Morning, y’all! Glad I could tear you away from online shop-a-palooza, aka Amazon’s Prime Day/Target Circle Week/Walmart Deals/Home Depot Fourth of July (through July 9!?!) ...
Either way, it’s only Day 2 of the best-known Amazon holiday that’s been extended to a 96-hour affair amid tariff-related price concerns and low U.S. consumer sentiment. I, for one, will take an extra sip of coffee this morning for the likes of Nitish Shekhar, who expects to handle at least 10,000 more packages a day than usual at his Amazon fulfillment and shipping center in Peachtree Corners.
I might also petition that they affix an “S” to his uniform.
CALIFORNIA’S KRYPTONITE
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
It’s not a fight between good and evil, but there is a battle underway among the world’s film powerhouses: the United Kingdom, California, New York and Georgia.
☀️ Golden State lawmakers just upgraded the film incentive program after months of lobbying from unions, crew members and studios amid a troubling period for film and TV production. The increases put California’s incentives in closer competition with Georgia’s program, which has long been considered the country’s most generous.
🗽New York’s tax credit this year expanded to $800 million a year from $700 million in 2024.
🇬🇧 Meanwhile, the UK is now a more appealing home for movies with budgets over $100 million. Like Georgia, the UK has no limits on its credit, and there are fewer unions there than in the U.S., reducing labor costs. This landed them the biggest fish in the film world: Marvel Entertainment, which ended its era in Georgia after the recently released “Thunderbolts” was filmed at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville.
But fear not, super fans. Georgia is armed with some big Gunns (Ya, I’m sorry about that).
James Gunn, one of the most acclaimed filmmakers alive (thanks to superhero-hits like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Suicide Squad”) is all-in on Georgia — falling in love with the area while directing the Guardians sequels. He reportedly bought a $1.3 million home in Fayette County in 2018. And he ensured Georgia was the primary home for the shooting of “Superman,” his first DC film he wrote and directed since leaving Marvel for DC in 2022. The heavily marketed film (currently 86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) debuts in theaters July 10.
“It's hard to compete with England. I've had to convince people to shoot in Georgia even if it cost more. It's worth it for the quality of the crews I get here."
Here’s what you need to know about the state’s latest blockbuster:
- “Superman” spent several months at Trilith and also featured scenes in Macon, where the city’s Terminal Station was converted into the Daily Planet newsroom.
- Gunn describes the movie as the “story of America” and about “an immigrant that came from other places” — acknowledging its themes may be interpreted differently across political groups.
- It cost an estimated $225 million, after incentives and tax breaks, to make the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
🦸 Read more from opinion editor David Plazas: ‘Superman’ shows Americans that we fall short of living up to our ideals
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
THE SWEET SPOT
Credit: Joe Kovac Jr.
Credit: Joe Kovac Jr.
It starts with a (gentle) slap. Taps and pats. Like a drummer playing strange botanical bongos.
This is how you pick the perfect watermelon, writes the AJC’s Joe Kovac Jr., who met with an expert of such things in Cordele — a town 100 miles north of the Florida border that has long billed itself as the world’s watermelon capital.
So many worthwhile bits from this story, including a video of Brian Nichols, an inspector for the Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service. Among his tips:
- The riper watermelons emit ringing, higher-pitched peals.
- How does a bad one sound? “Like a flat basketball.”
Another slice to munch on: Once a watermelon is cut from the vine and carried away, it won’t keep ripening, unlike a tomato.
Read the full dispatch here: In Georgia’s melon mecca, watermelon wizards’ ears are sweetly attuned
NOT A WATERMELON FAN?
How about peaches — in liquid form? Here is a collection of 13 peachy cocktails. A few to consider:
- Peach Perfect at Bacchanalia: Combines vodka, peach puree and lemon juice. The sweet, woody undertones of Galliano — an Italian herbal liqueur — mellow the citrus zing and Georgia-grown fruit. Garnished with a peach slice.
- Momo No Ki at Umi: Japanese hojicha tea infused in bourbon, local peaches used at the height of ripeness in a peach cordial, peach liqueur, lemon and soda water.
- Peach Freeze at Ela: Chablis, local Lawn Dart vodka, creme de peach, lemon and lavender for a frosty, frosé-like treat.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🏛️ The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to downsize the federal workforce despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs.
🙏 The mother of a Savannah College of Art and Design student said on social media her 21-year-old daughter was among the more than 110 people who died over the weekend during the historic and tragic flood on the Guadalupe River in Texas.
🌍 Europe’s top human rights court has ruled that Russia violated international law in Ukraine, the first time an international court has found Moscow responsible for human rights abuses since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
🗳️ Beset by internal turmoil, financial woes and a record campaign finance fine, the New Georgia Project, which helped shape Democratic politics in Georgia over the past decade, is now fighting for survival.
💰 Lt. Gov. Burt Jones made his long-expected entry into the race for governor Tuesday with a platform modeled after President Trump’s agenda — and a $10 million bet on himself.
SOCK FANCY
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The Transportation Security Administration is lifting one of the most hated of airport security hurdles: removing shoes. The change is now official at all U.S. airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It marks the end of a mandate put in place nearly 20 years ago after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the change is to “streamline the process and look at efficiencies” as the country prepares for events, including the FIFA World Cup next summer.
- Joe Leader, CEO of the Airline Passenger Experience Association and Dunwoody resident, told the AJC his organization estimates this could increase security throughput speeds by 5%-10%.
Noem predicted “pilot lanes” would open at various airports over the next six to nine months, experimenting with tech that could allow individuals to walk through security without removing any items from their bags or interacting with an officer.
NEWS BITES
July 4 boat explosions: Fathers recall panic to save their kids amid flames
Heroes don’t always wear capes.
Toddler beats leukemia with help from Atlanta Ronald McDonald House
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Georgia Tech pulls from SEC school for new athletic director
If you can’t beat ‘em ...
ON THIS DATE
July 9, 1931
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
The Atlanta Constitution — Atlanta to vote on change in time. Atlantans will ballot in the December general election on whether they want eastern standard time, under action of council Wednesday afternoon. The question of what standard time Atlanta should use has been a perennial question for more than half a dozen years … Many hard battles have been fought over the eastern standard time issue as well as on proposals to establish daylight saving time here.
That December, Atlanta’s clocks remained on Central Standard Time after more than 10,000 people cast votes against a move to EST. Ten years later, in March 1941, Gov. Eugene Talmadge signed a law placing Georgia on Eastern Standard Time.
ONE MORE THING
Speaking of superhero saves, take a look at this story from the AJC’s Rodney Ho that flies back 50 years, when thousands of Atlantans and Mayor Maynard Jackson helped rescue the Fox Theatre from demolition. Among the interesting tidbits: Lynyrd Skynyrd played three benefit concerts at the Fox that became a successful live album.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact us at AMATL@ajc.com.
Until next time.
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