This summer has been an exciting one for moviegoers, including record-breaking hits like Spider-Man: Brand New Day. A new family-friendly blockbuster has arrived this weekend with Ben Gregor's The Magic Faraway Tree, which stars Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy. The movie is a visual treat, and has some epic sequences, including one that was set entirely in reverse. And the filmmaker spoke to CinemaBlend about filming it, calling "Tenet with 9-year-olds." Let's break it all down.

Christoper Nolan's movie Tenet featured Time Inversion, where entire fight scenes were filmed backwards. Funny enough, a similar scene occurs in The Magic Faraway Tree, where characters enter a reverse room to cancel wishes they made at The Land of Birthdays. As you can see in the video above, I asked Gregor about how he shot that sequence. He told me:

Honestly, my mind is blown. While I thought that perhaps this moment of the book-to-screen adaptation was filmed normally and then reversed, that's not the case. Instead, the entire sequence was rehearsed and shot in reverse, with even the movie's young actors meticulously planning their movements to pull it off. Now that's what I call movie magic.

Later in our conversation, Ben Gregor shared more about working with actor Dustin Demri-Burns, as well as how the crew reacted when the reverse scene was successfully shot for the first time. He told me:

As you can see in the video, Gregor's face lights up when talking about pulling off that incredible reverse sequence for The Magic Faraway Tree. It's a technical achievement, and those efforts really pay off in the movie's theatrical cut. One can only imagine how exciting it was on set the first time the cast and crew pulled off the first successful take.

The movie's reverse scene was captured practically, and that was seemingly a major goal for the movie's director while filming The Magic Faraway Tree. He told me why that was so important, offering:

This sense of joy was a palpable for me while screening the movie, both in the magical fantasy sequences and the ones where the Thompson family was shown playing and enjoying their simple life in the countryside. And I can only imagine how much fun the three young actors who played the Thompson kids had while shooting this new movie.

The Magic Faraway Tree is in theaters now as part of the 2026 TV schedule. The movie was a big hit across the pond, with two sequels reportedly already in the works. We'll just have to see if it's similarly successful in the States.

The Fast & Furious movies have been giving audiences some of the most high-speed action sequences across the past 25 years. But you know who needs a bit more credit? Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty Ortiz. There’s not many Latina characters in the mainstream media that have been franchise mainstays like her, and that’s seemingly because the actress made it her own.

As the original Fast & Furious movie returns to theaters this weekend, Rodriguez recently reflected on her first impressions of Letty on the page. That includes the changes she made to make the character the iconic role it has been for her. In her words:

The Fast and the Furious was only Michelle Rodriguez’s second movie, and yet she wasn’t afraid to make Letty her own. The actress has noted before to EW, when she first read the script, the character “needed a lot of work”. She said it was “guys writing girls, and not knowing what to do”, resulting in her speaking out.

Per Rodriguez, originally Letty was going to try to sleep with Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner in the initial script. But the actress didn’t think it made “any sense” for her character to make those decisions. As she explained: “When you’re with the alpha male in the pack, you stick to that.” Rodriguez said she had to “school these cats in Hollywood in how it works in the streets.”

Michelle Rodriguez is of both Puerto Rican descent and Dominican. She was raised between Texas and the Dominican Republic before settling in Jersey City. As the actress added in new comments while celebrating the movie’s 25th anniversary re-release with Universal Pictures:

It wasn’t too long ago when Vin Diesel shouted out Michelle Rodriguez for being his “ride-or-die” over the years in the Fast franchise. Letty and Dominic’s love story has been going on since the beginning and the actors seem to be reuniting all the time in real life.

The pair are set to conclude the movie series with Fast Forever, which is currently dated for March 17. 2028. Michelle Rodriguez has said that she hopes the next Fast movie has the “integrity that we started with”. Perhaps, it’ll take us back to nostalgia of the first films? 2001’s The Fast & Furious is now playing among the other latest 2026 movie releases in theaters now.

Spoilers ahead for The End of Oak Street.

It's a big year for Anne Hathaway, who is releasing a whopping five movies throughout 2026. The latest of these is David Robert Mitchell's The End of Oak Street, which is set in the '80s and shows a neighborhood being transported into the time of dinosaurs. I just saw the new sci-fi flick in theaters, and there's one part of the movie's ending that I can't stop thinking about.

The End of Oak Street had plenty of huge twists, especially during its thrilling conclusion. Because after Ewan McGregor's Greg sacrifices himself, he's resurrected when the family returns to the '80s and stops him from being sucked up in the wormhole that moved the entire neighborhood. The movie's time jump reveals what happens afterward, and I can't get over its final shot.

The Movie Ending On Two Jeannettes Blew My Mind.

Reviews praised The End of Oak Street, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed its unexpected story throughout its 99-minute runtime. The movie's epilogue revealed that Denise finally became an author after writing about their time-traveling adventure, and that she was able to save various neighbors from their grisly fate at the hands of the dinosaurs. But it's Jeannette and the Christiansens that have continued capturing my attention since leaving the theater.

Jeanette is a neighbor girl that Brian has a crush on in the movie. She loses her parents to dinosaurs off-screen and spends the rest of the movie with the Platt family as they fight for survival. After returning to the '80s she goes to warn her parents about the wormhole, saving them from their deaths in the process.

This was an interesting enough concept, but there was one huge complication: another version of Jeannette was with her parents when they were teleported away. And The End Of Oak Street's epilogue showed the Platts and the Christiansens having a barbecue, including two identical versions of Jordan Alexa Davis's character. So while Jeannette was able to save her family's life, there are now two different version of her walking around.

We don't get any real context about how the Christiansens are functioning with this world-changing shift to their family dynamic, although both Jeannettes seem happy when we see them in the movie's final shot. And I so wish that we got more information about how the family, and the world at large, reacted to there suddenly two versions of the same young woman coexisting. Plus, how did the government react? Alas, those questions were left unanswered.

The End of Oak Street is in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we get more information about the two Jeannettes sometime in the future.

Critics were all over the place when it came to Glen Powell's Dark Comedy How To Make A Killing, but that didn't stop me from using my HBO Max subscription to fire it up recently anyway. After watching, I can agree the movie does have its issues, but my biggest gripe had nothing to do with Powell, but rather the screentime given to the supporting cast.

The movie centers around Beckett, the would-be heir to a massive family fortune, provided he can kill off all of the relatives ahead of him. Beckett reunites with the family that ostracized his mother so long ago, and while he efficiently dispatches a good deal of them, I fear the movie let him kill off Topher Grace's Steven way too soon.

Topher Grace As Steven J. Redfellow Was Gold

If How To Make A Killing was an audition for stars to book future appearances in upcoming A24 movies, throw a contract at Topher Grace right now. His performance as Steven, Beckett's cousin who became a corrupt megachurch pastor, was fantastic for what little of it we saw on screen.

It's so good, in fact, that if Danny McBride ever has thoughts about making a follow-up to The Righteous Gemstones, they should give Grace a call. It's a shame How To Make A Killing used him so little, because with more screen time, he could've really elevated the movie overall.

We Spent So Much Time With Other Redfellows, I Wish We Saw More Of Him

I think what made it more painful is that, for a Dark Comedy, so little of How To Make A Killing was funny compared to other greats of the genre. More Topher Grace would've made this movie way funnier had his Steven been in the plot as much as Zach Woods' Noah, for example.

Now, who knows why Grace was only in the movie for a short while. It's possible that role was specifically made to be short, considering how little time was spent with that Redfellow compared to the others. If the idea was to leave me wanting more, I'd be understanding, but he's dead shortly after the scene, and there are no plans for a prequel where we see more of his character.

In a way, I think the way How To Make A Killing used Topher Grace's character is representative of my thoughts on the movie overall. So much of this movie has the potential to do something really great, and all the pieces and stars are there to give us something truly special. Unfortunately, it feels like the movie loses steam before it ever starts going, so you just get to the end, shrug, and go about your life after watching.

How To Make A Killing is available to stream on HBO Max for those who have yet to see it. I'm not sure I'd watch it again like I would other beloved dark comedies, but it was nice to see Glen Powell in action as a leading man.

As if it wasn’t clear from the title, there are spoilers ahead for Tony, which hits the 2026 movie schedule this weekend.

The story told in Tony, the biopic about the late Anthony Bourdain and the latest movie from A24, is set during Bourdain’s very early days on Cape Cod, when he decided his future would be in the kitchen. It takes place decades before his book Kitchen Confidential and the wisdom within became a smash hit. Before he was a TV star. And long before he was rubbing shoulders with the culinary elite, like three-Michelin-star awardee Eric Ripert. Still, director Matt Johnson found a brilliant way to have Bourdain’s good friend make a cameo in the movie.

Tony ends with Tony (Dominic Sessa) interviewing for a spot at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA), and sitting across the desk from him is one of the school's instructors, played by Ripert. It’s an emotional moment in the movie, not just because it’s the first time Tony decides to call himself “Anthony,” but because the real-life Bourdain and Ripert were such good buddies, with Ripert appearing on Bourdain’s TV shows often over the years.

When CinemaBlend’s Hannah Saulic spoke with Johnson about the moment, he talked about how they were lucky enough to have Ripert, who has never done any acting, but he worried if it was too on the nose:

Speaking as a fan of Anthony Bourdain who found the scene completely endearing and a wonderful way to wrap up the movie, I don’t think it was too cute at all. In fact, I thought Ripert, who only has a couple of lines, did a great job as a first-time actor. That was something else Johnson seemed a little worried about, but Ripert was all business, adding:

Sessa and Johnson worked hard to help Ripert nail his part, even though English is his second language. Johnson says:

Again, speaking for myself, I absolutely loved the scene and how it concluded the story of Anthony Bourdain’s early life. There is no way for us to ever know how Bourdain would have felt about this biopic about himself (critics love it), but I’m pretty confident that he would have been thrilled to see his great friend play a part in it.

There’s no question how successful Michael has been this year, earning $1.021 billion at the box office globally to become the biggest biopic of all time. Antoine Fuqua’s movie focused on Michael Jackson’s life and career up to the 1988 Bad Tour — meaning the film predated the “ugliest chapters” of the singer’s life. However, Lionsgate has already begun moving forward with a sequel, and Jaafar Jackson — who starred as his uncle Michael in the movie — spoke about if and how the sexual abuse accusations will be handled.

The ending of Michael said that, “His Story Continues,” and given how much money the Michael Jackson biopic made, it’s inevitable that there will be another upcoming music biopic depicting other stages of the late singer’s life. With the first of the child abuse allegations against Jackson coming around 1993, it also seems inevitable that a sequel would have to address that. GQ straight-up asked Jaafar Jackson about it, and the actor responded:

Jaafar Jackson said the screenplay for the Michael sequel is still in development, and he has no real say in what’s included and what’s not. However, his focus seems to be — and always has been, really — making sure his uncle’s voice is the one that shines through.

While some critics, like Finding Neverland director Dan Reed, have blasted Michael for sidestepping the accusations of child molestation, the biopic originally did address it. The movie was allegedly going to address allegations of “sexual offensive contacts” with 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. However, Michael Jackson’s estate apparently has an agreement with the Chandler family to never dramatize those events, deeming the original ending unusable. Reshoots were done, which apparently cost an insane amount of money.

Between the timeline of the King of Pop’s life that Michael explored and the legal agreements that prevented some aspects of Michael Jackson’s life from being depicted, I can see how Antoine Fuqua and Lionsgate were able to avoid the more controversial aspects.

However, I’ll be interested to see if we’re in for a much darker sequel that does address the child sexual abuse accusations, and if so, if Jaafar Jackson will get to portray that aspect of the story from Michael Jackson’s perspective. Either way, it’s a tricky and delicate situation.

In the meantime, we’ll also be able to see more of Jaafar Jackson, as he’s landed his first post-Michael role. Jaafar will star alongside Will Smith in the upcoming action thriller Supermax, which is currently filming. Stay tuned to the 2026 movie calendar for more upcoming releases.

Gwyneth Paltrow has always been a polarizing character in Hollywood, whether that’s for rumors like the one that she only drinks bone broth or the products she peddles through her Goop lifestyle brand (you know I’m talking about the vagina candle). But as someone who’s been around the entertainment business her entire life, she really doesn’t seem to care. Case in point: She recently posted some strange dinner invitations on social media as a way of trolling critics after some AI-related backlash. Let me explain.

Gwyneth Paltrow Received Backlash For ‘Off The Record’ Dinner Invitation

The Se7en actress received quite a bit of backlash this week after Matthew Belloni reported on Puck that she was hosting a dinner in honor of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Social media users have been passionate about calling out people for using “AI slop,” even for (especially for?) silly reasons like M. Night Shyamalan’s AI pic with LeBron James, so of course they didn’t take too kindly to the invitation, which reportedly read:

People responded swiftly and intensely to the upcoming celebration of the OpenAI boss (the owner of ChatGPT), whose net worth is reportedly $3.5 billion. Responses on X (Twitter) included:

• Gwyneth Paltrow is hosting an event at her home specifically to honor Sam Altman because she’s that much of a tone-deaf dumbass. – eternallyRaq
• Lol this new era where gwyneth’s not even trying to hide being a villain anymore like fuck off – liamgareau
• How many times does she have to do stuff like this before she loses the tone deaf angle and people just realize she sucks and uses that image to disguise it – WordsFromBlerds

The Puck newsletter also included an image of the supposed dinner invitation, which was allegedly created with the help of AI, so we can’t be sure this is really what Gwyneth Paltrow sent to guests. It is, however, the image she used to troll her critics.

Gwyneth Paltrow Responds To AI Backlash With More Dinner Invitations

That brings us to the weird Instagram post that features invitations to more off-the-record dinners in honor of M3GAN, Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones, Shrek, Jessica Rabbit and Chanty Beluga, the viral TikTok character created by comedian Courtney O’Donnell. Check it out below:

Alongside the invitations honoring these fictional characters, Gwyneth Paltrow penned the mocking caption:

(I know it’s probably the least-noteworthy part of this whole ordeal, but the thought of “cheddar foam” is enough to ruin my whole day.)

So whether Gwyneth Paltrow is indicating that the Sam Altman dinner is as fictional as Jessica Rabbit or that she simply doesn’t care what people think of her dinner guests, she’s clearly choosing to laugh in the face of controversy.

This, of course, isn’t the first time she’s taken to trolling. After her ex-husband Chris Martin accidentally outed the affair between former Astronomer executives Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, the Oscar winner shot an ad for Astronomer poking fun at the viral Coldplay “Kiss Cam” moment.

If you want to see more of Gwyneth Paltrow not being a troll, catch her in Marty Supreme, which is streaming now with an HBO Max subscription.

There's little I love more in a sci-fi movie than a really cool setting, where the rules in place give the characters interesting situations to sort through. Such is the case for the 2011 sci-fi movie that just so happens to be streaming on Prime Video right now. The critics didn't love it, and the audience score isn't much better, but hear me out. While I wouldn't consider it one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, I do think In Time is absolutely worth a second look, especially if you have a Prime Video subscription. Bonus: It costs less than two hours to watch.

