In 2004, Mel Gibson moved into the director’s chair for the third time in his career for the brutal R-rated biblical drama, The Passion of the Christ, which he also co-produced. Led by Jim Caviezel as the titular Jesus Christ, the film centers on the final 12 hours of the major religious figure’s life. The story highlights his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial before the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate, his scourging by the Romans, and his death by crucifixion. Gibson’s film became not only the most successful faith-based movie in history but also the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time after its release (it now ranks 10th on that list, above 2011’s The Hangover Part III and behind 2017’s Logan).
This project first entered the early stages of development as far back as 2016, with Gibson explaining in 2023 that his follow-up effort would not be long in coming. Following that announcement, reports revealed that the entire cast of the first movie would be recast due to the extensive costs that would have gone into de-aging the original stars, as the sequel takes place only three days after the original film. Filming then ran from October 2025 until April 2026 in Rome, with Gibson and the crew shooting this film and its 2028 sequel simultaneously. Now, with a year still left until the first movie is brought to theaters, Gibson has an exciting new update for those waiting for its release.
Lionsgate Films released the first look at director Mel Gibson’s The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, a direct sequel to his 2004 movie The Passion of the Christ. This image shows Jaakko Ohtonen as Jesus Christ, taking over the role from original star Jim Caviezel. Donning a set of white robes with a long shawl, Jesus stands in front of a horde of followers on the top of a green hill, but no plot details can be discerned from the new image. Additionally, Lionsgate confirmed that the sequel will be delayed from its original release date, now coming to theaters on May 6, 2027. The next movie, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two, will then debut on May 25, 2028.
While Gibson has largely been out of the spotlight due to several off-screen controversies in the last 15 years, this will be his second directorial effort in the last decade after 2025’s Flight Risk. Before that movie, his last director credit was on 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, which was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two of them (Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing).
Although The Resurrection of the Christ is already facing backlash for some of its production decisions, the original movie used controversy to its advantage and managed to become a major hit at the box office. How it performs in the current religious climate remains to be seen, especially considering Gibson’s checkered past, but he hopes to bring a thrilling new Jesus-centric story to the forefront and make it another “must-see” outing.
The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One will debut in theaters on May 6, 2027.
There were rumblings of another possible delay for Grand Theft Auto VI, especially with Rockstar’s history. Additionally, it’s now been over a year since the game has even gotten a new trailer. But Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick noted the highly anticipated title is sticking to November 19 in the results briefing. “We believe fiscal 2027 will establish new record levels of operating performance driven by the November 19 launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, along with strong execution across our portfolio.”
Variety also chatted with Zelnick, asking about a possible price-point reveal for Grand Theft Auto VI. The CEO said there wouldn’t be any announcement today regarding pricing. Earlier this month, Bank of America stated that Grand Theft Auto VI should cost $80.
Zelnick also told Variety that marketing will start in earnest this summer for Grand Theft Auto VI. That’s still a month away in the US, with the season officially beginning June 21. There’s a chance advertisements could pop up at the FIFA World Cup 26, which will run June 11 to July 19.
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Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Gary Oldman in “Slow Horses”
Apple TV
Primetime Emmys Predictions Commentary All Categories (Updated: May 21, 2026): More to come..
NOTE: All official category placements in predictions have yet to be confirmed.
Upcoming key dates: category submissions are due May 7, with eligibility ending May 31. Nomination voting runs from June 11-22, with nominations being announced on July 8. Final voting takes place Aug. 17–26, leading into the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and Governors Gala on Sept. 5-6. The Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will be on Sept. 14 on NBC.
Projected nomination leaders (series): TBA
Projected nomination leaders (networks): TBA
*** = PREDICTED WINNER (All predicted nominees listed below are in alphabetical order)
Drama Series
Image Credit: Apple TV
“The Diplomat” (Netflix) “Paradise” (Hulu) “The Pitt” (HBO Max) “Pluribus” (Apple TV) *** “Slow Horses” (Apple TV) “Stranger Things” (Netflix) “Task” (HBO Max) “The Testaments” (Hulu)
“Beef” (Netflix) *** “Black Rabbit” (Netflix) “DTF St. Louis” (HBO Max) “Lord of the Flies” (Netflix) “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette” (FX)
“Deep Cover” (Prime Video) “Mike and Nick & Nick and Alice” (Hulu) “Miss You, Love You” (HBO Max) “Remarkably Bright Creatures” (Netflix) *** “People We Meet on Vacation” (Netflix)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Lead Actor (Drama)
Image Credit: Paramount+
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise” (Hulu) Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses” (Apple TV) Mark Ruffalo, “Task” (HBO Max) Billy Bob Thornton, “Landman” (Paramount+) Noah Wyle, “The Pitt” (HBO Max) ***
Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This” (Netflix) Steve Carell, “Rooster” (HBO Max) Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu) Jason Segel, “Shrinking” (Apple TV) Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu) ***
Jason Bateman, “Black Rabbit” (Netflix) Jamie Bell, “Half Man” (HBO Max) Charlie Hunnam, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” (Netflix) Oscar Isaac, “Beef” (Netflix) *** Matthew Rhys, “The Beast in Me” (Netflix)
Claire Danes, “The Beast in Me” (Netflix) Carey Mulligan, “Beef” (Netflix) *** Sarah Pidgeon, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette” (FX) Sarah Snook, “All Her Fault” (Peacock) Kerry Washington, “Imperfect Women” (Apple TV)
Patrick Ball, “The Pitt” (HBO Max) Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show” (Apple TV) Ato Essandoh, “The Diplomat” (Netflix) Shawn Hatosy, “The Pitt” (HBO Max) *** Tom Pelphrey, “Task” (HBO Max) Kurt Russell, “The Madison” (Paramount+) Carlos-Manuel Vesga, “Pluribus” (Apple TV)
Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons” (Netflix) Paul W. Downs, “Hacks” (HBO Max) Harrison Ford, “Shrinking” (Apple TV) *** Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear” (FX) Nick Offerman, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” (Apple TV) Michael Urie, “Shrinking” (Apple TV) Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Jonathan Banks, “The Beast in Me” (Netflix) Jason Bateman, “DTF St. Louis” (HBO Max) Richard Gadd, “Half Man” (HBO Max) David Harbour, “DTF St. Louis” (HBO Max) *** Charles Melton, “Beef” (Netflix) Alessandro Nivola, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette” (FX)
Linda Cardellini, “DTF St. Louis” (HBO Max) Grace Gummer, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette” (FX) Laurie Metcalf, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” (Netflix) Cailee Spaeny, “Beef” (Netflix) *** Naomi Watts, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette” (FX) Yuh-Jung Youn, “Beef” (Netflix)
Jon Bernthal, “The Bear” (FX) Jeff Daniels, “Shrinking” (Apple TV) Tony Goldwyn, “Hacks” (HBO Max) Brett Goldstein, “Shrinking” (Apple TV) Michael J. Fox, “Shrinking” (Apple TV) *** Rob Reiner, “The Bear” (FX)
“The Diplomat” (Netflix) — Alex Graves, “Schrodinger’s Wife” “Euphoria” (HBO Max) — Sam Levinson, “In God We Trust” “Paradise” (Hulu) — Ken Olin, “A Holy Change” “The Pitt” (HBO Max) — John Wells, “9:00 P.M.” “Pluribus” (Apple TV) — Vince Gilligan, “We Is Us” *** “Slow Horses” (Apple TV) — Saul Metzstein, “Scars” “Stranger Things” (Netflix) — The Duffer Brothers, “Chapter Eight: The Rightside Up”
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Directing (Comedy)
Image Credit: Prime Video
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC) — Randall Einhorn, “Miami” “Hacks” (HBO Max) — Lucia Aniello, “TBD Series Finale” *** “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat” (Prime Video) — Jake Szymanski, “Mergers & Acquisitions” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” (Apple TV) — Dearbhla Walsh, “Flamingoes” “The Ms. Pat Show” (BET) — Mary Lou Belli, “Killin’ and Dyin’” “Rooster” (HBO Max) — Jonathan Krisel, “Release the Brown Fat” “Shrinking” (Apple TV) — Randall Keenan Winston, “And That’s Our Time”
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Directing (Limited/Movie)
Image Credit: Netflix
“Beef” (Netflix) — Lee Sung Jin,”Oh, the Comfort, the Inexpressible Comfort” *** “Black Rabbit” (Netflix) — Jason Bateman, “The Black Rabbits” “Death by Lightning” (Netflix) — Matt Ross, “Series” “DTF St. Louis” (HBO Max) — Steven Conrad, “Series” “Half Man” (HBO Max) — Alexandra Brodski, “TBD Episode 1” “Lord of the Flies” (Netflix) — Marc Munden, “Series”
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Writing (Drama)
Image Credit: HBO Max
“The Audacity” (AMC) — “Best of All Possible Worlds” by Jonathan Glatzer “The Diplomat” (Netflix) — “Schrodinger’s Wife” by Debora Cahn “Industry” (HBO Max) — “Both, And” by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay “Paradise” (Hulu) — “Exodus” by John Hoberg and Seena Haddad “The Pitt” (HBO Max) — “9:00 P.M.” by R. Scott Gemmill “Pluribus” (Apple TV) — “We Is Us” by Vince Gilligan “Slow Horses” (Apple TV) — “Scars” by Will Smith ***
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Writing (Comedy)
Image Credit: HBO Max
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC) — “Team Building” by Quinta Brunson “The Bear” (FX) — “Goodbye” by Christopher Storer “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” (NBC) — “Pilot” by Robert Carlock and Sam Means “Hacks” (HBO Max) — “TBD Series Finale” by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat” (Prime Video) — “Onboarding” by Anthony King “The Lowdown” (FX) — “Pilot” by Sterlin Harjo “Shrinking” (Apple TV) — “And That’s Our Time” by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Neil Goldman ***
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Writing (Limited/Movie)
Image Credit: Hulu
“Beef” (Netflix) — “Episode 8” by Lee Sung Jin and Anna Ouyang Moench “Black Rabbit” (Netflix) — “The Cyclone” by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman “DTF St. Louis” (HBO Max) — Series by Steven Conrad “Half Man” (HBO Max) — Series by Richard Gadd *** “Lord of the Flies” (Netflix) — Series by Jack Thorne “Washington Black” (Hulu) — “The Flying Man & the Musician” by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Variety Series
Image Credit: ABC
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central) “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC) *** “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO Max) “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Casting (Drama)
Image Credit: Apple TV
“The Diplomat” (Netflix) “Paradise” (Hulu) “The Pitt” (HBO Max) *** “Pluribus” (Apple TV) “Slow Horses” (Apple TV) “The Testaments” (Hulu)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Casting (Comedy)
Image Credit: FX
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC) “The Bear” (FX) “Hacks” (HBO Max) “The Lowdown” (FX) “Shrinking” (Apple TV) *** “Spider-Noir” (Prime Video)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Casting (Limited/Movie)
Image Credit: Netflix
“Beef” (Netflix) “Death by Lightning” (Netflix) “Half Man” (HBO Max) “Lord of the Flies” (Netflix) *** “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette” (FX)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Competition Program
Image Credit: CBS
“The Amazing Race” (CBS) “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV) “Survivor” (CBS) *** “Top Chef” (Bravo) “The Traitors” (Peacock)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Game Show
Image Credit: Dropout
“Celebrity Family Feud” (Syndicated) “Game Changer” (Dropout) “Jeopardy” (Syndicated) *** “The Price is Right” (Syndicated) “Wheel of Fortune” (Syndicated)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Host for Reality/Competition Program
Image Credit: CBS
RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV) Alan Cumming, “The Traitors” (Peacock) Kristen Kish, “Top Chef” (Bravo) Padma Lakshmi, “America’s Culinary Cup” (CBS) Jeff Probst, “Survivor” (CBS) ***
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Structured Reality Program
Image Credit: Netflix
“Antiques Roadshow” (PBS) “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” (Food Network) “Love is Blind” (Netflix) “Queer Eye” (Netflix) *** “Shark Tank” (ABC)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Unstructured Reality Program
Image Credit: Netflix
“Funny AF with Kevin Hart” (Netflix) “Love is Blind” (Netflix) “Love on the Spectrum” (Netflix) *** “Queer Eye” (Netflix) “Welcome to Wrexham” (FX)
Animated Program
Image Credit: Disney
“Bob’s Burgers” (Fox) “King of the Hill” (Hulu) “Mating Season” (Netflix) “Rick and Morty” (Adult Swim) “The Simpsons” (Fox) ***
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Documentary (Series)
Image Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon
“Mr. Scorsese” (Apple TV) *** “Rafa” (Netflix) “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” (Netflix) “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” (Disney+) “The Yogurt Shop Murders” (HBO Max)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Documentary (Special)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Prime
“John Candy: I Like Me” (Prime Video) *** “Marty, Life is Short” (Netflix) “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man” (HBO Max) “My Mom Jayne” (HBO Max) “Ocean with David Attenborough” (National Geographic)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Hosted Nonfiction Series/Special
Image Credit: Netflix
“The Dinosaurs” (Netflix) “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” (PBS) “My Next Guest with David Letterman and Adam Sandler” (Netflix) “The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy” (Apple TV) *** “Tucci in Italy” (National Geographic)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Variety Special (Live)
Image Credit: Getty Images
“The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” (Roc Nation) *** “BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang” (Netflix) “The Oscars” (ABC) “The 68th Grammy Awards” (Paramount+) “Skyscraper Live” (Netflix)
Emmy category page with rankings>>>Coming Soon
Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
Image Credit: Netflix
“Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable” (Netflix) “Kevin Hart: Acting My Age” (Netflix) “Marc Maron: Panicked” (HBO Max) “Nikki Glaser: Good Girl” (Hulu) *** “2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony” (ABC)
The Michael Jackson biopic has grossed over $715 million worldwide, so it really shouldn’t be any surprise that Lionsgate is moving forward with a sequel. The studio has already teased that they’re working on a sequel, but Lionsgate Studios Motion Picture Chair Adam Fogelson has spilled a few more details during the company’s quarterly earnings call.
Michael Sequel
Fogelson said Lionsgate is “really excited about the progress we’re making” on the Michael sequel. “All the conversations that we’ve been having with all of the appropriate parties continue to go exceptionally well,” he said, “and I would say that there is a ton of incredibly entertaining Michael Jackson story, and much of the biggest and most popular parts of his music catalog that were not touched upon in the first film.“
He continued, “We can go forwards and backwards in telling this story. There are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie, that weren’t touched upon. So we’re very, very confident that we’ve got an incredibly entertaining movie that will appeal once again to a global audience as the pieces come together.“
Parts of the Sequel Have Already Been Filmed
This doesn’t happen often, but parts of the Michael sequel have already been filmed. The story of the first movie ends in 1988, but it originally went much further. A lot of footage was left on the cutting room floor, all scenes which revolved around the child molestation allegations and court cases which dominated the latter half of Jackson’s life.
So why wasn’t this included in the movie? It turns out that the Jackson estate realized there was a clause in a settlement with Jordan Chandler, a 13-year-old boy who Jackson was accused of sexually abusing, which “barred the depiction or mention of him in any movie.” The cast reassembled for over three weeks of reshoots, which cost the production another $10 million to $15 million.
But Fogelson said the sequel will be able to use the original footage. “25% to 30% of a second movie [was] already shot from the prior production activity, and so obviously that will have some benefit ultimately,” he explained. “But we’ll make sure we make a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again, so I wouldn’t want to quantify exactly what that’s going to look like. But undoubtedly that 25% to 30% will be material.“
Michael is currently playing in theaters, and you can check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here.
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If it seems like Hacks has set up a fairly frictionless denouement for its two leading ladies in the final season, perhaps that’s because their managers/mirrors, Jimmy and Kayla, are fighting enough uphill battles for the four of them. Their client roster is extremely limited, and currently includes a legendary performer who cannot perform without being arrested (that would be Deborah) and a missing dog actor who is costing them virtually all of their incoming revenue—and is also the reason Jimmy can’t participate in the short shorts trend. (His despair is palpable.)
Things were rough between Kayla and Jimmy even before the launch of the now-defunct Schaefer & Lusaque: In the early seasons, she seemed like a clueless nepo baby and walking lawsuit settlement, and he was struggling to maintain his integrity while carving out a niche in a cutthroat business. Their journey has often paralleled that of Ava and Deborah, friction and frustration giving way to partnership and mutual respect. Like their counterparts, Jimmy and Kayla are closer than ever in “The Cube,” but unlike Ava and Deborah, that bond is costing them a chance at success. Kayla and especially Jimmy shoulder more of the dramatic burden than ever before in the antepenultimate episode of the series, making their way to the heart of Hacks‘ exploration of what it costs to pursue your passion.
The magician-related fiasco, complete with a urine-soaked shoe, on the Las Vegas Strip is obviously the big draw of “The Cube,” but I’m going to work my way backwards and start at the end. Just last week in “QuikScribbl,” Michael Schaefer (W. Earl Brown) cut Kayla off and seized her car. This week, Schaefer & Lusaque & Randi make some tough decisions to cut costs, but even giving up their fancy office space might not be enough to keep them afloat. What will it take for them to keep going? Canceling their pickleball court membership, for sure (although, given all the hoops they have to jump through to terminate that agreement, they might be stuck running into the widows of comedians forever). Switching to an electric car and working from Jimmy’s home and eating his food for the week are also cost-effective ideas, but not enough to counter Michael’s latest move: a huge lawsuit for lost commissions and emotional distress. Looks like the price of bringing closure to the family of Bruno Fox’s slain victim is $30 million. Michael says they can avoid a drawn-out legal battle by returning to the Latitude fold, though.
