Iran Strikes, Nolan's Box Office Record, and a Quadruplet Miracle

MayaMorning! Welcome back to the Morning Rundown.

DavidGood to be back. Coffee's hot and the news is heavy today.

MayaIt is. Ukraine just shook up its military command and the Iran situation is still moving fast overseas.

DavidPlus, the Houthis are stirring up trouble in the Red Sea again. We'll dig into what that could mean for oil.

MayaOkay, but then we flip it. The Odyssey just had a massive opening weekend.

DavidImpressive. Nolan really pulled it off. We'll talk the numbers, the IMAX frenzy, and how Universal landed him over Warner Bros.

MayaAnd apparently it's got Gen Z actually reading Homer now. That's wild, right?

DavidIt is. Then we close out with some health headlines, measles, diabetes trends, before ending on a story that'll make you smile.

MayaA 1 in 15 million kind of story.

DavidExactly. So let's start with what's happening overseas.

MayaWait, eleven straight nights? I knew this was going, but I didn't realize we were double digits already.

DavidYeah, CNBC had Rubio's comments this morning.

MayaMm

DavidHe's-hmm. basically saying Tehran playing with Hormuz risks fallout way outside the region. And here's the thing about Hormuz, it's not some minor choke point.

MayaHow much oil are we talking?

DavidA huge share of the world's seaborne crude goes through there, so if Tehran even threatens to shut it, tankers get nervous, insurance rates spike, and gas prices move before a single barrel actually stops flowing.

MayaSo it's the threat itself that does the damage.

DavidExactly, and that's why I think Rubio's saying it out loud: you want Tehran to know the cost is priced in already.

MayaFollow the money, right?

DavidYou said it, not me, but yeah.

MayaOkay, and it's not just Iran. What's going on with the Houthis now?

DavidSo the New York Times reported the Houthis are threatening an actual Red Sea blockade. Ships bound for Saudi Arabia are already turning around, according to the Washington Post's coverage of the same story.

MayaTurning around? Like mid-route?

DavidThat's what they're reporting. And look, I'll say it plainly, years of half-measured deterrence in that region got us here. When you don't respond decisively the first time, groups like the Houthis test you again.

MayaSo this whole week, it's Iran, it's the Houthis, it's a lot of pressure points lighting up at once.

DavidAll at once, yeah. And oil markets hate that kind of uncertainty way more than they hate any single event. single event.

MayaOkay, switching gears for a second because this one caught me off guard. Zelensky just fired his top military commander?

DavidGeneral Syrsky, yeah. The Washington Post says that came just days after Zelensky already fired his defense minister.

MayaWait, really? Two major firings back to back? That's not a small shakeup, that's a full reset.

DavidIt raises a real question about how stable the leadership actually is right now. Now, in the middle of everything else going on.

MayaI mean, you don't swap your top general unless something's seriously wrong or unless you're trying to send a message.

DavidCould be either, could be both, honestly.

MayaOK, so last one. I saw something about Israel building a wall inside Gaza?

DavidYeah, AP News, Lee Keath and Julia Frankel reported Israel's confirmed it's building an earthen barrier, and satellite images show more than 50. More than 14 miles already done.

MayaFourteen miles! That's not a checkpoint, that's a border!

DavidIt roughly follows what's called the yellow line from the ceasefire deal. Palestinians worry it becomes permanent, but from a security standpoint, it's a pretty straightforward move: you control movement, you control risk.

MayaMake sense on paper. Doesn't make it simple on the ground, though.

DavidNo, definitely not.

MayaOh man, that is a lot of heavy stuff to open with. With Hormuz, the Houthis, a Ukrainian general getting fired, a wall going up in Gaza.

DavidIt's a dense week.

MayaOkay, before I forget though, I need something lighter after all that. And I think I found it.

DavidPlease go.

MayaSo this Nolan movie. Okay, shifting gears hard, I need happy news after that. So, the Odyssey.

DavidThe little indie film nobody's heard of.

MayaRight. Nolan's version just posted a $20 million Tuesday, Deadline's reporting that could make it his best Tuesday ever at the box office, ahead of The Dark Knight.

DavidBeating Dark Knight? That movie is basically scripture for box office nerds. Nerds.

MayaI know! And that's on top of an opening weekend? Variety put it $264 million worldwide.

DavidWhistle. Okay.