• Written and Directed By: Andrew Niccol
• Released: 2011
• Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, Cillian Murphy, and Vincent Kartheiser
• Also keep an eye out for: Olivia Wilde, Matt Bomer, Johnny Galecki, Ethan Peck and Alex Pettyfer

Time Is Currency (And Currency Is Life)

In Time's story is set in the slightly distant future of 2169, where time is literally money. At the age of 25, people stop physically aging; however, a digital clock on their arm begins to count down from one year. If their clock gets to zero, they die instantly. A person can add more time to their clock at any time, either by transferring it directly from one hand/wrist to the other, or from a time-keeping device. Wages are earned in time, just as the price of everything is measured in time, rather than dollars.

Society is also set up in tiered time zones. While the richest live for as long as they want in the fancy New Greenwich zone, the poorer people live on the other end of the time zone spectrum in the Dayton zone. Many are living literally day to day, trying to earn enough time to keep their clock going.

A Time Windfall Sets Off The Action

Justin Timberlake plays Will, a guy living in the ghetto with his mother. They're both struggling to get by until an encounter with a very rich, suicidal man (Matt Bomer's character) shows up in his neighborhood and bestows an enormous amount of time onto Will before ending his own life.

You'd think that a windfall might turn Will's situation around, but there's no way the Timekeepers (led by Cillian Murphy's Raymond Leon) are going to let that much time be transferred into the poorest time zone without investigation. I'm keeping this as spoiler-free as possible, so I'll just say that Will ends up on the run from the Timekeepers, as well as Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser), the rich father of Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), an heiress who gets caught up in the mess Will is in.

I Know It's Not A Perfect Movie, But I Still Think It's Underrated

Look, I'm not exactly baffled that the movie didn't get amazing reviews. With 172 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, it's sitting at 35% rotten. The popcorn meter isn't much better, with 51%. Its IMDB rating is 6.7/10. While I agree that it falls short in some areas, In Time has a lot of really good things going for it -- Cillian Murphy's law-enforcing Timekeeper character, the time-stealing minutemen, the various time zones, the ways that time is used both to earn and to spend, the action, the cast, and more. I think for me, it's the setting that holds my attention and draws me back for the occasional rewatch.

There are countless stories that focus on class systems and the mindset of the wealthy. In Time adds mortality to the equation by connecting currency with time, which connects to a person's life. In this setting, to be rich means living for as long as you want, but what does that really do to a person? The same goes for the people who are literally living day to day, waking up each morning not knowing with certainty if they'll be able to earn enough time to keep breathing (despite living in the body of a 25-year-old).

Maybe In Time would've worked better as a TV show, where it would've had more time (heh) to really explore its setting and set up interesting characters and stories. Still, if you like a sci-fi story with a clever plot and lots of action, it's absolutely worth checking out, or maybe giving it a second chance if you wrote it off in the past. Catch it streaming on Prime Video.

The deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner shocked the public in December of 2025, as did the alleged details of their reported murder. Namely because the prime suspect was their son Nick Reiner, who had argued with Rob the day before their deaths. Nick has been incarcerated as the legal process plays out, and Rob's other kids, Romy and Jake, have now reportedly testified in court related to their parents' death. Let's break it all down.

This latest update comes to us from People, which revealed that the Reiners' other two children testified before the Grand Jury that indicted Nick Reiner for the murder of Rob and Michele. The indictment was reportedly unsealed on August 12th, which will allow more information about the case to make its way to the public. Exactly what Romy and Jake said in their testimony is currently unclear, but they previously issued the following statement about their parents' death:

Tributes to Rob and Michele Reiner rolled in after his passing, and the late filmmaker/actor's generations of fans have been following along with each update from the impending trial. There have been a number of complications as the justice system plays out, including Nick Reiner's lawyer dropping him due to a lack of funds. We'll just have to wait and see if/when Romy and Jake's new comments end up coming to light.

Nick Reiner's mental state has allegedly suffered while he's been incarcerated, and he continues to plead not guilty for the death of his late parents. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman issued a statement about the ongoing case after the indictment was unsealed, which reads:

Despite Rob and Michele's deaths in December of 2025, the story is still very much top of mind for their loved ones, as well as fans of the late filmmaker's work. Only time will tell how Romy and Jake Reiner's testimony influences the legal saga. But smart money says that the public will be closely following the situation as it unfolds. For now, the pair of siblings haven't released another public statement about what's been happening in court.

Our thoughts continue to be with the Reiners' loved ones during this difficult time. CinemaBlend will keep the public abreast of updates about the trial as details come to light.

There are plenty of “what ifs” when it comes to the superhero genre, and several of those pertain to the DC Extended Universe, which was greatly shepherded by Zack Snyder. Over the years, Snyder and some of his collaborators have discussed the plans he was dreaming up for the DCEU, and a common claim is that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would’ve played Flashpoint Batman. Morgan himself has touched on that here and there, but just how serious was Snyder about all that? Well, the actor has provided some clarity on that front.

Morgan played Thomas Wayne – the father of Bruce Wayne – in Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where the character was killed alongside his wife, Martha. Those who’ve read the comic likely know that the “Flashpoint” story arc of the comics features a universe in which young Bruce Wayne dies, and Thomas and Martha become that world’s versions of the Dark Knight and Joker, respectively. As of this writing, that story has yet to be depicted on the big screen, unfortunately.

During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast (part of which was shared to Instagram), Morgan was quizzed in regard to just how serious Snyder was about having him don the cape and cowl. The Walking Dead icon confirmed that the prospect of him playing that version of the Caped Crusader actually came up quite early:

Zack Snyder was seemingly quite serious about having Morgan (who also worked with him on Watchmen) play the role, and it’s interesting that he used that as an enticing factor when courting the actor for the BvS part. That apparently wasn’t the only time that the “Flashpoint” variation of Batman came up between Morgan and Snyder, as the former recalled:

Of course, all hope of Jeffrey Dean Morgan playing Batman was seemingly extinguished when Snyder’s ties with the DCEU were severed. The character also wasn’t included in 2023's The Flash, as director Andy Muschietti explained that he wasn’t aiming to completely adapt “Flashpoint” with his film. Alas, it now feels like Morgan will never play Gotham’s defender (barring any kind of multiversal surprise in James Gunn’s DCU).

It’s still fun to think about what that would’ve looked like, though. I obviously can’t speak to exactly what Snyder may or may not have been planning, but I think Morgan would make a solid Batman. He certainly has the screen presence as well as a firm level of physicality that he could bring to the part. At this point, it may just be reasonable to let this dream casting remain in the darkest corners of the Batcave. Still, I’d love to see Morgan land a DCU role of some kind.

Check out Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice by streaming it with an HBO Max subscription. That membership also grants access to a lot more DC content.

Presale tickets for Avengers: Doomsday became available to buy this week. And, it’s looking like the next of upcoming Marvel movies could be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) films on the 2026 movie schedule. So when Simu Liu took some time to promote it this week, he chose to highlight that in a quite funny way.

Liu took to X to ask people to “spread the word” on a movie that everyone’s been talking about by now. Check it out:

Ah, yes. Simu Liu’s ”little indie feature”, Avengers: Doomsday! The Shang-Chi actor decided to do a bit of trolling here and the sarcasm train just kept going. Here’s some more exchanges between fans and Liu following his latest post:

• @wade_burrell: “Proud to do my part to support your unknown project, Simu. 🤞”
  • Simu Liu: “thanks i know you probably haven’t heard of it but i promise it’s good!"
• @WriteOB: “Are you sure it's good? I'm always skeptical about small budget movies”
  • Simu Liu: “yes! we stretched every dollar of our very limited budget. i have no doubt it won't affect your moviegoing experience!”
• @IgorMatviyets: “Are there special instructions how to watch this little Independent movie?”
  • Simu Liu: “check your local theatre to see if they are planning on showing it! we’re not totally sure how many we’ll get, i’ve heard it’s rough out there for indie stuff…”

Across Simu Liu’s career, the actor may have implemented his social media to let fans know about small or even regular-sized movies and TV shows he’s been part of. But, it sounds like Liu feels a bit ridiculous bringing up Doomsday given all the press it’s already getting leading up to its December release.

The latest special look for Avengers: Doomsday amassed over 32 million views on YouTube alone in less than a week as presale tickets came out earlier this week. Take a look:

Avengers: Doomsday is also very much not an indie movie given it’s allegedly one of the most expensive films ever produced. It bodes well that Doomsday’s presale numbers are already tracking ahead of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And, that movie recently crossed $2 billion at the worldwide box office, becoming one the highest-grossing films of all time.

Doomsday marks Simu Liu's first appearance in a live-action Marvel movie since his debut in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Liu has teased that Shang-Chi is a “more lived-in” hero this time around. He’s also talked about how mortified he was to meet Robert Downey Jr on the set of the movie, who’s switching out his Iron Man suit to play the lead villain.

Alongside Liu and Downey, the movie will also star Chris Evan and Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Chris Hemsworth’s Tho and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man. There’s also the cast of Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and much of the cast from the original X-Men movies.

Simu Liu may not need to promote Avengers: Doomsday, but you gotta love him showing he’s a good Avengers teammate and doing so anyways.

Getting cast in a Star Wars project would be exciting for any actor, and landing a role synonymous with lightsaber fights has to be truly next level. Whether you’re the good guy or bad guy, it must be so much fun to get to wield the iconic weapons in choreographed combat, which actor Hayden Christensen knows a thing about. Of course, he also knows what it's like to be asked to stop doing his own sound effects.

While at Disney's D23 Expo, Rotten Tomatoes sat down with Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson, Christensen and Eman Esfandi, asking them what the key is to a perfect lightsaber fight. As the title character, Dawson jumped right in to declare that it’s most important not to do the sounds. While the Anakin Skywalker actor agreed, he shared that it was also difficult for him to break the habit and even had the man himself, George Lucas, tell him to stop. Here’s what he said (via YouTube):

This is not the first time that Hayden Christensen has talked about the impulse to make the sound effect when swinging a lightsaber. At a Star Wars Celebration 40^th Anniversary panel nearly a decade ago, he revealed that both he and Ewan McGregor needed to stop doing it and that he wasn’t even aware it was happening until it was pointed out to him.

Personally, I’m delighted to hear that Star Wars actors find the same joy in filming the fight scenes for the big and small screen that every fan of every age has when pretending to be a great Star Wars hero or villain. It’s so easy to get caught up in it all that it’s incredibly relatable to know that the cast is not excluded from that. You can check out the full clip with the Ahsoka cast below:

The Star Wars prequels have been given a hard time since their release, but that hasn’t stopped the love Christensen has had thrown his way. Fans were thrilled to see Anakin in the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. He then returned in flashbacks and as a Force ghost in Ahsoka, which will return for Season 2 in January 2027. He’s also been incredibly gracious about the love and support from fans and has given direction to Stormtroopers when he’s taken his daughter to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in the Disney theme parks.

While the list of best Star Wars movies and great Disney+ original shows that you can watch with a Disney+ subscription continues to grow, you can track all of the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows on the horizon. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out to see how his time in a galaxy far, far away continues to play out, hoping that maybe we’ll see Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan all share the screen again in the future. And until then, I’ll be watching for any BTS videos that might come out with Star Wars cast members doing their own audio sound effects in lightsaber fights.

Over the years, Adam Sandler has filmed in a lot of cool locations. He’s also become known for bringing along his friends for the ride so they get a nice vacation out of it. He’s been very open about it. However, that's changing. His pals are still along for the trip in Grown Ups 3; however, the upcoming Netflix movie is shooting in the notably not exotic North New Jersey. This week he was filming in the Garden State town of Colonia, outside New York City. Now don’t get me wrong, New Jersey is a great place, but it’s not exactly Maui.

According to a report on tapinto.net, Sandler, along with his co-stars Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider, parked their production in Colonia for a day while filming scenes for the movie. And again, Colonia is a nice town, and probably a great place to grow up, like much of Jersey, but it’s pretty much just the generic suburbs. The first Grown Ups movie was definitely an excuse to hang out with his friends at a Lake House outside Boston.

All those locations are a far cry from some of the exotic locales Sandler’s been able to take friends to before, especially in more recent years with his deal with Netflix. In fact, he rarely makes one of his Netflix movies (especially his best rom-coms) anywhere but a fun location, something he admitted to in 2014 when he said he often picks and writes movies for his Happy Madison productions based on somewhere he wants to vacation. Here are a few of the locations he’s shot movies in over recent years:

• Oahu (50 First Dates, Murder Mystery 2)
• Maui (Just Go With It)
• Sun City, South Africa (Blended)
• Baja, Mexico (You Don't Mess with the Zohan)
• Lake Como, Italy (Murder Mystery)
• Paris (Murder Mystery 2)
• Prague (Spaceman)
• New Mexico (The Ridiculous 6)
• Puerto Rico (The Do-Over)
• Alaska (50 First Dates)

Jack and Jill, which no one would say is the best Sandler flick, allowed Sandler (and Sandler) to film on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Even I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, while mostly shot in New York, featured scenes filmed at Niagara Falls. It’s a pretty nice gig, if you get it. Or, in this case, make it happen.

This isn’t the first time Sandler has filmed in Jersey, of course. Happy Gilmore 2, which is also available with a Netflix subscription, was filmed in the same area as Grown Ups 2, as was this year’s Don't Say Good Luck. His 2022 Netflix movie Hustle was filmed around Philadelphia, including parts of South Jersey as well.

Though he’s not from New Jersey, Adam Sandler seems to have found a home in the Garden State, at least for filming. When he’s not shooting under a palm tree on a beach somewhere with Jennifer Aniston.

La La Land is about to hit a big milestone. The almost-Best Picture winner turns ten this year, and to celebrate, it has just returned to theaters. Nowadays, the movie musical is thought of as a modern classic. But I just learned that when it first came across one producer’s desk, he had very low expectations for it.

CinemaBlend attended the La La Land 10th anniversary event at Los Angeles’s very own Griffith Observatory. There, producer Fred Berger reflected on the early days of the project. As he shared:

La La Land’s writer/director Damien Chazelle actually wrote the screenplay for the genre-bending movie musical back in 2010. But for years he had no luck getting it greenlit. He linked up with Fred Berger years before it was made, but the studios initially wouldn't finance it unless he made a lot of changes. For example, they asked him to change Ryan Gosling’s character to be a rock musician, and for the couple to get together at the end, but Chazelle wouldn’t do it.

Ultimately, the filmmaker decided to make Whiplash first since it was thought of as a more commercially viable idea. As Berger added:

From Berger’s perspective, Chazelle’s idea was “one of the worst pitches”, and there are a few reasons why. For one, it romanticizes a place people don’t often romanticize. Secondly, it’s about a couple who break up, and thirdly, it’s about a jazz musician. As the producer added, a cherry on top of the bad pitch was Chazelle saying it was “non-negotiable” that his college roommate, Justin Hurwitz, do all the music.

