healthcare to remove the billionaire tax from the ballot. He said he was open to hearing alternative solutions that never came.

“But did we ever make a proposal, or did we ever receive a proposal for something different?” Regan said. “The answer is no.”

In the spring, Newsom began working to form a coalition against the initiative that includes Planned Parenthood, doctors and firefighters while billionaires launched a series of counterproposals.

In an unusual split within labor, major unions such as the California Teachers Assn. and the State Building and Construction Trades Council oppose the measure. Teamsters California and AFSCME California joined Regan. The SEIU California State Council and California Federation of Labor Unions have yet to take positions.

Under California law, proponents had until June 25 to rescind measures that earned enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Negotiations picked up again to remove the measure from the ballot shortly before the deadline. Two sources said Regan’s demands changed and allegedly had nothing to do with raising money to offset federal healthcare cuts.

Sources said Regan said he wanted union contracts with two private hospitals and a health clinic, an organizing neutrality agreement with healthcare clinics statewide, recognition of his union from dialysis clinics and for billionaires to remove measures they launched in response to his tax.

Newsom’s office said they couldn’t force private companies to do anything. The governor’s aides offered an alternative plan to dedicate around $7 billion over several years to healthcare funding in California, which didn’t move Regan.

“There were no negotiations,” Regan said about the billionaire tax.

Days before the deadline to pull the wealth tax measure from the ballot, UHW announced an offer to reduce the billionaire tax from 5% to 2% of net worth that the union said Newsom rejected. Sources said the compromise was first offered in a press release and did not reflect any serious negotiation.

Regan set a goal to add 25,000 new members by this year and has so far added around 8,000, according to the union’s website.

In exchange for removing the billionaire tax from the ballot, sources said one of Regan’s demands was for Newsom’s office to get involved with battles for union contracts at hospitals in Fresno and San Diego and a clinic in the Imperial Valley.

The union is tied up in labor disputes over recent attempts to unionize facilities in two of those places — Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and Innercare, a community clinic in El Centro.

The dialysis industry became a ballot target for Regan three election cycles in a row as he attempted to unionize its workers.

The battle is on pause after dialysis companies agreed to not oppose a $25 minimum wage increase for healthcare workers and UHW agreed to not target the industry in legislation or ballot measures through the end of this year, but the fight turned DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care into major political donors in state campaigns.

California’s billionaire class is also increasing its presence in state politics.

Billionaires pushed two measures on the November ballot that seek to neutralize the billionaire tax and block new taxes on personal property and assets and require audits of new programs funded with special taxes.

The billionaire tax has also become a national rallying cry for the political left, drawing the high-profile support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others who are fed up with wealth inequality. Opponents of Proposition 40 have questioned whether any of the solutions Regan proposed would have been enough for him to remove the measure from the ballot and avoid the wrath of progressives who backed the tax.

Sacramento political observers say the unintended consequences of Regan’s tax measure are already reshaping California politics.

“When he did the billionaire tax, all these people who never engaged in politics finally woke up,” said Jim DeBoo, a Democratic consultant and former chief of staff to Newsom. “And they aren’t going away.”

The measure is causing a rift within the SEIU California State Council, an umbrella organization that represents more than 700,000 workers from all SEIU unions including UHW.

The billionaire tax only benefits healthcare. SEIU, which also represents workers in the public sector, nursing homes, child care and other service industries, has become a target of California’s wealthiest new political players despite most of its union members gaining nothing from the measure.

Billionaires and their companies, including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, venture capitalist Tim Draper, Google and Meta have spent nearly $30 million on a successful campaign to oppose SEIU-backed progressive candidates or boost moderate Democrats in legislative races. The same donors spent only $50,000 on independent expenditures in legislative races in the entire 2024 election cycle.

Shaudi Fulp, a political strategist working with Larsen and Draper, said a new governor and lawmakers present an opportunity to build fresh governing coalitions around issues that matter most to Californians.

“California is entering a unique moment of transition,” Fulp said.

The billionaires’ strategy is whittling away at SEIU’s influence in the state Legislature, where the state council has historically used its endorsements and army of volunteers to boost progressive candidates aligned with their cause. Moderates backed by billionaires beat nearly every SEIU-endorsed candidate in more than a dozen races in the June primary, with record spending knocking union candidates out of the top two in places such as Bakersfield and Orange County.

The SEIU California State Council declined to comment for this story.

The battle over the billionaire tax is also expected to become the most expensive ballot measure campaign of the election cycle, if not ever. The opposition is poised to exponentially outspend UHW.

“Look, the only thing that stands down a bully is when you punch him in the face,” said Brandon Castillo, a political consultant who has represented healthcare providers against UHW on more than a dozen initiatives. “You can’t sit back and continue to take punches or nothing will change.”

Staff writer Nicole Nixon contributed to this report.

It took an ancient Greek epic to ignite a fire at the box office last weekend, as Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” became one of the biggest movie events of the year.

The film, led by Matt Damon as Odysseus, hauled in $123.5 million in the U.S. and Canada on its way to a global total of nearly $264 million — the biggest-ever global opening for one of Nolan’s films.

In many ways, “The Odyssey” is a throwback to old-school Hollywood filmmaking, with Nolan’s use of practical effects and numerous on-location shoots. It’s also a sign that audiences will still pack theaters for the right kind of movie.

The Universal Pictures film also outperformed studio expectations of a $117-million domestic premiere and set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a live-action or R-rated film this year.

“Audiences always want to be thoroughly immersed in the theatrical experience and engulfed by the story and the production, and Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ is a perfect example of that,” Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, said Sunday. “When you have a very substantial opening, and you have those kinds of audience scores, it only points to what should be a remarkable run throughout the summer and into the fall.”

That’s good news for the summer box office, which lately has seen a bit of ebb and flow.

“The Odyssey” now ranks as the third-largest domestic opening of the year, trailing only kid-friendly films such as Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” and Universal, Illumination and Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” Though family-friendly films have become power players for theaters, the two most recent flicks — Disney’s live-action “Moana” and Universal and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” saw softer openings.

After the big weekend for “The Odyssey,” the summer box office is up 7.3% compared with the lackluster 2025 season, according to entertainment data firm Rentrak. More encouraging, the year-to-date domestic box office is now 10.4% higher than for the same period last year.

That’s been helped not only by big blockbusters such as “The Odyssey,” which had a production budget of $200 million to $250 million, but also by the success of smaller-budget films such as A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession.”

The common denominator is the draw of directors who have cultivated strong fan bases. “Obsession” director Curry Barker, 26, and 21-year-old Kane Parsons, who helmed “Backrooms,” have been building their reputation on YouTube among Gen Z audiences, and that loyalty is starting to count for something at the box office.

Nolan, of course, is one of the masters of building a faithful following over more than two decades. Fans started grabbing Imax 70 millimeter tickets for “The Odyssey” when they first went on sale a year ago, and the film ended up driving record presales for the Canadian entertainment tech company, which operates out of Playa Vista.

The film has notched a 95% on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore rating.

“His films have tapped into the cultural zeitgeist,” said Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of the website Box Office Theory. “That’s what keeps bringing people back. They know they’re going to get a different experience; there’s always going to be a watercooler conversation around his movies, and they’re part of the cultural fabric.”