Lusaque & Schaefer have been blacklisted in the industry and the only legal counsel they can muster is Corbin Bernsen, who dated Jimmy’s mom Deidre Hall and thinks he remembers enough from his L.A. Law days to mount some kind of defense. Jimmy and Kayla are backed into a corner, and this time, there really is no way out—unless that Xena rewatch podcast does numbers or Corbin developed his own high-perception skills from his time on Psych. Kayla wants to keep fighting, in part because her dad has kept her under his thumb. She can’t stand to lose to him, but Jimmy sees it as a win for their clients, who will have real backing again. Not to mention, the L&S team will have health insurance and reliable paychecks again. Late in the episode, as they’re stranded on a dark highway en route to Deborah’s unofficial publicity stunt, Jimmy opens up about why he got into the industry in the first place. He realized he didn’t have the skills to make it as a creative; his talent is “helping talent.” “When they win, I feel like I’ve won,” he says. There’s no hint of resignation or disappointment in his voice; it’s pride, but not the kind that will keep him from accepting that his business venture is done. Jimmy knows what he’s good at, and he’s committed himself to it—how many people can truly say that?
There’s something almost ironic about Paul W. Downs giving a speech about embracing limitations. If anyone was going to be able to turn the B story into another A story in “The Cube,” it was the multihyphenate who co-created Hacks with his wife and fellow series director Lucia Aniello. (This week’s episode was written by Genevieve Aniello and Jess Dweck, making it even more of a family affair.) Meg Stalter matches his bittersweet mood as Kayla admits she got into the industry to hang out with Jimmy, her “best friend.” Stalter’s really grown as a performer throughout Hacks‘ run; remember how convincingly she squirmed around Kathryn Newton’s braggadocious A-lister in the season-three finale “Bulletproof“? It’s easy to see how that bullied girl and the inept assistant in seasons one and two and the present-day manager who owns a cattle prod are all contained in the same person. Kayla’s put a lot of herself (and her trust fund) into this work, a fact that Jimmy now readily recognizes. But she also sees just how Jimmy’s poured himself into managing talent while getting very little in return. “Is it really worth it?,” she asks Jimmy, exhausted after struggling for the last two years and pushing a car down the road for the last…hour, I’d guess, knowing he’ll have to forfeit the credit for Deborah’s resurgence to her dad. For Jimmy, there’s no question. “It was really fun while it lasted.”
Miles away, their clients/counterparts have also been grappling with the question of what it’s all been for, just in a much more public fashion. “The Cube” opens with Deborah setting the stage for her Madison Square Garden show, which involves a coffin, a Schiaparelli ballgag and strait-jacket, and a bunch of short brunettes (assuming there’s more than one among the Knicks’ dancers). Amanda Weinberg, unflinching as ever, is more concerned with Deborah’s announcement to drive ticket sales than she is Deborah’s safety. There’s still the little matter of the gag order (hence the designer ballgag, as the comedian notes), so Deborah hires Katya (Katya Zamolodchikova) to make the announcement while playing a drag version of herself (Deborah, that is). When Katya gets too into character—and the 1990s—Deborah has to come up with a plan B, which, delightfully enough for me, involves a magician. The Amazing Steven (Rhys Mitchell) will pick Deborah out of the Vegas crowd and put her into The Cube for a trick that will end with a Deborah Vance hologram wearing a T-shirt with the call to action. Nice and simple, just like Deborah likes things.
As I’ve already noted, the trick turns into a disaster—a blackout takes out part of the power grid, leaving Deborah suspended in the air and Ava on the ground, where she gives her boss pep talks via walkie-talkie (“You’re looking skinny, though, up there. Skinny bitch.”) Deborah and Ava have been in highly awkward situations before (not last week, though, that was kismet), but with this very public humiliation, they’ve almost traded roles with Jimmy and Kayla, who managed to keep the shame of pushing a dead electric car for miles private. It only adds to the feeling of synchronicity between their stories. Deborah’s flailing here—figuratively, not literally, thank god—as she despairs that, in her efforts to thwart attempts to paint her as the crazy, scorned woman again, she’s done her adversaries’ job for them. Ava tries to reassure her: “You’re crazy for your work, and you will do anything for it, and that is fucking cool. So fuck it if anyone sees you.”
You can easily imagine this scene playing out between Jimmy and Kayla, down to the peeing in a shoe (although without the legendary career and coordinated smear campaign details). Loving the work but not always having it love you back is one of the central themes of the show, but “The Cube” lets Deborah have it both ways. She realizes that the very real potential for danger can be harnessed into a media circus that will then drive people to her website, where they can buy tickets to her Garden show. And, because she’s already been through enough humiliation, that plan goes off without a hitch. Deborah’s show sells out in 10 minutes, and the Amazing Steven gets Ava to believe in the awesomeness of magic with the help of a Gatorade bottle. (I am probably happiest about that last development.)
There is still some humiliation left for Jimmy, though, as he returns to Latitude. Kayla and Randi will be set up for success—I don’t think anything can keep the world’s greatest assistant down—but it looks like Jimmy’s going to have to start from the bottom, assuming that’s where the mailroom is. He smiles as he hands out a copy of Variety with a cover proclaiming Deborah’s victory and his defeat, though, so it’ll still be worth it.
Stray observations
• This Vanity Fair piece on AI storylines in TV features a measured, very Jimmy Lusaque-type quote from Paul W. Downs and an amazing quote from Lucia Aniello.
• Now that she and Deborah are planning a real vacation, I wonder if Ava will propose a pit stop in Montecito.
• Exchange of the episode— Katya: “You gonna hit a woman? Deborah: “It’s the ’90s, it’s encouraged!”
• Mayor Jo Pezzimenti, in Lara Croft cosplay, bravely volunteers to shoot Deborah to death before she can hit the ground. What a way to repay her friend for giving her national airtime to scrub her reputation post-sex scandal!
• What am I thinking? This is the exchange of the week (and another great callback): Deborah: “I went on a date with Saddam Hussein.” Ava: “You told me you said no!” Deborah: “Well, I lied. It was the ’80s! He was good then. You would’ve loved him. He was bisexual.”
Tuesday, May 19, 2026, ratings — New episodes: Farmer Wants a Wife, and Bear Grylls is Running Wild.Special:Forever Young: A Grammy Salute To Rod Stewart Live and America’s Got Talent.Sports: WWE NXT and 2026 NBA Playoffs.Reruns: Password, NCIS, and RJ Decker.
NOTE: Ratings posted using Fast Affiliate Numbers.
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The Ivor Novello Awards are all about celebrating human creativity in the form of songwriting, and for 70 years, they have quietly commended the geniuses behind the music that articulates universal emotions and shape popular culture.
But now, in its 71st year (and now known officially as the Ivors with Amazon Music), the very premise of human creativity is under threat from AI and low streaming payments, as noted by much of the talent on stage at this year’s awards.
You could feel it as the industry assembled at the pre-awards drinks reception and executives debated the latest AI moves.
You could see it in the warnings given by Ivors bosses Tom Gray and Roberto Neri about how tough it remains for songwriters to be heard and be paid.
And you could hear it, loud and clear, during the ceremony itself, as a string of artists and songwriters queued up to criticize AI companies, the music industry and pretty much anyone else perceived to not have songwriters’ very best interests at heart.
Lola Young with CMAT (Photo by Alan Chapman/Dave Benett Agency)
Dave Benett
Who knows what Ivor Novello himself would have made of it, but the passion and, at times, anger on display certainly gave the awards an unpredictability that it never had in the olden days, and an edge that has been absent from even its more recent incarnation as a joyful honorarium for huge stars.
U2, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran and the Killers all featured last year; Springsteen (again), Paul McCartney and Lana Del Rey popped in the year before. While Springsteen did not go for the three-peat this year, it was still a stellar turnout, albeit one served up as a deeply human, hot mess of a show, rather than the slick spectacle we’ve become used to.
So, even the night’s big surprise — Harry Styles, hot-footing it across the Channel from his 10-date tour opening in Amsterdam to present Thom Yorke with the Academy Fellowship, its highest honor — was inadvertently revealed ahead of time.
That’s because Sir Elton John — who thought he was there to present Sam Fender with his Songwriter of the Year prize, but ended up being showered with awards of his own, including an Ivors Academy Honour (which has its own ceremony later in the year) and becoming the first ever President of the Ivors Academy — just happened to mention he’d seen Harry backstage in his speech. Cue gasps and laughter from the until-that-point unsuspecting crowd.
No worries. Mr Styles knows how to wrestle back the initiative, and people’s attention. After politely thanking “Elton for that wonderful introduction,” Styles declared the personal significance of Radiohead’s music to him: “I lost my virginity to ‘Talk Show Host.’”
And, after a deep, meaningful pause, he continued: “Well, I lost my virginity to the intro to ‘Talk Show Host’.”
The 1D-Radiohead love-in is the sort of unlikely moment that only the Ivors can deliver, as he continued, “Without ‘Exit Music’, there would be no ‘Watermelon Sugar’. Imagine that. A world without that song? It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
Self-deprecation aside, Styles made a convincing case for just how important the “religious experience” of listening to Yorke and Radiohead is, not just to him, but millions of others. Yorke seemed truly touched, giving the former One Direction star a long, lingering hug as he walked on stage.
But such bonhomie didn’t last long. Yorke launched a passionate attack on the modern music industry, contrasting it to the risk-taking business that backed the nascent Radiohead in the ‘90s.
“I worry that our business is becoming risk-averse and unable or unwilling to help [artists],” he said, complaining of the focus on “the exciting share prices of streaming services” and the “feeding frenzy” around catalog acquisitions. “It is not, as they like to call it, investment in the music sector.”
“Pull your fingers out,” he urged the industry. “Just remember, without us, you ain’t shit.”
There were certainly plenty of music industry luminaries there to hear it: the likes of Warner Chappell global CEO Guy Moot; former Warner Music chief Max Lousada; Sony Music U.K. CEO Jason Iley; Universal Music Publishing Group’s David Gray; Sony Music Publishing U.K.’s David Ventura; plus British label bosses Ben Mortimer (Polydor), Louis Bloom (Island), Dipesh Parmar (Columbia) and Ed Howard (Atlantic); and top managers Craig Logan (P!nk), Jonathan Dickins (Adele) and Paul Craig (Biffy Clyro) among those spotted in the room.
Yorke returned to music to play two songs, including a jittery version of “Jigsaw Falling into Place”, but he was hardly alone in calling out the numerous perceived threats to the creatives in the room. Instead, a cavalcade of winners used their platform to discuss just how much of a struggle it can be to be an artist or songwriter these days.
So, Scottish singer-songwriter and double winner Jacob Alon called out representatives from AI companies in the room as — and I’m afraid there’s no polite way of putting this — “c—s” (just one of a multitude of c-bombs emanating from the once-genteel Ivors stage); Best Album winner CMAT had a pop at politicians in both Ireland and the U.K.; and Sam Fender even seemed to call out the night’s sponsors, Amazon, in a night that rarely stuck to the script.
Thom Yorke with Harry Styles (Photo by Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Ivors)
Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Ima
Indeed, Lola Young threw hers away as she picked up the PRS for Music Most Performed Work for “Messy,” only to get derailed by a popping champagne cork in the crowd, leaving the stage before she’d finished her point about what songwriting means to her (she did return later for a somewhat more prepared presentation to Elton John, saying: “In a world that takes and takes, he gives back in abundance”).
Icon winner Calvin Harris seemed shell-shocked as he stumbled through his acceptance, while Damon Albarn fumbled his way through his presentation to International Songwriter of the Year Rosalía, attempting to speak Spanish and serenading her on a melodica before, possibly wisely, knocking it on the head in favor of running a video.
Rosalía, meanwhile, was grace itself, praising Albarn for his “beautiful” music and “great” Spanish, but even she criticized the music industry as being an “insatiable monster” in its constant craving for new material over true artistry.
There were also a lot of tears on stage, with even grime OG Kano looking moved as he picked up his Visionary Award, and Sam Fender weeping after Elton praised him as “one of the finest lyricists Britain has ever produced.” Fender waxed lyrical about how his manager, Owain Davies, discovered him playing live in a pub in South Shields but stressed: “As an industry, we can’t rely on people like Owain walking into a pub and finding people from working class backgrounds.”
And Kae Tempest, winner of Best Contemporary Song for “I Stand on the Line,” also shed some tears, saying: “Sometimes, you think you have to suffer for your art. But you’ve got enough of that in the world. When we sit down [to write], that’s not the time for suffering, that’s the time for service.”
(L to R) Roberto Neri, Elton John, Rosalía, Damon Albarn, Harry Styles and Tom Gray (Photo by Jed Cullen/Dave Benett Agency)
Dave Benett
And the ceremony certainly honored those who have served the art of songwriting well. The late, great George Michael was awarded a posthumous Fellowship, with rising star Skye Newman covering “Careless Whisper” in tribute, and the award itself accepted by Michael’s Wham! partner-in-crime Andrew Ridgely.
“George would have been profoundly moved to be recognized in this way,” said an emotional Ridgely. “It would have been a moment of great pride.”
Special International Award winner Linda Perry, the 4 Non Blondes singer-turned-hit-writer for P!nk, Ariana Grande and more, was introduced by James Blunt (or “James Cucking Funt” as he jovially put it, in the foul-mouthed spirit of the day). Blunt told a story about being signed to Perry’s Custard Records label, “having been rejected by most of the record company executives in this room”, and playing a 30-minute South By Southwest showcase (“That’s ‘You’re Beautiful’ six times,” he quipped).
Perry responded in kind, telling Blunt “I got shit for that — ‘You’re responsible for James Blunt!’” But she soon got serious, thanking her mother for “fucking me up so badly as a child that I had no choice but to find self-expression.”
“I’m not looking for hits,” she concluded. “I’m looking for emotions.”
She’d come to the right place. There was so much going on that there was barely time to ponder where Outstanding Song Collection Lily Allen was (not even a video acceptance); or how this awards season’s all-conquering champion Olivia Dean, also not in attendance, managed to miss out.
But then this was a night to celebrate those in the room, and not those outside it – particularly those in the tech sector that might, in future, seek to deny the assembled creatives their moment in the sun.
But it will be a long time before AI can come up with anything as enjoyably anarchic as this evening. And, to that end, the final word must surely go to the new President of the Ivors Academy, Sir Elton John.
“Music is the greatest gift you can possibly be given,” he declared. “Don’t let people take it away from you — especially AI.”
The full list of The Ivors winners is below:
Best Album
“Euro-Country”
Written and performed by CMAT.
Music published in the UK by BMG Rights Management UK.
Best Contemporary Song
“I Stand on the Line”
Written by Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest.
Performed by Kae Tempest.
Music published in the UK by Warner Chappell Music and Domino Publishing Company.
Best Song Musically and Lyrically
“Don’t Fall Asleep”
Written and performed by Jacob Alon.
Music published in the UK by Concord Music Publishing.
PRS for Music Most Performed Work
“Messy”
Written and performed by Lola Young.
Music published in the UK by Sony Music Publishing.
Best Original Film Score
“Testimony”
Composed by Tom Hodge.
Music published in the UK by Bucks Music Group Limited obo Rocliffe Limited and Underground
Films Commissioning Limited.
Best Television Soundtrack
“Trespasses”
Composed by David Holmes and Brian Irvine.
Music published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing and Sony Music Publishing obo All3Media.
Ahead of what would have been the music giant’s 100th birthday, we asked artists including Esperanza Spalding, Damson Idris and Yohji Yamamoto for their personal choices.
What do we celebrate when we celebrate Miles Davis?
This giant of 20th-century music, who will be celebrated well before and after his centennial birthday on May 26, looms larger than any other figure in the jazz pantheon. Thirty-five years after his death, Davis’s name still conjures images of timeless cool, but what actually made him such a musical and cultural force — and why his work still resonates so strongly — was his rigorous devotion to innovation.
“I always thought that music had no boundaries,” he wrote in his unvarnished 1989 autobiography, “no limits to where it could grow and go, no restrictions on creativity.”
What grew from this philosophy was a constant yearning to take his art somewhere new. The sheer breadth of his output — encompassing the consummate chill of “Kind of Blue” and the simmering tension of “Bitches Brew” — means that it’s possible for every listener to have a different touchstone.
When The New York Times asked various high-profile admirers — including the trumpet greats Eddie Henderson, Nicholas Payton and Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah; multi-hyphenate musicians Erykah Badu and Meshell Ndegeocello; the actor Damson Idris, who will portray Miles in the upcoming film “Miles & Juliette”; and artists working in other creative media — to reflect on their personal favorite Miles tracks, their responses ranged across his vast discography.
