• M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” led the weekend box office, bringing in $16.5 million across 3,355 venues in its opening weekend, but it represented the lowest opening weekend tally in the filmmaker’s career. The $88 million “G.I. Joe” spinoff “Snake Eyes” opened in second place with $13.3 million, while Walt Disney Co.’s “Black Widow” rounded out the top three, earning $11.6 million in its third weekend in theaters. (The Wrap) 
• Friday’s Olympics opening ceremony was watched by about 17 million viewers, a 36 percent decrease from the 26.5 million people who tuned in to the opening ceremony for the Rio Olympics in 2016. However, streaming minutes of the Olympics are up from 2016 by 21 percent, and July 24 became Peacock’s most-watched Saturday since its launch. (Bloomberg)
• Disney won’t have an in-person presence at this year’s CinemaCon, currently scheduled for Aug. 23-26 in Las Vegas, and will screen one of its films on Aug. 2 in lieu of a presentation, sources said. Southern Nevada has recently seen an increase in coronavirus cases but as of Friday, the rest of the major film studios are expected to attend the event in person. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Over The Last Year, Snapchat Has Used Acquisitions To Bolster Its Technological Capabilities

Evolution Media Capital

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Walt Disney Co. to get $580-million tax break for moving California jobs to Florida

Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times

Walt Disney Co. expects to receive nearly $580 million in tax credits for moving about 2,000 California jobs to Florida.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s ’90s Style Is Back. That’s Good for Goop.

Rory Satran, The Wall Street Journal 

Gwyneth Paltrow—Goop founder and CEO, quasi-retired actress, enthusiastic marketer of very personal women’s products—has probably appeared on more brands’ mood boards than almost anyone else.

AMC Stock Cult Tries to Raise Capital in Decidedly Apish Fashion

Michael P. Regan, Bloomberg 

They say the only people who got rich in the 1849 gold rush were the merchants who sold shovels to would-be prospectors. In the 2021 gold rush for meme stocks, it may end up being the pilots of planes that tow banners who make the real money.

Why ‘A Quiet Place II’ is the ‘perfect example’ of a movie release that worked this year, according to the CEO of a theater chain

Travis Clark, Insider Premium 

Movie studios are finally releasing tentpole movies that have been delayed by the pandemic for more than a year — in various ways. Warner Bros. is releasing its movies simultaneously in theaters and on sister streaming service HBO Max. 

Venice Film Festival: ‘Last Duel,’ ‘Dune,’ ‘Power of the Dog’ and ‘Spencer’ Highlight Starry Lineup

Nick Vivarelli, Variety 

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled a star-studded lineup full of hotly anticipated new works from Jane Campion, Ana Lily Amirpour, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Denis Villeneuve, Ridley Scott, Paolo Sorrentino and Edgar Wright — to name a few standouts — who are likely to bolster the Lido’s standing as an awards season kingmaker.

American Film Festivals Have a Future If They’re Willing to Change (Almost) Everything

Eric Kohn, IndieWire 

Halfway through the Cannes Film Festival, the streets erupted with activity. Drunken revelers crammed the streets just outside the Palais des Festival.

For NBC, the covid Olympics will be a feat of strange movements and remote mystery

Steven Zeitchik, The Washington Post 

The Aquatics Centre in London. The Bird’s Nest in Beijing.

Inside Comcast’s Plan to Feature Real-Time Olympic Footage in Commercials

Brian Steinberg, Variety 

Many advertisers plan to interrupt the Olympics with their commercials. Comcast will interrupt its commercials with the Olympics.

After Nearly a Decade of Campaigning, LeVar Burton Finally Gets His Chance to Host ‘Jeopardy!’

Claire McNear, The Ringer

In 2013, LeVar Burton tweeted, “My dream job…? The new Host of #Jeapordy,” complete with the hashtag #notevenkidding. The following day, he tweeted a link to a petition nominating him.

Peacock Gets an Olympic-Size Promotion a Year Later Than Expected

Kelsey Sutton, Adweek 

Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones who have been counting down the days until they finally get their moment in the spotlight after the pandemic postponement. NBCUniversal’s year-old streamer, Peacock, has also been eagerly awaiting the chance to make its own splashy debut at the Tokyo Games.

NBCUniversal Bets Olympics Can Vault Peacock Ahead in Streaming Contest

Lillian Rizzo, The Wall Street Journal 

Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg aren’t known as sports commentators. But users of the Peacock streaming service will soon be able to get the duo’s takes on Olympic pole vaulting, volleyball or—a new addition—speed climbing.

HBO Max Frustrates Subscribers With Glitchy Streaming Tech

Gerry Smith, Bloomberg 

For Matt Hershberger, HBO Max isn’t just a streaming service. It’s a babysitter.

Ted Lasso and US Soccer Team Up Ahead of Season 2 and Tokyo Olympics

Kelsey Sutton, Adweek 

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team picked an unexpected announcer to formally name the athletes who would compete for Olympic Gold at the Tokyo Olympics. In fact, he was an entirely fictional one.

BritBox Customers Stunned When Billed 100 Times Their Monthly Fee

Manori Ravindran, Variety 

Customers of streaming service BritBox, which specializes in British content, couldn’t keep calm and carry on after receiving an eye-watering monthly bill nearing $800.

Netflix Stunt Brings Horror Movie to Life on the Streets of Milan

Stephen Lepitak, Adweek 

“Everyone is entitled to one good scare” claims Sherrif Brackett from John Carpenter’s seminal horror movie “Halloween.” But judging from the reactions of the victims of Netflix’s stunt to scare the public to promote its new Italian film “A Classic Horror Story,” maybe not everyone agrees.

TikTok a Year After Trump’s Ban: No Change, but New Threats

Will Knight, Wired

Saturday will mark a year since Donald Trump said he would ban the wildly popular and annoyingly addictive short-video app TikTok from millions of US smartphones, citing threats to users’ privacy and security posed by its Chinese ownership.

How TikTok is changing the music industry

Dan Whateley, Insider 

TikTok is an essential promotional tool for music artists and record labels. Songs can rise up organically on the app even if they’ve been outside the mainstream for decades.

How Music Retailer Sweetwater Is Growing After a Record 2020

Richard Collings, Adweek 

After a record sales year for Sweetwater due in part to consumers finding solace in music during the pandemic, the online music retailer has embarked on several initiatives to maintain that momentum this year and into the next.