Warning! The following contains spoilers for Masters of the Universe. Read at your own risk!

Halfway through Masters of the Universe, I had a few things running through my mind. First off, I agree that Jared Leto is at his best in this movie, and second, I too questioned who raised Prince Adam on Earth. The biggest takeaway, however, is that I couldn't decide if I was watching a movie primarily aimed at adults, or something for all ages, provided parents are flexible on violence and raunchiness.

It was clear in my screening that not every parent with children in the audience was aware Masters of the Universe would feature double entendres for sex acts and some occasionally brutal violence. I don't blame them, because I didn't gather that from the trailer, but if that was the direction this movie was headed, why not shy away from some of the other more childish themes?

Masters Of The Universe Is Not A Movie For Kids, But It Acts Like One At Times

Masters of the Universe has plenty that would make parents second-guess taking their kid to it, and yet, large chunks of the plot play out as though I'm watching a movie tailored to children. Prince Adam yearns to return to Eternia, but rather than become a scientist who studies intergalactic travel, he adorns his room with photos he drew when he was a kid?

All of Masters of the Universe is like this, with the general vibe like it's a kids' movie that had one person who came in and said: "Let's make some wild moments for the parents." The end result is like if Robin Williams used his incredibly NSFW stand-up as improv during his voice work in Aladdin, which is a complicated way of saying it's weird.

I Think Had Masters Of The Universe Leaned Into The Older Audience Nostalgic For He-Man, It Could've Been Better

It's complicated for me to reconcile my feelings about Masters of the Universe. I think it was the right call for the movie not to take itself too seriously, but I think there were other ways to accomplish this without making a kids' movie that feels as though some risque moments were thrown in to justify the PG-13 rating it earned for its action sequences.

It almost reminds me of those old '80s movies that would not be PG today, which is a cool vibe we're not seeing a lot of in Hollywood. That said, I almost think the movie should've leaned a bit harder into the overall raunch of the movie, and maybe made it abundantly clear in the trailer that you may want to leave the kids at home for this one. It is, after all, a movie based on a children's cartoon, so I don't think the average person would even second-guess making it a family affair.

I think if you up the action and make things a bit bloodier, this movie firmly justifies the raunch and maybe even gets a few more looks from those in search of something different from the action/fantasy genre. My girlfriend thought going in this movie was tied to the upcoming 2026 Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday, because it gave her MCU vibes. I totally understand that too, because I think in some ways this movie is "Marvel-lite," and come to think of it, I would've cringed just as much with my young daughter in the theater as I did when I took her to Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

I do still think people should see Masters of the Universe, and maybe help it out at the box office. It still seems like Amazon may give it a sequel regardless of how it performs, and I'd love to see them tweak the tone if it happens.

The power of nostalgia in Hollywood has been clear for years, as moviegoers love to see properties they enjoyed as young people back on the small or silver screens. Following Barbie's record-breaking success, Mattel has brought another IP to the big screen: Masters of the Universe. Travis Knight's movie is nearly here, and while some folks might be worried about Jared Leto's role as Skeletor, as someone who has already seen the movie I can confidently say he's incredible as the beloved villain.

What we know about Masters of the Universe has been limited, but I was lucky enough to visit the set in the midst of filming. I didn't get to see Leto at work, so my early screening of Knight's movie was the first time seeing him in action. And while he's had box office bombs with Morbius and Tron: Ares, the Oscar-winning actor is a total delight at Skeletor, and worth the price of admission.

Jared Leto Has Some Haters, But His Skeletor Is Incredible

Jared Leto has his share of haters. Whether its his method acting in Suicide Squad or his recent box office struggles, folks are entitled to their opinions. But I think it' a misstep to not see Masters of the Universe due to his inclusion. Because he is wildly entertaining as Skeletor, pivoting between being a scary villain and a hilariously campy antagonist.

The Masters of the Universe trailer debuted the wild character voice Leto uses for Skeletor, and it's even better in the movie's theatrical cut. He sounds pretty unrecognizable, and the delivery he brings as He-Man's foe had me laughing consistently throughout the film's 141-minute runtime.

Masters of the Universe's reviews praised the movie's comedy, and there are a surprising amount of laughs throughout its runtime. Jared Leto deserves credit for many of these moments. Whether its him getting frustrated at the end of his villainous monologues or the truly hilarious dream sequence opposite Nicholas Galitzine's Adam Glenn, Leto's performance really helped to nail down the movie's unique tone. So while the 54-year-old actor might not have done press for the movie, he really helps to make the blockbuster what it is.

Apart from Leto's performance, the way visual effects aided in his appearance as Skeletor are also impressive. While the suit was all practical (I saw it myself during my set visit) CGI is masterfully used to animate the He-Man villain's skeleton face. Add in Leto's delivery and the funny one-liners that often leave his mouth, and Skeletor is one of the biggest scene-stealers in the movie

Audiences will get to judge for themselves when Masters of the Universe hits theaters on June 5th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see how it performs at the box office, and if Travis Knight's movie kickstarts a bonafide movie franchise.

As the busiest time in the 2026 movie calendar continues to bring us new buzzy releases every weekend, excitement for the Masters of the Universe movie is starting to pick up – especially after first reactions called it “a colossally epic time” and “a hell of a lot of fun.” However, Jared Leto, who plays the movie’s big bad Skeletor, has been nowhere to be seen during the movie’s press tour. A new rumor suggests there’s a specific reason why he’s been absent from promoting the movie.

What Jared Leto Allegedly Thinks Of Masters Of The Universe

The Masters of the Universe press tour has been in full swing lately, with the cast reuniting at the Los Angeles premiere last Monday… with the exception of Jared Leto. The actor skipped out on the movie’s world premiere event, didn’t take part in the press junkets alongside Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Alison Brie, Morena Baccarin and Idris Elba. Plus he hasn’t posted about the movie on social media – despite being active on his Instagram otherwise.

Jared Leto allegedly “wasn’t thrilled” with Masters of the Universe, according to Puck News (via ComingSoon), and that’s why he’s stayed clear of promoting it. Amazon has also reportedly been “downplaying” his involvement as well. While there’s positivity around those who’ve seen the upcoming movie, according to Box Office Pro it’s looking at a $25 to $35 million opening weekend range, which isn’t good news for a movie that allegedly cost $175 million in production costs.

Other Reasons Why Jared Leto Is Sitting Out Masters Of The Universe Press Tour

While Jared Leto could be avoiding promoting Masters of the Universe due to not liking the film or it heading toward becoming a commercial flop, there’s also quite a few reasons why Amazon MGM Studios might also want to not associate with the actor either. For one, Leto was accused of sexual impropriety back in June of last year (per The Guardian), which included allegations of him flirting with teenagers and having “predatory” behavior.

Additionally, the last movie Leto starred in Tron: Ares which had a $33 million debut before stumbling at the box office with a $142 million worldwide box office haul against a $220 million production budget. Many believe that this had to do with Jared Leto leading the movie, but we should also note that one insider suggested that the Tron film would have flopped with or without him.

While Jared Leto’s name and face was all over Tron: Ares, in Masters of the Universe the actor literally plays a character that looks like a skeleton, so there’s less inherent connection with the actor. You can check out Masters of the Universe yourself when it hits theaters on June 5.

Until very recently, I wasn't sure if I was going to see Masters of the Universe in theaters, however the decision has now been made. The ticket has been purchased, and I want to talk about a couple of reasons why I'm planning to see the He-Man film, which arrives soon on the 2026 movie schedule.

While nostalgia is a factor, it wasn't enough to make Masters of the Universe a must-see-in-theaters for me. My sisters and I were '80s kids and the prime age for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe when the animated series aired on TV. We loved that show, and the She-Ra spinoff that followed. Of course, we had some of the toys, and we saw the 1987 live-action film starring Dolph Lundgren and a pre-Friends Courteney Cox.

When I learned that they were making a new Masters of the Universe movie, I recall feeling a spark of nostalgia, but otherwise, I was fairly neutral. As fondly as I remember watching the original show as a kid, I can't say that I've been clamoring for a reboot. Still, I was curious enough to keep an eye on the promotions for Travis Knight's movie, and that brings us to the things that sold me on seeing it sooner rather than later...

The Trailers Really Look Fun

The story centers on Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) returning to his home world of Eternia after spending more than a decade living on Earth. With the Sword of Power and the help of his friends Teela (Camila Mendes) and Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba), he's tasked with trying to save his world and fight Skeletor (Jared Leto).

I like the mix of humor and fantastical action featured in the trailers for the new movie. The footage has given us a good glimpse of the cast and the journey Adam is on. Also, I need to admit that I forgot just how much I loved Cringer/Battle Cat. As a kid, I remember liking that he could be brave even though he was also sometimes terrified. The sight of him roaring inside the MGM logo in the trailer made me smile.

Nicholas Galitzine Is Great -- The Whole Cast Is, Really

Though I'd seen him in The Craft: Legacy and the Amazon's 2021 Cinderella, Nicholas Galitzine won me over with two specific performances: the ridiculous, cheating-boyfriend Jeff in Bottoms, and the warm, charming, deserves-so-much-love Prince Henry in Red, White and Royal Blue (I can't wait for Red, White and Royal Blue 2 to come out!). These characters couldn't be more different if they tried, and yet, Galitzine played both so memorably and perfectly. For all the humor he brought to Bottoms, he brought as much warmth and depth to his Red, White and Royal Blue character.

Learning that he'd play Prince Adam had me curious, but also much more optimistic about the quality of the movie they were putting together. For Masters of the Universe, they picked an actor with genuine range to play the part of Adam (and from the sound of it, he put in a lot of work to bulk up for the role).

There's even more talent among the cast, which – in addition to Galitzine, Mendes, Elba and Leto – includes Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Morena Baccarin, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, and Charlotte Riley.

The cast and trailers had me mostly sold on buying a ticket, but there's one more thing to talk about...

Reviews Aren't In Yet, But Early Reactions Sound Positive

I don't rely solely on critics' reactions to determine if I'll see a movie, but if I hear it's good, that's certainly going to factor into my decision. In the case of Masters of the Universe, as of this writing, actual reviews aren't out yet, but early reactions on social media sound positive, with the words "fun" and "funny" being used to describe it. This isn't a property that I need to see taking itself super seriously. If what we're in for is popcorn fun where the heroes fight the bad guys and there are some bits of humor sprinkled throughout, that works for me.

Masters of the Universe arrives in theaters on June 5, 2026, but luckily, I was able to grab a ticket for an early access screening on June 3rd at my local theater, so if you're planning to watch it sooner rather than later, check the listings to see what's available near you.

The summer portion of the 2026 movie calendar is officially upon us, as we’ll finally get to lay eyes on highly anticipated projects like The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disclosure Day and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Before those offerings, though, we’ve got to talk about Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Jared Leto and more serving up a blast from the past with the upcoming blockbuster Masters of the Universe, based on the Mattel action figures, comics and cartoon series from the ‘80s. Let’s take a look at early reactions.

Masters of the Universe doesn’t hit theaters until June 5, and feedback hitting social media more than two weeks ahead of time is typically an indication that studios are confident in their product. I’d say director Travis Knight has good reason to be optimistic, given posts by critics like Courtney Howard, who was charmed by everything from the story to the score, writing:

Nicholas Galitzine may have bulked up to play He-Man, but it’s Jared Leto’s Skeletor who steals the show, according to Chris Killian of ComicBook.com. We got our first look at the villain in the Masters of the Universe trailer early this year, and while there was some confusion about his voice, critics seem pleased with his performance. Overall, Killian says he had a great time, writing:

Peter Gray of The AU Review slightly disagrees with the above statement, saying that it’s not Skeletor who is the showstopper but Nicholas Galitzine’s comedic timing. Gray’s post reads:

Scott Menzel of We Live Entertainment says fans of the the ‘80s cartoons won’t be disappointed, as Masters of the Universe fully embraces its over-the-top roots by leaning into its sillier elements. The critic says:

More than one movie lover who caught an early screening has said the movie wears its heart on its sleeve, and critic Rachel Leishman speaks to that in regards to the He-Man portrayer, writing:

Nick L’Barrow of World of Screens says Masters of the Universe features some impressive set pieces, with Travis Knight flexing as many creative muscles as Nicholas Galitzine does physical muscles in the upcoming fantasy flick. L’Barrow posts:

Junior Felix of That Hashtag Show says those who grew up in the ‘80s will have a nostalgic blast with Masters of the Universe, specifically praising Jared Leto’s character, writing:

Critic BJ Colangelo echoes that, saying it’s everything fans of this franchise could want:

These reactions are likely to leave fans even more excited for this one, which is set to hit theaters on Friday, June 5. You’ll definitely want to snatch up those Masters of the Universe popcorn buckets and cups, too, to reawaken that ‘80s child inside of you. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more coverage of the movie leading up to its premiere.

As somebody who was a kid in the 1980s, I won't pretend I haven't been supremely curious about the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie. I watched the original cartoon and had many of the toys. I watched the first live-action movie and convinced myself I liked it even though it was mostly terrible.

When I saw the first teaser trailer for the new Masters of the Universe, I was surprised at how much the new film really did look like the old cartoon brought to life. However, the thing that had me the most curious wasn't what was in the trailer; it was what wasn't there. While we got brief glimpses of Jared Leto's Skeletor, the first teaser never had him speak. I was sure this was an intentional marketing decision. I was certain the voice, when we heard it, was going to be divisive. Now we know how Skeletor sounds, and I am certainly surprised.

Jared Leto's Skeletor Has Spoken, And He Sounds...Fine?

This morning, we got a brand new trailer for Masters of the Universe, and it does include a few lines of dialogue from Leto's villain. The most surprising thing about the voice of Skeletor is that there's nothing particularly noteworthy about it at all. It's a fairly generic sound. This voice would be perfectly at home being the next villain of a Paddington movie as much as it belongs in Masters of the Universe.

When Jared Leto is involved in, well, anything, you can almost guarantee things are going to get weird. His characters are often polarizing, but they are rarely boring. His take on franchise characters, like The Joker and Morbius, has been the stuff of memes.

Especially since Skeletor doesn't look like Jared Leto in this movie, I fully expected the actor's performance to come out in the voice, so I'm shocked that the voice is so normal. It's far less crazy sounding that the tone voice actor Alan Oppenheimer took in the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series.

I'm Glad The Voice Is So Subdued

I'm curious about Masters of the Universe, but that's not the same thing as saying I'm particularly excited for it. Yes, I was a fan as a kid, but I haven't been a kid in a long time. And, weirdly, studios have been making movies aimed at me for my entire life, when they really should be making movies aimed at younger audiences.

Whoever's decision it was to not go crazy with the voice, I'm glad that decision was made. Even if most people saw the voice as "good," there was a decent chance that anything particularly unusual would have the chance to suck all the oxygen out of the room and become the only thing that anybody talked about. Now we can all focus on everything else. Jared Leto probably won't be what we're all talking about with this film, which is unusual for any movie he's in. It's a nice change of pace.

Zack Snyder knows how to get folks talking, especially about his time making new DC movies. Now he’s stoked the fires once again by sharing a single behind-the-scenes pic to his social media. On Monday, the director posted a new photo of Jared Leto’s Joker, and within minutes, the comments section was flooded with a unified (if slightly unrealistic) demand.

Snyder took to Instagram, sharing a shot he took on set, using a Leica monochrome camera and a 50mm “dream lens.” The result? A stark, haunting image, which you can see below, of Leto’s long-haired Clown Prince of Crime in full SWAT gear, marching down a dim hallway, rifle slung over his shoulder like the world’s most chaotic soldier. And apparently, fans want to see more of this Joker in an upcoming superhero movie, now.

The Rebel Moon filmmaker has always known how to craft a striking frame, whether it’s on film or in a single still image—and this monochrome shot is no exception. As impressive as the photo is, I’m not entirely convinced I need to see this version of the Joker return to the big screen. But judging by the comments under Snyder’s post, I’m very much in the minority on that.

How Fans Are Reacting To The Leto Image

The image appears to be from the “Knightmare” sequence originally teased in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where Batman envisions a post-apocalyptic future. Leto’s Joker, sporting smeared makeup, a tattered robe, and now apparently a Gotham SWAT vest, made his brief but unforgettable debut in that alternate reality. And if this new image is anything to go by, fans are still deeply invested in whatever else Snyder might have left in the tank.

Here’s what the comments had to say:

• “We need more of this Joker!!” — @mahertheviking
• “We need to see what happened to Robin!!! Leto's Joker could have been amazing!!!” — @paolo.ribe1
• “Yes, please, more! Everybody is gathering around your beautiful pictures. Keep posting, we are here, we are not moving on.” — @lowrysam1984
• “My Joker 🃏” — @colecionatoy
• “The end is near 🔥” — @hwhwuuuuu
• “OMG! We missed so much in SnyderVerse. Need to be #Restored” — @bilal_ahmad_batman
• “We NEED to see the Knightmare timeline play out. We need JL2.” — @restorezsjl

As you can see, there is no shortage of Snyder fans hoping for, while more than likely in vain, a Justice League 2. With the recently rebooted DCU universe’s Chapter One chugging along, I can’t imagine that would happen, but hey, you never know.

But not everyone was on board. Here are a few dissenters who filled Snyder’s comments:

• “The worst Joker ever, it’s okay that this universe is dead now, we don’t really need it.” – @Snareone_
• “Alright idk abt Jared Letos joker 😂” – @Pump2ss
• “You want him to kill your dc (again) like he kills tron?” – @grrkj

Some commenters even went so far as to thank Warner Bros. for scrapping the DCEU. But even those voices were drowned out by the sheer wave of enthusiasm calling for the return of Snyder’s darker, more damaged universe and Leto’s Joker right along with it.

Whether this photo means anything beyond a flashback or a fan tease is unclear. But one thing is obvious, and that is that Snyder still knows how to drop a breadcrumb that gets the entire fandom talking. If nothing else, it proves there’s still a passionate corner of the internet who aren’t ready to let the Snyderverse go.

If you want to revisit Snyder and Leto’s short but clearly impactful time in the DC movie canon, you can stream all the movies in the DCEU with an HBO Max subscription.

There are some movies that, for better or worse, stick with us forever. Requiem for a Dream — a raw and traumatic exploration of addiction that happens to be one of the best movies of the 2000s — is definitely one of those. The psychological drama that was adapted from the equally devastating book is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and after reading Jared Leto’s tribute, my pupils are dilating over how fast time has flown.

Requiem for a Dream is one of those films that you remember exactly where you were the first time you watched it (and for many, that first time is the only time). Jared Leto, who stars as Harry Goldfarb, posted a touching video on Instagram to mark the film’s quarter-century milestone, as you can see below:

The clip shows Harry and his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) high out of their minds, expressing their love for one another as they lay head-to-head. The camera spins as it zooms out of the shot, showing the couple’s literal downward spiral. Jared Leto says in the caption that he knew the Darren Aronofsky’s film was going to have an impact, writing:

Jared Leto isn’t the only one who has remained affected by the movie for 25 years. His co-star Marlon Wayans, who played his best friend and fellow heroin addict/dealer Tyrone, has also spoken recently about Requiem for a Dream, which is just one of the sexually explicit movies you can stream on Peacock.