“I really do feel Miles creates this auditory space of texture that’s tactile,” Ndegeocello said of her under-the-radar pick, while Chief Adjuah said simply of first hearing his, “I was never the same.”
Their responses have been condensed and edited for clarity.Be sure to leave your own favorite pick in the comments.
‘Maiysha’
Erykah Badu, singer-songwriter-producer
‘Someday My Prince Will Come’
Eddie Henderson, trumpeter-composer
The first time I ever heard Miles Davis play the tune, I was 18 years old. I was so impressed because I realized that he wasn’t just playing notes, but he went out of his way to make the notes of the song become a living presence. I will never forget that experience as long as I live.
‘Générique’
Damson Idris, actor
‘Stella by Starlight’
Esperanza Spalding, bassist-singer-songwriter
My favorite Miles Davis song is “Stella by Starlight” from “Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965” because on that gig, his ensemble, with the full trust that they had in their phenomenal leader, knew they could take the liberty to launch him and each other into the never-before-experimented “anti-music” movement. Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock decided that they would use that gig — without telling their bandleader — that it was time to launch the world into a new era. And I actually think that’s an indicator of a phenomenal bandleader, that each of the members of his band felt so empowered, so in their dignity, in their agency as members of the ensemble, that they knew they could take that liberty and it would be embraced.
‘Love for Sale’
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, trumpeter-composer
‘Can I Play With U?’ (Prince featuring Miles Davis)
Kyle Abraham, choreographer-dancer
One of my favorite Miles Davis songs is “Can I Play With U?,” which is technically a Prince song, with Miles Davis. But I picked it because I love the notion of artists at this caliber collaborating together and just making something so audacious and funky. And summer’s upon us, so hopefully you can jam out to this song.
‘Theme for Augustine’
Meshell Ndegeocello, bassist-singer-composer
‘So What’
Yohji Yamamoto, designer-musician
Miles Davis is an absolute genius. The way he plays is both incredibly delicate and deeply intense, as if every note goes straight to the heart.
‘Circle’
Sanford Biggers, visual artist
‘Nefertiti (Session Reel)’
Nicholas Payton, multi-instrumentalist and composer
The “Session Reels” are a series of recordings Columbia released to show the process of Miles Davis at this period [1966] and all the outtakes that led to his classic works. What’s important about these reels is they give us an insight into how he made albums, and really it was a series of singles, not whole albums. So they would go in and do a union session date for two hours and see how many ways they could do a tune. That level of freedom and creativity rarely exists in music.
David Bickel, a TV writer and producer best known for his work on “The King of Queens” and “Young Sheldon,” recently wrote and directed an independently produced a comedy pilot called “To Life.”
Per the official description, “To Life” is a single-camera, half-hour comedy that stars Natalie Lander “an anxiety-ridden woman who suddenly discovers she can communicate with inanimate objects. What begins as a whimsical, magical-realist premise gradually unfolds into an unexpected and unsettling mystery.”
In a trailer for “To Life,” Jason Alexander plays a mental health professional who recommends that Lander’s character tries microdosing hallucinogenic mushrooms to help deal with the death of her mother. Soon — after trying a larger dose than recommended — random items in her home develop animated faces and begin speaking to her, even after the mushrooms wear off.
Jason Alexander and Natalie Lander in “To Life”
Along with Lander and Alexander, the cast of “To Life” includes Patton Oswalt (“The King of Queens”), Richard Kind (“Inside Out”), David Paymer (“Mr. Saturday Night”), John DiMaggio (“Futurama”), Jonathan Mangum (“Whose Line Is It Anyway”), Patrick Warburton (“Seinfeld”), Jodi Benson (“The Little Mermaid”), Nick Bakay (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”), Tara Strong (“The Fairly OddParents”), Debra Wilson (“Mad TV”), Brad Norman (“The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle”), Nicole Sullivan (“Mad TV”), Cedric Yarbrough (“Reno 911”), Danny Trejo (“Breaking Bad”) and Lainie Kazan (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”).
Bickel describes the tone of the pilot as “‘Fleabag’ meets ‘Search Party.’” In a statement to Variety, he said, “’To Life’was born as a reaction to the stagnancy of Hollywood right now. Nothing is getting sold, nothing is getting made, nothing is getting done… So the pivot was: Let’s gather a group of incredibly talented people who were eager to create and let’s make something together. Something sharp and irresistible. I think we pulled it off — it’s something we’re all incredibly proud of, and we can’t wait to share it.”
AJ Prager served as producer on “To Life,” with Matthew Marder as associate producer and first assistant director and Will Turner as cinematographer.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over a missing person’s case in Squamish.
In a release, Squamish RCMP said that on May 18, officers received a missing person report for Stewart McLean, who had not been seen since May 15.
It was reported that he was last spotted at his home in Lions Bay.
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Squamish RCMP began an investigation and have since uncovered evidence that led investigators to believe McLean was the victim of a homicide.
The Homicide Team deployed on May 20 and has assumed conduct of the investigation.
McLean, who goes by Stew McLean, is an actor and has worked on Travelers, Arrow and Virgin River, to name a few.
He is 45 years old, five feet 10 inches tall, 150 pounds, with grey hair and blue eyes.
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Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or contact them by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
Lights, camera, inspiration! Teyana Taylor is bringing her bold creative vision to the 25th Tribeca Festival for a special event celebrating women in film and storytelling.
The multi-hyphenate star will take the stage for a talk presented by Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program as part of Tribeca’s Storytellers Series on Sunday, June 7, at Spring Studios in New York City.
Through Her Lens
Taylor, who recently joined the Through Her Lens Advisory Committee alongside powerhouse names including Jane Fonda, Lucy Liu, Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington, Olivia Wilde, and more says the mission behind the initiative feels especially personal to her.
“Joining the Through Her Lens Advisory Committee with Tribeca and CHANEL felt personal to me because I know how powerful it is when women are given the space, support, and confidence to fully step into their vision,” the Golden Globe winner said in a press release.
“That’s what Through Her Lens is about, empowering women to tell bold, honest stories in their own voice. I’m proud to be part of something with CHANEL that’s creating that kind of lasting impact,” she continued.
ET
During the discussion, Taylor will draw from her experiences both in front of and behind the camera, reflecting on carving out her own lane in entertainment, building an authentic creative voice and creating opportunities for the next generation of female storytellers.
The conversation will also spotlight the importance of mentorship, representation and creative support systems in helping women shape the future of film on their own terms.
“Teyana Taylor has never waited for permission to define herself. She’s built a career on instinct, originality and fearless creativity,” Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca Festival Co-Founder, said.
Kevin Mazur/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
“We’re thrilled to welcome her to Tribeca and to the Through Her Lens Advisory Committee. I know her artistry and perspective will resonate with so many women and storytellers.”
Tickets are available on the Tribeca Festival website and submissions for the 2026 Through Her Lens Program open today.
The owner of music used in “Peanuts” animated specials, including the memorable holiday classic “O Tannenbaum” and the unmistakable “Linus and Lucy” tunes, sued three companies and the U.S. Department of the Interior on Wednesday. It accused them of using its captivating bops in social media posts and a video game without permission.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed the copyright infringement suits in federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. The songs are part of the programs that brought Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang from Charles Schulz’s comic strips off the page and into families’ living rooms.
Marc Jacobson, a lawyer for Lee Mendelson Film Productions, said during an interview on Thursday that the company had been plagued by unauthorized use of its music and decided to “make a statement and file all four lawsuits on the same day.”
“We’ve written demand letters to people over and over again, and these four companies either didn’t respond to us or they responded in a way that indicated they really didn’t care that they were using the music without permission,” he said.
In addition to the U.S. government, the three accused companies are Heritage Auctions, an auction house; Buckle-Down Inc., a belt company; and GameMill Entertainment, a video game publisher.
Mr. Jacobson noted that Lee Mendelson Film was especially concerned with usage of the tunes on some social media platforms. The company does not have any licensing deals with the short video app TikTok, he said. The music that is allowed on the apps owned by Meta, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, is only authorized for personal use, not commercial purposes.
“We just don’t want to tolerate it anymore,” he said.
Lee Mendelson, an Emmy Award-winning producer, started the production company in 1963. He helped put the holiday staple “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on television in 1965, followed by several other classics. He died in 2019, and his company is the publisher of the Vince Guaraldi Library of Charlie Brown music.
Guaraldi composed the original music for the “Peanuts” specials that evokes Schultz’s gang for audiences worldwide. His music “has become indelibly associated with the Peanuts characters and films,” according to one of the lawsuits.
According to the lawsuit, the Interior Department used “O Tannenbaum” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in a digital holiday card posted in December to social media without permission.
Mr. Jacobson said the suit against the department was not about politics, but “about the ability to control the use of the copyrighted works.”
The U.S. government “took music that might be available for an individual to use on their Facebook page and turned it into a promotional piece for the Department of the Interior, and they can’t do that,” he said.
The Interior Department said in emailed statement on Thursday that it does not “have comment on litigation.”
The lawsuits against Heritage Auction and Buckle-Down Inc. also accuse the companies of misusing the music on social media. The suit against the video game company says that the music in the 2025 “Peanuts” video game “Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club” was too similar to Guaraldi’s tunes.
Christina Rees, a spokeswoman for Heritage Auctions, said the company “has not been served with or reviewed the complaint.”
“If and when we receive it, we will review the allegations and respond as appropriate,” she said.
Buckle-Down did not respond to a phone call requesting comment on Thursday, and GameMill did not reply to an emailed request for comment on Thursday.
Mr. Jacobson said there were a dozen other companies who had used the “Peanuts” catalog without proper authorization, and warned that he and his client would “continue on this path of enforcement.”
“Those letters will be going out next week,” he said.
After two slow weeks, Netflix’s original scripted TV programming has bounced back into Nielsen’s top streaming charts, thanks to “Running Point” and “Beef.”
While no Netflix scripted TV series appeared in Nielsen’s weekly top 10 streaming charts for two weeks straight — representing a slow period for the streamer in early April that was boosted by unscripted series and original films — the streamer is back in the top 10 during the week of April 20 as it welcomed back “Beef” and “Running Point.”
After dropping its second installment on Thursday, April 23, “Running Point” tallied 772 million minutes on Netflix, landed in the No. 3 spot among streaming originals and the No. 6 spot overall. Likewise, “Beef,” which debuted the week prior, appeared in the No. 8 spot on the overall list with 665 million minutes.
Both series were outpaced by Netflix’s action thriller movie “Apex,” which drew 847 million minutes in its opening weekend, landing as the No. 3 most-streamed program for the week and the top movie.
The most-watched program overall of the week was “Bluey,” which tallied 889 million minutes viewed on Disney+. The kids favorite came in just ahead of “The Boys,” which logged 882 million minutes viewed on Prime Video, marking the show’s third consecutive week at No. 2 overall, and its first time topping the originals chart since 2024.
The Americana Music Association will hold its 25th annual Americana Music Honors & Awards gala just a few months after America celebrates its 250th. Artists up for top honors include Margo Price, who’s nominated in both the Album and Artist of the Year categories; Ken Pomeroy, who’s up for both Emerging Act and Album of the Year;, and Brandi Carlile, an Artist of the Year nominee whose “Returning to Myself” is also up for Song of the Year. The stacked Artist of the Year category also includes Charley Crockett, Molly Tuttle, and Jesse Welles.
The winners will be revealed at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 16, right in the middle of AmericanaFest, set to take place Sept. 15 through 19 in Music City. Tickets to the trophy toss are available for sale now to AmericanaFest Silver Wristband Holders. Everybody else will have to wait for a general on-sale date to be announced.
2026 Americana Honors & Awards nominees:
Album of the Year: Snipe Hunter, Tyler Childers; Produced by Tyler Childers, Rick Rubin & Nick Sanborn Billionaire, Kathleen Edwards; Produced by Jason Isbell & Gena Johnson Planting by the Signs, S.G. Goodman; Produced by S.G. Goodman, Matthew Rowan & Drew Vandenberg Cruel Joke, Ken Pomeroy; Produced by Colton Jean, Dakota McDaniel & Gary Paczosa Hard Headed Woman, Margo Price; Produced by Matt Ross-Spang
Artist of the Year: Brandi Carlile Charley Crockett Margo Price Molly Tuttle Jesse Welles
Duo/Group of the Year: Flatland Cavalry I’m With Her Mumford & Sons Turnpike Troubadours Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
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Emerging Act of the Year: Boy Golden Crowe Boys Kashus Culpepper Ken Pomeroy Mon Rovîa
Song of the Year: “Returning To Myself,” Brandi Carlile; Written by Brandi Carlile “Snapping Turtle,” S.G. Goodman; Written by S.G. Goodman “Wild and Clear and Blue” I’m With Her; Written by Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins “Heavy Foot,” Mon Rovîa; Written by Grant Averill, Eric Cromartie, Cooper Holzman & Andrew Lowe “The World’s Gone Wrong,” Lucinda Williams (feat. Brittney Spencer); Written by Tom Overby, Doug Pettibone & Lucinda Williams
Despite Brazil not having this yaer a film at Cannes’ major sections from a Brazilian director, representatives from the Latin American country still arrived confidently at the Marché du Film to build on the extraordinary momentum created by films like last year’s Cannes-winning political drama “The Secret Agent.” Members of the government of São Paulo state were present at the market to spread the word about the great success of their recent investments in film and television and celebrate the release of the first round of films benefited by the pioneering Paulo Gustavo Law.
A post-pandemic recovery initiative named after lauded comic and actor Paulo Gustavo, who tragically died of complications of COVID-19 in 2021, the Paulo Gustavo Law released R$2.8 billion ($571 million) for Brazil’s audiovisual sectors in May of 2023. The cash pot was delivered to the country’s 27 states and 5,000 cities to use in production and distribution incentives or the creation of a local knowledge economy, with the state of São Paulo receiving a $50 million slice.
Last year, the state launched its audiovisual development plan, which included strategic investments in various areas, such as governance, infrastructure, training, funding, and international promotion. Now, the team at the helm of the state initiatives is gearing up to launch a 20-year plan titled Plano de Desenvolvimento da Indústria Audiovisual Paulista, or São Paulo’s Audiovisual Industry Development Plan. That plan, which is expected to be turned into legislation, will ensure the state’s recent efforts to boost the film industry are safeguarded from the volatility of changing federal and state governments.
Speaking with Variety at Cannes, Secretary of Culture, Economy, and Creative Industries of Brazil’s State of São Paulo, Marília Marton, recalls how, soon after the establishment of the Paulo Gustavo Law, the state realized that producing large-scale, quality films was “an expensive, arduous task.”
“I feel we had the right sensibility at the right time of choosing to listen to the industry and understand their needs and how we could meet them,” she adds. “From that moment onwards, the state of São Paulo began offering a continuous support program, which was key if we wanted to think about the long-term success of the industry. We obviously no longer have the same amount of money at hand that we first had with the Paulo Gustavo Law, but we do have this sense of stability and continuity, which is very valuable.”
“A Conspiração Condor,” courtesy of LEP Filmes
Marton notes how we are now starting to see the results of those three years of investment, with films like the Paulo Gustavo Law-backed political thriller “A Conspiração Condor,” directed by André Sturm, now arriving on screens in Brazil.
“We focused on film as an industry, one that brings great economic return to the state,” she points out. “When we talk about the audiovisual industry, we are talking about 1.6 million jobs in the state of São Paulo alone. This has a huge impact. We also invested in talent development, with the opening of a training school, and wanted to have this sense of continuity where professionals would share their learnings with the next generation.”
Now that the Paulo Gustavo Law pot is emptied out, Marton has turned her attention to ensuring the industry can not only sustain a great momentum but also experience some much-needed stability. “The industry needs predictability,” she says. “Filmmakers need to think ahead of certain dates, and producers need calendars. That’s how we can negotiate international partnerships and build our visibility abroad, which is also a key part of our mission. We need to strengthen our reputation so we can come to events like the Marché du Film and know that people will take us seriously as possible partners.”
“By listening to the industry and truly hearing about their deepest issues and grievances with public support, we have understood that the solution is not about a single strategy, it’s about coordinating efforts over an extensive period,” emphasizes the secretary. “We can’t bet on isolated initiatives alone. We’re coming from the Paulo Gustavo to take a wider look at the audiovisual production chain, from development to exhibition. We are working on bringing audiences back to cinema.”
In an election year, cementing a solid plan for the future becomes even more pressing. “Governments come and go, but the state remains, and we need to ensure that we have stable, long-lasting policies in place,” says Marton. “As we reach the end of a mandate, it’s natural that people grow worried about what will come next, but we are working hard to tranquilize the sector.”
São Paulo is investing heavily in the internationalization of its industry, with Michael Almereyda’s sci-fi “Zero K” starring Peter Sarsgaard, Caleb Landry Jones, and Britt Lower currently shooting in the state. Netflix’s recent chart-topping “Emergency Radioactive” was also shot in the interior of São Paulo state.
“This was part of a thorough work by the São Paulo Film Commission, which we launched last year,” notes Marton. “We mapped 1,600 locations in the state, working on strategies to attract productions across the state and to ensure we could offer the best possible logistical and financial support. We have other film commissions in the state, like in Ribeirão Preto, and are seeing big strides when it comes to attracting national and international productions thanks to our available infrastructure, talent, and the fact that our currency is still quite weak when compared to the euro and the dollar, so it’s still relatively cheap to shoot in Brazil.”
