Raphael Stevens

Warner Bros. Discovery and Mattel’s “Barbie” has topped $575.4 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year in North America.
The movie based on the iconic doll surpassed Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
“Barbie” has topped $1.3 billion globally.

A scene from “Barbie.”
Courtesy: Warner Bros.

It’s a “Barbie” world — or at least North America.
The collaboration among director Greta Gerwig, Mattel and Warner Bros. Discovery topped $575.4 million at the domestic box office Wednesday, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year in North America.

The movie based on the iconic doll surpassed Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which previously held the title with its $574 million haul.
“Barbie” is also inching closer to grabbing the crown for highest-grossing global release this year. It has tallied $1.3 billion worldwide, nearing the $1.35 billion “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has generated since its April release. The films are the only two to cross the $1 billion mark this year.
The success of “Barbie” and Super Mario come at a time when audiences have overwhelmingly balked at superhero flicks and franchise installments in favor of fresh content.
“Barbie’s” record-breaking box office run started in July when it debuted with $162 million in receipts, the highest of the year. It secured the biggest opening for a film directed by a woman and is now the highest-grossing film directed solely by a female director.
Notably, “Barbie” maintained the top spot at the box office for four consecutive weekends. It is expected to drive ticket sales through the rest of the summer and into the fall.

The film has seen weekend drops in its box office haul of under 43% since its opening, with the last two weekends only showing an average of a 36% decline from the prior weekends. Typically, big films will drop closer to 60% each weekend after their initial release.
There are few major films hitting theaters in the coming weeks, which should allow “Barbie” to continue collecting ticket sales with limited competition.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” More

Shein and Forever 21 are joining forces.
As part of the joint venture, Shein will acquire about a third of Forever 21’s operator, Sparc Group. Sparc will also take a minority stake in Shein.
Through the agreement, both brands will have new ways to reach customers.

A Shein App is shown in the iOS App Store in Bargteheide, Germany, May 3, 2021.
Defodi Images | Defodi Images | Getty Images

Fast-fashion competitors Shein and Forever 21 have joined forces.
On Thursday, the retailers announced a deal that will bring together two brands that have a strong following of young shoppers and a reputation for trendy clothing and accessories at a low price.

As part of the joint venture, Shein will acquire about a third of Forever 21’s operator, Sparc Group. Sparc will also take a minority stake in Shein.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Shein’s deal with Forever 21 comes as it tries to distance itself from sharp criticism and gear up for a widely rumored U.S. initial public offering. Among the backlash, the online retailer has faced allegations of violating U.S. import tariff law, filling up landfills with its super cheap items and relying on underpaid or forced labor. Those charges have prompted scrutiny by lawmakers and blowback on social media.
Shein has denied those allegations.
The company has also tried to distance itself from China, the country where it was founded. Its headquarters are now in Singapore. The ties with China have become a risk for the company, as U.S. regulators and lawmakers scrutinize Chinese social media app, TikTok.

While Shein and Forever 21 have similar shoppers, they have catered to those customers in different ways. Shein sells its merchandise online. The U.S.-based Forever 21 is mostly known for its mall stores.
By teaming up, Shein and Forever 21 will have new ways to reach customers. Some of Forever 21’s dresses, shoes and other merchandise will be available through Shein. The online retailer has 150 million users, Shein said.
For Shein, the deal will give the company a larger presence in U.S. malls, where its current customers and potential new customers shop. The company plans to test new approaches, such as shop-in-shops and allowing customers to make return in stores, according to a news release.
Shein has already dipped its toe into brick-and-mortar retail. The company has had limited-time pop-up shops in cities like Dallas and Los Angeles, which have drawn eager customers and long lines.
Sparc, the company taking a stake in Shein, is a joint venture that includes Authentic Brands Group, a brand management company with a portfolio of well-known retail names like Brooks Brothers, Lucky Brand and Nine West; and Simon Property Group, the biggest shopping mall owner in the country.
The agreement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
— CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report. More

Warner Bros. Discovery said it will soon offer CNN Max, a 24/7 live news component on its streaming service Max.
CNN Max will launch on Sept. 27, and will include content from top anchors like Jim Acosta exclusively made for the streaming option.
The move comes more than a year after Warner Bros. Discovery shut down the weeks old streaming platform CNN+.

A person walks past the headquarters of the Cable News Network (CNN) on November 17, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. 
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

CNN is coming to streaming — again.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced Thursday that CNN Max will be added to its Max streaming service on Sept. 27, and will serve as a 24/7 live news hub.

It will feature content from top anchors — such as Jim Acosta, Rahel Solomon, Amara Walker, Fredricka Whitfield and Jim Scuitto — built just for the streaming app, as well as mainstay CNN programming like “Anderson Cooper 360,” “Amanpour,” and “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Earlier this year Warner Bros. Discovery relaunched its flagship streaming service HBO Max as Max, combining content from Warner Bros. and Discovery+ under one roof. While some CNN content has been featured on the app, such as documentaries, news and sports have yet to be included.
The move to add CNN news to Max also comes more than a year after the company shut down streamer CNN+, just weeks after the app launched and after Warner Bros. and Discovery completed their merger.
CNN has been in turmoil for some time — from the resignation of former leader Jeff Zucker in early 2022 to the swift closure of CNN+ to more recently the ouster of chief Chris Licht after a series of missteps. Semafor on Wednesday reported that Mark Thompson, the former BBC and New York Times chief, was being considered for the top role at CNN.
Still, the move toward streaming was inevitable, even with the shift away from a standalone app like CNN+.