Marlon Wayans noted the 25th anniversary of the film while promoting his latest psychological nightmare, HIM, which he says isn’t nearly as damaging as the 2000 book-to-screen adaptation. In fact, Wayans says we can count him as one of the one-and-dones, as he says he will never watch Requiem for a Dream again.

I understand this point of view, especially Marlon Wayans’ suggestion that it might be the most powerful “Don’t Do Drugs” PSA ever created. However, personally, I have partaken in multiple rewatches of this film, and I was shocked to realize that 25 years had passed.

That’s a long time for as often as this film still gets quoted in my household. Ellen Burstyn’s reading of, “I’m old!” from her epic monologue as Harry’s mom Sara Goldfarb has gotten particularly heavy use as the years have passed, as well as Harry’s preceding accusation: “You on uppahs?” We may also be known to break into a Tappy Tibbons chant anytime our kids mention juice, and I fear they may think “Join Us In Creating Excellence” is a more universal acronym than it is.

It certainly says something about a movie when it can still elicit a reaction in people who may have only seen it once, decades ago, proving Jared Leto’s instincts were definitely right when he saw something special in the Requiem for a Dream script. If you want to dive back into that nightmarish world in honor of its 25th anniversary, the movie is available to stream with a Peacock subscription.

Disney took a third bite at the apple this past weekend with a third Tron movie. It’s a franchise that has always struggled, and yet always found a way to make it to audiences. Unfortunately, he new film failed to find an audience. While Ares won the weekend, it did so with an anemic $36 million domestic, nearly $10 million less than the previous film in the franchise did 15 years ago.

As is always the case with blockbusters that fail to become smash hits, many are asking why, and a lot of the blame is being heaped on star Jared Leto. THR questions whether Leto, who previously led the Spider-Verse movie Morbius to a meme-worthy level of box office bomb, will be leading major franchise films after Ares. However, one talent agency partner suggests the issue with the film was more fundamental, saying…

The question of whether Tron: Ares might have succeeded if any specific detail had been different is likely exactly the question that Disney is discussing in meetings right now. While it’s impossible to know if people stayed away from the theater on opening weekend because of Leto, it’s difficult not to argue that he didn’t bring an audience into the theater.

That said, there’s plenty of reason not to blame Jared Leto entirely for Ares' status as a flop. First and foremost is the fact that Tron, despite looking like a massive sci-fi blockbuster, has never put up box office numbers. The first Tron movie, while praised for its technological innovation, had similar trouble finding an audience in 1982. In 2010, Tron: Legacy was a modest hit, grossing $400 million worldwide, a number that wasn’t bad but still wasn’t enough to get its own sequel a green light.

The quote above, for what it’s worth, is almost certainly correct, however you look at it. Ryan Gosling’s last movie, The Fall Guy, was much more popular with critics than Tron: Ares, but it also stalled at the box office. Clearly, Gosling on his own can’t save the fate of a film either.

Of course, in Hollywood, perception is reality, and so the question likely isn’t whether or not Leto is to blame for the poor box office, so much as do studios believe Leto is to blame, because if they do, these major roles may dry up. Jared Leto’s appearance at the front of a major franchise isn’t done. He’s already filmed his role as Skeletor in the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie. What happens after that, however, is anybody’s guess.

As somebody who considers himself a fan of the Tron franchise, but who didn’t love Ares as much as I had wanted to, the real frustration is that another rough go at the box office almost certainly means another extended hiatus for the Tron franchise. Maybe in 15 or 20 years, Disney will try again, but the two different teases we got for potential sequels will likely not come to pass.

When Joseph Kosinski's Tron: Legacy first arrived in theaters in December 2010, it didn't quite set the world on fire as expected. A big marketing push for the shiny and expensive long-awaited sequel didn't yield the results that were desired, as the film put up opening weekend ticket sales that matched the low-end of predictions. The performance made people question the viability and potential of the science-fiction franchise at the time... and now, 15 years later, we're having the same conversation again as Joachim Rønning's Tron: Ares has majorly disappointed on the big screen.

The new movie starring Jared Leto was set up to be one of the big blockbusters of the fall season, but it doesn't appear that vision is becoming a reality based on the opening weekend numbers: the Tron: Legacy sequel cost even more than its predecessor and has started its theatrical run making less money. Check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.

Tron: Ares Struggles To Justify Its Cost As It Underwhelms Worldwide

It's a case of all the money going on the screen, as critics including myself have praised Tron: Ares as being a visual spectacle, but that doesn't diminish the fact that the blockbuster was seriously expensive to make. The movie was in development for years and years, and by the time it was finished with production, it was labeled with a major $180 million price tag (before marketing and publicity costs, per Variety). A splashy opening was hoped for by executives at Disney to justify pursuit of expanding the franchise, but that dream has died a rough death in the last three days.

While there were expectations from this past week from prognosticators (via Deadline) that Tron: Ares would make as much as $90 million globally, it doesn't appear as though the film is going to hit that soft target. According to The Numbers, the film made just $33.5 million domestically in the last three days – under the predicted range of $40-45 million – and it has only made $27 million overseas. That brings its global total to just over $60 million... which is far from ideal.

Tron: Ares may have cost a lot, but its domestic debut ranks as just the 19th biggest of the year, with early tabulations suggesting that it failed to make more than last weekend's limited engagement of Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, which made $34.1 million. It sits just ahead of Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later in the ranking opening weekends since January – but the horror film also had a budget a third the size of the new 2025 movie.

One also can't help but notice that even without adjusting for inflation, Tron: Ares' numbers are weaker than the performance of Tron: Legacy. When the predecessor arrived at the end of 2010, it made $44 million in its first three days playing in the United States and Canada. The latest sequel can say it performed better than the original did back in the summer of 1982... but that's not much to crow about since Steven Lisberger's Tron only made $4.8 million when it opened.

Now, the big question that lingers about Tron: Ares is in regard to whether or not it will grow legs that ultimately justify its existence – which is notably something that Tron: Legacy was able to successfully do during its big screen run. The 2010 movie only barely cracked the Top 20 in domestic box office for the year (the big conversation surrounding the title being criticism of the digitally de-aged Jeff Bridges), but the $117.5 million it made at home was buoyed by overseas audiences being dazzled by the blockbuster. By the end of its run, it was able to make $400 million... which is what ended up justifying the development of Tron: Ares.

Will the new film be able to pull of the same kind of magic trick? It won't be easy – in part because of its release date. Because Tron: Legacy arrived in theaters in December, it had limited box office competition ahead of it, as Hollywood practically never puts its biggest titles out in the early months of any given year. Tron: Ares doesn't have that luxury, as there are plenty of blockbuster set to steal attention from it in November and December.

Tron: Ares is off to a tough start, and there will be a number of eyes on it in coming weeks to see it if it can recover (I can promise you now that my box office report next Sunday will include a second about the film's weekend-to-weekend drop).

Released As Blockbuster Counterprogramming, Roofman Starring Channing Tatum Fails To Garner Much Attention

Derek Cianfrance's Roofman was always positioned as counterprogramming for this weekend. No matter how much money it made, regardless of how much money Tron: Ares actually earned, it was always viewed as the box office front runner for the past three days, and the new Channing Tatum movie was destined for a second place finish in its debut. Still, there was probably hope that it would make more than just $8 million... but that's where we are.

Tatum has a history of putting butts in seats, with examples from recent years including 2022's Dog (which he co-directed with Reid Carolin) and Aaron and Adam Nee's The Lost City: the former made $84.5 million globally with a $15 million budget and the latter earned nearly $200 million. His new crime comedy, however, isn't getting quite the same kind of attention. Critics at large have had a mixed-positive response, and a "B+" grade from CinemaScore surveys suggests that movie-goers who have seen it are liking it, but that appreciation isn't translating to box office thus far. Perhaps word of mouth will lead it to have a soft sophomore weekend, a la what we saw very recently with Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another?

I'll continue to keep an eye on both Tron: Ares and Roofman, but next weekend will see both titles encounter some interesting competition, including Scott Derrickson's Black Phone 2 (perfectly timed for spooky season) and Aziz Ansari's comedy Good Fortune. Be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to see how things unfold at the box office.

Of all the upcoming action movies on the 2025 movie calendar and beyond, Joachim Rønning’s Tron: Ares may be among the most highly anticipated, if only because it’s been 15 years since the third movie in the classic sci-fi series was announced. The wait is officially over, as it hit theaters on October 10, with Jared Leto leading an impressive cast as Ares, a computer program who travels out of the digital realm to complete an important mission in the real world.

Critics have seen this third installment — which also stars Greta Lee, Evan Peters and Jodie Turner-Smith, with Jeff Bridges reprising the role of Kevin Flynn — and they kind of can’t stop talking about Nine Inch Nails’ music. In CinemaBlend’s review of Tron: Ares, Eric Eisenberg was ultimately disappointed after looking forward to another exciting adventure in The Grid. He rates the movie 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing:

Kristy Puchko of Mashable notes that 43 years after the original Tron, the franchise doesn’t have anything intriguing to say about technology. However, she found herself enjoying the movie anyway, and the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack is enough to make this one a must-see on the big screen. Puchko says it’s “heavy-handed, dunderheaded, and over earnest, but also occasionally funny, charming, sexy, and thrilling.” She continues:

Clint Gage of IGN gives it a “Mediocre” 5 out of 10, saying the music alone bumped it up from a 4. Gage says the movie simultaneously forgets where it came from and somehow is still a paler version of the original. The critic says:

Jim Batts of We Are Movie Geeks rates the upcoming sci-fi movie 2 out of 4, saying it’s obvious that a lot of creativity went into the film’s nifty gadgets, but it’s missing the human element or any sort of connection. Fans of the first two movies will likely still be satisfied, Batts says, writing:

David Rooney of THR admits Tron: Ares is not an instant classic, but the threequel honors its roots while advancing its story for a surprisingly entertaining popcorn movie. The critic says it also gets a “considerable shot of adrenaline” from Nine Inch Nails’ score. Rooney continues:

Critics may be unsure about most things in Tron: Ares other than the music — giving it 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience’s Popcornmeter is much more forgiving, scoring Jared Leto’s movie at 86%. If you’re a fan of the franchise or just want to see a fun sci-fi flick set to some amazing music, this movie is in theaters now.

Speaking as a Tron fan, I can honestly say that I never expected to ever see another Tron movie. In the ramp-up to the release of Tron: Legacy back in 2010, I can distinctly remember getting the impression that Walt Disney Studios felt some light embarrassment about the 1982 original, with distinct hope that the franchise would earn some cool points with a shiny, modern sequel. However, then said sequel ended up leaving theaters with the reputation of being somewhat of a boondoggle, with solid earnings at the worldwide box office colored by the film’s major budget and heaps of criticism about the attempt to digitally de-age star Jeff Bridges.

My expectations for more big screen action from the Tron franchise was graded “pessimistic” for nearly a decade and a half – but being someone who has long been charmed by the original and impressed by the eye-popping style and action of Legacy, that isn’t how I would describe my ultimate anticipation for director Joachim Rønning’s Tron: Ares. As long as public information about the project has existed, I have hoped that it would be another exciting adventure taking characters in and out of the wild, biodigital jazz-filled world of The Grid. (And its certainly the case that technology has only become a more significant part of all our lives in the last 15 years, creating plenty of opportunity for commentary about the modern world.)

I never expected Tron 3, so I was happy when news came out that it was happening. Now what I’m left with is the irksome feeling of simple mild disappointment. Audiences are once again treated to a big screen spectacle, with stellar effects, a collection of cool action beats, sleek designs and a phenomenal score by Nine Inch Nails. But shiny aesthetics are muddied by a weak, McGuffin-driven story that is populated by rote characters, and Jared Leto stands out as being terrifically miscast in the movie’s subtitular role.

Deciding to not really bother with any of the consequences from the plot of Tron: Legacy, Tron: Ares reintroduces us to the canon as a significant race plays out between two of the world’s major forces in tech. Eve Kim (Greta Lee), the CEO of ENCOM, and Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the head of Dillinger Systems, have both seen the development of technologies that allow coded creations from The Grid to be brought into real life, but there is a strict limitation: creations only last for 29 minutes before disintegration.

Eve wants to use the technology for advances in health and food production, while Julian is laser focused on military applications – but both require the magical Permanence Code in order to make their dreams a reality. Eve is the first to find it, discovering it buried by the long-missing Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), but when Julian gets wind of the discovery, he activates his advanced security program Ares (Jared Leto) to locate and steal it.

Fitting the traditions of the franchise, Tron: Ares is a visual stunner with a score that ends up being the best thing about the movie.

If you’re on the hunt for detailed and smart worldbuilding paired with compelling and insightful storytelling, Tron: Ares is a cinematic experience that is very much going to leave you wanting. But if what you’re seeking is more akin to a choreographed laser light show at a planetarium, you will be effectively dazzled.

Between motor/lightcycles, tanks, jets, drones, boats and more, not to mention hand-to-hand combat, Joachim Rønning makes what feels like a concentrated effort to check all of the action boxes, and there is rarely a long lull between set pieces. Tight, dynamic cinematography with plenty of actor close-ups keeps us rooted in the perspective of the character, making chases and fights feel all the more intense and emotional. Exceptional visual effects blend the digital and practical better than any previous film in this franchise.

Of course, a laser light show isn’t complete without a proper soundtrack that you can feel deep in your guts, and that’s where the genius of Nine Inch Nails comes in. Even with the extreme, Oscar-winning pedigree of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, there were big shoes to fill in the music department with Tron: Ares, as I say with zero hesitation that Daft Punk’s scoring of Tron: Legacy constitutes the best aspect of the 2010 blockbuster. But those are shoes brilliantly filled and NIN’s work, which earns the same superlative in the context of the 2025 film. The deep-drilling beats and intense synth sounds successfully makes everything more compelling in the moment, and the power of it remains even as you digest the underwhelming story.

The story Tron: Ares chooses to tell is insultingly basic.

Given all of the tension in our world regarding the extreme impact that tech and tech companies have, I had anticipated that Tron: Ares would be a movie that, at the very least, recognized the zeitgeist and have something even modestly interesting to say. That proved to be a foolish thought, as this is a film with no stance to take or comment to make. There is exactly zero nuance in the plotting, which you likely sussed out from my description of the protagonist and antagonist motives. (I’ll mention that Gillian Anderson plays Julian’s mother, who exists in the story to scold her son about his amoral behavior going after Eve, but her impact amounts to simply reminding the audience that what Julian is doing is wrong.)

Between the one-dimensional storytelling and rote use of a basic plot device on which everything hinges, Jesse Wigutow’s screenplay is never able to properly establish any stakes or interesting dynamics. Even with comedic talents in the cast like Arturo Castro (playing Eve’s friend/colleague) and Hasan Minhaj (as ENCOM’s CTO), the whole film is additionally humorless, and little progress is made in creating emotional relationships between the characters.

Jared Leto puts in a clunker of a performance playing a very vital role.

This is particularly damaging to the film where Ares’ arc is concerned. The character is designed by Julian Dillinger and introduced as the ultimate expendable soldier… but he goes against his programming as soon as he registers a single person that doesn’t see him as disposable, and he begins to seek being something more than code in the real world.

Putting aside that Jared Leto’s look, with long hair and a beard, is wholly ill-fitting for the part, the actor simply doesn’t deliver what Ares needs to express in any given scene – be it repressed awe at seeing real rain for the first time, or later his inability to put into words what he feels when listening to the music of Depeche Mode. The emotional journey the plot demands is not offered in Leto’s performance, and it’s a major problem that bigly holds the movie back.

With the history of Tron including groundbreaking visual effects and standout franchise development (there is a strong argument to be made that Tron: Legacy kickstarted the modern age of legacyquels), Tron: Ares is a movie that feels like it could have been much “more” but settles for being less. Its disinterest in making any kind of statement or expressing any kind of opinion makes it feel like its cultural impact won’t go beyond the spectacle that it presents on the big screen – though I suppose I certainly can be thankful that we got a new Nine Inch Nails album out of it.

After 15 years, the time has finally come for the Tron franchise to return to the big screen. Tron: Ares premieres on the 2025 movies schedule this weekend, with Jared Leto playing the title program who’s sent on a mission into the real world. Ahead of the upcoming Disney movie’s release, CinemaBlend has an exclusive look at Ares that delves into Leto being a fan of Tron ever since the original movie came out in 1982.

Jared Leto was born in 1971, so Tron came out at a great time to capture his young imagination. As he notes in the featurette, video games were “exploding.” Seeing Jeff Bridges’ Kevin Flynn enter The Grid in a theater resulted in Leto “being transported to a place he never imagined.” So it’s no wonder that he was so passionate to star in Tron: Ares, as he mentions that it’s taken nine years for this movie to get off the ground.

As previously mentioned, the big way Tron: Ares distinguishes itself from its predecessor is by having Ares and other Programs bring transported from their virtual environment into our world. This was only briefly shown at the end of Tron: Legacy when Quorra escaped The Grid with Sam Flynn. But as cool as it is getting to wear one of those light-up suits and “ride” a Lightcycle, Leto was also pleased to get to work with Jeff Bridges, whom he called one of his “heroes.”

It’s still unclear if the Kevin Flynn we’re seeing in Tron: Ares is the real deal who somehow survived Legacy, or if this is a Program that’s modeled itself on Flynn’s appearance. Whatever the answer, it’s great that Leto and Bridges shared screen time, and that the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman was able lead a franchise he’s thought so highly of since he was a kid. Ares’ cast also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Gillian Anderson and Cameron Monaghan, among others.

Behind the scenes, Joachim Rønning directed off is a script written by Jesse Wigutow, who created the story with David Digilio. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the score as Nine Inch Nails, and they’re also executive producers. Tron: Ares opens in theaters this Friday, October 10. The first two movies, as well as the animated series Tron: Uprising, can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription.

I gotta say, of all the wrestling-related news to come out in 2025, I did not expect the names “Macho Man Randy Savage” and “Kenan Thompson” to pop up in the same news announcement, and for a potentially bonkers wrestling biopic to stem from that announcement. We’re living in wild and unpredictable times, though, and you’ll get no complaints out of me on this one, as a “Macho Man” movie sounds way more interesting to me than any other upcoming sports biopics. (The acclaim-garnering Smashing Machine can be the exception here.)

Kenan Thompson and his producing partner Johnny Ryan Jr. are developing the new project, currently titled Macho, through their company Artists for Artists, which is also working on reimagining an ‘80s horror that’s actually deserving of a remake, Sleepaway Camp. The biopic’s script is one that was co-written by Savage’s real-life brother Lanny Poffo (a.k.a. The Genius), who passed away in February 2023, and screenwriter Eric Shapiro.