Thankfully, they ultimately took a chance on it, because it’s one of my favorite films, and one of the most critically-acclaimed movies in recent years. And it brought back the Old Hollywood musical with a modern twist we really haven’t seen much of in the 21st century. Berger also said this:

La La Land has since become a tour of Los Angeles for audiences, and fans use it as inspiration when they visit the California city. Hermosa Beach’s Lighthouse Cafe specifically has become a famous place thanks to the movie. It also brought out some of the best performances from Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

At the anniversary event, Lionsgate also unveiled an updated version of the poster that fixes an aspect of it that “haunts” star Ryan Gosling. So, it's clear they're all acknowledging the bumpy yet beautiful journey that led to the making of this classic movie.

You can watch La La Land in theaters now – alongside a host of 2026 movies and anniversary re-releases like The Return of the King!

These days, there’s always a new live-action remake among upcoming Disney movies. But will Frozen ever get one? Well, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad (the voices of Anna, Elsa and Olaf, respectively) were asked about the possibilities. I have to say, they threw some solid ideas for Anna and Elsa out there.

Kristen Bell And Josh Gad Have Ideas For The Live-Action Frozen

The cast of Frozen III came together at D23 last week, ahead of the sequel being released on the 2027 movie schedule, to share the first footage. And when they stopped by the Jonas Brothers’ podcast, they were asked about a live-action Frozen. Here are their best ideas for the leading roles:

• Kristen Bell: "I already know who I want to play Anna, though, it's Joey King."
• Josh Gad: "You know who is campaigning for [Idina Menzel's] role, I found out, Anya Taylor-Joy."

Just prior to this answer, Kristen Bell shared that she tried to get the cast to star in the Broadway musical with her. But they weren’t up for it. Then, Bell said her pick for Anna: 27-year-old Joey King, and I can totally see it. The actress is charismatic and fun like Anna, and has even been rocking red hair lately. She’s best known for The Kissing Booth movies and is set to be in Practical Magic 2 this fall.

Josh Gad then brought up Anya Taylor-Joy, who actually campaigned for the role before. Back in 2024, the Dune actress said it’s her “dream” Disney role. She also said it “would be very fun to shoot ice out of your hand” and “be the favorite at every kid’s birthday party”. Taylor-Joy definitely has the right look for the role.

And, yes, both actors have a history with singing, too. Though it’s not to the extent of the original voice actors.

What Idina Menzel Thinks About Live-Action Frozen

But, then Elsa herself, Idina Menzel, came in with an icy hot take! In her words:

The actress behind Elsa is talking about 2019’s The Irishman, where Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci were aged down digitally to play younger versions of their roles in the crime epic. As Menzel pitched it, why doesn’t Disney do that so Anna and Elsa could be played by their original voice actors? They also joked about Josh Gad wearing a physical Olaf suit, so there’s that, too.

Given how beloved the animated movie continues to be, it does seem possible Frozen could get the live-action treatment someday. The next animated movie to get it, though, is a remake of Tangled starring Teagan Croft as Rapunzel, Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider and Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel. It’s coming to theaters on March 31, 2028. Before that, we’ll see Frozen III when it comes to cinemas on November 24, 2027. Then, maybe after that, Anna and Elsa will make their way into the world of live-action.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for The End of Oak Street! Don't read this if you want to go into the movie and be surprised!

Not even The End of Oak Street's trailer could've prepared me for this wild feature on the 2026 movie schedule. The film is truly filled with tons of surprises that include everything from dinosaur sex to a very shocking moment in which Ewan McGregor's Greg is killed off at the film's midpoint. Seriously, my jaw was on the floor at multiple points, and it turns out even the cast didn't see one particular plot twist coming.

McGregor spoke to EW about the wild twist where Greg ultimately falls victim to an Allosaurus after protecting Denise. He admitted that even though he knew it was coming when watching, it still caught him completely off guard:

It's a big shock, much like the rest of The End of Oak Street, which quickly transitions from an Amblin-coded film to a wild nightmare. Greg's death is pretty horrific and gory, and certainly something you wouldn't have seen in classic family movies of the past. However, it's also one of the reasons why The End of Oak Street deserves its wild reviews.

Perhaps even more surprising than the death is that The End Of Oak Street ending sees Denise figuring out she can save Greg and many others when they travel back to the time before the incident occurred. Anne Hathaway revealed the original script did not have that bit, and while she was skeptical about Greg being resurrected (kind of) at the end, her perspective changed when seeing it with someone:

I appreciate Anne Hathaway admitting she was wrong about the change, and I also do get where she's coming from. The End of Oak Street is absolutely loaded with wild moments, violence, and confusing twists and turns. While it has gained general approval from audiences and critics, there's a world where this movie could've easily swung the other way and been called laughably bad.

I think how it was scripted changes The End of Oak Street for the better and gives the happy ending I don't think anyone was expecting. Greg and Denise are seemingly no longer on the verge of divorce, she writes a successful book, and they save many of their friends.

It's a perfect ending for everyone except for the versions of Denise and the children who were sent to the past without Greg, who I have to think did not survive, as they weren't at the cookout at the end of the movie. Maybe we'll get a follow-up movie in which we get to learn what happened to them, and we'll get another wild time-travel '80's-tastic adventure?

The End of Oak Street is currently in theaters, and I think it's totally worth watching there rather than waiting to see it when it comes to streaming. There are so many moments that make it ideal to watch with a crowd, and I think it makes the movie more enjoyable.

When it comes to Jason Statham’s action-packed movies, we pretty much know what we’re going to get. Whether he’s fighting bad guys and sharks in The Meg or bad guys and bees in The Beekeeper (OK, he didn’t really fight bees), we know that when we buy a ticket for Statham, we’re signing up to see him beat up a lot of people. His next movie Mutiny is no different. So even though we’ve got a good idea of what to expect, I tracked down some of the most fun reactions to the upcoming action flick.

Mutiny hits theaters August 21, and it’s the second offering from Jason Statham on the 2026 movie calendar. This time around we’ll see him playing Special Forces operator Cole Reed, who’s trying to uncover an international conspiracy after being framed for murdering his billionaire friend. Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert gives the movie 3 out of 4 stars, saying Statham’s movies can’t be judged the same way other films are. He continues:

Adam Courtiff of The Movie Buff says that while we may know what to expect, Jason Statham delivers an “awesome thrill ride” in which you can “feel every bullet ricochet and every blood spatter.” It also delivers what the critic says is one of the most entertaining climaxes you’re likely to see all year. In Courtiff’s words:

Bill Bria of SlashFilm agrees in his Mutiny review, rating it 7 out of 10. The action is “impactful and memorable,” the critic says, and it’s fully Jason Statham’s show, allowing the actor to showcase his physicality as well as his warmth, intensity, determination and rage. It’s a great follow-up to recent projects like The Beekeeper and A Working Man, Bria writes:

Some of the most over-the-top reactions, however, aren’t all that glowing. Not every critic is won over by bone-breaking alone. Siddhant Adlakha of IGN gives it an “Awful” 3 out of 10. Jason Statham sleepwalks through Mutiny, the critic says, with “nary a quip or powerful pose,” and few hits land with the kind of gut-crunching sound or snappy visual impact you pay for in this kind of movie. More from Adlakha’s review:

M.N. Miller of In Session Film gives the movie a D+, writing that there is some bone-crunching action to pass the time, but the rest is “plot-induced incompetence, idiot logic, and artificial jeopardy.” Miller continues:

The critics are split over this one — and equally passionate on both ends of the spectrum. To that point, Mutiny holds a 50% Rotten Tomatoes score, so audiences will have to decide for themselves if seeing Jason Statham beat up a lot of people — again — is worth buying a ticket for. For many, that’s more than enough, and if you’re one of those Statham fans, you can catch Mutiny in theaters starting Friday, August 21.

For years, Ryan Gosling playing Ghost Rider sounded like one of those fan-casting ideas that had somehow escaped the internet and reached the actor himself. He wanted the role, Kevin Feige knew he wanted it, and finally Marvel actually made it happen. What I did not realize was that the Barbie actor was the one who convinced Feige to do the movie. So, what was the pitch?

Shawn Levy, who will direct Marvel's upcoming movie, recently explained to People how his next collaboration with Gosling grew directly out of making Star Wars: Starfighter. According to the filmmaker:

Levy described the La La Land star as much more involved in Starfighter than simply showing up to play Kade Auberon. The actor also serves as an executive producer and, according to the director, paid attention to everything from lighting to production design.

The couple of Canadians' next collaboration turned out to be Ghost Rider. And this is where the story seriously surprised me. I knew Gosling had wanted to play the Spirit of Vengeance for years. Back in 2022, he publicly named Ghost Rider as the Marvel character he was interested in, prompting Feige to say he would "love to find a place for him in the MCU."

I assumed Marvel eventually dusted off the character, approached the Blade Runner 2049 lead, and handed him the keys to the flaming motorcycle. Uh, I was wrong. Apparently, it was Gosling who had the idea. Whatever he told Levy must have been pretty convincing, because the Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker says he was sold almost immediately:

I really want to know what the Oscar-nominated actor said during those six minutes. Feige has since revealed that the actor came to Marvel with specific Ghost Rider comics he wanted to discuss, which makes it sound like he already had a pretty clear version of Johnny Blaze in mind. That has me even more curious about what he pitched.

I hope that Daniel Way’s 2006 Ghost Rider run was somewhere in that conversation. Issues #1 through #19 reintroduced the character after years of creative stagnation, giving Johnny Blaze a grittier, uglier edge and leaned hard into the kind of grindhouse horror that suits the character.

The book follows Johny as he escapes hell, with Lucifer using him as a way to Earth, and the motorcyclist from Hades has to track down the devil before he can transform Earth into a new hell. The series is full of scorched highways, demons, hellfire and plenty of supernatural nastiness.

That’s the version of Ghost Rider I want Gosling and Levy to chase. Let Johnny Blaze feel dangerous, grimy and a little disreputable. Give the movie some dirt under its fingernails. Even Gosling’s wife, Eva Mendes, has said she knew he would make a great Ghost Rider after watching him tear around on a motorcycle in The Place Beyond the Pines. How much more convincing do we need that this thing should get gritty? If Gosling is pulling from that era of the comics, I’d happily take a Ghost Rider movie that feels like a battered VHS tape you’d find shoved behind the counter at an old video store.

But before Ryan Gosling becomes the Spirit of Vengeance, we’ll get to see what made him and Levy click in the first place when Star Wars: Starfighter hits the 2027 movie schedule on May 28. If that movie works, I may start wondering what else he can sell Levy on in six minutes.

We have a bit of a wait for both Starfighter and Ghost Rider, so in the meantime, longtime MCU fans can revisit all of the Star Wars and Marvel movies in order with a Disney+ subscription.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has spent the past month collecting box office records like Odysseus collected reasons to not make it home on time. It became Nolan’s biggest movie, conquered IMAX and kept climbing. Now it has taken another record, and this one came directly out of Ryan Reynolds’ trophy case. If nothing else, at least Reynolds is magnanimous about the whole thing.

The Odyssey has officially passed Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, topping the Marvel movie’s $1.338 billion worldwide haul. The actor behind the Merc with a Mouth acknowledged the changing of the guard with an appropriately stupid joke on his Instagram, congratulating Nolan’s cast and crew while slipping in a reference to one of Deadpool & Wolverine’s best running gags. Check out the video below.

Editing one of The Odyssey’s tensest scenes, with Odysseus and his men facing the cannibal giants, as if it were happening in the same forest as Deadpool and Wolverine’s brutal car fight is appropriately ridiculous. Throwing Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta singing “You’re the One That I Want” over the whole thing somehow makes it even stranger.

That final line in Reynolds’ caption is, of course, a nod to the Honda Odyssey. He wrote:

The accompanying video pulls from Deadpool & Wolverine’s spectacularly violent fight inside the Honda Odyssey, where Wade Wilson and Logan spend an absurd amount of time beating each other senseless. Deadpool starts the sequence trashing the minivan, only to change his tune once he realizes just how much punishment the thing can take.

So when another Odyssey came along and knocked Reynolds’ movie out of the top spot, he apparently decided the proper response was to mash the two together. Fair enough.

Reynolds had enjoyed bragging rights since Deadpool & Wolverine passed Joker in 2024. The MCU team-up finished its theatrical run with more than $1.33 billion globally, an astonishing total for an R-rated movie, a new superhero movie or otherwise, and one that looked difficult to touch. But never count Nolan out, as he managed it two years later with Homer.

This is only the latest milestone for a movie that has been bulldozing through records since its 2026 movie calendar release. Earlier this month, The Odyssey passed The Dark Knight Rises to become Nolan’s highest-grossing movie worldwide. That was a record Nolan had held against himself since 2012. The movie also became the highest-grossing IMAX release ever, passing Avatar, after generating $289 million in the premium format.

As of Aug. 19, The Odyssey had crossed $1.34 billion worldwide, enough to move past Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s Marvel blockbuster for the R-rated crown. The movie also still has some international runway left, which means that total is not finished growing.

At this point, I am running out of ways to be surprised by The Odyssey’s box office performance. A three-hour Christopher Nolan page-to-screen adaptation of Homer becoming a major hit was difficult to imagine, even after the success of Oppenheimer. Watching it start knocking down records previously held by Avatar and Deadpool & Wolverine is another thing entirely.

Ryan Reynolds, at least, seems to be taking the dethroning well. Besides, Deadpool & Wolverine still has one distinction Nolan cannot steal from it: I am fairly certain Odysseus never called his vessel a Honda fucking Odyssey. That has to count for something.

Steve-O has been willing to do some pretty gross stuff over the years, as we see in Jackass: Best and Last, which hit the 2026 movie schedule earlier this year and is now available on video-on-demand. Most of his best stunts involved everything from pole vaulting into rancid water to being covered in poop in a portapotty. In Best And Last, one of his tamer stunts–shooting a ping pong ball out of his butt- didn’t work on film. He told me exactly why it didn’t work, even though it worked when he practiced it in his hotel room before shooting. It’s all about biology, according to Steve-O.

One of the final scenes of what is (supposedly) the final Jackass movie involves the former circus clown doing a magic trick that was supposed to end with a ping pong ball being shot from his butt across the room. Unfortunately, the trick didn’t really work. I asked Steve-O about it, and he said that while practicing, it worked:

In the movie, the ball doesn’t travel nearly as far. The self-described "attention whore" really struggled to get the ball to do anything at all, but Steve-O learned something while practicing, telling me:

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure it works with anyone’s biology, but he’s the expert, so I’ll trust him when he says it definitely doesn’t work for his. He was definitely…bummed…that the trick didn’t work in Jackass: Best and Last, but he’s not giving up:

He’s already attempted the trick again in his solo live show, and it worked, so you’ll have to catch Steve-O live to see the trick in its fully realized form.

Meanwhile, while the Jackass franchise has officially come to a close (something else Steve-O was adamant about in our conversation), you can still watch all the older movies and most of the spinoffs with a Paramount+ subscription. I’ve had the pleasure of rewatching them all recently, and they remain just as ridiculous and hilarious as ever.

Avengers: Doomsday will be here before we know it, and it's likely that fans may want to prepare themselves for the showdown between Earth's Mightiest Heroes with Robert Downey Jr.'s enigmatic Doctor Doom. Well, Marvel just dropped a watchlist filled with titles for fans to watch (or rewatch) to prepare for the highly anticipated team-up film. But what’s catching some fans’ attention right now isn’t what’s ON the list, but what’s been left OFF of it. And I can’t blame them for being surprised at this exclusion.

