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It’s One Rating Win After Another for Disney’s syndicated talk strip “Live With Kelly and Mark,” which saw this year’s “After the Oscars” episode jump by double digits vs. last year with total viewers and other demos.

The morning after “One Battle After Another” won the best picture Academy Award at the Dolby Theatre, “Live With Kelly and Mark” broadcast from the same location, averaging 3.096 million viewers — up 13% from last year (2.740 million). The show was also up in women 25-54 (0.58 rating, up 18% from 0.49) and in other demos.

That made it the most-watched “Live” of the season, and the show’s most-watched airing since Jan. 6, 2025, as well as its best households number (2.06 rating) since March 11, 2024.

“Live With Kelly and Mark” aired its “After the Oscars” show on Monday, March 16, with hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos welcoming guest musicians Wyclef Jean and Andra Day, as well as a red carpet report from comedian and impressionist Matt Friend, a recap of the Oscars’ biggest moments with comedian Leanne Morgan, a fashion critique with Carson Kressley and an interview from right after the ceremony with host Conan O’Brien.

For the week, “Live” was up 6% vs. the previous week in total viewers (2.711 million vs. 2.560 million) and up 6% with women 25-54 (0.51 rating vs. 0.48 rating). According to Disney, the show has grown over the past four weeks with women 25-54. And year over year, the week was up 11% in total viewers (2.711 million vs. 2.440 million) and up 6% with women 25-54 (0.51 rating vs. 0.48 rating).

“Live” has extended its syndicated talk show win now to 164 consecutive weeks across all key measures, and season to date is tops in total viewers (2.434 million), women 18-49 (0.29 rating) and women 25-54 (0.44 rating).

(These Nielsen ratings are based on National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings for the week of March 16, as well as the previous week of March 9. The 2025-2026 TV season stretches from Sept. 1, 2025 to most-current data on March 22, 2026.)

Disney Entertainment distributes “Live,” which is produced by WABC-TV and executive produced by Michael Gelman and Kelly Ripa.

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It’s One Rating Win After Another for

MCU

15-Second summary

Do CTI analysts really need another podcast? No. Do they need Scattered Spider TTP updates with an indie/emo vibe? Absolutely yes. Have we been told this is a terrible idea? Multiple times. Are we doing it anyway? You’re already reading the blog.

Feedly ThreatBeats turns your daily threat intelligence into a personalized mix tape, because why read about APT activity when you can dance to it?

With this new feature, you can:

  • Get your morning threat brief delivered as a full track, covering new CVEs, emerging campaigns, and threat actor drama. Risk Sync Mode (RSM) adjusts the tempo and genre based on each threat’s severity. CVSS 8? Smooth jazz. Industry cyberattack? Death metal.

This blog walks you through how ThreatBeats works and lets you preview sample tracks. We are deeply sorry in advance.

The problem with threat intelligence (besides the threats)

Every morning, CTI analysts open their queues to find dozens of unread reports, vendor advisories, and a “quick RFI” from the CISO that is never quick. The intel is critical. The format is a punishment. Somewhere between the third threat actor profile, written entirely in the passive voice, and your second cup of coffee, the signal gets lost. No wonder CTI burnout is real.

ThreatBeats fixes this by bypassing the part of your brain that has given up on vendor reports and routing directly to the part that still feels things. Instead of reading that a financially motivated threat actor is actively exploiting a critical authentication bypass, you hear it, and sometimes you feel it in your bones. Why? The Feedly AI has correctly assessed this as a thrash metal situation. Your threat queue becomes a setlist. Your morning briefing becomes something you might actually finish.

Here are a few examples of the tunes you can expect:

Root Access and Regret

Every country song is about losing something. A truck. A dog. Root access to your entire Docker container because you trusted the vm module. This one’s no different.

83 Million Downloads ft. The Axios Attack

The Axios supply chain attack was so calculated, so precise, and so self-destructing that it honestly deserved its own soundtrack. We just gave it one.

The Call (A Social Engineering Ballad) by ShinyHunters

ShinyHunters got the Broadway treatment because this attack was a show-stopper.

One Server to Fall

A Chinese-nexus threat actor turned a trusted government video conferencing platform into a malware delivery channel. If that doesn’t deserve a mosh pit, nothing does.

Warning: Feedly does not recommend listening to this track during incident response. Studies suggest it may cause analysts to flip tables, draft strongly worded threat reports, or argue incessantly about which criticalist-of-the-critical patches should go first.

Lullaby for the Exploit Market

Someone built a full-chain iOS exploit kit. Someone else bought it. Someone else opened it. Lo-fi because everyone involved clearly needs to calm down.

That’s a wrap

Threat actors don’t take days off, zero-days don’t wait for business hours, and the brief is never as short as the name implies. You’re out here tracking APT campaigns, triaging CVEs, and explaining to leadership why “we have a firewall” is not a security strategy. The least we can do is make the threat landscape sound a little better. ThreatBeats isn’t real, but the respect is. Now go warn somebody about something.

Are your mornings (and days and nights) too noisy?

Try Feedly Threat Intelligence for free and see how they get a little calmer and a lot more productive. We promise the actual product is way more useful than this blog.

Try Now

FAQs

Is ThreatBeats a real feature?

No. Please don’t ask your TI Advisor about it.

The threat landscape is exhausting and we needed an outlet. You’re welcome.

Does Risk Sync Mode work in reverse? Can I make a CVSS 10 into smooth jazz

Um, sure. It’s a fake feature, knock yourself out. Professionally, we cannot recommend it.

My CISO saw this announcement. What do I do?

Forward them the lo-fi track and tell them everything is fine.

We wrote lyrics about real threats. We fed them to Google Gemini’s new music generation feature. We pressed generate. We kept pressing generate. Some songs came out perfect on the first try. Others took several attempts and a level of emotional negotiation with an AI that we were not prepared for. The reggaeton version exists but will not be released at this time. Huge thank you to the Gemini team for making it possible for a group of threat intelligence nerds to launch our 5-minute music career.

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15-Second summaryDo CTI analysts really need another

DCU

DC Studios officially revealed the first-ever look at the DC reboot’s version of Darkseid (and he looks menacing). Darkseid’s debut in James Gunn’s DC Universe has long been anticipated by fans, with many seeing the villain as the ultimate big bad of DCU’s Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. However, in October 2025, Gunn already ruled out that possibility (via IGN), noting, “using Darkseid as the big bad right now is not necessarily the thing.” Still, this doesn’t mean that Darkseid’s debut will be held off, mainly because the villain is already confirmed to appear in the upcoming Mister Miracle animated series. 

Following the confirmation of the launch of Superman Experience: Defenders Unite on Saturday, April 18, Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences and DC Studios officially released a new trailer for the immersive experience. 

At the 0:33 mark of the trailer, the first look at the DCU’s Darkseid can be seen, showcasing the villain in holographic form while he seemingly unleashes the forces of Apokolips against Superman and presumably Supergirl: 

DC Studios

Superman Experience: Defenders Unite is already confirmed to culminate with a clash between Superman and Darkseid, meaning that a proper look at the DCU’s Darkseid will be seen by guests attending the event. 

While this is presumably a placeholder design for the DCU’s Darkseid, it still captures the menacing, sinister vibe of the Apokoliptian ruler. It is also worth noting that this brief shot was easy to miss, further suggesting that the design is not final. 

James Gunn’s Darkseid still features the usual glowing red eyes, vibrant blue armor with a prominent Omega symbol, and a massive build capable of standing toe to toe with some of DC’s powerful heroes. 

Watch the trailer for the Superman Experience: Defenders Unite below:

Superman Experience: Defenders Unite will be held at Stage 5 on the Warner Bros. Studios lot, starting on Saturday, April 18.

Why James Gunn’s Darkseid Stands Out From Other Versions 

Based on this version seen in the trailer for Superman Experience: Defenders Unite, the use of holograms and other cybernetic devices suggests that James Gunn’s Darkseid embraces more of Apokolips’ transcended technology to become even more powerful. 

No doubt, this Darkseid still has the strong powers of a New God, such as his deadly Omega beams and brute strength, but the fact that he has access to a wide array of complex technology elevated him into something far more superior. 

Given that Darkseid is already invincible and immensely powerful, David Corenswet’s Superman will have his hands full once he faces this version of the DC villain because of the unlimited resources, minions (parademons), and physical prowess he already has. 

What makes it truly terrifying is the fact that Gunn’s Darkseid is only seen in holographic form, yet he already radiates a menacing vibe. When he finally steps onto the battlefield in the flesh, there is no doubt that his overwhelming presence alone will command fear, spelling trouble for the rest of the DCU heroes. 

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Comics

This is a strange week for PS5 deals. The console price hike has officially taken effect, but you can still find it at its old prices in some places. A bunch of video game deals are also carrying over from late March (including a huge price cut for the Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (Collector’s Edition), and there are several new deals for games like Space Marine 2 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the latter of which now matches its lowest price ever.

Accessory deals are a bit scarce, but you can get popular headsets from Razer and Turtle Beach for cheap, while Target is running a nice discount on refurbished DualSense Controllers. From games and controllers to consoles and headsets, here are the best PS5 deals this week.

Best PS5 Hardware Deals (PS5 Slim, PS5 Pro, PS Portal)

It looks like some retailers didn’t get the memo–several spots are still carrying PS5 consoles with their old price tags. We’re sure these won’t stick around for long, but right now you can find all sorts of deals at Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, and Target. You can even find the Fortnite Flowering Chaos Bundle in stock at a few retailers, which gets you a PS5 Slim Disc Edition and some nice Fortnite goodies for just $400. With the new price hike, that’s a phenomenal deal.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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This is a strange week for PS5

Festivals

For those looking to speed up their workflows, particularly for editors who are already using elevate.io’s collaborative video editing platform, this is exciting news if you’d like to more quickly find, license, and use royalty-free music or sound effects in your project.

Blackbird plc (the parent company of elevate.io) has announced a new partnership with the royalty-free music platform Epidemic Sound to bring the latter’s large royalty-free music catalog directly into elevate.io’s collaborative video editing platform.

Let’s take a look at what this partnership and integration mean for speeding up your edits and workflows.

elevate.io and Epidemic Sound

Announced as a partnership between the two brands, Epidemic Sound’s catalog of royalty-free music and sound effects will be available in elevate.io’s collaborative video editing platform immediately. The goal here is to give editors on this platform the ability to work more quickly and seamlessly, as they’ll be able to instantly find and add music and sound effects to their content.

“Music is fundamental to great storytelling, it’s what gives video content its emotion and energy. Rather than sending creators off to find tracks elsewhere, we’ve built it directly into the elevate.io platform. World-class music, right there in users’ workflows. No interruptions, just creativity and complete peace of mind. This is a huge moment for the Company and we’re incredibly excited” — Ian McDonough, executive chair for Blackbird.

What’s neat about this partnership is that if you’re already using elevate.io’s video editing platform for your collaborative edits, then you’re automatically getting more music and sound effects available at your fingertips.

Credit: elevate.io

Something New for Content Creation

While not as popular as the big NLEs like Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro, elevate.io’s collaborative video editing platform is a nice option for video editing teams looking for a browser-based option for editing short or long-form content.

“This is an excellent example of the Epidemic Sound API enabling creative platforms to grow their customer offering through music. The elevate.io team have done an amazing job integrating our catalogue into their collaborative video editor and we’re excited to see how their creators and brands use our tracks to take their content to the next level. We’re delighted to continue supporting the development of the elevate.io platform through world class-music and soundtracking.” — Matt Sage, interim chief product officer, Epidemic Sound.

Adding music and sound effects could certainly help speed up edits and provide more assets and options for those already using the platform to support their collaborative, co-creating style of edits.

Credit: elevate.io

Price and Availability

This integration of the full Epidemic Sound library into elevate.io’s editing platform is available immediately; however, it requires users to use a token system, which allows them to purchase through their subscription accounts.

You can find more info on this partnership and token options on the company’s website here.

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For those looking to speed up their

Film

Summer begins May 1 with 20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2, which after arriving on three-week tracking this morning, is eyeing a $66M+ opening.

Presales we hear are double that of Wuthering Heights (which had a four-and-half-week advance ticket sales window). Devil Wears Prada 2‘s tickets went on sale on March 12. Those presales figures make sense given the opening forecast we’re seeing for Devil Wears Prada 2.

As expected, the movie is strongest with women, young and old. But male definite interest is in good shape we understand relative to Barbie, The Little Mermaid and It Ends With Us. First choice is particularly excellent with women over 25 which is just behind Wicked‘s and well ahead of It Ends With Us (which was a late breaking campaign; ticket sales by that pic’s first Monday indicated it was headed to a start north of $50M).

The pic will also benefit from playing into Mothers Day weekend in its second frame, and will continue to serve as strong counterprogramming against summer dude movies, Mortal Kombat II from New Line and Lucasfilm/Disne’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu

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Summer begins May 1 with 20th Century

TV

Entertainment industry veteran Thai Randolph has taken the wraps off her new venture: NILE & Co., described as a content and commerce platform that works with “creators who move culture.”

Randolph is the former CEO and co-founder of Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat, which she exited in 2023. She is the founder and CEO of NILE & Co. (which stands for “Narrative, Influence, Legacy, Enterprise”). According to the company, it operates a brand and IP platform with a content-to-commerce model targeting women through its owned channels alongside trusted creators and athletes.

At launch, NILE & Co. owns two properties: As/Is and Goodful, both acquired from BuzzFeed. In its 2025 annual report, BuzzFeed said it had sold both brands for $500,000 (at a loss of $800,000). NILE & Co. says those are the first of several acquisitions to be announced in the coming months.

As/Is, which has over 15 million followers, originally launched as a body-positivity platform. Under NILE & Co., it is being repositioned as a “whole-life platform for high-performing women,” including athletes, entrepreneurs and executives “who are done accepting the terms as written.” Goodful, with more than 25 million followers, is evolving into a “wellness-to-wealth platform for women who invest in themselves.” Both brands will be relaunched in the summer of 2026 with new brand identities, business models, and creator and commercial partnerships, the company said.

In addition to the deal for As/Is and Goodful, NILE & Co. inked a commercial partnership for BuzzFeed’s Cocoa Butter, Pero Like and A*Pop brands, which reach multicultural audiences across Black, Latino and Asian American communities. Together, the NILE & Co. portfolio reaches more than 50 million consumers (predominantly women 25-45).

“I’ve spent my career building brands and scaling businesses alongside some of the most influential creators and commercial partners in the world,” Randolph said in announcing NILE & Co. “What I’ve learned is that narrative and influence are two of the biggest accelerants in modern brand building — and women are now in the driver’s seat. They control the majority of purchasing decisions, sit at the center of the largest wealth transfer in modern history, and are reshaping how capital, culture, and commerce move. Naturally, our first investment is in her.”

NILE & Co. says it operates based on three core strategies: build (to co-found new companies with creators and athletes as equity partners); buy (to acquire brands with loyal audiences and cultural resonance and rebuild them into multiplatform businesses with modern revenue models and expanded distribution); and partner (to work with IP owners, creators and companies as a hands-on operating and commercialization partner).

“We look for brands with demonstrable audience affinity, valuable IP, and clear headroom to become something bigger,” Randolph said. As/Is and Goodful have that foundation, she said: “They built trust with a highly engaged audience and became part of how she lives and sees herself. Now we’re building their next chapter to meet her where she is today — ambitious, wealth-building, investing in her health with intention, and defining performance and pleasure on her own terms.”

Joining Randolph as NILE & Co.’s founding partners are: Manveer (Monti) Sehmi, CFO (formerly Hartbeat, FastPay, Ernst & Young); Heather Johns, head of content and creator partnerships (formerly Paramount/Viacom, Lionsgate, UTA); Melinda Lee, operating partner and adviser (formerly BuzzFeed, Meredith, Hearst), whose relationships were instrumental in originating the As/Is and Goodful acquisitions; and Ahmad Barber, operating partner and creative director (who has worked with companies including Nike, HBO, Netflix, Apple and Google).

Corey Martin, managing partner and chair of the entertainment finance practice at Granderson Des Rochers LLP, served as legal counsel to NILE & Co. Hilco Corporate Finance and Loop Capital served as financial advisers.

Randolph spent seven years at Hartbeat, building it from a production studio into a multifaceted media company. At Hartbeat, she led a $100 million capital raise from private-equity firm Abry Partners — one of the largest funding rounds ever secured by a Black woman for a private company. She is a board member of LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells creative studio.

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Entertainment industry veteran Thai Randolph has taken

What to Watch

One of the most legendary video game franchises ever is once again being planned for a potential movie, with the Final Destination Bloodlines directors attached to it.

What Konami video game is getting the movie treatment?

According to a new report from THR, a Metal Gear Solid movie is officially in the works, with directing duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein now attached to the adaptation of the project.

According to the report, the duo’s commitment to Metal Gear Solid comes as a part of a first-look deal the duo has signed with Sony Pictures, which covers all of the studio’s film labels. The Metal Gear Solid franchise was originally created by legendary creator, designer, writer, and director Hideo Kojima, and this would be the first time a movie adaptation has been made.

Previously, one was reported to be in the works from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who seems to no likely be connected to the project. The franchise spans a litany of games, and follows the transgenerational story of Snake, a special forces operative tasked with finding the superweapon known as Metal Gear.

Speaking on the game franchise, the duo called the franchise “nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionized video games. We are thrilled and honored to bring Hideo Kojima’s iconic characters and unforgettable world to life.”

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)

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One of the most legendary video game

Awards

Jenna Ortega in Hereditary? It could’ve happened.

During an appearance on pal Kid Cudi’s new podcast, Big Bro, the 23-year-old Wednesday star revealed that she auditioned for Ari Aster’s horror film, released by A24 in January 2018. “I think I auditioned for Hereditary, which obviously wouldn’t have made any sense, especially for, like, my disposition as a kid, so I understood,” she tells Cudi, her friend since they starred together in Ti West’s slasher pic X opposite Mia Goth, Brittany Snow and Martin Henderson.

Ortega said that while she only received a select portion of the script she knew it would be impactful. “I didn’t know what I was looking at and they they gave us barely any sides. It was like two pages of just ominous words that as a 12-year-old went over the head,” she explained. “But I remember seeing it, looking at it, and thinking, I feel like this is an important movie, and then it was.”

Aster’s Hereditary, which he directed from his own script, centers on a family struggling to make sense of the mysterious occurrences that happen in the wake of the death of matriarch Ellen, played by Ann Dowd. The woman’s daughter, a miniature artist named Annie played by Toni Collette, begins to uncover disturbing secrets just as the family is thrown into personal tragedy when their 13-year-old daughter dies in a shocking car accident while her older brother is behind the wheel. Ortega auditioned to play the 13-year-old in a role that went to Milly Shapiro. It was a key part, too, as Charlie had a chilling presence on screen as he family grows increasingly concerned by her strange behavior.

“Then it came out, and we went to the theater,” Ortega recalls of seeing Hereditary back in 2018. “I sat up in my chair and I looked at my mom and I said, ‘This is the one that I said was going to be in.’ You know, we didn’t even realize that [is what we were seeing]. But incredible movie. It’s funny to think that I went in for that because again, I just didn’t make any sense for it.”

Ortega added that she’s always taken rejection really well. “I never really question it. I didn’t want to get in my head about that sort of thing and what’s meant to be mine will come to me or you know I’ll find somehow.”

Ortega’s chat with Cudi has generated a fair amount of headlines focused on the segment when she opened up about the time she almost quit acting altogether. The actress, who grew up in Palm Springs, California, broke out as a child star on such shows as Know it All Nina, Richie Rich and Stuck in the Middle. Then came a crossroads.

“I didn’t know what else I was gonna do,” Ortega told Cudi. “I’ve never really considered anything else, more so recently, just out of sake of curiosity and wanting another life experience. But when I was a teenager, I’d gotten off a children’s show, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had to prove myself and meet all these new casting directors who didn’t know who I was. It just felt like a good time to call it quits if I was going to.”

Ortega was just about to start high school and felt like it “was a good run” type thing. “We had talked about it for a few months with my team, and then, I think I booked that show You, and then I went on that set, and I loved it and had the best time,” Ortega said about the Netflix thriller series starring Penn Badgley as a serial killer. “I thought, ‘Yeah, there’s no way I could let this go.’”

She’s been working at a hectic clip ever since. But now Ortega has found herself in a rare space with months of consecutive downtime. “I was so scared. I was so scared,” she says of taking a break. “I remember the first few weeks I thought, ‘Okay, I don’t really know what to do with my hands. Maybe I should like pick up a hobby?’”

But now that her free time is winding down, Ortega said she feels so much better. “I learned so much about what I enjoy and what I don’t enjoy. I know how to entertain myself real well now, and I just got to do real domestic stuff that I was missing out on for a while, like cooking. I never got to cook because you’re living in a hotel room.”

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Jenna Ortega in Hereditary? It could’ve happened. During

Music

Finneas O’Connell is heading deeper into Hollywood scoring territory by taking on full composing duties for season 2 of Netflix’s BEEF, and it’s world he’s been living in for the better part of a year.

A24 will release the soundtrack April 16 via its recently launched A24 Music, with first single “Vicious Thoughts” out now. The score marks one of Finneas’ most expansive screen projects to date, following earlier work that includes composing for films like The Fallout and contributing music across various film and TV projects alongside his recordings with sister Billie Eilish.

“Spent the last 12 months in BEEF land. All eight episodes out April 16, all original music by me,” Finneas says. “Very grateful to SPIN Staff Sonny [Lee] for involving me, very grateful for the incredible performances from the entire cast. I probably watched every scene 100 times while I scored the show and I felt it every time. True fan of this show, very honored and proud to be a part of it.”

Starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, the debut season of BEEF became a critical juggernaut, sweeping major awards and cementing itself as one of the defining series of 2023. Season 2 resets the premise with a new cast led by Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, centering on a toxic unraveling between a wealthy couple and the younger employees caught in their orbit.

“Finneas is the brilliant mind behind most of the music that has soundtracked my personal life over the last decade, so it’s an absolute honor to collaborate with him on the new season,” said Lee, whose real name is Lee Sung Jin. “He has an incredible ability to make the darkest emotions sound so achingly beautiful, and I cannot wait for everyone to hear what he’s cooked up.”

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Docs

Much of the discussion about how to tackle the horrors of the Holocaust through art have been filtered through a declaration by German philosopher Theodore Adorno after World War II: “To write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric, and that corrodes also the knowledge which expresses why it has become impossible to write poetry today.”

Although Adorno later walked back this view, the underlying question remains relevant: can art ever truly do justice to something as terrible as a genocide? Does story have the power to hold and transform that much pain, or will it always be a pointless or “barbaric” endeavor?

Two films currently screening digitally as part of our Always Remember series grapple with just that question. The screenings are free for Film Independent Members.

The Most Precious of Cargoes, directed by Oscar-winner Michel Hazanavicius, and Inked: Our Stories Remarked, by director/producer Dara Bratt take different tacks to explore how, 80 years on, we can understand what happened, and strive for the ever relevant goal, “Never Again.”

In Inked, Bratt explores the idea of the using the profane as a way to process trauma. The documentary is about the phenomenon where third generation decedents of Holocaust survivors choose to remember their ancestors by getting tattoos, often times with the same identification number branded onto their grandparents. Tattoos are traditionally prohibited in the Jewish faith, so the tattoos the Nazis inked into Jewish prisoners were not only dehumanizing, but a callous violation of internees’ religious beliefs.

The grandchildren of survivors the film focuses on want to let their ink be a way to keep the story alive on their own bodies, even if the act went against traditional values or could bring up pain in older generations. Much like how the queer community reclaimed the pink triangle the Nazis used to label them, this generation of Jews is intent on taking back tattoos. “I was really interested in how tattoos have become a language, how moved on from like oral storytelling to written to now a graphic sense of storytelling.” Bratt said in a Q&A at the New Orleans French Film Festival. “I really wanted to explore the idea: ‘how do we preserve legacy?’”

For The Most Precious of Cargoe’s Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), animation was a way he could process tragedy. “I could not make a live action movie on that topic,”

“Animation does not pretend it’s reality. It’s, it’s obviously, a representation and evocation, a suggestion of, what happened, but it’s not pretending that it’s real,” Hazanavicius said in a Q&A recorded for this series. “It’s impossible for me to ask to extras, for example, to pretend they are being deported in a train for Auschwitz.”

The film is about a couple who find a baby thrown from one of the mysterious trains that pass by their forest home. They realize the child is one of the so-called “heartless” that is demonized by the local population, which leads to conflict and asks who gets to determine who has a heart or not.

“This story was not about the past,” he said. “It was more like a bet on the future. It’s something that you can say to the young generation and to the kids– to bring them heroes that say to them, even when you feel that the world is falling around you, you always have the choice to be a good person.”

 

Go to our Events page to find out more about these and other Film Independent Presents screenings.

Always Remember is sponsored by the Cayton-Goldrich Family Foundation and the Claims Conference with Vision Media as its Screening Partner.

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

Keep up with Film Independent…

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Trending

Lift heavy, live light! Khloé Kardashian is opening up to ET about her current fitness routine and it’s just as effective as it is heartwarming.

While The Kardashians star still makes it a point to hit the gym, she’s learned not to sweat it when life gets in the way.

Khloé Kardashian/Instagram

“My workouts are a mix of strength training and cardio,” she shares. “I give myself grace, too. Not every day is perfect, but consistency matters more than perfection.”

These days, some of her favorite ways to stay active happen right at home with her daughter, True, 7, and son Tatum, 3.

“It’s definitely a balance, but I’ve stopped thinking of it as a separate time. I try to blend everything together when I can,” the Khloé in Wonder Land podcast host says. 

Khloé Kardashian/Instagram

“With my kids, it’s all about making movement fun. We’ll have dance parties, go on walks, or just play games that keep us moving.”

Regardless of what her schedule looks like, Kardashian believes it really comes down to making nutritious choices.

“Protein is everything for me when it comes to working out. It keeps me strong, helps with recovery, and makes all the effort actually show up in results,” she explains. “No matter what I’m doing, fueling properly is key.”

Sophie Sahara

She adds, “I’ve learned the hard way that if I’m not getting enough protein, I feel it. I’m more tired, my workouts feel harder, and I don’t recover the same.”

That same mindset even carries over into her snacking habits.

“Protein honestly changed the way I feel day to day. When I prioritize it, I have more energy, I stay full longer, and I’m not reaching for random snacks late at night. It just helps everything fall into place,” she notes. “When I stay on track, I feel stronger and more motivated.”

Backgrid

So instead of mindless eating, Kardashian is reaching for something more intentional: Her new Khloud Protein Chips, available in Nacho, Sweet Heat, and Buffalo flavors.

“I wanted something that actually feels like a treat, but still supports my goals,” she tells ET. “They give me that crunch and satisfaction, but I still feel good about eating them. It doesn’t feel like a compromise.”

RELATED CONTENT:

 

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Lift heavy, live light! Khloé Kardashian is

Tech

What a difference a Hollywood year can make.

Just a year ago, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein were a filmmaking duo with humble indie horror roots, prepping to release their first sizeable feature, Final Destination: Bloodlines from New Line Cinema.

Now, thanks to that movie’s critical and box office success, Lipovsky and Stein, who first met 17 years ago as competitors on Steven Spielberg’s filmmaking reality show On the Lot, have become one of the busiest moviemakers around.

They are so in demand that Sony Pictures has snared them, signing the duo to a sweeping and expansive first-look deal, which covers all of the studio’s film labels.

Under the deal, Lipovsky and Stein’s newly-launched company, Wonderlab, will develop films for the duo to direct and original projects that they will produce for other directors. The focus is creating wildly fun, commercial, character-driven, genre-bending films. They are currently meeting potential executives to help lead the company.

And as part of the deal, the duo will direct Sony’s Columbia Pictures adaptation of Metal Gear Solid, the pioneering video game created by Hideo Kojima. It would mark the first time the blockbuster title, a stealth combat game with sci-fi and spy features, would be brought to the screen. Father-and-son team Avi Arad and Ari Arad are producing the feature.

“Zach and Adam are thrilling storytellers, masters of visuals and suspense, and two of the most impressive director/producers working today,” said Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch in a statement. “With projects across all the company’s film labels, we are so happy to create a home for them, and proud to have them as part of the Sony family.”

The deal deepens Lipovsky and Stein’s relationship with the studio, where they are already developing multiple projects, including an animated Venom movie for Sony Pictures Animation, which they are directing. They are also developing the original sci-fi epic The Earthling for Columbia Pictures, which they are attached to direct and will produce alongside Eric Heisserer and Scott Glassgold.

“We are honored to be partnering with the incredible executive team at Sony,” said Lipovsky and Stein in a statement. “While working with several Sony teams in the last year, we’ve been blown away by the level of creativity, thoughtfulness, and passion we felt in every conversation. We share the vision that Tom, Sanford, Peter, Louie, Kristine and Damien, Ashley and the whole Sony team have for creating theatrical event films that entertain the world.”

Regarding Metal Gear Solid, the duo stated, “Metal Gear Solid was nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionized video games. We are thrilled and honored to bring Hideo Kojima’s iconic characters and unforgettable world to life.”

With Final Destination: Bloodlines, Lipovsky and Stein reinvigorated a moribund Warners Bros. title, helming the first Final Destination movie in about 14 years. The movie, released in May 2025, grossed $317.0 million worldwide on a budget of around $50 million, becoming not only the highest-grossing entry in the franchise but also the best reviewed.

Prior to that, the filmmaking gained notices for writing, directing, and producing the indie sci-fi film Freaks, which was one of the year’s biggest sales at the Toronto International Film Festival. They are currently in post-production on a Freaks sequel.

In the last year, the duo have also been working on several high-profile projects around town, including a new Gremlins feature they wrote for Warners, Long Lost with Spielberg’s Amblin and Universal, and The Traveler at Paramount.

Lipovsky and Stein are repped by Verve, Ground Control, and attorney Jamie Feldman.

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What a difference a Hollywood year can

Video

For independent filmmakers, seeking digital distribution in 2024 often feels like being thirsty in the middle of the ocean. There are countless avenues to make a movie available to watch online, but the endless sea of options has made it increasingly difficult for a film to stand out.

