Iran Strikes, Nolan's Box Office Record, and a Quadruplet Miracle

This episode of The Morning Rundown covers a shifting global landscape alongside a major shakeup in Hollywood box office history. The hosts open with developments in Ukraine's military leadership, the fast-moving situation in Iran, and renewed tension from Houthi activity in the Red Sea and its potential impact on oil markets.

From there, the conversation turns to entertainment, breaking down the record-setting opening weekend for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, including a standout $20 million Tuesday, packed IMAX screenings, and the studio politics behind Nolan's move from Warner Bros. to Universal. The episode closes with a roundup of health headlines and a heartwarming human interest story to send listeners into their day.

• Ukraine announces major changes to its military command structure
• Red Sea tensions rise again as Houthi activity threatens oil markets
• The Odyssey posts a $20M Tuesday, possibly surpassing Nolan's Dark Knight benchmark
• How Universal secured Nolan after his exit from Warner Bros.
• Gen Z turns to Homer's original text after seeing the film adaptation
• Measles cases hit a 35-year high with months still remaining in 2026
• Type 2 diabetes diagnoses rise among women in their 20s in England
• An Australian mother gives birth to one-in-fifteen-million identical quadruplets

Transcript

0:13

[Maya] Morning! Welcome back to the Morning Rundown.[David] Good to be back.[David] Coffee's hot and the news is heavy today.[Maya] It is.[Maya] Ukraine just shook up its military command and the Iran situation is still moving fast overseas.[David] Plus, the Houthis are stirring up trouble in the Red Sea again.[David] We'll dig into what that could mean for oil.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] but then we flip it.[Maya] The Odyssey just had a massive opening weekend.[David] Impressive. Nolan really pulled it off.[David] We'll talk the numbers,[David] the IMAX frenzy,[David] and how Universal landed him over Warner Bros.[Maya] And apparently it's got Gen Z actually reading Homer now.[Maya] That's wild,[Maya] right?[David] It is. Then we close out with some health headlines,[David] measles, diabetes trends,[David] before ending on a story that'll make you smile.[Maya] A 1 in 15 million kind of story.[David] Exactly.[David] So let's start with what's happening overseas.[Maya] Wait,[Maya] eleven straight nights?[Maya] I knew this was going,[Maya] but I didn't realize we were double digits already.[David] Yeah,[David] CNBC had Rubio's comments this morning.[Maya] Mm[David] He's-hmm. basically saying Tehran playing with Hormuz risks fallout way outside the region.[David] And here's the thing about Hormuz,[David] it's not some minor choke point.[Maya] How much oil are we talking?[David] A huge share of the world's seaborne crude goes through there,[David] so if Tehran even threatens to shut it,[David] tankers get nervous,[David] insurance rates spike,[David] and gas prices move before a single barrel actually stops flowing.[Maya] So it's the threat itself that does the damage.[David] Exactly,

[David] and that's why I think Rubio's saying it out loud: 1:44

[David] you want Tehran to know the cost is priced in already.[Maya] Follow the money, right?[David] You said it, not me,[David] but yeah.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] and it's not just Iran.[Maya] What's going on with the Houthis now?[David] So the New York Times reported the Houthis are threatening an actual Red Sea blockade. Ships bound for Saudi Arabia are already turning around, according to the Washington Post's coverage of the same story.[Maya] Turning around?[Maya] Like mid-route?[David] That's what they're reporting.[David] And look,[David] I'll say it plainly,[David] years of half-measured deterrence in that region got us here.[David] When you don't respond decisively the first time, groups like the Houthis test you again.[Maya] So this whole week, it's Iran,[Maya] it's the Houthis, it's a lot of pressure points lighting up at once.[David] All at once, yeah.[David] And oil markets hate that kind of uncertainty way more than they hate any single event.[David] single event.[Maya] Okay, switching gears for a second because this one caught me off guard.[Maya] Zelensky just fired his top military commander?[David] General Syrsky,[David] yeah.[David] The Washington Post says that came just days after Zelensky already fired his defense minister.[Maya] Wait, really?[Maya] Two major firings back to back?[Maya] That's not a small shakeup, that's a full reset.[David] It raises a real question about how stable the leadership actually is right now.[David] Now, in the middle of everything else going on.[Maya] I mean, you don't swap your top general unless something's seriously wrong or unless you're trying to send a message.[David] Could be either,[David] could be both, honestly.[Maya] OK,[Maya] so last one.[Maya] I saw something about Israel building a wall inside Gaza?[David] Yeah, AP News, Lee Keath and Julia Frankel reported Israel's confirmed it's building an earthen barrier,[David] and satellite images show more than 50.[David] More than 14 miles already done.[Maya] Fourteen miles![Maya] That's not a checkpoint,[Maya] that's a border![David] It roughly follows what's called the yellow line from the ceasefire deal.[David] Palestinians worry it becomes permanent,[David] but from a security standpoint,