For “The Odyssey,” part of that conversation was Nolan’s old-school movie magic, including the puppetry, animatronics and robotics he used in scenes with the Cyclops, as well as the real Viking ship that the actors learned to sail.

The film also has driven interest in 70mm screenings from film buffs and casual moviegoers.

Ahead of the premiere of “The Odyssey,” Allen Michaan, owner of Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater, knew the weekend would be very busy for his four-screen movie palace. He is showing the film both in standard digital format and on 70mm film.

Michaan has made 70mm showings a priority since 1982, when the projector was installed for the release of Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” He said the theater played that movie for 45 weeks that year. Due to the demand at the time, he installed two more 70mm projectors, making three of his four screens capable of the old-fashioned format.

Demand for the 70mm showings of “The Odyssey” has significantly outperformed their digital screenings, he said.

“We’re thrilled to get any 70mm print because it’s a gift from the filmmaker and the studio,” Michaan said.

Enhanced format screenings for “The Odyssey” made up 53% of the domestic weekend box office, with Imax film and digital revenue accounting for nearly 24%.

Imax 70mm accounted for about 4% of that total, with Imax digital making up the rest. Non-Imax 70mm film screening revenue totaled 3%, while 35mm showings made up 0.3%.

The nearly three-hour epic also marked the first feature film shot entirely on Imax cameras, a feat that required extensive collaboration between Nolan and Imax.

Nolan first told Imax Corp. Chief Executive Rich Gelfond in early 2024 that he was considering making an entire film with Imax cameras and laid out what he’d need for that to happen, including a quieter and lighter camera, a way to make film reloads easier and getting enough trained projectionists.

“It took a fair amount of time and investment” to figure out those challenges, Gelfond said. But by August 2024, the Imax team put together a series of tests to show cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema. Two months later, Nolan saw the tests and was impressed.

“As filmmakers and studios integrate Imax, we become an increasingly important part of the ecosystem,” Gelfond said. “When a film is released in Imax or shot in Imax, I think it’s a signal to audiences that it’s somewhat special, and the filmmaker is really leaning in in a unique way.”

Times staff writer Cerys Davies contributed to this report.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Streaming giant Netflix narrowed its 2026 revenue forecast to $51 billion to $51.4 billion from its previous, larger range of $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion in its last Thursday’s second-quarter earnings report, renewing concerns among investors and equity analysts about the Los Gatos-based company’s future growth.

On the Friday morning after the earnings call, Netflix stock slid 13% to $65.08 a share, marking a new 52-week low. Shares eventually closed that day at $68.95.

As my colleague Wendy Lee has reported, investors are growing nervous that in recent months, Netflix’s share of TV viewing time in the U.S. has been decreasing, while YouTube’s share has increased, according to Nielsen data. Investors are concerned that if consumers are watching Netflix less, they’ll cancel their subscriptions, and that will put pressure on the company’s ability to raise prices in the U.S.

Netflix has said its engagement rates are healthy.

What I’m watching

I love a good teen mystery show, especially when it has a bit of a “Veronica Mars” vibe, so I binged Paramount+’s “School Spirits” last weekend.

Where Veronica Mars was solving realistic crimes around her local beach city, “School Spirits” tries to dig into why so many teens have died at (and haunt) a Wisconsin high school. At times, they’re hitting at a lot of different themes and storylines, but I loved the colorful ensemble of ghost characters from different decades, and Jennifer Tilly makes for an incredible villain.

Borthwick’s side, without their British and Irish Lions, won twice in Argentina last summer to seal a series victory, extending their winning run over the Pumas to five matches.

Their record – one win in the past 16 meetings with England – needs to improve if they want to become a regular top-four side.

They welcome England to Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, where they have played twice at the 30,000-capacity stadium, which opened in 2021, and won both matches, against Scotland and South Africa.

“It’s very close to Tucuman, which is a huge rugby province. I’d expect a proper rugby crowd,” the 48-year-old added.

“Hopefully, if we give them a reason to shout and sing, Argentinians are Latin people – we make noise and we love supporting our teams. Hopefully it’ll be a noisy crowd.”

The last meeting between the teams, in November, ended in a heated exchange, with Contepomi calling England flanker Tom Curry, who is on the bench for Saturday’s game, a “bully” who swore at him and pushed him in the tunnel at Allianz Stadium.

The former 87-cap fly-half described the game as one of the “big rivalries” for his side, but not because of any off-field altercations.

“Tom Curry is a world-class player. That’s the only thing I can say,” Contepomi added.

“If I said something that hurt or offended him, I apologise publicly. But I have nothing against him.

“There was an incident in the heat of the moment, but I don’t take it personally and I don’t want to make anything personal with Tom because I’m sure he’s a great lad as well.”

Given a bid to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup is being pressed forward by Argentina, the nation’s love for the sport could explode.

More wins over England will also help.

PHILADELPHIA — For years, as stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper pleaded for the chance to play in the Los Angeles Olympics, and for Major League Baseball to back up its talk of growing the game internationally by participating in the world’s greatest sporting festival, the league was reluctant: Would the owners truly benefit from shutting down the season for a week and lending their best players to an event beyond their control?

Now that MLB is on board, the league wants the players to make an extraordinary commitment to back up their talk: If you’re selected to play in the Olympics, you must play. Or else.

The “or else” is not rhetorical. If a player is not on the injured list and is selected for the Olympics but declines to participate, the player would be subject to fine and/or suspension. In addition, the players would be ineligible to play for the first 14 days when the season resumes after the Olympics, according to a proposal from the commissioner’s office to the players’ union and obtained by The Times.

Under a tentative MLB plan, the first half of the 2028 season would end on July 9, with the All-Star Game on July 11. The Olympic baseball competition would start on July 13, with the second half of the season starting on July 21.

So as to discourage placement on the injured list as a way to avoid playing in the Games, a player selected for the Olympics but on the injured list as of July 9 would be excused, but he could not be reinstated to his team’s major league roster until Aug. 4, even if he had recovered from the injury before then.

“We went down the road on LA 2028 because we saw it as a unique opportunity to market the sport with our very, very best players,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday in a meeting with the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

“It is a disruptive undertaking for us … If we’re disrupting an entire season and we’re going to undertake that effort, we want our very best out there, so that people see how great our game really is.”

The league also does not want to undermine its All-Star Game, and it is reasonably foreseeable that some players might wish to skip the All-Star Game for a two-day summer break if they are going to play the next week at the Olympics.

In that scenario, under its proposal, the league would have the right to declare the player ineligible for the Olympics, and the player would be subject to fine and/or suspension as well as ineligibility for the first 14 days of the second half.

Bruce Meyer, the executive director of the players’ union, said the MLBPA plans a counterproposal.

“They want to make it mandatory for players who are selected to appear at the All-Star Game and the Olympics,” Meyer said Tuesday. “The proposals that they made in terms of what the discipline would be, the ramifications if a player doesn’t want to do that, in our view, are extreme.”

To use a Dodgers example, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was selected for this year’s All-Star Game, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said last week that he would not pitch.

Given that situation in 2028, if Yamamoto wished to pitch for Japan, he would have to be available for the All-Star Game. If not, Japan could lose him for the Olympics, and the Dodgers could lose him for his first two starts of the second half.

