{"id":3689,"date":"2026-07-07T05:06:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689"},"modified":"2026-07-07T05:06:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:06:03","slug":"listen-minions-and-monsters-has-tepid-u-s-opening-as-young-washington-impresses-why-comcasts-sky-is-buying-itv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689","title":{"rendered":"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n<em>Variety<\/em>\u2019s Rebecca Rubin breaks down a muted July 4th holiday weekend at the box office with a tepid U.S. opening for Universal and Illumination\u2019s \u201cMinions and Monsters\u201d but a solid turnout for indie Angel Studios\u2019 \u201cYoung Washington.\u201d And <em>Variety<\/em>\u2018s K.J. Yossman explains why Comcast\u2019s Sky has struck a deal to buy U.K. broadcaster ITV for $2.1 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3687\">U.S. Men\u2019s National Soccer Team Eliminated From World Cup Competition in Loss to Belgium<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"pmc-protected-embed\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"180\" id=\"pmc-protected-embed-2\" loading=\"lazy\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/strictly-business\/daily-variety-box-office-minions-and-monsters-delivers-tepid-u-s-debut-in-a-muted-july-4th-weekend-why-comcast-s-sky-is-buying-itv\/embed?media=audio&amp;size=wide&amp;style=cover\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\n\tFor \u201cMinions and Monsters,\u201d the good news is that the film is already performing well in several overseas territories. Domestically, however, it registered the lowest opening weekend of the \u201cDespicable Me\u201d franchise to date with $36 million.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIt might be a little bit of a case of franchise fatigue,\u201d Rubin says. \u201cThis is a franchise that tends to be pretty popular overseas. It opened last weekend in a few territories, and so the movie has made around $160 million globally so far. And so it\u2019s hard to knock that kind of business, because [\u2018Minions\u2019] doesn\u2019t have the biggest production budget compared to some other animated properties like the \u2018Toy Story\u2019 movies are much more expensive. This one cost $85 million. So it\u2019s definitely a disappointing start, especially at the domestic box office. But it\u2019s not necessarily a big financial wipeout.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cYoung Washington\u201d is an independently produced biopic of George Washington that was a hit with the heartland and values-driven audiences that Angel Studios courts with its movie and TV productions. The modestly budgeted film grabbed $20 million in its opening salvo.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAngel Studios \u201chave a niche that they have found with this demographic. They definitely know their core audience,\u201d Rubin says. \u201cAnd the moviegoers who tend to see these films often give them very good audience scores. This one had an A grade, and that usually bodes well for how it\u2019s going to do over its run. It\u2019s another win for Angel Studios.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tYossman, a London-based reporter for <em>Variety<\/em>, breaks down the $2.1 billion transaction unveiled today between Comcast\u2019s Sky and ITV. Comcast will acquire the linear broadcast network and the ITVX streaming platform while the ITV Studios arm will remain a standalone publicly traded company owned by ITV shareholders. It\u2019s a huge shakeup and a sign of the times for the U.K. TV sector, where local players are finding it increasingly difficult to go it alone without broader media partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3685\">Herb Alpert &amp; the Tijuana Brass Whip It Good at the Hollywood Bowl, Returning After 59 Years for a Great Sugar Rush of a Show: Concert Review<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhat I\u2019m hearing from everybody is the landscape has completely changed. The threat now is from these American giants, the social media giants whether it\u2019s or Meta or Google, YouTube, Netflix, and that it is a completely different landscape,\u201d Yossman says. \u201cThe signs are that the government, in its current form, will be quite supportive of these kinds of mergers and acquisitions, because the main goal is obviously to keep at least the [public service broadcasters] as a going concern. And if it has to be sold to an American studio to do that, it\u2019s still better than the alternative, which is for it to go bust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tComcast last week unveiled a plan to separate the core Comcast cable and technology assets from NBCUniversal and Sky. The ITV acquisition feels like the second half of that deal, as Yossman notes.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cOur sense is that is really where the value for them is for the streaming platform, ITVX,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n<p>\n<em>(Pictured: \u201cYoung Washington\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong><em>Listen to Daily Variety<\/em><\/strong><em><strong>\u00a0on\u00a0iHeartPodcasts,\u00a0Apple Podcasts, Variety\u2019s\u00a0YouTube Podcast\u00a0channel,\u00a0Amazon Music,\u00a0Spotify\u00a0and other podcast platforms.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3683\">\u2018Dutton Ranch\u2019 Breakout Natalie Alyn Lind on Sobbing Over That Murder, Discovering Oreana\u2019s Life-Changing News and Season 2 Plans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On today&#8217;s &#8216;Daily Variety&#8217; podcast, &#8216;Minions and Monsters&#8217; disappoints while &#8216;Young Washington&#8217; stands tall; Why Comcast&#8217;s Sky is buying U.K.&#8217;s ITV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[775,2975,2903,2754],"class_list":["post-3689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-daily-variety","tag-itv","tag-minions-and-monsters","tag-young-washington"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On today&#039;s &#039;Daily Variety&#039; podcast, &#039;Minions and Monsters&#039; disappoints while &#039;Young Washington&#039; stands tall; Why Comcast&#039;s Sky is buying U.K.&#039;s ITV.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T05:06:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T05:06:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689\"},\"wordCount\":660,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Daily Variety,\",\"Itv,\",\"Minions and Monsters,\",\"Young Washington\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Film\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689\",\"name\":\"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV - Relocation Observer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T05:06:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":563},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=3689#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Observer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV - Relocation Observer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV - Relocation Observer","og_description":"On today's 'Daily Variety' podcast, 'Minions and Monsters' disappoints while 'Young Washington' stands tall; Why Comcast's Sky is buying U.K.'s ITV.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689","og_site_name":"Relocation Observer","article_published_time":"2026-07-07T05:06:03+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"headline":"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV","datePublished":"2026-07-07T05:06:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689"},"wordCount":660,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp","keywords":["Daily Variety,","Itv,","Minions and Monsters,","Young Washington"],"articleSection":["Film"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689","name":"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV - Relocation Observer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-07T05:06:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5d478a99169dd3740a20842789faca7a.webp","width":1000,"height":563},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3689#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"LISTEN: \u2018Minions and Monsters\u2019 Has Tepid U.S. Opening as \u2018Young Washington\u2019 Impresses; Why Comcast\u2019s Sky is Buying ITV"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/","name":"Relocation Observer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationobserver.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}