Good evening. Some of the largest US theater chains, including Cinemark, Regal, and Marcus (but not AMC), have held preliminary talks about different options at their disposal to blunt the growing influence of Imax at the movies, according to a new Bloomberg report.

• Imax licenses its tech to theaters and has about 372 US locations, a fraction of the screens nationwide.
• Yet it consistently generates 10%+ of the box office for blockbusters, is advertised prominently on movie posters, and is used by top filmmakers, including Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, Dune director Denis Villeneuve, and Sinners director Ryan Coogler.
• The company is also on track to turn in its best year for box-office revenue in 2025.

Studios are exploring a number of paths to take aim at the cinematic-experience king, according to Bloomberg. One involves creating a new brand to challenge the company. Another would be to create an industrywide designation that could act as a stamp of approval. It’s also possible they do nothing and maintain the status quo.

In other words: things will either be taken to the Imax…or not. We’ll find out soon.

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Each of the following events happened on July 17. Your challenge is to put them in the order in which they occurred by year, earliest to latest. Answers at the bottom!

• A) Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California, giving athletes who just won a championship a West Coast option to visit instead.
• B) The Spanish Civil War begins with an uprising by Nationalist rebels against the Republican government of Spain.
• C) Malaysia Airlines flight 17 crashes in separatist-held territory in Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. A Dutch investigation later determines the aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile.
• D) The UN officially establishes the International Criminal Court, which began sittings four years later.
• E) Former Russian tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by Bolsheviks, marking the end of the Romanov dynasty that had ruled Russia for over three centuries.

Hint: The happiest place on Earth is smack dab in the middle

• A) 16%
• B) 24%
• C) 37%

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Answer: B) 24% of Americans have a credit score above 800. Source.

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Is imperative to complete today’s Conjoiner sequence with a time that’ll top our CEO Branndon’s (1 min, 48 seconds).

Quick reminder: Conjoiner is an original word game we developed where each answer to a crossword-style clue gives indications as to the next. In other words, the answers are more connected than a gym obsession + going through a breakup.

The first clue of today’s sequence: “What Lightning McQueen is. Brad Pitt also drives this”...

Note: A (potentially important) clue for today’s Conjoiner can be found at the bottom of our AM send. Just search “🍩 Internet speed record“ in your inbox.

Mini

Today’s play on works words was completed by Peter, our Managing Editor, in one-minute, thirty-seven seconds. Can you beat him?

• Play today’s puzzle here.

Sudoku

Playing today’s puzzle is something we’re hoping you’ll su-do. (Our games are better than our puns, promise.)

• Take a stab at it here (medium difficulty).

Nintendo just dropped a new game for the Switch 2: Donkey Kong Bonanza. It joins a limited list of games released exclusively for the new console, including Mario Kart World and Survival Kids.

Not to get all “back in my day”...but videogames have come a long way from the arcade days, when people actually had to leave the house weighed down by more change than a Brinks truck to taste the sweet nectar of gaming.

Classic titles from that era include:

• Donkey Kong (obviously)
• Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man
• Space Invaders
• Mortal Kombat
• Street Fighter
• Galaga

Do you have a strong favorite? Weigh in and let us know. We’re working to build a data-driven list of the best classic arcade games of all time, but we need your help.

Compete in the Best Classic Arcade Game challenge and cast your vote for the GOAT.

E, B, A, D, C

• E) 1918: Former Russian tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by Bolsheviks, marking the end of the Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for over three centuries.
• B) 1936: The Spanish Civil War begins with an uprising by Nationalist rebels against the Republican government of Spain.
• A) 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California, giving athletes who just won a championship a West Coast option to visit instead.
• D) 1998: The UN officially establishes the International Criminal Court, which began sittings four years later.
• C) 2014: Malaysia Airlines flight 17 crashes in separatist-held territory in Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. A Dutch investigation later determines the aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile.