What to Know About the SHEIN Influencer Brand Trip
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Damon Lindelof will mentor one up-and-coming TV writer as part of ScreenCraft’s latest TV pilot writing competition.
The Lost and Mrs. Davis exec producer will meet with the winner of the competition, which usually receives several thousand submissions. He serve as the grand juror of the competition, which will open submissions on July 1 and run through September 30.
The pilot program is being launched in partnership with The University of Georgia M.F.A. program in Film, Television, and Digital Media. Writers interested in submitting can do so via Coverfly.
There’s no worry that entering will go against the WGA strike rules as ScreenCraft has been communicating with the guild and its legal team has reviewed the program and confirmed it is in compliance with strike rules. The materials will not be shared with industry jurors until the final round, which is in January and ScreenCraft is not sharing materials with struck companies or their representatives as long as the strike is in effect.
“ScreenCraft has always taken seriously the responsibility of supporting emerging writers through its programs,” said Tom Dever, the VP of Development for Industry Arts, ScreenCraft’s parent company. “Facilitating a personal mentorship with creators of this stature is such an incredible opportunity for aspiring television writers and consistent with our mission.”
“With the state of Georgia now among the top three production hubs in the US, I can’t think of a better time for us to partner with Screencraft, the preeminent launching platform for screenwriters and filmmakers embarking on successful careers in film and television,” added Neil Landau, Executive Director of The University of Georgia M.F.A.. “Our program educates, mentors, inspires and nurtures above-the-line emerging screenwriters, directors, and producers to make exceptional creative work, and Screencraft helps get them noticed as they segue from academia into the industry.”
Damon Lindelof will mentor one up-and-coming TV
The Asus ROG Ally has only been out since earlier this June 2023, and already the modding community has figured out how to install 4TB of M.2 2280 SSD storage.
Normally the Asus ROG Ally comes with 512GB of storage, with a 256 GB version coming soon. And as impressive as fitting that much in a small package is, it’s not nearly enough for many modern PC games, with some requiring 100 GB or more. Some Redditors have taken matters into their own hands and decided to figure out how to fit in even more storage.
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According to these intrepid modders, and reported by VideoGameZ, the ROG Ally can in fact fit a standard M.2 2280 storage but you need to remove part of the chassis to do so. As you may have guessed, this is an irreversible change that will definitely void your warranty, something important to consider since currently every single one of these portables is covered by it. But if you don’t mind, then know you’ll need to remove antennas and insulate said SSD in a non-conductive foil.
It seems that, so far, these mods have been successful, particularly with WD 4TB SN850X storage and Crucial P3 Plus 4TB (CT4000P3PSSD8) storage. None of the modders reported overheating or any performance issues in the two weeks since they started altering their ROG Ally systems.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Asus ROG Ally is how receptive it seems to be to modding, not only in terms of gaming software modding but also for boosting its all-around performance. If it’s possible to upgrade the handheld to this degree so early in its launch, imagine its modding potential later on down the line when owners truly get a grasp on what they can do with the ROG Ally.
Not to mention that we’ve also seen how much a simple update can improve gaming performance across the board. Ahead of its launch, Asus released a set of firmware and driver updates that increased framerate in many of the best PC games, including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Forza Horizon 5, by up to 20%.
We could end up seeing a ROG Ally, whether officially boosted or warranty-voiding modified, that has specs far superior to what it initially had, which is saying a lot considering what it’s packed with already. I’m excited to see what’s possible, considering that it feels like the PC portable has so much untapped potential, as outlined in this Tom’s Guide review.
The Asus ROG Ally has only been
Warner Bros on Thursday released a new trailer for Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve’s second pic in a planned three-film saga based on Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel. The Warners/Legendary Pictures pic is set to hit theaters November 3, 2023.
Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Chani in the film, which picks up after the events of the first Dune, which bowed in 2021 and grossed more than $402 million at the global box office.
Also back in the cast is Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Stellan Skarsgård, joined by Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux.
The middle pic in the series finds Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen out for revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee (The film’s tagline is “Fury Will Rise,” so you get the idea).
Villeneuve co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts from Herbert’s novel.
Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Villeneuve, Tanya Lapointe and Patrick McCormick are producers. Executive producers are Josh Grode, Herbert W. Gains, Spaihts, Thomas Tull, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt and Kim Herbert.
The new trailer, which comes after the first official trailer dropped in May after it was shown at CinemaCon, shows off the scope that helped the original pic score 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Dune: Part One won six Oscars in the crafts categories and returns several from that team here, including editor Joe Walker, production designer Patrice Vermette, composer Hans Zimmer and VFX supervisor Paul Lambert. Costume designer Jacqueline West, who was nominated last go-around, also returns.
Check out the trailer above.
Warner Bros on Thursday released a new
The trailer has debuted for feature documentary “Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano,” which will have its world premiere in the Main Competition at Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Cyril Aris’ film centers on the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, which leaves a large part of the Lebanese capital in ruins. In the midst of the chaos, a film crew face an overwhelming decision: to continue the production of their movie or abandon it? They are torn between their firm belief in the transformative power of cinema and a deep sense of cynicism about its ability to effect change in a nation plagued by economic turmoil and societal collapse.
In a statement, Aris said: “For a region mired in political strife and economic difficulties, art has always been deemed as luxury not only by most Arab governments, but by the general population. Thus, when the explosion occurred, it was inevitable to ask myself if what we do has any impact at all; if what we do has any meaning.
“‘Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano’ is not strictly about the explosion, but an investigation of the disputed worth of art in times of crisis. Most of all, this is a meditation on loss – the loss of the city that no longer exists; the loss of the life that no longer exists; the loss of the self that may not be resurrected, even with a film to make.”
The producers are Katharina Weser and Myriam Sassine for Reynard Films and Abbout Productions. It is co-produced by Nadi Lekol Nas. The film received a post-production grant from the Sundance Institute.
Aris is a Lebanese director, screenwriter and editor based in Beirut. His feature documentary “The Swing” (2018) premiered in Karlovy Vary, and won awards in El Gouna, Rome, London and Budapest. His short film “The President’s Visit” (2017) premiered at Toronto Film Festival and played in more than 80 festivals. Aris is in development for his feature “It’s a Sad and Beautiful World.”
Editing credits include American-Filipino feature film “Death of Nintendo” (2020), directed by Raya Martin, which premiered at the 70th Berlinale, and “Costa Brava Lebanon” (2021), directed by Mounia Akl, which premiered at the 78th Venice Film Festival, and won the Netpac award at the Toronto Film Festival, the audience award at the BFI London Film Festival, and the FIPRESCI award at El-Gouna.
The trailer has debuted for feature documentary
The documentary follows three openly intersex people, set against the larger backdrop of decades of secrecy and unnecessary surgeries.
The documentary follows three openly intersex people,
Madonna rushed to hospital, upcoming tour postponed
Madonna rushed to hospital, upcoming tour postponed Source
Logan director James Mangold shared exciting insight on Deadpool 3‘s plot, specifically regarding Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
Excitement is high for Ryan Reynolds‘ third Deadpool film, this time within the MCU. Hugh Jackman’s return as Logan one more time was a massive storyline, especially considering the definitive ending presented in 2017’s Logan.
Anticipation is ramping up even more now that Deadpool 3 was pushed up significantly on the schedule, now releasing on May 3, 2024.
During a recent interview promoting his latest film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, filmmaker James Mangold – who has directed two Marvel films in 2013’s Wolverine and 2017’s Logan – teased the chaotic energy of Deadpool 3:
“And tonally, because I’ve talked with them about this, I even was heavily talking with it about him a few years ago… I’m imagining it’s going to be some kind of Midnight Run or 48 Hours with these two guys just on the run… It sounds fun as hell.”
That “Midnight Run or 48 Hours” sounds thrilling and also lines up with a recently revealing comment by Deadpool 2 actor Lewis Tan.
Tan said, “Deadpool will use Cable’s time travel machine to save Wolverine before his death in 2029 and they end up lost in the Multiverse being pursued by Mobius” in Deadpool 3.
Mangold added that he feels like they “stuck the landing” with Logan but added that he’s not sure Deadpool 3 “diminishes it or takes it away in any real way:”
“Well, yes and no. I mean, there’s a part of me that felt we stuck the landing, but we did it…But the reality is, we did end ‘Logan’ well, and it did have its impact and continues to. And I’m not really sure that anything diminishes it or takes it away in any real way.”
Deadpool 3 can be considered a “prequel” that takes place before Logan:
“If it works, it works. And it’s not like the new movie Hugh and Ryan [Reynolds] are working on takes place after Logan. So, in a sense they’re just making a prequel, if you will.”
The Multiverse will clearly be explored in Deadpool 3, an easy assumption considering Ryan Reynolds is brought into the MCU and Hugh Jackman from the dead.
Another element of the Multiverse that fans have seen so far in projects like Loki Season 1, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is Variants.
While this doesn’t confirm anything, Hugh Jackman has said he’s playing “a dual role” in Deadpool 3. This could only mean he’s playing alongside his co-star Reynolds, or maybe audiences will be treated with several Variants of Wolverine.
It will be wonderful to see both Reynolds and Jackman in the MCU, a dream of many fans that now is a reality due to Disney buying 20th Century Fox.
Adding onto James Mangold’s comments, Deadpool 3 writer Rhett Reese previously teased a “fish-out-of-water” story. He also added that “Deadpool is a lunatic at the center of a movie.”
Deadpool 3 releases in theaters on May 3, 2024.
The difference in age between new Superman actor David Corenswet and DCEU star Henry Cavill explains the direction Superman: Legacy is headed in. Cavill went through a rough patch in the role in the old DCEU, with the actor only getting one solo movie in the role, and last playing Superman in 2017’s Justice League before returning for a cameo role in 2022, appearing in Black Adam‘s post-credits scene. The moment was meant to start a new age for Cavill in the role, with the actor taking to social media to celebrate his Superman return. However, a few months after Cavill’s return, James Gunn announced that the actor was out.
Gunn and Peter Safran assumed the role of DC Studios co-CEOs, with the duo rebooting the old DCEU with their DC Universe. Cavill was not asked to return as Clark Kent due to the hero’s reboot movie, Superman: Legacy, focusing on a younger Superman. After a lengthy casting process, three actors were brought in to screen test for the coveted lead role of Clark Kent. Corenswet emerged as the new Superman actor for Superman: Legacy. The actor had been the fan-favorite choice for the role over the last couple of years, even before Cavill left, and the difference between the actors’ ages reveals an essential detail about Superman: Legacy‘s approach.
Corenswet is 29 years old at the time of his casting in Superman: Legacy. The actor’s birthday is on July 8, which means he is close to being 30. That will be his age when shooting Superman: Legacy. If it all goes to plan, Superman: Legacy‘s filming start will be on January 2024. After filming wraps, Corenswet will turn 31, but that will not be the actor’s age when the movie premieres. By the time Superman: Legacy comes out, Corenswet will be 32, as the actor’s birthday will come three days before Superman: Legacy‘s July 11, 2025, release date, which will lead to a pretty eventful week in Corenswet’s life.
Cavill was younger than Corenswet when he was cast as Superman for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Cavill was 27 years old when he was cast as Superman back in January 2011. With the actor’s birthday being on May 5, Cavill was 28 by the time Man of Steel started shooting that August. The actor has appeared in three DCEU movies as Superman since then. While shooting 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Cavill was younger than Superman: Legacy‘s new Clark Kent actor Corenswet will be when the movie releases in theaters. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s principal photography began on May 19, 2014, with Cavill at 31.
The actor’s next time as Superman was in 2017’s Justice League. The movie started shooting on April 2016, making Cavill 32 at the time. This means that Cavill had three movies as Superman under his belt at the age that Corenswet will be when he is seen in theaters leading Superman: Legacy. While the actor appears in 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Cavill did not return to film new scenes as Superman for the movie. Cavill’s last time filming for Superman was for Black Adam. Cavill was a late inclusion to the movie, with his Superman cameo being shot in September 2022, a month before it debuted, when Cavill was 39.
Soon turning 30, Corenswet will be 10 years younger than Cavill when he starts shooting Superman: Legacy. While Cavill became Superman a couple of years younger than Corenswet, the DC Universe’s expansive scope of having the same actors play their roles in movies, TV shows, animation, and video games guarantees that Corenswet will surpass Cavill’s five Superman appearances in no time. Corenswet’s age, in comparison to Cavill’s, perfectly explains what Gunn is looking for in his reboot of the Man of Steel for the DC Universe. Corenswet is not only younger than Cavill, but at 29, he is younger than Superman: Legacy runner-ups Tom Brittney, 32, and Nicholas Hoult, 33.
Gunn ended up going with the youngest actor of the final three that screen tested for the Clark Kent role in Superman: Legacy, with Corenswet even being younger than Lois Lane actress Rachel Brosnahan, who is 32. Corenswet’s age perfectly lines up with the details that have been revealed from the upcoming movie. Superman: Legacy features a younger take on Clark Kent, with the character starting out as a reporter at the Daily Planet, learning the ropes from a more experienced Lois Lane.
The DC Universe will introduce a world where superheroes already exist in Superman: Legacy, with Corenswet’s Clark Kent early in his Superman career providing a nice point of view for the audience as the DCU starts. Based on that, it makes sense why Gunn chose not to bring back Cavill, with Corenswet, at 29, being the perfect new actor to lead Superman: Legacy and the next decade of DC Universe projects.
The difference in age between new Superman
Razer the Cobra Pro, that’s packed with buttons and customization options, all wrapped in an eye-pleasing symmetrical design. There’s seven buttons at the top of the device, two on the side and one on the bottom, adding up to ten. As is traditional with modern mice, each button is fully customizable. However, Razer takes this customization to the next level.
The Cobra Pro stores five memory profiles that allow you to instantly swap between customization options to suit whatever game you’re playing. Additionally, the mouse integrates with Razer’s Hypershift feature, which temporarily adds a secondary set of functions to each button.
The symmetrical design is nifty, but this is a modern gaming mouse, so there’s plenty of customizable RGB lighting. As a matter of fact, the Cobra Pro boasts 11 individually addressable Chroma RGB zones, which Razer says is the most zones available in its class. There’s nearly 17 million colors to choose from, so it’s highly unlikely your mouse’s lighting scheme will match your neighbors.
As for regular specs, the Cobra Pro continues some of the traditions present with the company’s There’s a Focus Pro 30K optical sensor and next-generation optical mouse switches. The Cobra Pro integrates with the Razer Mouse Dock Pro (sold separately) that amps the polling rate up to 4000 Hz.
The built-in battery allows for 100 hours of use when connected via the company’s HyperSpeed Wireless technology and 170 hours when using traditional Bluetooth. It ships with a USB-C cable for quick-charging.
In addition to the Cobra Pro, the company also launched a bare-bones version for budget-conscious gamers. The standard Cobra mouse is wired and boasts eight customizable buttons. Both options with the Cobra Pro costing $120 and the standard Cobra coming in at just $40.
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Razer the Cobra Pro, that’s packed
One of the biggest,s if not the biggest Netflix hits of all time was Squid Game. The show won six Emmys, was viewed for 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first 28 days, and, now, according to internal Netflix documents obtained by the LA Times, it raised Netflix’s value by $900 million.
Sheesh.
Of course, none of this would be possible without South Korean writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who created the show and has earned the right to see it become a stunning success story. But he has not earned any residuals from this massive win.
According to sources, his contract was written in a way that forfeited all intellectual property rights and received no residuals. According to Hwang, he made some money from the sale and show, but not anymore.
If this show had been on a different channel and not a streamer, Hwang would have been entitled to royalty payments when the show played over and over after its broadcast.
This is one of the core reasons the WGA is on strike right now, and that SAG-AFTRA might follow them soon.
These residual payments used to be how creatives made money. But now, with streamers relying on these massive hits, creatives are cut off from any of the wins that follow.
You could try to blame his contract or the Korean film industry, but it’s Netflix who made sure those provisions were not in there, and it’s why unions in the United States are working to make sure that can never happen again.
Being paid residuals for work that generates massive revenue should become something standard all over the world.
It’s only in the streaming era that this has not happened.
Maybe we live inside a Squid
Audiences might bemoan the lack of original thinking at the movies these days — all those sequels, remakes, and reboots! — but even new ideas can feel suddenly played out when faced with the horrifying specter of parallel thinking. Consider everything from “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” to “Dante’s Peak” and “Volcano,” “Capote” and “Infamous” to “No Strings Attached” and “Friends with Benefits,” and those are just contemporary examples of the phenomenon. If you’ve got an idea for a movie — hopefully, a good one to boot — chances are, someone else has it, too. And they may even have it at the exact same time.
Such is the case with Kirk DeMicco and Faryn Pearl’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” which arrives on the heels (fins? paws?) of some very similar other animated adventures, like Pixar’s superior “Turning Red” and the studio’s less thrilling entry “Luca,” both of which use monstrous imagery to explore puberty and coming-of-age. No, literally monstrous: In “Turning Red,” a young girl’s maturation turns her into a giant panda (adorable, terrifying), while “Luca” follows a pair of young boys who discover they’re both sea monsters (in sun-drenched Italy, no less).
For the DreamWorks-backed entry into the “whoa, puberty is nuts!” animated movie Mad Libs arena, those ideas get mashed up into something funny, sweet, and all-too-familiar. This time around, we’re following a delightful young girl (voiced by the winning Lana Condor) who can’t shake the feeling she’s different, only to discover on the eve of a key teenage experience that she very, very much is (she, too, is a sea monster). And while this concept, from writers DeMicco, Pam Brady, Elliott DiGuiseppi, and Brian C. Brown, might have felt fresh five years ago, in 2023, it’s just another example of parallel thinking damning even the cutest of ideas.
And “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is cute.
DeMicco and Pearl open with some splashy exposition, telling us that kraken, despite their bad reputations and terrifying name, are actually protectors of the ocean. Being a kraken? It’s a good thing! But that hasn’t stopped even the most lauded of kraken — like Ruby’s mom Agatha (voiced by Toni Collette, in just one of many excellent pieces of voice casting) — from sweeping her family onto dry shores (like their small town of Oceanside) and keeping everyone very much out of the ocean and away from their legacy as massive, butt-kicking sea monsters.
Ruby (voiced by Condor) has always known she’s different — perhaps her blue skin and gilled ears are a tip-off — but even she doesn’t know just how different she is. That’s a tough load for any teenager to carry, but one that’s particularly hard for Ruby, who already feels torn between her love of order (she’s into math and rules) and her spunky and fun personality. While “Turning Red” was explicitly coded to be about puberty and periods and “Luca” has been viewed as a story about sexual and gender identity, “Ruby Gillman” flits between all these possible readings. In short, it’s about discovering who you are (be it physically, sexually, mentally, emotionally) and harnessing the bravery to embrace it. A classic tale in sea monster form.
One thing Ruby has always understood: She can’t go in the ocean, ever. (Then why did they move to Oceanside, you may wonder? As Agatha tells us in one of the film’s most clever and amusing moments, they do still need to remain moist, obviously.) Ruby is just fine with that request until Oceanside High goes ahead and schedules their annual prom on a party boat, and all of Ruby’s best pals (rendered mostly in tropes: the wacky one, the gothic one, the dude one) can’t wait to literally splash out on the luxe vessel. But what about Ruby?
