The biggest winners and losers of summer 2023

The Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers continues to resist offering a fair deal to WGA and SAG-AFTRA members. The organization, people by reluctant studio and network execs, has played an outsized role in Hollywood’s lengthiest labor action in years. In addition, the strikes are impacting thousands of non-union workers who also rely on film and TV productions for their livelihood. [Saloni Gajjar]

It’s been seven years since blessed us with the Formation World Tour. And while Queen Bey absolutely can and should do as she pleases, even if it means making us wait another seven years to see her live, we have to admit that this wait has been an especially long one. But it was so, so worth it: the kicked off its American leg in July, and Beyoncé has never been better. Plus, Renaissance has become the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in history. [Jen Lennon]

Where to begin with this one? Sure, there is an objective way in which Doja Cat hasn’t lost this summer—she’s released three singles that have performed decently. But she has mostly been in the news for various petty controversies, most of which could be avoided by simply staying off social media. that her relationship with the socials isn’t the best, but now that Instagram and Twitter and TikTok are the de facto channels for promoting new music, leaving them wholesale seems unlikely. But when everyone is talking about everything but the music, it’s the music that ultimately loses. [Drew Gillis]

Isn’t it refreshing when a show comes along that’s just nice? is the ultimate feel-good comfort watch. Season two premiered in early August, and it’s still dominating the cultural conversation. ? Actually, kind of, as our own Emma Keates discovered. It’s those little details that make Heartstopper one of the most authentic teen shows that’s come across our screen in a while. [Jen Lennon]

We’ve asked ourselves the question on many occasions this summer: What the hell is going on at Disney? The legendary studio has had its struggles before, but the past year has been a mess. Bob Iger can’t stop putting his foot in his mouth when . Meanwhile, the studio’s summer movie slate became a series of disappointments and missed opportunities, with films like , , and opening far below expectations. On the TV side, was muddled and poorly received, and the decision by Disney Plus not to hire any of the crew who worked on Netflix’s Daredevil series for its revival , , drew criticism from fans and the media. [Cindy White]

For season 14, The Real Housewives Of New York City debuted a brand-new cast, the first total clearing of the board in the show’s history. It was a risky move, but it’s paid off: model Ubah Hassan has already emerged as a fan-favorite, publicist Jessel Taank is a villain in the classic Housewives tradition, and fashion icon Jenna Lyons is taking everyone to task for their sartorial choices. It’s a strong cast, and they make for compelling TV, even when they don’t get along. [Jen Lennon]

Disney World’s is making its final jump to hyperspace in September, and we can’t say we’re surprised. Sure, it was a cool concept—a two-night, immersive fantasy journey on a Star Wars ship just sounds like fun—but at nearly $5,000 for two people, or nearly $6,000 for four, the prices were absurd. They couldn’t even throw in a complimentary alcoholic drink or two to numb the pain of spending a month-long vacation’s worth of money on a three-day Star Wars LARP. [Jen Lennon]

K-Pop fully crossed over into American pop culture years ago, but there are still acts that can bring new fans to the genre. NewJeans is easily the biggest example of this in recent memory as this summer saw the release of their EP “Get Up.” The five-song project was clearly crafted with the whole globe in mind; the group teamed with the Portugal-born, Denmark-raised R&B singer-songwriter Erika de Casier, who by her own admission had never really listened to K-Pop before. Music aside, it also feels like NewJeans did the borderline impossible at Lollapalooza: they performed a TikTok dance on stage and didn’t look completely ridiculous. [Drew Gillis]

Arrow star Stephen Amell stepped into a mess of his own making when he said during a fan convention that the and a “reductive negotiating tactic.” Primarily, he expressed frustration over the strike rule that doesn’t allow him to promote his TV show, Heels. The frustration is understandable, the unnecessary ranting is not. It’s obvious that everyone might be annoyed that projects they worked on for so long aren’t being well-promoted now, but Amell used his platform to blame the rule instead of, you know, the AMPTP. via a lengthy Instagram caption that further explained his point, but it wasn’t very helpful. In the end, Amell showed up on the picket line to express support for SAG-AFTRA. [Saloni Gajjar]

This summer we could finally say that someone got the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right. The “heroes in a half shell” have been hanging around since the 1980s, but they’ve never felt as authentic and relatable as they do in . Director Jeff Rowe and co-director Kyler Spears (with assistance from screenwriters Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit) figured out that the key was to lean into the “teenage” part of the name, and every creative decision they made—from casting actual teens to the intentionally amateurish animation style—sprung from that deceptively simple concept. Throw in a stellar supporting voice cast that included Ayo Edibiri (another of our summer winners), Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Paul Rudd, John Cena, Rose Byrne, and Maya Rudoph, and you’ve got a recipe for success. We love this direction for the characters and hope to see more of it, especially after that tease at the end of the film (if you know, you know). [Cindy White]

