Today’s Big Story

What Will Save Movie Theaters?

Blueberry smell-o-vision, AR popcorn buckets, and in-lobby pickleball likely won’t make moviegoing great again

What was the last film you had to see in the theater? For me, it was ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’—I knew such a vibrant and wild ride would be served well from an IMAX screen and it didn’t disappoint. I was there for the lewd comedy, surprise cameos and high-flying stunts. It wasn’t the speciality popcorn bucket that convinced me to buy a ticket.

But increasingly grotesque popcorn buckets are apparently part of the strategies to get butts into the seats of theaters. The new ‘Gladiator II’ will come with one shaped like the Colosseum that allows you to scan a QR code and watch a buttery-scented battle take place inside.

And now, there’s zip lines and pickleball in the lobby. Of course, gimmicks have existed to draw in crowds pretty much since the beginning of cinema. And 4DX—with vibration, fog, wind effects, and so on—has also been around for years now. But the most recent comes via A24. Select screenings of their buzzy new horror film ‘Heretic’, starring Hugh Grant, will feature something nobody has ever asked for: the piped-in smell of blueberry pie filling the theater during a blueberry-pie-related moment onscreen.

“When we first heard A24’s bold idea to resurrect the multi-sensory experience to underline this crucial sequence it made us howl with laughter,” directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods told Variety. “We’re so excited that audiences have this unique opportunity to be immersed in the world of the film.”

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? America’s box office is fighting for a comeback, but many experts believe that a Hollywood ending still seems far off. Young audiences haven’t returned to the movies in earnest since the pandemic, the number of screens in the U.S. is waning and, like I said, it takes smash hits on IMAX-scale screens to sell tickets. Plus, Americans are evermore comfortable watching movies at home, with studios struggling to rebuild consumers’ moviegoing muscle. While theater screens have expanded globally since 2020, growth was flat last year, according to research firm Omdia.

But there is a surprising bright spot: A new study has found that teenagers’ favorite thing to do is going to the movies. Perhaps the big screen feels like a respite from the tiny screen that demands their attention during most waking hours.

Israel Bans U.N. Agency for Refugees

Experts say it could be devastating for millions

Israel’s parliament has voted to ban a nearly eight-decade-old United Nations agency that provides essential services for Palestinian refugees, a move that could have devastating consequences for millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

CNN reports that the Knesset passed two bills on Monday; one barring UNRWA from activity within Israel, and another banning Israeli authorities from any contact with UNRWA—revoking the 1967 treaty that allows UNRWA to provide services to Palestinian refugees in areas under Israel’s control. The move risks collapsing the already fragile aid distribution process at a moment when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening and Israel is under increased pressure to allow in aid supplies.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government is awaiting the results of the U.S. presidential election next week before moving forward on a new Egyptian cease-fire proposal for Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, according to an official briefed on the talks. In a speech Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “painful compromises will be required” for the release of hostages in Gaza. But Egypt’s president says he has been advancing his cease-fire proposal in recent days.

Americans in Puerto Rico Can’t Vote for President

But their anger is suddenly shaping the race

By now you’ve no doubt heard that a comic called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage” before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York. It was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election.

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, but they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the U.S. territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed Monday. Of course, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. And shortly after the clip hit social media, Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced he was backing Harris and other Puerto Rican artists followed suit.

Trump's campaign has distanced itself from the joke, one of several offensive lines from his act. Trump himself did not yet directly comment on it at two campaign appearances in Georgia on Monday. But his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, dismissed the controversy. “The way that we unite the country is to talk about the issues the American people care the most about,” he told NPR, saying he had heard about the offensive material but hadn't seen it. “I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the joke, but I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America—I'm so over it,” Vance said.

The Scout Is Back … Nearly

The former American off-road brand will be exclusively electric

Move over Jeep and Bronco … there’s a new throwback SUV coming to the market. As we’ve previously reported, Volkswagen is reviving the Scout brand with a new off-roader as one of two electric vehicles launching soon. And if everything goes to plan, the battery-powered Traveler SUV and Terra truck will go into production as early as 2027.

Built between 1960 and 1980, the Scout was one of the first mainstream SUVs and was developed as International Harvester’s answer to the original Jeep. Robb Report says is may not be as fondly remembered as the Ford Bronco and Chevrolet K5 Blazer that would debut in its wake, but it has its adherents among off-roading enthusiasts thanks to some quirky features like a removable hard-top roof and fold-down windshield. Had International Harvester kept building the Scout, there’s a possibility it could have become a household name, but the automaker stopped shipping passenger vehicles in 1980, mere years before SUVs really started to take off.

Both the Traveler and Terra are expected to start between $50,000 and $60,000 with available incentives, according to CNBC. “We think electrification is the future. Range extender sets it up as an EV car, so it introduces people to electrification, yet it has a super smart, let’s say, ‘backup plan,’” CEO Scott Keogh said during an interview Thursday. “It will drive like an EV” and Scout has no plans to offer a traditional, nonelectric vehicle with only an internal combustion engine.

The Long Read

We don’t know what we think we know about how Americans will vote

Don’t give up on something good.