Meyer said the union is in “a very early stage of discussions” with the league. It is unclear how much time might be needed to resolve the issue, as well as what Meyer called “travel and accommodation” issues, which involve LA28.

It also is uncertain how long MLB would be willing to wait before committing to an All-Star site and date, although the league moved the 2021 game from Atlanta to Denver three months before the game date. San Francisco is expected to host the 2028 game, in large part because Los Angeles is a short flight away for an Olympic competition that would start two days later.

It is clear, however, that the league is getting tired of not always securing participation from marquee players in marquee events. The “you can’t pitch in the All-Star Game if you pitched on the previous Sunday” rule was intended to protect pitchers.

“It’s clear to me that teams are managing their pitching in a way to take advantage of the Sunday pitcher rule,” Manfred said. “I do think it’s really important that we always re-evaluate our approach to the All-Star Game in order to get the very, very best players that can participate in that game.”

The World Baseball Classic was a smashing success this year, even as the United States started a rookie pitcher in the championship game. Do we really need to mandate player participation in the Olympics, especially since so many great players already have said they want to be there?

“The WBC takes place at a point in time that the players are just beginning to ramp up for the season,” Manfred said. “There’s a whole host of reasons why, at that point in the calendar, players might not be ready to play.

“In contrast, the schedule for the Olympics is going to cover days that players otherwise would be playing in major league games — if they’re not on an injured list, they’d be out there playing. That is a huge difference.”

In another column, we could argue the merits of moving the final round of the WBC — the semifinals and championship game — to July, when players “otherwise would be playing in major league games.” That would grow the game, too.

But that is for another day. It would be absurd for MLB to miss out on the global marketing platform that is the Olympics. The issues MLB raises are legitimate; the solutions need not be so draconian.

The opening ceremonies in Los Angeles take place two years from Tuesday. The Olympics have taught us this about boycotts: No matter how worthy the cause, no one pays attention once the Games start. The Soviet Union boycotted the L.A. Games in 1984, and we had a grand time without the Russians.

No one cares if you’re not there. In MLB, a star-studded core wants to be there. Seize the moment.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Musicians and a DJ are among the dead in a plane crash in the Bahamas that killed 10, the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union said Saturday.

The crash Friday prompted the government to temporarily ground Flamingo Air flights. It happened in North Andros, in waters just west of Nassau, the archipelago’s capital.

“Among the dearly departed are some of the talented and vibrant members of our entertainment community, including members of The Pond Band and a DJ,” the union said in a statement on X.

Their “passion, dedication, and artistry touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas,” the union added.

The plane had departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau and was headed to San Andros when it crashed, according to the Bahamian Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority.

The Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation said in a statement that the suspension of Flamingo Air’s air operator certificate was a precautionary safety measure as officials investigate the cause of the crash. The ministry said the suspension is a result of two safety incidents that happened Friday.

During a news conference, Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis said the first incident Friday involved another Flamingo Air plane. She said it was en route to Mayaguana when the pilot reported a concern and turned back to Nassau. After the plane landed and the passengers deboarded, the plane caught fire, she said. That incident also is under investigation.

Photo: Juan Barreto / AFP

In 1999, Hugo Chávez coined the ‘civic-military union’ as a founding concept for the Bolivarian Revolution. At its core, he sought to blur the line between soldier and militant: the armed forces would no longer be subordinate to the civilian authorities, but become active political actors, essential not only to build and sustain the Bolivarian project, but to merge with the rest of society in conducting the nation. The old fuerzas armadas, FFAA, formed by the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the National Guard, were transformed into a single Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana, FANB. Soldiers were granted the right to vote. Officers flooded the bureaucracy and started to give orders to civilians. They were, in practice, sworn to a movement rather than a constitution.   

In its later years, chavismo stretched the phrase to unión cívico-militar-popular, supposedly integrating the whole of el pueblo into the martial body of the revolution. In 2008, Chávez created the Bolivarian Militia to provide military training to millions of civilians, and turned it into a branch of the armed forces in 2020, when it started to operate more as a propaganda and clientelism resource rather than a defensive corps. 

How, then, were Venezuela’s armed forces made “useful”?

A government and an armed forces that claim to be in union with its people were caught outside of the massive, spontaneous popular mobilization Venezuelans pulled off…

In the Maduro years, soldiers guarded the ration lines of CLAP boxes and the gasoline pumps of the country with the largest oil reserves in the world. Others were stationed in the southeast of the country to run the Orinoco Mining Arc, formally assigned to FANB, in tandem with non-state armed groups—some pocketing up to $800,000 a month in gold as bribes. The luckier or best-positioned of the bunch got handed high-ranking positions in public companies and ministries. The “popular” leg, then, was never el pueblo but its keepers, united to protect the Bolivarian Revolution and themselves over their fellow countrymen.

In the morning of June 24th, the Financial Times revealed that Caracas would acknowledge a debt of roughly 240 billion dollars and prepare for the largest restructuring on record. Hours later, two M7.2 and M7.5 earthquakes changed the landscape of the country. As the news broke, Venezuelan civilians quickly organized to save relatives, friends, and strangers. For the first forty-eight hours, a somewhat coordinated response from FANB was nowhere to be seen, even after Delcy Rodríguez said a joint staff led by a National Guard general was managing the emergency response. It was as if Venezuela didn’t have soldiers.

What the State guarded most jealously was not the living, but keeping the credit. A government and an armed forces that claim to be in union with its people were caught outside of the massive, spontaneous popular mobilization Venezuelans pulled off after the earthquake. When civilians pulled strangers from the rubble with their bare hands without waiting for an order, they proved that el pueblo is perfectly capable of being a body on its own, and most notably, that the State is not the vital organ that Chávez envisioned, but a dead weight.

So the aid had to be captured, rerouted, or rebranded. On June 27, Delcy Rodríguez ordered the militarization of roads and access points to devastated areas like La Guaira, slowing down the flow of ordinary citizens delivering supplies for survivors and machinery for those trying to find more of them. Just a day after the quake, opposition party Vente Venezuela reported that police had stopped a truck of supplies in Altamira and would let it move only if the cargo were transferred into the officials’ own vehicles, and the UCV student movement denounced that seven trucks of supplies en route from Bolívar to Caracas were seized by state agents before they could arrive.

“When you are [repressing] on the Francisco Fajardo highway, you are badasses. Show me you’re a badass here, then. Show me with a pickaxe and shovel.”

Organizers from a donation center at Escuela Francisco Pimentel were informed that CONAS, a joint unit of police commandos and National Guards, would be taking over the site and its supplies. Would they have done the same if a PSUV banner hung next to the supplies? A video shows the truck carrying the donations away belongs to SENIAT, the tax authority commanded by Diosdado Cabello’s brother for 18 years until yesterday. Even digital efforts were policed: a network matching volunteer interpreters to foreign rescue teams shut down and wiped its database after participants were allegedly harassed by DGCIM and SEBIN officers.

When the authorities did appear where they could help, soldiers and policemen scrolled on their phones, posed in front of the rubble and left before their uniforms got dirty. They were the last responders. Why so late, then so heavy? Incompetence covers part of it, but watch what the greens reached for in the most critical moments of this crisis and the reason why the ‘union’ has propped up chavismo for decades becomes clearer. 