With Barbie, Mattel won the summer product movie wars. Which is insane to think that there are enough movies based on products that we can compare their performances, but here we are. Anyway, Hasbro had some product movies out this year, too, but they didn’t exactly land with audiences the way Barbie did. In fact, was the lowest-grossing movie in the Transformers franchise, which is not exactly great for a film that was supposed to reboot the series. Hasbro also sold its production company, eOne, for several billion dollars less than the original purchase price. All in all, it added up to a sad summer for Hasbro. [Jen Lennon]

Between Barbie, Oppenheimer, and weirdly enough, Sound Of Freedom, movie theaters were packed this summer for the first time in years. Well, okay, it’s unclear if most of the tickets purchased for Sound Of Freedom were actually used, but that’s beside the point. Ticket sales were up, which was good news for a lot of theaters. After the pandemic, many local theaters never reopened. Even the big chains were struggling. The industry still isn’t back to pre-pandemic profits, but , which is a good sign. Maybe we won’t get another Barbenheimer-level theatergoing event for a while, but if nothing else, it reminded a lot of people that going to the movies can be a really special experience. [Jen Lennon]

What else are we going to have to put up with from Elon Musk’s version of Twitter? His latest stunt is rebranding the platform entirely—. Just X. That’s it, that’s the whole thing. No more bird logo, no more tweets, just a big, sad, black X. The rebrand was met with general bafflement from the public and particular ire from the people who live across from the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. The it caused multiple complaints from neighbors and the city eventually fined X and made the company take it down. [Jen Lennon]

Okay, we know we called Suits the show of the summer earlier, but in rational terms, won over everyone upon its return. Season two was a scrumptious delight, and it’s not the only Hulu or FX on Hulu offering to reach its pinnacle. Shows like , , and returned for effective, memorable seasons. Barring The Bear, which most deserved a weekly rollout, the rest of them retained a week-to-week audience as well. So it looks like Hulu emerged victorious in the streaming wars for now. [Saloni Gajjar]

It came as a shock when Henry Cavill announced last year that he would be leaving Netflix’s series. For many fans, Cavill was Geralt; a huge fan of the books and games on which the show is based who also happened to fit the part perfectly. In the past, he’d also been extremely enthusiastic about the show, so fans were left wondering what changed, and it’s still not entirely clear why he left. But if Cavill’s last batch of episodes, which Netflix released in July, is any indication, Liam Hemsworth will have a tough time picking up Geralt’s sword. The show is set to continue with Hemsworth in the title role, but it’s clear it’ll never quite be the same. [Jen Lennon]

Okay, so, in July, Nope star and all-around delightful human being Keke Palmer went to an Usher concert. She posted a video of her outfit on Instagram; she was wearing a sheer black dress over a black bodysuit. But her boyfriend, Darius Jackson, with whom she shares a son, didn’t love it. He made a public post on Twitter criticizing her outfit and saying that she’s a mom now and shouldn’t “showcase booty cheeks to please others.” The general public dragged him all the way to hell and back, but Palmer herself stayed silent … until a month later, when which featured Palmer. The whole thing seems specifically tailored to dunk on Jackson and his dumb comments; Palmer even winks at the camera and says, “I’m a mother, after all.” Ouch. It’s unclear if Palmer and Jackson are still together, but that seems like a tough thing to come back from. [Jen Lennon]

Poor Britney Spears can’t catch a break when it comes to love. This summer, she announced her divorce from her husband, Sam Asghari, after only a year of marriage. But Spears and Asghari weren’t the only major couple breaking up this summer: Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara, and Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez also called it quits this summer. Even politicians weren’t exempt from the mess. Former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio separated from his wife, Chirlane McCray, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau separated from his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, as well. Maybe the COVID quarantines are finally catching up with everyone. Or maybe love is just dead forever. Who’s to say, really? [Jen Lennon]

Because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, pulled out of San Diego Comic-Con this year. That meant one of the big draws for the con over the past 15 years or so, the big TV and film panels in Hall H, were canceled. It left a lot of people wondering how Comic-Con would play out, or if there would even be anything to do there without the big pop-culture draws. But it turns out that the lack of studio presence was exactly what the convention needed. Without the big panels and celebrity presence, Comic-Con got back to its roots as a fan-focused event with—gasp!—actual comics as the main focus. It was cool, and fun, and probably something we’re unlikely to see ever again. [Jen Lennon]

How did Marvel get so wrong? It’s the Nick Fury TV show. It should’ve been the coolest thing Marvel has ever done. And instead it was … what was it, even? Unnecessary, to start, but mostly just so disappointing. Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Colman, Ben Mendelsohn, Emilia Clarke, and Cobie Smulders delivered stellar performances, but the plot felt inconsequential. Plus, Maria Hill is dead now, which really stings. [Jen Lennon]