Happy Wednesday, FutureParty people. While the conventional wisdom after dropping your non-waterproof phone into liquid is to dry it out in a bowl of rice, there seems to be a better way — a YouTube video. The video “Sound To Remove Water From Phone Speaker (GUARANTEED)” has gone viral for… well… that very promise. Anyone want to give it a try?

In other news… Apple is scaling back its theatrical output, PE firms get a chance at football stardom, and Nike’s CEO may get a sneaker severance.

Want to discover even more newsletters? Here are some of our favorites

• YouTube – Sonic the Hedgehog 3

• X (Twitter) – The Beatles

• Google – Oasis

• Reddit – Glen Powell & Ryan Gosling

• TikTok – “Die With a Smile” - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars

• Spotify – “See You In the Afterlife” - Foster the People

.ENTERTAINMENT.

Apple reboots its movie ambitions

Apple has surprisingly moved its upcoming feature Wolfs from a wide-theatrical release to a one-week showing and then straight to streaming just as Sony was about to ramp up its marketing efforts for its release next month.

The Big Picture: After a series of box-office misfires, Apple is pulling back its theatrical ambitions in favor of putting more movies directly on its Apple TV+ service. But with the streamer stubbornly failing to attract high viewership, there’s fear that the pullback from theaters is the first step toward a bigger step away from Hollywood.

Between the Lines: A meeting between Apple’s corporate overlords and film and TV execs earlier this year shifted the entertainment division’s mandate — no more than two big-budget, theatrical movies a year, while the rest will be budgeted under $85 million and go straight to streaming.

• Wolfs, which paid a total of $85 million just to George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and filmmaker Jon Watts (the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man trilogy), was held back because Apple was concerned that it, too, would flop… and the company is allegedly tired of the negative headlines of its string of bombs, including last month’s Fly Me to the Moon.

• Instead, Apple hopes that Wolfs mimics the success of its latest release, The Instigators — contributing 50,000 new subscribers, according to data from Parrott Analytics.

Closing Thoughts: Apple, the biggest company in the world, got into the movie business to seemingly create the highest quality marketing for the brand that money could buy. However, Apple isn’t happy with the returns, so the company has put pressure on its entertainment division to rein in budgets and change its reputation as a buyer with a blank check. It still has the buzzy, Brad Pitt-starring Formula 1 movie, F1, on the docket for next summer… but that may now be an outlier moving forward unless it’s a huge hit.

Go Deeper: Apple has really, really been trying hard to make it in Hollywood.

69.7% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Would you ever explore a virtual world inspired by your favorite authors’ work?

“Too much good, new stuff being made!”

“Take me to Velaris!!!”

“It would be quite interesting (and a bit horrifying) to explore a virtual world inspired by Stephen King!”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT TROVATRIP.

Bring your community together IRL

Creators have been building followings online for years. Now, it’s time to take the next big step: invite them on real-world adventures.

TrovaTrip, a group travel platform made for Creators and their communities, is the ticket. 

TrovaTrip offers a whole marketplace of itineraries designed by experts and run by carefully vetted local Operators. Whatever your audience is into — food, wellness, sightseeing, relaxation, etc. — a safe and sustainable trip is just a click away. Best of all, you’ll earn money for traveling while growing your brand and community along the way.

Ready to get started? TrovaTrip has already helped hundreds of Creators book over 1,500 trips for 25,000+ travelers.

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Amazon may potentially sell MGM Alternative — the division behind hit unscripted series like The Voice and Shark Tank. [Read More]

• Travis and Jason Kelce are moving their New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast to Wondery in a reported nine-figure deal. [Read More]

• The upcoming Transformers One will be the first movie to feature the “HDR by Barco” format in theaters. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Nike, which has been struggling to turn around sales over the past couple of years, may be looking to switch out CEOs. [Read More]

• Levi’s is releasing a capsule of Oasis-branded tees to celebrate the band reuniting for a series of shows next summer. [Read More]

• Australian BNPL firm Zip is teaming up with Apple to bring its product to America. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• It’s so hot outside that workers are wearing hi-tech ice-pack vests, like the one made by Qore Performance, to keep their body temperature cool. [Read More]

• OpenAI is looking to launch a new AI system, Strawberry, that can solve complex math problems and answer questions about subjective topics. [Read More]

• X wants a piece of the remote work market with a new video-conferencing feature. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• A study by influencer marketing firm Izea found that digital creators overwhelmingly want to chime in on politics… but most social media users really don’t want them to. [Read More]

• Meta abruptly shut down its Spark AR platform… and creators are not happy about it, saying they’re about to be out of work. [Read More]

• The hottest new TikTok trend: both loving and hating on the “hopecore” trend. [Read More]

.SPORTS.

Private equity readies a play for NFL teams

The National Football League is setting the stage for a select group of private-equity players to get the opportunity to invest in its teams.

The Big Picture: The NFL has long been the last holdout of the major leagues to bar PE firms from flooding the zone with cash. The break in the dam marks a new era for pro football that will likely make team valuations skyrocket.

Between the Lines: Yesterday, NFL owners passed a new policy allowing them to sell up to 10% of their teams to PE firms… but there are some stipulations.

• Only Arctos, Ares Management, Sixth Street, and a consortium made up of Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, and Dynasty Equity are eligible to participate at first.

• They’ll each be able to invest in up to six teams but will have no governance rights, no preferred equity investments, and a requirement to hold stakes for a minimum of six years.

• The rules are pretty unusual for private equity plays, which typically want a strong hand in influencing investments’ directions and like to extract as much value as possible before exiting.

Closing Thoughts: The policy change is an answer to PE firms’ prayers, as there’s no business quite as attractive as professional football teams, which, up until now, were only allowed to be owned by people instead of entities. But, teams are getting too expensive for only individuals to invest, so relaxing the rules was inevitable. It’s safe to say that every eligible firm will pounce right away.

Go Deeper: Only one team will be unavailable for investment — the Green Bay Packers, which is community-owned.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT DAILY UPSIDE.

Smart investors know where to get their news — do you?

Ever feel like financial news is just noise? That’s because most outlets churn out content for clicks, not clarity. Enter The Daily Upside — a newsletter crafted by real Wall Street insiders. They deliver the insights and analysis that matter most to your investments from people who have been in the trenches.

Oh, and did we mention? It’s totally free.

Subscribe now and join 1,000,000+ savvy investors who stay ahead of the market.

• Watch: YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie made a series of shorts answering the creators’ biggest questions about how the platform’s algorithm works.

• Listen: Deadline chatted with The Really Good Podcast host Bobbi Althoff about the nuts and bolts of her surprisingly viral interview series.

• Try: Google released a new interview warmup tool to provide some data-driven help in landing your next gig.

Why do they look like they’re about to drop an out-of-this-world mixtape?

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today, on an extra special bonus episode of Future Forecast, our hosts Boye and Chris sit down with Andrew Kenward, the President and COO of Almost Friday Media. Andrew was an agent at WME in the digital media department at WME before being brought into the Almost Friday universe in 2021. We chat with him about his career, his goals for the brand moving forward, and what it's like working in media today.