Jarrod Cunningham

[Dane Swan @swandane]

If you don’t think Nick’s the best player in the league right now you are just a hater and I feel sorry for you that you don’t understand football

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Mattel took the wrong lesson from Barbie and just spent nearly $200 million proving it.

Barbie did $1.44 billion, so Mattel raided the toy closet and greenlit films for Polly Pocket, Barney, Uno, Hot Wheels, and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. The thesis was simple: own the IP, print the franchise. Masters of the Universe was the first real swing at it. Nearly $200M to produce, plus a marketing budget that on a film this size usually adds $100M+ on top.

It opened to $29.3M domestic, $54.3M worldwide. A movie at this budget needs around $425M globally just to break even, so He-Man has to nearly 8x his opening weekend across the entire run. And theaters keep about half the gross, so the studio actually pocketed roughly $15M of that debut.

The gross is bad. The audience breakdown is worse. Only 5% of opening weekend was under 12. Only 6% was 13 to 17. The single biggest block, 29%, was aged 45 to 54. The people who bought tickets are the people who played with the toy in 1985.

That one data point is the whole problem with the strategy. Mattel sells toys to children. The movie built to mint a new generation of He-Man fans instead drew a reunion of the old one. Nostalgia converts once. Then those buyers age out and there's nobody standing behind them.

Barbie worked because Greta Gerwig made a movie about what the doll means, and it hit a cultural moment no release slate can manufacture on command. Mattel read that result as "the toy is the asset." The toy was never the asset.

This is also the second time He-Man has died on screen. The 1987 version grossed $17.3M on a $22M budget. Four decades and an extra $180 million later, the result rhymes.

[Collingwood FC @CollingwoodFC]

RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!

[Melbourne Victory @gomvfc]

It was Victory or what? @wswanderersfc ⚔️

[ESPN Australia & NZ @ESPNAusNZ]

ALEX VOLKANOVSKI IS A TWO-TIME UFC FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION! 🇦🇺 👑

The Aussie superstar recaptures his featherweight crown after defeating Diego Lopes via unanimous decision for the vacant belt.

#UFC314

[Mark Gottlieb @MarkGottlieb]

We are getting the full Joe Experience today. Daniher (allegedly) going out like he played his career. It’s like Da Vinci producing the Mona Lisa with his final painting #AFL #AFLGrandFinal

[Los Angeles Dodgers @Dodgers]

THERE IS ONLY ONE SHOHEI OHTANI.

[AFL @AFL]

One of the greatest to wear the black and white ⚫⚪

Dane Swan joins the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

[Jarrod Cunningham @mobey_6]

@MarkMcClure7 @talkSPORT It says describe it in one word not four words champ

[Callum Chambers @Kuytstanding]

On Maynard’s ‘decision’ to bump, if you think it was malicious, here’s an exercise for you. Run at the nearest wall until you hit it, even at slow pace.

Tell me, did you run straight and hit it chest/face first or did you turn and hit it with your shoulder?

#AFLPiesDees

[Jon Ralph @RalphyHeraldSun]

This incident from Mitch Duncan which concussed Hall was deemed “not unreasonable in the circumstances”. Duncan had no case to answer. Clearly not a perfect comparison from 2021 but an indication the MRO still considers “football accidents” https://t.co/NHK7Xm5XNj

[Mark Gottlieb @MarkGottlieb]

Winning is winning. #AFLPiesDees

[Ian Wright @IanWright0]

Cooney-Cross bro 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾

[Jarrod Kimber @ajarrodkimber]

On a completely unrelated note, here is Baz running out Murali when he was celebrating Kumar's hundred

[Sky Sports Cricket @SkyCricket]

It's all happening now! Colin de Grandhomme is goes on his first ball as Ollie Pope took aim and hit the stumps 🤩

[Cricket Australia @CricketAus]

YEEESSSSSSSS 🇦🇺

[William @Lifeless191]

Feels like I fate that I finished Jedi Survivor on May the 4th

[Emma Macpherson @emacpherson]

spirit fingers won it for us.

[Sean Callanan @seancallanan]

Just for a moment can everyone think about how hard the commute back to Geelong must be for Ollie Henry? #GoPies

[Alex Volkanovski @alexvolkanovski]

Just watched the fight, I definitely think I won 2,3 and 5. Surprised I didn’t get my hand raised! Let’s do the rematch, anywhere, anytime! 👊