Before you can say “promposal,” Ruby has tumbled into the ocean in an attempt to save her sweet crush Connor (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White) after he goes into the drink. It’s there that she discovers — care of some colorful animation, amusing character design, and a healthy dose of pop music — that she’s actually a massive kraken, and everything Agatha has told her is, well, kind of a massive lie.
Much like “Turning Red,” the real heart of “Ruby Gillman” lies in the complicated bond between mother and daughter, one built on both very good intentions and totally traumatic deceptions. And when Ruby’s transformational news travels to both her Grandmamah (voiced by Jane Fonda) and the rest of the ocean’s many other inhabitants, that bond is going to be mightily tested. Who else in the ocean, you may ask? Her funny uncle Brill (voiced by Sam Richardson), who arrives at the Gillman home, along with hip new girl at school Chelsea Van Der Zee (voiced by Annie Murphy), who soon reveals herself to be an Ariel-styled mermaid who is thrilled to have a new water-logged pal (maybe).
Partially spurred on by Chelsea and her instant popularity but mostly driven by her own desire to break free, Ruby starts spending more time in the ocean (read: more time as a kraken), where Grandmamah teaches her a ton about their heritage and lineage. Kraken? Sure, there’s plenty of them, but Grandmamah and Agatha and Ruby are the only giant kraken, fierce fighters and beloved royalty who are tasked with protecting the ocean from all the bad stuff, including (dramatic pause) mermaids, who are the real monsters. Oh, so what about Chelsea?
Exposition and information dumps abound, but despite the seemingly overstuffed nature of the plot, “Ruby Gillman” skews a bit younger than similar cinematic options. It really soars (swims?) when it’s leaning into the lighter, literally more colorful stuff, like when Ruby goes full kraken and explores a lush, bright ocean alongside her grandmother or new best frenemy. The pop songs blare, the montages zip by, and the water setting is turned into something bright and fresh (sorry, new “Little Mermaid”), all setting the perfect stage for a warm and good-hearted story about self-acceptance.
This may all seem familiar, and that’s both comforting and disappointing. Kids are always in need of gracious tales about the power of being yourself in a world not necessarily built to embrace differences (of all sizes, of all kinds) and stories like “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” can do that, with fun to spare. But why not get more splashy, why not take more risks, why not get bigger and weirder, when that’s also the aim of the very story you’re telling? Audiences of all ages deserve those leaps, the more giant, the better.
Universal Pictures will release “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” in theaters on Friday, June 30.
Audiences might bemoan the lack of original
EXCLUSIVE: Shondrella Avery, who starred in Napoleon Dynamite, is developing a slew of unscripted projects after striking a first-look deal with Bling Empire producer Jeff Jenkins Productions.
Avery is working with R&B star Macy Gray and four-time NBA champion John Salley on series as well as other projects featuring musicians, athletes and influencers.
She will work directly with JJP President Jeff Jenkins, who exec produced Keeping Up With The Kardashians, to co-develop and produce series with an emphasis on Black and BIPOC talent.
Jeff Jenkins Productions, which is backed by 3BMG, is also behind Netflix’s My Unorthodox Life, and Bravo’s upcoming Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake.
As well as starring as Lafawnduh in cult comedy Napoleon Dynamite, Avery has appeared in films and series including The Secret Life of Bees, Déjà vu, End of Watch, Single Drunk Female and The Neighborhood. She has also produced and exec produced more than 20 series and feature films over the last 10 years.
“Grounded in faith and guided by courage, I am thrilled to partner with the esteemed Mr. Jenkins, a true mentor and ally,” said Avery. “It is an immense blessing to call ‘JJ’ my friend and collaborator as we forge ahead, embracing limitless possibilities and aiming to leave an indelible mark on the industry.”
“I’ve known Shondrella for years and have always admired her drive and endless capabilities, as both a performer and a behind-the-scenes creative,” added Jenkins. “I’m so pleased she chose JJP as her partner for unscripted content, and our team is incredibly inspired by the fresh concepts and dynamic talent she’s already bringing to the space.”
EXCLUSIVE: Shondrella Avery, who starred in Napoleon
Futurama welcomes us back to New New York! The upcoming eleventh season brings back all the fan favorites in yet another new season of a series that simply refuses to stay concluded.
The series has come a long way, through time and space, since its debut in 1999. The first batch of seasons ran through 2003, featuring some of the wittiest, nerdiest humor (in addition to the saddest episode in animated television history, “Jurassic Bark”) from the creative team led by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen.
Futurama returned in 2008 and 2009 as a series of four movies split into multiple episodes. The series again made a comeback from 2010 through 2013, seemingly summing up the story with a beautifully twisted faux series finale. Throughout Futurama’s span so far, the series won six Emmy Awards and was nominated for an additional fourteen.
Earlier this year, Vice President of 20th Century Television Animation Marci Proietto said, “I’ve always felt [Futurama] had more stories to tell.” He went on to say “Viewers can expect the same great humor and great writing they love. For Futurama, it’s like catching up with old friends in the most amazing way.”
Starting next month, the Planet Express crew is coming back again in full force this summer with returning cast members Billy West (Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg), Katey Sagal (Turanga Leela), John Dimaggio (Bender Bending Rodriguez), Phil LaMarr (Hermes Conrad), and Lauren Tom (Amy Wong).
The new season will have something for everyone, old fans and newbies alike, spanning twenty episodes. Check out the trailer to catch a glimpse of what’s in store.
The new season of Futurama premieres on July 24th exclusively on Hulu. Until then, go back in time and jump 1,000 years into the future by catching up on the first ten seasons of the series now streaming on Hulu.
Futurama welcomes us back to New New
MGM+, a premium linear channel and streaming service announced today that the contemporary sci-fi horror series FROM has been renewed for a 10-episode third season. Created and executive produced by John Griffin (Crater) and executive produced by showrunner Jeff Pinkner (Lost, Alias, Fringe), and director Jack Bender (Lost, Game of Thrones), the series unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town that traps all those who enter. In the wake of Season Two’s epic cliffhanger, escape will become a tantalizing and very real possibility as the true nature of the town comes into focus, and the townspeople go on offense against the myriad horrors surrounding them. The series is set to return in 2024.
Photo Credit: Chris Reardon/MGM+
FROM is the second-most viewed series in the history of the premium network, behind the Emmy winning Godfather of Harlem, starring Forest Whitaker and co-created by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein (Narcos).
The series stars Harold Perrineau (Lost) and an ensemble cast which includes Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace, The Affair), Eion Bailey (Band of Brothers, Once Upon a Time), Hannah Cheramy (Under Wraps, Van Helsing), Simon Webster (Strays), Ricky He (The Good Doctor), Chloe Van Landschoot (Charity, Skin),Corteon Moore (Utopia Falls), Pegah Ghafoori (The Perfect Wedding), David Alpay (Castle Rock), Elizabeth Saunders (Clarice), Elizabeth Moy, Avery Konrad (Honor Society), and Scott McCord (East of Middle West). Joining the ensemble in Season Two were Nathan D. Simmons (Diggstown, This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Kaelen Ohm (Hit & Run, Eumenides Falls), Angela Moore (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Maid), A.J. Simmons (Reacher), and Deborah Grover (My Next Door Nightmare, Jann).
“The first two seasons of FROM captivated critics and terrified and engaged fans, who have formed a thriving online community that is trying to put the pieces together week by week as the secrets of the nightmarish town—and possibly beyond—are slowly revealed,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “We can’t wait for fans to see the surprises ahead in Season Three, which promises more scares and mysteries, but also more answers.”
“We’re so grateful for the support of our fans and FROMily this season. We have a lot more story to tell … and shocking, weird roads to take you on, with plenty of answers along the way,” said Jack Bender, executive producer and director.
FROM is a co-production between MGM+ Studios and Amazon’s Pan-English scripted TV. Alongside Jeff Pinkner,John Griffin, and Jack Bender, serving as executive producers are Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Scott Rosenberg from Midnight Radio, Anthony and Joe Russo and Mike Larocca from AGBO, and Lindsay Dunn. Midnight Radio’s Adrienne Erickson serves as co-executive producer. The series is distributed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Check out some photos below:
About Midnight Radio
Midnight Radio is the producing team of Josh Appelbaum, André Namec, Jeff Pinkner & Scott Rosenberg. On the TV side they are responsible for shows such as High Fidelity for Hulu, Cowboy Bebop for Netflix, and Zoo for CBS. On the film side, Jeff Pinkner & Scott Rosenberg co-wrote both Jumanji and Jumanji 2: The Next Level for Sony, as well as Venom for Sony, starring Tom Hardy. Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec wrote Misson Impossible: Ghost Protocol for Paramount, and produced Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, starring Michael B. Jordan, for Amazon.
About AGBO
Founded by award-winning, record-breaking directors Anthony and Joe Russo, AGBO is an artist-led entertainment company focused on creating content born of innovative story universes across film, television, and digital platforms. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, AGBO was founded in 2017.
About MGM+
MGM+, an Amazon company, is a premium linear channel and streaming service delivering a broad lineup of quality original series and docuseries, the latest movie releases, and classic film franchises—all available in the U.S. on TV, on-demand, online, and across devices. MGM+ is a destination for original premium content, with original series including sci-fi horror series FROM; Emmy-winning series Godfather of Harlem; the Western adventure Billy the Kid; and cinematic dramatic series A Spy Among Friends, War of the Worlds, Rogue Heroes, Domina and Belgravia. The network is also the home of acclaimed docuseries, including Emmy-nominated Laurel Canyon, Helter Skelter, Slow Burn, My Life as a Rolling Stone, NFL Icons, and Murf the Surf. Premium movies are also available, including Top Gun: Maverick, No Time to Die, House of Gucci, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Smile and Till.
MGM+ will continue to be available nationwide through cable, telco, satellite, and emerging digital distribution channels, as well as through its MGM+ app, providing more movies than any other network with thousands of titles available for streaming. For more information about the current MGM+ lineup, go to [www.mgmplus.com] or follow on [Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube].
MGM+, a premium linear channel and streaming
Jada Pinkett Smith is promising viewers haven’t seen the last of Red Table Talk, despite the shuttering of Facebook Watch earlier this year.
The actress, producer, mother and host revealed the news to People in a new interview about her anticipated memoir Worthy, out Oct. 17 with Dey Street Books, an imprint of the William MorrowGroup at HarperCollins Publishers. “It’s definitely coming back. We’ve had a couple platforms reach out to us. And we have some interesting avenues that we’re looking at now,” she said.
Published on Thursday, the conversation also saw Pinkett Smith address the public criticism she’s increasingly faced over the years for both her — along with husband Will, and children Jaden and Willow — being so open about elements of her family’s life on the series and beyond.
“So many people feel because of my talk show Red Table Talk that they know my journey. And they really don’t,” she told the magazine. “There’s been so much about my journey that I haven’t really been able to share on a format like RTT.”
Pinkett Smith went on to say that “everything” will be covered in the book, while addressing critics of her and husband Will Smith’s choices about openly discussing elements of their marriage, parenting choices and more. For the actress and producer, those who aren’t interested in learning more “don’t need to know” and “this is not a book for them.”
“That’s the beauty of it. It just so happens that there’s some moments that a lot of people are aware of that I’ll be able to break down. In regards to that self-reclamation,” she said of those who argue she and her family overshare. “For those who are not interested, the beauty is they don’t have to get the book. But for those who are, the book will be available.”
Describing Worthy as “an adventure, a search for love and self-worth,” Pinkett Smith said the book will give her an opportunity to address what she is — and isn’t — to “blame” for when it comes to the misunderstandings about her family floating around.
Recently, that discussion has increased around son Jaden Smith’s reveal at the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver that she was first to use psychedelics — something she revealed on Red Table Talk — before other members of her family followed suit. It also rose up around the 2022 Oscars, when fellow actor and husband Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage during the televised ceremony after the Selective Outrage comedian delivered an unscripted joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which is related to her alopecia.
“You escape the blame when you know that it’s not your blame. Right? When there’s misunderstanding. And when you know the truth, there’s no self-judgment. And if you have no self-judgment, then the judgment of others can’t penetrate,” she said. “In the book, people will see that I have to be very accountable of the misunderstandings that are floating. But ultimately, I hope the book enhances someone’s perspective of their own life. That is my greatest hope.”
Jada Pinkett Smith is promising viewers haven’t
After a day of news that could’ve fueled its own “We Didn’t Start The Fire” reboot, Twitter timelines everywhere suddenly flooded with one last absurdity: Colleen Ballinger reaching for a ukulele. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a time capsule from 2009, when the twee aesthetic reigned and Ballinger’s Miranda Sings character was one of YouTube’s first bonafide celebrities. But this is a video from 2023, and Ballinger is attempting to apologize for serious accusations of grooming her fans by breaking into song.
To understand what’s going on, we have to rewind to 2020, when a YouTuber named Adam McIntyre shared the negative experiences he had with Ballinger as a longtime Miranda Sings fan. He became a fan when he was nine years old, eventually running a Twitter fan account and subsequently joining an “inner circle” of stans with whom Ballinger would communicate directly. McIntyre accused Ballinger of sending him inappropriately sexualized messages (like asking his favorite sex position) while he was a teenager, and even mailing him a set of underwear (bra and panties) after telling fans she wanted to get rid of “ugly” unused clothes, per HuffPost U.K. In response, Ballinger denied accusations of grooming, but admitted to sending the underwear, saying it was a “stupid” thing for her to do.
Ballinger’s fans turned on McIntyre after he came forward with his accusations (which also included Ballinger exploiting him for the free labor of posting on her social media accounts). Otherwise, the controversy died down until June 2023, when another fan came forward to corroborate McIntyre’s story. Since then, the floodgates have opened and many fans have chimed in with their own negative stories of being bullied or manipulated by Ballinger and her friends and family.
Per a Rolling Stone report, these issues range from body shaming to being sexualized on stage. Some of her inner circle fans (members of a group chat called “Colleenies Weenies”) felt Ballinger tacitly encouraged them to attack her detractors online, including her ex-husband. Multiple fans, who were high schoolers at the time, shared that Ballinger would unload on them about her ex Joshua Evans’ “emotionally abusive” ways and the devastation of their breakup. At least one fan, Johnny Silvestri, spoke of being hired in a professional capacity (to work on Ballinger’s Miranda Sings tour), where he was exploited, verbally abused, and drawn into a toxic parasocial dynamic (one that Evans, at least, has acknowledged and apologized for).
Ballinger broke her silence on this deluge of accusations on Wednesday in the most baffling manner, literally evoking a classic Ariana Grande Victorious meme: “Even though my team has strongly advised me to not say what I want to say, I recently realized that they never said that I couldn’t sing what I want to say,” she vocalized while strumming that ukulele. Her ten-minute musical response video turns the blame on the “toxic gossip train,” arguing that “I’m not a groomer, just a loser.” She acknowledges transgressing boundaries with fans, “but not in a creepy way like a lot of you are trying to suggest.” Further, Miranda Sings—a character leveraged into the short-lived Netflix series Haters Back Off in 2016—was always a PG-13 enterprise, she says (or sings).
The non-apology apology video would already be raising eyebrows for the embittered way Ballinger insists that she already has taken accountability, “but that’s not the point of your mob mentality, is it?” To do so in song has only served to make the controversy even more viral than it already is. Miranda Sings was a very specific product of its time—down to the problematic early 2000s racial stereotyping—and now it seems we’re witnessing the sun finally set on the character, as well as, perhaps, an entire era of YouTube.
After a day of news that could’ve
Writer-director Lewis William Robinson’s feature-length debut, Orchid Moon, is a dramatic ode to what it takes to come out of a downward grief spiral. Harry (Jake Waring) drinks himself into oblivion every night, unable to deal with the loss of his significant other, Clementine (Nicole Evans). At night, he dreams of her, and in the day, he wants the pain to stop. The bartender at the local pub, Geoff (Grahame Edwards), is an understanding man, but Harry goes too far one night and gets thrown out.
At rock bottom, Harry must choose between facing what happened and forgiving himself and forever dwelling in his misery. The former means trying to move on from his beloved, while the latter has consequences for everyone in his life. Will meeting Anna (Alice Fforde) help Harry or make him further fall, reminding him of what he lost?
Orchid Moon is lushly shot in black and white by Matt Kerins. The cinematography makes everything, from Harry’s flat to the bar he frequents, appear sullen, mimicking the lead’s emotional state. Tom Althorpe’s score helps immensely, full of moody, introspective compositions that set the tone for Harry’s feelings. The melding of these two elements perfectly invokes the intended feelings in the most beautiful way possible.
“…drinks himself into oblivion every night, unable to deal with the loss of his significant other…”
There is a small bump in the plot, however. Frazer Hines plays Eddie, who is… Clementine’s father? Perhaps? This is very unclear, and while only having one major scene, it does cause confusion. But the rest of the narrative, especially how it plays with reality versus dreams versus expectations of a situation, is brilliantly handled.
Throughout Orchid Moon, Waring gives a superb performance. Every heartache, each moment of despair, is keenly emoted and felt by the actor. Due to the nature of the story, there’s not a single scene without Harry, and Waring proves more than capable of carrying the feature. It certainly helps that outstanding supporting players surround him. While his character is confusing, Hines is great. Edwards is excellent as the bartender who wants what’s best for Harry. When Geoff forgives Harry for calling him some not-so-nice things, it is authentic and sweet. Evans has the difficult task of being a haunting figment, a mysterious being only represented through a single perspective. She’s elegant and makes it easy to understand why the main character’s heart is so broken. Fforde is energetic and delightful, making her one scene full of life.
Orchid Moon is an evocative, moody look at loss, grief, and if it’s possible to come out the other side. The cast is terrific, especially Jake Waring as the protagonist. The music and cinematography meld together to seamlessly put audiences into the main character’s headspace. While dealing with heavy subjects, Robinson injects life into the sad tale, knowing the two must co-exist.
For more information about Orchid Moon, visit Lewis William Robinson’s official site.
Writer-director Lewis William Robinson’s feature-length debut, Orchid
Dozens of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad today over the burning of a Koran by an Iraqi protester in Stockholm.
Video showed an angry mob breaking through an iron gate and climbing on top of the compound, as global fury grew over the stunt.
It came after several Muslim countries condemned Sweden for allowing the Iraqi man to burn a Koran outside Stockholm’s main mosque on Wednesday.
Under a heavy police presence and in front of a crowd of 200, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old who fled to Sweden several years ago, put bacon in the pages of a Koran before stomping on it and setting several pages alight.
Police had granted him a permit for the protest in line with free-speech protections after an appeals court rejected their ban on Koran burning protests, but said later the man had been charged with agitation against an ethnic or national group.
In response to Momika’s stunt, video showed an angry mob breaking through an iron gate and climbing on top of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, as global fury grows over the stunt.
Protesters gather at the entrance to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, June 29
Protesters gather at the entrance to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq a day after a protester burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden, June 29
Iraqi security forces guard the graffiti-covered entrance to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad after protesters reportedly breached the building briefly over the burning of the Koran by an Iraqi living in Sweden, on June 29
Under a heavy police presence and in front of a crowd of 200, Salwan Momika (pictured), a 37-year-old who fled to Sweden several years ago, put bacon in the pages of a Koran before stomping on it and setting several pages alight
The stunt sparked anger across the Muslim world, including in Turkey which is currently blocking Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance.
Iraq slammed the burning of the Koran, calling it ‘racist’ and ‘irresponsible’, while Morocco recalled its ambassador to Stockholm late on Wednesday.
