The Little Mermaid and Race-Swapping + AI Replaces Movie Stars?
Tik Tok not profitable + The X-Men return?
The Agenda:
Opinion
The Little Mermaid and race-swapping: Does it work? [Hollywood, IP]
AI replaces movie stars? [Hollywood, AI]
John Wick becomes a true IP franchise. [Hollywood, IP]
The X-Men return? [Hollywood, IP]
A24: Business strategy. [Hollywood]
TikTok not profitable, moving to IP? [Tech, IP, Music]
Karaoke: The original Tik Tok and gen AI. [Tech, AI, Japan]
Manga conquers Middle America [Japan]
Super Mario is still making money. [Japan, IP]
Spider-Man: Doc Ock becomes a Japanese schoolgirl. [Japan, IP]
Mexican music is popular! [Mexico, Music]
K-pop dance channel becomes a platform. [South Korea, Music]
AI regulated right away? [AI, Tech Regulation]
Another AI letter. [AI]
Gen AI not a sustainable business? [AI]
Manga
Business Samurai #80: “How to Slap Someone” [Coffee Distribution Arc #32]
Monday Motivation
“I don't have inspiration. I only have ideas. Ideas and deadlines.” (Stan Lee)
Scroll to the end of this post for instructions on how to properly slap someone!
Thank you for your support of Cross Platform. Please consider subscribing (if you haven’t done so already) and sharing with your colleagues, friends, and family.
Opinion
Hollywood
The Little Mermaid and race-swapping: Does it work? [Hollywood, IP]
Apparently, it doesn’t. Goodbye!
Okay, in all seriousness. The global box office performance of Disney’s live-action remake of the Little Mermaid, which features a race-swapped Ariel, isn’t looking good.
You can scour the Internet and read everyone’s hot take, to your horror (or delight?), and if you want an even more intense experience, look up the controversy around Netflix’s Cleopatra.
I do not wade directly into politics, but since I am in the culture-creation industry and the Little Mermaid issue involves IP, I will make some comments.
First and foremost, Cross Platform, Business Samurai (which has a diverse cast that will continue to grow), and the ReachGoal app are for every identity. And I know for a fact that I have a diverse readership for CP and BS, and a potentially diverse user base for RG. We will all respect each other.
Now that I’ve addressed that, the elephant in the room re: Mermaid is Ariel’s race-swap. And it seems that neither side of the political spectrum is happy, or at least certain individuals. The state-run media of China, a major market for Disney, has chastised the company for “political correctness”, while one diversity advocate, who enjoyed the movie, did criticize the lack of acknowledgement of slavery, based on its Caribbean setting. Oh, and there’s alleged review-bombing too.
Meanwhile, as Grace Randolph pointed out, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (a bit more on that below), which features Miles Morales, an Afro Latino Spider-Man who exists alongside Peter Parker, is doing quite well without controversy, at least so far. In fact, there are plans for a live-action Miles Morales movie, alongside a plans for a Spider-Woman movie.
I would agree with what Randolph has said, “People want to see what they remember.” (I’m paraphrasing.) So, while it is a great thing that there is increasing diversity of identities in entertainment IP, it might be best to create new characters to reflect diversity.
[Evolving the IP.]
AI replaces movie stars? [Hollywood, AI]
I got this from Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld’s podcast. Actor Justine Bateman gave a list of how AI could and is already replacing actors. One example is AI potentially doing away with actors entirely in favor of the viewer immersing themselves in the movie. Gee, that sounds a lot like gaming! As I’ve said before, I think AI over the longer term will hollow out the white-collar middle of many industries, although cybersecurity seems to be a new industry for such workers. I also think there’s always going to be demand for human-made art that scales, but the bar will be set higher.
[Premiumization.]
John Wick becomes a true IP franchise. [Hollywood, IP]
A fifth entry, an AAA game, spinoffs, and a TV series, all planned.
The X-Men return? [Hollywood, IP]
I’m a huge X-Men fan, and reportedly, alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, James Marsden (Cyclops), Halle Berry (Storm) and Famke Janssen (Jean Grey) are rumored to appear in Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool 3! Nostalgia is such a powerful thing!
A24: Business strategy. [Hollywood]
Vox posted a video about film studio A24’s success, which, in my view is further evidence that A24 is pursuing a luxury strategy. Something other indie films could learn from, since apparently streaming is not doing them any favors.
Tech
TikTok not profitable, moving to IP? [Tech, IP, Music]
TikTok is reportedly dealing with widening losses, though parent company Bytedance is profitable on an EBITDA basis. Bytedance, meanwhile, is moving into books, including fiction e-books, while it is also reportedly doing exclusive deals with musicians. I smell an IP strategy…
[The importance of IP in the digital economy; UGC is difficult.]
