By Walt HickeyWelcome back!
SinnersIn a remarkable hold that smashes even the highest expectations, the Ryan Coogler vampire film Sinners made $45 million in its second weekend of release, declining just 6 percent week over week after a debut of $48 million. For perspective, a movie dropping only 40 percent between its first and second weekends is generally considered a pretty solid hold, so a mere 6 percent slip is a huge indication that a movie is building steam and riding excellent word of mouth. Indeed, that 6 percent drop is the smallest second weekend drop for an R-rated movie ever. Meanwhile, at the box office, that new Ben Affleck movie, The Accountant 2, was beaten by a re-release of Revenge of the Sith, which made $25.2 million. Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter TattoosA new survey found that American attitudes toward tattoos have shifted substantially in the past 10 years. When the same survey was run in 2015, 26 percent of respondents had a very or somewhat favorable view of tattoos, while 40 percent had an unfavorable one, making a net favorability rating of -14 points. This time around, the ink’s in the black: 37 percent of respondents had a favorable view of tattoos while just 26 percent had an unfavorable one. That is +11 net favorability and a fairly drastic 25-point swing in just a decade, which is a rare achievement for any kind of social issue.
TitanicA letter written by a passenger on the Titanic has sold for £300,000 (US$400,000) at auction despite originally only being expected to get £60,000. The letter was dated April 10, 1912, and in it, Colonel Archibald Gracie said that he would delay passing judgment on the ship until the end of his journey, which many believe to be at the opposite of prescient given how the journey ended. Gracie, who travelled in first class, survived the sinking and wrote a book called The Truth About The Titanic. Given the smashing success of the auction, I look forward to further auctions of this type of correspondence, like the supposed letter from the disgruntled iceberg to a colleague that was instrumental in proving intent at the famed trial, White Star Line v. Iceberg. Either the letter exists, or taking that edible before watching the James Cameron movie was a mistake. Nipped, TuckedAbbVie reported that sales of Botox and the facial filler Juvederm came in below expectations, with Botox sales dropping to the lowest point since early 2021. All told, in the first 3 months of the year, AbbVie sold $556 million worth of Botox, down from $687 million in the previous quarter and well below the $633 million sold in the same quarter of last year. While both of the drugs are manufactured in Ireland and may face tariffs, the real concern is that a drop in optional cosmetic procedures may be a sign of people cutting their spending on luxuries, which can be a concerning economic sign. J. Edward Moreno, Sherwood News DiamondThe twisty bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors, the middleman on which much of the American comics industry has relied, took yet another turn late last week when the winning bidder for the company — Alliance Entertainment — announced it is cancelling the purchase. It had bid $72,245,000, but suddenly withdrew from the purchase agreement. A joint bid from Universal Distribution and Ad Populum for $69,130,000 came in second and was the backup option, with Basic Fun’s $50,000,000 bid a distant third.
WrexhamWith a defeat of Charlton 3-0 on Saturday, the soccer club Wrexham AFC has secured automatic promotion to the second-highest level of English football, just one league below the Premier League. The team was purchased by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020, seeing a burst of investment into the infrastructure and on-field budget and becoming the subject of a documentary series, Welcome to Wrexham. That infusion of energy has been incredibly effective: upon purchase, the team competed in the fifth division of English soccer and has been promoted for 3 consecutive seasons, as of now. It is a remarkably speedy rise, and is the first time it’s been accomplished in the history of soccer.
WhiskyScotland has an ocean of liquor squirreled away in barrels scattered across the countryside, with an estimated 22 million casks aging in storage facilities around the nation. This somewhat shocking fact and the recent trendiness of brown liquor have melded into a rising scam perpetrated throughout the United Kingdom; scammers convince people to buy a barrel of whiskey as an investment vehicle, but the barrel doesn’t actually exist. The all angel’s share barrels can be sold to misled buyers for as much as 6 times the price of what they would actually be worth (south of $1,000, it turns out). City of London Police received 89 reports of alcohol investment fraud in the most recent year for which data is available. Clay Risen, The New York Times Thanks to the paid subscribers to Numlock News who make this possible. Subscribers guarantee this stays ad-free, and get a special Sunday edition. Consider becoming a full subscriber today. Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. Send corrections or typos to the copy desk at copy@numlock.news. Check out the Numlock Book Club and Numlock award season supplement. Previous Sunday subscriber editions: Traffic Cam Photobooth · Money in Politics · Sax Solo · Terra Nova · Didion · Me, But Better · Flow · Four Nations · Tabletop · Fortnite · Sleep · Climate Insurance · Work/Life Balance · Self-Driving · Geoglyphs · Nvidia · McDonald’s · No Such Thing · Nationalized Sports ·Pop and Politics · Horror Boom · MCU · Fanfiction · User Magazine · Reentry · Panda Dunks · Net Zero · Spiraled · On The Edge · Luggage · The Editors · Can’t Get Much Higher · SolitaireSunday Edition Archives: 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018
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