United Arab Emirates presidential adviser Anwar Gargash tweeted that the West ‘must realise that its value system… cannot be imposed on the world’.
The foreign ministry in Abu Dhabi summoned the Swedish ambassador to protest the free-speech protections given to ‘such heinous acts’, it said on Thursday.
Kuwait said perpetrators of ‘hostile acts’ must be brought to justice and ‘prevented from using the principle of freedoms as a ploy to justify hostility against Islam or any holy faith’.
‘This new offensive and irresponsible act disregards the feelings of more than a billion Muslims,’ the emirate said.
Bahrain said that ‘insulting religions is inconsistent with religious freedom… and generates hatred, extremism and violence’.
The United States State Department also weighed in, with spokesman Vedant Patel calling the burning of religious texts ‘disrespectful and hurtful’. ‘What might be legal is certainly not necessarily appropriate,’ he said.
Anger boiled over in Iraq today with demonstrators storming inside the Swedish embassy in the capital of Baghdad.
Footage from the compound in Iraq showed people barging through a copper-coloured gate as others climbed over the walls. A second clip showed people climbing on top of the barbed-wire covered building, singing and waving flags.
The demonstrators, supporters of firebrand Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, remained inside for about 15 minutes before leaving peacefully as security forces deployed, a press photographer who witnessed the scenes unfold said.
The protesters first rallied outside the embassy in response to a call by Sadr who demanded the removal of the Swedish ambassador, echoing outrage in several Muslim countries over the Koran burning Wednesday in Stockholm.
The demonstrators also distributed leaflets that carried messages in Arabic and English that said: ‘Our constitution is the Koran. Our leader is Al-Sadr’.
‘Yes, yes to the Koran,’ was also scrawled on the gate leading to the embassy, according to the photographer.
Sadr’s supporters also torched rainbow flags that represent the LGBTQ community, after the powerful cleric suggested this would be ‘the best way to provoke’ those who back Koran burnings.
Stockholm’s foreign ministry said in a statement it was ‘well informed about the situation. Our embassy staff are safe.’
Protester Hussein Ali Zeidan, 32, told AFP he came out to ‘support the noble Koran’ and called to revoke Momika’s citizenship as ‘he does not represent Iraq’.
Wednesday was not the first time a Koran has been burned in a public protest this year. In January, far-right Danish political party politician Stram Kurs Rasmus Paludan burned the religious book outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
The move angered Ankara then too, which is already using its grievances with Stockholm and its government to continue to block Sweden’s ascension to NATO.
Police had granted Salwan Momika (right) a permit for the protest in line with free-speech protections after an appeals court rejected their ban on Koran burning protests, but said later the man had been charged with agitation against an ethnic or national group
Police had cordoned off an area in a park next to the mosque separating Momika and a co-protester from the crowd. One man was understood to have been taken away from the scene when he was caught carrying a rock. Pictured: Police are seen detaining a man at the scene
The Iraqi government in a statement issued late on Wednesday – hours after the burning – strongly condemned ‘the repeated acts of burning copies of the holy Koran by individuals with extremist and disturbed minds’.
‘These acts demonstrate a hateful and aggressive spirit that goes against the principles of freedom of expression,’ it said.
‘They are not only racist but also promote violence and hatred.
‘These irresponsible actions, in direct conflict with the values of respect for diversity and the beliefs of others, are unequivocally condemned.’
Iran joined in the condemnation on Thursday, calling the Koran burning ‘provocative, ill-considered and unacceptable’.
‘The government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran… do not tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it,’ said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani.
‘The Swedish government is expected to seriously consider the principle of responsibility and accountability in this regard, while preventing the repetition of insulting the holy sanctities,’ he added.
Morocco also condemned the Koran burning and recalled its ambassador to Stockholm late Wednesday.
‘This new offensive and irresponsible act disregards the feelings of more than a billion Muslims, at this sacred time of the great pilgrimage to Mecca and the blessed feast of Eid al-Adha,’ it said in a statement.
‘Faced with these repeated provocations, committed under the complacent gaze of the Swedish government’, Morocco summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires in Rabat and recalled its ambassador, it added.
Jordan also issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it was a dangerous display of hatred and Islamophobia that cannot be justified as freedom of expression.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the burning of the pages of the Islamic holy book ‘despicable.’
‘It is unacceptable to allow these anti-Islamic actions under the pretext of freedom of expression,’ Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan wrote on Twitter. ‘Turning a blind eye to such atrocious acts is to be complicit.’
The stunt (pictured) sparked anger across the Muslim world, including in Turkey which is currently blocking Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance
Police had granted Momika (right) a permit for the protest in line with free-speech protections after an appeals court rejected their ban on Koran burning protests, but said later the man had been charged with agitation against an ethnic or national group
Some 200 onlookers witnessed Momika – one of the two protesters – tearing up pages of a copy of the Koran and wiping his shoes with it before putting bacon in it and setting the book on fire. The other spoke into a megaphone.
Some of those present shouted ‘God is Great’ in Arabic to protest against the burning, and one man was detained by police after he attempted to throw a rock.
A supporter of the protest shouted ‘let it burn’ as the holy book caught fire.
While Swedish police have rejected several recent applications for anti-Koran demonstrations, courts have overruled those decisions, saying they infringed on freedom of speech.
Turkey is blocking Sweden’s NATO membership bid due to what it perceives as Stockholm’s failure to crack down on Kurdish groups it considers ‘terrorists.’
Ankara took particular offence at another Koran burning outside its Stockholm embassy in January by Paludan.
A meeting between the countries’ top diplomats is scheduled for July 6 at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, with NATO counterparts pushing for Turkey to grant the green light to Sweden by the time the summit takes place in Lithuania on July 11-12.
In its written decision granting a permit for the protest, Stockholm police said the security risks associated with the burning ‘were not of a nature that could justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request’.
Momika, 37, who fled to Sweden several years ago, had asked police for permission to burn the holy book ‘to express my opinion about the Koran’.
Ahead of the protest, Momika told news agency TT he also wanted to highlight the importance of freedom of speech.
‘This is democracy. It is in danger if they tell us we can’t do this,’ Momika said.
Police later said in a statement that the protest (pictured) had not caused ‘disturbances to order,’ but added that an investigation had been opened regarding ‘agitation against an ethnic group’ because Momika had chosen to burn the Koran near a mosque
Salwan Momika is seen on Wednesday holding up a smoking Koran during his stunt
Police had cordoned off an area in a park next to the mosque separating Momika and a co-protester from the crowd. One man was understood to have been taken away from the scene when he was caught carrying a rock.
Police later said in a statement that the protest had not caused ‘disturbances to order,’ but added that an investigation had been opened regarding ‘agitation against an ethnic group’ because Momika had chosen to burn the Koran near a mosque.
Police added he was also being investigated for violating a temporary ban on lighting fires – in place due to a heatwave.
Noa Omran, a 32-year-old artist from Stockholm, called the protest ‘insane’.
‘It’s just hatred masquerading in the name of democracy and freedom, which it isn’t,’ the woman, who said her mother was from a Muslim background, said at the scene.
The police authorisation for the protest came two weeks after a Swedish appeals court rejected the police’s decision to deny permits for two demonstrations in Stockholm which were to include Koran burnings.
Police had at the time cited security concerns, following the January protest which led to weeks of demonstrations and calls for a boycott of Swedish goods.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference on Wednesday he would not speculate about how the protest could affect Sweden’s NATO process.
‘It’s legal but not appropriate,’ he said, adding that it was up to the police to make decisions on Koran burnings.
Representatives of the mosque were disappointed by the police decision to grant permission for the protest on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, mosque director and Imam Mahmoud Khalfi said on Wednesday.
‘The mosque suggested to the police to at least divert the demonstration to another location, which is possible by law, but they chose not to do so,’ Khalfi said.
The United States, the largest power in NATO, joined criticism of the Koran burning but reiterated its support for Sweden’s entrance into the alliance.
‘We’ve said consistently that the burning of religious texts is disrespectful and hurtful and what might be legal is certainly not necessarily appropriate,’ State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington.
Police during a protest where a koran was burned at the Stockholm mosque on June 28
Police during a protest where a koran was burned at the Stockholm mosque on June 28
‘We continue to believe that Sweden should become a NATO member as soon as possible,’ he said, calling the country a ‘strong, capable defence partner that shares NATO’s values.’
Speaking to newspaper Aftonbladet in April, Momika said his intention was not to sabotage Sweden’s NATO bid and that he had considered waiting to stage his protest until after the country had joined the alliance.
‘I don’t want to harm this country that received me and preserved my dignity,’ Momika told the newspaper.
Up to 10,000 visitors attend Stockholm’s mosque for Eid celebrations every year, according to Khalfi.
Dozens of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish
View gallery
The mother of Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd passed away on Saturday, April 30, 2022 at the age of 76 as a result of suicide. HollywoodLife obtained a copy of the autopsy report sourly after Naomi Judd‘s death in 2022, which stated that the country music superstar died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. It also stated that she left a suicide note.
The shocking news of her death was confirmed on April 30 by daughter Wynonna, who was one half of country music duo The Judds with her mother, as well as younger daughter Ashley. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the emotional statement read. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory,” they also said.
An additional statement from Naomi’s husband of 32 years, Larry Strickland, was given to PEOPLE, and it states: “Naomi Judd’s family request privacy during this heartbreaking time. No additional information will be released at this time.”
The death came just a day before the GRAMMY winning icon — who dominated country music charts through the 1980s — was set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 1. Both Ashley and Wynonna were present at the ceremony where they paid tribute to their mother through tears. Hugging Wynonna, Ashley said she was “sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today.” Wynonna appeared devastated and shocked, saying she “didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mom would probably talk the most.”
“I’m gonna make this fast, because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed. … Though my heart’s broken, I will continue to sing, because that’s what we do,” Wynonna also expressed to the crowed before reciting Psalm 23 alongside Ashley.
Naomi’s last public appearance and performance was just two and a half weeks before her untimely passing at the CMT Music Awards. The performance of “Love Can Build A Bridge” was her first with daughter Wynonna in over two decades.
The singer has been open about her past struggles with anxiety and depression. In 1990, Naomi announced she was retiring from music and duo The Judds after being diagnosed with Hepatitis C. She infrequently returned to performing with Wynonna over the years, including a 1999 New Year’s Eve special.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Click to Subscribe to Get Our Free HollywoodLife Daily Newsletter to get the hottest celeb news.
View gallery Image Credit: Ray Garbo/Shutterstock The mother of
Tucker Carlson is reportedly raising money to start a new media company that could aim to take on former employer Fox News, which is working to regain its footing with a new primetime lineup.
Puck News reported Thursday that Carlson is looking to ultra wealthy conservative media investors to help jumpstart an as-yet-undefined media business, as the prospects for turning a profit from his Twitter videos remains elusive.
Carlson’s 10-minute long “Tucker on Twitter” videos that debuted in early June have been racking up huge numbers of views — Thursday’s entry logged 12.5 million in its first 12 hours online, well over his average 3 million viewers on Fox — but pulling in real cash from clicks is a difficult prospect, especially if he aims to match the $10 million a year he was earning at Fox.
While Fox has seen its ratings fall since Carlson’s departure, it remains in the lead during primetime and overall.
Carlson could follow the path paved by the likes of former Fox host Glenn Beck in trying to create a personal media platform, or he could have something larger planned.
The conspiracy-loving pundit is under contract with Fox until early 2025, and is now embroiled in a legal dispute with the conservative network over his ability to appear on Twitter – or any competing networks. Fox, which has accused Carlson of breaching his contract in a cease-and-desist letter, reportedly aims to keep him out of the public eye until his deal expires.
At the same time, Puck reported, Fox is also purging the remaining members of Carlson’s production team. Two of his top producers exited in recent weeks, including Alexander McCaskill, who departed after putting up a chyron calling President Joe Biden a “Wannabe Dictator.”
Carlson defended McCaskill on a Twitter video. “He’d been at Fox for more than a decade. He was considered one of the most capable people in the building. He offered to stay for the customary two weeks, but Fox told him to clear out his desk and leave immediately.” He also aired details about the response to the provocative chyron from inside the network, making it clear he still has connections there.
In fact, the eight remaining members of Carlson’s team learned Monday that they would be out by mid-July, Puck reported, and were told they would have to reapply for any new positions at the network. Much of the crew appears to hope to reunite with Carlson, Puck reported.
Tucker Carlson is reportedly raising money to
Jonathan Harley, Lee Rolston and Rankin Carroll joined the Variety Studio presented by Canva, at Cannes Lions for a discussion about incorporating distinct partnerships, notable assets and attracting new consumers.
Harley, head of global strategic partnerships at Canva, Rolston, chief growth officer at Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) and Carroll, chief brand officer at Mars, discussed how their three differing companies have connected to collaborate and grow each company.
At the beginning of the conversation, Rolston spoke to JKR’s recent study which surveyed over 500 brands, over 5,000 assets and 26,000 people across nearly 30 countries, to examine the brands’ ability to invoke consumers’ brand recognition and recall. The study found only 15% of all assets were distinctive to consumers, including Mars’ M&Ms.
Carroll spoke to the company’s efforts in creating distinct branding, “We’ve been building distinctiveness on that brand for eight decades, always evolving to keep up with the times, but always being clear and being distinctive. Obviously our brand, our word mark the ‘M&M,’ but even the single M, that shape, when put in front of consumers unprompted, they will spot and say, ‘That’s the M&M’s brand.’ We have the luxury of now seven characters, which is fantastic, who keep evolving. And even the lentil shape of the M&M, but that is recognizable and iconic in that sense.”
Carroll continued to explain how these visual strategies have aided the 20-year partnership with JKR, as the two “work to protect that and guard it.” Carroll added, “[We] guard it preciously, because it adds value, it has business value, it has balance sheet value.”
While Carroll and Rolston spoke to the insights from the study, Harley elaborated on how companies, such as Canva, work to develop and distribute the distinct branding and “the consistency of the creative.” Harley said, “At Canva, our focus has been really about building out an environment that is effectively a home for every brand. A brand hub, which has multiple brand kits where you’ve got all of your fonts, your logos, your assets, all of that key collateral that then combined with brand controls means that anyone who is deploying on that is staying within the clear brand lane.”
Carroll added how M&M has brought forth the creation of an expansive branding environment, through the M&M characters. “They have full back stories. It was actually very cool to go through this because in order to re-offer them or represent them. Let’s say, we made some shifts along with the purpose in not just how they looked, but also the story they told and the jokes they told. Maybe some things we were presenting weren’t ideally set up for today, so we rewrote the backstory.”
As for the shifts in backstories, these revisions have worked in the company’s favor, with Carroll noting that Mars is ranked as one of the top five Gen Z brands. Attributing that success to the brand’s inclusion of conversations that are “incredibly relevant” to Gen Z consumers, as well as their efforts for inclusion.
While Carroll takes pride in their growth, he recognized that some consumers may not favor their new branding or perspectives, “whenever you take a position, you’re going to have some level of opposition.”
Carroll noted, “We took flack, from famously folks like Tucker Carlson, et cetera. But honestly, our reaction to that was to just stay with who we are.”
Watch the full conversation above.
Jonathan Harley, Lee Rolston and Rankin Carroll
In exclusive clip from The 50th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd concert film, guitarist takes stage with Southern rock legends for last time before March 2023 death
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s final show with Gary Rossington prior to the guitarist’s death is the focus of the upcoming concert film The 50th Anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd, which captures the band’s all-star gig at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Nov. 13, 2022.
Ahead of the film’s limited run at movie theaters and drive-ins nationwide on July 8, Rolling Stone exclusively presents a preview from the concert film — Rossington’s final performance of the Skynyrd classic “Gimme Three Steps,” with the guitarist taking centerstage on the show-stopping rendition.
Rossington, who was the last living original member of the Southern rock legends, died in March 2023 at the age of 71, less than five months after the Ryman gig.
“We are excited to share this special night and celebrate 50 Years of Skynyrd music with the Skynyrd Nation and fans of these timeless songs,” singer Johnny Van Zant said of the concert film in a statement.
“We were fortunate to capture this special evening with Gary Rossington and Dale Krantz Rossington and all of the special guests that were able to join us on stage. It is certainly bittersweet because this was Gary’s last show, but we are so fortunate that we were able to share one last special night together on stage, doing what Gary loved.”
Special guests at the 50th anniversary show included John Osborne of Brothers Osborne, Shinedown’s Brent Smith, and Jelly Roll.
Despite Rossington’s death, the Lynyrd Skynyrd train keeps on rolling as the Rock Hall-inducted band is in the midst of a 2023 tour.
In exclusive clip from The 50th Anniversary
I don't know how to get my
On the Shelf
Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”
By Héctor Tobar
MCD: 256 pages, $27
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Héctor Tobar is tired of the Latino caricature.
It’s everywhere from Netflix to the nightly news, from the Instagram feeds of the red-pilled to the bookshelves of the “woke.” Conservative propagandists aren’t alone in reducing Latinos to killers and cartel bosses. Liberal scribes traffic in such tropes too. But in their stories, Latinos aren’t always sinners. They can also be “spicy,” suffering or saintly characters.
No wonder so many people are silent or even celebratory in the face of the mass expulsion and exploitation of the most marginalized among us. Why should they care about the one-dimensional figures they imagine us to be?
Tobar’s latest book, “Our Migrant Souls,” is the culmination of his decades-long struggle to correct this dehumanization. A bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who spent two decades at The Times, Tobar interrogates Latino identity with a subversive nuance. He is not writing for the white gaze, instead directly addressing young Latinos, including his former students at UC Irvine. At times, he cites their work to elucidate the fact that many Latinos, from the Afro-Puerto Rican to the Blaxican or part-Asian, feel they don’t fully belong anywhere. This sense of unbelonging is, in fact, what binds us.
The book’s subtitle, “A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of ‘Latino,’” reflects Tobar’s commitment to gray areas and contradictions. He writes: “An African heritage. Your indigeneity. Your Europeanness. You are everything — and you are the very specific places your parents came from.”
By reading the essays of those young Americans, who re-create their parents’ love stories and their own messy secrets, Tobar learned a lot about what “Latino” can mean. He observes: “Our humanity and our complexity exist outside broadcast and printed culture, rarely as alive and full as I see in your writing.”
“Our Migrant Souls” also illuminates deeper truths about the United States, an empire that has displaced millions of people and then trapped them here. Tobar spoke with The Times over the phone, in a conversation edited for clarity and length, about how Latinos are not only America’s future but also the essence of “a country conflicted over its own mestizo identity.”
You started this book in 2020. What inspired you to create this at that time?
I was teaching students and hearing their stories, and it was during the George Floyd uprisings. We were having this national conversation about race, and it seemed to me that Latino identity and the space Latino people occupy in the race ideas of this country wasn’t a subject of national discussion … To me, it’s the defining race question of the 21st century.
Why did you frame the book as a conversation with young Latinos?
I was inspired, like Ta-Nehisi Coates was, by James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” [rhetorically structured as a letter to his nephew]. In many ways the book is a tribute to Baldwin. The fact that we as Latinos can stand up for ourselves, that we can begin to understand the race scheme of this country, is due in large measure to the work of African American activists, thinkers and writers.