Already, Macho seems like it could be destined for greatness, but given that Savage is one of the most unique and singular WWE and WCW Hall of Famers to ever enter the squared circle, I think we can all agree the quality of this movie will depend entirely on the actor cast to play him. So lets go through a shortlist of talents that I think could feasibly do a fantastic job in the role, regardless of where their careers have gone before.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Though Aaron Taylor-Johnson is purportedly a few inches shorter than Macho Man, and hails from England and not Ohio, the actor has proven himself capable of delivering one physical performance after another in projects such as The Fall Guy, Fuze, and 28 Years Later (not to mention Kraven the Hunter), and can clearly pack the muscle on when it’s asked of him. Taylor-Johnson also has a masterful facial hair game that would no doubt be utilized, given the wrestling legend’s ever-present mustache and beard. And the dude also looks good in wacky costumes, which is necessary, given Macho Man rocked one of wrestling’s most consistently ridiculous looks for his whole career.

Jared Leto

I am 100% aware of how ridiculous it sounds to say “I think Jared Leto would make a good Macho Man,” but I don’t even feel slightly inauthentic saying it. In large part because Leto is known to lean harder into method-acting preparation for certain roles, and I think he could (and would) go as over the top as required to bring Randy Savage’s energetic athleticism and his quieter moments to life believably. As such, I’d fully expect Leto to get a six-month NXT contract ahead of the production, and for him to consist on a diet of just Slim Jims throughout filming. Is Macho Man really that far away from The Joker? Wait, don’t answer that.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Despite not (yet) having a presence within the WWE itself, Maxwell Jacob Friedman has nonetheless become a headline-worthy wrestling superstar for his years atop AEW's ranks, where he's earned a lot of love from fans and analysts for both his in-ring moves and his believable heel persona, to say nothign of how well-spoken he is outside of wrestling events. Given Friedman has leaned more into acting in recent years, from The Iron Claw to Happy Gilmore 2 to the upcoming 2026 movie Violent Night 2, he could indeed have the interest and dedication to put into portraying Macho Man on the big-screen. Meaningful to note as well, Savage and Friedman are two of the most impactful wrestlers of Jewish descent, which gives this casting choice a bit more authenticity.

Tyler Posey

Perhaps best known for the role of Scott McCall in MTV's Teen Wolf and its Paramount+ follow-up movie, Tyler Posey entered the world of big-screen wrestling biopics with 2024's Queen of the Ring portraying a love interest for the legednary Mildred Burke. He also competed on The Masked Singer Season 10 as "Hawk," which is perhaps closer to coming out in full wrestling attire than many would think. Combined with Posey's killer mustache game (and his genuine acting skills), I think he'd be an interesting non-obvious choice to portray Randy Savage, and he'd likely nail the romantic side of the story involving his ringside manager and real-life wife Miss Elizabeth, to whom he was married from 1984-1992.

Ezra Miller

Similar to having Jared Leto as a pick, I've thrown Ezra Miller into the mix based solely on the actor's potential to deliver a truly nutty and off-kilter performance. Sure The Flash vet hasn't worked as often in recent years due to certain their off-screen controversies and issues, but the future looks brighter on that front, with Miller reuniting with We Need To Talk About Kevin's Lynne Ramsay for her upcoming vampire movie. I think Miller might be able to pull off Randy Savage's outrageously colorful outfits better than anyone, if nothing else.

Jeremy Allen White

Having already portrayed one of pro wrestling's most tragic figures in Kerry Von Erich for The Iron Claw, Jeremy Allen White already has a leg up on the training that would be needed to take on another musclebound brawler. The one thing working against him the most is that so many of his performances are of a subdued variety, which is antithetical to how Macho Man came across onscreen. But I think he could absolutely still pull it off,

Dan Soder

All of the suggestions above are based largely on the actors' physical abilities, as well as their ability to deliver big performances. But when it comes to throwing stand-up comedian Dan Soder into the running, it's all about the voice. Macho Man's vocal stylings are arguably what fans remember about him the most, since it's easier to imitate a classic promo quote in real life than it is to pull off a diving elbow drop. Soder is as good as it gets and sounds enough like Savage that I could see a reality where the biopic uses his dubbed vocal performance instead of the on-screen actor's. I can't speak to whether or not Soder could realistically develop a pro wrestling physique to secure the role all around, but I'm not super confident.

The only thing I don't want to see from a Randy Savage biopic is an A.I. program taking on the role of the Hall of Famer. Macho Man was too human for any of that, dig it?

Tron: Ares has been one of the most anticipated upcoming Disney movies for just over a decade now, thanks to its wide fanbase. Among the sci-fi staple’s collection of fanatics stands the Ares actor, Jared Leto. Apparently, his love of the Steven Lisberger world runs deep and spans well past his involvement in the October 10 2025 movie guide flick. Watching him ace trivia pertaining to the series captivates me, and legacy cast member Jeff Bridges.

One of the latest biggest reveals that the actor-musician is a Tron diehard, aside from advocating for the revival long ago, was when he was riding Tron’s Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom. Now, a promotional teaser for Tron: Ares of Jeff Bridges quizzing Leto on Tron lore can be added to his record of dedication. He nails everything from what inspired the film to highly specific detailed questions relating to the world’s legacy–check it out:

That is some skill and continues to prove Leto’s love for the iconic franchise. Regularly, I still have to reference the full Tron timeline to make heads or tails of a few different points within the full story. Clearly, the Suicide Squad actor is leagues above the average viewer, and the realization Bridges has while testing him reflects my delighted surprise well. The clip, and its caption, did its job, because I’m grabbing a ticket now.

Of course, the Tron: Ares trailer already had me hyped like many fans, complete with the Nine Inch Nails composed score, but knowing Leto’s dedication is next level. And it does oddly help me move on from not getting a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy. Both of these dedicated Tron: Ares co-stars seem to be happy about where we head next with the threequel, so I’m putting my trust in “The Dude” and Jordan Catalano–fingers crossed.

But, let’s circle back to the impressive depth and knowledge Leto has with the 1983 classic. Starting off with the Pong question, that’s somewhat common knowledge and relatively common fare for any movie-themed pub night trivia. After that, he quickly and casually name drops the right video game answers without breaking a sweat. To top it all off, he shows that he also knows details pertaining to Disney rides that relate back to the films.

Needless to say, Leto long ago embedded himself into Tron: Ares, the grid and the world of programmers and I can’t wait to watch him in the new flick. What I would like to know is if there’s a longer version of this A+ trivia master impressing the pants off Jeff Bridges. Or even just other interviews where the Ares actor dives more into his lifelong fandom to the series.

Dive into or return to the first two Tron movies with a Disney+ subscription ahead of Tron: Ares hitting theaters and IMAX nationwide on October 10.

For readers who don't know, Jared Leto is a Tron superfan. In fact, he's been pitching ideas for Tron: Ares since before the Legacy sequel was even made, which should illustrate just how deep his fandom runs. If that isn't enough, those who never saw the first time that he experienced Tron Lightcycle Run at Disney World last year will be convinced after watching.

As someone who enjoyed the Tron Lightcycle Run but said there were some major issues that needed addressed with the experience, I'm beginning to think I didn't like the ride after all. At least, I'm definitely not as big a fan as Leto, who looked absolutely locked in when he arrived to ride it for the first time. Check it out, and see the pure unadulterated glee he has upon approaching:

I guess if I were riding an alternate design of the ride based on a movie I was the star of, I would've also been as hyped as Jared Leto was the first time I rode it. He advocated for the reboot to happen for a very long time.

One of the reasons I'm watching Leto on the Lightcycle Ride from last year is that Disney World is currently doing a Tron: Ares overlay on the rollercoaster to promote the upcoming release of the movie. Essentially, the biggest change is a color swap, trading out blue for red, and it includes the soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails. Check out the full experience, unless you're headed to the park soon and want to remain unspoiled:

I would also be hyped to be at this event after having seen a little of Tron: Ares at San Diego Comic-Con. I have high hopes for the rest of the movie after those few breathtaking scenes that honestly blew my mind. I'm even excited for Nine Inch Nails' score of the movie, which was released recently and sounds incredible. I guess, in short, Jared Leto's excitement seems quite valid for a lot of reasons we don't fully understand yet, but hopefully we all get it when the movie is out on October 10th.

While there are some still bummed we're not getting a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy, it seems at least one actor involved in the original sequel is happy with where things are headed. Jeff Bridges appreciates the new direction the movie takes and showed a lot of love for Jared Leto at SDCC 2025. If "The Dude" is a fan of the new movie, I'd like to think I'm going to be on board with how it's going as well. Of course, it's rare you're going to see an actor speak out against the movie they're actively promoting.

While the movie has been in the works since 2017, Tron: Ares' arrival couldn't come at a better time for Disney and all others invested in its success. As questions surround the future of AI, its role in everyday life increases whether we like it or not. We'll see just how (or if) Tron: Ares seeks to answer any of those questions, or if it'll just be a solid action flick that Disney can squeeze another movie or two out of.

I'll be in theaters to see the premiere of Tron: Ares as it arrives on October 10th. It may take quite a bit longer before I make it back to Tron Lightcycle Run, but as fast as it goes for the amount of time you have to wait, I may skip it the next time I'm there anyway.

Darren Aronofsky’s best movies, like Black Swan, Mother!, and Requiem for a Dream, to name a few, are truly memorable and powerful because of their brilliant direction and deep performances. However, the Academy Award nominee hasn’t minced words on his “hate” toward working with method actors years after he worked with Jared Leto in Requiem for a Dream.

Method actors are not like other actors who are only in character until the director yells “Cut!” They live the part even when the cameras are off to ensure they give a genuine performance. Darren Aronofsky isn’t a fan of this technique of deep-diving into a role and sure didn’t mince words in his Paris masterclass (via Variety):

The American filmmaker didn’t list any examples of method actors he was referring to, but we know he’s worked with them. He's also notably collaborated with Jared Leto, who has made many headlines for his immersive acting methods.

A BTS fact from Requiem for a Dream revealed that Jared Leto lost 25 pounds through fasting, spoke with a Brooklyn accent 24/7, and spent time with drug dealers on the NYC streets to play Harry Goldfarb. So, Aronofsky has seen this method actor in action before.

On top of that, Leto's methods have been discussed at length due to how he worked on other films. Using cloudy contact lenses to play the blind Niander Wallace, the Oscar winner made himself go blind for Blade Runner 2049 and had an assistant physically help him navigate the set. He was also extremely dedicated to playing Joker in Suicide Squad, and his co-star Jai Courtney said he was fully absorbed in the villainous role throughout production.

The Whale director later said in his masterclass that method acting was “fine” as long as it was not “debilitating” for everyone else involved in the movie. This makes me wonder how Darren Aronofsky would feel about Jared Leto’s questionable actions as the Joker. For example, he kissed his co-star Ike Barinholtz during the filming of Suicide Squad and sent his co-stars bizarre gifts, all to portray the DC villain. Leto’s co-star Common, however, claimed he didn’t have a problem with his method-acting technique, feeling you do what’s “necessary” to play the part.

Overall, Darren Aronofsky admitted his acceptance of what actors do during their downtime, but had to give his encouraging two cents on the subject:

Yes, relaxing is good advice for everyone, especially actors who are taking on difficult and consuming roles. However, method acting has also proven to work for many actors, like Daniel Day-Lewis, too.

In Darren Aronofsky’s 2025 movie release, he’ll be teaming up with Austin Butler in Caught Stealing. However, the former Nickelodeon star has been known to take up some method acting himself.

He went to great lengths to play Elvis Presley, like not seeing his family for months, falling asleep listening to The King’s voice, and even speaking the whole time in his Elvis voice. Fans even grew concerned when the Masters of the Air actor continued speaking as Elvis after the biopic. Now, I’m all the more curious if Butler will incorporate any of his method-like techniques into Aronofsky’s flick.

The idea of method acting may not hit well with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. However, fully immersing yourself in a role has also worked well for some actors and caused a commotion for others and their co-stars. So, there are really two sides to this coin, and it does seem like the beloved director knows that and accepts it (even if he's not a fan of the method).

When we first caught wind of the intentions of Tron: Ares on the 2025 movie schedule, I made a joke that Jared Leto’s rather sinister looking Ares was a more violent analog to The Little Mermaid’s Ariel. While part of me still buys that gag, especially through what we know about Tron 3, Ares director Joachim Rønning has provided a very fitting alternative that, I’ll admit, makes a lot more sense.

Joachim Rønning’s Reason For Equating Ares To Pinocchio Is Pure Disney

During a conversation with Empire, on behalf of the magazine’s June 2025 issue, the Maleficent: Mistress of Evil helmer shared a pretty simple reason why Geppetto’s adopted son was his pick:

Aww, maybe Tron: Ares’ titular character isn’t so devious after all? Maybe that huge Recognizer that’s terrorizing a city street is here for a mission of peace! Those police cars sliced in half? A total misunderstanding along the lines of Pinocchio getting himself roped into entertaining servitude on Pleasure Island!

Ok, all kidding aside, that sort of Disney+ subscription friendly rundown does seem to signal a potential face turn for this Tron three-quel lead. And there is some more context painted by Mr. Rønning that supports such a softening of appearance. Judge for yourself though, as you can read the director’s further comments below:

Above all else, Ares is a Program, which does put him at the risk of being altered, befriended or even deleted by the human Users in the Tron: Ares cast. So while we’re still questioning the moral alignment of Jared Leto’s Disney figure of mystery, let’s talk about why the Geppetto/Pinocchio connection totally works with all current knowledge.

The Ares/Pinocchio Analogy Makes That Early Tron: Ares Easter Egg Even More Powerful

Let’s throw it back to when the first image for this project was released to the public. As Tron: Ares’ deep lore Easter egg showed us, Mr. Ares is a product of the more than likely insidious presence known as Dillinger Systems. The long standing foes to Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and the ENCOM brand, I can’t convince myself that the red-tinted Program has good thoughts about that computing legacy - at least not his initial form.

Perhaps as Jared Leto works his way through the picture, we’ll see his new figure on the chessboard that is “Dillinger Systems vs. ENCOM” pushing for a truce of some sort. Think of it as sort of rebellion against his lineage in this cruel game, as one might presume that Evan Peters' Julian Dillinger has created him for some real world chaos.

Thinking back to Ares’ D23 2024 presentation, the Morbius actor’s claim of being the “Master Control of the Dillinger Grid” does seem to support that case. Also, if he’s from the “Dillinger Grid,” was Tron: Legacy’s setting technically known as the “Flynn Grid?” Could any other Grids come forth and proclaim its existence? If so... can I have one? Please?

You can start to see why waiting for Tron: Ares has been a challenge for myself and all other fans of this Disney franchise. And on October 10th, we’ll all experience what Ares is trying to achieve in the real world - and what it could mean for Users and Programs alike. End of Line.

For years, there’d been talk of a third Tron film, and the project (unfortunately) went through its share of starts and stops. The project seemed to gain true momentum in 2017, though, when Jared Leto boarded it and, now, we’re months away from the release of Tron: Ares. Footage has been kept close to the vest as you can imagine but, now, the first official trailer for the 2025 movie schedule entry has been released. Not only does it feature awesome footage of Leto’s renegade program, but it also features a quick, vocal cameo that has me pumped.

Ares And Co. Enter The Real World In A Big Way

Per the few plot details that have been released about Ares, the film sees the eponymous character – along with others – leaving the Grid and entering the real world. The protagonist makes the leap due to being tasked with a mission and, as of right now, his exact goals are unclear. Nevertheless, as you can see in the footage above, he manages to cause some true chaos, as these worlds collide for the first time.

There are some truly striking images here, including some that, as a fan, I never thought I’d actually bear witness to. Honestly, the sheer sight of elements from the Grid appearing in a real-world setting is just so surreal. I particularly love the striking shot of a Lightcyle tearing through a patrol car. And, of course, it’s wild to see a Recognizer floating against the night sky, too, as Greta Lee’s character runs for her life.

Despite all of this, anyone who’s still hoping to see the Tron’s franchise’s digital world in this upcoming Disney movie is in luck. There’s also footage that seems to show guards in the virtual realm, and it goes without saying that red is the signature color this time around. At this point, I’d just love to rush to an IMAX theater to watch these stunning visuals on a big screen, but that’s going to have to wait. The prospect of being patient is going to be hard, especially given another sweet tease featured in this batch of footage.

There's A Vocal Cameo In The Tron: Ares Trailer That Has Me Hyped

The trailer is definitely cool-looking, but there’s one particular tidbit that I’m simply geeking out about – and you might know what it is. Near the end of the trailer, an unseen character asks, “Ready? ‘Cause there’s no going back.” That voice belongs to none other than Kevin Flynn, who’s played by returning franchise OG Jeff Bridges. Honestly, just the sound of Bridges’ voice sends a chill down my spine. Anyone familiar with the franchise’s and Flynn’s journey up to this point, certainly knows that this is an auspicious occasion.

Flynn serves as the lead character in the franchise’s inaugural 1982 installment and plays a supporting role in the 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy. Kevin notably sacrifices himself at the end of Legacy in order to prevent his rogue, former program, Clu, from taking his forces into the real world. The exact circumstances behind Flynn’s return are unclear, though I’m certainly pumped that he’s back in the fold for this latest adventure.

Joining the aforementioned Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges and Greta Lee in the film are Jodie Turner-Smith, Evan Peters (who’s briefly featured in the trailer), Cameron Monaghan, Hasan Minhaj and Gillian Anderson. Director Joachim Rønning seems to be offering viewers a visual feast, and the music from Nine Inch Nails is sure to hit hard. After seeing this trailer, I'm excited and eager to see more, and here’s hoping that fans’ return to the Grid proves to be well worth the wait.

Tron: Ares rides into theaters on October 10. In the meantime, you can stream the first two installments in the series using a Disney+ subscription.

Though it'll be a cold day in comic book hell when Marvel fans can finally forget the morb-strosity that was Daniel Espinosa's 2022 flop Morbius, Jared Leto's performance wasn't the worst thing about it, and his efforts were certainly more reined in than they were during his tatted-up Joker era for DC. Now, the House of Gucci vet is reportedly being eyed for another comic-centric Marvel role, which opens a can of speculatory worms.

As fans wait to see how Leto fares in the Disney sequel Tron: Ares and as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe, we can now wonder how much trust to put into the report shared by industry insider MyTimeToShineHello that claims Jared Leto is "in talks" for a Marvel role that specifically is "not Ghost Rider." Which is fine, since I don't really want to see Leto as a biker with a burning skull. Instead, here are some Marvel characters I'd love to see the Fight Club vet portray in an upcoming Marvel TV show or future MCU film, along with a trio of roles that should never become a reality.

Would Love: Deathlok

As it goes with comic books, multiple iterations of Deathlok have surfaced over the years, but the core origin hook created by Rich Buckler needs no big alterations: he's a former U.S. soldier who was killed in combat and resurrected years later as a powerful cyborg complete with an A.I.-esque computer.

