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Sunset Visitor’s upcoming game Prove You’re Human bears an ominous title. Its debut trailer is just as provocative as its name lets on, and introduces us to Mesa, a seemingly rogue AI who has dreamt of her body and needs irrefutable proof that she is not human. The upcoming title from the developer behind 2024’s critically acclaimed sci-fi narrative 1000xResist purports to address a growing anxiety around the notion of human performance and things that try to pass for us.

Elsewhere, a late-night worker at a gas station must check IDs and reference a database filled with the specific characteristics that make each customer who walks through its doors an individual. A person. As the only clerk on the midnight shift, they are tasked with distinguishing friend from foe, person from nonperson. And when the time comes to defend themself, they are encouraged to blast anything that would harm them or impersonate any real human. At least, that’s the way of the world in the upcoming game Shift at Midnight, which has become a viral hit before it’s even released thanks to a spate of demos and glowing coverage from popular gaming personalities, like Iron Lung director Mark “Markiplier” Fishbach.

Shift at Midnight features creepy skinwalkers that stalk the gas station.

I don’t think Prove You’re Human will suddenly become a guns-blazing first-person shooter, nor will Shift at Midnight begin waxing philosophically. Yet despite taking different tacts and centering distinct forms of mimicry, these titles are in conversation and represent the future, both near and far, of a trend I’ve noticed: the sounding of an alarm.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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Sunset Visitor's upcoming game Prove You're Human

Festivals

On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, in our Cover Story segment, Variety’s Daniel D’Addario details his sit-down in Madrid with Javier Bardem, the incredibly busy Spaniard who brings the family drama “The Beloved” to the Cannes Film Festival this year. Bardem opens up to D’Addario about the arc of his career, his advocacy for Palestinians and the depth of his love for his wife, Oscar-winner Penélope Cruz, and the family life they share far outside Hollywood.

D’Addario, who is Variety‘s chief correspondent, recently traveled to Madrid to interview the veteran thespian who is as in-demand as he’s ever been with a Spanish pic at Cannes this year and Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Three” and Apple TV’s “Cape Fear” coming up later this year. Bardem is in the prime of his life and career and he appears to be relishing the moment, D’Addario says.

“The word that comes to mind is contentment. I think he simultaneously works very hard at his career and is constantly in demand, both in Spanish productions and in American studio fare. But also, he lives a very real life,” D’Addario says. “He lives in Madrid, outside the Hollywood bubble with his wife, who is also a famous actress, Penélope Cruz. But as he told me, for instance, they never work simultaneously unless they’re working together, so they have a real toehold in their life as a family with a teenager and a pre-teen.”

Bardem went deep with D’Addario on thorny issues including his decision to speak out against the war in Gaza and his concerns about AI’s impact on his children, not to mention the future of his profession.

“He really has a lot of perspective on what’s important to him in his art and what’s important to him in his life. And those are not necessarily always the same thing,” D’Addario says. “I think he sees the circus for what it is, and that’s also what enables him to speak out and be such an effective voice or advocate for the causes in which he believes. Because to him, the career is not the be all and end all.”

Listen to Daily Variety on iHeartPodcasts, Apple Podcasts, Variety’s YouTube Podcast channel, Amazon Music, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

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On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast,

Film

The following article is an excerpt from the new edition of “IndieWire’s The Lead Up,” a weekly newsletter in which our Awards Editor Marcus Jones takes readers on the awards trail, interviewing key figures responsible for some of the most compelling stories of the season, and offering predictions on who will win. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday.

Consider this the calm before the storm.

For any newcomers who are familiar with IndieWire’s awards coverage through The Lead Up, I wanted to venture outside the world of Emmy predictions for a second, and give a brief look at how we have covered the Primetime Emmys in the past, as a way to preview what we have planned to publish at least once every weekday through Emmy nominations voting in June.

Our first recurring feature is called My Favorite Scene. In it, we speak to actors or performers behind a few of our favorite television performances about their personal-best onscreen moment this past TV season, and how it came together.

That sometimes takes form in an interview with Sam Rockwell about his infamous monologue from “The White Lotus” Season 3 that had everyone talking (and earned him an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nomination). But it also can result in “Only Murders in the Building” star Martin Short, a perennial Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominee, going on a roll that leads him from complimenting guest star Melissa McCarthy to explaining the science behind his Jiminy Glick interviews.

Another feature we’ve rolled out the past few Emmy seasons is called It’s a Hit, where we speak to creators and showrunners behind some of the buzziest television programs of the season about the moment they realized their show was breaking big.

Last season provided a huge pool of new shows to choose from, leading to interviews with the creatives behind “The Pitt,” “Paradise,” and “Nobody Wants This,” which are all already back in the running this Emmys season. But the concept also extends to something like eventual Outstanding Television Movie winner “Rebel Ridge,” which shifted the narrative around what caliber of films could be eligible for that category, and “Stranger Things” Season 4, which became an even bigger phenomenon coming back after a years-long hiatus (the show’s final season is also back in contention this year).

Finally, a new series of interviews we started last year is called Pour One Out and is about celebrating the characters we said goodbye to this past season, whether it be because they died, their show concluded, or both. Expect more interviews this season, considering all the shows that are in the midst of their final season.

But there are five days in a week, and a lot of stories to mine from the Emmys race, so expect more dispatches from For Your Consideration events, where the main takeaway last year was how meaningful it was to voters for a show to have shot in Los Angeles. Plus, trend pieces like how the success of series like “Slow Horses” ushered in several more spy shows last year, and how internet series are becoming more like traditional late night TV shows as late night TV shows start producing more short form content distributed on the internet. 

Ultimately, we pride ourselves on providing the clearest picture of how the Primetime Emmys race is going at any given point in time, so even when there are wins that comes as a big surprise, like Jeff Hiller winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the final season of “Somebody Somewhere,” or Lamorne Morris winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the most recent season of “Fargo”— to use two recent examples — we always have an article we can point to that gives you the context for why and how that happened.

See IndieWire’s full list of 2026 Emmy predictions, complete with frontrunners, contenders, and long shots on our website. As a reminder, my email is majones@indiewire.com if you’d like to share any feedback.

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The following article is an excerpt from

TV

In a new feature with The Hollywood Reporter, Gina Carano expresses feeling, when she settled with Disney over her Mandalorian firing, that not enough of the press picked up on the fact that the company wrote that Carano was “always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff” and that it looked “forward to identifying opportunities to work together.” We certainly did, and noted how differently the company spoke about her after accusing her of “trivializing the Holocaust” when complaining online about how hard it is to be a conservative in the United States. “Nobody really picked it up,” claims Carano. “But it’s such a remarkable contrast from that first very horrendous statement that they had put out years earlier. I don’t recall Disney really doing that a lot at the time. That speaks leagues.” 

To hear Carano tell it, she and the company now get along famously. She’s also been mending fences with the people involved with Star Wars, particularly Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. They “were two people that I always respected, and we went through two seasons together, and we had a great relationship,” Carano says. “And even during everything that was happening, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau were never the bad guys to me.” She had a Zoom call with the two of them earlier this year but declined to say whether they talked about a potential return to Star Wars. (Again, Disney already publicly said they looked forward to working with her again soon, so it’s not hard to imagine that the topic came up.) “I love peace,” she says elsewhere in the interview. “When all parties can be happy, we can move on.” Whatever was in that settlement must have been pretty nice.


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What to Watch

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 20th Century Studios’ ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Meryl Streep is the GOAT of American acting!

She is widely regarded as one of the greatest living actresses and holds the record for the most Oscar nominations of any actor, with 21 across the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.

Streep has appeared in some of the most critically acclaimed films of all time including ‘The Deer Hunter‘, ‘Kramer vs. Kramer‘, ‘Sophie’s Choice‘, and ‘August: Osage County‘, as well as fan favorite movies like ‘Defending Your Life‘, ‘Death Becomes Her‘, the ‘Mamma Mia!‘ series, and of course, ‘The Devil Wears Prada‘.

August: Osage County

Release Date: Jan 10, 2014

Run Time: 2 hr 1 min

Budget: $25,000,000

Streep’s new movie, which is the long-awaited sequel, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2‘, also starring Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, opens in theaters on May 1st.

In honor of the new film, Moviefone is counting down the top 25 movies of Meryl Streep’s iconic career, including her latest.

Let’s begin!

Related Article: Movie Review: ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’

(L to R) Meryl Streep, Ed Begley Jr. and Roseanne Barr in 'Postcards from the Edge.' Photo: Columbia Pictures.

(L to R) Meryl Streep, Ed Begley Jr. and Roseanne Barr in ‘Postcards from the Edge.’ Photo: Columbia Pictures.

A cunning and resourceful housewife (Roseanne Barr) vows revenge on her husband (Ed Begley Jr.) when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist (Streep).

She-Devil

“The story of the greatest evil ever known to man… His ex-wife.”

Release Date: Dec 8, 1989

Run Time: 1 hr 39 min

Budget: $20,000,000

Tells the life story of Danish author Karen Blixen (Streep), who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on her 1937 autobiographical novel.

Out of Africa

Release Date: Dec 20, 1985

Run Time: 2 hr 41 min

Budget: $31,000,000

Julia Child (Streep) and Julie Powell (Amy Adams) – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends… until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

Julie & Julia

“Based on two true stories.”

Release Date: Aug 7, 2009

Run Time: 2 hr 3 min

Budget: $40,000,000

The story of Florence Foster Jenkins (Streep), a New York heiress, who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.

Florence Foster Jenkins

“Every voice deserves to be heard.”

Release Date: Aug 12, 2016

Run Time: 1 hr 50 min

Budget: $29,000,000

The story of three women (Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman) searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.

The Hours

“The time to hide is over. The time to regret is gone. The time to live is now.”

Release Date: Dec 27, 2002

Run Time: 1 hr 54 min

Budget: $25,000,000

The cast of 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'. Photo: Universal Pictures.

The cast of ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’. Photo: Universal Pictures.

Five years after meeting her three fathers, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) prepares to open her mother’s hotel. In 1979, young Donna Sheridan (Lily James) meets the men who each could be Sophie’s biological father.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

“Discover how it all began.”

Release Date: Jul 20, 2018

Run Time: 1 hr 54 min

Budget: $75,000,000

Photographer Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood) wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson (Streep) for four days in the 1960s.

The Bridges of Madison County

“The path of Francesca Johnson’s future seems destined due to an unexpected fork in the road…”

Release Date: Jun 2, 1995

Run Time: 2 hr 15 min

Budget: $24,000,000

18. ‘Doubt‘ (2008)

In 1964 Bronx, two Catholic school nuns (Streep and Amy Adams) question the new priest’s (Philip Seymour Hoffman) ambiguous relationship with a troubled African-American student (Joseph Foster).

Doubt

“There are no simple truths.”

Release Date: Dec 12, 2008

Run Time: 1 hr 44 min

Budget: $20,000,000

Ten years after their divorce, Jane (Streep) and Jake Adler (Alec Baldwin) unite for their son’s college graduation and unexpectedly end up sleeping together. But Jake is married, and Jane is embarking on a new romance with her architect (Steve Martin). Now, she has to sort out her life—just when she thought she had it all figured out.

It's Complicated

“First comes marriage. Then comes divorce. And then…”

Release Date: Dec 25, 2009

Run Time: 2 hr 1 min

Budget: $85,000,000

Madeline (Streep) is married to Ernest (Bruce Willis), who was once her arch-rival Helen’s fiancé. After recovering from a mental breakdown, Helen (Goldie Hawn) vows to kill Madeline and steal back Ernest. Unfortunately for everyone, the introduction of a magic potion causes things to be a great deal more complicated than a mere murder plot.

Death Becomes Her

“In one small bottle… The fountain of youth. The secret of eternal life. The power of an ancient potion. Sometimes it works… sometimes it doesn’t.”

Release Date: Jul 30, 1992

Run Time: 1 hr 44 min

Budget: $55,000,000

(L to R) Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling in 20th Century Studios' 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

(L to R) Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling in 20th Century Studios’ ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’. Photo by Macall Polay. © 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

As Miranda Priestly (Streep) nears retirement, she reunites with Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) to face off against her former assistant turned rival: Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt).

The Devil Wears Prada 2

Release Date: May 1, 2026

Run Time: 1 hr 59 min

Budget: $100,000,000

Better known as ‘A Cry in the Dark’, the movie is based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain (Streep) who, during a family camping trip to Ayers Rock in central Australia, claimed she witnessed a dingo take her baby daughter, Azaria, from their tent. Azaria’s body was never found and, after investigations and two public inquests, she is charged with murder.

Evil Angels

“A family torn apart. A public filled with outrage. A woman accused of murder.”

Release Date: Nov 11, 1988

Run Time: 2 hr

Budget: $15,000,000

Gail (Streep) and Tom Hartman (David Strathaim) are struggling to stay together and decide to take a white-water rafting holiday adventure in Montana for their son Roarke’s (Joseph Mazzello) 10th birthday, only to meet up with a pair of mysterious men whose desperation grows, turning their vacation into a nightmare.

The River Wild

Release Date: Sep 30, 1994

Run Time: 1 hr 51 min

Budget: $45,000,000

Like most of the people in her town, Karen Silkwood (Streep) works at the local nuclear plant producing highly radioactive plutonium. Exposed one day to a lethal dose of radiation, Karen faces the blank walls of corporate indifference and denial. As her illness increases, her protest grows louder and she becomes an obvious danger to the powers that be.

Silkwood

“On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there.”

Release Date: Dec 14, 1983

Run Time: 2 hr 11 min

Budget: $10,000,000

Hoopla logo

Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage) is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald (also Nicholas Cage). While struggling to adapt “The Orchid Thief,” by Susan Orlean (Streep), Kaufman’s life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean’s book, become strangely intertwined as each one’s search for passion collides with the others’.

Adaptation.

“From the creator of Being John Malkovich, comes the story about the creator of Being John Malkovich.”

Release Date: Dec 6, 2002

Run Time: 1 hr 55 min

Budget: $19,000,000

(L to R) Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in 'The Post.' Photo: 20th Century Fox.

(L to R) Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in ‘The Post.’ Photo: 20th Century Fox.

A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher (Streep) and a hard-driving editor (Tom Hanks) to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.

The Post

Release Date: Jan 12, 2018

Run Time: 1 hr 56 min

Budget: $50,000,000

The Fantastic Mr. Fox (George Clooney), bored with his current life, plans a heist against the three local farmers. The farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with the sly fox, seek revenge against him and his family.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

“Dig the life fantastic.”

Release Date: Nov 25, 2009

Run Time: 1 hr 27 min

Budget: $40,000,000

Three steelworkers (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage) enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.

The Deer Hunter

“One of the most important and powerful films of all time!”

Release Date: Dec 8, 1978

Run Time: 3 hr 3 min

Budget: $15,000,000

Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller (Albert Brooks) finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia (Streep) offers him a chance to finally feel alive.

Defending Your Life

“The first true story of what happens after you die.”

Release Date: Apr 5, 1991

Run Time: 1 hr 51 min

Budget: $20,000,000

Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna (Streep) cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy (Justin Henry).

Kramer vs. Kramer

“There are three sides to this love story.”

Release Date: Dec 19, 1979

Run Time: 1 hr 45 min

Budget: $8,000,000

(L to R) Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine in 'Postcards from the Edge.' Photo: Columbia Pictures.

(L to R) Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine in ‘Postcards from the Edge.’ Photo: Columbia Pictures.

A substance-addicted actress (Streep) tries to look on the bright side even as she’s forced to move back in with her mother (Shirley MacLaine) to avoid unemployment.

Postcards from the Edge

“Having a wonderful time, wish I were here.”

Release Date: Sep 14, 1990

Run Time: 1 hr 41 min

Budget: $22,000,000

Stingo (Peter MacNicol), a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie (Streep) and her lover Nathan (Kevin Kline), he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan’s relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan’s fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.

Sophie's Choice

“Between the innocent, the romantic, the sensual, and the unthinkable. There are still some things we have yet to imagine.”

Release Date: Mar 4, 1983

Run Time: 2 hr 31 min

Budget: $12,000,000

A spirited young bride-to-be (Amanda Seyfried) living with her single mother (Streep) on a small Greek island secretly invites three of her mother’s ex-boyfriends (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård) in hope of finding her biological father to walk her down the aisle.

Mamma Mia!

“A mother. A daughter. Three possible fathers. A trip down the aisle you’ll never forget.”

Release Date: Jul 18, 2008

Run Time: 1 hr 48 min

Budget: $52,000,000

A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher (Streep), the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.

The Iron Lady

Release Date: Jan 13, 2012

Run Time: 1 hr 45 min

Budget: $13,000,000

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 2006's 'The Devil Wears Prada .'

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 2006’s ‘The Devil Wears Prada .’

A young woman from the Midwest (Anne Hathaway) gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief (Streep) of a major fashion magazine.

The Devil Wears Prada

“Meet Andy Sachs. A million girls would kill to have her job. She’s not one of them.”

Release Date: Jun 30, 2006

Run Time: 1 hr 49 min

Budget: $35,000,000

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Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 20th

Awards

With Stranger Things coming to an end with the highly anticipated fifth season, which recently reached the halfway mark of filming, the Duffer Brothers have moved forward full steam ahead with their next big project — The Boroughs.

The show’s main players have been cast. The series, created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), has been compared to Stranger Things to varying degrees.

For everything we know about The Boroughs, read on.

When will The Boroughs come out?

The supernatural mystery series will arrive May 21. First look photos of the series were revealed along with this news of the main cast in character.

Alfred Molina, Denis O’Hare in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Alfre Woodard in 'The Boroughs'

Alfre Woodard in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Geena Davis as Renee in ‘The Boroughs’

Clarke Peters in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Bill Pullman in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Carlos Miranda in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Alice Kremelberg in 'The Boroughs'

Alice Kremelberg in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Alfred Molina in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Jena Malone as Claire Cooper in ‘The Boroughs’

What is The Boroughs about?

According to the show’s summary, it is set in an idyllic retirement community where a group of ragtag residents team up to stop a big bad from stealing time.

“While the heroes in The Boroughs have a few more years on them than the kids from Stranger Things, they are a similarly lovable bunch of misfits,” The Duffer brothers said when the series was announced. “We can’t wait for you to join them on an adventure that is at turns scary, funny, and deeply touching.”

Who is in The Boroughs cast?

The first six main stars announced for the project were Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman, Clarke Peters and Denis O’Hare.

RELATED: Netflix Orders ‘The Boroughs’ Sci-Fi Series Via The Duffer Brothers’ Upside Down Pictures From Creators Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews

Davis will play Renee; Molina will play Sam; O’Hare will play Wally; Woodard will play Judy; Pullman will play Jack and Peters will play Art.

Next, Jena Malone, Carlos Miranda, Seth Numrich and Alice Kremelberg were cast in the show. Malone will play Claire; Miranda will play Pax, Numrich will play Blaine and Kremelberg will play Anneliese.

Who else is behind The Boroughs?

Ben Taylor (Sex Education) will exec produce and direct multiple installments of the eight-episode drama, including the pilot.

RELATED: Netflix Orders Horror Series From The Duffer Brothers Created By Haley Z. Boston

Is there a trailer for The Boroughs?

Yes, a trailer was released in April, teasing encounters with monstrous creatures in an otherwise idyllic-looking retirement community.

A fuller trailer was released in May ahead of the series’ premiere with more new photos. Find a few of those below.

(L to R) Seth Numrich as Blaine Shaw, Alice Kremelberg as Anneliese Shaw in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

(L to R) Eric Edelstein as Hank Williams, Geena Davis as Renee in ‘The Boroughs’

Carlos Miranda as Paz Navarro in ‘The Boroughs’

Bill Pullman as Jack in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

Beth Bailey as Kayleigh in 'The Boroughs'

Beth Bailey as Kayleigh in ‘The Boroughs’

Courtesy of Netflix

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With Stranger Things coming to an end

Music

Teddy Abrams wasn’t expecting a response.

Long before he became the music director of the Louisville Orchestra and the incoming artistic and executive director of the Ojai Music Festival, Abrams, who turns 39 on Wednesday, was a 9-year-old clarinet student kvelling from his first time hearing the San Francisco Symphony live. It was an all-Gershwin program led by the orchestra’s new conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas. Abrams dashed off a 10-page fan letter to him.

To Abrams’s surprise, a response landed in his family’s mailbox a week later, on official San Francisco Symphony letterhead.

“Thank you for your friendly note,” Thomas’s reply began. “Obviously Mozart and Beethoven are big favorites of yours. Have you listened to any 20th-century composers, like Stravinsky or Prokofiev or Bartok?”

Thomas, who died on April 22 at 81, was a master of genial introductions like this. To many in the Bay Area and beyond, his multi-pronged career — as a conductor, musical explainer, composer, pianist and local luminary — was nothing less than a mold for a 21st-century life in the arts.

His tenure at the San Francisco Symphony, from 1995 to 2020, made the bristling modernism of Antheil and Ives legible through his recurring American Mavericks festivals. He also founded the New World Symphony, an academy in Miami Beach, Fla., that introduced young musicians to the rigors of working in an orchestra. On television, he hosted the “Keeping Score” series on PBS, offering a spy hole into the context and backstage preparation behind repertoire classics.

“Those are some of my greatest memories, actually, watching those,” said the multifaceted violinist Alexi Kenney, 32, who grew up in Palo Alto, Calif., and recently moved to San Francisco. “His educational side was huge for me.”

Thomas’s impact on younger generations of musicians is most palpable through New World, many of whose 1,300 alumni now play in professional orchestras. And he launched many an international career, as an early champion of artists like the pianist Yuja Wang, the director Yuval Sharon and the soprano Julia Bullock, who was still a Juilliard student when he invited her to sing “Somewhere” in “West Side Story” with the San Francisco Symphony.

“He wanted,” Bullock said, “to take a chance on me.”

Thomas set a standard for the role music directors could play in their cities. He lived in San Francisco, sharing a handsomely appointed mansion in Pacific Heights with his husband, Joshua Robison, who died in February. It was common to see them walking their poodles through the nearby Marina District, or hobnobbing with local politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris. During his tenure, the San Francisco Symphony collaborated with members of the Grateful Dead and Metallica, bands with a Bay Area vintage.

“Sitting in Davies Hall next to a bunch of Deadheads reeking of cannabis — it certainly felt different, like something in the culture had changed,” said the composer Samuel Adams, who grew up in Berkeley, with the eminent composer John Adams as his father.

The day Thomas’s death was announced, several Bay Area landmarks, including Coit Tower, lit up in his signature blue, and, unusually for a classical musician, the San Francisco Giants observed a moment of silence.

“M.T.T. was our guy for 25 years,” said the cellist and content creator Nathan Chan, using the widely adopted nickname made from Thomas’s initials. “As a young musician in the Bay Area, I got to experience a consistency of leadership from him that everybody who grew up there will never forget.”

San Francisco had long been ready for a leader like Thomas. Its orchestra had been polished enough by previous music directors to stand alongside other great American ensembles by the time he took over. But he and his Los Angeles counterpart, Esa-Pekka Salonen, went the extra step of fashioning their institutions into cultural labs of sorts, without shorting artistic quality.

“The symphony was not a fixer-upper institution,” Abrams said, “but it was primed for international recognition if it could do something dramatic and different.”

And Thomas — a child of the theater, through his grandparents and parents — knew drama. As a young cellist, Oliver Herbert was awed by Thomas’s semi-staged productions of “Bluebeard’s Castle,” “Peer Gynt” and “Boris Godunov.” Today, Herbert, 28, produces multimedia recitals as part of his ongoing professional studies program in Kronberg, Germany.

“I think Michael is a big part of the reason,” he said, “why I allow myself to think creatively about the concert experience.”

With the rise of YouTube, Thomas was one of the first major conductors to harness its power as a creative and pedagogical tool. He founded the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, which accepted international auditions and produced concerts that were livestreamed to an audience in the tens of millions.

That project brought Mason Bates, the composer of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” at the Metropolitan Opera this season, to wider renown. His compositions “The B-Sides” and “Mothership” were performed by the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Bates credits Thomas with bringing his music “to a national audience,” which, he said, led to a commission from Santa Fe Opera for his first opera, “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.”

“I mean, this is the guy that premiered ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine,’ which is one of the most performed new pieces by a living composer,” said Bates, referring to a short work by John Adams. “He gave me specific musical feedback, which not a lot of conductors do.”

In recent years, he sought Thomas’s counsel while composing “Kavalier & Clay.” Bates has also been working to adapt his “Philharmonia Fantastique” — an animated introduction to the symphony orchestra — into a children’s exhibition, and he said that his quest to find creative, immersive ways to reach young audiences bears Thomas’s stamp.

“Michael has been the model for me of how an artist in 21st-century America can bring the deep experience of classical music to everybody,” Bates said.

In his final chapter, Thomas returned, again, to working with young people. He was appointed a distinguished professor of music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2024, at a time when his public appearances dwindled following a diagnosis of aggressive brain cancer a few years earlier. At the school, he led readings with the student orchestra, coached chamber groups and gave one-on-one private lessons with especially promising students.

The arrangement, made at Robison’s urging, was mutually beneficial, said the school’s president, David Stull. Thomas would remain intellectually active, and students would have the chance to learn from someone who had shaped San Francisco’s musical culture.

“He knew that he needed to rest and conserve his energy, but he wanted to work,” Stull said. “We’re the last generation to work with him.”

Since Thomas’s death, Abrams has spent time dwelling over Thomas’s letter. It’s framed in his bedroom in Louisville, where he lives full time — yet another way in which he has followed in his mentor’s footsteps.

Abrams has also returned to a detail at the end of “Viva Voce,” Thomas’s 1994 as-told-to memoir written with the British music journalist Edward Seckerson. In it, Thomas describes getting a palm reading abroad.

The fortune teller told Thomas that he wouldn’t start doing the thing he’d be remembered for until his 50s, he recalled. He was 49 and on the eve of his move to San Francisco.

“Whatever it is,” Thomas said, “it’s about to happen.”

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Teddy Abrams wasn’t expecting a response.Long before

Docs

Welcome to Fiscal Spotlight, a special monthly round up of projects—at all stages of production—working their way through Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship pipeline. Enjoy!

 

‘If it bleeds, it leads’ is a news maxim for a reason. The more brutal, shocking and violent a story is, the more eyeballs it will get. The event itself is attention-grabbing, but the aftermath is usually lived out away from the spotlight– whether it’s a system that has little hope of ever changing, a brave deed that ends up being punished, or a life destroyed by senseless violence.

The great value of documentary is that it gives these types of stories a more sustained life. We can live with these people for more than the few minutes it takes to read a story or watch on the evening news (or these days, social reel) and see the nuance and humanity. These three longform investigations shine a light on the forgotten and look to make an impact that’s long-overdue.

In Not So Far Away Places, a Russian activist goes undercover to expose the cruelty of the Russian prison system. Blowback follows whistleblowers, years after the news organizations that breathlessly covered their stories have moved on, and how the ‘whistleblower’ reputation has followed them and affected their careers and relationships. The Dark Narcisist follows a mother of two murdered children, as she confronts the failed system that let their father murder them before he killed himself.

Through Fiscal Sponsorship, independent filmmakers and media artists gain access to nonprofit funding, helping bring their unique visions to life. These projects embrace diversity, push creative boundaries, and showcase the power of independent storytelling. Want to explore the full lineup of sponsored projects? Head over to our Sponsored Projects page and take a look!

Keep reading to learn more, including how you can support these projects.

 

NOT SO FAR AWAY PLACES

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Development
Cowriter and Codirector: Renato Borrayo Serrano
Cowriter and Codirector: Yulia Vishnevets
Producer: Milana Christitch

About the Project: In-depth immersion into the Russian prison repressive machinery shot from the subjective perspective of a human rights activist, working undercover to confront the totalitarian system from within.

Meet the Filmmakers:

Renato Borrayo Serrano — Codirector
Berlin-based documentary filmmaker telling intimate human stories while exploring how individual lives are shaped by wider struggles over power, justice, and dignity. His films have screened and won awards at major international festivals, including CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Sundance, DOC NYC, Krakow IFF, Shanghai IFF, DOK Leipzig, Docudays UA, and others. His feature documentary Life of Ivanna (2021) won the Zurich Film Festival’s Grand Prix for Best Documentary, alongside numerous additional awards. As a cinematographer, he worked on the Netflix acquisition Skywalkers: A Love Story, which premiered at Sundance (U.S. Documentary Competition) and screened at Tribeca before receiving an IMAX theatrical release in the United States.

Yulia Vishnevets — Codirector
Berlin-based journalist and documentary filmmaker, director of over 20 non-fiction films. She has worked as a reporter and photographer in various media. From 2013 to 2014, she reported for Deutsche Welle in Germany. Since 2015, she has been a staff documentary maker for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Current Time TV in Russia. Her feature: Hey! Teachers! was screened at IDFA, Krakow, and received several international accolades. In September 2022, she was detained while filming an anti-war demonstration in Dagestan, spent 5 days in prison, and had to leave Russia at risk of further criminal prosecution.

Project Page

 

BLOWBACK

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Production
Director/Executive Producer: Brooks Harris

About the Project: Blowback begins with a simple premise: the system isn’t broken, it’s working as designed. The film follows whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing and are punished for it—not just to silence them, but to send a message. Beyond the headlines, it turns to the aftermath: what it takes to survive, and who you become, after telling the truth.