During an earnings call earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav called news and sports “differentiators” that can make platforms, including streaming, “really alive.”
“I’ve talked about news and sports as artillery and a real opportunity for us. So, we’ll be coming to you guys soon. We’ve been working this summer very hard,” Zaslav said at the time.
As for including sports on Max, Warner Bros. Discovery is targeting the start of MLB playoffs this fall to introduce sports on the streaming app, CNBC previously reported.
It’s been a delicate dance for streamers to add live feeds or simulcasts of pay-TV networks like CNN to their services, however, and requires negotiations with pay-TV distributors. The pay-TV companies hand over high fees to exclusively run the networks on their bundles, and are remiss to allow a replicated feed on streaming, especially as the rate of cord-cutting accelerates. More

Sandwich chain Subway is being sold, ending more than five decades of private family ownership.
The price of the deal was not immediately disclosed.
Under CEO John Chidsey, who joined the company in 2019, Subway has been trying to turn around its business.

In this photo illustration, a Subway meal is seen on a table at a Subway restaurant on January 12, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Roark Capital is buying Subway, ending the sandwich chain’s more than five decades of family ownership and marking a new era for the struggling company.
The announcement Thursday ends the chain’s lengthy sale process, which publicly kicked off in February. Subway reportedly sought $10 billion, a high price that alienated many potential suitors like restaurant conglomerates, leaving only private equity firms to duke it out in an auction. Other reported bidders included TDR Capital and Sycamore Partners.

Subway and Roark did not announce a transaction price, but The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the firm’s final bid was roughly $9.6 billion.
Roark’s current portfolio includes more than a dozen restaurant chains. Subway dwarfs all of them by number of restaurants, and brings in more annual sales than all but Dunkin’.
Through holding company Inspire Brands, Roark owns Dunkin’, Baskin-Robbins, Sonic, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s. Separately, housed under Focus Brands, the firm owns Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, McAlister’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky’s. Roark also invested $200 million in the Cheesecake Factory during the early days of the Covid pandemic to help the struggling chain stave off insolvency.
“In essence, Roark brings more to the table than other investors would have, and while the deal closed based on cold hard cash, the outcome is a good one,” Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and managing director of GlobalData analytics, wrote in a note.
Roark plans to keep Subway as a separate entity within its portfolio, Subway CEO John Chidsey told the Journal.

Subway has been trying to turn around its business under Chidsey, who joined the company in 2019. The company has revamped its menu, recruited new franchisees and invested in technology. In the first of half of the year, its same-store sales climbed 9.8%, showing that the turnaround may be taking hold.
“This transaction reflects Subway’s long-term growth potential, and the substantial value of our brand and our franchisees around the world,” Chidsey said in a statement Thursday.
Founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck, Subway grew from a single sandwich shop in Connecticut to a global restaurant giant.
But for roughly a decade, the company’s sales have fallen. Its popular $5 footlong sandwich deal and aggressive development put pressure on franchisees’ profits. The chain was hurt further by the high-profile trial of former spokesman Jared Fogle and the death of CEO DeLuca, which both occurred in 2015.
Subway ended 2022 with roughly 20,600 locations open in the U.S., down from its peak of 27,100 in 2015, according to franchise disclosure documents. While the chain is still closing franchised locations, the pace has slowed down considerably. The chain shuttered 571 units last year, down from the more than 1,600 restaurants it closed in 2020.
DeLuca’s half of the company was left to his family after his death. Buck, who died in 2021, bequeathed his to a charity run by his sons. Chidsey told Restaurant Business Online that he convinced the two families to consider selling the company. More

The company said that fastener holes on some 737 Max aft pressure bulkheads were improperly drilled.
The issue is the latest to slow airplane deliveries at Boeing.
Boeing said the issue was not related to flight safety.

A person with an umbrella walks by a Boeing 737 Max fuselage parked outside the company’s production facility in Renton, Washington, January 10, 2020.
Lindsey Wasson | Reuters

Boeing said a new manufacturing flaw on its 737 Max will delay deliveries of its bestselling aircraft, the latest setback as the company tries to hand over more planes.
The company said it found that fastener holes on the aft pressure bulkhead on some 737 planes were improperly drilled. Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselages, said that because it “uses multiple suppliers for the aft pressure bulkhead, only some units are affected.”

“This issue will impact near-term 737 deliveries as we conduct inspections to determine the number of airplanes affected, and complete required rework on those airplanes,” Boeing said. It will continue delivering 737 Maxes that are not affected by the issue.
The defect is the latest in a string of manufacturing flaws Boeing has disclosed on the Max and in other programs while it tries to ramp up production to meet strong demand from airlines short on planes during a travel boom. Last month, the company said it is transitioning to a production rate of 38 a month from 31.
Boeing didn’t say whether the new issue would change its forecast to deliver between 400 and 450 Max jets this year.
Spirit AeroSystems said it would continue to deliver fuselages to Boeing.
“We are working closely with our customer to address any impacted units within the production system and address any needed rework,” Spirit AeroSystems said in a statement. “Based upon what we know now, we believe there will not be a material impact to our delivery range for the year related to this issue.”

This year through July, Boeing handed over 309 planes to customers, behind the 381 planes rival Airbus delivered in the same period.
The company said that the issue, reported earlier by The Air Current, was not related to flight safety and that airlines can continue flying the planes. Boeing added that it has notified the Federal Aviation Administration.
Boeing shares were down more than 2% in premarket trading Thursday. More