Leto has alread played a character who lives well beyond his means in Mr. Nobody, and portrayed a tech genius in Blade Runner 2049, which is basically boot camp for playing Deathlok. I like the idea of the actor going all hyper-brilliant Universal Soldier on the MCU.

Would Protest: Any Kind Of Revamped Take On Kang

The behind-the-scenes legal issues involving Kang portrayer Jonathan Majors combined as an unforeseen hindrance for plans to fully spin that character out into the multiversal villain of lore, and rumors about Majors’ return are still bandied about. While I don’t see the Lovecraft Country character ever reprising the role in full after Loki Season 2, it wouldn’t surprise me if Kevin Feige & Co. went the “recast and rewrite” route.

And while I might not have hated the idea of Jared Leto as a time-jaunting conqueror from the outset, the thought of him taking over the role in mid-stride just makes me want to get drunk in the Quantum Realm. (Because of the tiny hangovers.)

Would Love: Sleepwalker

One of the most '90s superhero characters to applicably emerge form the 1990s comic scene, Bob Budiansky and Bret Blevins' dream-centric alien Sleepwalker isn't necessarily a go-to choice for an MCU good guy, but the horror fan in me definitely wishes he could bring his fear-inducing heroism to live-action adventures. Though I'm obviously envisioning a character aged beyond the college-bound alter ego Rick Sheridan for Leto, who can easily play this brand of dark weirdo with ease.

Considering the character's ties to Moon Knight, I think the ideal Sleepwalker pitch would be a Disney+ series that weaves dreams and waking life together in a manner similar to FX's non-MCU Marvel series Legion. Or, if this project happened to exist without Leto in the main role, he could play Nightmare instead.

Would Protest: The REAL Victor Von Doom

We all know Marvel sometimes likes to play switcheroo with its comic characters' true identities, leading to situations like Iron Man 3's Mandarin twist, which Kevin Feige still stands by. So part of my expectations for the Russo brothers' Avengers: Doomsday are tied to the idea that returning MCU vet Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Doctor Doom will be subverted and flipped around in one way or another.

While there are ways to make that approach interesting and meaningful, what I really don't want to see is Jared Leto revealed to be a backstage puppetmaster with the ability to morph his look into anyone else's visage, with Tony Stark being one of his transformations. And I really don't want the soundtrack to be blaring Thirty Seconds To Mars' "A Beautiful Lie" when and if that scene ever happens.

Would Love: Blackheart

After all the times Blackheart came up during Agatha All Along's speculation conversations, only for Aubrey Plaza's character to be revealed as someone entirely different, I think Marvel fans are due a live-action take on the demonic hellspawn, and I weirdly think Jared Leto would be an interesting fit to play someone straight from Hell like this.

Plus, I think we can all agree that it would be fantastic to get Blackheart into the MCU, because Mephisto. The evil entity's long-awaited arrivial is supposed to be happening with Ironheart, which is hitting the 2025 TV schedule in June, with Sasha Baron Cohen allegedly cast as the demon. But if that doesn't actually happen, then maybe Jared Leto's Blackheart was the piece we were missing all this time.

Would Protest: Magneto

With X-Men '97 winning over both old school fans and younger generations alike, anticipation is as high as ever for the X-Men's eventual MCU movie, which is still in the early developmental phases. And with the new batch of mutants will come a new round of casting decisions, both for the heroes and for whatever villains are utilized.

I can't imagine an X-Men feature without Magneto's presence being accounted for, though it will be extremely hard to top Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender's respective performances from the Fox franchise. And while Leto is technically old enough and established enough to serve in an elder statesman role for a project like this, I do not want to see Magneto floating in the air with "Repellant" and "Attractive" tattooed on his face. There are others in this world, though...

Would Love: Fantomex

I like Jared Leto when he's playing characters who are scrappy and unpredictable, with or without a streak of menace. And if we're talking X-Men characters, I think the actor would be a perfect fit for the live-action debut of Fantomex. While not the most namechecked Marvel character, the Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey creation is a fast-healing, reality-warping marksman whose body courses with nanotech.

I'm not sure why I have an eagerness to see the Requiem for a Dream vet to portray a character whose humanity is enmeshed with biotechnology, but I think he's a great fit for that kind of role when he's not playing someone vulnerable. And he so rarely gets to portray anyone that operates solely on confidence and badassery. I don't readily assume that the MCU will tackle the Weapon Plus Program at the same time Charles Xaviers' students are brought into the fold. But maybe one day...

Great actors don't need a lot of makeup or total body transformations to improve their performance, but when you get the combination of a great and those things, the effect can be amazing. Sometimes the effect is so good the actors become completely unrecognizable, like the examples in this list where actors like Jared Leto and Gary Oldman were completely transformed for roles.

Jared Leto - House Of Gucci

It's fair to say that House Of Gucci was, at best, an uneven movie. It was a daunting challenge for everyone involved and none more so than Jared Leto. Leto played the legendary Paolo Gucci, and while his accent was a little shaky, his look and his mannerisms were completely on point. It's one heck of a transformation.

Charlize Theron - Monster

There is no more intense transformation for a role than Charlize Theron's performance as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Theron completely embodies the monster that Wuoronos was, while also subtly allowing the audience to understand how the killer became the way she was. Theron rightfully won an Academy Award for her portrayal of the brutal murderer.

Christian Bale - Vice

Christian Bale is one of the best actors of his generation and he's never been afraid to alter his look for a performance. The Machinist is one excellent example, but even that transformation pales in comparison to the way he completely became Dick Cheney in Vice. Not only does he look just like the former vice president, but he nails his speech pattern and mannerisms as well. It's remarkable.

Lily James - Pam & Tommy

When Lily James was cast as Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy it raised a few eyebrows. The actress seemed like a complete opposite in every way, especially her looks, as the blonde bombshell. Yet, when the movie came out, people were amazed at how well James pulled it off. No, it's not the best movie, but James was the spitting image of Anderson.

Gary Oldman - True Romance

One actor who is truly a master of disguise is Gary Oldman. He seemingly looks completely different in almost every role he plays. One of the most astounding transformations was early in his career when he played a pimp in True Romance. He literally looks and sounds nothing like himself in the film, to the point where if you didn't know it was him, you'd never guess.

Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

You know when a film wins the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Best Actress, the role is going to be special. Such is the case for Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Chastain is completely unrecognizable in the role of the wife of the infamous Jim Bakker and is simply incredible in the movie.

Margot Robbie - I, Tonya

Turning Margot Robbie into a street tough figure skater like Tonya Harding is no easy feet. Through a combination of incredible makeup work and even better acting, Robbie completely disappears into the notorious skater made famous for her part in attacking her rival Nancy Kerrigan before the 1994 Olympics.

Glenn Close - Hook

Steven Spielberg's 1991 Hook isn't generally remembered as the legendary director's best work, but it is chock full of fun cameos and one of the hardest to spot is Glenn Close. The actress plays one of the pirates on Captain Hook's ship and if you don't look closely, you'll never notice the multiple Oscar nominee under the beard and makeup turning her into a male pirate.

Tilda Swinton - Trainwreck

The most remarkable thing about Tilda Swinton's transformation in the rom-com Trainwreck is just how conventional she looks. Swinton has one of the most unique looks in Hollywood and most of the time that look is enhanced by the roles she plays, it's part of what makes her so great. Her "normal" look in Trainwreck is made remarkable by that,

Mike Myers - Bohemian Rhapsody

Mike Myers took a long hiatus from acting in the 2010s and when he returned in Bohemian Rhapsody, audiences had to do a triple-check to make sure it was him in the role of a record executive arguing with Queen about the song that the movie is named after. With sunglasses and a full blonde beard, Myers looked nothing like his normal sense and his performance was excellent.

Colin Farrell - The Batman/The Penguin

When the trailer first dropped for The Batman, people were astounded at how Colin Farrell looked as Penguin. When the movie came out and we all watched his performance, it was even more shocking (in a great way). When he took the role to HBO for the TV show named after the character, we were all completely lost in it, because he was just so great. Though he says the suit and makeup aren't worth it, we have a feeling he'll be back as the Gotham-based villain.

50 Cent - All Things Fall Apart

50 Cent has proven to be quite the actor. The rapper has branched out into producing, even. Perhaps his best performance was as the fallen football star in All Things Fall Apart. His body transformation to play a pro athlete in peak physical condition who falls victim to cancer is incredible

Sarah Paulson - Impeachment: American Crime Story

Sarah Paulson knows how to completely disappear into a role. She was as incredible as Marsha Clark in The People Vs. OJ Simpson and she was even more remarkable as Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story. Seriously, if you didn't know it was her, you'd never guess. She looks more like Tripp than Paulson in every way.

Billy Bob Thornton In U-Turn

Billy Bob Thorton is one of the most fun actors to watch in everything he is in. Take, for example, his role in Sling Blade, in which he looks completely different from himself. Another fine example is as the mechanic in U-Turn with Sean Penn. If it wasn't for his distinctive voice, you'd never know it was him.

Eddie Murphy - Coming To America

For a while there, Eddie Murphy made it his job to look completely different in his movies like The Nutty Professor, but at no point in any of those movies did he transform quite like he did to play the Jewish guy who hung out in the barbershop in Coming To America. Even his role as the barber in the movie was more recognizable. We also have to give props to Arsenio Hall for his various roles in the movie as well.

Mia Goth - X

Mia Goth playing the elderly Pearl in X is fantastic. Though you can tell it's her as Maxine, if you just walked in on the movie as those scenes of her as the older Pearl was playing, you'd never know who it is.

Tom Hardy - Bronson

Tom Hardy has never been shy about taking on challenging roles that require him to transform completely. He changes so much, that you almost feel like you don't know what he actually looks like in real life. Bronson is one of his finest transformations as he looks way more like the notorious British prisoner than like himself in the movie. It's so much more than just a mustache, that's for sure.

Donnie Wahlberg - The Sixth Sense

Mark Wahlberg may be the more famous brother, but Donnie Wahlberg also has some incredible acting chops and his performance comes in his minor-ish role in The Sixth Sense. It's clear that the former (and current) New Kid On The Block lost a ton of weight for his haunting performance in the movie.

Steve Carell - Foxcatcher

Murderer John du Pont of the famous du Pont family was a unique-looking guy. In Foxcatcher, Steve Carell completely embodies that uniqueness, It's almost unsettling how much Carell looks like du Pont and not like himself in the disturbing movie about the murder the scion of the wealthy family committed in 1997.

Cate Blanchett — I’m Not There

The legendary Bob Dylan has been played on screen a few times and remarkably the actor that pulled off his look and mannerism best is the amazing Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There. Of all the actors who play a version of the folk singer, Blancett is the most convincing and she looks nothing like herself in the movie.

Zac Efron - The Iron Claw

Early in his career Zac Efron was kind of typecast as the goofy good-looking guy. In 2023's The Iron Claw he completely upends that as he embodied the late Kerry Von Erich in the fantastic biopic about wrestling's first family, the Von Erichs

Renée Zellweger - The Thing About Pam

After a little bit of a career lull that included a four-year break from acting, Renée Zellweger returned in a big way in the late 2010s, culminating in an Oscar-winning performance as Judy Garland in 2019's Judy, which completely revived her career. Her best was yet to come because despite not getting the same accolades in the press, her performance as murderer Pam Hupp in The Thing About Pam was a complete transformation

Jared Leto - Chapter 27

Turning someone as good-looking as Jared Leto into someone as despised as the man who killed John Lennon is no easy feat. Leto's performance as Mark David Chapman is incredible and even though the movie has flown under the radar for years, it's worth seeking out just to see how different Leto can look from himself.

Missi Pyle - Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

How do you take a beautiful woman like Missi Pyle and make her look like a deranged Eastern European dodgeball player? Ask the makeup department for Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. The work they did, along with Pyle's acting, was amazing. There's no way to know it was her in any way unless you double-check the credits.

Sebastian Stan - A Different Man

A Different Man tells the hilarious and heartwarming tale of a struggling actor with a condition known as neurofibromatosis. Sebastian Stan plays the actor under a whole ton of wonderful makeup and despite the obvious limitation that makeup puts on the actor, Stan puts in a career-defining performance.

Chris Hemsworth - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

While it isn't the most extreme example on this list, Chris Hemsworth's look in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is amazing. The only reason you really know it's him is that he uses his natural Aussie accent in the movie, which he doesn't do all that much these days. He's even won awards for the performance!

Ryan Reynolds - Blade: Trinity

Okay, we'll admit this isn't the biggest transformation on this list, but you can't deny that Ryan Reynolds has a completely different, more sinister look in Blade: Trinity. It's way different from what you expect from a standard Reynolds performance.

Nicole Kidman - Birth

Nicole Kidman is an amazing actress, but she's not one of those actors you expect to completely change her look for a role. Her part in Birth shows that she certainly can do that, and do it in spectacular ways.

Robert De Niro - Raging Bull

Robert De Niro famously put on a ton of weight for his role as Al Capone in The Untouchables. He also got completely jacked for Cape Fear. He did both for his incredible performance in Raging Bull. As a young Jake LaMotta he was cut and fit and as an older version of the boxer, he was flabby and overweight. Either way, De Niro looks less like himself and more like the real-life boxer. He certainly deserved the Oscar he won for the role.

Margot Robbie - Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots had a unique look that was only enhanced by the odd style of 16th Century Scotland. Still, Margot Robbie nails the look of the queen in a way that leaves the audience squinted to see if it's really the Australian actress.

Gary Oldman - The Darkest Hour

No one transforms quite like Gary Oldman. He's completely different in every role he plays and in The Darkest Hour, he completely embodies his role as Winston Churchill. It's not just the makeup, though that is perfect, it's also the voice and mannerisms he brings to the role that makes you believe you're actually watching the legendary prime minister.

Charlize Theron - Bombshell

Bombshell is one of those movies where you might think you're watching the real-life characters that the cast of Bombshell are playing. Charlize Theron's portrayal of former Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly tops the performances. It's pitch-perfect in every way.

Jared Leto is an actor who has a wide range of roles on his resume, so the dude can pretty much do anything. Be it Suicide Squad’s Joker, his Academy Award winning turn in Dallas Buyer’s Club, or his upcoming 2025 movie gig as the titular character in Tron: Ares, his versatile talents lead to some exciting opportunities. Knowing that still couldn’t prepare me for what we know about Masters of the Universe and its cinematic reboot; as Mr. Leto has been cast in a major role I’m all in about.

If you guessed that the Requiem for a Dream star was cast as the new incarnation of Skeletor, please collect your winnings at the courtesy booth. The news was reported by Variety, along with new castings for some of his future partners in crime.

We now also know that Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops, and Goat Man will now be featured in Amazon-MGM’s adaptation of the famed Mattel toy line. Respectively, those parts will be played by Sam C. Wilson, Kojo Attah and Hafthor Bjornsson.

Jared Leto’s casting as this iconic antagonist is exciting for numerous reasons, starting with the fact that he now compliments Alison Brie’s Masters of the Universe casting as Evil-Lyn. But also, and this is probably going to date me a bit, I’m honestly thrilled that Nicholas Galitzine’s new He-Man will be terrorized by a worthy successor to actor Frank Langella’s sinister live-action interpretation.

Seen in the 1987 cult classic produced by Cannon Films, Langella was the flesh and blood Skeletor for generations of He-Man fans. Comparing Jared Leto’s filmography to that of Frank Langella, I find the actors to be quite similar in their “up for anything” style of role selection.

And if you’re a fan of Kevin Smith’s animated revival series for Netflix, the comparisons between this House of Gucci star and voice actor Mark Hamill are even more fuel for the excitement. Though '80s toy fans are probably still hyped for Bumblebee director Travis Knight to be the talent behind the camera on this legacy fantasy adventure.

It’s been a wild year for Amazon-MGM’s Masters of the Universe reboot, as the project has rapidly gone from its scrapped Netflix incarnation to having a new studio home. With an all-star cast to boot, those who remember the power of He-Man fondly have a lot to be excited about.

Masters of the Universe is set to head to theaters on June 5, 2026. So don’t expect any costume or makeup test photos showing off Jared Leto’s Skeletor any time soon. But while we wait, don’t forget that Mr. Leto will be seen on the big screen a lot sooner, as part of the Tron: Ares cast, who will make their theatrical debut on October 10, 2025.

Jared Leto accomplished a feat back in 2014 that so many actors dream of achieving. For his exemplary performance as Raymond Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, the 30 Seconds to Mars musician won Best Supporting Actor at the 86th Academy Awards. But after experiencing unfortunate luck by literally losing his Oscar statuette, he revealed it made its return years later.

Imagine achieving a huge milestone like winning an Academy Award, only for it to go missing. Back in 2021, Best Supporting Actor winner Jared Leto revealed his golden statuette had been lost for the past few years after moving between houses in L.A. The Suicide Squad actor heartwarmingly said that he hoped the little statue found a good home somewhere if the award wasn't within his radius. Well, don’t panic (room!), because Leto’s Oscar has somehow found its way home to him, with a carousel of Instagram photos to prove it:

While Jared Leto’s selfie pics of him by the street and up on the mountains are interesting, I’m more fascinated seeing the actor/musician’s sweet reunion with his Oscar. Look at him holding it proudly just like he did on the podium where he first won it a decade ago. It truly was a triumphant moment in the rising actor’s career.

Getting the opportunity to play transgender AIDS victim Rayon indeed was a career breakthrough for Jared Leto, and it was an incredible journey to get there. While he established his teen heartthrob image in the short-lived ‘90s series My So-Called Life and had supporting roles like in American Psycho, Leto put his acting career on hold to focus on his music.

The 2014 SAG Movie Award winner then returned to acting with Panic Room and gave a breathtaking performance in Dallas Buyers Club over a decade after that. The method actor brought a raw vulnerability to his character and flawlessly showed the challenges people in the LGBT+ community faced during the AIDS epidemic. Leto even went through a dramatic weight loss for the part by shedding 30 pounds.

Through winning the Oscar for his transformative performance, the Mr. Nobody actor became a bigger somebody in the entertainment industry. With roles like The Joker and Paolo Gucci, Jared Leto has proven himself to be one of the most daring method actors out there.

There’s nothing like seeing a well-deserved Oscar winner reunite with his long-lost golden statuette years later. Hopefully this time around, Jared Leto doesn’t take his eyes off it and puts it in a safe place. I’d like to believe as the talented actor’s career grows, he’ll have more Oscar statuettes to keep an eye on in the future. Be on the lookout for Leto’s 2025 movie release of Disney’s Tron: Ares, in theaters on October 10th.

After spending over a decade in development, Disney's Tron: Ares is officially heading to the big screen. It’s been an incredibly long wait for fans of the sci-fi movie franchise, but after it was announced that the third Tron film had wrapped production, there was certainly reason to be excited. The film's cast, including Jared Leto, Greta Lee and legacy cast member Jeff Bridges, is finally ready to talk about making the film. On that note, Leto just revealed that his costume weighed 45 pounds. Thankfully though, the Oscar winning actor thought it was all worth it.