The list that's been released is being considered “essential” for fans ahead of Doomsday's release on the 2026 movie schedule. Pre-MCU films as well as some of the earlier installments in the sprawling franchise fill out this list as well as more recent multiverse-centric shows and movies. Check out what made the cut:

• X-Men
• X-Men 2
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• The Avengers
• Avengers Infinity War/Endgame
• Loki Seasons 1 and 2
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
• Deadpool and Wolverine
• Captain America: Brave New World
• Thunderbolts*
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Truthfully, I wasn’t surprised with some of these choices, especially since the most recent MCU films have set up this epic new Avengers film in key ways. For instance, I don’t think anyone was shocked to see Deadpool & Wolverine to make the cut. I think it's possible that Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will actually appear Doomsday. That recent “hostage video” of Hugh Jackman asking for a role in the film (on Reynolds' orders) feels like a marketing ploy.

Despite all the relevant titles, one that was surprisingly left off was 2023's The Marvels, which has an ending that overtly links to Doomsday. Check out what fans had to say on X:

• @michaelp93: It’s absolutely CRAZY that The Marvels isn’t here. That film truly deserved better.
• @undeniablydezzy: Soooo Monica is just stuck then or maybe even another retconned post credits scene that never gets explained? Ugh. I hope that’s not the case!
• @RedHood75: Leaving Days of Future Past and The Marvels out is crazy!
• @MCUPerfectGifs: I don’t get why The Marvels isn’t included on the list of essential projects to watch before Doomsday. Its post-credit scene is directly linked to the multiverse.
• @lil_krispi: Everyone saying “they weren’t needed” when Monica Rambeau is literally in the X-Men universe rn.
• @Sksj002: No The Marvels. No Thor Love and Thunder. No Ms. Marvel. No Moon Knight. The Kang era getting erased from history in real time.

This is a real head-scratcher. And, as can be seen above, what many fans are pointing to is the end of The Marvels, which sees Monica Rambeau waking up in another universe. Not only that, but said world is populated by the X-Men, including Kelsey Grammer's Beast and Binary (a variant of Monica's mother, Maria). It may have just been a small tag, but it's still weird not to include the film on this list.

The fan responses remind me of when Agents of SHIELD was always left out of MCU canon, despite following the timeline set by the films. Hopefully, the events of The Marvels don't ultimately translate into a wasted B storyline of this franchise.

And, while the Nia DaCosta-directed film is being highlighted, fans also pointed out other movies (and shows) left out on the list. Overall, some are worried that they mean Doomsday won't feature characters such as Monica Rambeau, Moon Knight’s Steven Grant/Mark Spector or Kamala Khan (a.k.a Ms. Marvel) again. Another project left out was the original Fantastic Four from 2005, which introduced the origins of Doctor Doom. (Ironically, Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the role then , before it went to the late Julian McMahon.)

It is possible that the events of unlisted films might come into play. Honestly, I just can't see a world where that Monica cliffhanger is left unresolved in Avengers: Doomsday, which includes Beast and other X-Men. We'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out when the movie hits theaters on December 18. In the meantime, prep by streaming the films on this list and more with a Disney+ subscription.

Some actors are really one-in-a-million, and I do believe that applies to Steve Carell. Between his movies and TV shows, the actor has delivered some truly memorable, sometimes-hilarious characters throughout his decades-long career. So for this week's movie (and TV) quiz, I decided to dedicate this entire crossword puzzle to Steve Carell's work. Every clue in the puzzle below is focused on the actor's movies and TV shows from over the years. How many clues can you solve?

Anthony Bourdain gave us a lot of unforgettable quotes, many of which also double as great life advice. However, in Tony, the upcoming A24 movie about the chef, there’s one very well-known quote that was cut from the project. Now, why did that happen? Well, the film’s director told CinemaBlend his reasoning behind taking the famous Bourdain philosophy out.

Ahead of Tony’s release on the 2026 movie schedule, CinemaBlend’s Hannah Saulic got the director and cast’s takes on some of Anthony Bourdain’s popular philosophies and quotes. This included his famous line:

That quote comes from Bourdain’s book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. And Matt Johnson, the director of Tony, told us that the line was originally in his movie. He specified that it was said to Dominic Sessa’s Tony by Leo Woodall’s chaotic and free-spirited cook, Sal. However, Johnson ended up taking the line out. Here’s why:

Matt Johnson: And I took it out. I have a mixed feeling about that. And I think that, yes, absolutely, this life is here for you to live. But Anthony Bourdain would also say you have a responsibility to do your best. And I find those two philosophies to be sometimes in conflict with one another. So yes, I mean, like we’re an embodied species. Like, you want to feel everything, but don't sacrifice your life to your pleasure, I think is taking that too far.

That conflict Johnson brought up is explored in Tony. The movie – which follows Anthony Bourdain’s first summer in Provincetown, where he works as a dishwasher and learns about working in a restaurant – sees him go from a pretentious wannabe writer to a person who falls in love with cooking and the skills and discipline that come with it. On the one hand, he has Woodall’s Sal teaching him how to live his life on the edge and to the fullest; on the other, he has Antonio Banderas’ restaurant owner teaching him how to live a fulfilling and disciplined life as a chef.

The philosophy about our bodies being an amusement park certainly fits in better with Sal’s actions in the movie. It also feels like something Tony lives by too, but again, not to its fullest extent. As Johnson noted, Bourdain has philosophies and quotes about responsibility, showing up on time and working hard. Those kinds of beliefs can compete with the thrill-seeking nature of his other quote.

However, multiple and conflicting things can be true at the same time. For the sake of the film, though, I get why he took the quote out. Although Stavros Halkias, who plays Dimitri, disagreed with the director’s take, saying:

Johnson reacted to that by asking, “And then die!?” to which Halkias said, “Yes, who cares?”

Well, no matter how you feel about the matter, the quote was cut from Tony.

Now, how would the late Anthony Bourdain feel about all this and the movie in general? We will never know. However, his assistant did say that it’s not worth trying to predict what Bourdain would think of something.

So, who knows what exactly he’d think about this quote getting cut and the movie in general. That aside, Tony has gotten solid reviews, and you can catch it (but not the philosophy about our bodies being amusement parks) in theaters now.

It’s no secret that the Moana films are close to the heart of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The movies from Disney have allowed the multi-hyphenate to be loud and proud about his Polynesian culture in a big way. But I just learned more about how the live-action Moana allowed The Rock to connect to the “complicated relationship” he had with his late father, Rocky Johnson, as well.

For the live-action Moana movie, Johnson had the opportunity to co-write and sing a sweet song called “Your Dad” for the Moana: Voices of the Ocean album. It’s a sweet track that shows the warmth of being a father. Here’s what The Rock said about the song to SiriusXM:

The Rock’s dad was a pioneering Canadian professional wrestler who won multiple championships in his heyday. The movie star looked up to his dad growing up, and clearly was inspired by him when it came to his own career. But at the same time, as Dwayne Johnson has detailed in the past, he was also very tough on him.

“Your Dad” offers a supportive message to Johnson’s three daughters that perhaps he never heard from his own father, who died in 2020 at the age of 75. As he added:

It sounds like writing and performing the song was cathartic for Dwayne Johnson, who’s trying to learn from his late father now that he’s a dad himself. Johnson has a 25-year-old named Simone, a 10-year-old named Jasmine and an 8-year-old named Tiana. You can check out the song “Your Dad” below:

The Moana-inspired album isn’t the first time The Rock has confronted his relationship with his dad. Joseph Lee Anderson also played Rocky Johnson in his autobiographical sitcom on NBC, Young Rock, which was on for three seasons. Johnson’s relationship with his father has clearly been an important aspect of his life that he’s felt compelled to explore through his work, and knowing how it’s connected to Moana is something I didn’t realize.

The live-action Moana hit theaters last month to tons of reactions calling it “unnecessary”, and the movie made just $293.7 million worldwide against a reported $250 million budget. Despite the flop, The Rock has stood by the live-action movie because it allowed a Polynesian cast to be front-and-center on the big screen. And, without it, “Your Dad” may have never had a reason to come to fruition.

What sweet, vulnerable words from Johnson! Next, he has the new Jumanji movie coming out on Christmas Day among other upcoming The Rock movies.

One of those actors who seems impervious to bad performances, David Krumholtz has amassed well over 100 TV and movie credits, from Freaks and Geeks and The Santa Clause to Oppenheimer and Supergirl. lAny time he pops on the screen, audiences can nod assuredly that it'll be a scene worth watching. Which is why a lot of his fans, followers and fellow actors reacted with dismay after he shared a downbeat social post about making the decision to take a break from the business after a series of frustrating situations, with many thinking he was quitting acting for good.

Krumholtz, who noted in 2024 that his phone wasn't ringing very much after Oppenheimer despite its billion-dollar box office, later deleted the post and shared a follow-up clarification on Instagram to assure everyone that, despite any ominousness being picked up on, he isn't in retirement mode. in his words:

He went on to address that as much as he understands a career in acting comes with disappointments, he is in the process of regaining his mental health in now that his 'mountain of disappointments' aren't as easy to bounce back from.

As well, he addressed the "crossroads" he's at by way of what he wants the next chapter of his life to be, and that's what he'll be taking this time to dig into. He ended his message with, "Just,… gimme a sec. ❤️"

Soon after he shared his re-expressed thoughts, another flood of supportive comments popped up and have continued to do so. One of the lengthiest responses came from none other than Jamie Lee Curtis, who shared the following, which got its own response from Krumholtz.

• JAMIE LEE CURTIS: A very close friend wrote a beautiful thought piece about what we all do and try to do in this industry entitled
  THIS IS A DANGEROUS BUSINESS
  It's also a business in flux and shapeshifting in front of our eyes. Technology combined with the continued fallout from the pandemic and the artistic corporatization industrial complex of the art form we all love, has resulted in many many many many many many many artists losing opportunities and hope. Protect your mental health and find your bliss and know that you are respected as an artist and as a human.
  • DAVID KRUMHOLTZ: Jamie. You know this means so much to me. Truly. I’m taking my personal power back like Mo’Nique! You and I come from good stock! 🤓❤️😉

Wise words all around, and thoughtful ones for her to share in such an instance. Not that she was alone. Plenty of celebs who have worked with Krumholtz in the past (and otherwise) shared the love for him during his current stresses.

• JUDD APATOW: ❤️❤️
• JAIME ALEXANDER: In full support🙌
• MARGARITA LEVIEVA: I relate wholeheartedly. Love you, man. This feels right. For now. ❤️‍🔥
• JILLIAN BELL: Beautifully said. You have to protect your mental health first and foremost. You are one of my favorite actors and I can’t wait for the day you say put me back in coach. But until then, you live your life and take a much deserved exhale. Love you buddy.
• JEWEL STAITE: 👏❤️
• REGGIE LEE: Wishing you fulfillment. Thank you for eloquently stating what most actors are feeling today. There is LIFE to live and you are helping us all by seeing that. 🙏🏽🫶🏽💪🏽
• KERRY KINNEY SILVER: I love you, friend☺️❤️
• JOHN CARROLL LYNCH: Take your time. Find joy. You’re a good man. Those of us who are “mid-career professionals” completely get it. ❤️
• CHRISTOPHER MINTZ-PLASSE: ❤️❤️
• JENNIFER ESPOSITO: Yup. As we spoke about. Sending ❤️
• JANUARY JONES: Of course we understand. I break up with acting all the time. I will be like “ew as if” and then love bomb it 2yrs later. It’s Such a toxic boyfriend haha. No need to label it.

If this were a game of "Who said it best?" however, Joey mic-dropping Pants would take the grand prize. His lengthy comment:

• JOE PANTOLIANO: Greed, runs down like shit through goose‘s ass. The billionaires are turning our profession into a hobby. It’s like doing equity waiver, loving this Craft no longer puts food on the table. when Ben Johnson went from being a horse wrangler stunt man to an actor, John Ford paid him $5000 a week X 10 weeks work. Adjusted for inflation in 1938 when they shot that movie $5000 then is worth. $118.642.14 in today’s yeah please don’t get me wrong. I’m incredibly grateful I’ve been way too lucky and have enjoyed every second that I get to play and yes, I know that great actors are a dime a dozen and the market is flooded supply and demand we have to build and create we want to stay in the game as I like to say I’ve been semi retired since I’m 18 years old and doing this for 53 years and a member of the screen actors guild since 1972. Like my agent & endeavor said when they fired me 15 years ago, You had a good run.

I kinda wish Joey Pants would tell me that exact same quote if I was ever in a position where I had to ask him what time it is.

Although I have to wonder if stories about his plights helped out, since he was in a whopping ten projects released in 2025. (Two were animated, so they probably happened long before that.)

Wanna see the actor bring his elf Bernard back for The Santa Clauses TV show? Stream it now via Disney+ subscription, or you can find him portraying Kryptonian patriarch Zor-el in Supergirl, which is available to purchase or rent on digital.

There are a bunch of paparazzi photos circulating the internet of the four actors playing The Beatles in Sam Mendes’ The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which is still quite a way away from hitting movie screens in 2028. The movies have been filming for a few months now (and are expected to be filming for quite a few more), and recently the faux Fab Four–Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr were snapped by photogs while filming the iconic Abbey Road cover photoshoot. The internet’s response to how they look has been harsh.

‘They Look Absolutely Ridiculous’

The cover of Abbey Road is one of the most iconic album covers of all time, so of course it had to be a part of the movie. In the photo, the four Beatles are crossing the street at a zebra crossing. Lennon is leading the way with a bushy beard and wearing a white suit; Starr follows him in a black suit. Then comes McCartney in a grey suit and no shoes, and trailing behind is Harrison in all denim. I’m not going to get into the fan lore that played into the “Paul is dead” theory, but everyone knows the photo.

In the paparazzi photo, the actors are dressed as The Beatles were that day, and, to be honest, they do look pretty ridiculous. Fans were quick to take to Reddit and talk smack:

• “Every in-costume/makeup photo I see from these films just looks worse and worse.” - u/Long_Emergency6122
• “They look ridiculous.” - u/ShameSuperb7099
• “Looks like an SNL skit” - u/AZmoneyfolder
• “John and George look so bad.” - u/shlict
• “What a fucking disgrace to the Beatles, who all were working-class blokes from Liverpool. None of that DNA shows through these photos.” - u/SouthIsland48
• I hope Lennon’s beard is touched up in post-production. Bc this is looking very….something… - u/MachoLibre_
• “Those wigs are terrible! I'm sure you can make a better fake hair than that... they don't care?” - u/Solarhistorico

I completely understand where these fans are coming from. Looking at these photos, I have many of the same thoughts. However, I’m not worried about it, for two reasons. One, these are taken by a photographer who is likely more than a hundred yards away or more, outside of the production area. That means a long lens and iffy photograph quality. Sure, we’ve come a long way in technology, but it’s still photos from some distance away.