Meet the Filmmaker:

Brooks Harris — Director/Executive Producer
Brooks Harris is an award-winning filmmaker and founding partner of PURGATORY, a production company focused on character-driven documentary storytelling. Her work is grounded in journalism, with a focus on access, narrative precision, and stories that examine power and its consequences. She most recently served as an Associate Producer on Breath of Fire, a documentary series that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in partnership with Vanity Fair, where she contributed to story development and production. Her additional credits include projects for Amazon, Hulu, and Disney+, where she has worked across development, field production, and post to help shape premium non-fiction series.

Project Page

 

THE DARK NARCISSIST

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Development
Director/Producer: Trish Ward-Torres

About the Project: Following the murder/suicide of brothers River (15) and Jet (13) by their father Shan Collins, mother Kerrith McDowell, a nurse practitioner, confronts the many institutional failures within the mental health and law enforcement systems in Raleigh, North Carolina that cost her sons their lives even though she was uniquely positioned to seek help from within these failed systems.

Meet the Filmmaker:

Trish Ward-Torres —Director/Producer (PGA, DPA, WIF, FEME)
Trish Ward-Torres is a director/producer whose work examines the modern human condition. For more than two decades, she has helped shape award-winning nonfiction and narrative films, often centered on navigating failing systems. Ward-Torres most recently served as Senior Vice President of Documentary at Participant, where she was a Supervising Producer on films including In Waves and War, Food Inc 2 and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. Earlier, she worked at Netflix overseeing studio partnerships with FOX, NBCUniversal, Miramax, and PBS, following Producer roles at Lionsgate/CBS, Disney Studios, DreamWorks Animation and MTV.

Project Page

 

Learn more about Fiscal Sponsorship, including its benefits and eligibility requirements by visiting our website. See which projects are currently being supported via our Sponsored Projects page.

Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To support our work with a donation, please click here. Become a Member of Film Independent here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

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Global

A lawyer representing a Quebec man convicted of fomenting hatred against Jews is asking for a retrial, arguing the judge was biased against his client.

The case involving Gabriel Sohier-Chaput was heard Wednesday at the Quebec Court of Appeal in Montreal. Sohier-Chaput was not physically present.

Quebec court Judge Manlio Del Negro sentenced Sohier-Chaput in September 2023 to a year and three months in jail followed by three years’ probation. The accused appealed both the guilty verdict and the sentence.

Sohier-Chaput’s lawyer, Antonio Cabral, told the panel of three Court of Appeal justices that Del Negro’s judgment may have been affected by news media headlines at the time about antisemitism.

When he filed the appeal, Cabral also argued the trial judge erred in his analysis of Sohier-Chaput’s credibility as a witness by comparing the defendant to Machiavelli and implied — without citing any concrete evidence — that he had rallied his readers to the “virus of hate.”

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At the Court of Appeal, Cabral said Sohier-Chaput’s first trial lawyer, Hélène Poussard, dropped the case after tense interactions with Del Negro. He says the judge “undermined her credibility as a lawyer” and did not seriously consider the defence’s arguments.

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The initial trial was marked by debates between the prosecution and the defence over what facts about the Holocaust and Nazi ideology needed to be established by an expert witness and which ones were so well known the judge could accept them without further evidence.

On Wednesday Cabral read a court transcript of an exchange between Poussard and Del Negro in which the judge told the lawyer to “stop speaking” and that she was “out of line” after she attempted to argue that the number of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust was not known.

Cabral said Poussard was simply answering Del Negro’s questions without being able to consult her client and that the exchange proves the judge’s contempt for the lawyer and the defendant.

The three justices repeatedly asked Cabral if that exchange should be taken separately from Del Negro’s guilty ruling, a decision Cabral admitted came after careful reflection. They also asked both the defence and Crown whether the exchange was relevant to the final verdict in the case.

Crown attorney Xavier Lyonnais told the panel that Sohier-Chaput was found guilty beyond all reasonable doubt and that the Crown’s proof was substantial. He said one “difficult exchange” should not be the basis of a new trial.


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During sentencing, Del Negro had called Sohier-Chaput a “hate influencer” who represented a continued risk to society because he hadn’t grasped the seriousness of his actions or the harm he had caused.

Sohier-Chaput had testified that his writing was meant to be satire, with the use of irony and exaggeration to offend and attack political correctness. Del Negro rejected those arguments, considering them insincere, opportunistic and lacking credibility.

Sohier-Chaput was a prolific writer for online neo-Nazi sites like the Daily Stormer — named after the Nazi-era propaganda newspaper Der Sturmer — between 2016 and 2017.

In an agreed statement of fact, Sohier-Chaput had admitted to writing between 800 and 1,000 articles under the pseudonym “Charles Zeiger.” However, the trial hinged on a single article presented as evidence saying that 2017 would be the year of “non-stop Nazism, everywhere” and mocking a Holocaust survivor.

Del Negro ruled the wording and content of the article was intended to foment hatred against Jewish people.

Both the Crown and defence had jointly suggested he serve three months in jail, but Del Negro flatly rejected that recommendation because he worried it would trivialize the crime.

The Court of Appeal justices said they would deliberate and render their decision at a later date.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

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A lawyer representing a Quebec man convicted

Tech

  • More companies are laying off employees, with AI cited as a reason
  • Freshwords is reducing its headcount by 11%
  • Coinbase is cutting its employee count by 14%

Artificial intelligence is being referenced as the cause of more job losses as two more companies join the list of tech companies laying off employees in 2026.

Freshworks has announced it will trim 11% of its workforce, or about 500 jobs, as the company addresses routine work with AI and automation.

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More companies are laying off employees, with

Video

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Video | PitchforkSkip to main contentSubscribe to

Entertaintment

Stefon Diggs
Back To Work
Fresh Off Not Guilty Verdict

Published


Stefon Diggs can focus on his day job now that a jury found him not guilty of attacking his personal chef … and he did just that hours after his trial ended on Tuesday … heading to the gym for a late-night sweat sesh.

The current free agent’s buddy, music exec Steven Victor, shared a video of the star athlete running on a treadmill at 10 PM … about six hours after he was exonerated in his strangulation and assault and battery case in Massachusetts.