DGCIM agents diverted an active rescue to recover an official’s rifles from a penthouse while people were still alive below. Neighbors stopped four CICPC policemen in Catia La Mar from trying to take cash found in the rubble, tearing the bills apart so they couldn’t. Chilean rescuer Francisco Lermanda says a soldier seized a colleague’s phone over suspicions of espionage after the crew videocalled their doctors to guide a rescue. At the Residencia Gradisca in La Guaira, where Mexican Topos had marked three points with signs of life, a Corpoelec crew sealed the site on a general’s order because a body, “por orden de arriba”, had to be recovered first. Our ‘protectors’ were filmed carrying off televisions and refrigerators, drinking the liquor they had found, lying on piles of donated clothes while giggling away.

When push came to shove, the union was not incompetent to protect the regime’s weapons, the regime’s secrets, the regime’s chain of command. The FANB did not forget how to save people during the earthquake. It never learned because saving people was not supposed to be part of the job. Faced with people to rescue instead of people to subdue, they stood guard over the dying. A man looking for his family among the collapsed buildings of Tanaguarena dared soldiers to be as brave as when they face dissidence: “When you are [repressing] on the Francisco Fajardo highway, you are badasses. Show me you’re a badass here, then. Show me with a pickaxe and shovel.”

It’s been about a month into the all-important summer box office season, and already, there is a noticeable boost in optimism.

I wrote last week about how the massive debut of Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” was a promising sign; many analysts and movie theater operators believe the summer’s theatrical revenue could finally reach pre-pandemic levels.

The cinema business has been propelled by the likes of Paramount Pictures and Miramax‘s “Scary Movie,” Universal Pictures’ “Disclosure Day” and, of course, A24’s “Backrooms” and Focus Features’ “Obsession.”

With more potential blockbusters on the way, my colleagues David Viramontes, audience editor for arts and entertainment, and Cerys Davies, who covers the business of the entertainment industry, joined me to give our best predictions for how this summer will shape up.

What will be the biggest movie of the summer?

Masunaga: After seeing how family movies — specifically, PG-rated films — were the winners of the last two years, I think we’ll be seeing “Toy Story 5” emerge at the top. The movie has already brought in more than $585 million worldwide less than two weeks after it opened, and if its billion-dollar-grossing predecessors are any indication, this franchise may still have a long life at the box office.

Viramontes: After the R-rated, three-hour drama “Oppenheimer” made nearly $1 billion at the worldwide box office in 2023, it would be professional malpractice not to pick Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” as the biggest movie of the summer — and possibly the year. 70-millimeter IMAX screenings were sold out a year in advance and premium format tickets are still hard to come by in Los Angeles. Not to mention tentpole movies like this attract repeat viewings and even encourage viewers to seek out screenings in every format. And we haven’t even talked about how the film boasts one of the most stacked casts in recent history.

Davies: In an effort to play it safe, I’m going to pick a family movie and bet on “Toy Story 5.” Think about the dog days of summer — when the air gets heavy, a sense of inexplicable boredom takes over and it’s almost too hot to do anything. Deep down, you know the only reprieve is sitting in the comfort of your local theater chain’s air conditioning. But, at this point, you already saw “The Odyssey” with all your friends at the earliest available IMAX showing. What else will scratch that box office itch? I’m willing to bet it’ll be none other than the familiar faces of Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear, as they fend off technology in their home.

Which movie’s marketing campaign will be the talk of the summer?

Masunaga: The marketing for “The Odyssey” has been less overt than that of other summer releases, giant Trojan horse in Venice Beach notwithstanding. But a film helmed by Nolan and starring a plethora of A-list actors basically markets itself. After all, both official trailers for the film have garnered more than 30 million views on YouTube.

Viramontes: I’m prepared for Spider-Man to be everywhere. From buses and billboards to talk shows and TikTok, the movie will reach full saturation. While “Brand New Day’s” marketing campaign hasn’t reached fever pitch just yet, I’m prepared to be inundated with activations, posters and commercials for the four-quadrant fave that’s poised to be one of Marvel’s biggest successes in years.

Davies: A massive orange monster named Irene with dozens of eyeballs has nearly engulfed the historic Carney’s restaurant on Sunset. A giant inflatable “Rich” minion, sporting a goatee and a blinged out chain, popped up on Fairfax. And minions have taken over Wendy’s frosty machines with a new banana flavor. At this point, Universal and Illumination could put a minion on every Los Angeles street corner, and I wouldn’t grow tired of them. (The ominous, goggle-wearing eye overlooking the 101 freeway just isn’t enough.)

What will be the biggest wild card of the summer?

Masunaga: The biopic “Young Washington” could make waves. Distributed by Provo, Utah-based Angel Studios, the movie has the backing of the studio’s 2 million Angel Guild members, who determine its slate and get other perks, including free movie tickets. That support proved crucial for 2023’s “Sound of Freedom,” which ended up grossing more than $250 million worldwide, and could end up being a factor here, too.

Viramontes: “The End of Oak Street” has been teasing a dinosaur adventure in trailers, but can the mystery box movie starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor attract audiences? There’s also potential counter programming to blockbuster hopefuls dotted throughout the summer with “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.” But I’m putting my money on “Evil Dead Burn.” Horror movies put butts in seats, and this summer doesn’t have many other straight-down-the-middle scares in store for audiences.

Davies: There’s an Anthony Bourdain biopic called “Tony” hitting theaters in August. These days, it feels like Hollywood will make a biopic about just anyone, but something about seeing Dominic Sessa channel the chef’s undying passion for food and effortless swag on screen seems irresistible. Plus today’s audiences love stories about intense kitchens (“The Bear”) and debatable biopics (“Michael”) — let’s see what happens when the two marry.

Both Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios’ “Supergirl” and Sony Pictures‘ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” are part of this summer’s lineup. Will we see a turnaround from the recent superhero fatigue at the box office?

Masunaga: This past weekend marked a disappointing debut for “Supergirl,” which brought in just $37.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and about $62.6 million worldwide on a reported budget of $170 million. Box office analysts had been expecting a domestic opening of about $47 million to $50 million. On the other hand, pre-sales for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” have been extremely strong. Not every superhero movie prints money anymore, so even with a potentially big haul for “Spider-Man,” I don’t know that it’ll signify a complete turnaround for the genre as a whole.

Viramontes: If there’s any superhero with enough pull to rescue the genre from fatigue after “Supergirl’s” poor performance, it’s your friendly neighborhood box office king Spider-Man.

Davies: Tom Holland’s Spider-Man definitely has the potential to cure superhero fatigue, at least for a few months. But as soon as the internet’s favorite couple, Zendaya and Holland, stop walking red carpets and doing press together, audiences are likely to put superhero movies on the back burner once again.

Analysts and theater owners have predicted that this summer’s box office will reach pre-pandemic levels. Will that momentum continue for the rest of the year?

Masunaga: Yes. The lineup of movies this year is more plentiful and varied than in years past, and with massive blockbusters slated for the holiday season, I think it’s very possible we could see a year-end domestic box office total of $9 billion or more.

