Numlock News: July 1, 2024 • Kei, Libraries, K'NEX
By Walt HickeyWelcome back! Box OfficeInside Out 2 continues its tear at the box office, adding another $57 million to its domestic total and pushing its global gross to $1.01 billion. Behind it was A Quiet Place: Day One, opening to an impressive $53 million domestically, the best start for a film in that franchise, which somewhat unexpectedly has shaped up to be a consistent horror franchise. At an otherwise stellar weekend at the box office, though, Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, a $100 million Western that is intended to be the first of four installments, opened to $11 million, well under the hoped-for opening and rough news for Costner, who put up $38 million of his own money, reportedly. Golf CartsTwo American golf cart manufacturers — Club Car LLC and Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. — are asking the federal government to hit Chinese imported, low-speed, battery-powered small vehicles with a 100 percent tariff, accusing their competitors of dumping. Imports of Chinese-made golf carts and similar buggies are six times higher than they were in 2020, in part because they’re assessed a different and cheaper tariff rate compared to traditional EVs. All told, the U.S. imported $915.6 million worth of the vehicles from China in 2023, up from $147.8 million in 2020. RedboxAfter weeks of concern over their ability to continue operating, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as the Redbox owner stares down a mountain of debt to basically everyone in Hollywood. The company operated 40,000 Redbox DVD rental kiosks at peak, but it’s down to 27,000 now, and it also owns three ad-supported VOD platforms (Redbox, Crackle and Chicken Soup for the Soul). The position has become untenable: It owes $970 million in debt, has $414 million in assets, and lost $636.6 million in its most recent year of operation. It has a remarkable list of creditors, including studios like Universal ($16.7 million), Sony ($9.1 million), BBC Studios Americas ($9 million), Lionsgate ($4.6 million), Warner Bros. Discovery ($2 million) and Paramount ($3.16 million). Erik Gruenwedel, Media Play News WiresMorocco has some of the highest potential for green energy on the planet, as a wind-swept and sun-drenched nation with immediate proximity to some of the highest-development energy buyers on the planet. Transmission projects can take years to build out, and several projects designed to connect buyers with places with huge potential for electrical export are in progress. There’s already a 475-mile subsea power line connecting the U.K. and Denmark, which was activated in December and became the longest such grid connection on the planet, and that linkup has some thinking bigger, including a 2,485-mile link between the U.K. and Morocco in the planning stages. Ed Ballard, The Wall Street Journal Kei TruckKei trucks are narrow vehicles that are popular in Japan and manufactured by the likes of Mitsubishi and Toyota. They’re handy because they have all the advantages of a pickup truck’s bed at a lighter and more compact size, with vastly better fuel economy for people who use their pickup trucks to work rather than as a masculine form of cosplay. Exports have quadrupled over the past decade and hit 68,800 last year, with the U.S. as the eighth-highest ranked recipient. Sarah Hilton, Ignacio Gonzalez and Rachel Phua, Bloomberg LibrariesLibrary visits in the United States have been declining sharply, down to 671 million physical visits in 2022 compared to 1.25 billion visits in 2019. The average number of library visits per user per year is down 49.1 percent. It’s going to have knock-on effects for the book industry as a whole: In 2022, there were 162 million fewer books on library shelves than there were in 2010, a 20 percent decline. The reasons for declining library visits are still being discussed, but that declining stock of books is a big factor. Basic FunThe toymaker Basic Fun, which makes Care Bears, Tonka and Lincoln Logs and lives up to its name, is looking to get approval for $50 million in financing as it files for bankruptcy protection. It’s one of the companies still reeling from the collapse of Toys R Us in 2018, and owns every second banana in the business, like K’NEX, Lite-Brite, and the Littlest Pet Shop. 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: The Internationalists · Video Game Funding · BYD · Disney Channel Original Movie · Talon Mine · Our Moon · Rock Salt · Wind Techs · Yeezys · Armed Forces · Christmas Music · The Golden Screen · New York Hotels · A City on Mars · Personality Change · Graphics · You Are What You Watch ·Comics Data · Extremely Online · Kevin Perjurer · Kia Theft Spree · Right to Repair · Chicken Sandwich WarsSunday Edition Archives: 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Numlock News, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. |
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Numlock News: June 28, 2024 • Scribes, Soccer, Webtoon
Friday, June 28, 2024
By Walt Hickey Have a great weekend! Scribes The Czech Institute of Egyptology has 221 Old Kingdom skeletons from almost 200 tombs in storage, of which 102 are male. The institute has been studying the
Numlock News: June 27, 2024 • GOES, Wool, Mayan
Thursday, June 27, 2024
By Walt Hickey Wool Prices for wool have dropped considerably, and it's causing serious problems in Australia, which is responsible for 80 percent of the superfine wool fiber under 18.5 microns in
Numlock New: June 26, 2024 • Manga, Oscars, Glauconite
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
By Walt Hickey SVOD Parks Associates, a market research group, reported a precipitous decline in household spending on streaming video on-demand services, with the average internet household spending
Numlock News: June 25, 2024 • Hot Ones, Great Red Spot, Quartz
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
By Walt Hickey Wings As many restaurants look to hot wings as a way to boost profitability and get an edge, so too does Buzzfeed. The media company has come to own Hot Ones, a rare bona fide internet
Numlock News: June 24, 2024 • Wombats, Cornhole, Redbox
Monday, June 24, 2024
By Walt Hickey Debris The Otero family of Naples, Florida, filed claims against NASA after their home was struck by a chunk of space debris in March, a 1.6-pound battery pack from the International
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