“Last year we had the first edition of the São Paulo Audiovisual Hub with key names of the international industry, and Netflix opened their offices in São Paulo,” she goes on. “All of this shows how friendly São Paulo has become to big players.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s official merchandise has seemingly revealed Spider-Man’s new (secret) weapon against Savage Hulk, and it’s quite brilliant. Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures’ fourth Spider-Man movie is set to feature an unexpected clash between the titular web-slinger and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. The official Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer revealed that Bruce Banner will initially appear as a professor at Empire State University tasked with helping Peter understand his unusual DNA mutations, but something will happen to him that will unleash the rage-fueled version of Hulk that will lead to an imminent clash between the original Avenger and Spider-Man.
An official new Spider-Man: Brand New Day toy (via Spider-Man News on X) revealed a Spider-Man action figure with three modes, one of which is an “Anti-Gamma mode” that highlights the glowing reen “anti-gamma webs” shooting out. Peter Parker’s new web Variant is clearly designed against Hulk, making this the perfect countermeasure (or secret weapon) against gamma-powered threats.
Hulk’s gamma radiation reinforces his monstrous strength and rage. Peter specifically engineered these webs to neutralize gamma effects, such as dampening radiation or containing rage bursts.
Marvel Studios
The fact that Peter used his genius-level intellect to create an upgraded web-fluid formula that counters the exact kind of gamma chaos underscores the classic “brains over brawn” moment in the two MCU heroes’ upcoming clash.
There is also a chance that Bruce Banner helped Peter co-develop the anti-gamma web-fluid formula as a precaution in case he accidentally reverted to his unstable Hulk form. Either way, Hulk will be the 8th Avenger Peter Parker will fight throughout his MCU tenure, joining the likes of Captain America, Bucky Barnes, and Doctor Strange.
Sony Pictures is ramping up promotion for Spider-Man: Brand New Day ahead of its July 31 release date.
Spider-Man’s Secret Weapon Against Hulk Could Reveal the Main Villain’s Motivation
Marvel Studios
There are many theories about why the Hulk goes “bad” in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, such as being manipulated by Sadie Sink’s mystery MCU character, being pushed to the limit by Tombstone, or being injected with Scorpion’s poisonous sting that would unleash the Hulk to save Bruce Banner.
Spider-Man’s anti-gamma webs could serve as a narrative key that could unmask the villain’s deeper motivation in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It’s possible that Peter Parker and Bruce Banner are aware that a hidden villain might be scheming behind the scenes against them, leading the pair to work together to develop countermeasures in case one of them goes bad.
This could lead to the development of anti-gamma webs. With Banner’s strong expertise with gamma radiation, he could easily lend a hand to Peter and ask him to create a web-fluid catered to weakening him if the Hulk ever goes out. It’s also possible that gamma-weakening bullets could be given to Frank Castle as a way to help Peter contain Hulk’s rage-fueled outbursts.
Moreover, the Department of Damage Control’s fear of uncontrollable powered people could also suggest that the organization is the culprit behind manipulating Hulk to justify crackdowns on superpowered individuals. Peter’s anti-gamma webs neutralizing Savage Hulk proves heroes can adapt, undermining the agency’s fear-mongering and exposing their real, sinister motivations.
Another year of television will usher in more memorable moments and brilliant characters. But, with the joys of new shows and returning ones alike, there is the sad side of becoming invested into a series. It is not uncommon for show cancellations to happen in this streaming era before a show even gets to find its stride. And, like all good things in life, a series has to come to an end at some point. We hate to say goodbye but we always cherish the narrative journey. In 2026, there are quite a few shows that either got an unfortunate cancellation notice or are simply ending, perhaps wrapping up the plan of their creative team.
Let’s get into what shows we will have to say goodbye to this year.
All the TV Shows Canceled or Ending in 2026; Jump To:
Emily in Paris (Netflix)
Another Netflix series is ending. Netflix announced that Emily in Paris‘ sixth season would be its last. Series creator Darren Star shared, “Making Emily in Paris with this extraordinary cast and crew has been the trip of a lifetime. As we embark on the final season, I am so grateful to Netflix, Paramount, and, most importantly, the fans who have taken this incredible journey with us. We can’t wait to share this last chapter with you. Thank you for letting us be a part of your lives, inspiring your dreams of travel and your love of Paris. We will always have Emily in Paris.”
The Night Agent (Netflix)
Netflix
Netflix’s thriller series The Night Agent will officially end with season four. Series creator Shawn Ryan shares, “Ever since the initial success of ‘The Night Agent,’ I’ve been obsessed with eventually delivering a proper and thrilling conclusion to the show and to Peter Sutherland’s journey. I’m so grateful to Netflix and Sony Pictures Television for partnering with me on The Night Agent and for giving us the space to deliver a definitive final season to our worldwide legion of fans. We are hard at work to complete our story and to make our final season one our fans will never forget.”
Season four of the Netflix series is currently in production.
MGM+ has renewed From for a fifth and final season, marking the end of the series. The sci-fi horror series starring Lost‘s Harold Perrineau is set to air season four this spring, and its final-season writers’ room has already opened. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, creator John Griffin revealed, “There was a fair amount of soul-searching. But we all came to the realization that if we made that sixth season, it would be for us, because it’s just too hard to say goodbye.”
He additionally noted: “In full transparency, five seasons was always the goal, but we always wanted to let the story tell us when it was time to end. When we reached the end of season three and the death of Jim (Eion Bailey), it felt like we reached the end of the beginning. Similarly, season four very naturally feels like the beginning of the end. We’ve had the opportunity to tell this story from the beginning the way we really wanted to tell it, with the full support of Michael Wright and everybody over at MGM. It’s rare you get to tell this type of story and give it the life you feel it needs, to let the story decide when it’s time to end.”
From season four will release on April 19.
Talamasca: The Secret Order (AMC)
AMC
Alas, AMC’s first Anne Rice Immortal Universe series to be cancelled is Talamasca: The Secret Order. The Talamasca series told an original story set in Anne Rice’s world, not following any specific novel or original source material, but expanding upon the idea of the Talamasca spy organization to tell a new tale. Many quite liked the series’ characters, including Guy Anatole, played by Nicholas Denton, and the vampire Jasper, played by William Fichtner. But it feels like the show’s story just didn’t fully come together. For our part, we enjoyed the chemistry between the leads, but felt it wasn’t campy or queer enough to compete with AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, which truly hit a home run. And so, Talamasca: The Secret Order ends after only one season.
A statement from AMC makes it sound like we could see the characters elsewhere in the franchise, so we’ll hold out hope for that.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Paramount+)
Paramount+
This YA centric series just wrapped up its first season, and seemed to have promise with another season already in progress. Hopefully, the creatives for this Paramount+ series wrote their scripts without any major cliffhangers, because Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is cancelled and will end with season two. Welp.
It speaks to our current TV climate where shows barely get a chance to find their footing before going on the chopping block. What if viewership went up in season 2, which wrapped production in early 2026? I guess we will never know.
“We’re incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity that went into bringing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to life,” CBS Studios and Paramount+ said in a joint statement. “The series introduced audiences to a bold new group of characters, welcomed familiar faces, and expanded the Star Trek universe in exciting new ways.
Hacks(HBO)
HBO Max confirmed that season five will be the final round for its comedy series Hacks. A trailer for its last season gave fans both delight and sadness. The show returns on April 9 with its series finale on May 28.
The Boys (Prime Video)
Prime Video
It’s been quite the wild ride with Butcher and Homelander. This Prime Video series, an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ comic series, gave us a raunchy and hyper violent look into what a would would be like if superpowered individuals had mostly terrible intentions. We’ve watched Wee Hughie grow up to be a boss, Kimiko’s healing journey, MM process his childhood trauma, and a surprising redemption arc for A-Train, among other great storylines. Now, with the US in a political crisis and supes throwing humans into detention centers, it is time to see how this show will end in 2026. The Boys’ fifth and final season will premiere on April 8 and we are grateful that this series will get to tell its full story.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
One TV show that will be cancelled in 2026 is The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The circumstances behind bringing this series to an end are complicated, to say the least. Colbert is known for being openly critical of both CBS and our current president, which isn’t unusual for the average late show host. While the company says that his thoughts are not behind the cancellation, it is interesting that they co-exist. The series finale will air on May 21.
Daryl’s journey across seasons (now with his bestie Carol in tow) will come to an end after four seasons. From the dangers of France to Spain, Daryl has honestly been having so much fun getting into various messy shenanigans that I don’t think he really wants to go back home. With filming wrapped for the series back in November, we can certainly expect this final chapter to air as this show ends sometime in 2026. Will it set up a Walking Dead event that reunites all the original series’ main players? We will have to see.
Outlander (Starz)
After a whopping eight seasons and twelve years, Outlander is coming to an end. That almost feels unheard of in today’s times where a show can take 3-5 years off between seasons… if it gets more than one or two seasons at all. This historical fantasy series fervent fanbase will get to know how this long-running saga ends when its final round runs from March to May of this year. (And if you just can’t wait, there’s always the books to turn to.)
Good Omens (Prime Video)
Prime Video
Good Omens‘ future was very much in the air following season two’s heart wrenching ending. But, despite the allegations swirling around Neil Gaiman, who is no longer creatively attached to the show, there will be an ending to this series. It will not come in a season but rather a 90-minute episode to wrap things up. Hopefully, Aziraphale and Crowley will get the happy final moments that they deserve.
Back in 2024, Netflix’s live-action fantasy series based on games by the same name, The Witcher was renewed for a fifth and final season. Season four aired in the Fall of 2025 with Liam Hemsworth taking the reins as Geralt of Rivia from Henry Cavill. And considering that season four and five were filmed back to back, it is pretty certain that this story will come to an end before 2026 is over.
All American (The CW)
Besides the greatness that is Ted Lasso, sports dramas usually fall outside of our nerdy wheelhouse. But All American feels like a slice of a time when The CW was ruling the airwaves with ensemble dramas that seemingly never ended. Sadly, All American is about to be all over when season eight premieres sometime in 2026. That’s eight seasons in eight years, which is a pretty darn good run.
The Way Home (Hallmark Channel)
This is also a little outside of our normal coverage zone considering it is a Hallmark series. But the premise is one that would grab the attention of those of us who like time traveling and drama that punches us in the feels. The series follows three generations of women—matriarch Del, her adult daughter Kat, and Kat’s teenage daughter Alice—who live on a small Canadian farm.
There are some deep family wounds, but there’s also a pond that allows certain people to time travel. Alice (and others) begin to jump through time and cause a domino effect along the way. The Way Home’s fourth and last season begins to air on April 19, making it yet another show ending in 2026.
Originally published on March 3, 2026.
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The hype around the latest GTA game has been a pretty wild time for a long time now, but it feels extra wild this time around. And while a fair few of us are getting a bit tired of the ups and downs now, that doesn’t seem to be stopping the rumor mill.
A few hours before writing this article, TGG announced that he was quitting “Hopium” – in my humble opinion, a smart play. Every day, especially on days when Rockstar is known to make announcements about their online games, the community hypes itself up, only to be let down.
I’m no psychologist, but this cycle can’t be good for our mental health.
Let’s take the news of the day now again, and we are a little late to this. But an anonymous forum poster dropped a bombshell that GTA 6 would be delayed again, to be announced during the earnings call that’s set to take place on May 21 (today, as of writing) at 4:30pm, Eastern Time.
A little while later, another post emerged saying that this person worked closely enough to Rockstar to confirm there would be no delay, and even goes so far as to list pricing. According to this post, the standard edition will cost $69.99 and the premium edition $99.99.
A mysterious account has posted THIS on 4chan, like everyone has said anyone can post on here but its very interesting to see because the information is very specific but I personally think it’s nothing. pic.twitter.com/oNanEFJva3
So, apparently, we’ll get Trailer 3 two hours before the earnings call, at around 2:30pm ET. And you know what? I’m willing to bet nothing will happen. We won’t get squat. You know why? Because it’s Rockstar, and they’ll release the next trailer when they’re good and ready.
For all we know, this post above is a clown, and the anonymous post was correct – that there’ll be another delay. We just don’t know, and trying to follow all these threads will slowly drive us insane.
The joke’s on Rockstar, though. I’m already insane. Insane enough to turn my internet off and actually go outside, take a deep breath of fresh air, and relax. And I suggest that if this hype cycle has taken its toll on you, you do the same.
I want to bring you the latest news on all things GTA 6, but honestly, it’s just a cycle of pain right now. When there’s something official, be sure to check out the treasure trove that is GTA 6 Bible for info. It’s slowly growing and will soon be a premium spot to answer all your GTA 6 questions.
Grab a hot beverage and check out the post on everything we know about GTA 6, to get a full breakdown of both the current trailers (and the third, when it does go live), plus a host of other info we’ve collected.
Until we hear something, try to relax. Whatever happens now, we’re getting GTA 6 in less than six months. If there is another delay, it gives us more time to enjoy other games and break out of the toxic hype cycle for some fresh air, for a bit.
The design world is changing. Not only is AI shifting the bedrock of pretty much all creative workflows, but designers are also becoming more hybrid creators themselves, often needing to wear many hats that more often than not shift into the world of video these days.
If you’re a video editor, color grading artist, or a hybrid creative looking for a monitor that could do the trick for any and all of the above, then this new Acer ProDesigner 4K monitor might be a sneaky option to consider, thanks to its versatility and affordable price point. Let’s check it out.
The Acer ProDesigner PE270K 27″ 4K Monitor
Credit: Acer
As mentioned above, this new Acer ProDesigner 4K monitor is designed for… well… for designers. It features a fast 1 ms (GtG) response time, making it ideal for fluid inputs, and a 72 Hz refresh rate, ideal for smooth, responsive visuals.
This new Acer ProDesigner PE270K 27″ 4K Monitor will also feature 400 nits of brightness, 1.07 billion colors, HDR400, and a 100 million:1 dynamic contrast ratio that should help ensure that users will have access to the most vibrant of colors when working on images, videos, and other creative designs.
This new ProDesigner 4K monitor can connect to a computer via its two DisplayPort inputs, HDMI input, or USB-C DP Alt Mode port. It will also feature a USB-B upstream port and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports for peripheral connectivity.
Price and Availability
Credit: Acer
Overall, this new Acer ProDesigner PE270K 27″ 4K Monitor should be quite capable for a wide range of uses thanks to its Dynamic Frequency and Resolution, which lets users toggle between a 72 Hz refresh rate at UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution or 144 Hz at FHD 1080p resolution.
It will also feature Delta E < 1, AdobeRGB 99%, and DCI-P3 96% color gamut, and is Calman-verified for pro-level color accuracy. If this monitor seems of interest to you, here are the full specs and purchase options.
Bring your creative endeavors to life with the ProDesigner PE270K 27″ 4K Monitor from Acer. This 27″ 16:9 UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) anti-glare IPS monitor is designed for creators, designers, and professionals who need accurate colors and a wide color gamut.
For three seasons now, “Elsbeth” has chronicled the titular lawyer-turned-investigator as she uses her brilliant and peculiar mind to solve murders. That’s a far-fetched but fitting trajectory for a character who first delighted viewers on the celebrated CBS drama “The Good Wife.”
Created by Robert and Michelle King, the CBS procedural was born out of the writers watching a lot of the classic detective series “Columbo” during COVID and wanting to harness that storytelling style into a new series. Elsbeth Tascioni — the quirky lawyer first introduced on “The Good Wife,” who made frequent appearances across that show and spinoff “The Good Fight,” earning actress Carrie Preston an Emmy in 2013 — was the perfect character to anchor such a project.
“Elsbeth started off all those years ago on ‘The Good Wife’ as the comic relief. She would come in and bring this completely different energy and tone to the show,” series star Carrie Preston told TheWrap in a new installment of How She Did It, presented by CBS Studios. “[In ‘Elsbeth,’] we get to deepen the character more but yet that DNA is still there, and I love that.”
“Elsbeth” quickly deviated from the more serialized franchise where its lead character was born. The series kicked off with Elsbeth being tasked with monitoring murder investigations in a beleaguered division of the New York City police department, and rather than a whodunnit storyline, viewers know who the killer is from the start. The fun comes from seeing how Elsbeth and her confidants crack the case, often with a comedic flare.
As the seasons have progressed, Elsbeth found a knack for crime solving and a chosen family in her new colleagues, led by Wendell Pierce’s Capt. Wagner. In between murders of the week, the series also introduced Elsbeth’s son Teddy (Ben Levi Ross) and followed a couple of romantic entanglements.
But perhaps the flashiest of Elsbeth’s attributes comes in the elaborate outfits she wears and many tote bags she carries in each episode — something that has been true to the character from the very beginning.
“We love her so much and what she wears,” Michelle King told TheWrap. “She is truly her own person, she’s truly happy in her own skin and her clothes reflect that.”
Wendell Pierce, Carrie Preston and Carra Patterson in Elsbeth.” (Michael Parmelee/CBS)
“She dresses, I think, to bring joy to herself, and she feels good moving through the world in those clothes,” Preston added. “Dan Lawson, our costume designer, is a genius at that. It then affects how I move and how I speak, depending on what I’m wearing.”