Viramontes: Yes. We’ll have an action horror in September with “Resident Evil,” Zach Cregger’s follow-up to “Weapons.” In October, Tom Cruise’s long-awaited “Digger” might hit pay dirt. Following that in November is the new “Hunger Games” movie, “Sunrise on the Reaping.” And I don’t even have to mention “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune: Part Three,” the juggernauts waiting for us in December, do I?

Davies: Given the overall excitement from audiences of all ages and the variety this summer’s box office has to offer, this season will definitely be the one to do it. When Christopher Nolan, Spider-Man, the minions and the toys from “Toy Story” join forces, there’s no stopping them.

“The Pitt” and its economic effect on California

As film and TV production has fled the Golden State in search of cheaper locales, HBO Max medical drama “The Pitt” stands out as a major contributor to California’s economy.

My colleague Meg James wrote about the economic impact of the show, which films almost entirely on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank and has provided jobs for about 1,000 people. The show’s first season alone contributed $125 million to California’s gross domestic product, according to an estimate from Oxford Economics.

“We’re old men who didn’t want to go away from our homes any longer,” series star Noah Wyle, who also serves as an executive producer and writer on the show, said, half-joking. “We’ve all been plying our trades out of state, chasing tax credits and being away from our families for a really long time.”

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” continued its dominance this weekend, pulling in $70 million in the U.S. and Canada to stay on top at the box office.

The animated film has now grossed more than $585 million worldwide in less than two weeks. The haul for “Toy Story 5” helped push Disney past the $3-billion mark at the global box office, making it the first studio so far this year to hit that milestone.

What I’m watching

I feel like I’m always catching up on shows, and this week was no exception. I’m just now starting Season 2 of Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside,” which continues the hilarious exploits of retired engineering professor-turned-private-investigator Charles, played by Ted Danson. As a fan of “The Good Place,” I’ve loved the similar humor of this latest Michael Schur show.

A new sales tax that would generate $345 million annually for the Los Angeles Fire Department will go before voters later this year, the City Council decided Tuesday, as a stubborn warehouse blaze burned for a seventh day on the city’s eastern edge.

The council voted 14-0 to put the half-cent sales tax hike on the Nov. 3 ballot, with supporters saying the additional funds would go toward more firefighters, new fire stations and new equipment, such as firetrucks and helicopters.

The vote came nearly 18 months after the outbreak of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other coastal areas, leaving 12 people dead. But it more immediately coincided with the city’s fight to extinguish the blaze at the Boyle Heights cold storage facility, which has spread smoke across the region over the last week.

The campaign for the sales tax hike is being spearheaded by United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, the union that represents nearly 3,400 firefighters. Appearing before the council, union leaders pointed to the Boyle Heights fire as the latest sign that the city needs more money for emergency response.

“This is our plan to undo decades of under-investment in the department,” said Ryan Quigley, a 23-year firefighter/paramedic who also serves as the union’s secretary.

Mayor Karen Bass, through a spokesperson, said she is grateful to the union for bringing the tax proposal forward.

“[The mayor] has championed this measure from the very beginning,” the spokesperson, Paige Sterling, said in a statement.

The firefighters union began gathering signatures for the tax earlier this year, submitting them to the city clerk last month. Since then, backers have voiced confidence that it would pass, given the growing concern across the city about urban wildfires.

Still, the path to victory could be complicated by recent events.

Last month, Los Angeles County voters narrowly passed a different half-cent sales tax hike that’s expected to raise $1 billion annually to pay for healthcare. That measure, which received just above the 50% needed for passage, pushed the tax rate within the city of Los Angeles to 10.25 cents for every dollar of spending.

If voters approve the fire tax increase as well, the rate will jump to 10.75 cents per dollar.

The firefighters union also will be campaigning in a year when one of its recent leaders, Adam Walker, has been charged with one count each of grand theft and forgery. He has been accused of stealing more than $82,000 from a charity for injured firefighters to pay for his online gambling, his mortgage and other personal expenses.

Union President Doug Coates said Walker left his position two years ago. The union, he said, intends to make clear to voters that “the money is going to the right thing.”

So far, no one has emerged as an opponent of the tax increase. The Central City Assn., a downtown-based business group, is supporting the fire tax.

Susan Shelley, spokesperson for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., said her organization has not taken a position on the proposal. Still, she argued that sales taxes in general are “extremely regressive,” hitting the hardest for Angelenos who can afford it the least.

“Our view is that the city budget should be prioritized to fund the fire department from the first dollar, not the last dollar,” Shelley said. “And that there shouldn’t be a need for a tax increase.”

The sales tax hike, if approved by voters, would represent the most significant public investment in the fire department since 2000, when voters passed a $532-million bond measure to pay for new facilities. Backers said the tax increase would help the department speed up emergency response times, while also building new fire stations and repairing existing ones.

The firefighters union began work on the tax proposal more than two years ago, before the inferno that erupted on Jan. 7, 2025, and carved a lethal path through Pacific Palisades and other communities. Still, the push for more funding gained greater attention in the wake of the fire.

While the flames were still raging, then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley went on local and national television to accuse city leaders of failing to give her department the resources it needed. The media blitz shocked some at City Hall, who believed Crowley should have waited until the emergency was over before publicly assigning blame.

Crowley and the union said city leaders had forced the department to scale back its operations amid a budget crunch. Bass and the city’s policy analysts pointed out that fire department spending grew that year, largely because of pay increases given to firefighters.

Bass ultimately ousted Crowley, saying the chief failed to properly deploy firefighters amid warnings of dangerous Santa Ana winds. Crowley, who was demoted to another position, filed a lawsuit against the city, saying the mayor engaged in a retaliation campaign.

The fire that broke out last week at the Lineage Logistics cold storage facility has helped to rekindle calls for additional fire department funding.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose Eastside district has been enveloped in smoke in recent days, told her colleagues Tuesday that climate change and corporate negligence are making such emergencies “more frequent and more severe.”

“Whether it’s the devastating fires that hit Altadena and the Palisades last year, or the Boyle Heights warehouse fire currently affecting air quality and public health across the whole city, every one of our districts is feeling the impacts,” she said, before voting to put the tax on the ballot.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Palisades, said the fires in the Palisades and Boyle Heights have “exposed Los Angeles’ urgent need to modernize LAFD for the realities and demands of a modern century.”

Fire Chief Jaime Moore, in an interview Monday, said he asked Bass to declare a state of emergency last week so that his department could obtain additional resources to fight the Boyle Heights fire, including firefighters, firetrucks, drone pilots and hazardous materials teams.

“I had firefighters work Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I talked to my incident commander, and he goes, ‘Chief, these guys are getting their butts kicked.’ And that’s when I said, ‘I’m gonna reach out to the mayor, and I’m gonna see what I can do to get the state of emergency declared.’”

Supporters of the sales tax increase contend the department lacks the personnel to serve a city of nearly 4 million people. According to the union, L.A. has nearly 3,400 firefighters, roughly the same number as 50 years ago.

If voters pass the sales tax hike, the city would have the funds to bring the department up to 5,000 firefighters by 2050, union officials said.

It’s been more than 30 years, but Andy’s toys are proving irreplaceable at the box office.

Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” opened to a massive $160 million in the U.S. and Canada last weekend, marking the biggest domestic box office debut so far this year. Internationally, the film brought in $152 million for a worldwide total of $312 million.

With those numbers, “Toy Story 5” broke several franchise records for opening weekend totals. As my colleague Cerys Davies and I wrote last week, it’s a sign of the long-running juggernaut’s firm grip on audiences amid a sea of Hollywood sequels, reboots and spinoffs.

“‘Toy Story’ has been breaking ground since it first hit the screen more than 30 years ago,” Disney Entertainment Studios Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. “It’s wonderful to see ‘Toy Story 5’ continuing that tradition and connecting with audiences around the world to deliver the biggest opening for the franchise and the biggest of this year as well.”

For theater owners, “Toy Story” may have seemed like a surefire bet. After all, the franchise has grossed more than $3 billion in worldwide box-office revenue, and its third and fourth installments each made more than $1 billion globally.

The big opening weekend for “Toy Story 5” has no doubt brightened the outlook for many theater operators as the all-important summer movie season gets underway.

Already, last weekend’s box-office totals were a whopping 80% improvement compared with a year ago, when Universal Pictures’ live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” was in its second weekend in theaters. But more importantly, the domestic box office is now up 14% to $4.46 billion compared with the same time a year ago, according to data from Rentrak.

This summer’s lineup of films, including “Toy Story 5,” will play an important role in terms of whether 2026 will truly be the year that the theatrical business turns the corner from the COVID-19 pandemic and the dual Hollywood strikes of 2023.

In one promising sign, summer box-office revenue so far is up 15.2% to about $1.84 billion compared with the same May to mid-June period in 2025. (That summer ultimately ended in a dismal finish of $3.67 billion.) Compared with pre-pandemic 2019, this year’s summer box office to date is down just 1.9%.

Studio executives and theater owners have told me they feel good about this summer and are optimistic about the overall outlook for 2026.

It’s easy to see why. The deck is stacked, with upcoming titles such as Universal and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters,” Disney’s live-action “Moana,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

In a propitious sign, presales for “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man” have already shown massive demand. Overall, there’s just more and varied movies in theaters now, which expands the pool of potential moviegoers, theater owners have said.

Take A24’s “Backrooms” or Focus Features’ “Obsession,” for instance. The two original and digital-native films shocked the industry by keeping a weeks-long grip on the box office, largely by attracting Gen Z audiences who were familiar with the 20-something directors from their followings on YouTube.

Beyond these two, as well as Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” many of this summer’s films continue established franchises.

Although not all spinoffs have performed this year — including Disney and Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which saw ticket sales drop sharply after its late May opening — “Toy Story” has remained a consistent force in theaters over the decades.

Disney and Pixar executives credit the films’ focus on character relationships, particularly that of Tom Hanks’ Woody and Tim Allen’s Buzz Lightyear. And as the franchise spanned years, its appeal became generational.

“Having parents now that say, ‘I grew up with ‘Toy Story,’ and now I’m showing my kids,’ has been really gratifying,” Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter told me by phone a week before the movie’s opening.

“Toy Story” is now the most-watched franchise on the Disney+ streaming service, with more than 2 billion hours streamed. And its beloved characters have spawned 19 theme park rides, four themed lands, two hotels and roughly $1 billion a year in global retail sales.

That has no doubt kept the franchise front and center for both adults and children, as well as fueling interest in future stories.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

The FIFA World Cup has been a major boost for broadcasters, as an average of 6 million viewers tuned in to Fox and cable network FS1 for the first 16 group stage matches, an increase of 128% compared with the last World Cup in 2022, according to Nielsen data released last week.

On Spanish language network Telemundo, which is owned by Comcast, the first 12 group stage matches drew an average of 7.5 million viewers, up 234% from four years ago. (The Telemundo telecasts are also streamed on Peacock.)

I was in the Bay Area last week on vacation and didn’t watch many of the games, but I did catch my colleague Clara Harter’s great read about the mutual love and respect between fans of Mexico and South Korea and how that has played out in Los Angeles.

What I’m watching

Since I was out of town last week, I didn’t watch a ton of TV. But I did make time to watch the series finale of “The Way Home,” a quirky time-travel drama on Hallmark that I’ve followed for all four seasons.

I’m a big fan of time-travel stories (The “Back to the Future” trilogy is one of my favorites), so the usual past-future questions, plus the complicated family dynamics anchored by matriarch Andie MacDowell, made this a must-watch for me. The series finale was a satisfying ending, though there are definitely some loose strings that deserve further exploration.

A former top officer of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s labor union was arrested Wednesday and charged with grand theft and forgery for allegedly stealing more than $82,000 from a charity for injured firefighters.

Prosecutors from the state attorney general’s office announced the charges against Adam Walker, former secretary of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, at a news conference.

Walker “abused a position of trust for personal gain,” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said alongside Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman.

Walker opened a foundation bank account and transferred funds to his personal accounts, Bonta said, attempting to conceal those transfers with fake reimbursement records and forging receipts to mislead auditors. He used the funds for personal expenses, including online gambling, Bonta said.

Walker has been under scrutiny since 2024, when the local union’s parent organization, the International Assn. of Fire Fighters, suspended him from his union position and accused him of improperly depositing more than $75,000 of the charity’s funds into his personal accounts from December 2022 to January 2024. The IAFF accused him of using $5,000 for personal expenses.

Walker, who continued to work as a firefighter, told The Times last year that those allegations were false. He said the account he drew from was not for the charity, the UFLAC Fire Foundation, but was set up for two golf tournaments to raise money for a disabled former firefighter. He said all of the deposits were reimbursements for his legitimate out-of-pocket expenses for the tournaments.

“Not one penny of the money was foundation money,” he said. He said he understood that the deposits “look bad” but were a reflection of his “poor bookkeeping” and not any wrongdoing.

The Washington D.C.-based IAFF also suspended Walker from his positions as chairman and director of the foundation, which aids injured firefighters and their families, provides scholarships and is helping firefighters who lost their homes in the January fires.

Ukraine has officially opened the first phase of membership talks with the European Union on Monday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the opportunity and said it sent a clear message that “Europe’s progress cannot be stopped.”

The European Union will begin accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova after Hungary’s new government withdrew its veto, paving the way for negotiations. Both countries believe EU membership would provide them with greater security against Russian aggression.

Adrian Vestea nominated as prime minister after previous choice, Eugen Tomac, withdraws.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan has nominated Adrian Vestea, a National Liberal Party member and former mayor, as prime minister to form a new government after the previous choice for the post withdrew.

“Eugen Tomac withdrew his mandate this morning and as such ‌I nominate Adrian Vestea as prime minister,” Dan, a centrist, said in a post on X on Sunday.

Vestea, 52, ⁠is the county council president of the central Romanian county of Brasov. Eugen Tomac had ⁠been seeking to lead a government of technocrats but lacked support from the parties in parliament.

Vestea, who served as a development minister from 2023 to 2024, said in a statement that he wants a “political government that will undertake real reforms and keep Romania on a pro-Western path”.

“We are the sixth largest country in Europe, and we need to put a major emphasis on development. Which I will do from day one,” he said.