KINO offers filmmakers an innovative solution. The startup distribution platform helps filmmakers create live viewing events to watch their own films alongside audiences, allowing artists to interact with fans in real time. The innovative format was a hot topic at IndieWire’s inaugural Future of Filmmaking summit, where KINO CEO Daril Fannin, COO Austin Worrell, and chief marketing officer Brit MacRae joined IndieWire editor-in-chief Dana Harris-Bridson to discuss their vision for interactive digital distribution.

“For us, it was like, ‘First of all, how do we break through the noise’ and so we came up with an idea,” Fannin said when asked about the origins of KINO. “What if you could watch the film with the cast and crew? What if you could interact in really fun ways? So if it’s on the smart TV and it’s on your phone and you can ask questions and do live Q&A’s and get giveaways and actually tangibly interact with the cast. So it’s almost like the Sundance experience from the comfort of your own living room.”

With so many digital viewing options already available, KINO’s challenge was to develop an at-home experience that felt equivalent to going to a movie theater. The team sees parallels between a theatrical release and a KINO rollout, as both formats offer an experience that is premium, scarce, and communal.

“If you think about it, the theatrical release used to be premium, scarce, and shared. How do we recreate that digitally? You can’t just drop the video on the internet, right? We have YouTube. So how do we create premium, scarce, and shared?” Worrell said. “And so now, you can do a digital box office, a live video on demand that’s premium because it’s interactive, shared because you have fan community, and scarce because it’s only on KINO for a limited time before it gets to your ultimate downstream windows.”

KINO’s value proposition extends far beyond the live viewings. Filmmakers who take their projects to KINO have a dedicated marketing team at their disposal, and the company prides itself on using AI to make data-driven marketing decisions that put each film in front of the consumer niches most likely to be interested in it.

“We treat every single one of our indie films that come to us as small businesses,” MacRae said. “We have a premier success manager dedicated to each film. We have a full team who it’s their entire full-time job to make your film successful. And so we’ve been able to tap into millions and millions of fan communities online, create really niche and elevated marketing campaigns for each one of these films. We’ve been able to garner a lot of attention and a lot of eyeballs just with a little bit more specificity.”

The topic of data transparency in the entertainment industry has been a hotly contested issue in recent years, with many filmmakers and TV creators lamenting that streaming services don’t share viewership numbers. In addition to making it difficult to negotiate new contracts, the lack of transparency prevents artists from learning where their real fans are. KINO is seeking to rectify that problem by ensuring that every filmmaker who partners with it is kept in the loop about who watches their films. The collaborative approach helps keep creatives and marketing teams on the same page as they work together to connect films with audiences.

“A part of our business model is making sure that you have the data,” Fannin said. “As a filmmaker, I was always very frustrated because I didn’t know who my audience was. Netflix didn’t tell me who was watching the show or who wasn’t. And so what we do is we give you the demographic and geographic data not only of the millions and millions of people that are engaging on the marketing side and through our marketing push, but also who is actually buying tickets and merchandising. Because that tells you who your super fans are.”

Watch the complete panel from IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking summit above.

Special thanks to our Future of Filmmaking Summit partners: Canva, Kino, SAGindie, The American Pavilion, United for Business, and The Walt Disney Studios.

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For independent filmmakers, seeking digital distribution in

Entertaintment

Global sales and distribution company Filmhub has acquired the rights to “Burt,” a micro-indie dramedy about an estranged father and son navigating Parkinson’s Disease.

The film stars Oliver Cooper and Burt Berger, who plays the title role of Burt, an aging street musician with Parkinson’s who is confronted by a young man (Cooper) claiming to be his son. The black-and-white shot movie unfolds over one intimate weekend following the life-altering encounter. “Burt” was inspired by Berger’s real life, and has been lauded for its moving and authentic portrayal of living with Parkinson’s.

“Burt” is directed by Joe Burke, whose father also lives with the illness. Burke co-wrote and produced the movie alongside Cooper. The film was executive produced by Film Independent Spirit Award nominee David Gordon Green.

The film has been an official selection at numerous film festivals, including the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Florida Film Festival (where it won the Special Jury Award for best screenplay), the Phoenix Film Festival (where it won best picture) and Cinequest (where it won best comedy feature).

“Burt” is slated for release on June 23, joining Filmhub’s library of over 30,000 titles. News of the acquisition comes ahead of World Parkinson’s Day, which takes place on April 11.

“Films like ‘Burt’ are the reason we built Filmhub,” stated Alan d’Escragnolle, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Joe, Oliver, Burton, and the entire filmmaking team have created something as entertaining as it is powerful — a film that deserves a wide audience but might once have struggled to secure distribution. We are honored that Filmhub will get to introduce this poignant story to audiences.”

As one of the world’s largest distributors, Filmhub works across 130 partners and channels in more than 200 territories to release hundreds of films and series each month. Channel partners include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel and YouTube Movies & TV. “Burt” is available to pre-order on Apple.

The filmmakers will donate a portion of their earnings through the first month of its release to various Parkinson’s foundations, including PCLA: Parkinson’s Community Los Angeles. Filmhub will also donate a portion of its profits to these organizations.

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Global sales and distribution company Filmhub has

Movies

Last Updated:

Anant Ambani turns 31 with grand Jamnagar celebrations, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan share warm birthday wishes.

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SRK wishes Anant Ambani on his birthday.

SRK wishes Anant Ambani on his birthday.

Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh and Nita Ambani, is all set to celebrate his 31st birthday on April 10, with grand festivities already underway in Jamnagar.

The celebrations are nothing short of spectacular, with the crème de la crème of Bollywood and the entertainment world flying into Gujarat to be part of the occasion.

And before the clock struck midnight, wishes poured in from all corners of Bollywood. The Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, took to Instagram Stories to wish Anant Ambani on his special day. His post read, “Here’s wishing Anant Ambani a very happy birthday… May you continue to do all the good u do..and uphold all that is positive and right. Keep up the good work and keep bringing smiles to people thru your work. God Bless you with the best of health and happiness always.”

Salman Khan, too, also took to Instagram to share two heartwarming photos with Anant. One photo is from his birthday celebrations happening right now in Jamnagar. In the photo, Salman Khan can be seen in crisp a black shirt and jeans, looking suave in his casual look. But his new glasses stole all the attention! The actor exuded out major Sameer vibes from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. His new look reminded fans of his on-screen appearances from the 90s. In another photo, he can be seen hugging Anant, who is seated. In the caption he wrote, “Happy birthday to the most selfless, kindest human and an inspiration to many … my younger brother Anant.”

While Jamnagar plays host to a lavish gathering of celebrities, the celebrations have also been marked by meaningful initiatives. As part of the birthday observances, a blood donation camp was organised in Mumbai in Anant Ambani’s honour.

Other celebs like Ananya Panday, Shanaya Kapoor, Agastya Nanda, and Boney Kapoor were also seen jetting off to be a part of the celebration. More celebs are expected to join Anant’s special event.

First Published:

April 09, 2026, 22:32 IST

News movies bollywood Shah Rukh Khan Wishes Anant Ambani On His Birthday: ‘Keep Bringing Smiles To People Through Your Work’
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Last Updated:April 09, 2026, 22:32 ISTAnant Ambani

DCU


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Marcos Melendez is an entertainment journalist who has been active since 2017. His past work can be read on Collider, Escapist, ScreenRant, CBR, and Full Circle Cinema. He is currently a News Editor for MovieWeb. 

As The Pitt heads toward an even final few episodes for Season 2, the stage is already being set for the upcoming third season. The star in front and behind the camera has revealed new details about what audiences should expect next time around, including if another significant time jump is being planned.

In a new interview with Variety, The Pitt star and executive producer Noah Wyle teased that the series will not have the same 10-month difference between seasons when the show returns next year. Instead, the actor explained that the intention is to simply move onto the next season, which he teased would be the wintertime.

“The only time jump we’re interested in making is to get into a different weather season, to get into a slightly different mode of cases that come with a change in weather. If that was summer, then what happens in the winter when you get cold, snow and black ice.”

More to come.


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Release Date

January 9, 2025

Network

Max

Showrunner

R. Scott Gemmill

  • instar53183536.jpg

    Noah Wyle

    Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch

  • instar53361512.jpg

    Tracy Ifeachor

    Dr. Heather Collins


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Comics

The music of the Silent Hill franchise is as iconic and essential as its foggy streets. Akira Yamaoka remains a towering presence, and his work has influenced numerous modern composers, including PILOTPRIEST, the composer for Silent Hill Townfall, who has now shared their first track for the upcoming title.

Silent Hill Townfall First Official Track – Home

Anthony Scott Burns, aka PILOTPRIEST, is a film director, composer, and a major fan of Akira Yamaoka’s work on the Silent Hill franchise. He is composing the soundtrack for Silent Hill Townfall and working alongside Byron Bullock, who previously worked on the acclaimed horror title Alien: Isolation.

Burns has debuted the first track for Silent Hill Townfall, set to visuals of in-game locations in St. Amelia, the main setting of the upcoming title. Give it a listen below:

Anthony Scott Burns confirmed that Silent Hill Townfall will feature a fully dynamic score system that reacts to player behavior and enemy encounters, with Burns working closely alongside the audio team to craft adaptive musical layers. Like every other aspect of the title, the team says the goal is to deliver something emotionally honest and rooted in fear while staying true to the spirit of Silent Hill.

Burns described the project as a long-standing dream and one of the most natural creative collaborations of his career. Screen Burn’s writer and director, Jon McKellan, said the team knew Burns was the right fit after reviewing early demos, adding that his work “evokes visuals,” magnifying the overall experience.

Based on a few listens, I think it’s safe to say that “Home” definitely feels like a Silent Hill track. It’s melodic with an underlying sadness that perfectly suits the tone you’d expect from the series. I’m excited to hear the full soundtrack once Silent Hill Townfall releases, but everything revealed so far has me feeling pretty positive about the project.

You can check out the announcement at Screen Burn’s official website with thoughts from game director Jon McKellan and composer PILOTPRIEST. If you’re interested in checking out more of PILOTPRIEST’s work, you can watch Come True, which they directed and scored.

Silent Hill Townfall is coming to PC and PS5 later this year. It’s published by KONAMI and Annapurna Interactive and developed by Screen Burn Interactive, previously known as No Code. It’s being developed on Unreal Engine 5, just like Silent Hill f. It was announced in 2022, and we only got a proper look this year during Sony’s State of Play, which showcased its first-person gameplay.

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Festivals

EXCLUSIVE: Emma Elle Paterson, a recent addition to the cast of Amazon’s The Boys, has signed on to lead and produce a feature titled Candy from filmmaker Jessica Michael Davis. 

The feature has been described as an “elevated genre-bending thriller”. Davis stars alongside her directing duties. Also attached to star in the film is Darius Jordan Lee (Dexter: Resurrection). 

Based on a short story by Mindy McGinnis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Davis, Candy is said to follow a young woman who reclaims autonomy through a radical bodily transformation, yet as she adopts the persona of “Candy,” empowerment becomes a seductive descent into vengeance and moral ambiguity.

Jeffrey Weber (Snare) is the executive producer, and production is set to begin this summer. 

Davis made her feature debut with Escaping Ohio (2023). Paterson also featured in that film. Davis described Candy as a “dark, wildly fun and unapologetic—a femme fatale story driven by female agency rather than male fantasy.”

Paterson is repped by Canopy Media Partners and Play Management. Davis is repped by Vision Entertainment. Lee is repped by Stride Management and Nicolosi & Co. McGinnis is repped by Folio Literary Management.

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EXCLUSIVE: Emma Elle Paterson, a recent addition

Film

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

Fresh off the heels of its blockbuster adaptation, Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary” has a new deluxe edition available online. The new book release features an intricately designed stenciled edges, new cover art on a premium jacket, full-color illustration endpapers and a custom-stamped case.

“Project Hail Mary: A Novel,” which is published by Ballantine Books and a No. 1 best seller on Amazon, is on sale for $16.29 (reg. $30) from the retail giant. This is a 46% savings.

Project Hail Mary (Deluxe Edition): A Novel

Released in May 2021, “Project Hail Mary” follows Ryland Grace, a junior high science teacher who wakes from a coma aboard a small space ship. He’s tasked with saving the world through the scientific method to prevent the sun from dying. Along his journey, he meets a strange alien creature who he befriends through the power of math and science.

Meanwhile, the book is available as a Kindle e-book, which is on sale for $12.99 (reg. $20) on Amazon. It’s ready to buy at Barnes & Noble too.

How to buy 'Project Hail Mary: A Novel' online

Ballantine Books

Amazon No. 1 Best Seller

‘Project Hail Mary: A Novel’

by Andy Weir

In addition, you can listen to “Project Hail Mary” for $0.99/month for three months, as an Audible audiobook narrated by Ray Porter and published by Audible Studios, for Audible subscribers only. If you’re not a subscriber, you can take advantage of the promotion to take a listen on the cheap. After the promotion is over, just cancel the service or keep listening to more audiobooks starting at $14.95/month.

And if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can get “Project Hail Mary” shipped to your home when it’s release within two days with Prime Delivery.

Not a member? Sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of all that Amazon Prime has to offer, including access to Prime Video, Prime Gaming and Amazon Photos; fast free shipping in less than two days with Prime Delivery; in-store discounts at Whole Foods Market; access to exclusive shopping events — such as Prime Day and Black Friday — and much more. Learn more about Amazon Prime and its benefits here.

Out now, “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir, who also wrote the novel “The Martian,” is on sale for $16.29 (reg. $30) on Amazon, as a hardcover book, or $13.98 (reg. $20), as a paperback. The Kindle e-book version is on sale for $12.99 (reg. $20).

In the meantime, watch the new trailer for “Project Hail Mary,” below:

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TV

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is rapidly coming to a close, and CBS confirmed today what will eventually fill the time slot when Colbert vacates his desk on May 21. Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen will take the spot starting on May 22, reports Deadline. It will air two back to back half-hour episodes every night. The show ran in syndication from 2006 until 2016 until CBS brought back the format in 2023 to replace The Late Late Show With James Corden. It then brought the show back again last year to replace After Midnight With Taylor Tomlinson when that was cancelled. Late night shows at CBS have really had a rough few years, huh?

Well, it’s almost over. Comics Unleashed is a “comedy talk show” which is different from a late-night show because it’s shorter and won’t have musical guests. CBS will also slot another comedy show from Allen, Funny You Should Ask, into the the 12:35 am slot that Comics Unleashed currently resides in. Says Allen, “I truly appreciate CBS’ confidence in me by picking up our two-hour comedy block of Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask, because the world can never have enough laughter.” Unless that laughter comes at the expense of the president or the mega-corporatation that really needs him to like it, we guess.


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Awards

Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, and Lainey Wilson are among the most nominated artists in this year’s race for the Academy of Country Music Awards, the organization announced today.

See the roster of nominations below.

The 61st ACM Awards will stream live exclusively for a global audience across 240+ countries and territories on Prime Video on Sunday, May 17, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT/5 p.m. PT from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Academy of Country Music, Prime Video and Dick Clark Productions announced the noms today.

The awards broadcast will also be available on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, as well as in the Amazon Music app.

Returning to the Sunday night timeslot, the ACM Awards will feature performances, exclusive collaborations, and unexpected moments from the biggest country music stars, including performances by Cody Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, and Riley Green, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

NOMINEE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE 61ST ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS:

Female artists lead with the most nominations, including Megan Moroney with nine nominations, followed by Miranda Lambert with eight nominations, and then followed by Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson, tied with seven nominations each.