And though “The Good Wife” franchise was set in Chicago, “Elsbeth” moved the action to New York City, which itself has become a main character in the series. As Elsbeth navigates a different corner of the city that never sleeps, a new world unfolds as she goes about her investigation.
“There are hundreds of worlds in New York City,” Preston said, while also touting the impressive roster of actors through the seasons as a result of shooting in NYC — which in Season 3 included “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, “Succession” alum J. Smith Cameron, Broadway star Laura Benanti, among many others.
“The word has gotten out — and I’m very proud of this — that we are a fun place to come and work. So, I hope that we will continue to have amazing guest stars to spar with,” Preston added.
“Elsbeth” Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Paramount+. The show will return for Season 4 this fall on CBS.
Tom Weaver has been trying to get his hands on East Camp since he first appeared on “Marshals,” and as we head into Sunday’s season finale (CBS, 8/7c), it looks like he’s finally going to get his way.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that Weaver has a secret weapon in Dolly. His daughter worked her charms on Kayce in Episode 12, encouraging him to make a deal with Weaver that would get him whatever he “wants,” which the dutiful Dutton considers a foreign concept.
The last time Kayce and Weaver spoke, they were practically signing on the dotted line — but as you’ll see in TVLine’s exclusive sneak peek of the finale, Kayce is suddenly having a change of heart.
“My family’s had this land for almost 150 years,” Kayce tells Weaver in the video above. “A lot of blood, pain, and heartache came with it. Lord knows I’ve had my share.” After losing Garrett in the fire and Monica to cancer, Kayce admits that there’s been a “dark cloud” over East Camp for quite some time.
At this point, Weaver is already mentally taking measurements on his new property… but not so fast! “Come spring, grass will grow, calves will start hitting the ground, and this ranch will be full of life,” Kayce says. “My life’s been defined by losing the things I love. East Camp is the one thing I can hold on to.”
Is Dolly a good fit for Kayce?
CBS
And just like that, Kayce’s deal to sell East Camp to the Weavers is deader than John Dutton. (Sorry, too soon?) Surprisingly, though, Dolly doesn’t seem entirely troubled by her father’s business going sideways.
“I didn’t mean to get his hopes up, yours either,” Kayce tells Dolly, to which she replies, “When it comes to Duttons, my hopes were never about East Camp.”
Dolly has been a potential love interest for Kayce from the moment she was introduced in Episode 4, though Kayce initially refused her advances as he wasn’t ready to date again so soon after Monica’s passing. It’s been a slow burn ever since, with Dolly frequently showing up for important moments, even helping Kayce plan Garrett’s birthday celebration. But with her father still keen on owning East Camp, can we trust that Dolly’s intentions are pure?
Hit PLAY on the video above for an exclusive first look at Sunday’s “Marshals” finale (CBS, 8/7c), then drop a comment with your thoughts below. Are you relieved that Kayce is keeping East Camp in the family?
While it is technically accurate to say that “The Black Ball (La Bola Negra)” is the first feature film from Spain’s beloved creative duo, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (collective moniker Los Javis), it feels truer to say that they have made four films and magically contained them within the form of one. It is nearly impossible to grasp the structural effort required to fluidly create one perfectly coherent story using three narratives told across three timelines, each with a distinct visual identity.
“The Black Ball” comprises a neorealist tale of a closeted young man seeking membership at a casino in 1932, a tragic wartime romance set in 1937, and a lo-fi drama about a historian prompted to investigate all of this in 2017. The fourth element, which serves as the connective tissue for everything, is a timeless poetic expression of love for all the queer storytellers who died before they could truly live.
An unfinished play, “La Bola Negra” by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, is the basis of the themes explored across all timelines. Lorca was murdered in 1936 by right-wing militias amid the rising nationalism that led to the Spanish Civil War of 1936-9. In an act of fantastical baton-passing, Los Javis collaborate with Lorca’s spirit to finalize this play, infusing it with details, moods and lyricism from his life and work. Choice lines from his poem “Love Sleeps in the Poet’s Breast” serve as a time-collapsing flash of lightning, reanimating lost souls so that they are briefly, vividly here.
In this reimagined “The Black Ball,” it is 1932 and 20-year-old Carlos (Milo Quifes) is under pressure from his father to be accepted as a member at their local casino. The meaning of La Bola Negra/The Black Ball is immediately explicated as roomful of stern homophobic elders vote on his admission with a white ball, meaning “yes” or a black ball meaning “no.” Perhaps you can guess how this vote goes.
Los Javis, aided by sound editors Alejandro Lopez and Anna Harington, use sound design as part of their seamless editing toolkit. The clack, clack, clack of black balls landing plays over the image of an open-topped medical vehicle carrying bodies in 1937. The basis of this second story is “La Piedra Obscura” by Alberto Conejero (2023), a play that re-imagines history to give a different ending to Lorca’s lover, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, a former Atletico Madrid player who fought and died as a Republican during the 1937 Battle of Santander — the capital of Calabria (this will be important). Conejero has a screenwriting credit with Los Javis in this queered version of his play.
The 1937 section contains a tortured impossible love story for the ages, while also being the horniest depiction of military life since Claire Denis’ “Beau Travail.” In his first film role, the long-lashed Spanish pop star Guitarricadelafuente plays Sebastián, a young trumpeter whose family is wiped out when Italians bomb his village. Offered the choice between death and Nationalism, he accepts the rifle foisted upon him. When a wounded Rafael (Miguel Bernardeau) is taken as an enemy prisoner in the military hospital, Sebastián’s job is to guard him.
Courageous, principled, tragic, and mind-blowingly hot, Rafael is the platonic ideal of a romantic hero meaning Sebastián, already out of his depth, now also has to deal with an intoxicating crush. His eyes nearly pop out of his head when a nurse tells him to towel off a naked Rafael. The overlapping imagery of sex and violence is never more felt than when Rafael gets so angry that his wound starts bleeding through his bandage.
The real Rafael was described as having a profile like a Greek statue, and Sebastián’s meeting with this flesh-and-blood sculpture is foreshadowed in an extraordinary image from shortly after he loses his family in the bombing. Disoriented and terrified, he runs around until somehow he finds himself crawling up a mound of rubble topped by a fallen statue of Grecian marble. Los Javis express heightened emotions related to love, loss, fear, and regret in compositions that make us pause with the character. Later, in a moment of high anxiety when Rafael is catching a beating, Sebastián will run to the bathroom to play his trumpet (not just a euphemism). Cued by Lorca, Los Javis take poetic license to create magical peaks within a landscape of political realism.
Alberto (Carlos González), the Madrid-based protagonist of the 2017 storyline operates in a more recognizable and grounded sphere. A historian with a particular interest in queer music from 1920s Constantinople, his days are a low-stakes matter of research, casual Grindr user, hanging with his partner Javier (Julio Torres) and handling his explosive mother (Lola Dueñas). The catalyst connecting him to Sebastián, Rafael, Carlos et al. is the news that a grandfather he never met just died and left something especially for him, if only he will travel to Calabria to collect it. Initially impatient with the whole proposition, Alberto — mirroring the trajectory of Los Javis in making this film — is drawn into a fascinated communion with the history that brought him here.
Each of these three stories is exquisitely crafted on its own individual terms and the triptych becomes dazzling once the subtly seeded internal rhymes begin to set into a cohering fourth underlayer. The screenplay is either perfect or pretty damn close with a refined structure ensuring that every episode on one timeline enhances its neighbors on the others, on both a narrative and thematic level.
Crystalline dialogue sparkles whether it is spoken by a poet, a fascist or Penélope Cruz channeling Drag Queen energy to entertain the Nationalist troops as a Vera Lynn type singer. As the platinum blonde wig-wearing Nene, who comes rolling into a room of roaring soldiers draped sexily on a tank, her sympathies are secretly elsewhere. Sensing something different about Sebastián the moment she sees him amongst her audience, Nene confides in him with lines like, “Transvestism is the fantasy of possibility. War is its opposite.”
Wherever possible, without interrupting the movements of the character and narrative arcs, Los Javis enhance the mood with nods to queer joy and the freedom of expressing the only lifeforce that is truly yours. Music, dance, poetry, and even looking point-blank at the one you desire afford the repressed characters moments of release. The tormented Carlos is briefly himself while dancing flamenco. Sebastián and Rafael transcend their doomed romance through lines of poetry. Who could do otherwise when those lines are, you will never know how much i love you for you sleep within me
Los Javis build out this culturally reverant perspective to honor their partnership with Pedro Almodóvar (whose fellow competition title “Bitter Christmas” includes a very funny cameo from them) with a fabulous little gag. Meanwhile, Glenn Close shows up in 2017 to play American academic Isabelle Durand, who has dedicated her life to Lorca research and is publishing a volume named “Federica el Poeto Gay.” The gratification of experiencing all the narrative threads coming together is only eclipsed by an awe at the underlying emotional continuity.
All these moving parts are positioned to play like one unbroken piece of music. By the final crescendo, time feels like an illusion and the stories of our dead belong to today.
Grade: A
“The Black Ball” premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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Mom jeans are much more than just jeans. Over time, the once essential ’80s item lost some of its appeal and became associated with outdated trends. In recent years, however, it’s become a favorite denim style for many women once again thanks to its loose fit and high-waist silhouette.
The ’80s mom jeans we know and love were typically a light blue denim with a tapered leg, named after the women who wore them. Anyone who grew up during that time will probably remember their moms pairing them with a white tee, a blazer with shoulder pads, and thick socks.
But in summer 2026, mom jeans can include a number of different washes and hemlines. As nostalgic trends dominate the season’s must-haves, the best mom jeans prioritize comfort, making them the perfect pairing with a host of other summer trends: from platform sandals and bohemian blouses to white sneakers.
Whether you’re looking to revamp your collection or just get inspiration for new looks, here’s how to pull off mom jeans in summer 2026.
Cropped mom jeans and slingback shoes
Edward Berthelot/Getty Images
We start with this office outfit, in which casual denim meets all-American elegance with a pair of slingback shoes, a simple T-shirt, and a crisp blazer. The true star are the classic mom jeans, which add a relaxed air to this understated ensemble. These pants, an essential in the contemporary woman’s wardrobe, help quietly reaffirm the power of the elegantly pointed slingback shoes and allow room to freely play with the rest of your accessories.
Ever wonder what your chances would be struggling for survival in a post-apocalyptic world? Nina Romain looks at the reality of post-apoc life – and compares it to the glamorous fantasy usually found on the big screen.
The general depiction of a glamorous fantasy of life after various apocalyptic nightmares, is where everything is yours for the taking, with no limits on your freedom. This is seen in the fantasies of a lawless life, involving being able to break in anywhere or take anything you fancy, as Will Smith’s Dr Neville does in I Am Legend, taking artworks from deserted New York museums to hang up at home. Charlton Heston in The Omega Man (1971), which inspired Smith’s remake, likewise drives around a deserted NYC centre, taking cars and helping himself to fuel from deserted petrol stations. After all, who’s going to stop him?
Another advantage of living in a fictitious post-apoc world is that most forms of technology obligingly function, despite general global power system outages. Another plus will be that most people have a ham radio, plus an unlimited supply of batteries for it, rather than a more realistic society where nothing works: Smith’s Dr Neville makes daily radio broadcasts to try to find survivors.
Real life post disaster, as anyone who has seen Threads (1984) will know, will be emphatically tougher. In reality you’d be living off unmarked tinned food, years past their best-by dates, and praying you wouldn’t die of botulism as all the hospitals have been closed for the last few years.
Terminator Salvation (2009) is firmly placed in the fantasy camp of survival, showing dystopian nightmares shouldn’t stop anyone from keeping their elaborate beauty routines. From John Connor (Christian Bale) working his manly-mussed hair to Kate Connor (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Moon Bloodgood (Blair Williams) displaying flawless makeup, it’s clear that power shortages and being chased by killer cyborgs shouldn’t prevent anyone from keeping their glossy hair extensions and perfect foundation.
James Cameron’s original The Terminator (1984) gives a more accurate look at post-apoc life. Kyle Reese gives a more realistic image of his life in the post Judgement Day nightmare of permanently living underground. As he bleakly explains, during day the survivors stay underground for safety but at night can emerge to fight for their lives, while also skewering and eating rats for want of more nutritious food.
In reality, post-apoc life would involve a lot less browsing through deserted malls – and more browsing through survival manuals to learn essential topics such as “building a basic DIY hydro electric generator”, and “how to use a ham radio in a blackout”. There are also handy tips for “making backyard traps against property intruders” which helpfully outline how to hammer nails into a plank of wood to stop anyone who might want to break in and steal your home-made jam.
Other topics include: “why you need a way post-collapse to stop moisture from playing havoc with your guns”. This is something the survivors of Carriers (2009) would need, as they try to survive living armed to the teeth in an empty world, being attacked by fellow survivors and having to dump your infected friends by the side of the road to die before they infect you. One of the few doctors they meet grimly warns: “Sometimes choosing life is just choosing a more painful form of death.”
So if you ever dream of living in a post-apoc fantasy, taking whatever you fancy without the long arm of the law, bear in mind the reality maybe a lot less glamourous. There may be, as Reese warns, a lot more hiding underground eating gone off tinned food – not to mention rats.
Wahlap left an open Elasticsearch instance exposing 18.9 million records tied to its WeChat mini‑program ecosystem
Data included 6.6 million unique Union IDs, 1.7 million phone numbers, and personal details that could enable targeted phishing and fraud
The archive was locked down after disclosure, though there’s no evidence the exposed information was exfiltrated
Chinese arcade-maker powerhouse Wahlap, reportedly kept a huge user database open on the internet, available to anyone who knew where to look, security researchers from Cybernews have warned, putting personal information at risk.
Wahlap is one of the largest arcade makers in the world, working with some of the biggest names in the gaming industry, such as Sega, or Timezone. It offers Wahlap WeChat mini programs, lightweight applications that run inside the WeChat ecosystem.
For those unfamiliar with WeChat, it is one of the most popular mobile apps in the Chinese market. It is primarily a chat app, but offers all sorts of features from instant payments to, apparently, lightweight gaming. These features come in the form of mini apps displayed within WeChat, and Wahlap seems to have gathered and stored the generated data in an open Elasticsearch instance.
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Risk of phishing and fraud
The Cybernews team split the information into multiple categories: Wahlap member data, gaming behavior data, asset data, consumer snapshots, and other indices.
In total, 18.9 million records were exposed online, with the Wahlap member data category being by far the biggest. Weighing over 10GB, it contains 6.6M unique Union IDs, 1.7M unique phone numbers, and 24k dates of birth and full names.
The researchers believe that the data could have been used to profile Wahlap users and target them with highly personalized phishing attacks and fraud. “Additionally, the records contained data that revealed user IDs within the Wahlap ecosystem referring to different available mini programs as well as registration dates for specific games,” the Cybernews team said. This is precisely the kind of information that threat actors can use to sound credible.
However, there is no evidence that the data had been exfiltrated already.
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Cybernews reached out to Wahlap, and while it didn’t receive a written confirmation or acknowledgement, it did notice that the archive was locked down soon after.
Set in 1858 at the isolated gothic manor of Ensor House, Victorian Psycho follows an unusual governess, Winifred Notty, played by Maika Monroe, as she quietly hides her growing psychopathic tendencies amongst the estate’s children and staff. Directed by Zachary Wigon and based on the novel by Virginia Feito, who also wrote the screenplay, the project stems from an interest in how literary psychopaths are usually portrayed as male (and what changes when that figure becomes female). Feito was also drawn to the Victorian era itself, which she describes as full of violence, repression, and a lack of agency for women and children.
Monroe fully transforms into the character through costume, wig, and accent work, building a performance around a controlled exterior that slowly begins to fracture. Opposite her, Ruth Wilson plays Mrs. Pounds, bringing a sharp, controlled presence of her own while helping shape the film’s tension-filled dynamic of power, social rules, and repression inside the house.
“She’s fascinated by Winifred,” Wilson says of Mrs. Pounds. “She wants to kind of kill her and make love to her at the same time.”
The two stars may be at odds onscreen, but off set, it was a different story altogether. “We just had so much fun,” Monroe recalls, adding that filming with Wilson resulted in some of her “favorite scenes” she’s ever shot.
The ensemble also includes Jason Isaacs, Thomasin McKenzie, Evie Templeton, and Jacobi Jupe, rounding out the gothic world, which was filmed on location in Ireland inside a castle outside Dublin.
Watch the video above to see the full conversation.
The Deadline Studio at Cannes is sponsored by SCAD.
Over the last week, Cannes served up a fair share of European arthouse and even a splash of insane live-action CGI monster action (that’ll be “Hope”). On Thursday, it was the turn of bloody horror to have its moment at the festival.
“Victorian Psycho,” Zachary Wigon’s gothic thriller starring Maika Monroe as a possessed woman whose arrival at a 19th-century estate sparks a crescendo of chaos — including bloody axe attacks, murdered infants and much, much more gore — woke up a sleepy Cannes on Thursday afternoon. The darkly comic Gothic thriller bowed in Un Certain Regard and earned a 5-minute standing ovation, with much of the cheers aimed at Monroe (aptly dressed in a blood red dress).