[David] it's a pretty straightforward move: 3:37

[David] you control movement,[David] you control risk.[Maya] Make sense on paper.[Maya] Doesn't make it simple on the ground, though.[David] No, definitely not.[Maya] Oh man,[Maya] that is a lot of heavy stuff to open with.[Maya] With Hormuz,[Maya] the Houthis,[Maya] a Ukrainian general getting fired,[Maya] a wall going up in Gaza.[David] It's a dense week.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] before I forget though,[Maya] I need something lighter after all that.[Maya] And I think I found it.[David] Please go.[Maya] So this Nolan movie.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] shifting gears hard,[Maya] I need happy news after that.[Maya] So,[Maya] the Odyssey.[David] The little indie film nobody's heard of.[Maya] Right.[Maya] Nolan's version just posted a $20 million Tuesday,[Maya] Deadline's reporting that could make it his best Tuesday ever at the box office, ahead of The Dark Knight.[David] Beating Dark Knight?[David] That movie is basically scripture for box office nerds.[David] Nerds.[Maya] I know![Maya] And that's on top of an opening weekend?[Maya] Variety put it $264 million worldwide.[David] Whistle.[David] Okay.[Maya] Fox Business talked to the IMAX CEO,[Maya] Rich Gelfond,[Maya] and called the whole thing a frenzy.[David] A frenzy.[David] Strong word for a movie ticket.[Maya] He said, quote,[Maya] we've already found out the movie has legs.[Maya] People are booking IMAX 70mm showtimes like it's a c-[Maya] It's a concert tour.[David] That tracks with what I'm seeing online.[Maya] And Yahoo had a behind the scenes piece?[Maya] Apparently Anne Hathaway took a helicopter to set every single day during filming.[David] Of course no one wouldn't cut a corner there.[Maya] The man does not do easy.[David] All right,[David] so let's follow the money for a second,[David] because the real story's behind the scenes.[Maya] Ooh,[Maya] go![David] Variety laid out how Universal outmaneuvered Warner Bros.-[David] Bros to land Nolan in the first place.[Maya] Wait,[Maya] didn't Nolan basically live at Warner Bros his whole career?[David] Pretty much,[David] and now Universal's chief Donna Langley gets to look like a genius for stealing him away.[Maya] That's gotta sting over at Warner.[David] When your biggest director walks and breaks records for a rival studio,[David] Variety's calling him the most powerful director in town right now.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] but here's my favorite part of this whole thing.[Maya] The Gen Z is apparently going out and listening to the actual Odyssey.[David] Wow.[Maya] Like Homer,[Maya] the book that's 3,000 years old.[David] No way.[Maya] Variety's tracking a real jump in Spotify audiobook streams tied directly to the movie.[Maya] Teenagers choosing Homer on purpose.[David] Honestly,[David] good for them.[David] I didn't finish the Odyssey until college and I skimmed half of it.[Maya] Same!" So Nolan breaks box office records and teenagers are cracking open Homer's actual book.[Maya] Wild combo.[David] Speaking of records-[Maya] Oh no,[Maya] where's this going?[David] Measles just broke one,[David] too-different kind of record entirely.[Maya] Yeah,[Maya] let's shift into that.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] shifting gears hard from Hollywood,[Maya] measles just hit a milestone nobody wants.[David] Yeah, not the record we like to see.[Maya] The Washington Post says the U.S. just logged its worst measles year in 35 years,[Maya] 2,295 cases as of Tuesday,[Maya] and that's already past all of last year's total.[David] And we've still got months left in 2024 to add to that.[Maya] Right?[Maya] It's not even close to over.[David] I mean, we know why this happens.[David] Vaccination rates dip in certain pockets,[David] and measles just finds the gap.[Maya] It's wild how contagious that thing actually is.[David] One of the most contagious viruses out there,[David] period.[Maya] Okay, next one's a gut punch,[Maya] too.[Maya] The BBC's Michelle Roberts reported England's seeing more women in their 20s getting type 2 diabetes.[David] Wait,[David] in their 20s? That's usually an older age diagnosis.[David] Noses.[Maya] That's the part that got me.[Maya] Doctors are calling it a genuine shift,[Maya] not just a blip.[David] I don't want to armchair diagnose a whole generation,[David] but diet,[David] activity levels,[David] weight trends,[David] probably all playing a role there.[Maya] Yeah, nobody's pinning it on one thing.[David] Two rough headlines in a row,[David] though.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] but I saved the good one for last.[David] Please give it to me.[Maya] AP News. An Australian woman just gave birth to identical[Maya] quadruplet girls.[David] Identical? All four?[Maya] All four from one fertilized egg that split into four.[Maya] One placenta, too.[David] Wait, wait.[David] How rare is that actually?[Maya] The doctor on the case,[Maya] Alexa Bendall,[Maya] put the odds at around one in fifteen million.[David] One in fifteen million.[David] That's basically lottery ticket territory.[Maya] And get this,[Maya] Jenitar Sau Naamoana,[Maya] the mom,[Maya] already had.[Maya] The four kids before this.[David] So she just doubled her household overnight.[Maya] Straight to eight.[Maya] Naturally conceived,[Maya] too.[Maya] No fertility treatments involved.[David] That's the kind of story you read twice just to make sure you got it right.[Maya] Everyone's healthy,[Maya] mom included,[Maya] which,[Maya] after odds like that,[Maya] feels like the real headline.[David] Genuinely lovely way to close out a heavy run of news.[Maya] Congrats to that family.[Maya] And hey,[Maya] that's the rundown.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] before we go,[Maya] that Odyssey box office run is just nuts.[David] A twenty million dollar Tuesday?[David] No one's basically running Hollywood now.[Maya] Right,[Maya] and Gen Z picking up the actual Homer book because of it?[Maya] I love that.[David] And that quadruplicate story at the end?[David] One in fifteen million.[David] Puts the whole show in perspective.[Maya] Totally.[Maya] So,[Maya] quick ask,[Maya] subscribe,[Maya] and if you've got a sec,[Maya] leave us a review.[David] It genuinely helps us out.[Maya] Thanks for hanging out with us this morning.[David] Get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow.[Maya] And that's the Rundown.