In partnership with
It’s Christmas Eve!
Hello, Curse and Coffee friends,
Today, we explore an iconic Christmas movie.
Hit reply and let us know what you think (we read all of your kind words).
Coffee at the ready…
The Big Sip
The take: The highest-grossing live-action comedy ever made almost died over a budget dispute smaller than the catering bill.
What happened: On August 8, 1989, John Hughes jotted an idea in a notebook while packing for a family trip to Europe. Two weeks later, he turned "What if one kid got left behind?" into a 9-day writing sprint. Warner Bros. loved it (until the budget hit $14.7 million instead of $14 million). They shut down production. Fox picked it up the next day.
Why it matters: Home Alone grossed $476 million worldwide on an $18 million budget. It held the #1 box office spot for 12 consecutive weeks. Warner Bros. lost the franchise, the sequels, the merchandise, and the cultural moment (all because they wouldn't sign off on $700,000).
What to watch: The next time a studio kills a project over a rounding error. This pattern repeats.
Hughes wrote faster than most people read. Warner Bros penny-pinched their way out of half a billion.
Sponsor Break
Before we slurp into today’s Christmas-spiced brew…
Here are some wordies from today’s sponsor.
Attention is scarce. Learn how to earn it.
Every leader faces the same challenge: getting people to actually absorb what you're saying - in a world of overflowing inboxes, half-read Slacks, and meetings about meetings.
Smart Brevity is the methodology Axios HQ built to solve this. It's a system for communicating with clarity, respect, and precision — whether you're writing to your board, your team, or your entire organization.
Join our free 60-minute Open House to learn how it works and see it in action.
Runs monthly - grab a spot that works for you.