Chris Stapleton, the reigning Male Artist of the Year, receives the most nominations for a male artist with six total, including his fifth consecutive nomination for Entertainer of the Year and his 11th consecutive nomination for Male Artist of the Year (an award he’s won five times).

Zach Top, the reigning New Male Artist of the Year, receives five nominations, including his first for Male Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (“I Never Lie”), both as an Artist and Songwriter, and for Single of the Year (“I Never Lie”).

Cody Johnson receives his third consecutive nomination for Entertainer of the Year, as well as his fourth consecutive nomination for Visual Media of the Year (“The Fall”).

Riley Green receives four nominations, his third consecutive for Music Event of the Year, and his first-ever nominations for Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe), and Artist-Songwriter of the Year.

Morgan Wallen receives his fourth consecutive nomination for Entertainer of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year, and his third nomination for Album of the Year (I’m The Problem).

Luke Combs receives his seventh consecutive nomination for both Entertainer of the Year and Male Artist of the Year. A win for Combs in the Entertainer category will also clinch the coveted Triple Crown Award, which consists of an Entertainer of the Year win, plus wins in an act’s respective New Artist (Male, Female, Duo or Group) and Artist (Male, Female, Duo or Group) categories.

FIRST TIME NOMINEES INCLUDE:

49 Winchester

Avery Anna

Mackenzie Carpenter

Carter Faith

Caroline Jones

Vincent Mason

Emily Ann Roberts

Thelma & James (*MacKenzie Porter nominated for Music Event of the Year in 2022 with Dustin Lynch)

Hudson Westbrook

Stephen Wilson Jr.

The following is the full list of nominees for the ACM Main Awards categories:

MAIN AWARDS:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Luke Combs

Jelly Roll

Cody Johnson

Megan Moroney

Chris Stapleton

Morgan Wallen

Lainey Wilson

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Kelsea Ballerini

Miranda Lambert

Ella Langley

Megan Moroney

Lainey Wilson

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Luke Combs

Riley Green

Cody Johnson

Chris Stapleton

Zach Top

GROUP OF THE YEAR

49 Winchester

Flatland Cavalry

Old Dominion

Rascal Flatts

The Red Clay Strays

DUO OF THE YEAR

Brooks & Dunn

Brothers Osborne

Dan + Shay

Muscadine Bloodline

Thelma & James

NEW FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Avery Anna

Mackenzie Carpenter

Dasha

Caroline Jones

Emily Ann Roberts

NEW MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Gavin Adcock

Vincent Mason

Shaboozey

Hudson Westbrook

Tucker Wetmore

ALBUM OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

Ain’t In It For My Health – Zach Top

Producer: Carson Chamberlain

Record Company-Label: Leo33

Cherry Valley – Carter Faith

Producer: Tofer Brown

Record Company-Label: Gatsby Records / MCA

Don’t Mind If I Do (Deluxe) – Riley Green

Producer: Dann Huff, Michael Knox

Record Company-Label: Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment

I’m The Problem – Morgan Wallen

Producers: Joey Moi, Charlie Handsome, Jacob Durrett

Record Company-Label: Big Loud Records

Parker McCollum – Parker McCollum

Producers: Frank Liddell, Eric Masse

Record Company-Label: MCA

SONG OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]

A Song To Sing – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton

Songwriters: Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Jenee Fleenor, Jesse Frasure

Publishers: I Wrote These Songs; Pink Dog Publishing; Songs for the Munch Music; Songs of Influence; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp

Am I Okay? – Megan Moroney

Songwriters: Megan Moroney, Luke Laird, Jessie Jo Dillon

Publishers: Big Ass Pile of Dimes Music; Big Music Machine

Choosin’ Texas – Ella Langley

Songwriters: Ella Langley, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Joybeth Taylor

Publishers: Bada Bing & Bada Langley Publishing; Little Louder Songs; Sony Music Publishing

I Never Lie – Zach Top

Songwriters: Zach Top, Carson Chamberlain, Tim Nichols

Publishers: Music and Magazine Publishing; Rio Bravo Music Inc; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; Too Broke to Quit Music; Zach Top Music

Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson

Songwriters: Lainey Wilson, Trannie Anderson, Dallas Wilson, Andy Albert, Harold Arlen & Yip Harburg

Publishers: Concord Sounds; Dtown Boogie Music; Emi Feist Catalog Inc; Songs Of Riser House; Songs Of Wild Cat Well Music; Sony/ATV Countryside; Story Farmer; Tacklebox Music Publishing

SINGLE OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

6 Months Later – Megan Moroney

Producers: Kristian Bush

Record Company-Label: Sony Music Nashville / Columbia Records

Choosin’ Texas – Ella Langley

Producers: Ella Langley, Miranda Lambert, Ben West

Record Company-Label: SAWGOD / Columbia Records

I Never Lie – Zach Top

Producers: Carson Chamberlain

Record Company-Label: Leo33

Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson

Producers: Jay Joyce

Record Company-Label: BBR Music Group / BMG Nashville / Broken Bow Records

The Fall – Cody Johnson

Producers: Trent Willmon

Record Company-Label: CoJo Music / Warner Records Nashville

MUSIC EVENT OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company–Label(s)]

A Song To Sing – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton

Producers: Dave Cobb

Record Company-Label: Republic Records

Amen – Shaboozey & Jelly Roll

Producers: Danny Majic, Nevin Sastry, Sean Cook

Record Company-Label: Empire

Don’t Mind If I Do – Riley Green feat. Ella Langley

Producers: Dann Huff, Michael Knox

Record Company-Label: Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment

Trailblazer – Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson

Producers: Tony Brown, Reba McEntire

Record Company-Label: MCA

You Had To Be There – Megan Moroney & Kenny Chesney

Producers: Kristian Bush

Record Company-Label: Sony Music Nashville / Columbia Records

VISUAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR [Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)]

6 Months Later – Megan Moroney

Producers: Christen Pinkston & Wesley Stebbins-Perry

Director: CeCe Dawson, Megan Moroney

A Song To Sing – Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton

Producers: James Stratakis

Director: Alexa King Stone, Stephen Kinigopoulos

Cuckoo -Stephen Wilson, Jr.

Producers: Tim Cofield

Director: Tim Cofield

Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson

Producers: Katie Babbage

Director: TK McKamy

The Fall – Cody Johnson

Producers: Christen Pinkston & Wesley Stebbins-Perry

Director: Dustin Haney

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Jessie Jo Dillon

Ashley Gorley

Charlie Handsome

Chase McGill

Blake Pendergrass

ARTIST-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Luke Combs

Riley Green

Ella Langley

Megan Moroney

Morgan Wallen

NOMINEES IN NUMERICAL ORDER:

Megan Moroney (9): Entertainer of the Year; Female Artist of the Year; Song of the Year (Artist and Songwriter nominations); Single of the Year, Music Event of the Year; Visual Media of the Year (Artist and Director nominations); Artist-Songwriter of the Year

Miranda Lambert (8): Female Artist of the Year; Song of the Year (“A Song To Sing” – Artist and Songwriter nominations); Song of the Year (“Choosin’ Texas” – Songwriter nomination); Single of the Year (Producer nomination); Music Event of the Year (“A Song To Sing” and “Trailblazer”); Visual Media of the Year

Ella Langley (7): Female Artist of the Year; Song of the Year (Artist and Songwriter nominations); Single of the Year (Artist and Producer nominations); Music Event of the Year; Artist-Songwriter of the Year

Lainey Wilson (7): Entertainer of the Year; Female Artist of the Year; Song of the Year (Artist and Songwriter); Single of the Year; Music Event of the Year; Visual Media of the Year

Chris Stapleton (6): Entertainer of the Year; Male Artist of the Year; Song of the Year (Artist and Songwriter nominations); Music Event of the Year, Visual Media of the Year

Zach Top (5): Male Artist of the Year; Album of the Year, Song of the Year (Artist and Songwriter nominations); Single of the Year

Riley Green (4): Male Artist of the Year; Album of the Year; Music Event of the Year; Artist-Songwriter of the Year

Cody Johnson (4): Entertainer of the Year; Male Artist of the Year; Single of the Year; Visual Media of the Year

Luke Combs (3): Entertainer of the Year; Male Artist of the Year; Artist-Songwriter

Morgan Wallen (3): Entertainer of the Year; Album of the Year; Artist-Songwriter

Jelly Roll (2): Entertainer of the Year; Music Event of the Year

Reba McEntire (2): Music Event of the Year; Music Event of the Year (Producer)

Shaboozey (2): New Male Artist of the Year; Music Event of the Year

49 Winchester (1): Group of the Year

Gavin Adcock (1): New Male Artist of the Year

Avery Anna (1): New Female Artist of the Year

Kelsea Ballerini (1): Female Artist of the Year

Brooks & Dunn (1): Duo of the Year

Brothers Osborne (1): Duo of the Year

Mackenzie Carpenter (1): New Female Artist of the Year

Kenny Chesney (1): Music Event of the Year

Dan + Shay (1): Duo of the Year

Dasha (1): New Female Artist of the Year

Carter Faith (1): Album of the Year

Flatland Cavalry (1): Group of the Year

Caroline Jones (1): New Female Artist of the Year

Vincent Mason (1): New Male Artist of the Year

Parker McCollum (1): Album of the Year

Muscadine Bloodline (1): Duo of the Year

Old Dominion (1): Group of the Year

Rascal Flatts (1): Group of the Year

The Red Clay Strays (1): Group of the Year

Emily Ann Roberts (1): New Female Artist of the Year

Thelma & James (1): Duo of the Year

Hudson Westbrook (1): New Male Artist of the Year

Tucker Wetmore (1): New Male Artist of the Year

Stephen Wilson Jr. (1): Visual Media of the Year

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Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley, and

Music

UPDATE (April 9): Sarah McLachlan and the National Ballet’s Noah Parets have been added to the roster of Canadian performers taking the stage at The Glenn Gould Prize Gala Honouring Elton John. The event will be hosted by Will & Grace star Eric McCormack (who is also Canadian) on May 9 at The Theatre at Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto. The award was first announced in March 2025 and was originally going to be presented in Toronto last fall.

The event, with John in attendance, will feature live performances of John’s songs by a hand-selected group of Canadian artists. Previously announced performers include Diana Krall, The Beaches, Ron Sexsmith, Jeremy Dutcher, LOONY and Ryan Wang.

The event will also feature a performance by mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, a Juno Award and Leonard Bernstein Award recipient. Personally selected by John to receive the Glenn Gould Protégé Prize recognizing exceptional promise and the importance of mentorship in the arts, D’Angelo will be presented the prize during the gala.

“I am so pleased to have been asked to perform at the 15th Glenn Gould Prize Gala honouring Elton John,” McLachlan said in a statement. “As a longtime admirer of Elton’s musicianship and philanthropy, it is thrilling to be able to pay tribute to him in this meaningful way.”

PREVIOUSLY (March 20, 2025): Sir Elton John has been named the 2025 recipient of the Glenn Gould Prize. A wide range of creative talents have won the award over the years. John is only the second to come from the (broadly defined) rock world, following the late Leonard Cohen.

The award was established in 1987 by The Glenn Gould Foundation to honor the legacy of legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, whose 1956 album Bach: Goldberg Variations is considered a classic. Gould died in 1982 at age 50. He received a posthumous lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2013.

“After spending decades admiring the virtuosity of Glenn Gould’s work, I am awestruck and honored to receive this award,” John said in a statement. John, of course, has won countless lifetime achievement awards, including the Kennedy Center Honors, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, a Grammy Legend Award, the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and induction into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The Glenn Gould Prize is awarded biennially and includes a CDN$100,000 cash award for the Laureate, who also selects an exceptional young artist to receive the CDN$25,000 Glenn Gould Protégé Prize.

“In selecting our Laureate, Elton John, we chose to honor someone who has great artistic accomplishments, but whose life and whose art has been translated into something much greater than just performance or the consumption of music and things they’ve created,” said the Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada and this year’s jury chair for the Glenn Gould Prize.

“Elton John has used his enormous talent and his great success to change lives. He’s been courageous in taking on causes, whether AIDS, LGBTQ+ rights, addiction and all sorts of issues that were not popular when he engaged with them and he was prepared to take the wonderful success that his musical talent had given him to make a difference in the world. And from our perspective that represents the highest level of achievement for an artist and celebrates the memory of Glenn Gould in the best way.”

“Elton John embodies the spirit of artistic excellence, innovation, and profound humanity that The Glenn Gould Prize was created to celebrate,” added Brian Levine, CEO, Glenn Gould Foundation. “Glenn Gould’s vision was one of boundless creativity, fearless originality and an unshakable commitment to using music as a force for good in the world. Sir Elton has exemplified these ideals throughout his extraordinary career, not only with his incredible musical catalogue and immense talent but also championing emerging artists across genres and using his global platform to inspire transformational humanistic change. His enduring impact on music and culture makes him a truly perfect recipient of this honor.”

The announcement of The Glenn Gould Prize Laureate was made during a public event at Kings Place in London. The event featured a Q&A session with the jury and performances by South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza and 17-year-old Canadian piano prodigy Ryan Wang.

Living candidates of any nationality are eligible for The Glenn Gould Prize, with nominations coming from the public. Disciplines include but are not limited to musical creation or performance, theater, dance, choreography, writing, design, film, television, radio and broadcasting, visual art, multimedia, writing, technology/innovation, architecture and design.

The prize will be presented to John during a special gala celebration to be held in Toronto this fall.

Here’s a complete list of recipients of the Glenn Gould Prize:

1987: R. Murray Shafer

1990: Yehudi Menuhin

1993: Oscar Peterson

1996: Tōru Takemitsu

1999: Yo-Yo Ma

2002: Pierre Boulez

2005: André Previn

2008: José Antonio Abreu

2011: Leonard Cohen

2013: Robert Lepage

2015: Philip Glass

2018: Jessye Norman

2020: Alanis Obomsawin

2022: Gustavo Dudamel

2025: Sir Elton John



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UPDATE (April 9): Sarah McLachlan and the

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer.

New York Representative Bella Abzug was the most recognizable woman in politics in the 1970s.

Even so, she is largely forgotten today. Known for wearing flashy hats, she was a spitfire personality and charismatic orator closely covered by the press. She became an overnight political celebrity with fans lining up to gain her autograph. This cultural cache has obscured focus from her substantive work as a self-described “very serious woman” who sought broad societal and legal change in Congress. Here are five reasons her legislative work and political career should be remembered.

1. The Ms. who challenged the “boy’s club” in politics

In 1970, Abzug ran a change-maker campaign to move women from the backroom of politics out front. Her campaign slogan said it all, “This woman’s place is the house, the House of Representatives.” A leader in the anti-war movement and active in reform Democratic politics, she had advised male candidates like John V. Lindsay and Robert F. Kennedy. She advocated to promote women from canvassers to campaign positions, asking one advisor pointedly, “Where are the Women?” Unsatisfied, Abzug ultimately posed the same question to herself, got up the courage, and ran and won.

Her unusual inauguration signaled she would not “go along to get along,” the usual encouragement for newcomers in Congress. As a “freshwoman,” she took a separate oath on the Capitol steps administered by Representative Shirley Chisholm as cheering supporters stood by with signs like, “Give ‘Em Hell, Bella.”