Thomasin McKenzie, Ruth Wilson and Jason Isaacs also star in the film, which follows an eccentric young governess who arrives at a remote gothic manor only to find its staff inexplicably begin to disappear. As per the film’s description: “‘Victorian Psycho’ invites us into the mind of a psychopath – trapped in a world she cannot control, living on the border between insurrection and madness.”
Liz Siegal, Ruth Wilson, Zachary Wigon, Maika Monroe, Evie Templeton and Virigina Feito pose during the “Victorian Psycho” screening at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
Getty Images
Speaking to Variety before the premiere, Wigon suggested a term he used to describe the numerous tones in the film, which moves through pitch-black humor, empathy, fury and larger-than-life moments.
“The word I kept using was ‘demented,’” he says. “It’s a big tent. Demented encompasses scary, but also funny and outrageous.”
The film is based on Virginia Feito’s best-selling novel of the same name. Bleecker Street has acquired distribution rights in the U.S. and set a release date of September 25, with True Brit on board in the U.K. and Ireland. Anton is fully financing the film and representing international rights.
There were other commonalities, most obviously colonialism. From the mid-19th century until 1960, Britain controlled Nigeria, and the countries remain deeply connected. (English is Nigeria’s official language.) Present-day Nigeria and England in the 1920s “are eerily similar,” Chuko continued, as he expanded on what he saw in Woolf’s novel, “specifically how conservative the cultures are.” This connection comes devastatingly to the fore in the film when Clarissa’s father berates a server for not wearing white gloves while waiting on her and her friends. The younger people had just been animatedly discussing Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart,” an anti-colonialist landmark, yet remain deferentially quiet during the abusive outburst.
By transposing the story to Nigeria the Esiris have foregrounded the colonialist history that surfaces in the book with its repeated mentions of India and, by extension, the British Empire. It’s a brilliant interpretive move, one that’s all the more powerful because of how the Esiris use Woolf’s narrative fragmentation to suggest this crushingly divided world. The young Clarissa grows up into a comfortably cosseted woman who lives in a large, waterfront house filled with servants. Unlike her father, Clarissa tends to smile at the people who do her bidding. Yet while she wears her privilege lightly, the weight of history presses down nevertheless. There’s pathos to how unknowingly Clarissa seems to drift along, but not an iota of sentimentality.
Arie Esiri focuses more on the visual elements of their filmmaking, and he only read Woolf’s novel after his brother had finished writing the script. After deciding to make the movie, they started watching films for inspiration, as is their custom, Arie explained, to understand their own ambitions for the project and how they would approach it structurally. They watched Michelangelo Antonioni, and spoke admiringly of Edward Yang’s “Yi Yi.” (Their first feature is in the Criterion Collection.)
The brothers shot “Clarissa” on 35-millimeter film, drawing talent both from abroad and from the robust ranks of Nigeria’s film talent; the country’s industry is one of the largest in the world. Most of the movie unfolds in Lagos, where a large construction project looms over her house like a threat from the future. The Esiris filmed the pastoral scenes of Clarissa’s past at a resort run by their father, a businessman turned fine-art painter. Their mother, a former lawyer, founded a library. The parents didn’t let the brothers watch TV when they were young.
The Esiris already have a sense of what their next movie will be. It’s based on a true story about servants who are accused of theft in the house where they work, an idea that Arie has been thinking about for some time. “None of them fess up to it,” he explained. “And then they hire a babalawo, which is ——” Chuko broke in, “a witch doctor.”
Throughout the interview, the brothers, amid thoughtful pauses and shared glances, effortlessly passed the conversational baton back and forth. At one point, we talked about the tricky logistics of sharing directorial duties and how on set Chuko tends to be the more social of the duo while Arie stays with the camera. This team approach has served them well and led to an acclaimed movie that from its first striking shot to its last, expresses a soaringly harmonious joint vision.
This renowned music festival is returning to the City of Gold this weekend with a stellar line-up of top talents.
Those who will perform at the annual gathering include Vusi Mahlasela. The former “Voice of South Africa” contestant will bring his poetic spirit and upcoming project, “Questions and Answers”, to the stage.
He will be joined by Maleh, the Sotho-soul queen, as well as Brandon Aura, a rising Afro-folk star.
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Bassline Fest year and attendees are in for a musical spectacular as well as a curated selection of high-end sustainable crafts, designer goods and delicious food and beverages.
Where: Constitution Hill in Braamfontein.
When: Saturday, May 23, from 2pm.
Mawhoo @ In The Park
Award-winning amapiano star Mawhoo will headline this week’s 4Ways Farmers Market, bringing her soulful and vibrant sound to the stage.
The market will also feature supporting acts and a DJ, several bars, curated food vendors and Afro-chic fashion.
This curated music experience will also be hosted in a beautiful open-air setting, allowing attendees of all ages to enjoy the Autumn sunshine with loved ones.
Where: Taroko Farm at Modderfontein Reserve .
When: Sunday, May 24, from noon.
The Kingsmead Book Fair
The 14th edition of this book fair is returning to Johannesburg this weekend. It has evolved over the years as one of the top events on the local literary calendar.
Book lovers are invited to a new realm of the literary world. There will also be in-depth discussion and heated debate.
Marvel Studios is confirmed to introduce another gender-swapped antagonist in an upcoming 2027 MCU project on Disney+, joining the likes of Karli Morgenthau, Ghost, and Dar-Benn. The MCU has a long history of gender-bending characters from the comics onto the screen, with notable examples including the Ancient One, Ajak, and Makkari. These changes often serve to diversify the cast or fit specific story needs. The gender-bending was not exclusive to heroic figures; notable villains were also included in this strategy to keep the franchise evolving.
Heather Glenn’s Marvel villain in Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 stands out as a uniquely layered example of gender-swapping in the MCU because the original non-gender-swapped version of Muse already appeared in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. Bastian Cooper (Hunter Doohan) was a fully realized character who played a prominent role and was then killed off by Glenn herself in self-defense.
Marvel Television
This creates a rare case in the MCU, where the gender-swapped successor is directly inspired by and effectively inherits the mantle from the original male Muse, who not only appeared on-screen but was ultimately killed by his own eventual successor.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 set photos revealed Lady Muse’s new look in the Netflix reboot, with the character wearing the familiar bloody white mask, white top, and black coat. Glenn’s transformation into a full-blown villain stemmed from her deep trauma following the male Muse’s attack on her, combined with resentment toward vigilantes, including Daredevil.
Every Other Gender-Swapped Villain In the MCU
Ghost
Marvel Studios
Ant-Man and the Wasp introduced Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) as the film’s main villain. As an enhanced woman with quantum-phasing abilities, Starr worked as a stealth operative who tried to gain access to the Quantum Realm to heal her unstable cells that had been tearing her apart.
Ghost earned redemption by becoming a founding member of the New Avengers, leading to her much-anticipated appearance alongside other heroes in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday.
In Marvel Comics, Ghost is a male Iron Man villain portrayed as a tech genius and corporate saboteur who wears a suit that grants intangibility and invisibility. The MCU version reimagined the powers and backstory, making Ava possess innate abilities rather than a power-granting suit.
In Marvel Comics, Karl Morgenthau is a male terrorist who served as the antithesis of Captain America. Karl used the Flag Smasher persona to fight against countries and borders as a villain-for-hire. Outside of the gender swap, Marvel Studios’ Disney+ project expands the Flag Smasher into a movement instead of a one-man wrecking crew.
The Marvel Comics version of Dar-Benn was actually a male Kree general and warlord who manipulated his rise to power. He had conflicts with other heroes, such as the Avengers and the Silver Surfer, in cosmic storylines like Operation: Galactic Storm. The MCU reimagined Dar-Benn as a more personal foe for Carol, driven by vengeance.
Taskmaster’s version in Marvel Comics is a male mercenary named Anthony Masters, with photographic reflexes that let him copy any fighting style after seeing it once. Masters operates as a villain-for-hire and, in some stories, an anti-hero. The MCU turned Taskmaster into a tragic figure tied to Natasha Romanoff’s Red Room backstory.
Bonus: Mar-Vell
Marvel Studios
While Annette Bening’s Wendy Lawson (Mar-Vell) was portrayed as a mentor to Carol Danvers from Project Pegasus in Captain Marvel, the Supreme Intelligence used Lawson’s liking to manipulate her.
As the main villain, the Supreme Intelligence exploited this emotional connection during key psychic confrontations to reinforce Kree propaganda, suppress Carol’s memories of her human past, and keep her loyal as a brainwashed Starforce warrior.
Still, she is included in the list because her surname linked her to the Falsworth family, most notably James Montgomery Falsworth, the original Union Jack (a British patriotic hero akin to Captain America). Sonya carried the family’s legacy of espionage and heroism, though into a morally grey area.
In Marvel Comics, Sylvie draws inspiration from several characters, including the second Enchantress, Sylvie Lushton, and elements of Lady Loki. Marvel Studios blends the name and Enchantress vibes with a full Loki Variant backstory.
The DC Universe is bringing a big spotlight on the Green Lantern Corps that may go beyond 2026.
Lanterns, which will be the next major DC Studios TV show in James Gunn’s franchise, is only a few months away from its launch. However, rumors about a big change for season 2 have already been confirmed, as Christopher Cantwell is officially joining the creative team. Check out his statement below:
Chris Cantwell Confirms Joining DCU Lanterns Season 2
The InSneider recently reported that Cantwell had joined the Lanterns TV show for season 2 as a writer and executive producer. His body of work includes co-creating the Halt and Catch Fire series, along with executive producing the Paper Girls adaptation.
At the time of this story’s publication, HBO, Warner Bros. TV, and DC Studios have not confirmed Lanterns season 2 is happening. A renewal or cancellation of the show’s fate beyond season 2 has not been made yet.
However, it’s not impossible that development for a potential Lanterns season 2 has begun before season 1’s launch. It’s common for studios and networks to quietly work on plans for a hypothetical next season before an actual renewal has happened.
Developing scripts for Lanterns season 2 will also allow production to start faster if/when a renewal comes from HBO. That also means filming can kick off a lot sooner, which in turn can make it easier for the series to come back in 2027.
The original report has also stated that executive producers Damon Lindelof and Tom King are expected to have less involvement in Lanterns season 2, due to their commitments to other projects. However, that has not been confirmed by DC Studios, HBO, and Warner Bros. TV.
Cantwell’s official addition is also promising, as he has a background in the world of comics, having worked both on DC and Marvel titles. Having a TV writer with comic book experience enter the DCU series will also continue the trend of Lanterns season 1 through King’s involvement.
Chris Mundy, who is the showrunner, has also recently been on the record that Lanterns season 2 is very possible. According to the Ozark creators, they constructed the series with the intention of running for multiple seasons, which makes Cantwell’s hiring fitting and timely.
Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan in Lanterns
The DCU’s Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters” is already showing signs of its investment with Lanterns in the larger franchise. Aaron Pierre, who will play John Stewart in the HBO series, will be reprising the role of the famous Green Lantern in 2027’s Man of Tomorrow.
If Lanterns season 2 moves forward, it will most likely continue John’s progression as he becomes the primary Green Lantern in the DCU. The cast will also probably pull in more Emerald Knights from the deeper lore, which gives the series a chance for additional layers.
Depending on how Lanterns season 1 is received and performs, HBO will likely hand out a season 2 renewal before 2026 is over. Whether that will happen before, during, or after the airing of season 1 remains to be seen, though.
Lanterns is officially set to premiere on Sunday, August 16, on HBO and will also stream on HBO Max.
Scottish comic Brian “Limmy” Limond has seen himself referenced in Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, and it’s incredibly wholesome.
We can see the full scene unfold thanks to an upload on Limmy’s YouTube channel, which clips the moment he sees himself referenced in the game for the first time — please note that there are minor spoilers for the game in the video.
The reference takes place during the final encounter of the game, with Lego Batman fighting a foe that we shan’t name. During the encounter, some of WayneTech’s own weaponry is used against Batman and his allies. As a result, he calls out: “She’s turned the WayneTech against us!”
If you don’t already recognise it, this is a reference to a sketch on Limmy’s Show, a cult-classic BBC Scotland production that ran from 2010 to 2013. The 20-second skit has been uploaded on YouTube on Limmy’s own channel, where it has earned just shy of 1.6 million views since December 2013. In the skit, Limmy depicts himself as a shirtless man walking through a rainy British street while declaring, “She’s turned the weans against us!”
Limmy is alerted to the reference via a chatter during one of his regular streams, and can’t help but be surprised and genuinely touched. “No way,” he declares after hearing it twice. “That’s fantastic! That is brilliant.
“Whoever put that in, thank you so much,” he continues. “I’m very glad that you like that sketch enough to put that in. That’s really made my day, thank you very much.” He goes on to impersonate his original character, parroting Batman’s line, before concluding, “That was a bit harder to say.”
Based on the novel by Virginia Feito, the synopsis reads: “When eccentric governess Winifred (Monroe) arrives at a remote gothic manor in Victorian England, her unnerving charm hides a deadly secret. Strange, unsettling incidents become harder to ignore as Winifred descends into madness, and her increasingly brutal acts shatter the calm of the estate. How far will this psycho killer go, and who will survive her wrath?”
Bleecker Street has U.S. rights to the Zachary Wigon-directed movie, also Jason Isaacs and Thomasin McKenzie. Bleecker Street plans to release the film nationwide theatrically in 2026. True Brit releases in UK.
Pic is produced by Dan Kagan (Longlegs) under his Traffic banner as well as Sebastien Raybaud (Greenland: Migration) for Anton and Wigon, in association with Anonymous Content. EPs include Anonymous Content’s Nick Shumaker and Bard Dorros, Feito, and Bleecker Street’s Kent Sanderson and Miranda King. Anton is fully financing the film and is representing international rights.
Maika Monroehas been a scream queen for about a decade, from her early starring role in “It Follows” to her turn as an FBI agent in Neon’s “Longlegs.” Now she’s trading serial killer horror for something a bit more “Crimson Peak” with “Victorian Psycho,” a new gothic horror movie. Bleecker Street released the first teaser trailer for the film on May 21, the same day the film premiered in the Un Certain Regard category of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
The trailer, set to the anachronistic needle drop of “Throw Yourself to the Sword” by punk band Die Spitz, introduces the audience to Monroe’s character, Winifred Notty, a young governess who arrives at the remote gothic manor of Ensor House sometime in 1858 to teach the children of the estate’s owners, Mr. and Mrs. Pounds. Soon after she arrives, staff begins to disappear from the manor under mysterious circumstances, and suspicion soon starts to turn towards the eccentric new governess. Not helping her case is the rather unhinged monologue she gives that narrates the trailer, in which she instructs her young charges on the meaning of evil.
“What is the most important thing in life? Knowing good from evil,” Monroe says at the top of the trailer. “But what is evil? Can you touch it? Can you smell it? Can you taste it on your tongue? Can you feel it rolling around inside you? Squeezing hard?”
“Victorian Psycho” comes from director Zachary Wigon, who is best known for his 2022 sophomore feature film “Sanctuary,” starring Christopher Abbot and Margaret Qualley; Qualley was initially tapped to lead the film, before exiting the project in 2025. The film is based on the 2025 novel of the same name by author Virginia Feito, who adapts her own work and penned the screenplay to the feature. As the trailer proudly advertises, the film comes from several producers involved with “Longlegs,” with Dan Kagan, Liz Siegal, and Sebastien Raybaud producing alongside Wigon.
Aside from Monroe, “Victorian Psycho” also stars Thomasin McKenzie, Ruth Wilson, and Jason Isaacs. Following its Cannes premiere, the movie will release in American theaters sometime this fall. Watch the full teaser trailer below.
Raise your hand if you’re still hesitant to hop aboard the skinny-jeans train. (Hey, we get it!) If so, learning how to style cigarette jeans is the next best thing—and it’ll prove just how versatile the trending denim can be. After all, the slim cut hits the sweet spot between skinnies and straight-legs, falling straight from the knee to the ankle, much like, well, a cigarette. This trim style first gained popularity in the ’80s; fast-forward to the ’90s, and everyone from Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to Princess Diana had embraced the look. Now, in 2026, a new generation of fashion girls is adopting cigarette jeans as an antidote to the overwhelming popularity of baggy, wide-leg jeans. The allure lies in their versatility—and they just might become the hardest-working jeans in your wardrobe. If your office dress code skews casual, pair the pants with a tailored blazer and leather loafers; for weekend outings, they also serve as the perfect base for a T-shirt and flip-flops.
Need more ideas on how to style cigarette jeans? Shop our favorite outfit ideas below.
Not only did Nexstar hit back at a lawsuit filed by DirecTV and multiple state attorneys general that sought to disrupt its $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, the company also slammed the injunction pausing the deal.
The multimedia conglomerate requested an expedited appeal with the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday evening, where Nexstar ripped the federal judge’s preliminary injunction freezing the merger. Specifically, in the document, the company railed against the injunction as a “straightjacket” that risked “profound harms” to Tegna. The request also suggested that a lengthy legal fight “locks Tegna stations into an outdated structure that was already under substantial strain, making it more likely Tegna will not survive while waiting for the transaction to be vindicated.”