So I’d read Baldwin, but I didn’t really feel that I wanted to address my own children because they’ve heard enough from me already. And my children are privileged in relation to most young Latino people in this country. I wanted to speak to those strivers that I met at UC Irvine. Those young people who have so much going on intellectually, who are very curious, and also hurt and angry. I wanted to share what they’ve taught me.
Many Latinos have a love-hate relationship with the terms that define us. What’s your biggest problem with the word “Latino”?
The biggest problem is that it centralizes Europeanness. Latin America was a phrase championed by, among others, the French intellectuals attempting to justify the French intervention in Mexico. It’s this attempt to tell people south of the Rio Grande that they have common cause with the French and Spanish elite over the Anglo American elite.
At the same time, it’s a term that’s used by marketers but also activists. The origin of “Latino,” the way we use it and the way it began to be used in the L.A. Times, one of the first media organizations to use the term, was as an expression of an alliance between people of many nationalities. It’s a name for a group of people who do have a shared experience — of mixing, of journeys, of surviving empire.
You write: “‘Latino’ and ‘Latinx’ are synonyms for ‘mixed.’” Is there a risk that this conception of Latino identity as mestizo replicates mainstream Latino erasure of Black or Indigenous people who don’t identify as mixed?
Absolutely. I think any generalization about a large group of people is going to create lies. And erasures … We need to find new ways of being in solidarity.
In your chapter “Ashes,” the book’s most powerful and haunting section, you write persuasively about the militarized border as a state killing machine that targets Latinos, drawing an implicit parallel to the machinery of the Holocaust. Your framing didn’t feel exaggerated to me as someone who has had repeated encounters with human remains at the border, which has become a mass grave where bodies are incinerated by nature. You describe the rerouting of migrants into the hostile desert as a “perfect American slaughter for the media age.” Why did you decide to focus an entire chapter on this comparison? Is there a reason you didn’t state it explicitly?
I didn’t want to be accused of saying that there was a moral equivalency because that’s not what I’m saying. … I’m saying that both of those crimes exist on the same continuum of human history. That they’re both expressions of the idea of race cleansing and race purity and race defense as instruments of nation building. The Nazis employed industrial methods to murder millions of people in the name of defending the German race against the Jewish race. [Border militarization] is this horrific crime and serves the same purpose as any violent act. It intimidates an entire people. The stories of what happens at the border reach into the hearts and minds of Latino families and shape the way they make decisions. They’re related incidents in the history of mankind.
You devote another chapter to the lies told about Latinos, whether in liberal Hollywood or on conservative Fox News. Are they linked?
Both our infantilization in the liberal media and our depiction as monsters in the right-wing media are symptoms of our voicelessness in American media. The root of that is a stereotype about Latino people, which is that we’re not intellectuals. We’re not and can never be. Not that there’s a great intelligentsia in this country.
Did you write this book to rebel against that idea?
It’s born from frustration as an artist. I just love the complexity and the textures of the storytelling of my students. Once you give them the idea that a complex father is more interesting to read about than a saintly father or a saintly mom, then you get a lot of interesting insights into the human condition. The thing that really bothers me is the didactic quality of so much of our [well-known] art … it’s what Roberto Lovato calls the folklórico-industrial complex. We’re selling this colorful — the equivalent of the abuelita on the label of the Abuelita chocolate. But there’s so much exciting work, some of which I mention in my book — great artists and photographers. I do believe we’re at the beginning of a Latino Renaissance like the Harlem Renaissance. I’ve been saying that for about 10 or 15 years, but now more than ever, I really feel it happening.
On the
Random House and Marvel Entertainment are teaming up for a new adult novel series based on Marvel’s What If…? franchise.
The originally licensed series will reimagine the origins of iconic Marvel heroes and show what can happen if the fabric of reality is altered.
Photo: Also The Direct
Each story will be set in its own distinct universes in the Multiverse, and will also feature a unique twist on an iconic Marvel origin story.
The series will launch in 2024 with three titles. The first book in the series will be “What If… Loki was Worthy? A Loki and Valkyrie Story” by Madeleine Roux, which will be published on March 12, 2024.
Image: Marvel also slashfilm.com
This will be followed with “What If… Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man Story” by Seanan McGuire. Finally, “What If… Marc Spector Was A Host To Venom? A Moon Knight and Venom Story,” which will publish in October 2024.
“What If… Loki Was Worthy?” will see Loki and Valkyrie seeking redemption in the first installment of the series.
Photo: Also Marvel
In the book, Asgard looks to Loki for salvation, after Iron Man vows to destroy those who consider themselves gods.
The volume will see Loki, whose practical joke led to the death of Thor, answer the question: Am I truly worthy?
Source: Also slashfilm.com
In addition to the print novels, audiobook editions of all novels will be published by Penguin Random House Audio.
Finally, as always, continue to check back with MickeyBlog. We will bring you all the news surrounding Marvel!
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Random House and Marvel
Following months of speculation, the DCU has found its new Superman in Pearl and The Politician star David Corenswet. The casting of Corenswet, alongside The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, has now been confirmed by writer, director, and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn himself. But, what do Superman fans, and Man of Steel star Henry Cavill fans, think of the decision? Well, they have taken to social media to let us all know…
Some have already criticized the casting of Corenswet, paying particular attention to the actor’s close resemblance to Henry Cavill. Something which director James Gunn was reportedly had no problem with.
But really, can an actor cast as Superman be criticized for looking too much like Superman? Many certainly don’t think so…
Overall, fans of Henry Cavill’s iteration of the Man of Steel continue to be dissatisfied with the way the actor, and the character, were treated during much of his time in the red cape. And, however, you might feel about the DC movies he starred in, it’s difficult to argue that much of it was wasted potential.
Known for roles in the likes of Pearl, The Politician, We Own This City, and Hollywood, David Corenswet will see his star launched into the stratosphere when he takes the lead in Superman: Legacy, which will reboot the DC icon and kick-start James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU.
“Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas,” the official synopsis for Superman: Legacy reads. “He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.”
Alongside Corenswet as Superman aka Clark Kent, it has also now been confirmed that Emmy Award winner and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan will play Lois Lane in the Superman reboot. The casting process for the iconic pair has been going on for months, with Corenswet beating out the likes of The Great and Mad Max: Fury Road star Nicholas Hoult and Grantchester’s Tom Brittney, while Brosnahan was up for the role of Lois Lane against Sex Education’s Emma Mackey and Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor.
Superman: Legacy will be written and directed by Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad filmmaker James Gunn, who recently revealed the qualities he looked for in his Man of Steel. “It’s hard, but we’re looking,” Gunn said earlier this year. “And we actually have some really great choices, which I’m excited about. But it has to be somebody who has all of the humanity that Superman has, but he’s also an alien. It’s gotta be somebody who has the kindness and the compassion that Superman has. And it has to be somebody that you want to give a hug.”
Superman: Legacy is scheduled for release on July 11, 2025.
Following months of speculation, the DCU has
Sega has said it’s not interested in acquisition talks after news emerged that it has been a target for Microsoft in recent years.
Documents published last week as part of the Xbox maker’s legal battle with the US Federal Trade Commission revealed that in November 2020, Xbox boss Phil Spencer requested approval from Microsoft’s CEO to approach Sega Sammy about buying its gaming studios.
Spencer described Sonic firm Sega as Xbox’s “most attractive next acquisition target due to its global PC catalog, presence on mobile in Asia, and global brand affinity on console through its classic IP”.
Following the news, this week Sega Sammy’s shares rose to their highest since 2007.
Asked if the company is open to acquisition talks, Sega co-chief operating officer Shuji Utsumi told Bloomberg: “No, not now.” He declined to say if Microsoft had made a formal approach.
Sega has a close relationship with Microsoft. Its Creative Assembly studio worked on Xbox titles Halo Wars 2 and Age of Empires 4, and in 2021 the Japanese company announced a strategic alliance which will see it develop games using the US firm’s Azure cloud platform.
“We are very close with Microsoft and have a great relationship with its management team,” Utsumi said. “Microsoft particularly has a high regard for us. Xbox’s Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are really serious about values that video game fans emphasise.”
On several occasions, Microsoft gaming boss Spencer has publicly expressed a desire to purchase an Asian game developer, “in particular a Japanese studio”.
Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix has also been considered as an acquisition target, legal filings revealed this week.
Sega has said it’s not interested in
With the news that SAG/AMPTP negotiations could push into next week, international acting unions are for the most part taking a cautious approach to supporting a potential actors strike.
Unlike writers guilds around the world, which came out in support of the WGA’s labor action prior to it being called, unions in English-speaking countries are being conservative.
With more than 1,000 actors now urging SAG-AFTRA’s leadership to take a tough line in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television (AMPTP), and talks on a knife edge, questions have arisen over how other nations might respond and what guidance local actors will receive around working on projects from ‘struck’ U.S. companies.
Canadian actors guild ACTRA declined comment beyond saying the strike “has not yet happened and is currently speculative,” while the Brussels-based International Federation of Actors (FIA) had nothing to say with just two days to go before the first deadline runs down. As we revealed late yesterday, that deadline could yet be extended into next week if SAG and the AMPTP feel close to reaching a deal.
Most guilds we approached are keeping their powder dry until the situation becomes clearer but some international unions are taking a more forthright position. Mark Phillips, Communications Director at Australia’s Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, said SAG-AFTRA had been keeping his org informed.
“As a sister union, MEAA stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and will continue to work with SAG-AFTRA to determine the appropriate steps needed on any productions in Australia that are impacted by industrial action if it occurs in the U.S.,” he added.
While the situation nearly two months in has now somewhat calmed, the first few days of the writers strike saw international scribes urgently seeking clarity over whether they were allowed to work on certain projects. When it comes to actors, sources told Deadline they want to avoid a repeat of the confusion that reigned in areas such as co-productions and streamer shows that were commissioned outside of the U.S.
John McVay, who runs UK producer trade body Pact, said his body is seeking “clarity and consistency” prior to giving advice to his hundreds of indie members, dozens of whom produce scripted and many of whom work with U.S. buyers.
“What we want to avoid is the confusion that happened with the WGA strike,” he added. “We want to know who can do what, where they can do it, and avoid any grey areas.”
One senior UK source with knowledge of the situation said actors union Equity, which, according to Variety, has been in LA this week speaking with SAG officials, is “more robust” when it comes to the American guilds.
“Equity would not look so kindly on anything that bled into their members’ ability to get work,” added the source. “They don’t want SAG to get a toehold in the UK but the problem is that you have British actors working in the U.S. who will also be members of SAG.”
The source also pointed out that “the prospect of substituting a British writer for an American writer is completely different to bringing in a British actor for an American actor,” and conversations will be taking place behind the scenes about this disparity.
As with other worldwide actor guilds, Equity declined Deadline’s request for comment on the strike, as did UK directors guild Directors UK and behind-the-camera union Bectu.
Multiple big-budget U.S. TV series and movies are currently being filmed outside the U.S. including the likes of House of the Dragon, Andor and HBO’s The Palace. Were a strike to eventually be authorized, industry eyes will turn to these tentpoles. For now, acting guilds around the world are sitting tight.
With the news that SAG/AMPTP negotiations could
Best-selling author Colleen Hoover will see one of her stories come to life on the big screen very soon. The romance novelist’s 2016 novel It Ends With Us is being adapted into a feature film with a yet-to-be-determined release date. While this is an exciting moment for Hoover and fans of her work, she’s found herself defending the upcoming flick because of criticism from some of her supporters.
It Ends With Us is one of Hoover’s most popular books. The plot follows the complicated love story between Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid, whose relationship is tested by the arrival of Lily’s ex Atlas Corrigan.
When the news broke that a film version of the novel was being developed, fans were ecstatic. However, that excitement was quickly diminished by the announced casting choices.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni will play the lead characters Lily and Ryle respectively, in the upcoming film. While it’s obvious that having big name stars can generate a lot of buzz for the film which can prove it doing well at the box office, the casting of Lively and Baldoni has been met with criticism.
Fans have argued that 35-year-old Lively and 39-year-old Baldoni are too old to play Lily and Ryle. In the book, Lily is 23 and Ryle is 30.
While fans have an issue with the casting, Hoover doesn’t see anything wrong with it. In a recent interview with Today, Hoover says the age issue can be blamed on her.
”Back when I wrote It Ends With Us, the new adult genre was very popular. You were writing college-age characters. That’s what I was contracted to do. I made Lily very young. I didn’t know that neurosurgeons went to school for 50 years. There’s not a 20-something neurosurgeon. As I started making this movie, I’m like we need to age them out because I messed up. So it’s my fault.”
Hoover, who has been a fan of Lively since the actress’ Gossip Girl days, is thrilled to have her on board. The author is working closely with Baldoni, who is also producing and directing the film and is loving what she’s seen so far.
Book-to-movie adaptations are usually met with its fair share of criticisms, and although this movie adaption has its own, Hoover promises her readers will like the end result.
“You guys are going to be so happy. I’m extremely happy and now my expectations are up and I’m going to keep them there.”
Unfortunately, fans might have to wait a while for the big-screen debut of It Ends With Us. The film has halted production because of the WGA strike.
What do you think of the casting choices? Do you think age is that big of a deal? Keep up to date with Culturess for more It Ends with Us news and coverage.
Best-selling author Colleen Hoover will see
Sky Deutschland, the German arm of Comcast-owned pay-TV operator Sky, is pulling out of scripted originals from 2024, Variety can reveal.
Staff were notified of the surprise move by Sky Deutschland boss Devesh Raj on Thursday morning, local time. Variety understands that the entire scripted originals team will eventually be disbanded, though shows that have already been commissioned and are in production, such as post-apocalypse drama “Helgoland 513″ and “Das Boot” Season 4, will finish filming. Any projects in development will be “put into turnaround,” as per another internal note from Sky Studios CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz, also seen by Variety.
The most high-profile casualty of the strategy shift will undoubtedly be period police thriller “Babylon Berlin,” which is critically acclaimed and aired its fourth season in the fall. Fans have been expecting a fifth season, but Variety understands that the neo-noir — which isn’t currently in production — has been canceled as part of the change. (Netflix streams the show in major markets such as the U.S., Canada and Australia, and could be a logical partner to continue the drama.)
Other big scripted originals to have emerged from Sky Deutschland include U-boat drama “Das Boot,” which ran for three seasons, and the political thriller “Munich Games.” The broadcaster also had a number of shows in development, including a reimagining of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and the drama “Huntsville AL,” about Nazi engineers recruited post-war for a secret project in Alabama.
The Sky Deutschland decision isn’t expected to affect the pay-TV operator’s other major markets, the U.K./Ireland and Italy, which also produce a number of high-profile originals such as “Gangs of London,” “I Hate Suzie,” “Brassic” and “Gomorrah.” Sky, which was acquired by Comcast for $39 billion in 2018, has invested heavily in talent-led dramas out of markets like the U.K., where shows such as the Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch-led “The Day of the Jackal” and the Julianne Moore-starring “Mary & George” are currently in production.
Sky Deutschland comprises operations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, also known as the DACH countries. Speculation has been rife about a sale of the business to German media giant ProSiebenSat.1. Sources indicate that the scripted pullback is not related to a potential sale, but trimming the company’s scripted operations could ultimately create a more streamlined business for a potential buyer. ProSiebenSat.1, which is headed by Bert Habets, operates one of the top two broadcast networks in Germany as well as the streaming platform Joyn.
The arrival of streaming giants, including Netflix, Amazon and Apple, in Germany has put pressure on Sky Deutschland. The company has also been hit by competition from DAZN for soccer rights.
Ultimately, Variety understands the scripted decision comes down to the soaring prices for drama in the current economic climate. As detailed by Raj in his memo (see full note below), “the cost of producing scripted content has continued to rise, in part driven by the emergence of myriad new streaming providers, making it harder for drama series to cut through.”
Sky shares originals from one territory across its entire footprint and would have been looking at the traction for German-language originals in markets such as the U.K. and Italy. While “Babylon Berlin” and “Das Boot” have been successful for the division, which has been commissioning originals since 2015, the hit rate may not have been enough to compete in a cut-throat environment for scripted production.
Sky’s pivot also comes a year after Warner Bros. Discovery similarly pulled out of HBO original productions in European markets including the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey. Having one less scripted commissioner in the form of Sky Deutschland will be another blow for European drama producers, particularly those out of Germany.
Sources indicate that areas of focus for Sky Deutschland going forward will be acquired premium content as well as sports.
Leo Barraclough contributed to this story.
Read the full memo from Sky Deutschland Devesh Raj below.
Dear all,
In 2015, we embarked on the beginning of an incredible journey to produce high-end, premium scripted original drama from across DACH. Two years later, we launched our first major scripted Sky Original – Babylon Berlin – that set new standards for what global, premium drama from Germany could become.
Since then, we have delivered some incredible Sky Originals from the multiple award-winning Der Pass, which just completed its third season, to juggernaut series Das Boot, with many more such as Die Wespe, Hausen and Souls along the way.
However, since we pushed into this space, the entertainment industry, content landscape and viewer behaviour have rapidly evolved – as has Sky’s business. Also, during this time, the cost of producing scripted content has continued to rise, in part driven by the emergence of myriad new streaming providers, making it harder for drama series to cut through.
As Europe’s leading direct-to-consumer media and entertainment company, we know our customers well. Though we remain incredibly proud of our scripted Sky Originals to date, we are also confident that as the best provider of premium, acquired content, an unmissable range of sports and all the best entertainment apps, aggregated into one industry-leading platform – Sky Q – together with our streaming service WOW we are well positioned.
As we continue to focus on building a sustainable business in DACH, we have to make tough choices on where to spend our investment to ensure we provide value to the business, and our customers. That’s why today we have taken the decision to halt the production of new scripted Sky Originals from 2024 onwards. We are committed to completing projects currently in production.
Of course, this decision is not taken lightly and does not come without an impact to our people and, today, all colleagues in Sky Studios Deutschland who are impacted were informed. I ask that you all be sensitive to this situation, both internally and externally.
Finally, I would like to thank all our colleagues across the business who contributed to the success of our Sky Originals over the past years, and thank you all for your continued commitment, dedication, and passion.
Devesh
Sky Deutschland, the German arm of Comcast-owned
Jeopardy! is a thinking game for trivia-savvy people, and I hope we can all agree on that as key to the show’s recipe for success. Another thing we might be able to come together on is that it’s not the most accessible game show to appear on, which is something I just learned from five-time champion Ben Goldstein. If you want to be on Jeopardy!, you have to pay your way to appear on the show, and Goldstein recently pointed out that’s not exactly viable for all potential contestants.
Ben Goldstein challenged the show’s longstanding policy on Twitter after reading a Jeopardy! blog explaining why the show doesn’t pay for airfare and accommodations. According to the post, the tradition started originally because the contestants were a mixture of people from the local area and people from out of town. It was believed that in paying for those out-of-towners to compete, the show was unfairly giving away money that locals who only had a short travel distance weren’t receiving. Goldstein shared the article and added why he felt it wasn’t the best course of action for the game show:
Interesting discussion of the “Why doesn’t #Jeopardy pay airfare and accommodations” question here. Personally, I think covering travel/lodging would make the show more accessible to a wider range of contestants. Not everyone can afford a trip to LA with no guarantee of payback. https://t.co/C317e7kAroJune 25, 2023
Accessibility can often be seen as a marker of fairness, and could perhaps guarantee that Jeopardy! truly welcomes the best and brightest from all over. To Ben Goldstein’s point, there might be many potential Jeopardy! champions invited to the show who were unable to make their way to the studio for a chance to win enough money to justify the trip.