Dan’s two nominations for the prime ministerial role this month come after a no-confidence vote toppled former Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in May. A general election is not scheduled until 2028.

Dan said Vestea was suitable for the role because he had “gone through all the administrative stages” throughout his political career.

“He was a successful mayor, a successful county council president, a successful minister, and he attracted European funds, being focused on development, for example the Brasov airport, which is a success,” Dan said.

Parliamentary parties have previously said a minority government, whose members do not hold a ⁠majority of the seats in parliament, would be better ⁠than a government of technocrats.

Vestea will ⁠have 10 days to form ⁠a government and must win a parliamentary vote of confidence to take up his new post.

Romania has one of the highest budget deficits in the European Union and suffers from rampant inflation and a technical recession.

When a coalition government came to power in June 2025, it made reducing the budget deficit a priority. Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-communist history, but his government lasted less than a year.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down part of a historic California law inspired by Cesar Chavez and the farm workers union, ruling that agricultural landowners and food processors have a right to keep union organizers off their property.

The justices by a 6-3 vote said the state’s “right of access” rule violates property rights protected by the Constitution, which states private property shall not be “taken for public use without just compensation.”

Writing for the court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said “the access regulation is not germane to any benefit provided to agricultural employers or any risk posed to the public…The access regulation grants labor organizations a right to invade the growers’ property. It therefore constitutes a per se physical taking,” he wrote in Cedar Point Nursery vs. Hassid.

He cited as precedents a pair of California cases. One ruled for the owner of a beachfront home in Ventura who objected to giving the public access to the shore and a second from 2015 which ruled for a grape grower from Fresno who objected to giving his grapes to a government-sponsored cooperative.

“The upshot of this line of precedent is that government-authorized invasions of property — whether by plane, boat, cable, or beachcomber — are physical takings requiring just compensation,” Roberts said.

The three liberal justices dissented. They described the rule as a regulation, not a taking of property.

The California Legislature in 1975 became the first in the nation to extend collective bargaining rights to farm workers. Months later, a new agricultural labor board adopted the “right of access” rule to allow organizers to seek out those who were working on farmland.

Earlier this year, the state’s lawyers said the rule was still needed because farm laborers often worked in remote areas and were not fully aware of their rights to join a union.

It has come under attack in recent years by agribusinesses that have called it a “union trespassing” rule that violates their property rights.

A lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the farm owners, cheered the ruling as “a huge victory for property rights.” It “affirms that one of the most fundamental aspects of property is the right to decide who can and can’t access your property,” said Joshua Thompson, a senior attorney for the group, based in Arlington, Va..

Karla Walter, a director of employment policy for the liberal Center for American Progress, called it a major setback for union organizing.

“Today the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned nearly a half-century of progress for California’s farm workers, who have struggled to exercise their right to bargain for decent wages and to protect their health and safety,” she said. “Reaching farm workers — the overwhelming majority of whom are Latinx and migrant workers — where they work is critical to protecting their rights and interests.”

The case decided Wednesday began in 2015. The owners of the Fowler Packing Co. in Fresno, which produces grapes and citrus fruit, refused to allow union organizers onto their property.

A few months later, union organizers entered a strawberry packing plant near the Oregon border and disrupted the work, according to Mike Fahner, owner of the Cedar Point Nursery.

The two companies then joined in a lawsuit seeking to have the California union access regulation declared unconstitutional. They lost before a federal judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but the Supreme Court voted to hear their appeal.

Lawyers for the Pacific Legal Foundation representing the farm owners argued the Constitution “forbids the government from requiring you to allow unwanted strangers on to your property.”

In defense of the rule, California officials called it a temporary regulation of property, not a taking of the grower’s land. Union organizers may enter a farm for one hour before the start of the workday or for an hour at the end of the day.

The state’s lawyers said the rule is similar to federal and state laws that allow meat and poultry inspectors to go into packing plants or health and safety inspectors to visit warehouses, manufacturing plants or construction sites.

Progress for Kyiv’s membership bid given the green light after Hungary’s new government lifts Budapest’s veto.

The European Union has announced that the accession process for Ukraine and Moldova will launch next week.

At a meeting in Brussels on Friday, ambassadors from the 27 EU nations agreed to officially recommence negotiations with the two countries in Luxembourg on Monday.

EU leaders agreed to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova in December 2023. However, negotiations were paused due to opposition from Hungary, led at the time by pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, to Kyiv’s membership bid.

Both Kyiv and Chisinau view EU membership as additional security against Russian aggression. Moscow insists that maintaining control over its “near abroad” – its term for the post-Soviet states – is key to its national security.

“All member states agreed to open the first accession negotiations cluster with Ukraine and Moldova,” European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint social media post.

Hungary’s new government, which took power in May, agreed last week to drop Orban’s veto, allowing the accession process to resume.

“This is a recognition of the determination, courage and hard work shown by both countries in advancing reforms, even in the face of immense challenges,” Costa and von der Leyen said.

“Enlargement is a strategic choice,” they said, adding, “In a world marked by growing uncertainty, a larger European Union is in our common interest.”

Entry negotiations with Kyiv were formally opened in June 2024, kickstarting a complex process that usually takes years and involves negotiations on everything from agriculture to the rule of law.

The move was largely symbolic, intended as a powerful show of support for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

New Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar struck a deal with Kyiv on the rights of Ukraine’s Hungarian ethnic minority last week. The issue has long been a sticking point between the neighbouring countries.

But Magyar has said Hungary does not support a fast-track procedure for Ukraine to join the EU.

He said Budapest will hold a referendum on Ukraine’s membership, should it “succeed in closing all 33 accession chapters within the next 10 to 15 years”.

Talks will begin on Monday with the opening of the “fundamentals” section of the process, Costa and van der Leyen said in their statement.

This covers basic principles such as rule of law that the two candidate countries will be expected to adhere to.

The Directors Guild of America’s national board on Friday unanimously recommended its membership vote in favor of a four-year contract with the major studios that would increase wages, boost contributions to its health plan and establish guardrails surrounding AI technology.

“We entered this negotiation with three main priorities: secure our Health Plan, protect jobs, and ensure that our members remain secure as AI continues to impact our industry,” DGA President Christopher Nolan said in a statement. “We succeeded in these areas and gained in many others.”

Under the proposed contract, major studios would increase their contributions to the DGA’s health plan by 24.4% over four years, the largest since the plan was founded. In return, the DGA would recommend changes to its plan’s trustees including “modest” increases to the eligibility threshold and annual premiums, the DGA said on Friday.

The contract also increases minimum salaries for most jobs by 2.5% in the first year and up 3% for each of the following years in the agreement. Directors of network non-prime time strip dramatic programs will see their minimum salaries increase 2.5% for each year under the agreement.

The union, which represents more than 19,500 directors and members of directorial teams in areas such as film, commercials and news, said the agreement helps the union’s push for a federal production incentive. Hollywood creatives believe such a benefit could prevent U.S. entertainment jobs from moving overseas where production costs can be significantly lower. The proposed agreement secures a commitment that most senior management at the major studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers “would engage in meaningful advocacy for a federal production incentive above and beyond the ongoing lobbying efforts of the Motion Picture Association,” according to the DGA.