050526_stefon_diggs_verdict_kal_v2

Diggs’ attorney, Mitchell Schuster, told reporters his client’s goal is to get back on an NFL roster … adding anyone would be “lucky” to have him join their team.


“People have to stop targeting professional athletes and trying to extract money,” Schuster said outside the Dedham courthouse. “They have a target on their back.”

As we previously reported, Diggs shed tears as the verdict was read … as he maintained the alleged incident never happened.

The trial was a nightmare for Jamila Adams … and the prosecution even admitted that much in closing arguments, when Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Drew Virtue said the chef was “argumentative, avoidant and difficult” during her testimony.

stefon-diggs-sub-getty-1

“Was Ms. Adams a perfect witness? No,” Virtue said … adding he was hoping the jury would look past that and focus on her side of the alleged incident.

The jury only needed about an hour and a half before finding Diggs not guilty … and he can now get back to football.

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Movies

Last Updated:

Vishal Vashishtha says his realistic performance in Netflix show Glory comes from mastering the Haryanavi dialect.

font
Vishal sought realism and feels the show turned out decent.

Vishal sought realism and feels the show turned out decent.

If you’ve watched Glory, one thing becomes clear pretty quickly – Vishal Vashishtha has really lived his part rather than just performed it. The show, currently streaming on Netflix, has been getting a steady positive response, and a lot of that credit goes to how grounded and believable Vishal feels on screen.

A big reason behind that realism is the Haryanavi dialect used in the series. It’s not just there for effect; it shapes the tone of the character. Talking about how he worked on it, Vishal admitted that it was something he took very seriously from the start. He shared, “Getting the dialect right was necessary and very important for me also. I mean, why would I want to do it any other way? I aim for the perfect thing. I mean, of course, you aim for 100, you aim for 120, and then maybe you reach like 70, 80, which is something.”

He explained that memorising lines wasn’t the real challenge. “Getting the words right, pronouncing them right, wasn’t the difficult part. But I think every dialect, every language has a different breath to it, it has different pauses to it. Whatever phrase you are saying in it, it will be said in a situation, in a tonality. All those things are important which gets the flavour out. Otherwise, you can remember the words and speak any language.”

The actor also spoke about the support he had on set, especially from the dialect coach. “In this situation, the biggest help was Kamal sir, who was on set, our dialect coach. So I used to run to him as soon as I used to arrive on set. He used to come to my van, and we used to discuss the day’s scene. Then, even on set, while we are in the scene, he used to come and give me these little anecdotes.”

He added that it became a continuous learning process during the shoot. “I used to go to him, give me a new word, give me a new tone. I feel there can be something over here. So we collaborated on the language a lot, and Kamal sir was a big help.”

Vishal kept his expectations grounded while talking about the final output. “I think we have put out a very decent product, and people will like it. I will see it soon. Once I’ve seen it, then only I can say, but I think we’ve done a decent job.”

News movies web-series Vishal Vashishtha On Learning Haryanavi Dialect For Glory: ‘I Aim For The Perfect Thing’
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Last Updated:May 06, 2026, 20:38 ISTVishal Vashishtha

MCU

Earlier this year, Marvel fans got some exciting news when Wonder Man was officially renewed for a second season.

Debuting last year on Disney+, the series introduced audiences to Simon Williams, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a struggling actor who secretly has superpowers.

Over the course of the first season, Williams forms an unlikely friendship with Trevor Slattery, portrayed by Ben Kingsley, reprising his roles from Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Image: Disney

“Aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film ‘Wonder Man,’” the series synopsis reads.

“These two actors at opposite ends of their careers doggedly pursue life-changing roles as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.”

Why the Show Was Renewed

With its renewal, Wonder Man joins Loki and Daredevil: Born Again as one of the few Marvel live-action series to earn a second season.

According to Marvel’s head of streaming, Brad Winderbaum, the show’s dedicated fanbase played a major role in that decision.

Brad Winderbaum

Photo: The Hollywood Reporter

“If you look at the history of television, there’s a lot of shows that got green lit for second and third seasons because the fan base believed in it and the people behind the scenes believed in it. It definitely did well,” he said on the Escape Pod Podcast.

Abdul-Mateen Weighs In

Also weighing in on the renewal was Abdul-Mateen, who noted that the series held a special place for him.

Image: Disney

“Yeah, this one was special. I usually distance myself from the work after it comes out and from the conversation. I think that’s my healthy way of interacting with that feedback loop. But Wonder Man was a bit different because it was so special for creatives, for artists, for people with dreams,” he said.

“So I really did enjoy participating, sort of peripherally, in the conversation about the show. It touched a lot of people, and that was something I was really proud to be a part of. I’m happy that we got a season two, and I’m excited to share what we have in store.”

Image: Disney

As always, be sure to check back with MickeyBlog. We will continue to update you on all the latest Marvel news.

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DCU

There’s a little-known fourth film in Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman, and it’s actually even better than The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan created three of the best superhero movies ever with his Batman trilogy: Batman Begins in 2005, The Dark Knight in 2008, and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. The Dark Knight, in particular, is widely credited as the best Batman movie ever made and even one of the best movies ever in general.

The thing is, Nolan’s take on Batman inspired a spinoff film that can be considered the fourth movie in the Dark Knight franchise. The in-betweequel doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as the other chapters in the series, but it’s arguably even better than The Dark Knight. A big reason it’s so often overlooked is that it was an animated anthology that took place between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and because Nolan only consulted on the film instead of being directly involved.

Released in 2008, Batman: Gotham Knight features six different but interconnected Batman stories animated by Japanese and South Korean animation studios. Each of the six tales tells a different story from Bruce Wayne’s earliest days as Batman, just after the events of Batman Begins. The segments are all loosely connected and chronicle Batman’s efforts to take down Gotham’s organized crime as well as villains like Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and Deadshot. Most importantly, it has a few significant advantages over The Dark Knight.