Some early Tron: Ares footage was shown at the D23 Expo this weekend, which was reportedly a big hit amongst attendees. The movie is set to bring in topics surrounding AI and advancing technology, making it culturally relevant for today's sci-fi-viewing audience. After the trailer debuted, the Tron 3 cast took the stage to chat about the upcoming 2025 movie and what it was like making such a film that's part of such an iconic franchise. Leto, for his part, opened up about how much wearing his costume meant to him personally, and why it didn’t bother him that the over-the-top duds were extremely heavy. He told People amid the D23 festivities:

Jared Leto famously likes getting into character as much as possible and has been called a “method actor” by many. Having such a physical suit was likely part of this process, allowing him to fully feel the weight of the armor as his character would in the Grid. It’s good that the costume was flexible, considering the amount of movement the Morbius actor was likely doing in the suit. Early images released of the outfit look intense -- but perfect for the Tron universe -- so the heaviness was clearly worth it, at least visually.

There’s also something like a physical suit that looks so great on screen. The bright lights of the Tron suits in the original totally add to the aesthetic, and give the movie a sense of realism (well, as much realism as you can have in a film set in a digital world). Movies have used CGI suits for characters in the past, as Iron Man’s armored suit often incorporated digital components, and the MCU Spider-Man suit also utilized CGI in many of the action shots. This sometimes can work, but having something tangible really makes the visuals pop and feels so much more immersive. I’m happy that Tron: Ares went in this direction, even if some visual effects will likely be added to the suits in post production.

Even though armor featured in various films may look great on screen, it's historically never all that comfortable. Emily Blunt has been honest about the back pain the Edge of Tomorrow suits have caused her since she made the movie. Meanwhile, Florence Pugh said her chain mail from Dune: Part Two was uncomfortable to wear. Nevertheless, these heavy costumes are never without a purpose and are often essential to capturing the feel of a fictional world. I’m glad Jared Leto embraced this not-so-nice aspect of making Tron: Ares, and I can’t wait to see how these suits really glow within the film.

You can see Tron: Ares when it hits theaters on October 10, 2025. In the meantime, fans can revisit its predecessor, Tron: Legacy as well as the OG 1982 flick now with a Disney+ subscription. For more information on other films from the House of Mouse that are heading to cinemas and streaming in the near future, make sure to consult our upcoming Disney movie schedule.

Accents are incredibly difficult and to be clear, this isn't knocking any of the people on this list's acting talents. Some of the best actors in the world often struggle with accents. In fact, everyone on this list should be praised for taking the risk and even attempting one. That said, this is still a list of actors with bad accents in a role. 

Dick Van Dyke – Mary Poppins

Quite possibly the most notorious of an actor messing up an accent is Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. The Midwest native's take on a London Cockney accent is... rough. The rest of his performance is legendary, of course, but boy, it's rough to hear him talk sometimes. 

Keanu Reeves – Bram Stoker's Dracula

Keanu Reeves is an icon, but let's be real, some of his acting performances in the past haven't been the best. The most glaring example is his performance in Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's a stilled example of an English accent that comes across as really unconfident. He's much better in the John Wick movies, to say the least. 

Don Cheadle – Ocean's Eleven

Don Cheadle is one of the best actors in Hollywood and is proof that even the best get it wrong sometimes. His cockney accent in Ocean's Eleven is brutal. In a way, it can be excused, as everyone in the movie is just chewing the scenery the whole time, but still, you expect more. Especially because we've all seen him do amazing accents like in Hotel Rwanda, a movie so good you never want to see it again. 

Daniel Craig - Knives Out

This one might get some pushback from fans – and I am a huge fan of Daniel Craig and Knives Out – but the accent is distracting. Cajun accents are tough, so for even attempting it, Craig gets credit, but he's been much better at other accents, like his straight southern accent in Lucky Logan. 

Kevin Costner – Thirteen Days

Thirteen Days is one of the best movies about the Cold War we've ever seen, but Kevin Costner's Boston accent isn't what makes it great. Costner's performance outshines the accent, but it's still pretty distracting, as it's way off. Boston accents are hard to do, so we'll forgive him. 

Tom Cruise – Far And Away

Another one of the most notorious accents in Hollywood history is Tom Cruise's attempt at an Irish accent in Far And Away. The movie itself is a lot better than its reputation would have you believe, but Cruise, one of the biggest movie stars of the last few decades, has a rough go of it. He's not alone in that, either. 

John Malkovich – Rounders

John Malkovich's career is filled with amazing, and often over-the-top performances. Maybe his most over-the-top is that of the Russian "KGB" in Rounders. His accent is presumably supposed to be Russian, but wow, who knows what it really is? It's wild, that's for sure. He even joked to co-star Matt Damon that he is a "terrible actor," which, of course, is false, even here. 

Brad Pitt – Meet Joe Black

This one is on the list because it's a popular choice as one of the worst ever, but I'm here to defend it...sort of. His Cajun patois is not great, that's true, but, for one, that's a really hard accent to nail, and some have defended it. It also could be argued that it fits his character to not quite understand how to speak normally, as he talks about in other parts of the film. Pitt gets a pass here. 

Mickey Rooney – Breakfast At Tiffany's

In one of the most indefensible roles in the history of Hollywood, Mickey Rooney's bad accent is actually the least offensive part. You can argue about 1961 being a different time, but it wasn't that different, and having Rooney play an offensive caricature of a Japanese man was called out even at the time for how offensive it was. 

Julia Roberts – Michael Collins

The beloved Julia Roberts has been in some of the best movies of the last 30 years. Michael Collins isn't a bad movie, but it's also not among Roberts' best films. While she can usually be counted on for great performances, her Irish accent here misses the mark. 

Anne Hathaway – One Day

Anne Hathaway is an Oscar winner for good reason. She's consistently great in her movies, and in roles that range from rom-coms to comic supervillains. In One Day, she adopts a British accent...sort of. It's not bad when she nails it, but it's wildly inconsistent. 

Brad Pitt - Seven Years in Tibet

Seven Years In Tibet is an underrated movie in my opinion. In all honesty, I don't know if Brad Pitt's accent is truly bad, or if it's just really annoying. I tend to think it's a combo of both. Her performance otherwise is great, and the movie's visuals are stunning, making it well worth suffering through the iffy accent. 

Jack Nicholson – The Departed

This is one that might get some pushback, but I think Jack Nicholson's Boston accent in The Departed is terrible. Given all the great accents in the movie, some by Boston natives, some not, this one really sticks out as not being all that great. Nicholson is awesome as the menacing Frank Costello, but he should have just played it straight. 

Angelina Jolie – Alexander

Okay, what in the ancient world is going on here? Angelina Jolie's accent in Alexander is just wild. It's sort of Greek, sure, but we're not even sure what the ancient Greeks sounded like, so why even go here with this acting choice? Jolie is a wonderful actor and director, but this is not her finest moment. 

Emma Watson – The Bling Ring

Emma Watson's biggest accent sin in The Bling Ring is how inconsistent it is. Maybe the hardest part for an actor is staying consistent, but this one still needs to be highlighted here. A Valley Girl, Watson is not. 

Ewan McGregor – Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down has an amazing cast, many of whom are not American, all playing American servicemen. To be honest, all the accents in the movie, from Orlando Bloom, Tom Hardy, and others are a little dicey. It probably isn't fair to only call out Ewan McGregor, but it's not his finest work, either. 

Kevin Costner – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

What can be said here? It's the bad accent that beats them all. Kevin Costner's accent (or sometimes lack of) in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves has been knocked ad nauseam over the years and there isn't much more to say about it. It's not just poor, it's not even there sometimes. 

Cameron Diaz – Gangs Of New York

Let's be clear, Cameron Diaz is not alone with her poor accent in Gangs of New York. Leonardo DiCaprio isn't at his best, either. It's maybe a little more striking in Diaz's case though. It's hard though, when you are going up with Daniel Day-Lewis, who probably spent months and months perfecting his American accent for the role.  

Blake Lively – The Town

If you're not from Boston, it had be a deceptively difficult accent to master. It's not as simple as dropping the Rs, though that is hard to do consistently also. It's also the long vowels and other more nuanced parts of the accent that make it very tricky. Blake Lively is great in The Town, but her accent leaves a lot to be desired. 

Vanessa Hudgens – The Princess Switch

In one of the weirder choices on this list, Vanessa Hudgens decided to go with what is ostensively a British accent in The Princess Switch when she easily could have just gone with her regular accent. Sure, she needed to differentiate herself from...herself as she was also playing the other role in the movie in this Parent Trap-like movie, but still, she was a princess of a fictional country, the accent could have been anything 

Scarlett Johansson – Don Jon

Scarlett Johansson is from New York, and is an excellent actor. That's why it's such a surprise that she missed with a New Jersey accent in Don Jon. Once again, it's an example of a great performance losing a point or two because of the dodgy accent.

Jared Leto – House Of Gucci

Most of the actors in House Of Gucci struggle a little with the Italian accents. Jared Leto, however, sounds like a cartoon character. It's more like Mario than Paolo Gucci. I give him props for trying, heck I give them all props for trying, but it just doesn't work. 

Mel Gibson – Braveheart

I have a lot of problems with Braveheart. The history is notoriously poor, and the acting by Mel Gibson is so over the top, that it's comical, hence all the memes, right? Often lost in that is how sketchy Gibson's Scottish accent is in the movie. 

Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino is arguably the best director of the last 30 years with nine (or ten, depending on how you count Kill Bill) great movies out of nine directed. Django Unchained is no exception, but you can't excuse the Australian accent Tarantino tries to pull off in his acting role in the movie. It's not good - and it's not like he's a bad actor, either. 

Harrison Ford - K-19: The Widowmaker

With all due respect to the Gods of the 1970s and '80s, I don't want to besmirch the great Harrison Ford. Sadly, I have to for his messy attempt at a Russian accent in K-19: The Widowmaker. We all love Ford's gruff voice, but it's better when he sticks with his natural accent. 

Nicole Kidman – Far And Away

Tom Cruise gets a lot of gruff for his Irish accent in Far and Away, but that shouldn't distract from Nicole Kidman's sketchy work. The Aussie struggles as much as the American in the film. 

Alan Rickman - The Butler

Alan Rickman, who is one of my favorite actors ever and responsible for some amazing performances, has one of his most uneven in The Butler as President Ronald Reagan. It's not just the accent, though that is part of it. He speaks weirdly softly and it feels like a shallow performance, which was unlike Rickman, most of the time.  

Michael Caine - On Deadly Ground

The great Michael Caine has but one accent – the Michael Caine Accent. It's so iconic, that it's as imitated as Christopher Walken's. When he gets away from it, it gets a little bizarre, as it does in On Deadly Ground. Now, the semi-retired Caine is co-starring in a Steven Seagal movie, so you can't blame him for really going over the top, even if he misses. 

Brad Pitt – The Devil's Own

In The Devil's Own, Brad Pitt makes a go at an Irish accent. I'll always applaud Pitt for going for tougher roles, but he really does struggle with accents, and here is no exception. It is distracting, but I appreciate that he goes for it. 

Jennifer Lawrence – Red Sparrow

As the winner of one Oscar and owner of three more nominations, Jennifer Lawrence is clearly one of the best actresses so far in the 21st Century. Red Sparrow is not her best work though. The movie is surprisingly boring, and her Russian accent, while far from the worst here, is in and out throughout the whole film. 

Ana De Armas – Blonde

Make no mistake, Ana De Armas made a bold decision to play not only an American actress but one whose voice is very familiar to movie fans everywhere, Marilyn Monroe. Blonde was a challenging choice for the Cuban actress and for that she should be celebrated, but when the brass tacks were down, her accent was not the best part of her performance. 

Charlie Hunnam – Green Street Hooligans

If you want to understand how hard accents can be, look no further than Englishman Charlie Hunnam's attempt at a cockney accent in Green Street Hooligans. While Hunnam is English, he's from Newcastle, not East London, and boy does it show. Hunnam was decent doing an American accent in Sons of Anarchy, but he doesn't kill the cockney accent here, in fact, he's so inconsistent it's distracting in an otherwise super fun cult classic. 

Another April Fools’ Day has come and gone and, as expected, it was filled with more than a few unusual occurrences or announcements. If you’re in the news space, you’re likely to come across headlines that seem fishy and, in most cases, that’s because they’re not true. What I’m about to tell you, however, is definitely not a lie or a prank of any kind. Actor Jared Leto got in on the festivities and did so in a big way – by popping up on Wheel of Fortune. When I think about it, the greatest trick Leto ever pulled may now be convincing viewers and audience members that he was hosting the show. (Sorry, but I couldn’t resist the Usual Suspects reference with that line.)

The broadcast began in normal fashion, with announcer Jim Thornton introducing the stars of the game show. Vanna White was highlighted, as per usual, but it was Jared Leto who walked on stage with her as opposed to her longtime TV partner Pat Sajak. From there, the two proceeded with the show’s usual routine, with Leto even going to the wheel to present contestants with the first toss up puzzle. You can see the Oscar winner – who was decked out in a shirt and tie – in the YouTube clip below: 

Eventually, Pat Sajak did relive the Blade Runner 2049 star of his post. And, if you were able to watch the broadcast for yourself, you’d know that the switch-out was fast. It almost feels like the actor disappeared in a flash though, in reality, that’s surely due to some sharp cutting from the show’s editors.

All in all, this is actually a really solid April Fools’ prank from Jared Leto and the team at Wheel of Fortune. It may not seem like a practical joke on the surface, but surely plenty of folks watching at home were shocked. Funny enough, I spoke to my mother – an avid WoF viewer – after the televised moment happened, and she was very surprised by what occurred. I’d wager that it’s those kinds of reactions that Leto and co. were hoping for. Kudos to them for pulling off such a cheeky moment. 

Jared Leto, interestingly enough, is no stranger to pulling “pranks” of sorts, whether he’s in character or not. Much has been said about the weird gifts he gave his Suicide Squad co-stars while working on the 2016 superhero film. While in character as The Joker, he sent a number of odd items like a briefcase full of bullets and a live rat. Leto didn’t just give gifts to co-stars either, as he gave DJ Skrillex some “weird shit” after working with him on the “Purple Lamborghini.” So, needless to say, this WoF prank was one of his more tame gestures. 

The Little Things star’s brief hosting stint on Wheel of Fortune may not have been legit, but it is, in some ways, a tease of what’s to come. It was confirmed during the summer of 2023 that Pat Sajak is retiring from his post and will end his run this year following Season 41. With that, Ryan Seacrest will be the new host of the long-running game show. He seems excited about taking the reins and has gushed about his chats with Sajak and Vanna White about the inner workings of the program. 

Honestly, though, I’m now wondering what the show would look like if Jared Leto were to become the full-time host and, surely, the vibe would be different. I don’t see that actually happening, of course. Plus, I’d say that Leto more than made his mark on the series through his delightful April Fools’ prank. 

Check your local listings if you’d like to watch Wheel of Fortune – sans the award-winning actor – in syndication amid other offerings on the 2024 TV schedule.

Next year, Tron: Ares will hit screens as part of the upcoming Disney movies set to take 2025 by storm. With Jared Leto’s big threequel currently in production and on track for its premiere, some information surrounding this mysterious follow-up to one of the best sci-fi movies has been teased by its director Joachim Rønning. Overall, this tease has only led me to even more questions about what’s happened in the years since Tron: Legacy, despite the veil of secrecy still firmly covering this movie.

How Director Joachim Rønning Teased More Tron: Ares Details

As seen on Joachim Rønning’s Instagram story, a recent photo showed off a small piece of Tron 3’s wider world. Shown below, the item in question is what looks like a convention pass to an event that is tied to an important piece of franchise lore. Take a look for yourself, and see what sticks out: 

I don’t know about you, but I’m very curious as to what Paranoia-Con 27 is, and what it could mean for Tron: Ares’ story. The obvious connection between what looks like a prop from the movie and the deeper series story is the video game Space Paranoids; a creation of Kevin Flynn himself.

Per the Tron franchise timeline, we know that this is one of the programs Jeff Bridges’ iconic Disney character was trying to prove was stolen by boss Edward Dillinger Sr. (David Warner). While mentioned in the marketing campaign leading up to Tron: Legacy, we haven’t really heard much about that game for quite some time. This leads to so many other questions about Tron: Ares’ state of play.

What’s Going On With ENCOM After Tron: Legacy?

Besides wondering just how big of a deal Space Paranoids happens to be, and why it potentially has a whole convention surrounding its branding, another important Tron 3 query comes up. More specifically, what’s ENCOM been up to during the last decade-plus since Tron: Legacy? 

When we last left Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund)  he seemed poised to be taking control of the company, with Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) brought on as chairman of the board. Could the continuation of Space Paranoids be a sign that ENCOM is actually putting up a fight against Ares’ potential masters at Dillinger Systems? 

Speaking of blasts from the past, another piece of Tron's history seems to have become a bit more important. 

Could Tron: Evolution’s Importance Hint At Another Character’s Return?

Through set photos shared by Instagram user @BanditCar, we may have already seen Paranoia-Con 27 at work. And apparently, all corners of Tron canon are being cosplayed at this event. Not only are both Tron and Tron: Legacy costumes being spotted in the wild, but a cosplayer sporting the look of Abraxas, the villain of the video game tie-in Tron: Evolution has been seen.

I’m not even going to dive into the larger story of that title, as it’d take a while to get through. But Tron: Evolution was mostly important for the fact that it showed CLU’s rebellion on The Grid and the purge of the ISOs taking shape. Which meant that Quorra (Olivia Wilde) was an integral part of the game.

So if there’s an Abraxas cosplayer at Tron: Ares’ big convention, what does this mean for Quorra? How did her story get out to the public in enough detail that people can dress as her oppressor? Are we looking at another meta scenario similar to The Matrix Resurrections where the movies of Tron became the games of its fictional universe? 

This is quite a bit to think about, and we don’t even know who else might pop up on Tron: Ares’ cast roster; or even when exactly to expect the movie. All know at this point is something big is on the horizon, and 2025 is the year it arrives in our world. So keep your eyes and ears open, and don’t forget to use your Disney+ subscription to revisit the cinematic universe of Tron thus far.

Greetings, Programs! The road to Tron 3 feels like it’s taken forever, with some huge and exciting steps landing in the recent past. As the upcoming Disney movie is currently in production, details are still somewhat scarce in terms of what to expect. So leave it to Jared Leto to not only break some news about the sequel to one of the best sci-fi movies ever, but also to drop a huge detail that I seriously need to talk about.

It’s fitting that Leto himself would be the one to confirm Tron 3’s title on Instagram, seeing as Leto previously leaked the title by accident. But now it’s confirmed that we can officially call this three-quel Tron: Ares, as well as the fact that director Joachim Rønning’s new installment will be arriving in theaters in 2025!

What's more, Walt Disney Pictures has made this news doubly official, confirming Tron: Ares' title, with the same art released by Leto. I need you all to take a look at this image, or the animation on Jared Leto's Instagram, as we need to talk about the following:

Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Programs? Beyond the fact that we now have Hasan Minhaj and Arturo Castro added to the impressive Tron: Ares’ cast, this new image has a huge difference from the traditional franchise look. More specifically there's the issue that Ares, who is more than likely played by Jared Leto, has a triangular ID disc.