The other reason I’m not concerned is that it's highly unlikely the hair and makeup will look this fake in the final product. Obviously, film hair and makeup relies on some movie magic and trickery, and until we see what these beards and wigs look like in the final, edited product, it's unfair to make assumptions. Greig Fraser is the cinematographer on the films, and he’s an Oscar winner and has shot movies like Dune and Project Hail Mary. Naomi Donne is in charge of hair and makeup, and she’s been nominated for three Oscars (1917, Cruella, and The Batman). Not to mention Sam Mendes running the show.

I think it’s fair to let these folks do what they do and judge them by what’s on the screen, not by a paparazzi photo of the production. I personally can't wait.

Katie Holmes has been a style icon for almost as long as I can remember. The actress’ taste level is usually impeccable – though don’t get me started on dresses with jeans – and she maintains this quiet glamor while still managing to frequently be at the cutting edge of new trends. So, I’m not shocked she’s already seemingly looking ahead to fall, and one of the looks she’s repping is a brand new color trend that I can only describe as an "in between." Here's what we know.

Apparently, Holmes, and some other famous names including Oprah Winfrey have been rocking a shade somewhere between cream and the butter yellow that’s dominated runways and trickled into the mainstream over the last couple of years. At one point, KitchenAid even called butter yellow their Color of the Year. While I’m not suggesting we should always try to match our outfits to our kitchen appliances, there’s no doubt retailers have been carrying a lot of the color.

It’s gotten to the point where Hailey Bieber even called butter yellow “played out,” and brands seem to be looking for a new shade to champion. (Though that hasn’t stopped Sophie Turner and others from still rocking the shade.)

Regardless, if butter yellow is a bit too sticky for your taste these days, this fall it looks like this in-between shade should dominate. Holmes has been spotted in the newer color palette quite a bit of late, and since she tends to be a harbinger of celebrity fashion trends, I suggest you take notes. Here’s the actress rocking the look at a Hamptons party this summer.

Along with the Guild Hall Summer 2026 Gala, here’s the actress at the Zimmermann show in a Dawning jacket and matching yellow-cream colored cargo pants.

To be honest, until I really started looking into this trend this week, this is a color I didn’t realize existed, and I still don't have quite the name for it. It’s kind of an off-white cream, but the yellowish hue makes it extra special and makes it pop a bit more than a regular off-white would. There’s a brown hue around right now, too, that I think would complement this greatly, and the in-between color can be found at tons of retailers this fall, in basics like tees...

…to skirts and more.

I quite like that Madewell even calls it the color of “pineapple” (not to be confused with the Sam Heughan variety) since it’s not quite as bright as the butter yellow we’ve seen around a bit more often. To me it should maybe be more of a “buttercream,” but I appreciate all the different tacts brands are taking to give this shade its moment in the sun.

Again, Holmes is not the only celebrity to popularize the trend. Olivia Wilde wore a similar-but- sheer version to last year’s Oscars. But, I guess what I’m saying is, even if you aren’t on the same Zimmerman budget as Ms. Holmes, you can give this one a whirl. The creamy yellow look will doubtless be around this fall, and insofar as new, fun, colors, I really do love it.

Of the remaining book-to-screen adaptations to arrive on the big screen in 2026, Whalefall is among my most anticipated. I can't wait to see how Brian Duffield brings Daniel Kraus' intense story of grief and survival in the face of an unimaginable situation to life. From what we saw in the last trailer, as well as the one that just dropped today, it looks like we're in for a wild ride. In fact, I had a full-on Jaws flashback, watching as Austin Abrams' character, Jay Gardiner, finds himself being devoured by a whale while scuba diving in search of his father's remains.

Here's the thing though, as scary as that scene is, the trailer also shows us the bigger picture, which is the fight for survival. Also a fight against a big squid, but that's a more literal struggle. Honestly, I think what gets me the most about this trailer, especially as I'm thinking about Jaws, is the sound Abrams' character is making -- muffled cries of terror through his scuba mask -- I can still hear it in my head, and it makes me think of poor Chrissie at the start of Jaws, when the shark is trying to pull her under. I can still hear that too.

But like I was getting at, Whalefall isn't Jaws. In the Steven Spielberg movie, a characters' story is pretty much over once they've been swallowed. As we can see in the trailer Brian Duffield's Whalefall, Gardiner's story is only just beginning.

The story is less a horror as it is a survival thriller. Jay Gardiner's father (played by Josh Brolin) died scuba diving, and now Jay is searching for his remains. This is what puts him in the path of the squid and the sperm whale. After he's swallowed by the whale, he's equipped with whatever oxygen is left in his tank and the lessons his father bestowed on him to try to come out of the situation alive.

In addition to really diving into the terror of the situation -- being swallowed by a giant sperm whale, facing off with a squid, and likely the intense pressure of the ocean's depth -- the trailer also gives us samples of Jay's father's wisdom, as Brolin's voice can be heard throughout parts of it. "Remember, survivor's survive," he says.

Those who've read the book know how things turn out for the character. In fact, the book gets an extra nod with this trailer's release, as it came with a new poster release, which clearly pays tribute to the source material:

The image of a scuba diver hovering over a whale's open mouth is what's depicted on the cover of Daniel Kraus' book. As Kraus is also credited for co-writing the screenplay alongside Brian Duffield, I'm optimistic that the spirit of the book will really come through in this adaptation. Even if I hadn't read the book though, I think the trailers for this movie would've sold me.

Whalefall arrives in theaters on the 2026 movie schedule on October 16.

Earlier this year, Sydney Sweeney launched her lingerie brand, Syrn. In a matter of hours, Syrn’s first drop sold out, with the actress taking to Instagram to say she was “grateful” and that a restock would be happening “soon.” Now, the company has been around for months, and it’s reportedly not doing too hot, as one insider claimed it's been a “disaster.”

Apparently, there have been meetings happening to talk about how Syrn can increase its sales. Allegedly, it hasn’t been selling the way they believed it would, as one insider claimed to InTouch:

When Syrn was launched, Sweeney’s viral stunts made a splash, causing lots of conversation about the company. That talk was both positive and negative, because while it sold out, there were also people roasting the brand.

Since then, the Anyone But You actress has been consistently posting about Syrn on her own Instagram, where she has 26 million followers. She also created a saloon for the lingerie brand at Stagecoach and has been rocking the garments during her off-time from filming. Between August 10 and 14, amid the Spokane wildfires, Sweeney also donated 100% of the profits from her “Do What Makes You Naked” to organizations helping those impacted by the fires.

So, we’ve consistently been seeing promotion from her for her brand. And it’s clear it was successful at first. However, according to this source, it’s allegedly not doing as well as they’d hoped. Therefore, it’s reportedly back to the drawing board as they work on ways to heighten sales for this size-inclusive lingerie brand.

Obviously, take this with a grain of salt; we don’t have the numbers to prove that this is true.

Notably, Syrn did get some mixed reviews. Actress and model Hailee Lautenbach said she was “pleasantly surprised” by the pieces while reviewing them on her Instagram. However, Slate’s Scaachi Koul said the pieces are “fine,” while also expressing that it felt like these products were “something women buy in order to appeal to men.”

On the brand’s site, some of the products listed as bestsellers have fairly positive reviews; however, there is negative feedback too. The Fantasy Lace Halter Bodysuit has 84 five-star reviews and four one-star reviews, and a handful of reviews falling between two and four stars. Meanwhile, the Soft Launch Scoop Bralette has five one-star reviews and 40 five-star reviews, with a few more responses from shoppers falling between three and four stars.

The report from InTouch also notes that Sweeney’s other major fashion endeavour, her jeans campaign with American Eagle, struggled. In one sense, it did, because it was met with a ton of backlash and controversy. However, it also made a lot of money.

Therefore, it will be interesting to see how Syrn grows and sells as it continues through its first year.

Tom Holland has been playing Spider-Man for a decade now, and considering how much money his version of Peter Parker has made for Sony and Marvel, I figured his latest contract would come with one heck of a raise. Still, I was not prepared for this. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already become a $2 billion monster at the worldwide box office and, apparently, Holland's paycheck is impressively growing right alongside it.

30-year-old Holland received at least $20 million upfront to return for his fourth solo Spider-Man movie, according to TheWrap. That alone doubled the reported $10 million salary he earned for No Way Home. The really wild part is Holland’s backend deal, which sources told the outlet could push his total compensation past $100 million. Even better for him, the bonus is reportedly uncapped.

Per reports, the former West End star turned A-lister earned just $250,000 when he first swung into the MCU for Captain America: Civil War in 2016. His salary increased to $500,000 for Spider-Man: Homecoming, then $4 million for Far From Home and $10 million for No Way Home. His original six-picture agreement expired after that third solo outing, which meant returning for Brand New Day required an entirely new deal.

The Uncharted actor’s giant bonus is tied to Brand New Day’s ridiculous theatrical performance. The movie passed $2 billion worldwide during its third weekend, becoming only the eighth movie ever to cross that mark and the second-fastest to do it behind Avengers: Endgame. Kudos to Holland for not just helping to make an incredible Spidey movie but for also securing the bag in the process.

Since Holland’s backend reportedly has no ceiling, the $100 million figure could keep climbing as Peter Parker continues to sell more and more tickets. This deal is crossing into Robert Downey Jr. territory. It's fair to say the Marvel comparison is Downey, who basically wrote the blueprint for turning a new superhero flick's success into enormous backend paydays.

Downey famously started with $500,000 for 2008’s Iron Man before negotiating increasingly lucrative deals as Tony Stark became the face of the MCU. Reportedly, RDJ's compensation for Iron Man 3 reached roughly $50 million after backend participation, while his later Avengers deals pushed his earnings above $100 million across Infinity War and Endgame. It was previously reported that Downey earned at least $75 million for Infinity War alone, largely thanks to his back-end arrangement.

That is pretty rare company for a young and in-demand actor like Holland to be entering, especially when we are talking about compensation for a single Spider-Man movie. The timing also could not be better for him. Brand New Day is now Sony’s highest-grossing movie ever, while Holland also starred in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which has crossed $1.3 billion globally. The British star is having the kind of year that gives an actor considerably more leverage the next time a studio calls.

As for Marvel and Sony, they certainly seem interested in calling again. According to the outlet's reporting, Holland, Kevin Feige and Sony chairman Tom Rothman have all expressed interest in continuing his Spider-Man's story, though it remains unclear whether his current contract already covers another movie. If another negotiation is required after Brand New Day finishes its run, I suspect those conversations will be very expensive.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is currently playing in theaters as part of the 2026 movie calendar. Be sure to check your local listings for showtimes.

When I first heard about Tony, the latest movie from A24 about the early life of the late Anthony Bourdain, I was intrigued, but I was also a little skeptical. As a huge fan of Bourdain’s, I openly wondered if a movie like this would work, and whether it would be a fitting legacy for the writer and travel show pioneer. It turns out, I wasn’t alone. Some fans of Bourdain have been outspoken in their belief that Bourdain would’ve hated the even the idea of a movie like this. Recently, his former assistant, Laurie Woolever, wrote an article addressing what she thinks Bourdain would have thought, and even she isn't sure.

Predicting Anything With Bourdain Was Impossible

I understand why fans assume they know what Bourdain would have thought about Tony, which stars Dominic Sessa as the chef. With his many books and TV shows, the raconteur let us, as fans, in on many details of his life, both good and bad. A big part of what made him so popular is that he was so honest and often vulnerable about his life. We really felt like we knew him, even though we never met him. That led to online discourse among some fans deriding the movie, flatly claiming that Bourdain would have hated it. According to Woolever, that’s not necessarily the case.

Writing for Bon Appétit, Woolever states:

Even those closest to him, like Woolever, who worked for Bourdain for years, were kept off balance by his opinions and his choices. There is, in her mind, absolutely no way to know if Bourdain would have loved the idea of a movie, or hated the final product. She goes on:

There was definitely a part of the Parts Unknown star who loved stuff like this. Remember, back in 2005 Fox greenlit the sitcom Kitchen Confidential, a loose book-to-screen adaptation of Bourdain’s life and his groundbreaking 2000 book of the same name. The show starred Bradley Cooper as “Jack Bourdain,” but only lasted half a season before being canceled.

So who’s to say exactly how Anthony Bourdain would’ve felt about this movie, which hits screens on the 2026 movie schedule this weekend? I can speak for myself, however, and despite my…reservations…about the movie, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Woolever did too, though she isn't sure the ending was what her former boss would've wanted. Bourdain has been gone eight years now, and I miss him as all his fans do, and in my opinion at least, I think the filmmakers did right by him and his legacy. Whether he would’ve agreed, we’ll never know.

Ryan Gosling and extremely iconic movie jackets have a history. Drive gave him the satin scorpion jacket that launched a thousand Halloween costumes, and Blade Runner 2049 put him in a shearling coat that somehow made wandering around a miserable dystopian wasteland look fashionable. Now, for the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter, he has apparently decided the man needs another piece of outerwear I desperately want, and this one comes with a fantastic Rebel Alliance twist.

Gosling showed off the jacket during Disney's D23 showcase in Anaheim, where director Shawn Levy officially introduced his Starfighter character, Kade Auberon. The presentation began with an adorable nod to his Disney past and his days on The Mickey Mouse Club, complete with a throwback-style MMC jacket. Then Levy helped him swap it for a jacket inspired by the one Kade wears in the upcoming Star Wars movie. The handoff was captured on TikTok by The Moment Lab and can be seen below.

Can we please talk about that new jacket? Look at the back of that thing.

As you can see in the image below, the black, star-speckled jacket has what initially looks like a distressed skull-and-crossbones insignia painted across it. Look closer, though, and the skull is created from an upside-down version of the Rebel Alliance's famous Starbird logo, with crossed blasters completing the pirate-style design.

Genuinely, that may be one of the coolest uses of existing Star Wars iconography I've seen in years.

The Starbird has been part of the franchise since the original trilogy, appearing on Rebel pilots' helmets and uniforms. Lucasfilm has also linked its origins to Sabine Wren's personal Starbird symbol in Star Wars Rebels, with the character's creative choice essentially inspiring the Rebel Alliance's insignia.

Turning that familiar symbol upside down and reshaping it into something closer to a pirate flag tells me a lot about the attitude Starfighter may be going for. We still know relatively little about the movie, and I have no idea what the emblem actually means to Kade. Still, this one design choice has me very excited to find out.

That tracks with what Gosling revealed about his character at D23. He described Kade as “a guy from the wrong side of the galaxy,” whose fate becomes tied to the fastest starfighter ever built. Lucasfilm says the movie follows the cynical rogue as his mysterious past catches up with him, sending him across the galaxy. So giving that guy what amounts to Rebel Alliance pirate gear feels pretty appropriate.

The first footage shown exclusively at D23 also revealed that Kade owns a decommissioned Imperial Reaper-class fighter that he claims is the fastest starfighter ever built. Flynn Gray's younger character becomes wrapped up in that adventure, with the footage showing the pair traveling across several planets while Kade works on the mysterious ship.

Levy has said the 2027 movie release tells an original story set during a period of the Star Wars timeline we have not previously explored on screen. Gosling and Gray are joined by Amy Adams, Matt Smith, Mia Goth and Aaron Pierre, among others.