And that she did. Abzug brought a feminist edge to a Democratic New Politics insurgency that shook up Congress, conveying the spirit and concerns of 1960s social movements. She modeled a different kind of congressional office that was majority women and also designed to be a flexible workplace, applying an ethos carried over from her campaign headquarters that had free drop-in childcare. She made waves, literally, when she jumped into the pool at the congressional gym, sex-segregated because some male congressmembers preferred to swim nude.

Other interventions were more systemic, such as promoting a Ms. bill to change the language in federal publications to be less tied to marriage and more gender neutral. She did all this as one of twelve women elected to Congress during her first term, a number she had helped grow by four in an early Year of the Woman.

2. “A minor folk heroine” for gay liberation

Abzug’s campaign was among the first nationally to pursue a “gay vote.” Doug Ireland, her first campaign manager, drew on his personal connections in the gay community to channel this energy. Abzug’s headquarters was a stone’s throw from the Stonewall Inn – the gay bar where a police raid spurred historic protests that helped launch the gay rights movement. This location, more than strategic, signaled a genuine commitment to gay rights as human rights.

As an ally, Abzug sponsored the first federal gay civil rights bill, the Equality Act of 1974. The legislation, still not law, would augment the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ people in the workplace and other areas of public life. Only a few dozen congressmembers supported the Equality Act when first introduced in the 1970s.

With municipal action more promising, Abzug privately urged New York City Mayor Lindsay to support a gay civil rights ordinance, an outcome she committed to when running for mayor in 1977. The night anti-gay activist Anita Bryant succeeded in her campaign to overturn a similar ordinance in Dade County, Florida grieving New Yorkers marched spontaneously to Abzug’s home and awakened her to come out and console the crowd. For these reasons, Abzug became, as one letter writer characterized, “a minor folk heroine.”

3. Watergate and its aftermath would have been different without her

As a lawyer, Abzug had once defended workers, racial minorities, and dissenters who were targeted because of their identities and politics during the McCarthy period. She too was under surveillance, her FBI file spanning from the early 1950s through her time in Congress. She first encountered Richard Nixon when defending clients before the House Un-American Activities Committee, a committee on which he served. Abzug’s long view of President Nixon’s “dirty tricks” alongside her anti-Vietnam War stance led her to call early on for Nixon’s impeachment. As the facts about Watergate unfolded, Abzug maintained her position that Americans had a “right to know.”

Abzug had a knack for procedure and used legislative rules to her advantage. She and staff discovered an obscure device, the Resolution of Inquiry, which members of Congress could use to compel the executive branch to produce documents. She brandished this tool most effectively when President Gerald Ford issued Nixon a pardon. Responding to a nation in shock, Abzug issued a Resolution of Inquiry to seek answers. Ford acquiesced, agreeing to come before Congress if a few conditions were met: “no oath, two hours, and no questions from Bella Abzug.”

Thereafter, as Madame Chairwoman, Abzug led the Government Information and Individual Rights Subcommittee of the Government Operations Committee tasked with oversight of all federal agencies’ record-keeping practices. Abzug played a part in the headline grabbing “Year of Intelligence” probes into clandestine intelligence operations alongside the more known Pike and Church Committees. More lasting in impact, she and her staff taught Americans how to file requests under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act when these laws were still new. This process is now seen as a basic tool of democracy.

4. The force behind the 1977 National Women’s Conference defining women’s rights as human rights

Abzug sponsored all major legislation now remembered as the biggest achievements of the 1970s women’s movement. Some bills were ultimately not successful such as the Comprehensive Child Development Act, vetoed by President Nixon. Some have changed the gender landscape irreversibly. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act is the reason women today can have their own bank accounts and home loans. One of Abzug’s most grandiose and final legislative victories, the National Women’s Conference law, is among her most important accomplishments. A bipartisan Congress appropriated $5 million to host the first and only federal women’s conference, the U.S. response to the 1975 United Nations International Women’s Year meeting in Mexico City. This gathering of American women was more diverse than Congress is today.

The National Women’s Conference held in 1977 started with a symbolic spectacle. Hundreds of young runners passed a torch in a relay race that stretched from Seneca Falls, New York—the site of a historic women’s rights conference in 1848—to Houston, Texas, where “women on the move” were about to make history. There, presiding officer Bella Abzug, joined on stage by three First Ladies, led nearly 2000 diverse delegates elected at lead-up state and territory meetings to pass an expansive National Plan of Action delivered to President Jimmy Carter in 1978 as The Spirit of Houston report. With nearly as many reporters as elected delegates on the scene, this widely covered exercise in democracy displayed its promise and inherent tensions. Some issues considered such as disability and gay rights were ahead of the times, and others such as abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment have returned to the center of national politics.

Abzug spent the next two decades trying to keep the spirit of Houston alive, having more luck in international circles than in the U.S. In 1991, she co-founded the Women’s Environment & Development Organization, a global advocacy group that helped popularize the idea that women’s rights are human rights.

5. She tried to become “one in one hundred” in the U.S. Senate

One of the reasons that Abzug is not readily remembered is because she faced a string of campaign losses. She gambled her House seat to participate in the New York Senate Democratic Primary of 1976, tempted by the chance to break through the Senate glass ceiling. At the time, not one woman served in the all-white, all-male chamber.

This historic Senate campaign exposed the polarities that had developed in the Democratic Party. She ran for a further expansion of equality, while her opponent, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, touted a return to liberty as the party’s governing principle. Abzug lost this race by less than one percent. She lost all future races—a mayoral run in 1977 followed by multiple attempts to return to the House of Representatives—because she was unwilling to temper her principles and unable to convince voters that she had.

These losses should not detract from what Abzug tried to accomplish as a legislator and an advocate for gender parity in politics. There are thousands of campaigns women have attempted since gaining the constitutional right to vote in 1920 that have been forgotten. As Abzug said in her 1984 co-authored book, Gender Gap, “Trying to achieve political power without electoral power is like unlocking a door and then failing to open it.”

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A doctor who was accused of trying to kill his wife on a Hawaii hiking trail has been convicted of attempted manslaughter.

A Honolulu jury returned the verdict against Gerhardt Konig, 47, on Wednesday after a day of deliberations. He was convicted of attempted manslaughter based on extreme mental or emotional disturbance, which carries up to 20 years in prison.

His lawyer, Thomas Otake, said he planned to appeal the verdict but said the defence respected the jury’s verdict.


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“We are thankful that they did not convict him of attempted murder, which would have been life in prison,” Otake said. “We look forward to an appeal related to some of the judge’s rulings throughout the case.”

Distraught over her relationship with a co-worker, Konig planned to kill his wife, Arielle Konig, during a weekend trip to Honolulu for her birthday in March 2025, prosecutors said. They said he tried to push her off a cliff and stab her with a syringe, and when that didn’t work, he struck her with a rock. The attack was interrupted by two hikers who heard her cries for help.

Konig, an anesthesiologist, testified that his wife hit him with a rock first and he hit her back in self-defence.

He stood as the jury’s foreperson announced the verdict, then closed his eyes and bowed his head. Arielle Konig was not in court Wednesday.


Gerhardt Konig, left, reacts after the verdict is read while sitting with defence lawyer Thomas Otake, right, in court Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Honolulu.

Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP, Pool

Konig will be held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center until sentencing on Aug. 13.

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Makalapua Atkins, the jury foreperson, told reporters after the verdict was read that deliberations focused on what transpired on the trail.

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She said jurors examined the testimony of the people at the scene to see where they matched up and where there were inconsistencies.

“At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, she was hit in the head. And a head injury can be serious. And that’s a very deadly part of the body,” Atkins said.

Jurors believed the relationship Arielle Konig had with a co-worker was significant enough to cause “an emotional disturbance,” and this affected their verdict, she said.

During closing arguments, the doctor’s lawyer repeatedly sought to cast doubt on Arielle Konig’s account.

“If Gerhardt Konig had wanted to kill his wife and had access to a syringe in a remote area,” Otake suggested to jurors during closing arguments, “wouldn’t he have drugged her and then thrown her from the cliff, rather than having started a scuffle before attempting to fill the syringe as he was wrestling with her?”

Otake suggested that Konig “would use the syringe first.”

The trial began last month, nearly one year after the former couple went on the hike on the Pali Puka trail in Honolulu.

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Gerhardt Konig testified that his wife was having an affair, which he confirmed by unlocking her phone while she slept. The subject of the relationship, which Arielle Konig characterized as an “emotional affair” involving flirty messages with a co-worker, came up during the hike.

Arielle, who has since filed for divorce, testified that her husband grabbed her and moved her toward the cliff’s edge, but she threw herself on the ground in an attempt to hold on.

The events leading to Konig’s arrest

Konig was charged with second-degree attempted murder after he allegedly tried to kill his wife by pushing her off a hiking trail and hitting her multiple times on the head with a rock, according to Honolulu police.

The alleged assault took place after Konig wanted to take a selfie while he was on the Honolulu trail with his wife, on March 24, 2025.

The trailhead is a short drive from downtown Honolulu and traverses a ridge with ocean and mountain views.

“She mentioned that while on the trail, Gerhardt was standing close to the edge and asked her to take a selfie with him,” said a Honolulu police declaration.


Arielle allegedly told him she didn’t feel comfortable taking a picture with him that close to the cliff’s edge and began to walk back.

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According to the police declaration, Konig yelled at her to come back and, when she refused to return, he pushed her into some bushes, where they began to struggle.


An undated photo of Gerhardt Konig.

Honolulu Police Department

Arielle managed to get away, but Konig then picked up a rock and hit her on the head about 10 times, “while also grabbing the back of her hair and smashing her face into the ground,” the document stated.

The woman crawled to two hikers who heard her yelling, “Help! Help me!” and they called 911 to report the incident.

One witness said she ran to the top of the trail and saw the victim lying on her back with a man on top of her, hitting her on the head. She said that the man stopped attacking the woman once he saw her, according to ABC News.

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Arielle told police that she saw “Gerhardt take out two syringes from his bag and attempt to use them on her, but she was able to get away from him.”

The woman sustained multiple large lacerations to her face and head and was taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition.

Konig fled the scene. A police search for the man lasted hours after they closed the state park. Officers arrested him at around 6 p.m. following a brief foot chase.

He pleaded not guilty in court last April to a second-degree attempted murder charge.

The victim’s restraining order petition

Konig allegedly admitted to the crime in a FaceTime call to his adult son shortly after his wife escaped, according to her filed restraining order petition.

During the trial, Konig testified that he called his son to “say goodbye.”

At the time of the incident, the couple’s two young sons, aged two and four, were at home with their nanny and family members on Maui.

According to Arielle, Konig suggested hiking in Honolulu along a trail with “narrow ridge sections with steep drop-offs on both sides,” the petition said.

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It also stated that his wife later learned Konig had contacted his adult son, her stepson, on FaceTime and admitted to trying to kill her before saying he wanted to end his own life by jumping off a cliff. In December, he accused his wife of having an affair, “which led to extreme jealousy on his part,” the restraining order petition said. The couple had been in therapy ever since.

On March 28, 2025, a judge signed an order restricting Konig from seeing his wife and their children.

— With files from The Associated Press

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A doctor who was accused of trying

Tech

  • 007 First Light has been delayed for the Nintendo Switch 2
  • IOI says the game will now launch “later this summer”
  • The PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions are still on track for its May 27 release

IO Interactive has announced that the Nintendo Switch 2 version of 007 First Light has been delayed to this summer (northern hemisphere summer, that is).

In a new social media post, the developer confirmed that while the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC versions are still on track to launch next month on May 27, Switch 2 users will have to wait a little longer to play.

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007 First Light has been delayed for

Video

When Coachella returns to YouTube next week, the music festival will be offering more than just live performances. Viewers will also be able to tune into something YouTube calls Stations — 24/7 linear streams preprogrammed with videos from artists performing at the festival, perfect for playing in the background or vegging out on the couch.

Stations are essentially YouTube’s take on FAST channels: free linear streaming TV channels that have gained popularity on services like Pluto and The Roku Channel, and are now baked into the EPGs of most smart TV operating systems.

One of the reasons FAST channels have become so popular is that they bring back passive leanback viewing, doing away with the need to find something to watch when you just want to hit play. As YouTube viewing has grown in the living room, the service has seen its viewers interested in the same thing.

“I want to put something on,” says YouTube’s senior product management director, Kurt Wilms. “I want it to be hands-free. I want it to stay in the same lane.”

YouTube quietly started testing these stations with around 40 bands and musicians in recent weeks, and plans to make the feature available widely in the future. One of the early adopters is Bruno Mars, who is currently promoting his new album with a YouTube Station.

To a viewer, such a station looks a lot like a live broadcast, complete with an audience chat. Some YouTubers have actually used YouTube’s livestreaming feature to set up similar linear feeds. However, rolling something like this on your own isn’t exactly easy, as it involves broadcasting software running on a PC 24/7 to create livestreams from prerecorded assets playing in an endless loop. If the PC ever goes down, the stream stops.

Stations are a lot easier to set up. “A creator can come onto YouTube, go into our studio product, set up a playlist of videos,” explains Wilms. “They click ‘Start Station,’ and we’ll do all the work to start the livestream for them.”

YouTube isn’t ready to share a timeline for when Stations will be made available to all creators. Wilms is already thinking about taking the feature further and opening it up to regular viewers. “We’re going to democratize it,” he says. “Anyone will be able to go in, make a playlist, and click ‘Start a Station.’ That’s what we want to get to, ultimately.”

Stations is just one of the features YouTube is looking to roll out to make its living room experience even more sticky. Earlier this week, the service launched its conversational AI tools, which debuted on web and mobile last year, within its TV app. With that, viewers are now able to ask a wide range of questions about a video with their TV’s voice remote.

YouTube’s Ask tool on TV.
Image: YouTube

Vievers can, for example, ask for substitutions while watching a cooking video, search for the moment a goal was shot during a soccer game, or even get more information about the biographical background of a creator. Answers are being presented next to the actual video and often include deep links to specific moments in the video. At times, YouTube also surfaces links to third-party websites for further reading, which viewers can access with a QR code.

“The sky is the limit on how you can use it,” Wilms says, stressing that the Gemini-powered feature doesn’t require users to rely on specific predefined queries.

YouTube is bringing its conversational AI to all TV platforms, which in itself is a testament to the power the streaming service has in the living room these days. Smart TV platforms generally like to be in control of their own voice search and assistant functionality.

However, with YouTube now responsible for 12.5 percent of all TV viewing, the service has been able to convince these platforms to hand over control of the microphone when viewers start a voice search while in the YouTube app — a rare exception that is often unavailable to other streaming services. This now allows YouTube to roll out its new conversational AI everywhere. “We’ve worked hard over the years with [our] partners to do voice routing for search,” Wilms says.

Besides Stations and conversational AI, YouTube is also working on a new second-screen feature dubbed TV Companion. With it, viewers will be able to open the YouTube app on their phone and instantly see additional information about the YouTube video playing on their TV. This will, for instance, allow viewers to easily comment on a video, look for additional clips from the same creator, or control playback.

YouTube’s TV Companion works without any kind of manual pairing, and even when the phone is not on the same Wi-Fi network, as long as both apps are logged into the same account. “This is all identity-based through the cloud,” Wilms says. “You don’t need to do any kind of dance with networking.”