And if Jeopardy! isn’t a show that allows anyone to compete regardless of if they can pay their way, how can we be sure that we’ve truly seen the best of the best? Is there a potentially more dominant player than Ken Jennings or any of the other biggest winners out there who can’t get the airfare to start their major streak? This is just one example of why accessibility is important and certainly a compelling argument for why Jeopardy! should alter the rules to pay for all contestants to attend.
It is worth noting that while Jeopardy! does not foot the travel bill for regular contestants, it does provide airfare and accommodations for the competitors in the tournament editions of the show. So on the off chance that someone is strapped for cash but still wants to be on Jeopardy!, they can always try and go for a specific tournament and get their travel taken care of.
It’s kind of hilarious to hear this type of commentary from Ben Goldstein, as he notes on his Twitter bio that he has the lowest cash total for a five-time champion in the modern era of the game. I can understand why he’s inclined to think of the money element of the game and how it may not be worth the trip for some. I fully support his position about the show accommodating travel, about as much as I agree with Ken Jennings that interviewing contestants is often cringe.
Now I’m just wondering if there’s ever been a Jeopardy! winner whose winnings were less than what they spent to fly out and be on the show, and how disappointing that would be. Suddenly, I feel much more inclined to appear on Wheel Of Fortune when Ryan Seacrest takes over. They don’t pay for travel either, for the record, but at least I’d feel more confident about winning money!
Jeopardy! airs on weekdays, but readers will need to check their local listings for the channel and times. Those looking for other shows this summer are in luck because the 2023 TV schedule is just brimming with quality content looking for an audience.
Jeopardy! is a thinking game for trivia-savvy
Sky Deutschland will no longer make scripted shows from next year and is closing its scripted arm.
The Das Boot, Babylon Berlin and Munich Games network will “halt production of new scripted Sky Originals from 2024 onwards,” according to a note from Sky Deutschland boss Devesh Raj this morning, which said shows in production will be completed.
The Sky Deutschland scripted originals team is expected to be closed once these shows have been delivered.
Raj’s note said “the cost of producing scripted content has continued to rise, in part driven by the emergence of myriad new streaming providers, making it harder for drama series to cut through.”
He added that the decision had “not been taken lightly and does not come without an impact to our people and, today, all colleagues in Sky Studios Deutschland who are impacted were informed.”
Sky will continue making shows in other markets such as the UK and Italy.
Rumors of a sale of Sky Deutschland have long abound and the news comes at a tricky time for the Comcast-owned pay-TV giant, which is responding to both macroeconomic shocks and internal strife.
A Deadline investigation in May revealed confusion and power struggles within Sky Studios, which was opened several years ago and is run by CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz.
A Sky Deutschland spokesperson said: “Since the launch of Sky Originals in DACH, the entertainment industry and content landscape have rapidly changed, coupled with ever-evolving consumer behaviour. We know our customers well and are confident that our position as the best provider of premium, acquired content, an unmissable range of sports and all the best entertainment apps. With this in mind, we have chosen to focus our investment in these areas, and we will not continue the production of new scripted Sky Originals from 2024 onwards. We’d like to thank all our partners and colleagues for their significant contribution to producing Sky Originals over the past few years.”
Variety was first to report the news.
Sky Deutschland will no longer make scripted
The clip is part of the channel’s “Extended Play” series
Niall Horan continued his multi-song appearance on Vevo’s “Extended Play” series with a rendition of his song “On a Night Like Tonight.” The musician previously showcased “You Could Start A Cult” and “Meltdown” for the series, which is shot in existing locations that reflect the “vision of an artist’s project.”
For on a “On A Night Like Tonight,” Horan’s performance was captured in a California hillside estate. The video sees the musician on the deck before he moves inside to find his band scattered around the house.
“Performing live is my favorite thing to do,” Horan explained in a statement. “To bring the songs I’ve spent so much time with, seen through from start to finish is an amazing feeling. Shooting these performances with Vevo was a really special experience. I was able to go back to the place where I made the music, an area of California I adore and have spent a lot of time in over my career. To have these big songs played in an intimate setting is beautiful to me.”
“On A Night Like Tonight” comes off Horan’s recent LP, The Show. The album followed his his second studio album, Heartbreak Weather, released in 2020.
“What makes this record incredibly special to me is it’s a reflection of where I am in my life today, as a person, a musician, and of course, as a songwriter,” the singer explained ahead of its release. “Can’t say I’m not a little nervous, but hopefully you’ll still like this version of me when you listen to the new record.”
Horan’s recent Vevo performances are a taste of what his fans will get to see for themselves when Horan heads on his 2024 world tour. The North American leg begins in late May and wraps in late July next year, with stops at Madison Square Garden and L.A.’s Kia Forum.
The clip is part of the channel's
Greasepaint, tears, and tomato sauce resonate most peculiarly in director Jaden LeBel’s comedic short Spaghetti Western. The whole film takes place in a dark dressing room where a woman in Western gear is applying clown make-up. Ryan Burke’s voice-over introduces us to Judy, the prettiest waitress at Burt’s diner. However, sometimes Judy is also Miss Applesauce, the prettiest clown at the rodeo. Judy pouts in the mirror and is always on the verge of crying.
However, her face lights up every time she becomes Miss Applesauce. All of the troubles and toil Judy endures melt away when the clown is wowing the crowds. Judy drags her feet while Miss Applesauce struts. Judy’s manager Ron, who is also in clown make-up, has always felt Judy had the stuff to make the big time. Meanwhile, Judy chain-smokes while painting tears and frowns on her face. She then feeds herself cold pasta from a can while we wonder which side of her life is real.
“Judy drags her feet while Miss Applesauce struts.”
If feature-length movies are the cinematic equivalent of record albums, then shorts are 45 singles. The great news is you can dance to Spaghetti Western. LeBel has pulled off a snappy number, which is surprising considering the static risks of the single set. The short maintains high energy throughout thanks to sharp angles by the director of photography, Sarah Reddy, and some sharp cuts by editor David Blazer. Thanks to the hair and make-up work of Kristen Sage Coleman, the many different clown faces of Judy are striking to the point they should be painted on black velvet.
I wish there were credits to let us know who the performers are. But then again, if they wanted to be identified, they wouldn’t be running around in clown makeup. Still, the script by Han Tiger Whitesides ends with a joke, which catches one off guard in the best way. However, there is something much heavier going on here. While the narration describes a life touched by the shine of a certain stardom, Judy looks like a long stretch of misery. It feels like something a lot more complicated than boring normal life versus performing for an audience. It portrays the kind of quiet desperation found in Jack Logan’s song “15 Years in Indiana” but also explores the weight of alter-ego like in Styx’s “Mr. Roboto.”
The complexity of the Miss Applesauce factor increases upon reflection and rewatch. Spaghetti Western may seem like a fun little ride, but it will carry you farther than expected.
Greasepaint, tears, and tomato sauce resonate most
Canadians’ pride in their nationality, like most things these days, seems to be divided down partisan lines, a new poll suggests.
While a strong majority of the 1,512 respondents to the survey by Leger said they were proud to be Canadian – 81 per cent – the poll suggests the feeling is less common among Conservative supporters than their Liberal counterparts.
Experts say that while the results of the survey may be surprising given Conservatives’ reputation as a patriotic party, it reflects their malcontent with the direction in which Canada is headed.
The poll found 97 per cent of those who listed their voting intentions as Liberal said they were very or somewhat proud to be Canadian, as did 87 per cent of NDP-leaning respondents. That number dipped among Conservative voters, just 76 per cent of whom answered in the affirmative.
An even smaller portion of the 30 respondents who said they vote for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) said they were proud to be Canadian: just 45 per cent.
“Conservatism is often associated with patriotism, right?” said Daniel Beland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. “In this case, you don’t have that because there is discontent towards the federal government, towards federal policies, and maybe also towards the direction the country is heading.”
Across all respondents, six per cent said they were not at all proud to be Canadian. But among Conservative respondents, the portion was eight per cent. Twelve per cent of those who vote for the separatist Bloc Quebecois and 27 per cent of PPC voters said they were not at all proud to be Canadian.
“Some people, when they think about ‘Are you proud to be Canadian,’ they think about, ‘Are you proud of being under the leadership of Justin Trudeau, are you proud to be under the Liberal leadership,” Beland said.
He said the reasons listed for their pride _ or lack thereof _ offer a further glimpse into what’s going on.
Conservative voters were most likely to list Canada’s natural beauty and landscape as a reason for their national pride, with 47 per cent of them saying so. And 35 per cent of them said universal health care contributed to their pride.
Of the Liberal respondents, 55 per cent said they were proud because of universal health care, as did 53 per cent of New Democrats.
But there were limits on how proud universal health care made people.
Thirty-eight per cent of all respondents said the state of our health-care system was a reason not to be proud to be Canadian. Forty per cent of Conservative supporters said the same, as did 37 per cent of Liberal and NDP supporters.
That points to a nuance in how Canadians think about national pride, said Howard Ramos, chair of the department of sociology at Western University.
“It’s very important to distinguish that when somebody says that they’re not proud to be Canadian, it doesn’t mean that they’re not patriotic. It might mean that they see the country moving in a direction that is not the direction they believe is right,” Ramos said.
People can be patriotic, can feel loyal and devoted to their country, without feeling proud to be Canadian, he said.
The fact that Conservatives in particular are less likely to be proud reflects the isolation they’ve expressed in recent years, Ramos said.
So too do the responses about political division. Twenty per cent of Conservative voters said such division didn’t make them proud to be Canadian, as did 21 per cent of Liberals and 18 per cent of NDP.
Meanwhile, 46 per cent of Liberals said the rise in political extremism was a reason not to be proud to be Canadian, as did 29 per cent of Conservatives and 36 per cent of New Democrats.
While the number of Conservatives listing that as a reason is lower than that of the left-leaning respondents, Ramos said it’s still a significant chunk and bears noting.
“I think it’s really important for us to take a moment and look at the discourse that we have as a country,” he said. “We have time to do course correction.”
He pointed to the example of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a Progressive Conservative, reaching out with an olive branch to Toronto’s new mayor-elect, Olivia Chow, who is a former NDP parliamentarian.
Ford initially said that Chow leading Canada’s most populous city would be an “unmitigated disaster.” But when she was elected, he walked that back, which Ramos said was an example of the sort of course correction we should all be engaging in.
“Both of them sat down and looked for common ground,” Ramos said. “This is the kind of moment where we can, as a country, take a step back and look at one of the reasons that people are not feeling proud: the tone and the alienation and the extremism that might be present on social media or some of our public discourse.”
The survey from Leger was conducted online between June 23 and 25, and weighted according to age, gender, mother tongue, region, education and presence of children in the household.
The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
Canadians’ pride in their nationality, like most
Colleen Ballinger has denied allegations she “groomed” and formed inappropriate relationships with underage fans.
The YouTuber, 36, who initially found fame with her alter ego Miranda Sings, recently took to social media to refute the claims through a song titled “Toxic Gossip Train.” In a YouTube video posted on Wednesday, June 28, Ballinger played the ukulele and claimed viewers were on a “one-way ticket to manipulation station” while the internet “ties me to the tracks and harass me for my past.”
Ballinger began her video by alleging that “some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true” and that “even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I’m going to say, I realized they never said I couldn’t sing about what I want to say.”
The content creator then jumped into her tune, explaining that she used to message her fans “to be besties with everybody” but “didn’t understand that maybe there should be some boundaries there.” She added that had no plans to “take the route” of saying she is “100 percent in the wrong” and to do so would be “admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout.”
The Haters Back Off star also claimed that while were “times in the DMs when I would overshare details of my life which was really weird of me” she hasn’t “done that in years” and has already taken “accountability” for her mistakes.
“The only thing I’ve ever groomed is my two Persian cats / I’m not a groomer, just a loser / who didn’t understand I shouldn’t respond to fans / and I’m not a predator even though a lot of you think so / because five years ago I made a fart joke,” she sang into the camera.
Ballinger was accused of grooming her fans earlier this month when YouTuber KodeeRants shared alleged screenshots between a group of young fans and Ballinger. The actress allegedly asked the text chain, titled “Colleen’s Weenies,” their “favorite position” during one particular conversation, according to NBC News. (KodeeRants has since deleted their YouTube and Twitter accounts.)
The allegations against Ballinger began back in 2020 when content creator Adam McIntyre made a YouTube video claiming that Ballinger formed “an inappropriate personal friendship with him while he was between the ages of 13 and 16, which included her sending him lingerie as a joke.”
Ballinger responded to McIntyre’s claims at the time through her own video titled “Addressing Everything,” in which she claimed McIntyre asked for the underwear to be sent to him after she posted an online unboxing clip. Ballinger also noted that it became a “big joke within the fandom.”
“Now, in hindsight, I see how completely stupid of me, I should have never sent that,” Ballinger added in the 2020 video. “I don’t know what part of my brain was missing at the time that I thought, ‘Oh this is a normal, silly thing to do.’”
Speaking to NBC News last week, a fan named Erin shared why allegations against Ballinger are coming to light in 2023. “The reason that this is, I think, gaining so much traction now is because all of her first cycle of fans that she had, you know, me and the other group of fans that started 10 years ago, we’ve all grown up now,” she told the outlet. “And we are recognizing … the parasocial relationships that she has allowed to happen and encouraged to happen.”
Colleen Ballinger has denied allegations she “groomed” and
Colleen Ballinger, the YouTube creator whose awkward character Miranda Sings rose to internet fame, has publicly responded to accusations that she formed inappropriate relationships with teenagers.
Ballinger posted a video Wednesday to her Colleen Vlogs channel on YouTube in which she denied the “lies” and “gossip” about her — partly in song, while strumming a ukulele.
“Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true,” she said at the beginning of the 10-minute video. She continued, “Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I’m going to say, I realized they never said I couldn’t sing about what I want to say.”
Early in her YouTube career, according to Ballinger, “I used to message my fans — but not in a creepy way, like a lot of you are trying to suggest. It was more of a loser kind of way. I was just trying to be besties with everybody.” Ballinger admitted that “there were times in DMs when I would overshare” but said she “changed my behavior and took accountability.”
She sang, “Thought you wanted me to take accountability / but that’s not the point of your mob mentality / your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise / while you dramatize your lies and monetize their demise.” In a recurring chorus in the video, she referred to the allegations about her as “the toxic gossip train.”
At another point, she sang, “I’m sure you’re disappointed in my shitty little song / I know you wanted me to say that I was 100% in the wrong / well I’m sorry I’m not gonna take that route / of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout.”
“The only thing I’ve ever groomed is my two Persian cats / I’m not a groomer, just a loser / who didn’t understand I shouldn’t respond to fans / and I’m not a predator even a lot of you think so / because five years ago I made a fart joke,” Ballinger sang.
Regarding charges that her odd, child-like character Miranda Sings has said things that are inappropriate for kids, Ballinger claimed that she makes it clear her Miranda Sings content is “PG-13” in nature (and the videos are not available on the YouTube Kids app) and that it’s the responsibility of parents to decide what is and isn’t suitable for their children.
As reported by NBC News, allegations against Ballinger first came to light three years ago. According to the report, in 2020, YouTuber Adam McIntyre made a video alleging that Ballinger “formed an inappropriate personal friendship with him while he was between the ages of 13 and 16, which included her sending him lingerie as a joke. He also alleged that Ballinger gave him access to her social media, helped her generate content ideas, and that they exchanged text messages for years.”
In her video, Ballinger acknowledged making “jokes in poor taste” and “dumb mistakes” but added, “Was it my intention to manipulate? No.”
“For what it’s worth, I never had any bad intentions,” she said. “But I do feel like shit.”
In a tweet responding to the video, McIntyre wrote, “as much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, im glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL colleen ballinger.”
Watch Ballinger’s video here:
Colleen Ballinger, the YouTube creator whose awkward
Anti-vaccines activist and — for some reason — Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. got his own town hall on Wednesday night, courtesy of cable channel NewsNation. And unsurprisingly, RFK Jr.’s talking points were on brand.
In the event, moderated by NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, Kennedy Jr. made an unusual pitch to Democratic Primary voters: A grab bag of conspiracy theories that of course included his pet obsession with vaccines, but also warnings about “radiation” from 5G towers, and even an attempt to link the crisis of mass shootings to antidepressants. It’s a lot, so let’s dive in.
Kennedy’s pitch wasn’t just conspiracy theories however. Amid that, he proposed practical solutions to the problem of drug addiction and abuse, expressed opposition to militarism, and said he would like to be the first president to tell the American people the truth while speaking at the network’s Chicago headquarters.
“The only way we’re going to heal this country is if the government starts telling the truth,” he said.
Moderator Elizabeth Vargas asked Kennedy if he is “a spoiler,” in this election, noting that he gets praise from Republicans like Donald Trump, who has called him “smart.”
“I’m proud that Pres. Trump likes me. Even though I don’t agree with him on most of his issues. I don’t want to alienate people. My purpose is to find values we have in common,” said Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and the son of former U.S.Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of Pres. John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy said he wants the U.S. to get out of foreign entanglements like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and funding Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
“We ended up killing more Iraqis than Saddam Hussein. All of this money that we’re spending on the military is not making us safer and is not making us friends abroad,” he said. “We can’t keep spending money we don’t have, since we’re so far in debt.”
Kennedy said he would rather spend that money on combating domestic problems like the crisis of addiction to opiates and fentanyl, and favors opening drug treatment to help addicts, rather than treating them like criminals. Himself a former addict, Kennedy said he attends up to nine support group meetings a week to stay clean and sober.
Kennedy said he does not consider marijuana use as part of the national drug problem. He said he favors full decriminalization of marijuana and certain psychedelic drugs at the federal level, and wants a federal tax on these products.
But along with those reasonable sounding proposals he also had thoughts on other things. As he often does, Kennedy denied he is an anti-vaxxer, and accused critics who point out his views of “silencing me.” He also claimed vaccines have not been tested properly and suggested people need fewer of them.
“I think most people don’t know what my stance on vaccines I’ve never been anti-vaccine. And I’ve said that hundreds and hundreds of times, but it doesn’t matter, because that is a way of silencing me using that pejorative to describe me his way of silencing or marginalizing me. And my position on vaccines, I think is I think virtually every American would agree with my stance on vaccines, which is that vaccine should be tested like other medicines, it should be safety tested,” he said. “And unfortunately, vaccines are not safety tested. They’re not. There’s of the 72 vaccine doses now mandated essentially mandated, they recommended but they’re really mandated American children, none of them one has ever been subjected to a pre licensing. Let’s see a controlled trial.”
Suffice to say, these claims are not accurate. Read more here.
Another health threat he warned of is “radiation” broadcasted from 5G towers for cell phones and other technologies. He said there should be no 5G towers near schools. This is of course a wholly unsupported claim, and is the evolution of a conspiracy theory spread during the pandemic that somehow, COVID-19 was caused by 5G signals. It wasn’t. Read more here.
And as we said, he tried to blame mass shootings on antidepressants. When called out by Vargas who said one of his points “doesn’t mean” they’re a cause of mass shootings, he said, “of course it does, we ought to be looking at it, shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we be looking at video games, and cell phones, and some of the social, you know, social media stuff? We should be looking at all these things.”
He then said there is a study showing a link between antidepressants and mass violence. But this, by the way, is untrue and has been debunked many, many, many times. It is, however, a theory popular with people who oppose restrictions on guns, including Tucker Carlson.