MayaFox Business talked to the IMAX CEO, Rich Gelfond, and called the whole thing a frenzy.

DavidA frenzy. Strong word for a movie ticket.

MayaHe said, quote, we've already found out the movie has legs. People are booking IMAX 70mm showtimes like it's a c- It's a concert tour.

DavidThat tracks with what I'm seeing online.

MayaAnd Yahoo had a behind the scenes piece? Apparently Anne Hathaway took a helicopter to set every single day during filming.

DavidOf course no one wouldn't cut a corner there.

MayaThe man does not do easy.

DavidAll right, so let's follow the money for a second, because the real story's behind the scenes.

MayaOoh, go!

DavidVariety laid out how Universal outmaneuvered Warner Bros.- Bros to land Nolan in the first place.

MayaWait, didn't Nolan basically live at Warner Bros his whole career?

DavidPretty much, and now Universal's chief Donna Langley gets to look like a genius for stealing him away.

MayaThat's gotta sting over at Warner.

DavidWhen your biggest director walks and breaks records for a rival studio, Variety's calling him the most powerful director in town right now.

MayaOkay, but here's my favorite part of this whole thing. The Gen Z is apparently going out and listening to the actual Odyssey.

DavidWow.

MayaLike Homer, the book that's 3,000 years old.

DavidNo way.

MayaVariety's tracking a real jump in Spotify audiobook streams tied directly to the movie. Teenagers choosing Homer on purpose.

DavidHonestly, good for them. I didn't finish the Odyssey until college and I skimmed half of it.

MayaSame!" So Nolan breaks box office records and teenagers are cracking open Homer's actual book. Wild combo.

DavidSpeaking of records-

MayaOh no, where's this going?

DavidMeasles just broke one, too-different kind of record entirely.

MayaYeah, let's shift into that. Okay, shifting gears hard from Hollywood, measles just hit a milestone nobody wants.

DavidYeah, not the record we like to see.

MayaThe Washington Post says the U.S. just logged its worst measles year in 35 years, 2,295 cases as of Tuesday, and that's already past all of last year's total.

DavidAnd we've still got months left in 2024 to add to that.

MayaRight? It's not even close to over.

DavidI mean, we know why this happens. Vaccination rates dip in certain pockets, and measles just finds the gap.

MayaIt's wild how contagious that thing actually is.

DavidOne of the most contagious viruses out there, period.

MayaOkay, next one's a gut punch, too. The BBC's Michelle Roberts reported England's seeing more women in their 20s getting type 2 diabetes.

DavidWait, in their 20s? That's usually an older age diagnosis. Noses.

MayaThat's the part that got me. Doctors are calling it a genuine shift, not just a blip.

DavidI don't want to armchair diagnose a whole generation, but diet, activity levels, weight trends, probably all playing a role there.

MayaYeah, nobody's pinning it on one thing.

DavidTwo rough headlines in a row, though.

MayaOkay, but I saved the good one for last.

DavidPlease give it to me.

MayaAP News. An Australian woman just gave birth to identical quadruplet girls.

DavidIdentical? All four?

MayaAll four from one fertilized egg that split into four. One placenta, too.

DavidWait, wait. How rare is that actually?

MayaThe doctor on the case, Alexa Bendall, put the odds at around one in fifteen million.

DavidOne in fifteen million. That's basically lottery ticket territory.

MayaAnd get this, Jenitar Sau Naamoana, the mom, already had. The four kids before this.

DavidSo she just doubled her household overnight.

MayaStraight to eight. Naturally conceived, too. No fertility treatments involved.

DavidThat's the kind of story you read twice just to make sure you got it right.

MayaEveryone's healthy, mom included, which, after odds like that, feels like the real headline.

DavidGenuinely lovely way to close out a heavy run of news.

MayaCongrats to that family. And hey, that's the rundown. Okay, before we go, that Odyssey box office run is just nuts.

DavidA twenty million dollar Tuesday? No one's basically running Hollywood now.

MayaRight, and Gen Z picking up the actual Homer book because of it? I love that.

DavidAnd that quadruplicate story at the end? One in fifteen million. Puts the whole show in perspective.

MayaTotally. So, quick ask, subscribe, and if you've got a sec, leave us a review.

DavidIt genuinely helps us out.

MayaThanks for hanging out with us this morning.

DavidGet some rest. We'll see you tomorrow.

MayaAnd that's the Rundown.