YouTube will continue to support traditional casting, but banks on the TV Companion feature to increase engagement in the living room. There’s no official launch date for this feature yet, but viewers won’t have to wait too long to try it out. “It’s going to start rolling out soonish,” Wilms says.

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When Coachella returns to YouTube next week,

Entertaintment

Sabrina Carpenter is preparing to unleash the “most ambitious show” she’s ever performed at Coachella. In a new interview with Marc Jacobs for Perfect, Carpenter previewed her headlining sets, scheduled for Friday, April 10 and Friday, April 17.

“It’s the most ambitious show I’ve ever done,” Carpenter said. “It’s probably the most time I’ve ever had to actually just sit down and talk about a show as I’m building it. Most of the time, you’re really quickly thrust into physical rehearsals, but this time around we started this process around seven months ago. So it’s been a long journey. It will be very special.”

Carpenter reflected on playing Coachella’s main stage previously in 2024, but said this would on another level.

“I’ve played, but not as a headliner,” she told Jacobs. “I was playing sunset, around 5.30 pm on the main stage two years ago. That was a really special day for me, the day my song ‘Espresso’ came out. I got to play that for the first time at Coachella. And now, two years later, we’re back. And I think that’s what makes this show feel really, really surreal: getting to celebrate all the songs that have come after it, and just how many lives they’ve lived since they’ve come out.”

The singer told Jacobs that she switches into pop star mode when she hits the stage, describing performing like “there’s a button.”

“I started touring when I was 16 years old, and I’ve always felt that there’s a button that turns on when you’re performing,” she explained. “And when you’re singing these songs, whether these songs be your personal stories or songs you wrote about other people, in that moment it really becomes a show. I’ve always been able to differentiate when I get off stage. I am a human being. I’m a 26-year-old girl. I’m hormonal. I’m emotional. I’m dealing with a lot of stuff. For me, it really just has been compartmentalising the moments where I feel like the show must go on and then moments where I can really allow myself to be a little all over the place and allow that to be OK. But the way I see it, I think, versus the way other people see it is different, so I have to remind myself that.”

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She added, “Part of me needs to channel a version of myself that maybe doesn’t take it all so seriously. But then when I’m off stage, I’m a little more locked in. I’m more of the businesswoman. … I’m definitely figuring out how to keep those pieces of myself separate so that when they collide, it feels a little bit healthier, if that makes sense.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Carpenter described how her Short ‘n’ Sweet Tour changed her career because it involved an interaction with her fans. She noted that “concerts are still one of the most inspiring things that I get to be a part of in my work.”

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“When I’m writing, I’m pretty isolated in the studio,” the singer said. “Even when you’re on the set of something, you’re in a little bit more of an intimate crew of people. Whereas I feel like these shows are just where you can feel so much energy in a crowd, in a sea of that many people. There are so many stories, and there’s so many different kinds of people that it just feels like you’re really living. I’m really excited about those shows coming up and everything to follow.”

Earlier this week, Carpenter dropped a music video for her song “House Tour.” The raucous clip was co-directed by Carpenter and Margaret Qualley, and also co-stars Madelyn Cline. “House Tour” appears on Carpenter’s most recent album, Man’s Best Friend, which was released last August. It’s the third song from the album to receive a proper music video following the visuals for “Tears” and “Manchild.” 

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Sabrina Carpenter is preparing to unleash the

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I was never much of a book club person. While I love reading, one of its greatest pleasures is the way I can immerse myself in the world of a good book, in solitude. Alone. Without any static from the world beyond the story. Book clubs would mean assigned reading, the opinions of others shaping my reading experience, having to socialize, the opposite of solitude. I briefly joined a book club of some work colleagues when I was teaching in rural Illinois, and it was fun, but most of our time was spent gossiping about, well, work. The books were rather secondary, or even tertiary.

But I am also a writer, and while reading and writing generally happen in solitude, promoting your writing doesn’t. The first book club I attended as a writer was in Kalamazoo, Mich., where I was invited to a cheery brunch with a local book club while I was on tour for my debut novel, “An Untamed State.” The invitation came from my cousin’s mother-in-law, a vivacious, talkative Michigander who was absolutely thrilled that I was swinging through Kalamazoo. As you might imagine, Kalamazoo is a bit afield from typical book-tour routes, so when writers come through, readers take note. And as a Midwesterner myself, one thing I know for sure is that readers are everywhere. Between that and the family connection, spending an hour or two with this book club was an easy yes.

I had no idea what to expect. My general understanding of book clubs had, to that point, been cursory. Book clubs are often treated as something of a cultural punch line, because they are largely the domain of women and we have a penchant for dismissing or diminishing anything women do. In film and television, book clubs are portrayed as a way for women to briefly free themselves from the shackles of domestic responsibility, sticky children, feckless husbands. They gather with friends and acquaintances, indulge in a nice bottle of wine and well-curated snacks, gossip a bit and maybe, just maybe, talk about the book selection of the month. Punch line or not, if that was what was in store for me, I had a feeling I would love joining a book club.

Book clubs are often treated as something of a cultural punch line, because they are largely the domain of women and we have a penchant for dismissing or diminishing anything women do.

When I approached the Garden Gate Cafe, where the brunch would be held, there was a whiteboard welcoming me, adorned with drawings of pink flowers. I swooned. Inside the cafe, the tables were covered in brightly colored polyurethane tablecloths, also covered with flowers. It was all very festive.

The club meeting itself was lovely. The women had all read my book and eagerly peppered me with questions. They seemed to enjoy being able to talk with an author, and I enjoyed being able to explain my creative choices, what it felt like to have a real live book out in the world, available at bookstores everywhere (ish). Some of their questions were about possible futures for “The Untamed State” protagonist, Mireille. They wanted to know what parts of the story I left out or had to cut during the revision process. They wanted to know how I came up with the plot and how, if at all, it mirrored reality. I answered their questions as best I could, and we talked about other things too — my writing process, their own creative works, other books they had already or were soon to read.

This was early in my career, so I was driving from one tour stop to the next, mostly back and forth across the Midwest. This particular swing had taken me from Detroit to Kalamazoo and eventually on to Chicago. The book club members reached out to ensure I was driving because, they said, it would determine the composition of their gift. Now, I love gifts, so I was intrigued, but nothing could have prepared me for the enormous basket of Michigan-themed gifts that awaited me.

There was local beer, cupcakes, a wooden cutting board in the shape of the state, jams and jelly, greeting cards, popcorn, local coffee, a piece of art, an oven mitt emblazoned with a map of the state, a dish towel with the names of all the cities in Michigan from top to bottom, including Houghton, where I earned my doctoral degree. It was so charming and unexpected and unnecessary but welcome. As I drove off, I smiled as I watched the women, waving at me in the rearview mirror. And for the first time, I had a real understanding of what a book club can do — bringing readers together to make a solitary endeavor a communal one.

Even the things we do in pleasurable solitude can help us connect to one another.

That was the beginning of a lot of book club visits, some in person, many virtual first via Skype and then, during and after the pandemic, via Zoom. Some were just small groups of friends in small towns while others were international book clubs with members in dozens of cities. It was eye-opening to realize just how many women, mostly, belong to book clubs. We always hear the grim stories about the dire state of publishing, how people just don’t read, but that isn’t the whole story. Lots of people do read, and they are passionate about books. They are well organized and have excellent taste in fancy crackers, and they love to talk with writers so much that their enthusiasm can be a little overwhelming and a lot flattering.

Four years after that first book club event, I was in London, my first time. It was gray and damp as London sometimes is. I did some tourist things. There was an amazing Jenny Holzer exhibit at the Tate Modern. I walked around Notting Hill looking for the travel bookshop, which I found even though I know it wasn’t really the bookshop from the movie. I did an event at the Southbank Centre, where I was in conversation with Liv Little, a U.K. magazine editor, about my memoir “Hunger.” I had a lengthy book signing, and by the end of it all I had used up what little extroversion I had and needed to replenish those reserves. But.

I had made a commitment to meet with the Black Girls Book Club, a book club composed of Black women. I did not want to disappoint, so two days later I joined the club for dinner at a local restaurant. It ended up being one of the most enjoyable nights of my writing life. For one, these were some of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life. They had impeccable style. They held forth on any number of topics with ease and grace. It did not hurt that they loved my work and asked interesting questions. I learned a bit about the Black British experience and met talented writers among the group. At the end, there were adorable little gift bags and flowers. I felt seen and appreciated. Truly, it was a gift. It always is when I meet with book clubs.

Now, I also host a book club of my own, the Audacious Book Club — a sprawling affair I run through my newsletter. The hardest part is choosing only one book a month when so many books are being published that deserve attention. With the help of an amazing team — Meg and Kaitlyn — we have online discussions, and toward the end of the month, we meet with the author for a live conversation via Zoom. One time, we read a cookbook, “Start Here” by Sohla El-Waylly, and the author and I cooked together in my kitchen. During the live conversation, some of the attendees cooked along with us. It was so fun and somehow reassuring to look at people, in their kitchens, following along, offering advice, asking questions, having this one hour out of our busy lives, where we had this shared experience.

Each month, as my book club gathers, I am reminded that people find real joy in reading and talking about great books. They form clubs based on geography or cultural affinity. They read by genre or the latest releases or the classics or audiobooks. They share curiosity and create community. They love complaining about the characters they hate and swooning over the characters they adore. They love comparing notes about confusing passages or unexpected plot twists. All of these book club people, from around the world, read together and remind us that even the things we do in pleasurable solitude can help us connect to one another in the most interesting ways.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

When: 3-4 p.m. April 18
What: Roxane Gay, LeUyen Pham and Caroline Richmond of We Need Diverse Books will be in conversation with Glory Edim of Well-Read Black Girl.
Where: USC
Info: Free; tickets required.

Gay is an internationally acclaimed author, professor and social commentator whose work explores the intersections of race, gender and pop culture. She is the author of “Bad Feminist,” “Hunger” and “Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business,” among other works, and the founder of the Audacious Book Club.

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MCU

Just days after news broke that Wonder Man has been renewed for a second season, fans have received another exciting update about a Disney+ Marvel series.

During a recent appearance on The Escape Pod, Marvel’s Head of Animation, Brad Winderbaum, confirmed that Marvel Zombies has been renewed for a second season.

Marvel Zombies

Photo: Marvel

“I don’t think it’s a spoiler. But I saw the first animatic of the first episode of Marvel Zombies Season 2 this morning. It was crazy. I can’t say anything about it, but it delivers not just on zombies, but also on an MCU element that has never really been done before that we’re very excited about,” he said.

‘Marvel Zombies’

A spinoff of What If…?, Marvel Zombies follows a collection of undead heroes and villains in a post-apocalyptic alternate universe.

Marvel Zombies

Photo: IMDB

Since its debut last December, Marvel’s first TV-MA animated series has received strong reviews for its animation, storytelling, and fresh take on classic characters.

Among the heroes and villains featured in Season 1 were Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Shang-Chi, Ms. Marvel, Red Guardian, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange.

Marvel Zombies

Photo: Marvel

Numerous MCU stars also returned to reprise their roles, including Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Tessa Thompson, Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Hailee Steinfeld, Wyatt Russell, Randall Park, Iman Vellani, and Dominique Thorne.

When Will Season 2 Debut?

While it remains to be seen when Marvel Zombies Season 2 will arrive on Disney+, production is clearly underway.

Photo: Marvel

Hopefully, we will learn more about what the upcoming season has in store soon.

theme parks

Photo: MickeyBlog

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below. One of the agents from MickeyTravels, an EarMarked By Disney – Authorized Travel Agency – Diamond Level, will be in touch soon! Also, thanks for reading!

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DCU


Toys

Last year our 2025 Pop Culture Gift Guide included a massive prehistoric present. Unlike Dr. Grant, we definitely signed off on LEGO’s massive Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s a full-sized recreation of the giant skeleton John Hammond had placed at the entrance to his doomed theme park. But even skeletons get lonely, so the iconic toy company will now let you build your T. rex model an equally epic friend. LEGO has announced its Jurassic World Dinosaur Fossils collection is digging up a full-sized Triceratops.

LEGO

The new Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops LEGO Jurassic World set is “a highly detailed recreation of Triceratops horridus.” Designed for builders 18+, the 1,154-piece set measures over 8.5 inches tall. And even though this dino doesn’t have muscles, ligaments, or tendons, it’s still posable. You can move its head, legs, tail, and jaw that opens, so you can display is how you like.

In addition to those big plastic bones, this toy bricks triceratops also comes with a bunch of extras that celebrate both its own era and the movie that kicked off the Jurassic Park franchise. They include:

  • An information plaque
  • Display stand adorned with a wetland environment that features a tree stump, Cretaceous plants (including ferns, a cycad and blooming flowers), a hidden amber, and a small frog figure
  • A Dr. Gerry Harding minifigure from Jurassic Park movie
LEGO's Triceratops skeleton fossil set on display
LEGO

This addition to the line is a big step up from LEGO’s first Triceratops Dinosaur Fossils collectible. The previous one, which totals 468-pieces, is only a recreation of the prehistoric creature’s skull. It’s still a great collectible. Especially for people who love both building LEGO sets and paleontology. But our lonely giant T. rex LEGO skeleton needs more than just a head to talk to. He needs a dino who knows what it’s like to still have all your plastic bones intact.

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Toys Last year our 2025 Pop Culture Gift

Festivals

“Cactus Pears” (Sabar Bonda), the Marathi-language drama that made history at Sundance as the first Indian fiction feature to win the World Cinema Dramatic grand jury prize, will open in U.K. and Ireland cinemas on June 19, in a release led by producers Neeraj Churi of Lotus Visual Productions and Kaushik Ray of Taran Tantra Telefilms. The film is presented by Mira Nair.

Written and directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, the film centers on a young man from Mumbai who travels back to his family’s village in rural Maharashtra after his father dies, bound by tradition to observe a 10-day mourning period. Amid pressure from relatives about marriage and his future, he grows close again to a friend from childhood, and the two men find their way toward an intimate connection.

The film has screened at more than 85 festivals across some 40 countries since its Sundance breakthrough, picking up the jury prize at the inaugural SXSW London in 2025. It has already played theatrically in India, the U.S., Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

Reviewing the film for Variety, Siddhant Adlakha wrote: “A rural gay story that begins in a state of mourning and melancholy, it eventually takes on radiant form, with emotional complexities born out of characters walking around the truth, if only because euphemisms are the only language they have.”

To support the U.K. rollout, Kanawade will embark on a 10-day national Q&A tour beginning June 16 at BFI Southbank in London. Theatrical bookings and marketing outreach will be handled by Tejinder Jouhal and Krushil Patel, while Tony Gill’s diversity PR and marketing agency Media House Global will lead the publicity campaign, with producer and publicist Dheeraj Agnihotri in an advisory role.

“Seeing ‘Cactus Pears’ arrive in U.K. cinemas feels like a full circle moment,” Kanawade said. “When my producer Neeraj and I first set out to bring this film to life, our journey began at the Film London production finance market in 2021, now to return with a theatrical release here is incredibly meaningful. I’m super excited to share the film with U.K. audiences and to engage with them in person. While the story is profoundly personal, I believe its emotional core is universal and I hope it resonates on a human level with everyone who experiences it.”

