CNN Debate Predictions, Alessandro’s Lookbook, Mar-a-Lago Murmurs

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon grab bag of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, John Ourand digs into the anxieties and fantasies surrounding ESPN’s much-ballyhooed “Project Flagship” streamer set to launch next year. What are the real stakes for Jimmy Pitaro and the company writ large?

Plus, below the fold: Matt Belloni gets the skinny from a bunch of high schoolers about Gen Z’s movie consumption habits. Peter Hamby unpacks a new exclusive poll revealing how Americans are feeling about next week’s CNN debate. Scott Mendelson dissects the quiet reemergence of the family movie. On Fashion People, Lauren Sherman and Jacob Gallagher annotate Alessandro Michele’s Valentino lookbook and chew over the latest runway chatter. On Somebody’s Gotta Win, Tara Palmeri and author Ramin Setoodeh explain Trump’s V.P. playbook. And on The Powers That Be, Tara and Peter consider the odds that Trump ends up in prison.

JOHN OURAND

Fifteen months out from the launch of ESPN’s new streaming property, dubbed internally as Project Flagship, questions are mounting alongside expectations.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Earlier this year, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, aka “Late-night’s most vital and influential program,” according to the New York Times, made history with the return of Jon Stewart. As the 2024 Election season heats up, Jon and his fellow anchors Ronny Chieng, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta and Desi Lydic, are covering it like it’s America’s last. With a packed lineup like this behind the iconic desk, The Daily Show is the most hosted show in late night.

MATTHEW BELLONI

A surprising conversation with a group of next-generation teen movie watchers about what they actually like, where they watch it, and the stars that move the needle.

PETER HAMBY

Next week’s CNN debate will be the first and perhaps only mass-media event where millions of Americans are forced to engage with the dismal reality of the looming election. Surprisingly, perhaps, for a race in which so many voters are tuned out, a majority say they’re going to tune in.

SCOTT MENDELSON

The underwhelming performances for Disney animated movies over the past few years have helped shape the idea that family films were becoming commercially dicey. The success of Inside Out 2, however, is a rebuttal to that idea.