Typically, the Identity Discs you see Programs wearing are of a circular shape. It’s been that way since the beginning of the Tron timeline, as the 1982 original introduced the world to Kevin Flynn’s journey onto The Grid. So with a new disc shape in play for this “highly sophisticated Program,” its journey into our world looks to shake things up from the usual.

That much is true in the statement from Tron: Ares director Joachim Rønning, which was included with Walt Disney Pictures’ big press blast. Here's what Rønning had to say, after weeks of production under his belt:

What could Tron: Ares mean for the next step in this franchise's evolution? If Identity Discs can change, then what does that mean for Programs? What does that mean for The Grid and how we interact with it? There are a lot of questions that still need answers, but at least we have two more we can cross off of the list as of today. 

Tron: Ares will hit theaters at some point in 2025, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes and ears open for updates in the meantime. And if you want to go back and revisit the world of Tron, the entire franchise is currently available to Disney+ subscription holders. Until next time... End of Line.

In 1940, one year after Batman debuted in the pages of Detective Comics #27, a clownish-looking villain named The Joker came to Gotham City to wreak havoc in Batman #1. It didn’t take long for him to become the Dark Knight’s arch-nemesis in the comic book pages, to the point that all these decades later, Joker is arguably just as well known as Batman himself. With that fame, of course, has come numerous adaptations of the Clown Prince of Crime, most prominently on the big screen.

To that point, we’re here to rank all the major movie portrayals of The Joker. And to be clear, this list will only be discussing live-action and animated versions of the character who’ve appeared in DC movies that had theatrical runs. There’s a lot more to keep track of if we count the numerous direct-to-video DC movies that have been released, but keeping our scope narrowed to big screen offerings keeps things at a more manageable level.

8. Barry Keoghan

The only reason Barry Keoghan’s Joker ranks in last place on this list is because we’ve barely seen him. He’s only heard and indirectly shown for roughly a minute within the finalized cut of The Batman, and then there was the deleted scene between the villain and Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader released shortly after the movie. 

Still, all we know so far about this version of the Clown Prince of Crime is that he’s heavily disfigured, and that he and Batman tangled sometime prior to The Riddler’s reign of terror. No doubt Keoghan’s ranking on this list will be higher if he plays a prominent role in The Batman: Part II, but for now, there just isn’t material to work with and make a proper judgement.

7. Jared Leto

Suicide Squad marked the first time Joker appeared in a movie that didn’t revolve around him fighting Batman, and that was for the best. The execution for the Clown Prince of Crime didn’t work, from the strange choices with his physical appearance (especially that “Damaged” forehead tattoo), to him barely contributing to the story in any notable way, to Jared Leto’s performance not feeling intimidating in the slightest. 

It’s almost as if the actor was trying too hard to play the character weirdly, which he continued to do during his few minutes of screen time in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Let’s breathe a sigh of relief that the Leto-led Joker movie never happened, and that with the DCEU now over, we’ll almost certainly never see him again.

6. Zach Galifianakis

There’s nothing particularly wrong with Zach Galifianakis’ Joker, it’s just that he feels more like a standard baddie in The LEGO Batman Movie rather than one giving off the vibes of Batman’s arch-nemesis. For one thing, this spinoff to The LEGO Movie was, like its predecessor, comedic and chiefly geared towards children, so this Joker was presented as more clownish and goofy rather than sinister and terrifying. 

There’s nothing wrong with that, as it clearly worked for the story being told about Joker enacting his biggest plan yet after learning that Batman didn’t see him as an important villain in his life. But when held up against the other portrayals on this list, Galifianakis’ Joker comes across as generic.

5. Cesar Romero

Like another version of The Joker on this list, Cesar Romero primarily portrayed the character on television, namely the live-action Batman TV series that ran from 1966 to 1968. But shortly after Season 1 aired, Batman: The Movie hit theaters, and as such Romero qualifies for the rankings. 

This movie saw Joker teaming up with Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman, and just like the TV show, it leaned heavily into the campy tone. So, while this Joker will appeal more towards people who like the Silver Age of Comics and don’t mind him being more playful rather than a frightening threat, as far as performing this version of the character went, Romero continued to knock it out of the park.

4. Joaquin Phoenix

In 2019, Joker showed audiences how the Clown Prince of Crime’s origin story would unfold if Batman wasn’t around. Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck was depicted as a party clown and failed stand-up comic suffering from mental illness, and a few too many traumatizing events led to his descent into madness and adopting his clown-like criminal persona. 

There’s no question that Phoenix gave a stellar performance, as evidenced by him winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. However, since this is a Joker who’s about as far from his comic book roots as possible, it’s hard to put him above the final three men on this list. Still, there are plenty of people looking forward to seeing more from him in the 2024 movie release, Joker: Folie à Deux.

3. Jack Nicholson

More than 20 years after Caesar Romero hammed it up as Joker on the Batman TV series, Jack Nicholson put a more unsettling twist on the character in Tim Burton’s Batman. Although this version of Joker’s original identity was known from the start rather than kept shrouded in secrecy as is usually the case, knowing that he started out as gangster Jack Napier, who murdered Bruce Wayne’s parents, didn’t detract from watching him become a theatrical lunatic after falling into that vat of chemicals during his first encounter with Batman. 

Granted, there are times where it feels like Nicholson is just playing a more unhinged version of himself, but overall, his performance still holds up quite nicely after all this time.

2. Mark Hamill

As with Caesar Romero, Mark Hamill’s exploits as The Joker are chiefly known from TV, specifically the DC Animated Universe incarnation of the character he voiced in Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures and other projects. But because Batman: Mask of the Phantasm shifted from a direct-to-video release to a theatrical one, we can thankfully mention him on this list. 

Not only did Hamill bring the same delightful blend of comedy and terror that he did on the small screen, but because this movie didn’t have to deal with the same broadcast TV restrictions, his Joker was finally able to kill and drop some more suggestive lines. Even just judging Hamill’s Joker within the lens of only this movie, he’s more than earned ranking in second place. It’s also a reminder about what a shame it is he’ll never voice Joker again.

1. Heath Ledger

Anyone who followed along with the news cycle surrounding The Dark Knight’s production will remember that many were skeptical Heath Ledger would deliver a compelling Joker performance, especially once it was revealed this version of the character would look much different than how he’s usually depicted. Well, not only did Ledger prove the doubters wrong, he’s still considered by many to be the definitive cinematic Joker, and he went on to posthumously win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. 

Granted, this version of the villain didn’t drop a ton of actual jokes, but watching him envelop Gotham City in chaos and try to prove that no one is incorruptible not only earns him the #1 spot on this list, but makes him one of cinema’s most iconic villains across all genres.

There will be more actors who play Joker on the big screen in the years to come, and once we see their performances, come back here to see where they rank amongst their cohorts. Until then, use your Max subscription to stream many of Joker’s film and TV appearances, both live-action and animated, to your heart’s content.

The DC Extended Universe has had plenty of peaks and valleys since its inception, including some notable missteps. The original Suicide Squad is in that category, with director David Ayer being honest about the way the studio interfered with his vision- particularly related to the Clown Prince of Crime. The Suicide Squad director recently offered a new look at Jared Leto's Joker. 

While DC fans are looking forward to the upcoming DC movies heading to theaters, there are some who are still hung up on the past. Specifically fans who want to see the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad happen. The filmmaker has been keeping excitement up thanks to unseen images from his movie, recently posting a new Joker image on Twitter. Check it out below: 

You can't deny that this is a striking image. Jared Leto might not be everyone's favorite Joker, but he's his look is definitely a unique one that captured the public's attention. Although unfortunately much of Joker's role was cut out of Suicide Squad, resulting him in being a strange presence in the theatrical cut. 

David Ayer shared this new image of Leto's Joker to his over 538k followers on X, formerly known as Twitter. It's sure to quickly go viral, thanks to fans who want to see the director's original take on the movie. But with new DCU co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran forming a new shared universe, it seems unlikely that this will ever happen.

While Jared Leto was expected to have a major presence in the former DCEU after being cast cast as Joker, Suicide Squad ended up being his only starring role. Although Leto briefly reprise his role for Snyder Cut reshoots, bringing a new Knightmare sequence to life in the process. But there's presumably a great deal of footage from David Ayer's movie that we might never actually see.

As previously mentioned, a new shared universe is being formed, which should begin with James Gunn's Superman: Legacy. The first slate of projects it titled Gods and Monsters, and unfortunately doesn't feature the Ayer Cut. So that project remains a pipe dream for the time being, although smart money says the filmmaker will keep hope alive online.

While the theatrical cut of Ayer's blockbuster failed to resonate with audiences, it was a box office success. What's more, Suicide Squad even won an Oscar for makeup and hair. It also inspired the spinoff Birds of Prey as well as James Gunn's reboot/sequel The Suicide Squad. So we'll just have to see if the titular team of villains ends up returning to big screen anytime soon. Fingers crosssed.

The next DC movie hitting theaters is Aquaman 2 on December 22nd, which will be the final installment in the DCEU. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

The DC Extended Universe has plenty of wild twists during its years on the big screen, including shakeups behind the scenes. That includes some projects that were influenced by the studio such as Justice League and Suicide Squad. The latter was helmed by the filmmaker David Ayer, who has been honest about his vision for the DC flick being altered. And the director recently explained how Jared Leto’s Joker was changed in the theatrical cut. 

In the years since the 2016 movie was released, some fans have been hoping an upcoming DC movie might be the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad. That titular filmmaker occasionally shows his interest, while lamenting about certain plot lines like the handling of Jared Leto’s Joker. Both fans and critics took umbrage with that villain, who seemed more of an afterthought in the theatrical cut. David Ayer tweeted out a response to fans asking about his version of the movie, sharing:

Honestly, sign me up. Jared Leto definitely has the acting chops to pull of the Clown Prince of Crime, but his part in Suicide Squad failed to resonate with audiencs and critics alike. And it seems to be one of Ayer’s biggest issues with the way the blockbuster was edited and ultimately released back in 2016.

The cast of Suicide Squad included some well-known names, including Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Viola Davis. Jared Leto had already won an Oscar at that point, and seemed to have the pedigree to bring Joker to life following iconic runs like Heath Ledger and Mark Hamill. But in the end he failed to meet expectations.

In the theatrical cut of Suicide Squad, Joker plays a strange role. Rather than being involved in the main story, he pops in and out seemingly at random while attempting to reunite with Harley Quinn. But that wasn’t always the case, and Ayer maintains he was a fully formed character in his version of the project.

After Zack Snyder’s Justice League became a reality by Warner Bros. fans immediately began campaigning for Suicide Squad to get the Ayer Cut. But it doesn’t sound like the studio has any plans to make this happen, especially with the budget that Ayer would likely need to complete his take on the project. And with a new shared universe being formed co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, this seems all the more unlikely. 

The final installment in the DCEU is Aquaman 2 on December 20th. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Have you ever caught a rerun of an older TV show and during the opening credits sequence, you spotted someone who made you say, “Hey, I know that person!”? This is actually a more common occurrence than you may realize, as there many A-list celebrities whose first IMDb credit (or one of the first) was a supporting role on a series long before they earned the honor of being a leading presence on the big (or small) screen. The following are some of our favorite examples of famous actors who appeared a bit further down the the line on the call sheet on a TV show when they were starting out.

Chris Pratt (Everwood)

Before Guardians of the Galaxy made him a leading man, Chris Pratt really began to gain traction from starring in the Parks and Recreation cast as Andy Dwyer. However, even earlier than that, he starred on a WB family drama called Everwood as high school joke Bright Abbott alongside fellow future MCU star Emily VanCamp, who played his sister, Amy.

Jennifer Lawrence (The Bill Engvall Show)

Before her Academy Award-nominated performance in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, her star-making role as Katniss in The Hunger Games and Oscar-winning turn in Silver Lining’s Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence was a sitcom star — specifically a cable network sitcom star. On The Bill Engvall Show, which lasted three seasons on TBS, she starred opposite the eponymous stand-up comedian as his on-screen alter ego’s teenage daughter, Lauren Pearson,

Austin Butler (Zoey 101)

The musical talents that earned Austin Butler the title role of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis can be traced back to his part on Ruby & the Rockits, which lasted 10 episodes on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2009. However, the Oscar nominee’s first major TV role was on the final season of Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 as James Garrett — a character missing from Paramount+’s feature-length follow-up, Zoey 102.

Margot Robbie (Pan Am)

While her earliest role was actually the long-running soap opera, Neighbours — much like many other Aussie A-listers — we thought we would highlight American audiences’ first true introduction to Margot Robbie on Pan Am. An interesting fact about Robbie is that the future Oscar nominee and DC movies star was actually roommates with co-star Christina Ricci while playing 1960s-era flight attendant Laura Cameron on the short-lived ABC drama from 2011 to 2012.

Seth Rogen (Freaks And Geeks)

While still part of the main ensemble, Seth Rogen’s role as the initially arrogant Ken Miller pretty much got the short end of the stick amongst the Freaks and Geeks cast, for the most part. Ironically, Rogen, arguably, went on to become the painfully short-lived coming-of-age dramedy’s biggest star, which is really saying something, given his co-stars include Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, and John Francis Daley.

Brie Larson (Raising Dad)

A notable moment in Academy Award winner Brie Larson’s evolution from child star to modern A-list actor was her role as the late Bob Saget’s youngest on-screen daughter on Raising Dad — a sitcom that ran for one season on The WB (now The CW) in the early 2000s. Following her success as the MCU’s Captain Marvel, Larson returned to TV in 2023 — reprising her Scott Pilgrim vs. the World role for Netflix’s animated series reboot, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and leading the Lessons in Chemistry cast for Apple TV+.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Growing Pains)

While doing press for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt recalled how they both appeared on the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains much earlier in their career. Of course, Pitt had a one-episode guest appearance while the Oscar-winning The Revenant star and Titanic cast member had a prominent role as Luke Brewer — a homeless teen taken in by the Seavers in Season 7. 

Ana De Armas (The Boarding School)

One of the films that earned Academy Award nominee Ana de Armas a spot on the A-list was Rian Johnson’s hit whodunit, Knives Out, from 2019. More than a decade earlier, the Cuban-born actor landed a role on a coming-of-age mystery TV show called El Internado (or The Boarding School), which originally aired in Spain from 2007 to 2010.

Michael B. Jordan (The Wire)

After getting his start as a Toys ‘R Us kid, the fascinating Michael B. Jordan made his official acting debut on an episode of The Sopranos, but later landed a more prominent role on another acclaimed, gritty HBO series in 2002. He appeared amongst The Wire cast as Wallace — an orphan whose tragic story had a profound impact on the Emmy-nominated series beyond his 13-episode stint.

Anne Hathaway (Get Real)

Anne Hathaway fans should know that before she broke into the mainstream by leading Disney’s The Princess Diaries cast, the Academy Award winner made her acting debut on a 1999 Fox TV show called Get Real as a high school senior who shocks her family with the decision to refuse college. Coincidentally, the short-lived dramedy was also the debut of Hathaway’s Rio co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, and was an early gig for NCIS' Eric Christian Olsen as well.

Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere)

With two Oscars to his name, it’s hard to imagine a TV screen big enough to contain the talent of one Denzel Washington, yet it was a TV show that helped launched the young actor’s career in the early 1980s. Following his official debut in the 1977 TV movie Wilma, the future Training Day lead played Dr. Philip Chandler on NBC’s hit medical drama, St. Elsewhere.

Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek)

For years, Michelle Williams was known best from the Dawson’s Creek cast as Jen Lindley. Now — after receiving multiple Academy Award nominations for acclaimed dramas like Manchester by the Sea and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans — that role on the hit teen drama is, typically, among the last things mentioned in regards to her career.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock From The Sun)

As a child actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in some good movies and made a few notable TV guest appearances before landing his first successful series regular gig with 3rd Rock from the Sun. He played the eldest member of a group of extra-terrestrial visitors, and the character resembles a teenager in human form on the Emmy-winning sci-fi sitcom.

George Clooney (The Facts Of Life)

As a TV star, George Clooney is best known from his main role on the popular ‘90s show, ER, on which he played Doug Ross. Much earlier, however, the future two-time Oscar winner had a memorable recurring role on Diff’rent Strokes' (very different) spin-off, The Facts of Life, as George Burnett — a carpenter who would become close to the girls living under Mrs. Garrett’s roof.

Woody Harrelson (Cheers)

With multiple Academy Award nominations to his name, Woody Harrelson is known today as one of Hollywood’s most versatile movie stars, but his first big break came when he joined the Cheers cast in the mid-1980s. In fact, he won his first Emmy Award for playing the naive, but lovable, Woody Byrd, whom Sam (Ted Danson) hires on as a new barkeep following he death of Coach (Nicholas Colasanto).

Jason Bateman (Little House On The Prairie)

At least before he led Netflix’s Ozark cast, Jason Bateman has always best known on the small screen as a sitcom star, with his roles as David Hogan on Valerie (later changed to The Hogan Family) and Michael Bluth on Arrested Development being the famous examples. However, his very first gig was playing James Cooper Ingalls for 21 episodes of Little House on the Prairie during the early 1980s.

Don Cheadle (The Golden Palace)

An early Don Cheadle role you may have forgotten about was featured on a TV show spin-off you may not have heard of, either. The future Academy Award nominee and MCU actor starred alongside most of the Golden Girls cast on The Golden Palace as Roland Wilson — the young manager of the titular hotel where the short-lived sitcom took place. 

Jason Momoa (Baywatch)

Even long before he landed the role of Aquaman in the DC movies, Jason Momoa was no stranger to saving lives in the water. The Hawaiian-born actor made his debut in his home state when he joined the Baywatch cast as a character also named Jason from 1999 to 2001.

Marisa Tomei (A Different World)

We know her from her Academy Award-winning role in My Cousin Vinny as Mona Lisa Vito (who she'd love to revisit) or as Peter Parker’s (reinvented) Aunt May in the MCU, to name a few examples. Yet before many people knew who Marisa Tomei was, she was on the first season of The Cosby Show spin-off, A Different World, as Hillman student Maggie Lauten.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Get Down)

One interesting fact about Yahya Abdul-Mateen II: before he was an Emmy-winning DC TV show star (for playing Cal Abar on HBO’s Watchmen) and a scene-stealing DC movie villain (Black Manta in Aquaman), he worked as a San Francisco city planner until he was laid off in 2010. The role that first helped him make a name for himself as an actor was night club owner Clarene “Cadillac” Caldwell in Netflix’s musical period drama series, The Get Down, from co-creator Baz Luhrmann.

Alexandra Daddario (All My Children)

Speaking to Women’s Health in 2022, Alexandra Daddario recalls that she was fired from the long-running daytime soap opera, All My Children, which she actually found to be a liberating, educational experience. It led to seek improvement in her acting skills and pave the way for her to breakthrough in the Percy Jackson movies, give an Emmy-nominated performance as part of the HBO’s The White Lotus cast, and star in many other notable works.