Churi and Ray said in a joint statement: “We are deeply proud to bring ‘Cactus Pears’ to U.K. cinemas, after successful runs in India and the U.S. Its release here continues its journey of amplifying queer South Asian stories globally with honesty and tenderness. At a time when authentic representation is more vital than ever, ‘Cactus Pears’ stands as a testament to voices that have too often been pushed to the margins – voices we are committed to championing.”

Gill, who worked on the film’s publicity at SXSW London, said: “‘Cactus Pears’ is a truly unique film that carves its own space and identity in contemporary queer cinema, while simultaneously universal in its themes and messages. The film has already garnered a lot of love and we’re excited about further galvanizing this plaudit as this really special film comes to U.K. cinemas.”

“It’s a rare treat when audiences leave a film filled with warmth and hope for the possibility of a better future,” Jouhal added. “‘Cactus Pears’ delivers exactly that. ‘Cactus Pears’ is a truly unique love story that quietly defies convention and represents a progressive microcosm of Indian family life that will resonate deeply with cineastes, South Asian and queer cinema goers.”

“Cactus Pears” was developed through the Venice Biennale College Cinema program and received support from the NFDC Marathi Script Camp, the Film Bazaar Co-Production Market and the Venice Gap Financing Market. The film is produced by Churi, Mohamed Khaki, Ray, Naren Chandavarkar, Sidharth Meer and Hareesh Reddypalli, with co-producers Jim Sarbh, Neha Kaul and Rajesh Parwatkar.

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“Cactus Pears” (Sabar Bonda), the Marathi-language drama

Film

If you were hoping the third trailer would be the charm for Andy Serkis’s Animal Farm adaptation—after a Seth Rogen-filled teaser and first trailer that felt more like Illumination than George Orwell—get ready to be as disappointed as Snowball’s followers. The latest glimpse of the animated film, which is scheduled to hit theaters on May 1, might be the first to indicate that the book’s satire won’t be jettisoned entirely, but it still seems way more interested in Dreamworks-style hackery than political allegory. Not that we’d necessarily expect a movie marketed to kids in the year 2026 to serve as a Trotskyist critique of Stalinism, but to shy away from the content of a book that, for eight decades, has been read almost exclusively by 12-year-olds would be pretty weird.

The new trailer shows more of Rogen’s Napoleon and his Stanlinesque rise from rebellion leader to dictator than those first two sneak peeks, with enough of Orwell in there—the worker animals get less and less to eat while the pigs get greedy and spoiled (and, at some point, apparently put on ’70s-looking sportcoats)—to make you think maybe Serkis and screenwriter Nicholas Stoller know what they’re doing, after all. But then Gaten Matarazzo’s Lucky, a piglet created for the movie, seems to be set up in a heroic role that doesn’t exist in the book; it’d be just like a modern day kids movie to turn Animal Farm into a Screenwriting 101 Hero’s Journey, as if a despotic regime can be taken down by the good intentions of one true hero and not, y’know, some combination of the weight of its own corruption and a concerted effort by the masses.

Joining Rogen and Matarazzo are Kieran Culkin as Napoleon’s propaganda master Squealer, Woody Harrelson as the exploited workhorse Boxer (an actual horse, obviously), Laverne Cox as Trotsky stand-in Snowball, Jim Parsons as the sheep, Iman Vellani as Lucky’s piglet friends, Kathleen Turner as the cynical donkey Benjamin, and Glenn Close as… a billionaire CEO who wants to take over the farm. Because Animal Farm has always needed a Cruella de Vil-style villainess. The movie’s out in just a few weeks, so get your predictions in now on what ’80s pop songs will soundtrack its montages. 

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If you were hoping the third trailer

What to Watch

Netflix subscription is required to watch on Netflix

 

Great news! “To Die For” is available to watch on Netflix USA!

 

Date Added: 8th April 2026

Want to keep forever? Try looking for ‘To Die For’ on Amazon (paid link)

 

Synopsis:

Aspiring TV personality Suzanne Stone recruits a lovestruck teen to murder her husband, believing that he’s the only thing between her and stardom.

 

Certificate: R
Strong sexual content, and for language

 

Year: 1995

Duration: 1hr 46m

Audio: English [Original], Spanish (Latin America)

Subtitles: English, Spanish (Latin America)

 

Cast and Crew

Director: Gus Van Sant

 

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Illeana Douglas, Alison Folland, Dan Hedaya, Wayne Knight, Kurtwood Smith, Holland Taylor, Maria Tucci, Susan Traylor, Tim Hopper, Michael Rispoli

 

Production & Box Office Details:

“To Die For” was produced by Columbia Pictures, The Rank Organisation and Laura Ziskin Productions with a budget of $20m. With it’s initial release on September 22nd 1995 it made approximately $21.3m at the Box Office.

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Watch the trailer for “To Die For”

 

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Available on Netflix USA!

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Awards

Ego Productions, the French premium label within the Mediawan Group, and Seoul-based Flix Oven have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop and produce films and series.

The agreement was formalized during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Korea marking 140 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Mediawan co-founder and CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton signed alongside Flix Oven co-CEOs Thomas Maitland and Lee Hyojin. The signing was attended by CNC president Gaetan Bruel and Pierre Morcos, director of the French Institute in South Korea. Projects emerging from the partnership will be developed under Ego Productions, the Mediawan label led by Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin and Vincent Mouluquet.

“This collaboration goes beyond IP remakes. We want to co-develop original stories together, co-produce and build a new collaborative ecosystem,” said Kim Minjung, Flix Oven’s head of development. “Attending a workshop put together by CNC and KOFIC in Paris earlier this week for Korean and French producers on co-production was really helpful and the passion from both countries’ producers also assures me a new era of co-production is here,” she added.

The MoU comes at a moment of elevated institutional support for France-Korea screen ties. During the state visit, both governments committed to co-chairing a Moving Image Summit to be held in France on Sept. 7. Series Mania had earlier named Korea as its country of honor for its Lille forum in March.

The deal marks a push by Flix Oven into international co-productions. The company’s feature “Made In Korea” has been among the top-performing non-English titles on Netflix for two consecutive weeks following its March 12 release.

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Ego Productions, the French premium label within

Music

There is perhaps no more dangerous phrase in the music industry than “we should work together.” It starts as flattery, curdles into obligation, and occasionally culminates in a series of cryptic Instagram comments. In the case of Sky Ferreira and Charli XCX, two artists whose creative orbits have been tangling for the better part of a decade, it appears to have ended in the latter.

Ferreira, who is credited as a featured artist on the Wuthering Heights soundtrack cut “Eyes of the World,” has strongly implied that her involvement with the album runs quite a bit deeper than one guest verse. When a fan on Instagram speculated about her income, Ferreira fired back: “I toured for years. I work. I hate to break it to you, but your favorite artist records my old songs.” Things escalated from there. When the same fan surfaced claims from an alleged “industry insider” (with no further identification whatsoever) that specific Wuthering Heights tracks were built from old Ferreira demos, Ferreira didn’t deny the premise. “Your industry ‘insider’ is wrong. Close but wrong,” she wrote, adding: “It isn’t worth the trouble bc I know how the world works.” 

In another comment, Ferreira wrote: “I wasn’t going to say anything. I’m over being dragged & humiliated for no reason. It brought back a lot of things I have worked really hard to move past. No one ‘saved’ or helped me. My life was destroyed for over 10 years & it’s a public joke.” She went on to describe a pattern of being taken advantage of and having situations manipulated based on other people’s perception of her—a perception that, it’s worth noting, has been shaped almost entirely by the fact that she hasn’t released an album in over a decade. Her debut album Night Time, My Time came out in 2013 to widespread critical praise. Its follow-up, Masochism, was announced shortly after—and then never arrived, The Wrens-style. It has been delayed through intended release windows in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022, and 2025, making it one of the more agonizing sophomore album sagas in recent indie pop memory. It’s something of an industry punchline at this point, a Grand Theft Auto VI meme for the Tumblr girlies. And it’s clearly a sore spot for Ferreira, too—as she put it, “it allows people to disrespect & take advantage of me.” 

Ferreira has blamed Capitol Records for much of this, accusing the label of suppressing her releases, blocking her from doing press, and even seizing control of her SoundCloud account. Her fans eventually launched the #FreeSkyFerreira campaign, which included a Times Square billboard and a plane flying a banner over Capitol’s Hollywood headquarters. Capitol quietly dropped Ferreira in late 2023, and she can’t afford to re-record the material she made under their roof—as she told Vogue, “Taylor Swift can do that because she’s a billionaire, but I basically put all the money I’ve ever made as an artist back into making music.” So when Ferreira says someone else is recording her old songs, the implication lands a bit differently than your average credit dispute. These aren’t demos from some overflowing vault of surplus material. They’re songs from an album she spent a decade trying and failing to release.

Charli, for her part, has not responded personally; according to her team, she’s in Kyoto filming a movie and finishing her next album. Her management issued a statement to Billboard confirming that a “standard review process” was conducted on tracks containing “fragments of material originating from earlier sessions,” that “all relevant parties were consulted,” and that “all credits were finalized and formally approved by the appropriate parties prior to the album’s release.” Charli has, the statement said, “her own personal history with publishing and production negotiations and because of this, she always shares credits fairly and appropriately, and values her collaborators tremendously.” Notably, the statement doesn’t dispute that earlier material was involved—it only asserts that the use was handled properly and agreed upon. Whether Ferreira sees it that way is, evidently, another matter.

The awkward backdrop to all of this is that Charli has been a vocal Ferreira admirer for years. In 2024, she called Ferreira “one of a kind” and the only artist she’d rank alongside Rihanna. They collaborated on Charli’s 2019 single “Cross You Out,” and when Ferreira landed a song on the Babygirl soundtrack, Charli’s public reaction was pure enthusiasm (as she put it on X, “I was already so excited for Babygirl but now we get Babygirl + a new song from Sky: omg. stan mode activated.”) Obviously, none of this resolves the underlying credit question, but it does make the whole thing feel a little sadder than your standard industry squabble.

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There is perhaps no more dangerous phrase

Docs

IDA, in solidarity with our partners at the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR), calls on the Turkish authorities to drop the accusations against filmmaker and festival organizer Rojhilat Aksoy, amid a growing crackdown on Kurdish and Armenian films and filmmakers.

On April 6, Kurdish filmmaker Rojhilat Aksoy will be standing trial in the southeastern Turkish town of Diyarbakır, facing criminal charges under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. The charges allege that she has “publicly insulted the Turkish nation” by screening the animated Armenian Genocide documentary Aurora’s Sunrise last December on behalf of the Middle-Eastern Cinema Academy Association, for which Aksoy served as vice-president at the time.

Since its inception in 2012, the Middle-Eastern Cinema Academy Association has been promoting, screening and producing Kurdish films and filmmakers across the region and elsewhere. Their work involves the annual Amed Film Festival, which pops up in city halls and other locations across southeastern Türkiye, as well as the production of short films and series revolving around Kurdish stories and the Kurdish language.

In recent years, policy changes in Türkiye on a local and federal level have often impeded the work of Aksoy and her colleagues, with last-minute cancellations of screenings and festival editions and difficulties raising funding for new productions. The Association aligns itself with marginalized peoples across Türkiye and elsewhere, and its focus now includes Armenian filmmakers as well as collaborations with Catalonia, among others.

The film Aurora’s Sunrise, which won the Audience Award at the 2023 Movies That Matter Film Festival in The Hague, blends animation and archival footage from a 1919 film in the public domain to shine a light on how Aurora Mardiganian survived Türkiye’s genocide of the Armenians thanks to the compassion shown by ordinary Kurdish and Turkish people. As the filmmaker, Inna Sahakyan, tells us: “Ms. Aksoy has no connection to the production of the film and is being prosecuted simply for her role in the festival application (…) It is heartbreaking to see a cultural worker targeted for sharing a story of survival and resilience.”

The backlash against Rojhilat Aksoy’s and the Association’s decision to screen the film last December is part of a deeply worrying development in which Kurdish and Armenian voices and stories are actively oppressed by the Turkish authorities. Since the start of 2026, our partners at ICFR have received reports of at least four Kurdish filmmakers whose films have been banned from being screened in Türkiye or included in Turkish film festivals.

As our friends at Turkish film association Altyazı Fasikül tell us: “The revival of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code through this case signals a new phase in Turkey’s climate of censorship (…) The prosecution of a film specifically for its screening in Diyarbakır points to a deliberate suppression of the cultural and political rights of Kurdish people in Turkey. We are confronted with a systematic effort to block any reckoning with history.”

Rojhilat Aksoy has rejected the accusations, stating that organizing the public screening was an act protected by freedom of speech and artistic expression, as well as being conducted within the legal framework of cultural and academic discussion. Article 301, the law cited in the indictment, has been used in previous cases involving writers, journalists, artists and scholars whose work touched on sensitive historical topics in Türkiye. Altyazı Fasikül adds that back in 2007, this article even fueled the hatred leading to the murder of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

IDA calls on the Turkish authorities to end their oppressive treatment of Kurdish and Armenian film workers, and stands firmly with Rojhilat Aksoy and her colleagues in their right to freely express themselves and bring any story — Kurdish, Armenian, or otherwise — to audiences near and far. We call on the Turkish authorities, especially the regional authorities of Diyarbakır, to immediately drop all the charges against Rojhilat Aksoy, and for the international documentary community to stand with her.

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IDA, in solidarity with our partners at

Trending

Created by “Schitt’s Creek” Emmy-winner Dan Levy and “I Love L.A.” creator Rachel Sennott, Netflix’s “Big Mistakes” is an absolutely unhinged crime comedy about two siblings who get embroiled in a world of fuckery. More than a high-stakes thriller (though there are plenty of those elements here), the show is a highly chaotic depiction of family, ambition and the courage to step outside the norm. Despite its stellar cast, the cumbersome plot dulls the comedic beats that would otherwise be razor-sharp.
​
“Big Mistakes” opens somewhere in central New Jersey. Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega) sit in the corner of a stress-filled hospital room as their mother, Linda (an exceptional Laurie Metcalf), and self-righteous youngest sister, Natalie (Abby Quinn), fuss over their ailing grandmother. Loud and rambunctious, Linda, who is planning a massive birthday party for her obviously dying mother, in conjunction with a campaign to become the town’s mayor, demands that her eldest children purchase their grandmother a nice necklace for her birthday.
​
As a pastor at the local church, Nicky is not rolling in dough, nor is Morgan, a school teacher. However, when the pair spot a necklace in the glass case at the local stop-and-shop, they offer to buy it. Unfortunately, the store manager, Yusuf (Boran Kuzum), rudely declines the siblings’ request, saying the necklace isn’t for sale. Undeterred, Morgan shoplifts the piece of jewelry, setting off a chain of events so outlandish that this first season feels much longer than eight half-hour-long episodes.
​
Because of Morgan’s pilfering, the previously distant siblings find themselves beholden to a Russian gangster named Ivan (Mark Ivanir), who decides to use the pair as his personal minions. Morgan is initially intrigued by a life of crime. But Ivan and Yusuf’s requests begin to strain her increasingly rocky relationship with her needy boyfriend, Max (Jack Innanen). For Nicky, the stakes are even higher. He’s already hiding his secret beau, Tareq (Jacob Gutierrez). (Apparently, the church has no qualms about his sexuality as long as it’s not on display.) Lawlessness, in addition to managing Morgan and Linda, is just too much for him to bear. The stress of it all begins to wear on him.
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The “Big Mistakes” cast is impeccable, but the narrative is so deranged it nearly devours everything around it.  In Episode 7, “I’ve Really Enjoyed My Time With You,” Nicky and Morgan end up in Miami at the request of Ivan and his goons, yet the story itself requires a complete suspension of disbelief. What the siblings uncover and experience on their trip is so absurd that it strips the show of the realism carefully cultivated beforehand. Instead of being an anchoring penultimate episode, the entire display felt useless and confusing, as if the audience was suddenly watching an entirely different television program.
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Though the narrative is nonsensical, “Big Mistakes” certainly has joyous elements. Metclaf has never been better — a high bar indeed — as a manic mother and business owner, desperate to be heard and seen not just by her children but also in the small town she’s called home for her entire life. Moreover, Levy and Ortega have the perfect obnoxious sibling bond. Polar opposites in temperament, ambition and everything in between, they are constantly rubbing each other the wrong way. Despite the complicated history behind them and the circumstances they end up in, it’s clear this duo will do anything for one another. All of the characters are beautifully zany, which keeps this series from imploding.
​
Overall, “Big Mistakes” is a wild ride. Sharper rewrites and edits to plot points would have offered a more succinct narrative, allowing the comedic tone to shine through. Despite its muddled storylines, the tone, wit and characters give viewers several glimpses into Levy and Sennott’s quirky world. If nothing else, the show captures the thrills and horrors of siblinghood and why, so often, the people you can truly rely on are those who have experienced the best and worst parts of you.