Karaoke: The original TikTok and gen AI. [Tech, AI, Japan]
I am currently reading Matt Alt’s Pure Invention, about how Japan’s cultural products conquered the world. I highly recommend you read it and also subscribe to Alt’s newsletter!
Anyway, there is a chapter on the creation on karaoke, which includes Alt’s assertion that karaoke was a 20th century example of UGC, even citing one Japanese critic’s concern about the future of human-made original art.
This sounds eerily similar to 21st century concerns of AI and UGC platforms replacing art, but, as we know, that didn’t happen. I continue to believe that there will always be a market for human-made, scalable art.
[Artisanship at scale; The importance of IP in the digital economy.]
Japan
Manga conquers Middle America [Japan]
The NPD group released a video about manga’s continued success in the US, as sales continued to grow in 2022 despite, in my view, economic uncertainty due to geopolitical events. The video highlighted manga’s success in places I wouldn’t have imagined: Oklahoma City OK, Kansas City MO, Milwaukee WI, and Columbus OH. Manga - not just for coastal elites!
BTW, in a completely different environment: anime is reportedly popular in Syria.
[Cultural globalization.]
Super Mario is still making money. [Japan, IP]
Second-highest grossing animated film of all time (though not adjusted for inflation and other factors). Doing well in Japan, too.
[The importance of IP in the digital economy.]
Spider-Man: Doc Ock becomes a Japanese schoolgirl. [Japan, IP]
See? Spider-Man is an IP for every identity (see above)! There will be a spinoff manga of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, featuring an American middle-aged man in a Japanese schoolgirl’s body!
[Cultural globalization.]
Music
Mexican music is popular! [Mexico, Music]
I’ve talked about Mexico before, and the country looks interesting re: IP. As an importer of IP, it looks like a big market, and now, it looks poised to succeed as an exporter as well. Bloomberg recently reported on the rise of Mexican music, which includes a variety of unique subcategories.
[Cultural globalization.]
K-pop dance channel becomes a platform. [South Korea, Music]
CNBC released a segment about South Korean dance studio 1Million Dance Studio, which is quite popular in social media. It appears 1Million Dance Studio is also looking to go cross platform!
[Cultural globalization.]
AI
AI regulated right away? [AI, Tech Regulation]
Goldman Sachs is of the opinion that US regulation of AI looks to move faster than in previous eras, due to things like changes in the labor market, fake news, etc. Interesting…
Another AI letter. [AI]
Another letter about existential risks. You know my feelings toward this issue. Again, nothing concrete about how these existential risks will occur. Here’s open AI platform Hugging Face’s view of this issue.
Gen AI not a sustainable business? [AI]
Elevation Partners co-founder Roger McNamee, who I like hearing from, came on to CNBC and gave his views on gen AI. He did mention something that I had been wondering about: how good would AI be as a search product if it only gives you one answer, rather than a list of sources? There are potential fact-checking issues with this format, not to mention high costs for this fact checking, as well as power consumption - to be paid for by surveillance capitalism? Though there are real use cases for gen AI.
Manga
Business Samurai: Business Strategy Manga
Latest episode of webcomic about businesses selling to consumers. Cross Platform’s own IP and multimedia franchise. You can read the complete story so far here.
The plot: The MASTER (マスター) corporation has hired a team of young and talented businesspeople from diverse backgrounds to guide its business strategy as it enters new industries. But is everything is as it seems? Hijinks and drama ensue as team CLARITY (明快さ) launches new businesses, while each member tries to make her and his way in the world!
The current story arc: Claurette, Lixue, Jiae, and Ryota are working to distribute Cafe Honesty's cold brew based on coffee beans... digested by a house cat. But now they've bumped up against competition with the Toriyaki company!
Episode #80: “How to Slap Someone” [Coffee Distribution Arc #32]
Monday Motivation
“I don't have inspiration. I only have ideas. Ideas and deadlines.” (Stan Lee)
The late Stan Lee of Marvel, who co-created so many successful IPs - including two I've talked about in this issue, Spider-Man and the X-Men - is someone worth studying. Also, according to Business Movers, a Marvel Cinematic Universe was always his dream, and he chased it decade after decade even though the technology hadn’t yet caught up to his vision, through so much trial and tribulation, until it became a reality. Also he was big on diversity in entertainment. Gotta go for what you want in life.
GO FOR IT! REACH YOUR GOAL!