Vargas said many Democrats see him as extreme on such issues, and noted that members of the Kennedy family have distanced themselves from him because of his vaccine stance.
In response, Kennedy smiled and asked, “Does your family agree with you on everything,” to which Vargas chuckled and said “absolutely not,” as the crowd laughed and applauded.
Kennedy said the United States is in a struggle for world influence with China, but believes we should focus more on economic growth and less on military spending.
“China wants to dominate the world, but they want to do it economically. I don’t fear that competition with them,” he said.
Talking about the rapid boom of artificial intelligence software, he said “AI has the capacity to do terrible things to us,” and wants the United States to sit down with other nations, from allies to Russia, China and Iran, to work out a plan to keep the human population safe from AI.
Kennedy said he would start his presidency by “telling the truth to the American people about everything,” even in regards to intelligence agencies and what they do.
But adding to concerns he is running a spoiler campaign that could end up helping Republicans, when asked to pledge support for whoever the Democratic nominee is if it’s not him, he refused although he did call Pres. Joe Biden a friend.
“My plan is to win this election, and I don’t have a Plan B,” Kennedy said, adding that any support he might offer a future nominee would depend on if they “support Democratic values.”
Anti-vaccines activist and — for some reason
Madonna’s forthcoming “Celebration” tour has been postponed, according to an Instagram post from her manager Guy Oseary. The tour had been scheduled to launch in Vancouver on July 15.
“On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which led to a several-day stay in the ICU,” he wrote. “Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.
“At this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour.
“We will share more details with you as soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.”
The tour is a major undertaking for the 64-year-old singer. A 43-city global tour that is scheduled to last through the beginning of next year, it will “be highlighting her unmatched catalog of music from the past 40-plus years,” according to the announcement. It will also “pay respect to the city of New York, where her career in music began.”
Produced by Live Nation, it includes stops in Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and more before making its way to Europe, where she will hit 11 cities throughout the fall, including London, Barcelona, Paris, and Stockholm, among others. After wrapping the European dates in London on December 6, the tour is scheduled to return to North America for another run through Jan, 20, 2024.
“I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” Madonna said in the tour’s announcement video.
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.
Madonna’s forthcoming “Celebration” tour has been postponed,
Bro teaser is expected to be released at 5:04 pm on Thursday.
Actor Pawan Kalyan recently encountered a health setback during his Varahi Yatra in Andhra Pradesh, where he was engaged in political activities. He fell ill and had to temporarily pause his political engagements. However, even in the midst of his illness, Pawan Kalyan exhibited his unwavering commitment by dubbing for the teaser of his upcoming movie Bro.
The film, directed by Samuthirakani, features Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej in prominent roles and is a multi-starrer remake of the Tamil movie Vinodhaya Sitham. Pawan Kalyan’s determination to continue his professional responsibilities despite his health condition is truly commendable.
The highly anticipated teaser of Bro is expected to be released at 5:04 pm on Thursday, as confirmed by the film’s production unit. Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej, in an effort to keep fans updated, unveiled a poster that showcases their striking personas, generating significant excitement. Pawan’s vintage appearance in the poster has already captivated the interest of his fans. However, the dubbing for the teaser had to be postponed due to Pawan’s illness, causing a slight delay. Nonetheless, fans can still look forward to the teaser’s release in the near future.
Bro is set to release on July 28, and with Pawan Kalyan personally taking charge of the dubbing work, fans can anticipate the unveiling of the teaser today. In this movie, Pawan will be seen in the role of a god, while Sai Dharam Tej will be accompanied by Ketika Sharma and Priya Prakash as the female leads.
The supporting cast includes acclaimed actors such as Brahmanandam, Subbaraju, Rohini and Tanikella Bharani. Bro is being produced by TG Vishwaprasad and Vivek Kuchibotla under the banner of People Media Factory, with music composed by SS Thaman.
Pawan Kalyan is also currently involved in another project called OG, helmed by director Sujeeth.
Bro teaser is expected to be released
Production is under way on a second season of lesbian drama “Fragrance of the First Flower,” an Asian drama series from Taiwan’s GagaOOLala.
The first season, comprising six episodes that debuted in 2021, follows the life of Yi-Ming (portrayed by Lin ZaiZai), a married woman with a son, who finds herself reunited with Ting-Ting (played by Cheng Lyan), a girl from her past. Their encounter sparks a connection that opens the door to the possibility of escaping Yi-Ming’s monotonous married life.
In season two, expanded to 12 episodes, Yi-Ming embarks on a new chapter as a newly divorced single mother and a career woman. This fresh start brings challenges as she navigates the hardships of single parenthood and societal pressures. Even though Taiwan has legalized same-sex marriage in 2019, this does not mean that LGBTQ+ relationships have been fully accepted in mainstream society. Yi-Ming grapples with whether she can truly follow her heart and pursue a life with Ting-Ting. The original cast will return and new characters will be introduced.
“The strong demand for authentic and meaningful Asian LGBTQ+ content from both Eastern and Western audiences is evident in the interest in season two expressed by those who acquired the rights to the first season,” said Kaite Chou, head of acquisitions and affiliate Sales at GagaOOLala. “Additionally, an increasing number of international distributors and OTT content buyers from the U.S., Asia, and Europe are considering acquiring both seasons, highlighting the global appeal of this unique Asian lesbian IP.”
The first season was licensed to distributors in South Korea, Australia, Spain, Portugal, as well as screening on the GagaOOLala platform. There were also limited theatrical releases in South Korea for the first season.
It was Taiwan’s first title to enter Series Mania, was picked as one of 2021’s best international TV shows of 2021 by Variety and played at ten international film festivals, including Tokyo, BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival, Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival, and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. Additionally, it won the Golden Bell Award for best screenwriting, best actress and best supporting actress in a miniseries/TV movie.
Both seasons of “Fragrance” are produced by GagaOOLala, a global LGBTQ+ and boys love streaming platform, based in Taiwan and launched in 2017 by parent company, Portico Media.
“GagaOOLala will continue to invest in and produce more gender-diverse film and series IPs that achieve this goal,” said Jay Lin, founder and CEO of Portico Media & GagaOOLala.
Production is under way on a second
With 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in the rearview window, MCU fans are clamoring for information on the cast and release of Benedict Cumberbatch’s next solo outing, Doctor Strange 3
Benedict’s Doctor Strange has had quite the MCU journey. From barely existing as a namedrop in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier to facing off against Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, the ex-Sorcerer Supreme shows no signs of slowing down his MCU tenure.
The last audiences saw him, he opened his third eye (literally) after utilizing a dark Variant of himself and was whisked away by Charlize Theron’s Clea to settle an Incursion – a more-than-obvious sign of a sequel.
But when will this potential sequel release? Who will be involved? And what could this next magical adventure entail?
As of writing, Doctor Strange 3 has not been officially announced by Marvel Studios or even reported/rumored.
However, if/when it does hit the docket, there are a few currently untitled, prime spots on the studio’s slate that it could fill. Those slots start with February 12, 2026 — a whopping four years after Multiverse of Madness, although another contender for this slot is the similarly unconfirmed Shang-Chi 2.
Looking even further ahead, Doctor Strange 3 could then fall into the July 24, 2026 slot or even November 6, 2026. Both of these potential dates would follow Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which was recently pushed to May 1, 2026, and the fallout of this supposed Multiversal war could then be explored in the Doctor Strange threequel.
Speaking of pushes, before Marvel Studios reported a massive delay for nearly all of its upcoming theatrical releases, a supposed Doctor Strange 3 was rumored to come before The Kang Dynasty, in fact.
This good ole switcheroo could mean massive changes to the threequel’s plot, but in the meantime, cast speculation may run even more rampant.
With Multiverse of Madness having expanded the typical Doctor Strange cast with the likes of MCU veteran Elizabeth Olsen and potential Young Avengers actress Xochitl Gomez, there are some safe bets for old and familiar faces to step into the fray of a Doctor Strange 3.
Unlike other MCU entries, there’s been no passing of the torch moment for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange, so it’s almost guaranteed he’ll return to don the Cloak of Levitation again.
After facing the Scarlet Witch via Dreamwalking with a dead Variant of himself, Strange is possibly on the cusp of no return. Audiences will likely either see him dealing with Clea’s reported Incursion or the aftermath of the hopefully-not-too-tragic events of The Kang Dynasty when he returns to the big screen.
Speaking of Clea, Charlize Theron made her surprising MCU debut in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, setting herself up for a bright future with Marvel Studios. by Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron
Clea has been described as “the great love of Doctor Strange” by Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron, hinting that Christine Palmer may finally be cemented in Stephen’s past after being wed off in Doctor Strange 2.
Don’t count her out, yet, though. Despite now being married to somebody else in the MCU, Rachel McAdams could very well re-appear as Christine Palmer.
McAdams herself even teased that her character’s story is “to be continued.” Who knows? Maybe she’ll finally have time to get to know some of Stephen’s friends.
Is he really still a friend if he basically stole Doctor Strange’s job? Either way, fan-favorite Benedict Wong is arguably the second biggest guarantee in a Doctor Strange 3 after the titular character himself.
Wong’s been getting around all over the MCU. After making appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the newly-minted Sorcerer Surpeme has some explaining to do, a la breaking Abomination out of jail (again).
Fueling the fire to the long-burning Young Avengers project rumor, Xochitl Gomez brought America Chavez to life in 2022’s Multiverse of Madness, with Chavez last being seen practicing the Mystic Arts under Wong’s guidance in Kamar-Taj.
If asked to come back, Gomez is likely an enthusiastic yes as she has said that she’d love to see her character be like Wong and pop up whenever, wherever in the MCU moving forward.
Baron Mordo made a surprising return in Multiverse of Madness as not a villain, as was teased in the post-credits scene from 2016’s Doctor Strange, but a Multiversal ally and member of the Illuminati.
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Doctor Strange 3 appearance could easily be incorporated as audiences still don’t know where his MCU Variant is lurking, harking back to that aforementioned post-credits scene.
And, of course, almost no one would be disappointed to see Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch reappear after seemingly succumbing to the rubble of Mount Wundagore.
However, Olsen likely has other MCU projects to make more opportune appearances in, such as the upcoming Disney+ series Agatha: Coven of Chaos and the unannounced Vision Quest.
Though it may be difficult to top having the Scarlet Witch herself as the big bad, Doctor Strange could bring Dormammu back into the fray on a much grander scale.
Theron’s Clea has some pretty significant ties to Dormammu; in Marvel Comics, she’s, well, his niece. And that’s not the mention that Dormammu’s home, the Dark Dimension, was seen again in Doctor Strange 2‘s mid-credits scene.
That being said, it’s easy to forget how easy it’d be to cast Dormammu – Benedict Cumberbatch played him in 2016, so Marvel Studios would surely be cutting costs by going that route.
Multiverse of Madness‘ first post-credits scene swung the doors wide open for a Doctor Strange 3, with the presence of the Multiverse itself giving way to ample plot opportunities.
The titular actor himself said that Doctor Strange 2 set him up for “a really exciting future” and that he hasn’t grown tired of playing the character yet.
First and foremost, Doctor Strange 3 could, and likely will, deal with the Incursion Clea mentioned and whisked Stephen Strange away to help with. Incursions themselves may even get a brush-up, with the concept being more fully explained and demonstrated in other movies.
Cumberbatch also noted following Doctor Strange 2‘s release that his character is now ” moving on to a new time and new adventure.”
On the same note, coming face-to-face with said Incursion will also make Stephen take a good look at himself — and the third eye on his forehead staring back at him.
Though he did what he had to do to overcome Wanda, Stephen’s consequences will surely catch up with him; coming to grips with the dark implications of Dreamwalking via the dead will be a major point in his character arc.
Shifting the focus to another magical being, if Wanda Maximoff were to make her theatrical return in Doctor Strange 3, she too may be facing consequences. If she thought Westview was bad, talk about almost destroying the entire Multiverse.
And though a passing of the torch moment hasn’t happened yet, with at least four years set between Doctor Strange 2 and Doctor Strange 3 based on predicted release dates, America Chavez’s Kamar-Taj training could have benefitted her significantly in that amount of time. Will fans see Gomez as a Sorcerer Supreme-in-training?
Marvel Studios seems to be sticking to familiar directors, and in Doctor Strange‘s case, there are two contenders for a threequel: OG director Scott Derrickson and MCU newcomer/comic-book-movie alum Sam Raimi.
Derrickson originally helmed Multiverse of Madness before reported disagreements with the film’s direction caused him to step down; Raimi took his place. Now, the two seem equally as likely to return if Doctor Strange 3 were to get greenlit.
In January 2023, a rumor was shared that Derrickson might have been back on board the Doctor Strange train.
Fast forward two months later, and Raimi was the one rumored to return via entertainment insider Jeff Sneider.
General audiences seemed pleased with the more horror-esque approach Raimi took with Multiverse of Madness; alternatively, a return to form via Derrickson likely would excite fans as well. It’s anyone’s game.
Doctor Strange and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are streaming now on Disney+. Doctor Strange 3 has not been announced yet.
Will Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam receive a sequel at some point in the future, or is DC moving forward in a different direction?
Leading up to the release of Black Adam, acting megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson teased that “the hierarchy of the DC universe [was] about to change.”
The film was also set to receive a sequel sometime down the line, and the movie’s post-credits scene even featured the return of Henry Cavill’s Superman before DC officially stated that there were no plans for the actor beyond his cameo.
At the end of its theatrical run, Black Adam was an unfortunate flop, and it wasn’t even able to hit its profit goal of $520 million, resulting in the film losing money.
During Black Adam‘s development, Dwayne Johnson reportedly “demanded” that Henry Cavill be brought back as Superman.
Johnson even went as far as influencing Warner Bros. to sign Cavill to a new contract that would eventually lead to the creation of another film with Cavill back in full force.
It is unclear whether this new movie would have been Man of Steel 2 or Black Adam 2, but it is noteworthy that some sort of film featuring Cavill in a prominent role was in Johnson’s vision.
In an interview with Variety, Johnson even stated that he and Black Adam‘s producers “fought for years to bring [him] back,” and that it was all a part of “build[ing] out [their] DC Universe:”
“We fought for years to bring you back. They always said no. But for [producers] Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia & myself ‘no’ was never an option. We can’t intelligently & strategically build out our DC Universe without the greatest superhero of all time. Because for us, the fans will always come first.”
Black Adam producers Beau Flynn and Hiram Garcia even went on record to talk about when fans could expect a sequel to the 2022 film, with Garcia even teasing that it wouldn’t “take too long:”
“It’s not going to take that long. I can promise you that… we aways hope the first domino’s the easy one… we’ll get cooking on it fast, that’s for sure.”
Garcia also went on to say that they had plans to pull Superman into “the same world as Black Adam,” and that everything would have been “much bigger than what people think:”
“Our vision is, what we really want to establish is Superman exists in the same world as Black Adam… both those guys exist in the same universe and that’s important for us. It’s in the universe where our JSA is and so forth. But we really wanted the world to know that these guys are going to cross paths and how we do it, we’re still working on it. We don’t want to give that away. But I will say that it’s much bigger than what people think.”
Reports in November 2022 stated that the script for a Black Adam sequel with Cavill was already completed and that the film could have potentially started filming as early as February 2023.
Johnson even teased what fans could expect in that sequel in an interview, going as far as to reveal that he and Cavill would “go toe-to-toe” as Black Adam and Superman:
“So when all that does go down… um because look at the end of the day… you have to be clear. You have the most powerful force in the universe and his name is Superman. No one will ever be able to match that and then you also have a very disruptive force, who can go toe-to-toe with Superman.”
The Black Adam star went on to talk more about what was planned for the sequel, saying that it would feature the two main characters seeing eye-to-eye on some things, but also disagreeing at other times:
“And there are a lot of things that they’re going to agree on and even more interesting down the road in our storytelling, there’s a lot of things that they’re not going to agree on, so that’s gonna… I see that eyebrow raise, you’re like, ‘Oh!’ You know it’s coming. So that’s all going to come down the road.”
Johnson continued to speak as though his plans for Black Adam 2 were already in the works, even teasing that he and Cavill would be training together:
“And when that time comes then I’m sure, to bring it all the way back to your great question, myself and Henry Cavill, I’m sure we’ll get after it in the gym and as you said we will in fact break the internet.”
To further stir the pot that Black Adam was really going to cause a course correction for the DCEU, it was reported in August 2022 that multiple spin-offs were in the works that would feature characters from Black Adam.
One such spin-off was set to feature Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman in a lead role and be centered around that character, and it was even reported in December 2022 that more details would emerge once James Gunn and Peter Safran fully took over as Co-CEOs of DC Studios.
However, when Gunn and Safran revealed their plans for their upcoming DC Universe, those plans fell through and everything Johnson teased was seemingly scrapped.
In January 2023, Johnson released an official statement via Twitter talking about failures, which essentially confirmed that all of his plans regarding Black Adam were now shelved.
This came just weeks after the official announcement that Henry Cavill would be replaced as Superman and that the future DCU would be going in an entirely new direction.
This announcement, along with the fully-fleshed out Chapter 1 slate of Gunn and Safran’s DCU, Black Adam‘s poor performance at the box office, and behind-the-scenes drama, essentially shut down Johnson’s future plans for good.
Considering all of the previously-mentioned facts, statements, and reports, it is safe to say that Dwayne Johnson’s time as Black Adam is likely over.
The actor gave it his all in an attempt to continue the DCEU for years to come, and tried to please a great number of fans by bringing back Henry Cavill, but as he said in his statement video, sometimes things just don’t work out.
In the future, it seems as though DC Studios is taking a full-steam-ahead approach to James Gunn and Peter Safran’s universe.
Gunn is currently working on Superman: Legacy and has expressed great excitement for how it will kick off the new DCU, and the film even recently cast its two leads – David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan.
As for Johnson, his time in the franchise may be over, but fans will definitely see him in other roles across the entertainment industry as he continues to build his acting resume.
Microsoft is about to increase the price of the Xbox Series X and Game Pass, The Verge reports.
In a statement sent to the outlet, Kari Perez, the head of communications at Xbox, confirmed the price hikes. Microsoft will increase the price of its high-end ninth-generation console, the Xbox Series X, beginning August 1. The Verge notes that the pricing will impact most countries (not including the US), explaining that the cost of an Xbox Series X will be £479.99 in the UK, €549.99 across most European markets, CAD $649.99 in Canada, and AUD $799.99 in Australia. Important to note that the Xbox Series S will remain at the same price of $299.99 for the 512GB model or $349.99 for the 1TB model.
However, the price of Xbox Game Pass will increase in all countries with the service. Beginning July 6, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $16.99 (a $2 increase), and regular Xbox Game Pass will now cost $10.99 monthly (a $1 increase). However, the price of PC Game Pass will remain at $9.99 a month. This is the first time that Microsoft has announced an increase for Xbox Game Pass since the service launched in 2017.
The announcements are not entirely surprising, considering Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioned last October that the price of Xbox hardware and Game Pass would go up at some point. “We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market,” Perez told The Verge.
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The news comes at an interesting time for Microsoft, as the company heads to court today to face the FTC as the agency is requesting a preliminary injunction that would prevent Microsoft from closing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The FTC announced last year it was suing Microsoft over the deal, with an evidentiary hearing separate from this month’s trial, currently scheduled for August 2.