The contract also adds more guardrails to AI technology, including treating footage created by artificial intelligence as the same as footage shot by a camera, meaning it will still be under the director’s control, according to the DGA. Major studios will also be required to notify the DGA if an employer decides to license a director’s work to train a generative AI system to create new work, the union said. The agreement also establishes an employer-funded program to enhance directors’ AI skills.

“With these gains, a four-year Agreement was both appropriate and necessary to provide stability and potential for growth at a moment when the industry has been experiencing contraction,” Nolan said in a note to members on Friday.

DGA and AMPTP reached the tentative contract earlier this week. At that time, AMPTP said “we appreciate the hard work and commitment of our guild partners in achieving a fair deal that helps advance a stable and successful entertainment industry.”

DGA members will have until June 25 at 5 p.m. to vote on the plan. If approved, the contract would go into effect July 1 and run through June 30, 2030.

At a motion for a vote of no confidence against Arwa Elrayess, the first Palestinian president of the University of Oxford’s debating society, Oxford Union, she was accused by a 20-year-old student of contributing to “an atmosphere of hostility and harassment”.

In a video of the forum last week at the prestigious university, which was shared with Al Jazeera, Elrayess is seen replying to Ben Ashworth, “Not just in my career within the union but in my existence as a Palestinian, there seems to always be this post-mortem vilification of Palestinians.”

The room was full of onlookers as Elrayess, who became the head of the Oxford Union late last year, stood tall in a green sequinned dress.

“Palestinians, when they talk, are for some reason a danger. Our very existence is something that is scary,” she added.

The motion was filed after screenshots of text messages from Elrayess were quoted in outlets including The Telegraph and the BBC as saying that the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023 was “proportional”.

The text also said groups branded as terrorists were often later “lauded as heroes”.

Ashworth cited the Sunday Telegraph directly in his accusation. The newspaper’s political editor, Camila Turner, whose father serves as chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, had carried the claim that Elrayess said Hamas would be “lauded as heroes”.

But Elrayess did not make any statement of support for Hamas.

Nine months ago – before Elrayess was president – she was in a group chat of students meant to discuss politics.

In the group chat, October 7 and Palestine – and broader conversations on resistance groups – were discussed.

“Analysing something is not giving it moral legitimacy,” she told Al Jazeera. “Even though I described explicitly in all the messages that I’m not describing this as legitimate or morally justified, I’m just providing analysis; all of this was stripped away when it was reported in The Telegraph or the Daily News.”

The full quote in question on the group chat read: “Any resistance group will inevitably be deemed a terrorist organisation by the West until they achieve their liberation, by which time they’ll be lauded as heroes as history has historically proven.”

‘Entirely misquoted’

The messages were not meant as commentary on Hamas specifically, she argued.

“It was entirely misquoted; I believe it was entirely intentional to frame as having said something that I simply did not say,” she told Al Jazeera.

To the Jewish Chronicle, though, Elrayess reiterated her position by saying, “I condemn Hamas’ targeting of innocent civilians, just as I condemn the targeting of innocent civilians by the [Israeli army] or any other actor.”

After refuting the allegation and misquotations, Ashworth is seen in the video yelling at Elrayess, asking whether she condemns Hamas again.

Ashworth, who is not Jewish, has faced criticism for recently visiting Israel with the Pinsker Centre, a think tank formerly known as the Pinsker Centre for Zionist Education.

The motion for a vote of no confidence overwhelmingly failed, receiving 126 votes, 116 of which were online signatures, far below the 150 needed to proceed to a poll.

This is not the first misinformation campaign against Elrayess.

In October 2025, just before her election as president of the debating society, falsified minutes were ratified by an unnamed member of the union, alleging that Elrayess “argues that alumni members shouldn’t be allowed to vote, reiterating her claims that they are incapable of making a rational judgement”.

Elrayess believes that the minutes were made up and spread to “paint me as someone who hates alumni of this institution”.

After an internal disciplinary process, the person who falsified the minutes was suspended from office and the minutes were de-ratified.

Shortly after her win, opposition within the Union brought forward a number of charges against Elrayess, ranging from misuse of social media to antisemitism. In January, it was found that the charges were un-evidenced. By this point, however, Elrayess had lost two months of her presidency.

Alongside this, an article was published in the Oxford Standard alleging that she was related to a leader of Hamas who happened to share the same surname as her, and that she had created and shared a cartoon of herself stepping on a lizard and a hook-nosed anti-Semitic caricature to celebrate her victory.

The claims, again, were false. The cartoon linked to an anonymous meme page that Elrayess had nothing to do with, and she had no family ties to Hamas. The article had no author attributed to it, and the Oxford Standard did not contact Elrayess or reply to her emails, fact-checking the article.

Within days, Elrayess had emails from journalists at The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Chronicle and The Telegraph, asking her to clarify her family affiliation with Hamas and her views of Jewish people, stemming from the stark untruths shared in the nameless Oxford Standard article.

The only cause for the allegations, some have observed, appeared to be Elrayess’s Palestinian identity.

A colleague and friend of Elrayess, who wished to remain unnamed, described to Al Jazeera a sense of distress among Elrayess and her friends.

“The level of attacks that Arwa and her friends received was astounding,” he said.

The Oxford Standard, which no longer exists, deleted both the article and their website altogether. But the rumours they began, with no facts to back them up, have snowballed into national news headlines of Oxford Union’s first Palestinian president being a supporter of Hamas and a proud anti-Semite.

Tweets by prominent Zionist influencers like Eylon Levy, former spokesperson for Israel, sharing the lie that Elrayess is a Hamas heiress, with now-broken Oxford Standard links and no factual corrections.

‘I’m a very proud Palestinian’

Elrayess’s dedication to debate and free speech has brought controversy to her tenure. She invited prominent Israel supporter Tommy Robinson to a debate, triggering widespread protest in Oxford, and has engaged with conservatives and Zionists in her union and her own appointed committee.

Oliver Jones-Lyons, director of finance of the Oxford Union, works alongside Elrayess and describes himself as a “pretty public Zionist”.

Still, despite their diametric positions, Lyons-Jones does not endorse the growing smear campaign against Elrayess.

“I have never felt oppressed, abused or discouraged from sharing my views openly, quite the opposite in fact,” said Jones-Lyons in a statement to Al Jazeera. “Me and Arwa obviously vehemently disagree on a lot of issues; however, our conversations about issues that are deeply personal to both of us have never once been aggressive and have always been productive, in fact I can certainly say Arwa has changed my mind on issues I never thought I would.”

Oxford Union member Oliver Goldstein said, “Personally, I like Arwa. I don’t agree with many of her comments, but do I feel unsafe as a Jewish student at the Oxford Union? No … I don’t think she’s an anti-Semite.”

Despite the inundation of misinformation, Elrayess remains determined.

“My father is from Gaza,” she said. “He would always tell me, ‘It doesn’t really matter what you say or do not say; people will always find a way to spin it in such a way that you become a target, because you’re already a target.”

She said she lives by her father’s words.

“I’m not resigning from my position. They can throw 1,000 different letters in 1,000 different articles. I’m very vocal, and I’m a very proud Palestinian.”