“Big Mistakes” is now streaming on Netflix.

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Created by “Schitt’s Creek” Emmy-winner Dan Levy

Tech

Jimmy Kimmel sounded off on Pam Bondi not having to testify in the Epstein files probe, especially after Hillary Clinton, who never met the late sex offender, had to give a deposition.

The comedian weighed in on the latest from the DOJ during Wednesday’s monologue for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” where he called out the disparity between Bondi’s treatment and Clinton’s treatment in the House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

“Pam Bondi was supposed to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee next week to explain all the shenanigans she shennaned when it came to the release of the Trump Epstein files,” Kimmel said. “But now she will not be sworn in to answer questions under oath. The assistant attorney general wrote, ‘Ms. Bondi no longer holds that office. As a result, because Ms. Bondi no longer can testify in her official capacity, the department’s position is that the subpoena no longer obligates her to appear on April 14th.’”

He continued: “So, let me get this straight. They dragged Hillary Clinton, someone who never even met Jeffrey Epstein, in to testify under oath. But Pam Bondi, who said she had the whole Epstein client list on her desk and then never showed it to anybody, doesn’t make the cut. That makes a lot of sense.”


Stephen Colbert

Before moving on, Kimmel joked that Bondi likely “didn’t have time to testify,” as she was “busy screaming at the teenage manager of a Quiznos for putting Chipotle mayo on her Baja chicken sub.”

The DOJ’s decision came after several representatives called for Bondi, who exited her role as U.S. Attorney General last week, to still appear before the House Oversight Committee.

In fact, shortly after Bondi’s ousting made headlines, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) warned that Bondi’s departure didn’t “get her out of testifying to Congress about Epstein.”

She added on X: “We must also investigate the continued breaking of the law around the DOJ STILL hiding Epstein files from the public. This isn’t over.”

Watch Kimmel’s full monologue above.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.


Jake Tapper, Trump

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The Michigan Wolverines are the 2026 NCAA national men’s basketball champions after a hard-fought 69-63 win over the University of Connecticut Huskies Monday night in the March Madness final.

Now, Michigan national championship merch has arrived online, with Nike selling officially-licensed T-shirts and hoodies celebrating the Wolverines’ big win. Here’s a look at what’s available right now.

NEW RELEASE

Michigan Men’s Basketball National Champions T-Shirt

This T-shirt was just released online and is already almost sold out, so you’ll want to add this to cart while it’s still in stock. The 100% cotton T-shirt features the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions crest on the front, in the school’s iconic blue and yellow colorway.

Michigan Men's Basketball National Champions T-Shirt

ALSO AVAILABLE

Michigan Men’s Basketball National Champions T-Shirt

The Wolverines are National Champs any way you see it with this navy T-shirt, available in sizes small to XXL online.

Michigan Men's Basketball National Champions Hoodie

SELLING FAST

Michigan Men’s Basketball National Champions Hoodie

Sizes of this official hoodie in navy are also selling quickly, and a similar hoodie in white has already sold out. The cotton blend hoodie offers a cozy fit with drawstring hood and front kangaroo pockets. A national champs logo is printed on the front with the school’s “M” front and center. Part of Nike’s Jordan Brand collection, the hoodie also features the Jordan logo and the Final Four logo under the shoulders.

Michigan Athletic Prep Legacy Summit Stripe

Nike

PREPPY PICK

Michigan Athletic Prep Summit Stripe T-Shirt

If you want something that still reps Michigan but without the March Madness branding, we love this striped T-shirt, available in the school colors and with the school crest on the chest. A subtle yellow Jordan Brand logo sits on the sleeve. This T-shirt is made from a cotton blend that includes 10% organic cotton for a breezy — and sustainable — pick up.

Michigan On-Field Club Gameday Hat

VINTAGE-INSPIRED CAP

Michigan On-Field Club Gameday Hat

And you can pick up this official University of Michigan Wolverines cap, which features a broken-in look and feel and casual “dad hat” vibe. The baseball cap is made from a 100% organic cotton twill that’s lightweight and breathable, making it a must-have for stadium days and beach days alike. An adjustable buckle closure allows this hat to fit most head sizes.

You can browse and shop more official Michigan Wolverines March Madness championship merch online now at Nike.com.

The Wolverines finished the college regular season with a 19-1 record and won the Big Ten Tournament before entering March Madness as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region. Michigan took down the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats in the Final Four to set up a dance with UConn.

This was Michigan’s second NCAA basketball championship win following the school’s first title in 1989. The Wolverines have also been runners-up six times in program history, with their last National Championship game appearance coming in 2018.

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Last Updated:

A breezy, feel-good watch that may not fully add up logically but definitely leaves you with a warm aftertaste.

Among her upcoming OTT projects are Maa Ka Sum, which will premiere on April 3 on Amazon Prime Video. She also has Paan Parda Zarda in the pipeline, a crime series on the illegal opium smuggling in Central India.

Among her upcoming OTT projects are Maa Ka Sum, which will premiere on April 3 on Amazon Prime Video. She also has Paan Parda Zarda in the pipeline, a crime series on the illegal opium smuggling in Central India.

Maa Ka Sum on Prime Video builds its premise on a very interesting idea: can love be calculated? The series follows a single mother (Mona Singh) and her math genius son, who believes it can.

The story centres on a mother, who has raised her son alone after her husband walked out early in their lives. She is independent, emotionally aware and has consciously brought him up to stand on his own feet, even encouraging him to leave home at 20. While she has managed life well, her romantic life remains unsettled, riddled by a string of failed relationships and messy breakups.

Her son, played by Mihir Ahuja (he was also in The Archie’s) , is a math prodigy who sees the world through logic and patterns. Shaped by abandonment and emotional gaps from childhood, he does not trust love as a spontaneous emotion. Instead, he begins building an algorithm to find the perfect partner for his mother.

He teams up with his mathematics professor from Stanford Ira Raina, played by Angira Dhar, who approaches relationships through data and patterns, aiming to eliminate bias and create compatibility through numbers. At the same time, Abhimanyu, played by Ranveer Brar, enters the mother’s life, offering a genuine, organic connection that the son refuses to accept. Why? Because it’s offline.

Mona Singh is truly the emotional anchor of the series. She brings warmth, vulnerability and a certain strength to the role, making the character feel all too real and grounded.

Mihir Ahuja is convincing as the conflicted 19-year-old genius. He balances the character’s emotional restraint with underlying vulnerability rather convincingly .

Angira Dhar adds freshness and intelligence to the narrative. Her presence lifts the academic portions of the story.

Chef-actor Ranveer Brar is understated and charming as ever. He fits naturally into the story and provides a much-needed emotional counterpoint.

The writing is where Maa Ka sum falters. The premise is strong, but the execution is uneven. The show tries to combine emotional storytelling with mathematical concepts, but the balance is off. The technical aspects, especially around the algorithm, feel exaggerated and often unconvincing.

The core idea is compelling on paper. The series returns to the notion that love cannot be reduced to formulas or data points. It transcends it all. There is an intangible element, an X factor, that cannot be calculated.

The mother-son relationship is also handled with nuance, showing both closeness and emotional distance.

Yes, It is inconsistent and occasionally illogical, but it has heart. It works best when it focuses on emotions rather than trying to over-explain its concept.

A breezy, feel-good watch that may not fully add up logically but definitely leaves you with a warm aftertaste.

First Published:

April 03, 2026, 00:09 IST

News movies web-series Maa Ka Sum Review: Mona Singh, Mihir Ahuja Bring Their A-Game To A Flawed Take On Love vs Logic
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Last Updated:April 03, 2026, 00:09 ISTA breezy,

Latest News

Disney is expected to lay off as many as 1,000 employees through role eliminations in the coming months, Variety has learned. Many of the cuts are expected to come from the media giant’s marketing department.

Disney declined to comment. The decision to cut from the company’s overall workforce of 231,000 full- and part-time employees comes as Josh D’Amaro takes the reins of Disney as CEO. D’Amaro, who was previously the chairman of Disney Experiences, was selected as former CEO Bob Iger’s replacement in early February. Disney’s 10 board members, along with Iger, voted unanimously to appoint D’Aramo as CEO. He officially took over on March 18.

Disney is the latest entertainment giant to seek a workforce reduction in the face of uncertainty in the near-term economic future given the war with Iran, rising oil prices and other issues. Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed that the studio plans to cut hundreds of positions.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report Disney’s layoff plan. The company last faced large-scale staff cuts in 2023, after Iger returned for his second stint as CEO, when the company cut some 7,000 positions. About 76% of Disney’s global workforce is full-time; about 172,000 of them work in the U.S.

D’Amaro began his career in 1998 at Disneyland. He’s held a range of business, marketing and operations positions during his tenure with the Mouse House, including CFO of Disney Consumer Products Global Licensing, president of Disneyland Resort and president of Walt Disney World Resort. He was promoted to head of Disney parks and cruises, consumer products and Walt Disney Imagineering in May 2020.

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MCU

Before the Marvel multiverse comes together for the events of Avengers: Doomsday, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will swing back into action this summer in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The fourth installment in the MCU Spider-Man series, Brand New Day will see Peter Parker set out on his own after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home caused the world to forget who he was.

This time, however, Holland will be joined by Mark Ruffalo’s Incredible Hulk and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher.

Photo: Marvel

“Four years have gone by since we last caught up with our friendly neighborhood hero,” the film’s first synopsis reads.

Photo: Marvel

“Peter Parker is no more, but Spider-Man is at the top of his game, keeping New York City safe. Things are going well for our anonymous hero until an unusual trail of crimes pulls him into a web of mystery larger than he’s ever faced before.”

Tom Holland’s New Revelation

With just months to go until Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters, Holland has revealed that the film recently underwent some reshoots.

Photo: Marvel

According to the Marvel star, the team added “more humor” and expanded a “villain plotline.”

“I can positively say that the stuff we’re doing, we don’t need,” he explained to GQ. “The movie works and sings as it is. We’re just adding the icing on the cake in certain areas. And we’re finding ways to add a little bit more humor. We’re layering in a villain plotline in a new way and some really fun stuff.”

Reshoots Are Fairly Normal

While reshoots are often portrayed as a negative, they are fairly standard for Marvel films.

Photo: Marvel

Still, it will be interesting to see what Brand New Day went back and added.


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Joel Kinnaman just revealed whether his DC Universe character, Rick Flag Jr., will return to the franchise after Peacemaker season 2.

The actor made his DC debut as Rick Flag Jr. in David Ayer’s 2016 film Suicide Squad. After the character died in James Gunn’s 2021 soft reboot, The Suicide Squad, he was revived on the small screen through flashbacks on Peacemaker.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, Kinnaman admitted that Peacemaker season 2 was his final on-screen appearance as Rick Flag Jr. “I would say so,” he succinctly replied when asked if audiences have seen the last of his character. He called Peacemaker‘s version of Flag to be an “alternate universe, mealy-mouthed Rick.”

“Yeah, I would say so…An alternate universe, mealy-mouthed Rick, as me and James called him.”

Check out Kinnaman’s full interview with ScreenRant below:

Kinnaman couldn’t believe he was able to keep his Peacemaker appearance a secret, considering Warner Bros. was always reprimanding him for spoiling Suicide Squad information in interviews. “I’m very bad at keeping secrets,” he admitted, adding that he finds it easier to “not make those mistakes” now because he doesn’t have much of a social media presence anymore.

“I’m very bad at keeping secrets. Always when I was shooting The Suicide Squad stuff, I felt like the only ones who care about secrets were people that are involved with the superhero stuff. So they were always on me with any interviews because I would spoil stuff in them. But since I don’t really have social media anymore, it’s a lot easier to not make those mistakes.”

After filming The Suicide Squad, Kinnaman and Gunn stayed in touch. One day, the director called him, knowing the actor wanted to work on a comedy project, and asked if he wanted to come back for a “little fun thing I’d love for you to do.” Kinnaman didn’t hesitate to sign on to the project.

“We’re friends, so we talk every now and then. He just called me and asked if I wanted to come in, and he was like, ‘This is this little fun thing I’d love for you to do.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come play with you anytime.'”

Gunn has said that he always envisioned that Flag would show up during Peacemaker season 2, but Kinnaman divulged that he had no idea about that plan. He considers Gunn a “mad genius” for thinking that far ahead.

“He’s a mad genius, so it’s hard to know what goes on in that crazy brain of his…James knows that I want to do more comedy and he thinks I’m funny, so that’s why he wanted to write something that was kind of playing to that.”

Reflecting on his time in the DC Universe, Kinnaman described himself as being “very unprofessional” in the 2016 Suicide Squad film. He and the rest of the cast were “partying all the time…It was a mess.” Having Gunn at the helm for the 2021 installment was like night and day, with a “much more professional” environment.

“So different. Yeah, it was so much more professional. God, I was very unprofessional in that one. We were partying all the time. Yeah, 2016. I mean, I feel like we were drunk and high all the time. It was a mess.”

Now the actor has said farewell to the franchise, with Peacemaker season 2 serving as his final appearance. Kinnaman has since moved on to other projects, including the movie Icefall and the TV shows Imperfect Women and Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole; the latter two recently premiered on Apple TV and Netflix, respectively.

Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad
Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad

He’s also one of the stars of the critically acclaimed drama For All Mankind, which tells an alternate history of the space race and earned Kinnaman a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor on Television (Streaming). The fifth installment is currently streaming on Apple TV, with the finale set for May 29.

Gunn is not working on Peacemaker season 3, but he’s still moving full steam ahead with the DC Universe, which will soon include Supergirl, Clayface, Man of Tomorrow, and Lanterns, after relaunching the franchise with Superman on the big screen and Creature Commandos and Peacemaker on the small screen.


Peacemaker season 2 poster-2


Release Date

2022 – 2025-00-00

Network

HBO Max, Max


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Joel Kinnaman just revealed whether his DC