Additionally, Nexstar, in a companion brief filed alongside the request, blasted the U.S. District Court’s decision as a blatant overstep, adding that it impacts “stations, operations and corporate functions that have nothing to do with plaintiffs’ alleged harms.”
“This Court should narrow the preliminary injunction to match the law and what plaintiffs actually allege,” it stated. “Plaintiffs fell far short of their burden for the extraordinary relief of a preliminary injunction of any kind, let alone one this sweeping.”
Nexstar also claimed that during the trial “the full evidentiary record will defeat plaintiffs’ claims,” adding that “defendants cannot wait for trial to challenge the scope of the injunction. With each passing day, the injunction’s unnecessary breadth inflicts unrecoverable harm. Worse still, it degrades the very assets it purports to protect.”
“The plaintiffs’ claims reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the modern media landscape in which companies like Nexstar and TEGNA are dwarfed by Big Tech, which has unlimited reach, bottomless resources, and unchecked influence,” a spokesperson for Nexstar told TheWrap on Wednesday. “We’re looking forward to presenting our case at trial and exposing just how weak, cynical, and misguided these claims are. In the meantime, our appeal is focused on narrowing an overly broad preliminary injunction that goes far beyond the harms plaintiffs are alleging, hindering broadcasters’ ability to compete, and creating further uncertainty for an industry already under significant pressure.”
They continued: “At a moment when the future of local journalism is at stake, keeping broadcasters from achieving the scale needed to compete only serves to strengthen the dominance of Big Tech and accelerate the erosion of local news in the communities we serve.”
Nexstar’s filing came a month after U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley put the $6.2 billion merger on ice, in which he concluded that the deal would hinder competition by violating antitrust laws.
At the time, a Nexstar spokesperson said the company would appeal the decision, telling TheWrap, “This transaction closed more than four weeks ago following receipt of all required regulatory approvals from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Nexstar Media Group now owns TEGNA and has taken steps consistent with the Court order that has been in effect.”
“For nearly thirty years, Nexstar has provided free over-the-air access to all its broadcast stations — local news, weather, and community-focused programming alongside major network programming,” the statement continued. “This pro- competitive transaction will make local stations stronger and support continued investment in local journalism and fact-based news.”
Under the original terms of the deal, Nexstar would have had 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, representing a reach of 80% of U.S. television households, adding Big-4 affiliate stations in Phoenix, Atlanta, Toledo and Portland. The combined company would have also had stations in nine of the top 10 markets, and in 41 of the top 50.
In order to close the deal, Nexstar agreed to divest six stations across six different DMAs and made commitments to affordability and localism.
Its approval was also subject to raising or eliminating the 39% national TV ownership cap put in place by Congress in 2004 to protect viewpoint diversity, as well as prevent monopolization. However, instead of modifying the ownership rules, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr granted the companies a waiver and defended that the decision would empower broadcast TV stations and foster local journalism.
Drake has this One Weird Trick that almost always works for him: When they go low, make the people dance. That’s how “Nice for What” almost singlehandedly defused “The Story of Adidon”—not by redressing its surgically precise takedowns, but by swerving them entirely. Call it the inverse Streisand Effect. Except somewhere between the fifth Kendrick diss and the second UMG lawsuit, Drizzy seemed to forget all that.
Either he just remembered or someone very wise reminded him. “Cheetah Print” is a standout on MAID OF HONOUR—the clubby party-starter of the three albums he dropped last night—and just a really good-ass time. Actually, it’s the tactical weapons system of good-ass times. If the Peggy Gousample wasn’t 100 percent surefire, here’s Sexyy Red interpolating the “Cha Cha Slide”: “Clap with no hands.” Drake’s come-ons are sort of half-hearted (“I’ll tell you what I really want/Like I’m Scary Spice, girl”) but in a charming way, like he’d much rather be queening out and listening to house music with you. Checks out, considering his greatest contribution to popular music this decade is “Heated” by Beyoncé.
A little over a year ago, Drake tried to pull off something similar with $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, his full-length PARTYNEXTDOOR collab, but when you’ve just stepped onstage with smoking bullet holes in your black hoodie, “Nokia” comes off like forced levity. A little time spent (relatively) out of the public eye has restored his gift for knowing when Drake is missed, and what incarnation of him people are missing. That gated piano in “Cheetah Print”’s final minute hits like a massive Stake payout for everyone who’s been holding on to their Honestly, Nevermind stock. And wouldn’t you know it, animal print is back in style. What’s going on with DJ Khaled? Don’t worry about it, kitten.
In Reckless, action star Scott Adkins teams up with director Elliott Montello and writers Matthew Robert Kelly and Stu Small to bring this action comedy, in the vein of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, to streaming.
The film starts quickly with an armored truck heist by a band of robbers disguised in masks featuring the design of the British flag. The comedic tone is set when they need to figure out a numbered code to access a lock and settle on 007, which works! After the heist, an airplane hangar has been designated as the rendezvous point for the team. First to arrive is Devon (Adkins), along with his girlfriend Veronica (Kirsty J. Curtis), but it’s crickets — no one else shows up until the police suddenly arrive. Devon thinks on his feet and uses his phone as a prop gun while pretending to take Veronica hostage. However, Devon’s plans are foiled when the phone rings and he has to pick it up because it’s his mother calling, and he’s promptly arrested.
Five years later, Devon is released on parole. All he wants to do is get his share of the money, reunite with Veronica, and go live his life. His first stop is to see George (Jordan Long), one of his former fellow robbers. Meanwhile, at his office, George is making unwanted sexual advances toward his bookkeeper, Kimber (Nicole Deon), and during a struggle, he gets his throat cut by a vase. Unfortunately for Devon, this happens just as he arrives, and before he can get any answers, George dies. It now looks like Devon is on the hook for killing him.
The news of Devon’s release and George’s death gets back to the big boss, Trent (Vinnie Jones). He suspects that Devon is out for revenge over the double-cross during the heist, when in reality Devon has no clue about Trent’s involvement. Trent decides to send The Bishop (Mark Strange) to take out Devon. With George now dead, Devon makes his way to see Toby (Gavin Fraser), another ex-associate involved with the heist, with Kimber along for the ride. The clock is now ticking for Devon to get the answers he wants, and more importantly, his share of the money before The Bishop finds him.
“… an armored truck heist by a band of robbers disguised in masks …”
If I had to compare Scott Adkins to an actor from back in the day, it might be Michael Dudikoff from the American Ninja franchise. Dudikoff was a B-level action star, enough to put him in cheap action films and get them rented on home video, but not the kind of person to greenlight a theatrical film. I viewed Scott Adkins as the same type of guy. He’s managed to be the star of lower-budget action films suited best for streaming while relying on the strength of his martial arts skills to carry them. This might be the first time I’ve seen Scott Adkins stretch beyond that lane and show there’s a real comedic side to him backed up by some acting chops. I was impressed with how he delivered this role as Devon. At the same time, don’t get me wrong, the movie does have action in it, and he relies on that to help drive the film, but since there’s comedy involved, some of the fight choreography is allowed to be a bit sloppy.
If I’m giving props to Scott Adkins, then there definitely has to be a shoutout to the film’s director, Elliott Montello, for getting him there. Although the film has a simple plot, Montello manages to make it a lot of fun through fast edits and by adding visual flair with vignettes to introduce new characters. I had to look up his credits, and there’s a music video background that you can clearly see implemented here. Even the score and soundtrack fit appropriately during transition scenes and help the pacing of the film.
If you’re looking for a Guy Ritchie or Jason Statham-type film, for a B-level action comedy, this will do.
The federal government’s proposed lawful access bill is raising concerns about the potential lengthy retention of Canadians’ metadata that could then be accessed by law enforcement, which privacy experts warn is risky and “unprecedented.”
Concerns about the legislation have already spurred multiple service providers, including VPN operators, to say they would pull out of Canada rather than comply with the controversial proposals that seek to give investigators access to company-held data.
Bill C-22 includes a new provision that would allow the government to make regulations for “core” telecommunications providers to retain certain types metadata — including transmission and location data — “for reasonable periods of time not exceeding one year.”
The bill would then allow the minister of public safety to order other electronic service providers to comply with that regulation, subject to approval of the federal intelligence commissioner, for the purposes of a criminal or national security investigation.
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While government officials insist the data that would be collected does not include actual online content like search histories or emails, and that the metadata itself can only be collected by investigators through a judicial warrant, experts warn the retention policy alone is concerning.
“The government’s building this massive haystack of data with the thought that they might need to find the needle every once in a while,” said Michael Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa and the Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law.
“But in doing so, they’re creating huge privacy risks for Canadians.”
Feds ‘not looking for sneaky ways to surveil Canadians’ with Bill 22: Anandasangaree
Metadata is broadly defined as “data about data,” or what Geist calls “the information around” something like an online communication rather than the content itself.
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This includes dates, times and locations those messages were sent, the IP addresses used to send them, and broad identifiers like the names of senders and receivers and what type of file or message it was.
It also involves tracking data and transmission data that is collected every time a cellphone connects to a cell tower, Geist explained, “which is all the time” because most people’s phones remain turned on even when not in use.
“Anytime you communicate with someone, what device did you use? Where were you located? When did you communicate? All of those things about your activities. That’s what metadata is,” he said.
Robert Diab, a law professor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., who focuses on online privacy, said courts have recognized for decades that “the mosaic of information that you can assemble through metadata can really reveal quite a lot about a person’s life.”
“What it is they’re doing, their movements, their communications — it connects you with people and places in time, and from that you can draw a number of inferences about a person.”
Canada introducing new version of ‘lawful access’ bill to give CSIS, police more online powers
What does the bill seek to do?
Police and intelligence officials have said while speaking about Bill C-22 that metadata can be useful to investigators when trying to, for instance, link a kidnapping suspect to multiple locations where they may have taken a victim.
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Richard Burchill, director-general of technical investigative services for the RCMP, told the House of Commons public safety committee this month that internet transmission data and cell tower signalling data would be of particular interest.
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He said the reason for the one-year time limit was to create a “consistent” data retention standard for major telecommunications providers that investigators could rely upon.
“If they keep it for three days, but you’re one week into a kidnapping investigation, that data is gone whether you are judicially authorized or not, whereas some companies have it readily available,” he said.
Liberal MP Sima Acan noted during the same hearing that historical metadata could be “essential for establishing timelines and connections that are not immediately obvious,” particularly when offences are reported long after they occur.
Government officials told the committee that regulations on what specific metadata must be retained and for how long — as well as what a “core” provider is — will be developed after the legislation becomes law, through consultations with law enforcement and security agencies as well as the telecommunications sector.
Those regulations could then be redrafted as needed in the future without having to introduce new legislation.
“This is heavily based in technology, and using terms (that) could be obsolete within a number of years … would render the whole bill actually useless,” said Shannon Hiegel, the national security policy director general at Public Safety Canada.
Simon Lafortune, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office, told Global News the bill “only allows for limited retention requirements strictly for metadata” and “does not permit the retention of content, web browsing history, or social media activity.”
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Some police chiefs, however, have called for even broader and lengthier data retention, though government officials insisted they are not currently looking to further expand lawful access authorities beyond Bill C-22.
Thunder Bay Police Chief Darcy Fleury told the committee at a separate hearing this month that the one-year limit for metadata retention was “a good start” but that two or even three years “would be ideal.”
Canadian Chiefs of Police call for swift passage of Safe Borders Act
Why are experts concerned?
Diab noted that under existing Canadian law, police must seek a warrant asking a telecommunications provider to retain a specific person’s metadata for only a limited amount of time, such as a month or 90 days, for an investigative purpose.
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“The reason Parliament has done that … is that it recognizes that the creation of a record is itself an interference” of privacy, he said.
“In this case, the minister tells Telus, ‘go and save it for a year.’ … The idea is the same: if you create a record, if you order a third party to preserve a citizen’s records of their communications, you are interfering with their privacy because you’re conducting a form of surveillance. You are creating a situation in which their movements, their communications are being watched or are being made watchable in a sense. And that’s what matters.”
He said the law, if passed as currently written, could be challenged in court for running afoul of Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects Canadians against “unreasonable search or seizure.”
The metadata retention provision is not mentioned in the government’s Charter statement on the bill, which outlines how it is consistent with Charter rights and freedoms.
A Department of Justice spokesperson told Global News this is because the provision “does not itself require metadata retention” and only creates a regulation-making authority.
“Any future regulation made under that authority would have to comply with the Charter, including Section 8 protections,” and be subject to a separate Charter statement and other safeguards, Ian McLeod said.
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“It would also need to be assessed based on what data is covered, who must retain it, for how long, for what purpose, and what safeguards apply.”
Hiegel told the House of Commons committee that the government does not equate a company’s retention of data with a “seizure” as defined by the Charter because there is no production order involved until a judicial warrant is approved.
Experts noted the broad retention of data also poses cybersecurity risks, particularly if hackers exploit regulations created under Bill C-22 for providers to give law enforcement access to information — a provision critics have called a “backdoor” into online platforms, which the government has denied.
Liberals table 2nd border bill after backlash to 1st version
How do other countries compare?
The government and police chiefs have repeatedly said Canada is lagging behind its Five Eyes and G7 allies that already have lawful access powers in place.
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Those countries differ in their metadata retention polices, however.
While Australia mandates companies retain metadata for up to two years, the United States has no broad retention timeline in law and has sought to limit the scope of such abilities in recent years.
The European Union also doesn’t have a standard data retention timeline for member nations, and some that have their own lawful access regimes, like Germany, have seen their metadata provisions struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.
“We have choices, and we don’t really face any particular requirements to make these changes,” Geist said.
Diab said the disparity points to the trouble governments face when trying to justify broad data retention to the public.
“If you were told that the government is going to tell Telus and Freedom and Fido and whoever to keep a record of when and where you made calls, and where you used your cellphone for a year, for a potentially prosecutorial purpose — how would you feel?” he asked. “Would you feel you were being surveilled? Would you feel that your privacy is interfered with?
“I think most reasonable Canadians would say, yeah, that would feel kind of creepy. I don’t want to know that that’s happening.”
Mick Jagger is set to star in Italian director Alice Rohrwacher’s adaptation of U.S. author Audrey Niffenegger’s novel “Three Incestuous Sisters,” alongside previously announced cast members Dakota Johnson, Josh O’Connor, Saoirse Ronan, Jessie Buckley and Isabella Rossellini.
The Rolling Stones frontman touched down in a helicopter earlier this week on the volcanic island of Stromboli, off the coast of Sicily, where Rohrwacher’s gothic drama is shooting, according to an inside source who confirmed Italian press reports. He is staying in a villa on the island where Isabella Rossellini’s father, Roberto Rossellini, famously began his scandalous affair with her mother Ingrid Bergman on the set of his film by the same title in 1949.
“Three Incestuous Sisters” marks the first English-language feature by Rohrwacher who is a two-time Cannes prizewinner with “The Wonders” (2014) and “Happy as Lazzaro” (2018). The buzzy film is based on Niffenegger’s illustrated gothic novel about three sisters living in isolation, whose relationship is disrupted by the arrival of a lighthouse keeper’s son. Other plot details are being kept under wraps.
According to unconfirmed Italian press reports, Jagger is playing the lighthouse keeper whose son is being played by Josh O’Connor.
Jagger’s standout acting roles comprise his debut in Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg’s “Performance,” in which he toyed with his public persona playing a burned-out, decadent rock star; a ruthless corporate mercenary in Geoff Murphy’s 1992 sci-fi flop “Freejack,” which is now a cult-classic; a drag queen in Sean Mathias’s 2015 “Bent”; a jaded business exec running an escort agency in George Hickenlooper’s “The Man From Elysian Fields” (2001); and, more recently, a reclusive art collector in Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi’s 2019 noir “The Burnt Orange Heresy” that bowed from Venice.
Earlier this month The Rolling Stones announced the release of a new studio album “Foreign Tongues,” due on July 10 from Capitol Records. The 14-track collection follows less than three years after the band’s Grammy Award-winning “Hackney Diamonds” — which was their first in nearly 15 years. The new album is being introduced by the lead single “In the Stars,” released digitally on Friday (May 5) alongside the album’s opening track “Rough and Twisted.”
Rohrwacher’s most recent feature is “La Chimera” (2023), led by O’Connor and also starring Rossellini, that competed in Cannes. “La Chimera” was released in the U.S. by Neon and sold widely around the world. Rohrwacher was honored earlier this year with the European Film Academy’s Achievement in World Cinema Award.
“Three Incestuous Sisters” is financed and produced by Indian Paintbrush. Johnson and Ro Donnelly are producing for Johnson’s TeaTime Pictures, along with Steven Rales for Indian Paintbrush. Rohrwacher is also producing. The Italian line producer is Fandango. Principal photography on “Three Incestuous Sisters” started in April with ten weeks of shooting planned in Stromboli and Rome.
Stephen Colbert was surprised with a number of familiar faces during his second to last episode of “The Late Show,” as Billy Crystal, Amy Sedaris, wife Evie McGee-Colbert and more were tapped to ask the host questions from his “Colbert Questionert.”
In lieu of a big sit down interview with one celebrity, Colbert, instead, was put in the hot seat and was asked a series of questions from his popular questionnaire segment.