Although Microsoft currently has a legal bout with the FTC to determine the future of its Activision Blizzard deal, Perez told The Verge that its acquisition has nothing to do with the company increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass. “Microsoft hasn’t changed its Xbox Game Pass pricing since launching the subscription in 2017, and the company is keen to stress this isn’t related to its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” Perez told The Verge. “These Game Pass price adjustments are not related to the Activision Blizzard deal and are intended to match local market conditions.”
An interesting clarification from Perez considering that the UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA), which blocked the deal a few month ago had raised concerns that if Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard, it would make Xbox Game Pass more expensive.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Microsoft is about to increase the price
Lee Yong-kwan, one of the original founders of the Busan International Film Festival, says he is stepping down as the event’s chairman – this time with immediate effect.
He says the move is intended to defuse a morass of factional infighting and political interference surrounding Asian’s most prominent film festival.
A festival spokesman told Variety that the board of directors “has decided to persuade the chairperson to return. So, the resignation has not been accepted yet.”
Lee had already tendered his resignation once before, after a series of management missteps had thrown the event into disarray since early May. But he was subsequently persuaded to stick with the event until this year’s edition in October had been delivered.
On Wednesday, however, Lee said that continuing strife, notably external forces which had sought to politicize the recent comings and goings, meant that his plan to remain as caretaker for the next three months was no longer tenable.
“Just a few days ago, I was faced with a petition from members of the People Power Party of the Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee of the National Assembly. As they dragged up the nightmares from screening ‘The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol’ (2014) and the blacklist incident, they revealed their intention to frame the Busan International Film Festival as ‘leftist’ once again,” said Lee in a statement circulated in Korean and English.
“I was able to [understand] their intended outcome. In this vicious cycle that repeated itself each time throughout the three political party changes, I was at the beginning and end of the repetition. If that is the case, will my resignation stop their atrocities. Although I do not believe so, I judged that now is the time to step aside.”
Film festivals in Korea are intensely political, with the issue of creative freedom and resistance to regulatory oversight at the root of many skirmishes. Each of the country’s biggest three festivals – Busan, Jeonju and the BiFan fantasy festival – has previously seen poisonous factional infighting.
The Busan festival’s 2014 screening of a Michael Moore-style campaigning documentary “The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol” in defiance of the wishes of the city mayor, kicked off the darkest sequence of fighting in the sector. The then mayor, who was allied with the right-wing national government of the day, used his ex officio position to slash the festival’s funding and punish festival officials, including Lee. (The country’s then president, Park Geun-hye, with whom the mayor was allied, was subsequently jailed for corruption and interference in the film industry.) The dispute spilled over several years, caused an industry boycott and the injection of temporary management.
The latest management meltdown began in May when Lee split the festival director’s job in two and appointed Cho Jongkook to the new position of managing director. Cho has since been dismissed.
Lee’s letter says that Cho’s appointment was in line with the Vision 2030 plan for reform of the festival, spelled out in a lengthy document published in October last year. But Cho’s appointment was followed by the abrupt resignation of festival director Huh Moonyoung.
Huh is now being investigated by the Center for Gender Equality in Korean Cinema after a complaint of sexual harassmwent by a festival employee. Via Korean media, Huh has denied the accusations, but says he will not return to the cauldron of the festival. Huh has not responded to Variety‘s requests for comment.
“The reason for the unexpected flow of events was due to the sudden announcement of resignation and disappearance of the festival director [Huh], and, since then, groundless rumors, created by certain filmmakers and media in Busan, acquainted with the festival director, built upon misunderstandings and speculations [..]. With the further addition of political disputes, the film festival became a battleground between internal and external conflict and partisanship,” Lee’s letter said.
“Internal reform and resistance, division and antagonism between the executive committee and programmers, indiscriminate attacks by dissatisfied external parties and media outlets and the wrongful usurpation of cultural power. I take full responsibility for this situation, which was due to my own incompetence and vice, and lay everything down. And so, I ask everybody who loves the Busan International Film Festival, please stop the violent political stigma and intervention. I will take full blame for the past incidents and depart,” Lee’s letter continued.
But Lee seems unwilling to let matters lie without throwing another punch. While hoping for insults against the festival to stop and for the programming staff to be allowed to finish doing their job, he also calls for vigilance and punishment.
“Please strictly discipline the wrong and immoral acts of some current executive members and Busan filmmakers, who attempted to use ‘The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol’ and blacklist incident as an opportunity to expand their power. […] I sincerely hope that the authority of the board of directors and the executive committee will be restored.”
It is not clear whether the festival will appoint an interim chairman or when it might be able to name a permanent replacement.
“The composition and roles of the [Reform Committee] will be set after collecting opinions from the film industry and civil groups. The election of the next chairperson will be one of the roles of the committee. Therefore, as of now, the delegation of a new chairperson is not scheduled,” the festival told Variety.
At a general assembly on Monday, the festival confirmed this year’s edition will be headed by lead programmer Nam Dong-chul and deputy director Kang Seung-ah, acting as managing director.
Lee Yong-kwan, one of the original founders
In summer, casual curls and beach waves are usually high on the beauty agenda. Katie Holmes has also always been a big fan of messy bedhead hair, as she proved just a few months ago when she showed us her natural curls.
But suddenly we’re seeing the actor and Glamour cover star with a completely different hairstyle. So different that it makes for a complete texture change. We are talking about ’90s straight hair—that is, the super sleek strands that we know mainly from that era and that, thanks to Katie Holmes, are now trending again.
If you wanted to put the straightening iron aside for the summer, you might want to reconsider. Yes, straightening hair in high temperatures is a challenge, but when it comes to creating super-sleek ’90s straight hair, heat styling really is the best option.
At the premiere of Like Water for Chocolate at the American Ballet Theater in New York, Katie wore her espresso brown hair styled straight, which is very unusual for her given that she usually tends to go for curls, waves, and undone styles.
The hair was parted in the middle and straightened all the way to the tips, without a single wave or kink in sight. You can see that the hair around her face is layered and falls gently around its contours. This makes what is supposedly a “hard” straight look appear softer.
Getty Images
Admittedly, super-straight hair is not exactly what we think of when summer hairstyles are mentioned. High humidity, constant sweating, and many other factors create waves in the hair too quickly.
A good heat protection spray is essential for the look. Apply this generously before using your straightening iron. For the best result, divide the hair into sections and straighten strand by strand. This is the only way to make sure you eliminate even the gentlest of waves.
Finished? Now add some hair wax to the tips to prevent flyaway hairs. Then set everything with a light mist of hairspray, which shouldn’t stick the hair but rather ensure that strands remain as smooth as possible throughout the day. To finish, use a shine spray to achieve that sleek look.
We will say that ’90s straight hair isn’t necessarily our hairstyle of choice when it’s hot out, but it’s perfect for a dinner or other evening events that don’t take place in the blazing sun. We’ll be sure to give it a try.
In summer, casual curls and beach waves
In the opening episode of The Witcher’s third season, the first volume of which arrives June 29 on Netflix, Geralt tells Ciri a story, one that will be familiar to anyone who’s read the Andrzej Sapkowski novels on which the show is based. They’re standing among the ruins of Shaerrawedd, an elven palace, at the foot of a statue that depicts an elf named Aelirenn. Aelirenn, Geralt tells Ciri, bravely led a group of young elves in a fight against the humans. But it was a suicide mission; they all died fighting for what they believed in. “Neutrality,” Geralt says. “It won’t get you a statue. But it’ll certainly help in keeping you alive.”
We’ve been here before—in season one, Geralt told the sorcerer Stregobor, “If I have to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.” But he did, eventually, choose, back then—he chose to kill the former princess Renfri after she gave him an ultimatum and drew him into a fight. And now, in season three, Geralt has another choice to make: Who will he ally with to keep Ciri safe? His first choice, of course, is no one. But what happens when neutrality is no longer an option?
That’s the question that volume one sets up, and presumably the question that volume two, out July 27, answers. But this is a particularly inelegant split, even by Netflix standards, cutting off just as the season’s major themes start to take shape. The Renfri ordeal resolved itself within the span of a single episode, back then—but that was decades ago, in the show’s timeline, when Geralt was still an itinerant monster hunter. Four years ago, in the real world, when the show was still happy enough to fuck around as a monster-of-the-week adventure.
Things are different now. Geralt doesn’t really have time to slay monsters for coin anymore. He’s too busy keeping Ciri, the girl he’s sworn to protect, safe from the kinds of monsters who would use her for their own purposes. And they’re coming almost as frequently as those kikkimoras, strigas, and nekkers used to.
Francesca, an elven sorceress, wants Ciri because she believes Ciri is the subject of a prophecy, the person who will save the elves from annihilation. King Vizimir of Redania wants to marry Ciri to secure an alliance with Cintra; she is, after all, technically Princess Cirilla, heir to the Cintrian throne. Emperor Emhyr var Emreis of Nilfgaard (Ciri’s father) wants her, too, though his motivations aren’t yet apparent. And then there’s Rience, the crazed fire-wielding mage whose motives for wanting Ciri are also unclear, though he seems to pose the most immediate danger. It’s not quite a monster of the week, but it’s close.
Geralt’s lesson on neutrality comes as he, Ciri, Yennefer, Jaskier, and Yarpen Zigrin are setting a trap to draw out Rience. It’s a bold plan, one that Ciri came up with herself, one that Geralt quickly endorsed even though it involved using Ciri as bait. This is where The Witcher truly shines in season three: showing the trust between Geralt and Ciri. Geralt agrees to the plan because he knows Ciri can handle herself. He knows she can fight—even, or maybe especially, when her back is against the wall. And she does, not just in the battle with Rience at Shaerrawedd, but all throughout volume one. The fight scenes are as beautiful and gruesome as they’ve ever been, but they feel particularly great when Ciri gets into the mix and holds her own.
After it becomes clear that the Rience problem is not going away, Geralt sends Ciri off to Aretuza with Yennefer as he pairs up with Jaskier to track down the fire mage. This is a big moment of growth for Geralt, as he’s still learning to trust Yenn again after she nearly sacrificed Ciri to regain her own magical powers back in season two. But Yenn seems committed to working for his, and Ciri’s, forgiveness, and he doesn’t have much of a choice if he doesn’t want to send Ciri away on her own. So they split the party.
The intervening episodes before the two groups link back up at Aretuza are all solid. We already knew the Geralt and Jaskier dynamic works, and Yenn and Ciri figuring out how to be around each other is a nice touch. Jaskier’s got a budding romance with Radovid (now King Vizimir’s clever younger brother, rather than his unstable son, in a change that’s already got book fans riled), and it’s fun to see the usually self-assured bard caught completely off guard by the idea that he might actually have feelings for someone instead of just a torrid affair.
The real problem comes with episode five, an interminable slog that doubles back on itself so many times it becomes exhausting about halfway through. It’s Russian Doll season one without the cleverness. Throw in an eye-roll of an on-the-nose song that plays throughout the entire episode that will make you hate Valdo fucking Marx as much as Jaskier does, and you’ve got a recipe for the worst episode of the show so far. And this is where Netflix chose to cut the season in half.
By the time the episode ends and the villain, the person who’s been puppet-mastering Rience all along, is revealed, it feels less like the satisfying answer to a mystery and more like that time the Jeopardy! guy named himself the host of the show after pretending to audition various celebrities for months. Maybe that’s because the villain has been heavily foreshadowed since season one; maybe it’s because we don’t get to see the payoff of the reveal. Either way, something big is about to go down in the first episode of volume two, as Geralt is finally confronted with the consequences of his neutrality.
Back when Geralt killed Renfri, it earned him the nickname “the Butcher of Blaviken.” Because it wasn’t just Renfri he killed; it was her whole gang, slaughtered in the city streets as horrified townsfolk looked on. And, to be fair, he did his best to avoid it—he held back on delivering the fatal blow until she threatened a young girl, and then, well, there was nothing for it. Now, it’s a different hand that’s forcing his actions, a different young girl whose life is at stake. In the scope of Geralt’s life, and in the scope of the show, Renfri was a blip on the radar. One incident, one episode of the show. Now, we’re three seasons deep. We’ve seen what Geralt will do to protect the innocent, even when he doesn’t know them. But what will he do to protect the ones he loves? And if choosing a side turned him into the Butcher of Blaviken last time, what will he become now?
The Witcher season 3, volume 1 premieres June 29 on Netflix
In the opening episode of The Witcher’s
Hit Korean drama Squid Game has officially added eight new cast members for its upcoming second season on Netflix.
Netflix announced that the actors rounding out the cast of Squid Game Season 2 are Park Gyu-young (Sweet Home, Celebrity), former Iz*One member Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim (Be Melodramatic, Move to Heaven), Lee David (The Fortress), Lee Jin-uk (Sweet Home, Miss Granny), Choi Seung-hyun (Tazza: The Hidden Card, Commitment), Roh Jae-won (Missing Yoon, Ditto), and Won Ji-an (D.P.).
These eight newcomers join previously announced Season 2 actors Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, and Yang Dong-geun, as well as returning Season 1 actors Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo.
“This week, cast members and showrunners gathered for their first table read, with the production of Squid Game Season 2 starting later this year,” Netflix revealed. “From rising stars to veteran actors, the ensemble cast boasts a diverse range of talent and experiences. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who won an Emmy for the first season, will return to direct and executive produce the entire second season.”
Created by Hwang, Squid Game premiered on Netflix in September 2021. The survival drama became an overnight sensation, securing the title of Netflix’s most-watched original series of all time (by a comfortable distance).
Squid Game centers on the indebted contestants of a twisted competition where players partake in various children’s games. The twist is that losing means death. The last player standing wins a cash prize of ₩45.6 billion KRW (approximately $34.69 million USD at the time of writing). Netflix renewed the series for Season 2 in January 2022. As previously mentioned, the new installment will enter production this year.
Squid Game Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix. Season 2 does not yet have a premiere date.
Hit Korean drama Squid Game has officially
Austin Butler, Ke Huy Quan, Keke Palmer, NT Rama Rao Jr and music superstar Taylor Swift are among the 398 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of overall Academy members to 10,817 (up from 10,665 last year), with 9,375 eligible to vote (a decrease from 9,665 due to deaths, retirements and moving to emeritus status) for the 96th Oscars, set to take place on March 10, 2024.
The 2023 class is 40% women. 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities and 52% hail from 51 countries and territories outside the United States. There are many recent Oscar nominees among the invitees, such as Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). The list also includes many of the 95th ceremony’s winners, such as Ke Huy Quan (supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) cinematographer James Friend (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) and composer and songwriter M.M. Keeravani and Chandrabose (“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”). Even the dynamic “RRR” lead acting duo of Ram Charan and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. have also been extended invitations, along with the film’s production designer Sabu Cyril and cinematographer K.K. Senthil Kumar.
Even “Swifties” were upset that Swift was double snubbed at last year’s nominations — for original song (“Carolina”) and live action short (“All Too Well: The Short Film”) — however, they can rest assured, seeing her join the ranks of the music branch as she continues her global tour, and has her feature directorial debut in the works.
Also invited are a slew of global artists, artisans and talents such as actors Zar Amir-Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider” and recent Variety breakthrough talent recipient) Raúl Castillo (“The Inspection”) and Rosa Salazar (“Alita: Battle Angel”), director Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”), screenwriters Kazuo Ishiguro (“Living”) and Charlotte Wells (“Aftersun”) and marketing and awards public relations notables such as Kelly Dalton from Netflix and Antonio Gimenez-Palazon from Sony Pictures, in addition to studio executives like Warner Bros-Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Netflix’s Bela Bajaria.
“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide.”
Other interesting statistics about this invitee class are four branches invited more women than men to join — casting directors, costume designers, makeup artists and hairstylists and marketing and public relations. The Actors and Directors branches had most of their candidates hail from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities.
Eight filmmakers have been invited to multiple branches — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Colm Bairéad (“The Quiet Girl”), Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), Antonio Campos (“The Devil All the Time”), Lukas Dhont (“Close”), Ana Katz (“The Dog Who Wouldn’t be Quiet”) and Santiago Mitre (“Argentina, 1985”); however, they can only select one upon accepting membership.
In 2022, the Oscars invited 397 new members, including singer Billie Eilish, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, “Belfast” stars Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Disney exec Dana Walden.
With the addition of this new member class, the Academy is now 34% women, 18% from underrepresented communities and 20% from outside the U.S.
This year’s slate of awards contenders will have massive star power and legendary filmmakers in the mix such as Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part Two” with Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet.