Adam Driver (Girls)

Without Lena Dunham, there might not be a Kylo Ren — or at least, the memorable version of the Sith Lord we got in the hands Adam Driver. The former Marine’s scene-stealing role on HBO’s Girls as Adam Sackler is what got Hollywood to take notice of his talent, leading to his casting in the Star Wars movies and his Oscar-nominated performances in BlacKkKlansman and Marriage Story.

Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls)

Gilmore Girls proved to be a launch pad for many A-listers — few of which would blow up quite like Melissa McCarthy, who played Sookie St. James on the hit dramedy.  She later won an Emmy for her leading role on the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly and received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role as a member of the Bridesmaids cast. And that film skyrocketed her to the A-list as a trusted name in comedy and more.

Drake (Degrassi: The Next Generation)

One of the most memorable and important characters from Degrassi: The Next Generation is Jimmy Brooks, who served as an inspirational representation for wheelchair users on the long-running Canadian coming-of-age drama. The role was played by an actor named Aubrey Graham, who still acts on occasion — an Anchorman 2 cameo, for instance — but primarily performs as a rapper under the moniker Drake.

Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men)

At just eight years old, Kiernan Shipka proved to be a stand-out alongside AMC’s Mad Men cast with her performance as Sally Draper. She later went on to lead her own TV show (Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and headline movies like Amazon Prime’s horror-comedy, Totally Killer and The Silence.

Ryan Reynolds (Fifteen)

Despite his many earnest roles over the years, it may be hard to picture Ryan Reynolds as anything other than the smarmy goof he plays in the likes of the Deadpool movies and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, for instance. Perhaps watching him make his debut in the Canadian coming-of-age drama Fifteen will help audiences see another side of him.

Tommy Lee Jones (One Life To Live)

It is amazing to think about how many acclaimed and even legendary actors started out on soap operas, such as Tommy Lee Jones. One of the earliest roles for the Academy Award-winning star of The Fugitive and the Men in Black movies was the ill-fated Mark Toland on One Life to Live from 1971 to 1975.

John Travolta (Welcome Back, Kotter)

Before his Academy Award-nominated role in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever — and its fantastic movie soundtrack — made him one of the biggest stars of all time, John Travolta was better known by another name: Vinnie Barbarino. That was the future Pulp Fiction cast member’s character on Welcome Back, Kotter — a hit sitcom that never made it to 100 episodes. He practically stole the show from star and co-creator Gabe Kaplan with his famous catchphrase, “Up your nose with a rubber hose!”

Jennifer Love Hewitt (Kids Incorporated)

Her role as Sarah Reeves on the original Party of Five may have made Jennifer Love Hewitt a teen idol, but it was not her first major TV gig. The Ghost Whisperer star was 10 when she demonstrated her multiple talents on Disney Channel’s Kids Incorporated, which focuses on the lives of a group of young artists who perform live music at a club for children.

Benedict Cumberbatch (Fortysomething)

It was his eponymous role on the modern crime drama Sherlock that made Benedict Cumberbatch a nigh-unpronounceable household name, but his first starring role on a TV series was Fortysomething. The MCU’s Doctor Strange actor played the on-screen son of none other than House’s Hugh Laurie on the English dramedy that lasted six episodes.

Jared Leto (My So-Called Life)

In one of the best ‘90s shows that ended too soon, My So-Called Life, Jared Leto portrayed what would become his first iconic role: high school heartthrob Jordan Catalano. The much celebrated coming-of-age drama also marked one for the first times the future Academy Award winner acted alongside his sibling and Thirty Seconds to Mars bandmate, Shannon.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Passions)

Movie star Mary Elizabeth Winstead has more than a few very notable small-screen roles — such as a leading stint in Fargo Season 3 and Hera Syndulla alongside the Ahsoka cast for Disney+. The Scott Pilgrim vs. The World cast member’s earliest major TV gig, however, was on the supernatural soap opera Passions.

For any TV actors out there hoping one day to make it onto the big screen, let these stories serve as proof that your dreams may not be far away from becoming a reality.

Entertainers are entertainers. There are singers who can act, and there are actors who can sing. While the world is full of the former crossing over successfully, the latter is less successful, but that doesn't mean they aren't great singers, so here's our list of actors that have tried singing, whether they were hits or not. 

Bruce Willis

In 1987 Bruce Willis was at the top of his game. A year before everyone's favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard, came out, Willis did a made-for-HBO movie called The Return of Bruno where he played a blues singer. Willis spun that into an album of the same name and his singing career was off. While it's actually a decent album, the two follow-ups were bombs and that was where things pretty much ended for his singing career. 

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt has been singing as long as she's been performing on screen. As a ten-year-old, Hewitt sang backup on the hit song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika, and at 12 she recorded her first album. She has a great voice, but she's never seen real crossover success. 

Don Johnson

Miami Vice was a monster hit in the mid-'80s and Don Johnson spun that into a record deal. He recorded his first album, Heartbeat, in 1986 and it was actually a moderate success, especially in Germany. His follow-up, Let It Roll also sold well in Europe, but didn't chart in the US, so his brief-though-somewhat-successful career as a singer was over. 

Jada Pinkett Smith

Did you know that Jada Pinkett Smith sang in a Nu Metal band in the early aughts? Yep, a band she formed called Wicked Wisdom even toured with Ozzfest and opened for Britney Spears. Pinkett is a solid singer and the band is very good, but it was short-lived, releasing just two albums, the last in 2006. 

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe has been playing guitar and singing rock and roll for decades. He continues to occasionally play concerts, usually for charity and every once in a while he'll show up on stage with a big star. Like when he joined fellow Aussie Keith Urban in 2012 to play some Johnny Cash. 

Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx is the rare example of an actor having a very successful music career as well. He's got platinum albums, he's won a Grammy, and he'll forever be known for his guest spot in Kanye West's "Gold Digger." 

Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds sang in the musical At Long Last Love, and he once did a duet in a movie with the legend herself, Dolly Parton. Before all that though, he attempted to find a hit in the music business when he released a country album called Ask Me What I Am in 1973. I'm the biggest Burt Reynolds fan you'll ever meet and even I can admit it's a pretty rough album. 

Zooey Deschanel

When M. Ward first heard Zooey Deschanel sing in Elf, he was amazed. Later he learned she also wrote and played music. That was enough to start the duo She & Him, and Ward and Deschanel have been working on the project off and one for 15 years now. Together they've released seven successful albums, the latest a tribute to Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson that is very, very good. Deschanel even met her boyfriend Jonathon Scott while singing on Car Pool Karaoke. 

Jeremy Renner

As if Jeremy Renner's inspiring recovery from a snow plow accident isn't enough, the multitalented star has also released his first couple of EPs over the last few years. The Avengers star is a multi-instrumentalist and can sing too. There's almost nothing he can't do, it seems. 

William Shatner

It's always been a little hard to tell if William Shatner's music career is serious, or a joke. At times it seems like it could be either. One thing I can say about it is that if you've never heard Shatner's version of Pulp's "Common People", seek it out, it is truly excellent. 

Eddie Murphy

Very early in this career, Eddie Murphy started singing comedy songs on his albums. That inspired him to take a shot a serious music and his first single "Party All The Time" was a hit. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sadly, that would be the high point for the actor's music career.  

Corey Feldman

You have to appreciate how hard Corey Feldman is trying to make a music career take off. He tours a lot, playing live, and giving it his all in every performance. For it, he takes an endless amount of grief, but that just makes us root a little harder for him. The music isn't for me, but I applaud the effort. 

Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts is Hollywood royalty who got her first really big break (though not her first gig, that was in Blow) on the Nickelodeon show Unfabulous. For the show, where she played a middle school singer/songwriter, she recorded quite a bit of music and even released an album. In the end, it was her acting that took off and music took a backseat. At least so far. 

Jared Leto

Obviously, Jared Leto has to be on this list. His band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, which he formed with his brother in 1998, is wildly successful. They've sold more than 15 million albums and played sold-out shows around the world. He's by far the most successful musician on this list. 

Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Milano's music career never made much of a wave in the U.S., but in Japan, she was actually really popular. She released four albums on a Japanese record label and one even went platinum. It's a small tidbit of her career that doesn't get talked about much. 

Tom Hardy

Before Tom Hardy landed the first role of his career in Black Hawk Down in 2001, the British actor took a swing at a rap career. He recorded a mixtape called Tommy No 1 and Eddie Too Tall in 1999, though it didn't see the light of day until well after Hardy became famous, in 2018. It's actually pretty good too. 

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan has had a lot of ups and downs in her career, and one thing that could fall under both was her brief foray into music. Lohan was at the height of her Disney career, on the verge of the release of her most beloved movie, Mean Girls, when she was signed to Tommy Mottola's Casablanca Records. The two albums she recorded sold okay, but after the second, her career as a singer was over. 

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson's first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, released in 1998, features members of TV on the Radio, and even David Bowie sings on two tracks. Most of the songs were written or co-written by the great Tom Waits. Unfortunately, it just didn't sell all that well. Her follow-up, Break Up, recorded with Pete Yorn sold a little better, but not enough to sustain more of a career in music. She also released a song in 2015 called "Candy" with a short-lived band, The Singles, with Este Haim.

Hayden Panettiere

On Nashville, Hayden Panettiere played a country singer/songwriter living in Nashville, so naturally, she sang a lot on the show. She even recorded and released a few songs from the show. Panettiere was also nominated for a Grammy early in her career for her singing parts in A Bug's Life. In 2008, she branched out with a more pop-oriented sound and while she undoubtedly has some serious singing chops, the song "Wake Up Call" is more famous today for the video starring herself and Sebastian Stan. 

Joe Pesci

When you think of performers with silky smooth voices, Joe Pesci probably isn't the first name that comes to mind. Still, the Goodfellas star has been singing publicly since the 1960s when he released an album called Little Joe Sure Can Sing! After the huge success of My Cousin Vinny, Pesci released another album sort of in character, called Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You which is part comedy, part serious. It's not all that great, but he's not a bad singer. 

Kevin Bacon

The Bacon Brothers, Micheal and Kevin Bacon have been recording and touring for almost 30 years now. It's always been a passion for the Footloose star and it's clear he takes the band as seriously as he takes his acting. 

Robert Downey, Jr.

The whole world for Robert Downey, Jr. changed in 2008 when the first Iron Man was released. Downey had been a star for years, but the role took him to world superstardom. Right before that, he recorded his first album, 2006's The Futurist. The album had disappointing sales, and Downey dedicated his working life to the MCU and never seemed to find time for a follow-up.  

Steven Seagal

Like most things Steven Seagal does these days, his music career is pretty odd. He's a guitar player and blues singer who has released two albums and still plays live occasionally. While the music is not terrible by any means, it's also not all that interesting. 

Brie Larson

Brie Larson started in the music business when she was just 16. She was signed by Casablanca Records and recorded an album called Finally Out of P.E. However, the Marvels star eventually moved her focus to her acting career. She still occasionally plays guitar and sings little ditties on her YouTube page. 

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow's singing has mostly been attached to her acting career, with her most famous song, "Country Strong" coming from the soundtrack of the movie of the same name. Paltrow does all the singing herself, and it's actually pretty great. She also flirted with more music-related stuff earlier in her career, including recording a duet with Huey Lewis. She should consider doing more! 

Milla Jovovich

The 1990s were full of ethereal singers like Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and Milla Jovovich's brief foray into music fit very well in that style. Her breathy style was very much of the time. One song that I can certainly recommend is her version of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" from the soundtrack to Million Dollar Hotel.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh started her career as singer called Flossie Rose on a YouTube channel in the early 2010s. Once her acting career took off, her music took a backseat, but many of the videos are still available. There is some interesting stuff there, even if it's pretty simple, as she was just a teenager at the time. 

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis has had a huge career revival with her powerhouse performance in Yellowjackets, but all in her professional life, she's also been a singer. Her band, Julliette and the Licks, has been recording and playing live for almost 30 years now and as you'd expect, it's raw and in your face. 

Lucy Hale

Lucy Hale acts, hosts big TV specials, and sings. In fact, her debut album (and to date only album), Road Between, reached as high as #4 on the Billboard Country charts in 2014. It's certainly good enough for a follow-up, so maybe someday we'll get one. 

Joey Lawrence

No one else quite defines the 1990s the way Joey Lawrence does. The star of Blossom was a teen heartthrob and adorned the walls of high school girls across the country. It only makes sense he would try out a music career to capitalize on his fame. Sadly, his ambition wasn't matched by album sales. 

Scott Baio

Scott Baio starred in two huge shows in the '70s and '80s. First as Chachi on Happy Days then as the title character on Charles in Charge. Somewhere he found time to record two albums for RCA Records, but neither sold well and his music career fizzled out. 

David Duchovny

The truth is out there, and so is David Duchovny's budding musical career. He's only been at it for a few years, but he's released three albums and while the critics haven't loved his music, they haven't hated it either. He's clearly passionate about it, and it's refreshing that his albums are mostly original tunes. 

Breaking into music is hard, and while celebrities have a few built-in advantages, they don't guarantee success. For every Jared Leto, there is a Robert Downey, Jr. Still, it's always fun to hear what some of these stars have to offer, usually it's better than you expect, even when it's not great. 

Jared Leto is an actor like no other. Through his use of method acting and fully embodying a role, it’s no wonder Leto won Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars in 2014. However, that doesn’t mean he says yes to every role that comes his way. The actor-musician speaks about why he says “no” to a lot of movie roles (like when he walked away from the chance to be in Titanic), and how fellow method actor Daniel Day-Lewis was his inspiration for that.

Before signing on to his Oscar-winning role in Dallas Buyers Club with Matthew McConaughey, Leto took on a five-year hiatus from acting. While speaking to The Little Things costar John David Washington on Variety’s Actors on Actors, the Suicide Squad actor explained why he said “no” to a lot of movie roles during his acting hiatus, and how Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis plays into all of this.

Jared Leto is referring to when Daniel Day-Lewis went into semi-retirement after starring in The Boxer. From 1997-2000, he was apparently an apprentice shoemaker in Florence, Italy. In 2017, before his historical drama movie Phantom Thread came out, Lewis released a statement that he was retiring from acting. The English actor's reasoning for the retirement was just that he decide to listen to his instincts that it was time to stop. 

As for what the Best Actor recipient is doing now, the latest update came from Daily Mail where he was walking arm-in-arm with his wife, Rebecca Miller, in New York City celebrating their 25th anniversary. However, there haven’t been reports on what the retired actor is doing for work now. But like Jared Leto has his music to fall back on, we all know that Lewis has the skills of a cobbler if that’s what he wanted to do.

The Fight Club actor reflected to Variety he was quite choosy with his roles at the beginning of his acting career because he only wanted to take on what he was ready for. Being a musician has always been Leto’s first love, and he still pursues it outside of acting. He’s been the frontman of his rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars since 1998. In fact, they just released their sixth album It's the End of the World but It's a Beautiful Day this year. 

But when the Girl, Interrupted actor does take on a role, he goes all out. Just like Daniel Day-Lewis was a method actor, Leto took on the same style to get into character. For example, he sent creepy gifts to his co-stars when working on his controversial Joker performance in Suicide Squad,  as well as making himself go blind for Blade Runner 2049 by wearing cloudy contact lenses to play blind CEO Niander Wallace.

The 51-year-old actor and musician has a lot of projects that he has agreed to say yes to. After starring in the superhero movie Morbius, his next confirmed role is in the Andy Warhol biopic. I’ve got to say, playing the leading figure of the pop art movement would be perfect for the visionary artiste actor. He’s also part of the cast of the Disney threequel Tron 3, but filming was delayed in August due to the SAG-AFTRA Writers Strike. 

Leto is also set to reunite with his Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky in a movie called Adrift about a fishing boat that comes across an abandoned yacht in the middle of the ocean with an unsettling discovery. Furthermore, he'll play the late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld in a movie he’ll star in and produce. All of these projects look like movies that'll put Leto right back on the Hollywood map as he did in Dallas Buyers Club. 

Jared Leto told Variety that he tends to put a lot of pressure on himself to perfect the roles he plays, so it makes sense why he won’t agree to a role unless he fully believes he’s got what it takes. Like Daniel Day-Lewis, Leto knows he’s got another skill to fall back on. Make sure to look at our 2024 movie releases in case the method actor finds his way in there.

I finally got some of my friends to watch American Psycho – and it was lowkey hilarious. Let me preface this by saying that my friends don't like horror. They don't like psychological movies either. I am the complete opposite. 

While we are friends based on the type of TV shows we enjoy and love all the sublime details of Barbie, I also love horror movies, while they would instead do anything else besides watch them – which I can completely understand. 

But there are excellent films out there that I would call "starter horrors." These kinds of movies are not super gory, bloody or anything like that, and while blood is used, it doesn't make the whole film. More importantly, the stories are good, and it’ll make you sit there and ponder what you just watched after.

So I turned them on to American Psycho, one of the best movies of the 2000s. The film, released by the game-changing female director Mary Herron and based on the book of the same name, follows the story of a secret serial killer who works on Wall Street. My friends love Christian Bale, so they decided to give it a go, just for fun, even if it was technically a horror movie. And wow, it was enjoyable. Here's how it all went down. 

We All Agreed That Christian Bale Was The Best In The Role

As I said before, I'm a big Christian Bale fan, as are so many people The actor has been in some fantastic roles throughout his time in Hollywood. 

There's debate over his best film from those who have seen them all. Maybe superhero fans would point out his portrayal of Bruce Wayne in the Dark Knight trilogy. To me, though, he is the best person to play Patrick Bateman, and my friends all agreed. 

His performance blew them away, just as it did for me, and most were surprised when they learned that he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the movie. It's not that rare that great performances in horror movies go unrecognized by the Academy, but they were still surprised. 

There is just something about Bale's performance that stands out from his others; how he's able to fully commit to the role of Bateman and show off his acting prowess. Bale can switch between these two personalities so quickly, it's almost scary – and I could see how much it unnerved my friends too, but in a good way. 

I Chuckled When They Realized Jared Leto Wasn't In The Movie For Very Long

"He died that quickly?!"

That was the response of one of my friends when they realized that Jared Leto was only in the movie for a short time. Another reason they decided to check out the film was because I told them Leto appeared, and honestly, Paul Allen is one of his best roles (and came during the same time period of the unforgettable movie Requiem for a Dream). 

But then he's killed off decently early into the movie, and most of my friends had their jaws on the ground, unable to believe what had just happened. I was the same way when I first saw the movie. 

In my friends' eyes, when they see that a big-name actor is in a movie, they almost expect them to last until the very end, but the fact that Leto was killed off decently quickly stunned them – and honestly, it made them want to watch more. 

They were at least happy that Reese Witherspoon was not killed off – and somehow was only in the movie for not that long either. That also jolted my friends, especially since they love her too and wanted to see more of her character.