Star Wars: Starfighter arrives May 28, 2027, exactly 50 years and a few days after the original Star Wars changed movies forever in May 1977. And as for Gosling's new duds? No notes.

Fans can revisit all the Star Wars movies in order by streaming them with a Disney+ subscription.

Fans and celebrities alike continue to mourn Hayden Panettiere, who died at 36 this past weekend. Many of the tributes in Panettiere’s honor have come from a wide array of her former co-stars from both movies and TV shows. One of the late actress’ earliest films is the beloved 2000 sports drama Remember the Titans, in which she plays the young, football-loving Sheryl Yates. Another star from that film, Ethan Suplee, recently paid tribute to Panettiere and, in the process, he revealed an instance in which he did heroin.

In Titans (one of several Black-led films that needs to be seen), Suplee plays lovable offensive lineman Louie Lastik. The Boaz Yakin-directed biopic arguably now serves as a particularly memorable title within Suplee’s filmography. Upon learning of Panettiere’s death, Suplee took to his substack to honor his former colleague. The Boy Meets World alum specifically recalled a warm moment he shared with Panettiere when they were together at the film’s premiere over 25 years ago:

Suplee paints a sweet picture, which suggests that his then-young co-star’s upbeat aura briefly rubbed off on him. What followed, unfortunately, was a much darker situation for the eventual Wolf of Wall Street co-star. Suplee went on to admit that during the event, he eventually “smoked heroin” in the bathroom. He also described another low point of the night, which involved him meeting the real Lastik:

For years now, Ethan Suplee has been candid about his struggles with drug abuse and weight issues, and this anecdote appears to be an extension of that. Suplee has become healthier in recent years, though, as he’s lost hundreds of pounds and avoided food-related temptations. However, around the time Titans was released, the star was still struggling and, as he further explained, another encounter with Panettiere at the premiere helped lift his spirits for a moment:

The death of Panettiere – who was found unresponsive in a South Carolina residence days ago – has evidently been difficult for many to process, based on many of the messages that have been shared on social media. Nevertheless, many are dwelling on the positive memories they have of her. Actors like Jenna Ortega, Viola Davis and Masi Oka have reached out as has Ice Princess director Tim Fywell and many more.

It’s been bittersweet to see Hayden Panettiere posthumously receive her flowers, but it’s lovely to see the respect being shown to her nonetheless. What’s more is that Panettiere’s memory won’t just live on through stories shared by Ethan Suplee and others. Her vast body of work, including Remember the Titans, can also be enjoyed for years to come.

There was once a time when it felt like all Marvel movies were meant to be huge hits, but that’s not the case anymore. Spider-Man: Brand New Day may have officially become a $2 billion dollar winner, but it follows a string of MCU flicks that have performed below expectations. Someone just asked Marvel boss Kevin Feige if it has to do with the movies being “the same," and he had a point to make.

In an interview with Variety, Feige was asked if he thinks “audiences are getting tired of more of the same story.” I was surprised he answered the question, but he made a thoughtful point:

The Fantastic Four: First Steps came out last summer to underwhelming commercial results. While the movie had an awesome first weekend at the box office, it saw a significant drop in its second weekend. Ultimately, it’s the 11th-lowest grossing film among MCU films even though as Kevin Feige suggested, it was a new look and feel for the universe.

To Feige’s point, First Steps certainly stands out among MCU movies. It’s set in an alternate universe in the 1960s of a retro-futuristic world. It also didn’t include any cameos from other Avengers or MCU characters and had the old-timey feel of its original comic books.

Surely, there are other reasons why audiences weren’t clobbering to the movie theaters for Fantastic Four. For one, there’s been three previous movies about the team across the past 20 years. Then, there’s the “superhero fatigue” of it all.

A couple of years ago, Kevin Feige got honest with CinemaBlend about there being an “overabundance” of MCU movies and TV shows. Lately, Marvel has been slowing down the roll out of upcoming MCU projects. For example, this year there are just two new 2026 movie releases and three live-action seasons of MCU-related TV shows. (Well, for those with a Disney+ subscription). It’s a change of pace from, say 2021, when there were four big-screen releases and three seasons of live-action TV all in the same twelve months.

The massive success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows that people are very excited to show up for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Superhero movies are not as much of a slam dunk as they used to be, but they can still be big. Next up is Avengers: Doomsday, which is already reportedly projecting ahead of Brand New Day in presales. We’ll see how the latest MCU movie does when it comes out this December 18.

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU has been taking shape over the past year, with Gunn’s Superman film as well as the shows Peacemaker and Creature Commandos have struck chords with audiences. However, Supergirl – the most recent big-screen entry in the burgeoning interconnected universe – was met with middling reviews and low box office receipts. HBO's Lanterns comes on the heels of that movie’s performance, and I love how one of the EP’s responded when asked if the creative team now feels “pressure.”

To put it simply, this is an important time for the DCU continuity, as the brain trust at DC Studios seeks to draw in fans with varied stories of do-gooders, bad guys and everyone in between. Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl (which I mostly enjoyed) now represents a misstep in that plan. This came up when Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy was asked about this while speaking to SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend. Mundy suggested that any question about pressure should be forwarded to his bosses before adding more thoughts:

So, in other words, the Ozark alum is cognizant of the 2026 movie schedule entry’s performance, but he’s not dwelling on it. Mundy’s perspective on the situation is more than reasonable, considering that he can only control the corner of the DCU that he’s responsible for. As he says, that also means encouraging people to watch the show he and his team made, despite how some may feel in the aftermath of Supergirl. I appreciate Mundy’s candor on his show as well as the fact that he still understands the corporate side of this:

It goes without saying that execs at WB and DC Studios probably wish Supergirl had performed better. As it stands, the film has only made a little over $126 million worldwide against a reported production budget somewhere between $170 million and $186 million. Despite the movie not moving the needle, execs are still excited about Man of Tomorrow, Clayface and other upcoming entries in the franchise.

As for Lanterns, it has received positive reviews thus far (though some viewers weren’t happy with that Hal Jordan twist in the premiere). Still, like an extraterrestrial lantern, the future still seems bright for the DCU. Not only that but both Green Lantern John Stewart and Kara will both be featured in Man of Tomorrow. All in all, I’d say fans shouldn’t start worrying just yet and keep a level-headed mindset like Chris Mundy.

Lanterns airs on HBO on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET amid the 2026 TV schedule, and episodes are also available to stream with an HBO Max subscription.

Many of Andrew Garfield's best movies have been acclaimed Award Season choices, in addition to his tenure starring in the Spider-Man movies (which are streaming with a Disney+ subscription). He recently pivoted over to more family-friendly content with Ben Gregor's The Magic Faraway Tree, and the actor spoke to CinemaBlend about why he wanted to get involved in the book-to-screen adaptation.

The Magic Faraway Tree was a hit movie in the U.K., and now it's finally traveling across the pond and hitting theaters in the States. Garfield plays father Tim Thompson, who moves his family to the country, where his kids meet magical creatures in the forest near their home. I had the chance to speak with the cast a few weeks ago, when the Oscar-nominated actor revealed how his own childhood inspired his involvement in the family comedy. In Garfield's words:

The importance of play and separation from screens is a big idea in The Magic Faraway Tree, so it makes sense that it would inspire Garfield to join the project. Early in the movie, Tim and his wife Polly (Claire Foy) realize that their kids are addicted to screens, and decide to make a change. What results is their three children playing together and having magical adventures in the woods near their home.

The Social Network star went on to share how his own childhood mirrored this, thanks to being in a rural area with access to a forest. Garfield shared with me:

It certainly sounds like the Tony-winning actor can relate to how the Thompson kids are able to connect with nature and their imagination in The Magic Faraway Tree. So while Andrew Garfield has started to play parents on the big screen, it's clear his inner child is very much still in his work.

The 42-year-old actor went on to share another beloved part of his childhood: putting on made-up plays as a young person. In his words:

You can see my conversation with Andrew Garfield below, where he spoke about why he got involved in The Magic Faraway Tree. Check it out:

This family fantasy film has already been a wild success in the U.K., so it should be interesting to see how audiences respond to The Magic Faraway Tree in America. Garfield and Foy are big names, and family movies tend to do well in the summer. What's more, producers have already announced plans for two movie sequels.

The Magic Faraway Tree will hit theaters in the States on August 21st as part of the 2026 movie release list. Of course, there are plenty of fans who are hoping Garfield once again reprises his role as Spider-Man in one of the next two Avengers movies. Hey, at least he's still trying new genres.

One of the funniest and all-around best movies of the 2000s (for certain crowds), Judd Apatow’s Superbad is so memorable that co-writer and co-star Seth Rogen has had rappers quote it at him verbatim, totally unprovoked. But with props to Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, and Emma Stone, I think we’d all agree its lasting legacy lies in the character McLovin, portrayed with runtish glee by Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The comedy celebrated 19 years since its theatrical release on August 17, but that’s not why McLovin started trending on August 18.

No, the awkward teen’s Fake ID moniker made waves anew on social media after a high-profile drug bust led to the arrests of 14 Penn State fraternity members from two different fraternities involved in a complex cocaine trafficking ring. The Long Island native who is alleged to have been at the “very top of the chain” is Agostino Abbatiello, who apparently picked up the moniker “Pablo Pledgescobar,” a punny riff on the notorious Pablo Escobar, during his time at the university.

But it’s not so much the details of the crimes that caught people’s attention on social media, even though the nickname has garnered some positive reactions. Rather, it’s his bespectacled look + his status that have others referencing the 2007 comedy.

It's obviously not an exact 1:1 match, but then it really doesn't need to be to spark ridiculous reactions. Let's look at a few of them below.

• I won’t comment on the Penn State cocaine debacle. No doubt, a made for TV movie or Netflix special will come from it. Quite a unique story. My only observation: the ringleader looks exactly like McLovin from the iconic movie “Superbad”. I had to do a triple take when I saw him. - @PittGuru
• Say my name… McLovin. - @@proverbs_18_2
• Go ahead and give McLovin the RICO - @jackfreeman
• Mad props to McLovin Jr here, Pablo Pledgescobar might be the greatest nickname ever. - @HollywoodLowman
• McLovin took a real dark path after high school. - @TheyCallMeSmeef
• If McLovin had a baby with that dude on Big Bang Theory. - @ScottKacsmar
• Buddy look like Temu mclovin - @Hadometa

Superbad's beloved nerdling was no doubt guilty of a few criminal acts during the events of Superbad, but I cannot imagine the dude that chose "McLovin" as his 21+ alias would become a kingpin of anything in his educational future, much less cocaine. Plus, McLovin is funny, which can't be said about drug trafficking on college campuses.

Despite its arguable "funniest movie ever" status, Superbad is everyone's go-to example of a teen-geared movie that wouldn’t get made today, given how relentlessly raunchy and sex pest-y it can get. (We never even got a sequel.) But Christopher Mintz-Plasse reunited with Seth Rogen for The Boys Season 5 relatively recently, and that show did things that absolutely could not have been done on a “television series” in 2007, so I guess it’s a give and take.

Stepping back to the criminal activity that sparked the comparisons, the New York Post reports the frats Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon were engaged in a ring of distributution that involved attaining cocaine from suppliers in New York and Philadelphia, with pledges being forced to cut and bag the drugs that were then dealt out to the student body.

Four of those charged are currently enrolled at Penn State students, nine are former students, and one is a student's father. Some of the charges include, but are not limited to: felony conspiracy, criminal use of a communication facility, felony tampering, corrupt organizations and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity.

Warning! The following will get into the big spoiler from The Drama. If you don't want to know, stream the movie with an HBO Max subscription and then return here after watching!

The Drama is out on HBO Max, meaning subscribers can now watch the Robert Pattinson and Zendaya film that has everyone talking. I actually knew the twist going into my watch, and while that didn't impact my enjoyment, I do have a question about Charlie's motivation during the movie.

For those who watched and need a reminder, or those who don't care about spoilers, The Drama follows Charlie as he's torn on how to proceed weeks before his wedding when he learns his fiancée Emma planned a school shooting in high school. It's a dark movie that, surprisingly, has a few laughs as well. That being said, I kept thinking about what Charlie was wrestling with during the movie, and if it was more that he was appalled by what he learned, or if he was more appalled at the idea of others finding out.

Did Charlie Fixate On Emma's Confession More Because Of How Rachel Reacted?

Charlie hyperfixates on Emma's confession, and it's completely valid given the context, but I also wondered if the way it all initially went down played into that. Everyone was shocked by Emma's confession, to the point they believed at first that it wasn't true. Once she confirmed it was, however, Rachel got aggressive, and it seemed things changed in Charlie's brain after.

Emma pointed out that Charlie was apt to fixate on things, but what was it he struggled with? I think there's certainly a part of him that had serious questions around her past, but I think Rachel's reaction made him think about the public perception if others found out. How would the world react if they knew Emma's secret, and what would they think of him?

Then, when Rachel pulled out of the wedding as Emma's maid of honor, Charlie was in a rush to get her back in the fold. Why? Well, people might ask questions why she pulled out. I think it's also evident Charlie cared when he asked his coworker Misha about it, trying to get a read on how another person might respond.

Charlie Questioned His Love For Emma, But His Actions In The Drama Show He Always Loved Her The Entire Time

Charlie seems to struggle with whether he should proceed with the marriage in The Drama, but his actions, to me at least, suggest he made up his mind very early on in the movie. I've struggled to talk about this, mainly because, as our review points out, it's weird to talk about this movie with others.

I think Charlie's actions from the start show that he's always loved Emma, even if he isn't aware of it. Everything we see is him coming to grips with accepting the fact that someone he loves was tied to something as controversial as a school shooting.

Getting Rachel to try and forgive Emma, asking a co-worker what they'd do if they found out a loved one was involved in planning something like this- these are the actions of someone who is concerned with the societal reaction tied to someone she loves. Some people will say his brief moment of trying to cheat with his coworker disputes this, but remember, he had the opportunity and didn't go through with it.

Ultimately, The Drama ending was not a shock to me. Emma was always going to love Charlie, and he was going to accept her. I think this is less clouded once the viewer gets out of their head about thinking how they'd wrestle with the situation, which I might've been doing since the trailer first dropped.

I am just one man with an opinion, however, so I would encourage all people to talk about The Drama and maybe rewatch it. With the twist out of the way, maybe I'll get a few people who see that it was never Emma who was the issue when it came to Charlie's love.

Zendaya has a secret weapon for all her jaw-dropping fashion moments, and it’s her stylist Law Roach. The pair have helped popularize method dressing on press tours with their collaboration over the years. But did you know they have done so without “The Big Five” fashion houses? There’s a reason for this, and now, one reason it could change.

Why Zendaya Historically Hasn’t Worn ‘The Big Five’

So, a couple of years ago, Law Roach revealed that Zendaya had never worn The Big Five for a press tour appearance ever. Here’s why, per The Cutting Room Floor podcast:

According to Zendaya’s stylist, it wasn’t too long ago that a number of big fashion brands were not willing to work with him and the actress. And mind you, he’s talking about someone who must have had Disney Channel and Dancing With The Stars on her resume. As he added:

Zendaya has since become the fashion icon of the moment. On her back-to-back press tours this year, where she’s been promoting her multiple 2026 movies, she wore a flowy The Odyssey dress from Trussardi, a Spider-Man-themed red-and-blue two-piece from Versace and a backless spiderweb gown from John Galliano, to name a few. Why do they need to work with The Big Five when just about everyone else will work with them?