The complete list of the 2023 invitees is below:
Actors
Zar Amir-Ebrahimi – “Holy Spider,” “Bride Price vs. Democracy”
Sakura Ando – “A Man,” “Shoplifters”
Selma Blair – “Hellboy,” “Legally Blonde”
Marsha Stephanie Blake – “I’m Your Woman,” “Luce”
Austin Butler – “Elvis,” “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood”
Raúl Castillo – “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” “The Inspection”
Chang Chen – “The Soul,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
Ram Charan – “RRR,” “Magadheera”
Kerry Condon – “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Gold”
Robert John Davi – “Licence to Kill,” “The Goonies”
Dolly De Leon – “Triangle of Sadness,” “Verdict”
Martina Gedeck – “The Lives of Others,” “Mostly Martha”
Bill Hader – “Trainwreck,” “The Skeleton Twins”
Nicholas Hoult – “The Favourite,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Stephanie Hsu – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
Tin Lok Koo – “A Witness out of the Blue,” “Paradox”
Vicky Krieps – “Corsage,” “Phantom Thread”
Joanna Kulig – “Cold War,” “Elles”
Lashana Lynch – “The Woman King,” “No Time to Die”
A Martinez – “Ambulance,” “Powwow Highway”
Noémie Merlant – “Tár,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
Paul Mescal – “Aftersun,” “The Lost Daughter”
Richard Mofe-Damijo – “Oloibiri,” “30 Days in Atlanta”
Keke Palmer – “Nope,” “Hustlers”
Park Hae-il – “Decision to Leave,” “Memories of Murder”
Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”
NT Rama Rao Jr. – “RRR,” “Nannaku Prematho”
Paul Reiser – “Whiplash,” “Aliens”
Rosa Salazar – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “The Kindergarten Teacher”
Casting Directors
John Buchan – “Women Talking,” “Georgetown”
Pauline Hansson – “Triangle of Sadness,” “Bergman Island”
Nina Haun – “The School of Magical Animals,” “One for the Road”
Lissy Holm – “The Lost King,” “Victoria & Abdul”
Jeanette Klintberg – “Midsommar,” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Jason Knight – “Women Talking,” “Georgetown”
Alexandra Montag – “Tár,” “Charlie’s Angels”
Pat Moran – “Union Bridge,” “Ping Pong Summer”
Mathilde Snodgrass – “Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,” “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”
Rachel G. Tenner – “Spirited,” “F9: The Fast Saga”
Cinematographers
Jolanta Dylewska – “Ayka,” “In Darkness”
James Friend – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Breakdown”
Martin Gschlacht – “Goodnight Mommy,” “The Wall”
Florian Hoffmeister – “Tár,” “Antlers”
Benjamin Kracun – “Promising Young Woman,” “Beast”
K.K. Senthil Kumar – “RRR,” “Baahubali: The Beginning”
Tommy Maddox-Upshaw – “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Mahlangu”
Kate McCullough – “The Quiet Girl,” “Arracht”
Andrij Parekh – “The Catcher Was a Spy,” “The Zookeeper’s Wife”
Christopher Ross – “The Swimmers,” “Yesterday”
María Secco – “Sorcery,” “The Empty Box”
Virginie Surdej – “The Blue Caftan,” “Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel”
Costume Designers
Trisha Biggar – “The Wife,” “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”
Alex Bovaird – “Nope,” “The Unforgivable”
Bob Buck – “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
Monika Buttinger – “Corsage,” “Rubikon”
Pam Downe – “Mr. Malcolm’s List,” “The Vanishing”
Deirdra Elizabeth Govan – “The Sun Is Also a Star,” “Sorry to Bother You”
Shirley Kurata – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Seoul Searching”
Linda Muir – “The Northman,” “The Witch”
Annie Symons – “My Policeman,” “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword”
Directors
Colm Bairéad* – “The Quiet Girl,” “Finding the Footprints: A Look Back at Mise Éire”
Abner Benaim – “Plaza Catedral,” “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name”
Edward Berger* – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Jack”
Antonio Campos* – “The Devil All the Time,” “Simon Killer”
Anthony Chen – “Wet Season,” “Ilo Ilo”
Lukas Dhont* – “Close,” “Girl”
Andreas Dresen – “Stopped on Track,” “Cloud 9”
Nils Gaup – “Head above Water,” “Pathfinder”
Rashaad Ernesto Green – “Premature,” “Gun Hill Road”
Ana Katz* – “The Dog Who Wouldn’t be Quiet,” “Florianópolis Dream”
Joseph Kosinski – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Oblivion”
Daniel Kwan* – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Swiss Army Man”
Francisco Lombardi – “No Mercy,” “The City and the Dogs”
Carlos López Estrada – “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Blindspotting”
Mounia Meddour – “Houria,” “Papicha”
Santiago Mitre* – “Argentina, 1985,” “Paulina”
C.J. “Fiery” Obasi – “Mami Wata,” “Ojuju”
Mani Ratnam – “Kannathil Muthamittal,” “Iruvar”
Anita Rocha da Silveira – “Medusa,” “Kill Me Please”
Hiner Saleem – “Goodnight, Soldier,” “Lady Winsley”
Daniel Scheinert* – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Swiss Army Man”
Maria Schrader – “She Said,” “Love Life”
Michael Showalter – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “The Big Sick”
Agnieszka Smoczyńska – “The Silent Twins,” “The Lure”
Chaitanya Tamhane – “The Disciple,” “Court”
Documentary
Maxim Arbugaev – “Haulout,” “Voy”
Evgenia Arbugaeva – “Haulout,” “A Hawk as Big as a Horse”
Paul Barnes – “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” “The Thin Blue Line”
Mark Becker – “Art and Craft,” “Romántico”
Alan Berliner – “First Cousin Once Removed,” “Wide Awake”
Tze Woon Chan – “Blue Island,” “Yellowing”
Sonya Childress – “Strong Island,” “The Interrupters”
Lauren Cioffi – “Civil,” “Becoming”
Erika Cohn – “Belly of the Beast,” “The Judge”
Patrick Creadon – “I.O.U.S.A.,” “Wordplay”
Daniel Cross – “I Am the Blues,” “Last Train Home”
Ally Derks
Andrés Di Tella – “Private Fiction,” “327 Notebooks”
Lauren Domino – “Time,” “Alone”
Lindsey Dryden – “Unrest,” “Lost and Sound”
Katja Esson – “Poetry of Resilience,” “Ferry Tales”
Violet Du Feng – “Hidden Letters,” “Maineland”
Jennifer Fox – “My Reincarnation,” “Beirut: The Last Home Movie”
Sonia Kennebeck – “Enemies of the State,” “National Bird”
Teddy Leifer – “All That Breathes,” “Rough Aunties”
Simon Lereng Wilmont – “A House Made of Splinters,” “The Distant Barking of Dogs”
Petr Lom – “Myanmar Diaries,” “Angels on Diamond Street”
Melanie Miller – “Navalny,” “Stutz”
Julia Nottingham – “Be Water,” “Trophy”
Ilja Roomans – “Master of Light,” “Turn Your Body to the Sun”
Nancy Schwartzman – “Victim/Suspect,” “Roll Red Roll”
Joshua Seftel – “Stranger at the Gate,” “The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano”
Shaunak Sen – “All That Breathes,” “Cities of Sleep”
Daniel Sivan – “Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis,” “The Oslo Diaries”
Chris Smith – “Sr.,” “American Movie”
Corinne van Egeraat – “Myanmar Diaries,” “Burma Storybook”
Tyler H. Walk – “Welcome to Chechnya,” “How to Survive a Plague”
Eden Wurmfeld – “The Big Scary “S” Word,” “Sunset Story”
Debra Zimmerman – “Why Women Stay”
Executives
Craig Alexander
Bela Bajaria
Stephen Basil-Jones
Racheline Benveniste
Sean Berney
Efe Egemen Cakarel
Peter Dodd
Tara Duncan
Zev Foreman
Jeffrey Goore
Amelia Louise Granger
Daniel Guando
Jessie Henderson
Ynon Kreiz
Ollie Madden
Shivani Pandya Malhotra
Janet Pierson
Shivani Rawat
Kent Sanderson
Guy Shani
Sarah Elizabeth Shepard
Jesse Sisgold
Jonathan Turell
Joana Vicente
Brian Stuart Weinstein
Paul Wiegard
Rob Williams
Tamara Y. Woolfork
Miri Yoon
David Zaslav
Film Editors
Michael Aaglund – “A House Made of Splinters,” “What Walaa Wants”
Joyce Arrastia – “The Sea Beast,” “Rise of the Guardians”
Melissa Bretherton – “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” “Long Shot”
Sarah Broshar – “The Fabelmans,” “West Side Story”
Sven Budelmann – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Physician”
Alain Dessauvage – “Close,” “Girl”
Christopher Donaldson – “Women Talking,” “Crimes of the Future”
Agnieszka Glińska – “EO,” “Lamb”
Craig Hayes – “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World,” “The Hate U Give”
Charlotte Munch Bengtsen – “All That Breathes,” “The Truffle Hunters”
Langdon Page – “Navalny,” “Mary”
Paul Rogers – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Death of Dick Long”
Ken Schretzmann – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” “Toy Story 3”
Matt Villa – “Elvis,” “The Great Gatsby”
Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Jason Baird – “Elvis,” “Aquaman”
Annemarie Bradley – “The Whale,” “A Quiet Place”
Anne Carroll – “Deadpool 2,” “Star Trek Beyond”
Linda Eisenhamerová – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Anthropoid”
Kimberly Felix – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Richard Jewell”
Thomas Foldberg – “Everybody Hates Johan,” “War Sailor”
Erzsébet Forgács – “Son of Saul,” “Being Julia”
Jules Holdren – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Free State of Jones”
Jaime Leigh McIntosh – “Babylon,” “Blonde”
Alfredo Mora – “Dance of the 41,” “Nora’s Will”
Nathalie Tissier – “Chocolat,” “Amélie”
Luca Vannella – “The Last Duel,” “Snow White and the Huntsman”
Angie Wells – “Promising Young Woman,” “Harriet”
Marketing and Public Relations
David Burke
Sungmi Choi
Kelly Dalton
Marian Lee Dicus
Sarah Eaton
Emily Feingold
Kimberly Flaster
Stephanie Frederic
Antonio Gimenez-Palazon
Patricia Gonzalez
Mindy Hamilton
Claire A. Heath Nobel
Danielle Kupchak
Julie Roberta La’Bassiere
Christopher Miller
Scott Mitsui
Keri Lynn Moore
Stefanie Marie Napoli
Jeremy Radisich
Jim R. Rodriguez
Tammie Rosen
Julie Siegel
Melissa Stone
Renee Tsao
Kelly Turner
Music
Jean Michel Bernard – “Ballad for a Pierced Heart,” “One Role for Two”
Rafiq Bhatia – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Paper Towns”
Alain Boublil – “Killing Me Softly with His Songs,” “Les Misérables”
David Buckley – “Unhinged,” “From Paris with Love”
David Byrne – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Last Emperor”
Dominick George Certo – “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”
Chandrabose – “RRR,” “Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1”
Ian Chang – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Paper Towns”
Anne-Kathrin Elisabeth Dern – “The Devil Conspiracy,” “Help, I Shrunk My Friends”
Anna Drubich – “Barbarian,” “Werewolves Within”
M.M. Keeravaani – “RRR,” “Konda Polam”
Penka Kouneva – “Ága,” “In Search of the American Dream”
Ryan Lott – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Paper Towns”
Zeltia Montes – “I’m Going to Have a Good Time,” “The Good Boss”
Starr Parodi – “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,” “Bert Stern: Original Mad Man”
Taylor Swift – “Where the Crawdads Sing,” “Cats”
Dara Taylor – “The Tender Bar,” “Echo Boomers”
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye “The Weeknd” – “Avatar: Way of Water,” “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Producers
Desray Armstrong – “Juniper,” “Coming Home in the Dark”
Daniel Birman Ripstein – “Daniel & Ana,” “El Crimen del Padre Amaro”
Philippe Bober – “Triangle of Sadness,” “The Square”
Keith Calder – “One Night in Miami…,” “Blindspotting”
Allison Rose Carter – “The Sky Is Everywhere,” “The Mountain”
Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly – “Ammonite,” “Lady Macbeth”
Jonas Dornbach – “Western,” “Toni Erdmann”
Andrew Goldman – “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” “After Yang”
Malte Grunert – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Land of Mine”
Karan Johar – “Kesari,” “The Lunchbox”
Axel Vladimir Kuschevatzky – “Argentina, 1985,” “El Ángel”
Daniel Kwan* – “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Karen Lunder – “Thirteen Lives,” “Hillbilly Elegy”
Kyle Martin – “Descendant,” “Tiny Furniture”
Patrick McCormick – “Elvis,” “Black Mass”
Jordana Mollick – “Spoiler Alert,” “Hello, My Name Is Doris”
Giancarlo Nasi – “Blanquita,” “White on White”
Jadesola Osiberu – “Brotherhood,” “Isoken”
Mark A. Radcliffe – “Stepmom,” “Mrs. Doubtfire”
Thomas Robsahm – “The Worst Person in the World,” “Thelma”
Siddharth Roy Kapur – “Last Film Show,” “Dangal”
Daniel Scheinert* – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Death of Dick Long”
Jonathan Wang – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Swiss Army Man”
Lila Yacoub – “C’mon C’mon,” “Eighth Grade”
Production Design
David Allday – “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” “Holmes & Watson”
Samantha Avila – “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Lucy in the Sky”
Tom Brown – “Dune,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Richard Buoen – “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood,” “Black Panther”
Diana Burton – “West Side Story,” “The Goldfinch”
Barry Michael Chusid – “Rampage,” “Independence Day: Resurgence”
Dylan Cole – “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Maleficent”
Sabu Cyril – “RRR,” “Runway 34”
Bill Darby – “Enola Holmes,” “The Mummy”
Klaus Darrelmann – “Tenet,” “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”
Darrin Denlinger – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Doctor Strange”
Raffaella Giovannetti – “Roald Dahl’s The Witches,” “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle”
Christian M. Goldbeck – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Exile”
Ernestine Hipper – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Tár”
Andrew H. Leung – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Mulan”
Karen Murphy – “Elvis,” “A Star Is Born”
Ben Procter – “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Ender’s Game”
Kave Quinn – “Catherine Called Birdy,” “The Brothers Grimsby”
Dean Sherriff – “Emancipation,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”
Laura Sode-Matteson – “Jungle Cruise,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”
Amy Gail Wells – “Inherent Vice,” “The Master”
Production and Technology
Girish Balakrishnan
David Barrett
Allegra Anne Clegg
Celia D. Costas
Fernando de Goes
Daphne Dentz
Peter Doyle
Sara Duran-Singer
Gian Luca Farinelli
Dominic Glynn
Fritz Heinzle
Lin Oeding
Fatima Robinson
Kranti Sarma
Cynthia Slavens
Joachim Zell
Short Films and Feature Animation
Mahyar Abousaeedi – “Turning Red,” “Incredibles 2”
Tom Berkeley – “An Irish Goodbye,” “Roy”
Toni Bestard – “Background,” “Foley Artist”
Kimberley Browning – “Certified,” “Waiting for Ronald”
Alex Bulkley – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” “Hell and Back”
Bruno Caetano – “Ice Merchants,” “The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay”
Dean Fleischer Camp – “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” “Catherine”
Kenneth A. Carlson – “Diner Formal,” “Dating Avi”
Trent Correy – “The Godfather of the Bride,” “Drop”
Joel Bryan Crawford – “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” “The Croods: A New Age”
Claire Dodgson – “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Despicable Me 3”
Fabian Driehorst – “Night,” “The Chimney Swift”
David DuLac – “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie,” “Happy Feet Two”
Maureen Fan – “Namoo,” “Crow: The Legend”
Tiffany Frances – “Dot,” “Hello from Taiwan”
João Gonzalez – “Ice Merchants,” “Nestor”
Sara Gunnarsdóttir – “My Year of Dicks,” “The Pirate of Love”
Mark Gustafson – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
Travis Hathaway – “Incredibles 2,” “Brave”
David Jesteadt – “Inu-oh,” “Belle”
Daniel Mark Jeup – “Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story 2”
Thomas Jordan – “Lightyear,” “Up”
Charlie Mackesy – “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”
Ian Megibben – “Lightyear,” “Soul”
Cyrus Neshvad – “The Red Suitcase,” “The Orchid”
Jaime Ray Newman – “Skin,” “Life, Unexpected.”
Richard O’Connor – “My Friend Nearly Killed Patti Smith,” “Marianne”
Lachlan Pendragon – “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” “The Toll”
Jesús Pimentel Melo – “Miramelinda,” “Un Bel Morir”
Emmanuel-Alain Raynal – “Steakhouse,” “Easter Eggs”
David Ryu – “Luca,” “Coco”
Nidia Santiago – “Negative Space,” “Oh Willy…”
Mónica Santos – “Between the Shadows,” “Amélia & Duarte”
Nelson Shin – “Empress Chung,” “The Transformers: The Movie”
Eirik Tveiten – “Night Ride,” “Other Lives”
Nathan Warner – “Encanto,” “Zootopia”
Ross White – “An Irish Goodbye,” “Roy”
Sound
Orin Junior Beaton – “Locked Down,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story”
Guido Berenblum – “Noise,” “Zama”
Andrew Bock – “Smile,” “Dark Phoenix”
Stéphane Bucher – “House of Gucci,” “Ford v Ferrari”
Paul Timothy Carden – “Smile,” “There’s Someone inside Your House”
Lena Esquenazi – “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” “Prayers for the Stolen”
Arthur Fenn – “No Time to Die,” “Aladdin”
Tracie Gallo
Lars Ginzel – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Matrix Resurrections”
Galen Goodpaster – “Where the Crawdads Sing,” “Dark Phoenix”
Julian Howarth – “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Encounter”
Randall Lee Johnson – “White Noise,” “Vice”
Leah Katz – “Mortal Kombat,” “The Power of the Dog”
Stefan Korte – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Mad Heidi”
Martin Wallis Kwok – “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Mortal Engines”
Ensieh Maleki – “Banu,” “Popular”
Sean McCormack – “Moonfall,” “Apocalypto”
Douglas Murray – “The Batman,” “Ad Astra”
Anthony Ortiz – “The Harder They Fall,” “Second Act”
Wayne Pashley – “Elvis,” “A Stitch in Time”
Mélissa Petitjean – “The Super 8 Years,” “Honey Cigar”
Viktor Prášil – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Medieval”
Lynn Sable – “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet”
David Stanke – “Spirited,” “The Woman King”
Markus Stemler – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The King’s Man”
Duu-chih Tu – “Stay with Me,” “Terrorizers”
Javier Angel Umpierrez – “Un Retrato de Familia,” “Memoria”
Eliza Pollack Zebert – “Devotion, “A Dog’s Journey”
Visual Effects
Gino Acevedo – “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
James Lee Baker – “Eternals,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp”
A.J. Briones – “War for the Planet of the Apes,” “Tomorrowland”
Nick Crew – “The Adam Project,” “Captain Marvel”
Jubin Dave – “Zootopia,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters”
Pete Dionne – “Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” “A Wrinkle in Time”
Arslan Elver – “Peter Pan & Wendy,” “Christopher Robin”
Markus Frank – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The School of Magical Animals”
Brian Gazdik – “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” “Ready Player One”
Seth Hill – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Welcome to Marwen”
Haresh Hingorani – “Laal Singh Chaddha,” “Zero”
Kamil Jafar – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Never Look Away”
Arek Komorowski – “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Captain America: Civil War”
Lana Lan – “Kong: Skull Island,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
Woei Lee – “Ad Astra,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Bryan Litson – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
Scott Macintyre – “Saint Maud,” “Fighting with My Family”
Alexandre Julien Millet – “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Beauty and the Beast”
Marla Inez Newall – “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among Thieves,” “Black Widow”
Jenni O’Byrne – “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Irishman”
Cristin Pescosolido – “Master,” “Old”
Frank Petzold – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Legend of Tarzan”
Adriano Rinaldi – “The Rescue,” “The Finest Hours”
P.C. Sanath – “5 Rupees,” “Baahubali: The Beginning”
Robert Winter – “Moonfall,” “Army of the Dead”
Florian Witzel – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Doctor Strange”
Writers
Kunle Afolayan – “Anikulapo,” “Swallow”
Colm Bairéad* – “The Quiet Girl,” “Finding the Footprints: A Look Back at Mise Éire”
Nikole Beckwith – “Together Together,” “3 Generations”
Edward Berger* – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Jack”
Antonio Campos* – “The Devil All the Time,” “Simon Killer”
Chung Seo-kyung – “Decision to Leave,” “The Handmaiden”
Marie Clements – “Bones of Crows,” “Red Snow”
Peter Craig – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Batman”
Shola Dada – “Anikulapo,” “Man of God”
Lukas Dhont* – “Close,” “Girl”
Alejandro Fernández Almendras – “Mi Amigo Alexis,” “To Kill a Man”
Josh Friedman – “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “War of the Worlds”
Kazuo Ishiguro – “Living,” “The White Countess”
Shunji Iwai – “Vampire,” “Swallowtail Butterfly”
Ana Katz* – “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet,” “Florianópolis Dream”
Todd Komarnicki – “The Professor and the Madman,” “Sully”
Ehren Kruger – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Ring”
Daniel Kwan* – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Swiss Army Man”
Mariano Llinás – “Argentina, 1985,” “Paulina”
Justin Marks – “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Jungle Book”
Santiago Mitre* – “Argentina, 1985,” “Paulina”
Craig Pearce – “Elvis,” “Moulin Rouge”
Ewa Piaskowska – “EO,” “Essential Killing”
Daniel Scheinert* – “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Swiss Army Man”
Jack Thorne – “The Swimmers,” “Enola Holmes 2”
Angelo Tijssens – “Close,” “Girl”
Charlotte Wells – “Aftersun”
Members-at-Large (Artists’ Representatives)
Tracy Brennan
Rob Carlson
Sarah Clossey
Eric Garfinkel
John Garvey
Steven Gersh
Franklin Latt
Christian Muirhead
Richard Weitz
Ida Giovanna Ziniti
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Emmy predictions in all categories.
Austin Butler, Ke Huy Quan, Keke Palmer,