Batman: Gotham Knight Blends Christopher Nolan’s Realism With Comic Book Accuracy & Beautiful Animation

Batman chases Deadshot through an industrial lookin tunnel in Batman: Gotham Knight
Batman chases Deadshot through an industrial lookin tunnel in Batman: Gotham Knight

The beauty of Batman: Gotham Knight is that it combines two of the absolute best aspects of both The Dark Knight and most of the Batman comic books: grounded and gritty realism and a larger-than-life quality about the character. Like The Dark Knight, Gotham Knight is a very realistic story. Bruce gets hurt, he doesn’t perform any impossible feats of strength, and even his villains are fairly realistic. Most of the movie follows Bruce fighting the mob, and everything about it feels grounded and plausible.

Batman: Gotham Knight also, however, dares to go a bit bigger than The Dark Knight did. It dives further into Batman’s source material, bringing more outlandish villains like Killer Croc and Deadshot to life. The film also dives heavily into Batman’s reputation as a stalker of the night and a fearsome protector of Gotham. Gotham Knight even plays around with perspective and memory, taking more risks than The Dark Knight ever did.

Both of these elements, the realism and the legend, come together in Batman: Gotham Knight‘s animation style. All six segments have a clear layer of grime to them, as was the style in 2008. Everything from the characters to Gotham itself feels real and lived-in, which brings it aesthetically in line with The Dark Knight trilogy as a whole. Gotham Knight also, however, has more than enough beauty to elevate the movie beyond mere realism.

Each shot of Gotham Knight feels like a panel straight out of a comic book. So much care and creativity went into every single frame of this film, and the sheer passion the various animation studios had for Batman and for the story Christopher Nolan was telling drips through every second. Batman: Gotham Knight is a visual marvel, which is really just the cherry on top of an already fantastic Batman film.

Batman: Gotham Knight Is A Better Batman Movie Than The Dark Knight Is

Vampire Batman with glowing eyes in Batman Gotham knight
Vampire Batman with glowing eyes in Batman Gotham knight

What really sets Batman: Gotham Knight apart and makes it better than The Dark Knight is the fact that it’s simply a better Batman movie. There are only a handful of movies in general that can legitimately claim they’re better than The Dark Knight. The movie is great from top to bottom, and it only has a handful of easy-to-ignor flaws. That being said, while The Dark Knight is a masterpiece, it’s not the best Batman movie out there.

Christopher Nolan’s dedication to grounding Batman and the more outlandish aspects of a comic book superhero worked tremendously well to make The Dark Knight a great action movie, but it somewhat undermined the film as a Batman movie. Batman is a larger-than-life figure, and his exploits are larger than life as well. Batman: Gotham Knight understands this core feature of Batman as a character, and it’s much more faithful to Batman as a result.


Batman in The Dark Knight Rises and Batman Gotham Knight


The Dark Knight Series’ Secret Fourth Movie Sets Up The Perfect Way For A Fifth Film To Still Release Without Ruining The Trilogy’s Legacy

The secret fourth movie in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight series is exactly how a new movie should be made without ruining the trilogy’s legacy.

The Dark Knight trilogy touched on Bruce’s mental status, his reasoning for becoming Batman, and how Gotham viewed Batman, but it wasn’t really the focus of any of the movies. Batman: Gotham Knight, however, tackled these issues head-on, and it gave Batman fans one of the most complete and faithful understandings of the character that has ever been put to screen.

Batman: Gotham Knight feels like a much better representation of what Batman is than The Dark Knight did. Some of the film’s shorts, particularly Have I Got a Story for You and Crossfire, give a glimpse into how the average people of Gotham view Batman. It also dives deep into what really drives Bruce, the willpower required to be Batman, and the utter devotion he has to Gotham and its people. As far as Batman movies go, few are better than Batman: Gotham Knight.


Batman- Gotham Knight_Movie_Poster


Release Date

July 8, 2008

Runtime

75 minutes

Director

Yasuhiro Aoki, Yuichiro Hayashi, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam

Writers

Bob Kane, Josh Olson, Jordan Goldberg, Greg Rucka, Brian Azzarello, Alan Burnett

Producers

Benjamin Melniker, Bruce Timm, Emma Thomas


  • Headshot Of Kevin Conroy

    Thomas Wayne / Cop / Doctor / Youth 2 (voice)

  • Headshot Of Jason Marsden

    Jason Marsden

    Batman / Bruce Wayne (voice)


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There's a little-known fourth film in Christopher

Comics

Build A Rocket Boy, the studio responsible for 2025’s infamous MindsEye, has reportedly laid off more than 170 employees in the last week. This is the third time the studio has laid off staff in the past year.

The report comes from Kotaku, which cites sources indicating that approximately 170 staff members have been let go, bringing the studio’s developer count down to around 80.

The reports are seemingly confirmed by LinkedIn posts from multiple members of staff who are now looking for work. Similar messages were shared by community managers with the MindsEye community in Discord. The affected staff range from level designers and audio designers to QA analysts and the social team.

This comes mere weeks after the April 28 release of MindsEye Update 7.1, which included the new Blacklisted mode, a parody of what BARB claims were real-life attacks against the studio and its debut game.

When laying off staff in March, CEO Mark Gerhard said they’d been researching the “criminal activity” that led to MindsEye’s commercial failure. Shortly after that, MindsEye’s original publisher, IO Interactive, ended the partnership with the studio and canceled the upcoming Hitman crossover DLC.

“That work has taken far longer than expected, but it has now resulted in overwhelming evidence of organized espionage and corporate sabotage affecting MindsEye. Because this matter is moving toward prosecution, we cannot share the full details publicly yet,” Gerhard said at the time.

Early in April, Gerhard stated that a MindsEye update would “share some of the evidence of the sabotage with the community.” Blacklisted is that update, but it seemingly didn’t change the community’s opinions or the studio’s fate.

In a story that sounds like it would take place within MindsEye’s universe, Build A Rocket Boy staff launched legal proceedings against the studio in late April, claiming that management surveilled staff with Teramind AI software, and haven’t shared what data was collected, or how it was stored and used.

MindsEye launched on June 10, 2025, landing a painful 39 Metacritic score on PC. Steam reviews for the game are overall Mixed, but recent reviews are Mostly Positive.