Law Roach’s New Update That Could Change Things

Roach was just on Ziwe’s show, which should be noted as a late-night satire. When the host mentioned the “unofficial boycott” on The Big Five fashion houses due to them not working with him at the beginning, Roach was asked to school the people on the “importance of being petty”. Instead, he said this:

You gotta love growth. I should note that directly after this, Ziwe asked Law Roach if Zendaya would wear the brands on the carpet. He firmly said, “No,” with a smile. It served as a perfect comedic moment of juxtaposition for Roach’s comments.

But, with his comments in mind, there's something there around Roach’s statement about releasing his pettiness. It does feel like there’s room here for forgiveness from the stylist's end, and an openness to release the "pettiness" around these brands. Perhaps there is a future where Zendaya does wear them after all?

At the same time, Law Roach and Zendaya have proven that they don’t need to wear these brands in order to stun on red carpets, and that’s such a great flex for them whether they end up working with The Big Five someday or not.

Spoilers for The End of Oak Street are ahead! You can catch the movie in theaters right now.

When I went to see The End of Oak Street in theaters following its premiere on the 2026 movie schedule, I expected jump scares, dinosaurs, wild chase sequences and brutal action. What I didn’t expect to see was two dinosaurs having sex. Yes, you read that right: there is one kinky scene in David Robert Mitchell’s movie that features two of the prehistoric creatures, so CinemaBlend asked the director about it.

Now, the wildly reviewed The End of Oak Street makes an effort to show that the dinosaurs don’t just kill. They also search for food, they make people’s backyards their bathrooms, and they have intercourse. They’re living their day-to-day lives in a world where part of a city just happened to show up. So, speaking specifically about that, the moment involving dinosaurs having sex on someone’s roof and how he came up with it, director/writer David Robert Mitchell told CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb:

It was in thinking about how to make these creatures real that Mitchell came up with the idea of the dinosaurs doing it on top of someone’s house. The need for food, water and reproduction are basic elements of life, so it’d only be natural to see all that happening in the movie, as the director pointed out:

Mitchell went on to say that he wrote the scene “pretty quickly,” and he was “very happy” that it not only was able to be in the movie but was a moment that “people have responded” to.

I mean, it’s kind of hard not to respond to, because not only is it a memorable scene by itself, it’s also very relevant to the overarching story. Throughout most of The End of Oak Street, Anne Hathaway’s Denise and Ewan McGregor’s Greg are having issues with their marriage and constantly arguing. While out on a walk, they see two dinosaurs being intimate and, like me and I'd assume most viewers, were shocked by what they witnessed.

So, Denise took a photo of her husband in front of the dinos, and he posed like he was a tourist in this prehistoric land. It was a funny moment, and then it served as an instance of love and light for Hathaway’s character to look back on after Greg got eaten and she was trying to fight her way home with her kids.

Even at the end of The End of Oak Street, this photo is hanging on the family’s wall years after their interactions with the dinosaurs.

So, the kinky dinosaur scene was vital to this film, and it helped show how these creatures live when they aren’t chasing and eating humans and other animals (don’t worry, Starbuck, the family’s dog and one of my new favorite fictional pets, does not die in the movie). Ultimately, it was a wild moment to include; however, I do see why David Robert Mitchell did it, and it certainly is one of many reasons why The End of Oak Street is such a surprising and wild dinosaur movie.

It’s only been eight years since Universal Orlando Resort opened its Fast & Furious: Supercharged ride to major fanfare. Vin Diesel and members of the family were present. A Paul Walker Easter egg could be found on the ride. However, despite the flashy entrance, fans were never overly fond of the actual ride experience. So, when the new Fast & Furious coaster was announced, the other ride was fast tracked to the junkyard. I just didn’t realize how quickly Universal would erase its presence.

Fast & Furious: Supercharged closed at Universal Studios Florida at the end of the weekend on August 16th. A TikTok user popped over to Universal Orlando the next day and passed by the ride formerly known as Supercharged. If you take a look, you’ll notice the sign was already painted over and it simply looks like a random building on the backlot.

I suppose this shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise. Last month we learned Supercharged was closing even earlier than we initially expected. When a lot of attractions close at Universal, theme parkgoers commemorate them and jump onto them one last time for the nostalgia factor, and this "saying goodbye" phase tends to last for weeks and weeks.

This doesn’t really seem to have been the case with this Fast ride. Though if you were particularly fond of the ride, the final riders did seem to give it that rowdy factor which I would have expected (for most rides) to see more of in the weeks leading up to the end.

Yeah, that’s a "family chant." Still within hours (and likely overnight), the building got a fresh coat of paint and Universal Studios Florida has officially moved on. Universal’s official website has also already cut out all evidence of the ride. Even the official Universal account seems amused by the quick work on this, and used it as an opportunity to send out a funny PSA, which I honestly didn't see coming.

The timing's really weird, because the Fast family was together over the weekend celebrating the film franchise's 25th anniversary.

The good news?

Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift Is Coming Together

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift hasn’t had its Grand Opening yet at Universal Studios Hollywood as the coaster navigates some issues that aren't "a scream," but it has been taking riders on a high-octane journey for a while now. The coaster is also coming together very quickly at Universal Orlando, so the “family” will have another way to show their love for the franchise, and soon. A full rendering has been released by the theme park, if you haven't checked it out yet.

One thing I did always appreciate about Fast & Furious: Supercharged was the queue. Universal's queues are frequently a blast, and it was always especially fun to see the cars and the franchise Easter eggs as I walked through. The pre-show was also worth checking out. Hopefully, the new coaster will be a similarly positive experience. We shouldn’t have too much longer to wait, as the Florida attraction is expected to open up in 2027.

This year has been a great one for Gen Z horror filmmakers, with Obsession and Backrooms breaking box office records. It looks like we might have the opportunity to add another title to that list, as It Ends hits the 2026 movie calendar this weekend. The upcoming horror flick is the directorial debut for twentysomething Alexander Ullom — who also wrote and edited the film — and critics’ reviews (and that 94% Rotten Tomatoes score) have me excited.

The movie follows a group of friends who go on a late-night drive, accidentally turning onto a two-lane road that never ends. The recent graduates are thrown into a hellscape that Den of Crow’s David Crow says is a “fresh” concept and “clever” in execution, as the movie is basically just four characters in a car. Alex Ullom and the cast deserve credit for keeping it so captivating, the critic says, writing:

Brandon Zachary of ScreenRant agrees that It Ends is “fascinating in execution,” in a movie that might have felt dull and repetitive if not for its great cast and a script that’s full of dread but never overwhelmingly bleak. Zachary calls it one of the best horror movies of 2026, rating it 8 out of 10 in his review, which reads:

Nick Schager of The Daily Beast calls it an “absolute stunner” and further proof that the future of horror is in good hands with the next generation of filmmakers. This twisted take on the teen road trip is the perfect capper to summer’s horror hot streak. The critic writes:

Giovanni Lago of Next Best Picture rates it 8 out of 10, saying in his It Ends review that it’s not only one of the best films of the year, but unlike the YouTuber-created horror hits we’ve seen, this movie feels like the only one made by Gen Z for Gen Z. While the cast is relatively unknown, their phenomenal performances here as a true ensemble show their potential for much more down the road. Lago says:

IndieWire’s Esther Zuckerman gives the movie a B-, admitting that the premise is clever but saying the journey isn’t always worth the lack of a destination. Zuckerman writes:

Some may have their qualms, but overall It Ends is getting lots of positive attention, garnering the aforementioned 94% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. If you want to check out the debut of Alexander Ullom — who’s undoubtedly hoping to be the next Gen Z horror director making headlines for his 2026 debut — catch this one in theaters starting Friday, August 21.

If you’re in Generation X, there’s a pretty good chance you grew up adoring John Hughes movies. You probably also noticed that at least some of the movies, most notably and directly The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, took place at a fictional school called Shermer High. Shermer, IL, is a fictional town that John Hughes invented for those movies, based very closely on his hometown of Northbrook, IL, a suburb of Chicago.

It turns out that there are way more movies set in the fictional burb than even I realized, and I say that as a connoisseur of Hughes movies.

There Are Two That You Can Definitely Say Are In Shermer

The two most recognizable movies set in the fictional town of Shermer are The Breakfast Club and Weird Science. The opening scene of The Breakfast Club features an exterior shot of the high school with the name “Shermer High School” clearly visible, and Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) has a voiceover introducing the school and the town:

The other movie where it’s clear as day is Weird Science, where in the opening scene, Gary, played by Hall, and Wyatt, played by Ilan Mitchell-Smith, are watching the girls’ gymnastic team practice. On the walls of the gym are signs rooting Shermer HS on. At the end of the movie, Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) is seen as a new gym teacher, wearing a shirt that reads “Shermer HS Phys. ED.” So those two movies are easy to confirm.

A Sign In Ferris Bueller

In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the name of the school Ferris (occasionally) attends, other than the nine times he’s missed that semester, is not directly mentioned, but there is a scene in a hallway of the school where there is a poster on the wall that says “Go, Shermer.” I’m going to go ahead and jump to the conclusion that it is, indeed, the same high school. That means that all the kids in The Breakfast Club and Weird Science were in classes with Ferris, right? Does that mean Emilio Estevez’s character in The Breakfast Club and Charlie Sheen’s character in Ferris Bueller were brothers? Makes you wonder.

It’s worth noting that another John Hughes classic set in high school, Pretty in Pink, doesn’t seem to take place at Shermer, as there is a poster on the wall in the gym that says “Meadowbrook High School.” There is also no direct reference to the name of the school in other Hughes movies featuring high schoolers, like Uncle Buck or any of the Vacation movies. That doesn’t mean they weren’t set in Shermer, though.

John Hughes Made It Clear

In a 1999 interview with Premiere magazine (via Wayback Machine), Hughes stated:

So that means at least 11 movies (and maybe more) written, directed, or both by Hughes were set, or partially set, in the fictional suburb. That includes all three Vacation movies Hughes wrote (the original, European, and Christmas), Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Home Alone, She's Having a Baby, and the aforementioned Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Uncle Buck.

Then there is a movie like The Great Outdoors; it's reasonable to assume some or all of the characters are from Shermer, despite taking place in Wisconsin, and there are some exceptions. Some Kind of Wonderful, for example, is about high school, but it is set in Los Angeles. Career Opportunities, which I think is an underrated gem, was set in a small town somewhere in Illinois, but not specifically in or around Chicago.

Only the Lonely, with John Candy, takes place entirely in the city of Chicago, as do a couple other movies written by Hughes, not the suburbs, so they are borderline cases here. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is also set all over the Midwest, though Del (Steve Martin) is headed home to Shermer, so it counts. One of his earliest scripts, Mr. Mom, is set in Detroit, and obviously most of the action in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York takes place in Manhattan.

Hughes Loved His Hometown

It’s no surprise to anyone familiar with Hughes’ work that he adored his hometown of Chicago and the northern suburbs where he spent his teenage years. Not only did he often set his scripts in Shermer, but many of them were also shot on location in and around the towns Shermer was based on.

In fact, both Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which you can watch with a Paramount+ subscription) and The Breakfast Club (available with a Netflix sub) shot scenes at Glenbrook North High School, where Hughes actually attended high school. Even when the movies weren’t about high school, like Home Alone and She’s Having A Baby, the movies were set in the Chicago ‘burbs and filmed on location in them.

I’m not the only person to note all these connections, of course. One of the most famous connections came via Kevin Smith in Dogma, when Jay and Silent Bob admit they went on the road in search of one of the most famous fictional locations in film history.

It's hard not to see this as an influence on Smith, even without the direct nod in Dogma, as all of his movies also take place in the same universe, albeit in New Jersey and not Illinois. Like me, Smith grew up loving Hughes films, and throwing in Easter Eggs like this would be one of the most fun things to do as a filmmaker, I would think.

I have never been particularly worried about “Dunesday.” Putting Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three in theaters on the same day certainly creates headaches for premium screens, but these are also two enormous franchises with pretty dedicated audiences. Throw in the Christmas corridor and the possibility that audiences might see both, and Dec. 18 has always looked capable of producing a monster weekend. But the numbers are even loftier than first expected.

According to TheWrap, early ticket sales for both projects on the 2026 movie schedule are already pointing toward a huge holiday box office. The numbers surrounding Doomsday are particularly wild, especially when you compare them to what Spider-Man: Brand New Day just pulled off.

The Avengers Are Already Making a Scene

Disney opened general advance sales for Avengers: Doomsday four months before its Dec. 18 release, an unusually long runway for a blockbuster. According to theatrical sources, its first two days of presales were running approximately 65% ahead of the first two days for Spider-Man: Brand New Day's first two days. That comparison gets my attention.

Brand New Day began selling tickets only 45 days before release and went on to open with a record-setting $360 million domestically and $927 million worldwide. It crossed $2 billion globally after just three weekends. Per the report, it is currently on track to reach roughly $2.5 billion by the end of its theatrical run.

Now, there is a giant asterisk attached to that 65% figure. We do not normally see wide ticket sales begin four months early, so nobody really knows what the sales curve will look like between now and December. The initial rush will almost certainly cool before picking up closer to release. Comparing the two movies this early is probably not fair. Still, being 65% ahead of a new Spider-Man movie that just bulldozed the box office is not bad news.

Robert Downey Jr.’s return to Marvel as Doctor Doom, Chris Evans coming back as Steve Rogers and the collision of the Avengers, Fantastic Four and veteran X-Men characters have clearly given audiences plenty of reasons to buy their tickets early. But where does this leave Dune: Part Three?

Meanwhile, Things Are Getting Spicy On Arrakis

General tickets for Dune: Part Three are not even on sale yet, but Warner Bros. and IMAX have already released tickets for select IMAX 70mm screenings. Reports cite that the 38 participating theaters are seeing dozens of opening-weekend sellouts, with enough interest to sustain round-the-clock screenings through Christmas weekend and beyond.

IMAX confirms that 70mm tickets are already available for Denis Villeneuve’s franchise finale. That premium-format battle may end up being the most fascinating part of this whole thing. Dune: Part Three has exclusive access to IMAX screens through the holidays, while Disney is pushing Doomsday across other premium formats. Dune: Part Three may not reach the astronomical numbers of The Odyssey, which is passing $1.3 billion worldwide, but it could still surpass Dune: Part Two’s $714 million global total if audiences respond similarly.

I already figured Dec. 18 would be a good day for movie theaters and cinema fans. I was picturing packed lobbies, double features and plenty of arguments over which movie to watch first. But these early numbers make me think we may need to aim considerably higher with our box-office expectations.

Dunesday is still four months away, and both movies have plenty of selling left to do. But if this is what the box office looks like before most people have even started Christmas shopping, theater employees may want to start preparing now, because it's going to be a very busy weekend.