As Colbert explained at the top of the segment, the “Colbert Questionert” is a standardized list of 15 questions raging in topics from theories on life after death to one’s favorite sandwich. Colbert himself got to answer these wide-ranging questions by his former guests, including Billy Crystal, Josh Brolin, Weird Al Yankovic, Martha Stewart, Jim Gaffigan, Mark Hamill, Ben Stiller, Tiffany Haddish, Aubrey Plaza, James Taylor, Robert De Niro and John Dickerson, among others.
However, the best interaction of the night came from two of the women Colbert knows best: Evie McGee-Colbert and Amy Sedaris.
Namely, Colbert’s wife was introduced to the stage as “the ‘Late Show’s’ First Lady,” with the late night host asking his spouse if she ran into Haddish (who had hit on him minutes prior.)
“I did!” she quipped. “I hear we’re all going traveling together.”
She then asked her husband, “How you doing? How do you like this?”
“I’m good. Being in this seat is weird for me,” Colbert hesitantly noted. “That’s exactly it, not having control. What do you got?”
At this moment, McGee-Colbert asked from the “Questionert”: “What is your favorite smell, darling?”
“That’s a good one for you. Oh, you’re not gonna like the answer. My favorite smell is when we are going out someplace, and you go upstairs to get ready first, and then I, because you take a little longer … come up to follow you,” he said, “and when I get to like, the top of the stairs, I know that you’ve already gotten out of the shower, because I can smell that like rose lotion … And then, I know that you’re in there wearing very little.”
This answer prompted a big reaction from Colbert’s wife, who burst out laughing over the comment.
After McGee-Colbert exited the stage, Sedaris, who has known Colbert for almost 40 years, came out, telling her friend that she was both “happy” and “sad” to be there. She then ripped up the question she was given, pretending that she planned to go rogue.
Sedaris then read aloud from the torn notes: “What is your least favorite smell?
“I was maybe 10 or 11, and I had a next-door neighbor across the street, the Millers. And Mrs. Miller was really lovely. We used to talk all the time, even when the kids weren’t around, she was just really lovely woman,” he recalled. “And I remember one day she was cleaning out underneath the sink, I was just sitting like, on the bar stool … and you know how people keep like jars of grease? It had either broken or the jar lid had come loose, and it had leaked. That grease had poured into a bag of sugar, and the bag of sugar had turned rancid.”
He continued: “She said to me, ‘Do you want to smell just the worst thing?’ … And I said, ‘Sure,’ and I smelled it, and I can’t possibly describe what it’s like, but I remember even as a boy going, wow, I know there’s some bad smells, like we humans make our own bad smelling things, which you can obviously think of, but this was so much worse than anything else I’d ever [smelled]. I didn’t think anything could smell that bad, and so it stuck with me.”
This sentimental sendoff, which also included a musical performance from Bruce Springsteen, came one day before Colbert was set to sign off the air.
Google announced a new YouTube Shorts Remix feature that lets users restyle clips or even insert themselves into other people’s videos using Gemini Omni. Now, at the bottom of a YouTube Short, when you click the remix icon, you’ll see an option to “reimagine” it. Here, you can prompt Gemini to turn a video into pixel art, an anime, or a found-footage horror film. But, beyond that, you can also alter the contents by, say, inflating heads, inserting background actors, dressing people in pirate costumes, or even putting yourself in the clip.
Creators can enable or disable the ability to reimagine videos. So, if you upload a short of your kids and would prefer (for obvious and understandable reasons) that people not be able to manipulate it, you can turn off remixing. Google also says that shorts remixed through Omni will have a digital watermark and link back to the original video.
John Cage’s “Apartment House 1776,” like the country whose founding it commemorates, is a work of transcendence and frustration.
When commissioned by six orchestras for the United States’ bicentennial in 1976, Cage submitted this “musicircus” that overlaps, according to the score, “Protestant, Sephardic and American Indian songs, and Negro calls and hollars [sic],” with fragments of American music from the 18th century.
Singers and instrumentalists were encouraged to “make his or their own program,” ensuring that no two performances of “Apartment House” were remotely alike. In the case of its premiere run at the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1976, it was simultaneously performed with Cage’s “Renga” for 78 instruments or voices, adding to the uproar.
“The overlapping textures were fascinating to hear, but the continuing coherences of the whole were as elusive as they were probably meant to be,” the critic Richard Dyer wrote in The Boston Globe of the premiere.
Now, for the 250th birthday of the United States, “Apartment House” is back for a new production at Detroit Opera, where it opens on Thursday. Here, audience members will be able to tease out the threads of Cage’s boisterous tapestry — if they choose. Staged in a wing of the idyllic Cranbrook Art Museum, 20 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, the show will split attendees into four groups for entry into the galleries, each corresponding to one of the work’s four singers. From there, the audiences can either stick with their assigned singer or freely roam the installation-like production.
Then, they can do it all over again. Entries are scheduled in batches of three. Those with tickets to one can automatically enter the next, meaning you could experience “Apartment House” up to three times in a single visit.
Alexander Sulen Gedeon, the director, said that this production is “about frames” rather than commands. He added, “How do we create an experience where, like Cage wants, we’re not telling you where to look?”
So much of Cage’s music is, at its essence, a dance between freedom and limitation. In “Apartment House,” the dance comes to reflect the United States. Its multitude is ecstatic — yet, amid the din, people struggle to apprehend one another’s fullness. Even in Detroit Opera’s generous re-entry concept, if you were to shadow a specific singer each time, you’d still miss one of them.
Cage’s score, Gedeon said, has pitfalls. What was progressive in 1976 — namely, Cage’s highlighting of religious and ethnic groups living in the American colonies — can, in 2026, seem naïve in its neatness. But Gedeon resolved to make Cage’s flaw a feature.
With the scenographer Lena Sands and the dramaturg Kee-Yoon Nahm, Gedeon began by interviewing the four singers. What did 1776 mean to them today? How did they place themselves in an ethnic or religious tradition? How did Cage’s directions sit with them?
“Starting out with what strikes me as problematic,” Gedeon said, “could be a really productive place to start.”
The cast and creative team follow Cage’s stipulations while busting open their boxed-in labels. Pushing against his “Negro calls and hollers,” the soprano Brianna J. Robinson will perform music representing four centuries of Black classical composers. The tenor Travis Leon Williams, whose father is Black and mother is white, is responding to Cage’s “Protestant songs” with spirituals and protest anthems of the civil rights movement. While the French soprano Mia Mandineau, the descendant of a cantor in Prague, sings a Sephardic melody, it comes to her by way of her Greek heritage.
“I don’t think that they’re trying to resolve the conflicts and contradictions of the nation in 1776,” said Selena Kearney, a Coast Salish artist who will perform songs in Chehalis and Ichishkíin Sinwit, Native American languages spoken in the Pacific Northwest. “And I also don’t think that they’re asking me — and I assume the other vocalists — to resolve it. We’re sort of sitting in that tension.”
The production comes at a troubled time for Detroit Opera. For a while, it was the darling of the opera world, with Yuval Sharon joining as artistic director in 2020. He helmed some of the company’s boldest programming, like “Twilight: Gods” — which adapted the finale of Wagner’s “Ring” to a drive-through show in a parking garage during the pandemic lockdown — and an earlier foray into Cage with “Europeras 3 & 4” in 2024. (Gedeon assisted Sharon on both those productions.)
But Detroit Opera, whose annual budget hovers around $16.4 million, has shown signs of financial strain. Last fall, it canceled its production of Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” and in December, Sharon abruptly parted ways with the company, announcing he was departing two years before the end of his contract.
Sharon’s tenure technically continues through the end of this season, but he backed out of “Apartment House,” which he had been set to direct. He has since become a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera, where his new, $3.5 million production of “Tristan und Isolde” sold out an extended eight-show run and where he will next direct the “Ring.” (Sharon declined a request for an interview.)
In early stages of planning “Apartment House,” the company considered a built set with rooms for its performers, as other productions have adopted. Sharon told a Detroit-area radio program that he planned an immersive experience that presented “the sights of what an American home really looks like,” and the National Endowment for the Arts conferred $50,000 to support a production that, at the time, would include “constructed apartment-like spaces.”
“What it was going to be for him was a much larger spectacle,” Gedeon said of Sharon. “And spectacle is really his language: The form of the thing speaks for itself, in a way.”
The final form of this “Apartment House” is comparatively minimal. It does away with the room staging, which Gedeon feared would turn the cast into “objects on display.” Instead, the costumed performers flow through the galleries, their walls emblazoned with phrases from the cast’s preproduction interviews.
Although the staging is conceptual, the production has been shaped by real-world intrusions. Mandineau, the French soprano, has dreamed of moving to the United States since she was 11. She got a taste of American life as a student, then as a resident artist at Detroit Opera. But her visa expires after the run of “Apartment House,” and it will be her last job in the country for the foreseeable future.
“I’m three things, and I’m always one too many: I’m a foreigner, I don’t come from a rich family, and I’m an artist,” Mandineau said. “If I was an artist and a foreigner, but if I had money of my own, I could stay. If I had no money and I was a foreigner, but I was working in finance or technology or engineering, I could stay. And if I had no money and was an artist, but I was American, I could stay.”
In her “Apartment House” arc, Mandineau packs a set of bags and loads it onto a dolly, which she wheels through the galleries. At one point, breaking the fourth wall, she stares at a timer, tracking the performance’s length, watching the seconds flash by with wide eyes. Then she sings “Adieu, notre petite table,” from Massenet’s “Manon”: “Farewell, our little table, which brought us together so often.”
Mandineau closes her eyes, palms facing outward, stealing a moment of silent prayer. Her bags are packed. The clock ticks.
Netflix is dropping a three-part docuseries that revisits Michael Jackson’s2005 trial in which he was acquitted on charges of child molestation.
“Michael Jackson: The Verdict” drops June 3 and features archival footage and interviews with key players involved in the trial including jurors, figures from both the defense and the prosecution, journalists who were inside the courtroom and other eyewitnesses who saw the events unfold firsthand.
“It has been 20 years since the trial of Michael Jackson in which he was found not guilty. Yet, to this day, controversy still rages,” the filmmakers said. “No cameras were allowed in court, and so the public’s view of the facts at the time were filtered by commentators and presented piecemeal. It was time to take a forensic look at the trial as a whole.
“Anyone interested in the Michael Jackson story should feel this documentary gives them a window into what was largely a closed event and a chance to feel closer to what happened.”
The Santa Barbara Superior Court trial lasted 14 weeks, and the jury, which included eight women and four men, deliberated for more than 30 hours across seven days.
Jackson was acquitted on 10 felony charges: four counts of child molestation, four counts of plying a minor with alcohol in order to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation and one count of conspiracy to hold the boy and his family captive at the Neverland Ranch. He faced more than 20 years in prison.
Produced by Candle True Stories, the production company behind Netflix’s “Untold: The Liver King,” and directed by Nick Green, “Michael Jackson: The Verdict,” comes at a time of renewed interest in the “King of Pop.”
The Jackson-estate-approved biopic “Michael” hit theaters last month, and depicts the origin story of the hitmaker from childhood through his upward trajectory to superstar status in the 1980s. Notably, the movie omitted the slew of allegations that followed Jackson from the ’90s until his death in 2009.
Avengers: Doomsdayfeatures a stacked cast of characters from several sentient species, each crucial to the movie’s Multiversal plot. The MCU’s 2026 crossover event has 61 confirmed and rumored Marvel characters who will assemble in their most dangerous mission yet, as the fate of the Multiverse hangs in the balance due to the arrival of Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom.
The massive ensemble is expected to divide into several teams, including Sam Wilson’s Avengers, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and a powerful group led by God Loki. By breaking down the core cast of Doomsday, the origins of the powered individuals differ, a direct result of the MCU’s consistent expansion of its roster of enhanced beings from the Multiverse Saga.
Every Major Species in Avengers: Doomsday
Humans
Marvel Studios
At the forefront of the conflict in Avengers: Doomsday are the humans, who make up the largest group in the MCU ensemble and are headlined by Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, alongside key heroes crucial to the plot, including Steve Rogers, Thor, Reed Richards, Sentry, and Yelena Belova.
The baseline humans in Avengers: Doomsday highlight the enhanced individuals through technology (Ghost, Sam Wilson, Ant-Man), elite training and skill (Yelena Belova, M’Baku, Shang-Chi), experiments and accidental exposure (the Fantastic Four, Sentry), and serums (Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, John Walker, and Red Guardian).
This diverse group of human characters essentially forms the backbone of the resistance against Doctor Doom. Still, the fact that Doom is also included under this umbrella creates a twisted irony; humanity’s greatest threat in Doomsday emerges from within its own ranks.
Asgardians are known for their superhuman strength, near invulnerability, and magical powers and weapons, making them a prime addition to Doomsday‘s species lineup. It is unknown whether Valkyrie is slated to appear in the 2026 MCU film, but her presence would be ideal, as it adds elite combat prowess and strategic command, given her experience leading the people of New Asgard.
These god-like warriors represent a step above baseline-enhanced humans, making them far superior through their raw mythological power and elevating the stakes by their mere presence as gods on the battlefield.
Talokanil
Marvel Studios
The Talokanil, first introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, is set to play a crucial role in fighting for the fate of the Multiverse as they go up against Doctor Doom and his army.
What makes them unique from Asgardians and humans is that they are well-adept in aquatic environments, using bodies of water like the ocean and the creatures that inhabit them as major assets on the battlefield.
Namor, Attuma, and Namora are all confirmed to appear in Doomsday, giving the heroes a key advantage with their aquatic-based abilities to try and outmaneuver whatever Doom has planned for the Multiverse.
Mutants
Marvel Studios
Returning to the spotlight in Avengers: Doomsday are the fan-favorite mutants from the X-Men. While they are confirmed to originate from an alternate timeline, these powerful individuals still carry the X-gene, the genetic anomaly that grants them extraordinary abilities at birth or puberty.
These gifts can often turn them into heroes fighting to protect the world from otherworldly threats, while others become villains driven by radical ideals.
While many deemed Loki an Asgardian, Tom Hiddleston’s MCU character is actually a Jotun (aka a Frost Giant) from Jotunheim. Loki was adopted by Odin and turned him into an Odinson.
Frost Giants in the MCU are best known for their ice-based powers, shapeshifting, and immense size and strength. This is on top of their identity as ancient enemies of Asgard.
Loki’s ties to his Frost Giant heritage could come in handy if he manages to use his shapeshifting ability while evading capture from Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, considering that he is one of the major targets of the big bad because he seeks his Multiversal power.
Love’s powerful abilities include pure cosmic energy, superhuman strength and durability, and the ability to carry the essence of the Necrosword’s destructive force. As a child who can channel celestial power, Love is a strong asset that could be unleashed against Doctor Doom to turn the tide in battle, but it will all depend on Thor’s willingness to put her daughter in harm’s way.
With the DCU in full swing, 2026 is looking to be a big year for the franchise. Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface are all three distinct projects that will expand unique corners of the shared universe and push the boundaries of what a superhero movie can be. This will set the stage for Man of Tomorrow in 2027, the highly anticipated follow-up to the blockbuster hit Superman. The upcoming film is set to feature a variety of characters from across the DC pantheon, and now it will add one more to the roster.
Milly Alcock is confirmed to return as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl in Man of Tomorrow, according to Variety. The publication notes Alcock will begin filming in Atlanta soon. While Warner Bros. has not officially commented on Alcock’s return, DC Studios co-president Peter Safran stated that Supergirl is “a major part of what we’re doing.”
Alcock made her DCU debut in Superman in a small cameo at the end of the film. She is now headlining Supergirl, the second feature in the DCU and one of Warner Bros.’ big summer movies. Supergirl was directed by Craig Gillespie based on a script from Ana Nogueira. The upcoming film is heavily inspired by Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a 12-issue miniseries by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely that ran from 2021 to 2022.
With each passing day, Man of Tomorrow seems to be more of a Justice League-esque film than a standard Superman sequel. In addition to Alcock’s Supergirl, Aaron Pierre is set to reprise his role as John Stewart after his debut in Lanterns, while Edi Gathegi, Isabela Merced, and Nathan Fillion return as Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, and Guy Gardner, respectively. Oh, and of course, there is David Corenswet as Superman and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, who will put their differences aside to face an existential threat to the planet.
That is a lot of firepower to go up against the film’s main villain, Brainiac, played by Lars Eidinger. Superman actor María Gabriela de Faría is also back as The Engineer, but she is not the only sub-antagonist entering the fray. Adria Arjona is officially set as alien queen Maxima, while Jason Momoa is also rumored to return as Lobo after his debut in Supergirl this summer.
On the surface, Man of Tomorrow sounds like another Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice situation. What should be a Superman-centric sequel now includes numerous DC characters in what feels like a game of catch-up with the MCU. Yet one factor working in Man of Tomorrow‘s favor is that it is the seventh entry in the new universe, whereas Batman v. Superman was the second DCEU film. Most of the characters featured in the upcoming filmwill have already appeared in their own projects. At this point, it seems James Gunn was right when he said Man of Tomorrow was not “a Superman sequel,” instead leaning closer to a team-up event that unites different corners of the DCU.