I was starting to get genuinely nervous about the future of Fast Forever. The 11th and supposedly final Fast & Furious movie has spent years drifting between announcements, delays and Vin Diesel social media posts that made production sound much further along than it actually was. Just last week, director Louis Leterrier was talking about how he “hoped” they would get to finish the franchise. That is not exactly what you want to hear about a movie already sitting on Universal’s release calendar. Now, Diesel has finally given us something considerably more concrete.

Speaking to Variety at a 25th anniversary screening of The Fast and the Furious, the Dominic Toretto actor said Fast Forever is expected to begin filming very soon. He explained:

Principal photography beginning this December, even if there is still a qualifier attached, after four years of development, is very exciting. The movie finally sounds like it may be ready to leave the garage.

However, the actor's “if” is doing a little work there, and Diesel did not explain exactly what Universal has asked of him. Still, December is the clearest production window we have gotten in quite some time.

It also clears up some recent confusion. The Bloodshot star shared footage in July that appeared to come from the Fast Forever set and told fans he needed to “get back to this filming,” which certainly made it sound like cameras were already rolling. We later learned that was not the case.

Then Leterrier complicated matters further. While discussing the finale recently, the Fast X filmmaker said he had been keeping himself busy with other projects while waiting and added that he hoped everyone would get to finish the franchise properly. He also had not yet read the latest version of the screenplay that apparently reduced the xXx helmer to tears.

Needless to say, I had questions, but Diesel's explanation that the script went through four sets of writers over four years helps explain why this has taken so long. Michael Lesslie is behind the current screenplay, and Universal has also reportedly been looking for ways to bring the enormous budgets associated with the later Fast and Furious movies back under control.

Whenever filming actually begins, Fast Forever has plenty of unfinished business waiting for it. Fast X ended with Dom and his son apparently trapped by Dante Reyes while Roman, Tej, Ramsey and Han faced a separate disaster. The movie also brought Gal Gadot’s Gisele back from the dead and used its credits scene to usher Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs back into the franchise.

Diesel has repeatedly said he wants the finale to return to Los Angeles and to the street-racing culture that started it all back in 2001. The movie is currently scheduled to hit theaters March 17, 2028, a full five years after Fast X.

After all the stops, starts, and occasionally confusing updates, a December shoot finally gives this thing a much clearer road ahead. We will not be seeing the finale on the 2026 movie schedule, or even in 2027, so there is still a long wait. But in the meantime, fans can revisit Fast X with a Peacock subscription.

Tom Holland has spent a good chunk of his career playing one of the most recognizable movie characters on the planet, but apparently Spider-Man was not enough. Years ago, the British actor marched into Sony chairman Tom Rothman’s office and pitched himself as James Bond. I knew he had once floated a young 007 movie, but I had never heard the full idea. Now that I have, I completely understand why somebody politely showed it the door.

Tom Holland's basic idea was actually kind of clever: he would play a young SAS recruit on a dangerous mission, and audiences would not learn his real identity until the end. Surprise, you have been watching James Bond the whole time. As he explained it during a BBC Radio 1 interview:

I can already hear a studio marketing department screaming. The Avengers staple said his character would eventually be recruited into MI6, earn double-O status, and finally be revealed as James Bond. The Spider-Man actor still maintains it was a good pitch, but he also identified the fairly obvious problem himself:

Keeping Bond’s identity secret would indeed create a marketing nightmare, but I’m not gonna lie, I would have kind of loved to have seen this. But Holland’s assessment feels dead-on. You either put 007 all over the posters and destroy your twist six months before opening night, or advertise a movie about some random young SAS guy and hope audiences discover they secretly bought tickets to a Bond film. Neither sounds like a particularly good plan when hundreds of millions of dollars are involved.

The failed pitch did have one pretty significant consolation prize. Holland’s desire to make a young Bond adventure helped Sony realize it could take a similar origin-story approach to Nathan Drake. That conversation eventually contributed to him starring in the 2022 video game-to-film adaptation of Uncharted, which introduced a younger version of the video game treasure hunter rather than directly adapting the older Drake players already knew.

A young Bond origin story no longer sounds nearly as bizarre. The official 007 franchise launched 007 First Light this year, a video game centered on a 26-year-old Bond as he enters MI6 and works his way toward becoming the agent audiences know. Pretty much the Odyssey actor’s exact movie pitch. But the “Bond before Bond” part wasn't missing in the video game's marketing. So, clearly the idea wasn't entirely crazy. And who knows, maybeThe Devil All the Time actor might even still get his shot at 007 the old-fashioned way.

He was recently asked about playing James Bond and made it clear he would hardly turn down the opportunity. The complication is Amy Pascal, who has helped shepherd his Spider-Man career and is now producing the next Bond movie alongside David Heyman. Holland said he does not want to overstep that professional relationship by openly campaigning for the tuxedo.

The next 007 movie already has Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve directing and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight writing. At the same time, Amazon MGM confirmed this spring that the search for Daniel Craig’s successor is underway. So Holland’s first Bond plan may have died because nobody could advertise the thing without ruining it. Maybe Pitch No. 2 should just be: “I play James Bond.” That’s a much easier poster to sell.

Holland can be seen (unfortunately, not as 007) on the 2026 movie calendar in two major summer flicks: Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Be sure to check your local listings for showtimes.

Sebastian Stan has been starring in high-profile movies for well over a decade now, and that’s in great part due to his work within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Because of that, the Oscar nominee has been trained in the art of not spoiling significant details. However, the fan-favorite actor just made a major faux pas in regarding his involvement in The Batman: Part II. Stan just flat-out revealed his role in Matt Reeves’ highly anticipated sequel and, ironically, he did so while discussing his commitment to not leaking secrets.

After Stan’s casting in Batman was reported earlier this year, the rumor mill began to churn, and it’s been moving steadily since then. The most common assumption has been that the A Different Man star is playing a villain in the superhero flick. As for who that baddie is, insiders have offered up different claims and, all the while, Stan’s been fancast as different antagonists. Well, many of those theories can now be put to rest, as Stan spilled the beans after being asked about his work on the also much-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday:

I don’t know what strikes me more: the irony of the context in which Stan confirms his character or the casual way he dropped the news. What I’d love to have seen were the looks on the faces of Stan’s rep(s) when he shared that major detail with le journal du dimanche. To be clear, I’m also not upset to receive confirmation that the skilled actor is playing Harvey Dent (who becomes the villainous Two-Face in the comics). What I’m glad about, if anything, is that we can finally put the prologued rumors and discourse to rest.

Stan previously teased his Batman: Part II character a few months ago, as he said he was portraying “many roles in this one.” One one hand, that hint could’ve been taken as Stan referring to the multiple identities possessed by Dent. On the other hand, others weren’t so convinced Stan was playing Dent and hoped he might portray Tommy Elliot a.k.a. Hush. Another villain rumor also suggested Stan might play serial killer Victor Zsasz. The scrutiny surrounding the Avengers actor’s role became so intense that just earlier this month, many were pouring over his hairstyle for clues.

Harvey Dent does feel like a great role for Stan, though, as he’s adept at playing characters who can exude charm and wrestle with inner demons in their personal time. That would definitely sum up Bucky Barnes, who Stan has played in the MCU since 2011. However, I’d expect Dent to be much more twisted than the dry-witted Bucky.

Although we can now mark one Batman casting mystery as being solved, there are still plenty of others that remain uncertain. Scarlett Johansson’s role, in particular, is still being speculated upon to a major extent. Of course, all will be revealed in time, but I’d be surprised if Johansson or any other franchise newcomers choose to reveal their characters like Stan has.

The Batman: Part II opens in theaters on February 18, 2028. In the meantime, grab an HBO Max subscription and stream the original 2022 movie along with The Penguin.

As a child of the early 2000s, Ice Princess was a formative film for me. The 2005 Disney movie about a girl getting into the world of figure skating was inspiring and incredibly entertaining. It also introduced me to Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg. It’s hard to believe both actresses have passed away, and now, right after the death of the Heroes star, the director of Ice Princess has opened up about working with her and Trachtenberg.

Hayden Panettiere died on August 16, 2026, and immediately after the news broke and tributes for the Nashville actress started pouring in, Ice Princess began trending. It’s hard to comprehend that both the film’s stars have now passed away, and Variety spoke to the movie’s director, Tim Fywell, about working with them in the wake of their deaths:

It is really upsetting to realize that we’ve lost both these actresses in such a short span of time. Panettiere passed away about a year and a half after Michelle Trachtenberg, who died in February 2025. The actresses were 36 and 39, respectively, at the time of their deaths.

As Fywell said, they really were an amazing pair, and Ice Princess is a big reason why I’m a fan of both of them. Of course, Panettiere starred in one of the best sports movies, Remember the Titans, played a part in the Scream movies, and starred in major TV shows like Nashville and Heroes. However, Ice Princess is one of the projects that meant the most to me. Clearly, it meant a lot to many fans of the actresses too, seeing as it’s started trending with posts like this one on X:

Ice Princess follows Trachtenberg’s Casey Carlyle as she dives into the world of figure skating, even though she is on track to go to college at Harvard. As she starts competing on the ice, she meets Panettiere’s Gen, and while their relationship starts out rocky, they eventually turn into good friends. As Fywell reflected on the women who led this movie, he also noted how much he adored working with them:

Tributes for both Trachtenberg and Panettiere poured in at the time of their deaths, expressing a similar feeling. It’s hard to fathom that they both died in their 30s and within the last year and a half; they really are both “gone far too soon.”

Thankfully, we will always have their work to look back on, and that includes Ice Princess. So, if you’d like to pay tribute to the late actresses by watching some of their work, you can stream the 2005 figure skating movie with a Disney+ subscription.

Anybody who knows me knows that I love Godzilla. However, with that love has come a wellspring of other things that I adore that have kaiju elements - namely the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which would almost always have a kaiju battle at the end of each episode.

Well, with that love of Power Rangers, I've always had a deep respect for Jason David Frank, who I always felt was the best part of any team he was in.

We of course lost Frank back in 2022, but the good news is that his legacy lives on in a new movie called Legend of the White Dragon. The movie comes out on August 28th, and I can't wait to see it. Here's why.

It's One Of The Last Appearances By Jason David Frank And Michael Madsen

When Jason David Frank didn't appear in Power Rangers Once & Always, I was crestfallen. I mean, I loved it, of course, but one aspect that really bummed me out was that the late JDF wasn't in the film, because without him, something just felt like it was missing.

Well, thankfully, Legend of the White Dragon looks to be the bookend to JDF’s life that I've been waiting for. Directed by Bat in the Sun co-founders Sean and Aaron Schoenke, and starring other Power Ranger alums like Jason Faunt, Cerina Vincent, and Ciara Hanna, White Dragon ALSO has the distinction of being one of the last films that Michael Madsen starred in, as he died in 2025.

Madsen has been one of my favorite actors ever since Tarantino's perfect debut, Reservoir Dogs. So, to have Jason David Frank and Michael Madsen in a movie that's pretty much a spiritual successor to Power Rangers? Sign me up!

It's Like Power Rangers...But It's Not

There was a debate with ‘90s kids about which was better - The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or the Power Rangers–and here's the thing–while I have more of a connection to the turtles, one thing I will say that the heroes in a half shell definitely have over the Power Rangers is that we actually got a mature version of them with The Last Ronin, which was gritty, bloody, and surprisingly heartfelt.

One could argue that the BOOM! Studios comic book series had the most mature “official” Power Rangers stories that we’ve gotten (the short film Power/Rangers was unofficial); we still haven't gotten that “Last Ronin” moment with the Power Rangers.

Until now. Sort of. Legend of the White Dragon is about a former superhero (who strangely looks like the White Ranger) named Erik Reed (Frank) who has come out of hiding and returned to the city that he once defended. He has a secret family, and he aims to protect them. However, Dragon Prime (Played by the director himself, Aaron Schoenke) stands in his way. And get this. The movie is RATED FREAKING R! Take THAT, cancelled The Last Ronin movie!

I Love When Movies This Niche Make It To The Big Screen

Lastly, can I just say how great it is that this is getting a theatrical release? I’m a huge fan of when niche films (And this film looks SUPER niche) make it to the big screen, and I think it’s so beautiful that people will get to see JDF and Michael Madsen on the big screen, possibly for the last time.

Plus, this movie is giving me serious D-War (Which I definitely need to write about someday) vibes. Legend of the White Dragon looks ridiculous, but also like it takes itself seriously, which is something that I have always loved about the Bat in the Sun Super Power Beat Downs.

In every way, I’m super pumped for this flick, and I hope to see other JDF and Michael Madsen fans there on opening night!

Robert Downey Jr. returning to Marvel as Doctor Doom was already one of the strangest casting turns the MCU has ever pulled. This is the guy who spent more than a decade as Tony Stark, helped turn Iron Man into the foundation of a multibillion-dollar franchise and then got one of the biggest superhero send-offs ever in Avengers: Endgame. Bringing him back as Victor von Doom felt completely out of left field. Except, apparently, it wasn't. That’s right, it's a recycled idea that almost happened 20 years ago.

I somehow missed that the Chaplain star was already in the mix to play Doctor Doom roughly two decades ago. In a resurfaced Marvel Studios retrospective conversation between Iron Man director Jon Favreau and Kevin Feige posted on Instagram, Favreau recalled that Marvel had met with the actor about Doom before he ever became Tony Stark. Feige's reaction confirms Favreau's memory, which makes Downey's eventual casting feel less like a wild new idea and more like Marvel opening a very old folder. You can check out the exchange below:

The project in question was 2005's Fantastic Four. Per Favreau, Downey had met about playing Victor von Doom years before Favreau began putting together Iron Man. Julian McMahon ultimately landed the role and played Doom opposite Ioan Gruffudd's Reed Richards in Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer. Three years after that first FF, Downey became Tony Stark instead, and comic-book movie history took a pretty significant turn. As Favreau recalled:

Favreau has said that when Downey came up for Iron Man, his earlier Marvel meetings meant the people involved already knew him. More importantly, the director thought RDJ understood Tony Stark immediately. Kevin Feige has repeatedly credited that casting as one of the decisions that allowed the MCU to become what it did.

Which makes the Doom thing pretty funny in hindsight. Marvel almost tapped the Dolittle star for one of its biggest villains, but luckily for everyone involved, they instead cast him as arguably its most important hero, where he spent 11 years helping the company flesh out a cinematic universe around him. And, now, just like in wrestling, he has returned after the MCU killed off Stark, and he has turned full heel as he comes back as one of the most popular villains.

Downey was officially revealed as Victor von Doom at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024, with the Russo brothers returning to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. His casting immediately raised questions about whether Doom would somehow be connected to Tony Stark, though Marvel has consistently presented him as Victor von Doom rather than simply an evil Stark variant.

Now, we are finally close to the film’s release date on the 2026 movie schedule and seeing what Marvel has apparently been imagining, in some form, since the George W. Bush administration. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters Dec. 18.

Until we see RDJ return as Doom in a new Marvel movie, fans can revisit Tony Stark’s final MCU chapter by streaming Avengers: Endgame with a Disney+ subscription.