I Didn't Expect Them To Laugh So Much At The Way Bale Killed Paul Allen

Okay, this sounds bad, but it's not the idea of Leto dying that made them laugh – it's just how Bale delivered the performance that earned them snicker. The fact that he was dancing and lecturing Allen about Huey Lewis and the News while doing that hilarious dance to "Hip To Be Square" before brutally killing Allen that tipped them off the deep end. 

Not only did they realize that it was this movie from which the popular meme online came from, but they could understand why that was one of the parts of the film that stood out from the rest. It perfectly captures what American Psycho is – a brutal tale about a serial killer with a hint of comedy and satire that makes the movie work perfectly. 

To be honest, I laughed hard when I first saw the film too. I still kind of do despite knowing what happens next. It’s hilarious in a dark way. 

Their Confusion At The Ending Was Hilarious Because I Felt The Same Way

When I first watched the ending of American Psycho, it was confusing as heck to me, and it made me glad because they felt the same way. It’s tough to grasp the first time around, and I was glad I wasn’t alone. 

Towards the end of the film, I would say we get to see the psychological aspect of American Psycho, where we learn that Bateman is an unreliable narrator. We don't even know if he killed Allen or if what he sees is real. Bateman himself can't separate reality from imagination, and the ending is him submitting to his mind and not knowing what is real. 

That had my friends interested. That made them wonder "What the heck is going on?" because the movie takes a turn that no one expects. And the way American Psycho ends had them perplexed as heck. 

But I Was Happy That They Collectively Decided To Watch It Again

But you want to know the good part? My friends wanted to watch it again. 

All of them wanted to see if they could pick up signs of where the movie started to stray from a reliable narrative. They wanted to see if we could spot differences and see if everything was just in Bateman's head or if he did kill those people. 

And you know what? This makes me extremely happy. There was a time when my friends were steadfast in never watching a horror or psychological movie. They were just never huge fans of them, and I never pushed them because I didn't want to be that person to force them to watch a film they didn't want to see. 

But on one fun day, they decided to give American Psycho a chance, and they loved it so much they wanted to watch it again. While this doesn't pave the way for them to watch movies like the Saw franchise or any of those terrifying horror movies with plenty of blood and gore, it could mean that this one film opened up a whole new world of films for my friends to enjoy. 

So, thanks, Patrick Bateman. I never thought I'd say that. 

American Psycho just celebrated its 23rd anniversary this year, so if you haven't gotten the chance to rewatch the movie in a long time, be sure to check it out below. It's worth your time and more – if not to celebrate Bale's fantastic performance. 

Stream American Psycho on Peacock.
Rent/Buy American Psycho on Amazon.

It seems like Tron 3 has been in development for forever, with over a decade separating the Disney three-quel from Tron: Legacy. But the gears have been turning pretty fast for the film finally confirmed to be titledTron: Ares. With Jared Leto and Evan Peters kicking off the casting for this long-awaited follow-up, the doors are open for all sorts of new talent to sign on.

From this point on, we’re about to run down the cast list for Tron’s next adventure, which is slated to hit theaters in October 2025! You’ll definitely want to keep tabs on the information we’re about to present, as it’s bound to change from time to time. That having been said, let’s get up to speed with the who’s who of the world once run by CLU.

Jared Leto

The first cast member to sign up for Tron 3 was a recent addition to the Disney family, actor Jared Leto. Currently, you can see him raising all sorts of hell in Disney’s Haunted Mansion adventure as the Hat Box Ghost. However, before that movie even went into production, Leto was cast in 2020 to become a part of this new chapter in Encom history. 

Cue the stories of how the Morbius actor was getting ripped for his new role, as well as that time he may have accidentally leaked the Tron: Ares title way ahead of the game in 2020. The point is, even in the real world, it feels like Jared Leto helped keep the fires of this world burning. Though inside of that fictional universe, he might be the one to burn it all down.

Playing an artificial intelligence that’s trying to make its way into the human world, Jared Leto sounds like he’ll be Tron 3's functional villain. However, who can really say, as these movies have featured AI in both heroic and villainous ways. Still, as the titular character Ares, Leto is initiating a moment that humanity isn’t exactly prepared for, that sort of talk is the greatest sign of being an ally to our world. 

Evan Peters

With Jared Leto as the foundation on which Tron: Ares’ cast has been built, it took a couple of years before we learned about any other players set to join him. That changed very quickly in 2023, and it started with the announcement of Evan Peters’ Tron 3 casting. 

Another Disney vet, thanks to his role in Wandavision, Peters came on board as the first in a wave of several announcements that happened around the same time. Details on the Tron character Evan Peters was picked for are scarce. 

However, THR did mention some interesting details in its reporting of the deal. Apparently, he may be playing a character that is speculated to be “a soldier in the computer world and an awkward gamer in the human world." So if Jared Leto is our villain, then Peter's unspecified lead might be the hero. 

Greta Lee

Continuing the train of good news for those wondering what’s going on with Tron 3, was a double shot of casting that happened at the same time. Coming off of the success of A24’s Past Lives, as well as reprising her role of Lyla in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Greta Lee was the first of two female leads cast for this Disney adventure. 

As Ms. Lee was drafted into the world of Tron, we also got a glimpse into who her character will be. Since those sorts of details are a bit rare, learning that Greta will be playing “a video game programmer and tech company CEO who aims to protect her world-changing technology” was a bit of a game changer. 

Whether this is a new company, or if Greta Lee’s character is the new face of ENCOM management, is an intriguing question that currently does not have an answer. Especially if Tron: Ares somehow ties into previous adventures like Tron: Legacy, which saw the landmark computer company run by Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund).

Jodie Turner-Smith

As Tron 3 scored two female leads at the same time, those two announcements were handily rolled into a single event. So when Greta Lee was revealed to be part of this digital/physical hybrid world, so was Jodie Turner-Smith. 

Seen in action films like Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, as well as being lined up for the dark Star Wars spinoff series The Acolyte, Turner-Smith is another performer who seems to be sticking with her new Disney family. Unfortunately, her character details haven’t been unveiled as of yet; so we’re not sure which side of the screen she shall be representing in Tron: Ares.

Cameron Monaghan

Shameless and Gotham star Cameron Monaghan is yet another Disney-adjacent actor lined up for Tron 3's fight between Program and User. Monaghan is also a familiar face to Star Wars fans, thanks to his role in Jedi: Fallen Order.

News of Monaghan's involvement broke via Deadline, and that’s about all there is to report at this moment. This next Tron film is pretty selective with what information is revealed to the public, so it’s unsurprising that this is yet another case of specifics being played close to the identity disc.

It is also hard not to think of the actor's bonkers Gotham performance, and how that Joker-esque energy could best be used to create a wild card on The Grid similar to Michael Sheen's Castor in Tron: Legacy. At least, one can truly hope for such madness.

Gillian Anderson

As far as the world of sci-fi goes, Gillian Anderson is practically royalty. Thanks to her long-running role as the skeptical Dana Scully on The X-Files, genre fans have long held Ms. Anderson in high regard. With general audiences doing the same, thanks to her roles on The Crown and Sex Education, Gillian’s presence on the Tron: Ares roster is something that needs celebrating, and definitely hints at a new authority figure in this universe.

Hasan Minhaj

Well well well, another Disney vet here to represent! Fresh off of his role in 2023’s Haunted Mansion reboot, comedian Hasan Minhaj is another addition that could probably bring his own mouse ears to the Tron: Ares set. As you can guess, the details on The Morning Show star’s role are under tight encryption, but to be honest, it’s just really cool to see another comedic talent on hand for some potential levity. 

Arturo Castro

Racking up credits on series like The Recruit and The Terminal List, as well as through movies such as The Menu and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, actor Arturo Castro is a versatile talent. Though audiences will next see him in Amazon’s Road House remake, Castro has secured himself his own segment of Tron: Ares real estate. So sing along with this next part if you know it…but his role in this new project is classified, and requires Level 7 access.

Sarah Desjardins

Another mysterious presence in Tron: Ares is that of Canadian actor Sarah Desjardins. A veteran of hit TV series like Yellowjackets and The Night Agent, Ms. Desjardins’ addition to the cast of this long awaited three-quel is shrowded in secrecy. As such, we’ll have to wait to find out who she’ll be playing in the grand scheme of things.

Jeff Bridges

Last, but most certainly not least, is an addition that many fans have been hoping for since the day Tron 3 was announced. Spilling the beans during a podcast appearance in late April 2024, Jeff Bridges announced his return to The Grid for Ares! Naturally this more than likely means that Kevin Flynn will be making an appearance in this new adventure, but the real question is how?

While Tron: Ares has officially wrapped production to meet its October 10, 2025 release date, there’s plenty of time to learn the secrets of The Grid (grid, grid, grid). Using your Disney+ subscription, the world of Tron is completely at your fingertips. So if you’re someone who’s a loyal warrior for the User, or a newcomer who wants to know what the fuss is about, you’re covered in either case. End of Line.

From Oscar winners to the biggest musicians to supermodels, people always eagerly anticipate the guest list for the Met Gala. This year, there were a few massive names missing from that guest list, including Taylor Swift, and while she wasn’t there, she still managed to be the subject of some of the evening’s best tweets. 

While Taylor Swift is undoubtedly a fashion icon, and she has attended her fair share of Met Galas, fans were disappointed when the pop star didn’t walk the carpet this year. However, considering Swift’s swath of upcoming events and the fact that she’s on a massive stadium tour that encapsulates all her eras, it makes sense that she wasn’t walking up the Met's steps this year. However, that didn’t stop the Swifties from doing what they do best: posting A+ content about their favorite singer. Pop Hive noted this fact, by writing about Taylor Swift’s name trending with Anna Wintour’s event despite her absence:

When it came to this trending topic, many tweeted about how they were sad Swift (and many others) weren’t walking the white, red and teal carpet. @midnightstrack2 captured this distraught energy perfectly by posting: 

Listen, I too was big-time bummed that Swift and many others including Blake Lively weren’t there. However, there were still many A-listers that I loved seeing in some absolutely stunning looks. One of those people, of course, was Kim Kardashian, who showed up to the event for the exhibition "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" in a beautifully beaded Schiaparelli dress. Many fixated on the interaction Kardashian had with Pete Davidson (and Usher) inside the event. However, I was focused on the fact that her dress kind of resembled Swift’s Oscar de la Renta dress from the 2022 VMAs. @SavLovesSwift had the same thought as they posted a side-by-side image, and the caption:

Speaking of the gala’s attendees this year, someone asked Gigi Hadid, who is a good friend of the “Anti-Hero” singer, what Swift era she’s in right now. She responded with Reputation, of course, just look at that dress. You can check out the entire fun interaction for yourself in a video Taylor Swift Updates posted:

Others focused on the fact that there were two people in attendance whose looks oozed Taylor Swift adjacent energy. The two actors in question were Amanda Seyfried and Jared Leto, as @enchantedjess13 tweeted:

The reasoning for this tweet started with Amanda Seyfried’s look, which was designed by Oscar de la Renta – a designer Swift works with frequently. She was giving major Taylor Swift vibes through her dress, curly hair and red lip. You can see the look for yourself here:

They also noted that Jared Leto’s cat costume – which was one of many cat-inspired looks of the night in reference to Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette – resembled the singer’s cat, Olivia Benson. 

Many also hopped on the trend of photoshopping their desired guests onto the carpet. My personal favorite came from a fan who used the hilarious fact that Swift gets to her stage in a janitor’s cart for their post, and uploaded a photo of the cart walking the carpet, as you can see in @picturetokurn’s post: 

Overall, the Swifties were on fire last night with tweets about their favorite singer, despite the fact that she hasn’t been to a Met Gala since 2016. Hopefully, Taylor Swift walks the iconic Met steps in the near future. However, even if she doesn't I have no doubt that her fans will always have some A+ posts in mind that will still make her name trend with the massive event.

Met Gala Monday is a huge night for anybody who’s even remotely interested in the best of celebrity fashion, and it’s always fun to see the creative ways the A-listers interpret each year’s assignment. The theme for the 2023 event was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” in memory of the creative director of Chanel and Fendi who died in 2019. Many climbed the iconic Met museum steps in black-and-white moments to honor the designer, and plenty jumped on the sheer trend. Others went in another direction, drawing inspiration from someone who was very close to Lagerfeld — his cat Choupette.

Jared Leto, Doja Cat and Lil Nas X had the Met Gala crowd absolutely purring over their choice to honor Karl Lagerfeld through his beloved white Birmin. Doja Cat kept her look top secret until her big moment, and it was worth the wait:

Doja Cat wore a long sparkling Oscar de la Renta gown with a feathery train and attached hood, with cat ears sticking up on top. Her makeup, however, was just as much a part of the ensemble, as she used facial prosthetics to give her features the full feline effect. She even showed her claws and gave a “Meow!” on the carpet. Fans seemed to give their nod of approval to the look, with one tweeting (all tweets edited for capitalization): 

Others had more trouble keeping their composure over the “Say So” singer’s ensemble, saying on Twitter: 

It’s hard to say who took the assignment more literally between her and Jared Leto, whose identity was a mystery when he climbed the staircase in head-to-toe Choupette cosplay: 

Jared Leto’s wardrobe captured the infamous feline’s icy blue eyes perfectly, as he climbed most of the way up before revealing who was underneath the mask. He then removed the full cat costume and transitioned to another dapper piece. Many fans appreciated his commitment, with one tweeting: 

It was announced last year that the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman will portray Karl Lagerfeld in a biopic, so the night undoubtedly meant a lot to Jared Leto. The only question is who paid tribute to famous kitty better? Twitter users had fun with the cat fight, with one posting:  

It's hard to deny that these two Met Gala outfits were made for the memes: 

Lil Nas X also went in a feline direction, and while his wasn’t as literal an interpretation as Doja Cat or Jared Leto’s, it was certainly one of the fiercest looks at the 2023 Met Gala. The “Old Town Road” rapper wore just a thong and silver body paint, as his body was covered in pearls and crystals. The embellishments extended up to his face, forming a feline-esque mask.  

There were lots of epic fashion moments at the 2023 Met Gala, with several celebrities embracing the chance to honor Karl Lagerfeld — including Kim Kardashian, after it was rumored that she and her famous sisters had not been invited to this year’s event — and the love shown to the late creative director’s cat will undoubtedly be one of this year’s lasting memories. 

When Zack Snyder got the opportunity to return to his Justice League and complete the four-hour Snyder Cut of the abandoned movie, he received closure on a number of dangling story threads. But in the process of finishing the movie, he also embarked on a few reshoots that he wanted to be set in the “Knightmare” version of Earth that had been teased in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This brutal, scorched-Earth reality would have happened after Superman (Henry Cavill) broke from reality and went “evil,” siding with Darkseid and blaming Batman (Ben Affleck) for the death of Lois Lane (Amy Adams). But there was a line of dialogue in the reshoots that I thought was important, so when given the opportunity, I asked Snyder about it. 

Zack Snyder screened the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman in Pasadena as part of SnyderCon, and asked me to moderate the Q-and-A that followed the screening. When answering a fan question about the circumstances that led to the death of Ben Affleck’s Robin, whom we never saw on screen, Snyder elaborated on the motivations of The Joker (Jared Leto) to hurt Batman in one of the last ways he knows how. He brutally beat and burned Robin until the young man died. 

This is a storyline that Snyder says he still wants to explore on screen. And with Joker on the mind, I brought up a story beat in the Justice League reshoots, where Jared Leto’s Joker taunts Affleck’s Batman by saying “you need me” to complete an important mission and undo the universe that came out of Batman letting Lois die. When asked why Batman would ever NEED The Joker in this Knightmare scenario, Snyder explained:

That’s a classic give-and-take often explored between hero and villain, where they are forced to set aside their divisions for the benefit of the greater good. The Joker even gives Bruce a Joker card as a sign of their truce. You can watch the scene now:

As for the death of Robin, which leads to so much of the contention between Batman and Joker in that above scene, Snyder gave a few more details in his planned sequence, but actually stopped short of giving away too many specifics, as he said it’s a story he still hopes to tell on screen one day. But he did admit:

There you have it, SnyderVerse fans. Hope. Zack Snyder isn’t ready to reveal details, because he thinks he might one day get to tell the story of what happened between Jared Leto’s Joker, and an uncast Robin. Maybe on Netflix? Time will tell.

Even seven years after its release, people are still talking about Suicide Squad, specifically Jared Leto’s controversial performance as the Joker. While the iconic villain didn’t get enough time to shine in the DC movie the actor’s actions on set, and the creative choices made about his look have been questioned and debated for a while. While the director of the movie, David Ayer loves his movie dearly, he has also admitted that there is one thing about Leto’s Joker that he regrets. 

While Ayer defends Jared Leto’s Joker and Suicide Squad for the most part, he did admit that Joker’s face tattoo that says “damaged” was a mistake. The director posted on Twitter: 

This conversation was sparked on Twitter after Ayer defended Leto’s performance after Andrew Karam commented on a behind-the-scenes photo of the actor with: 

Ayer respectfully responded to the viewer who did not like Leto’s take on the Joker, writing: 

Another fan simply asked Ayer about the “Damaged” tattoo in the comments, and the director responded, saying it’s the one thing he wished he wouldn’t have done. However, for the most part, he liked what Leto did with the Joker, the big bummer was how much of his story they ended up cutting out of the DC movie.

Leto’s odd comments about the Joker, his performance, and his look in Suicide Squad have been highly controversial, and are still talked about all these years later. However, Ayer has mentioned time and time again that a big reason the movie and Leto's performance are so criticized is that a lot of Joker's scenes were cut from the film. 

Fans have wanted an Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad for a while now, especially considering how much of Suicide Squad was left of the cutting room floor after Warner Bros. allegedly got their hands on the movie. Even The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker’s John Cena said that it’s “in the company’s best interest to listen to their audience,” and implied that if there is a demand for Ayer’s movie, they should release it. However, it seems like if they were to release an Ayer Cut they might take out Leto’s face tattoo, based on the viewers’ and the director’s negative opinions about the word “damaged” being on Joker’s face. 

I think it’s safe to say that if Jared Leto’s Joker ever comes back into the DC universe he will not have “damaged” tattooed on his forehead. However, who knows if the actor will ever return as the legendary villain with DC’s big shakeup and new leadership. As more news comes out about the future of DC and Ayer’s comments about Suicide Squad, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, you can go back and watch the DC movies in order, and be sure to keep an eye on the upcoming superhero movies to see what’s coming out next from the studio.  

Progress on a proposed Tron movie starring Jared Leto has been a bumpy road to follow. The latest updates surrounded a project called Tron: Ares, which would see Jared Leto taking the starring role in the next chapter. After some starts and stops, it looks like The Grid is finally booting up again, and Disney’s tapped a veteran director from their stable to bring this next level of one of the best sci-fi movies to life. 

New information has just come in from Deadline as the third film in the Tron legacy is apparently gearing up to start shooting in Vancouver this August. What’s more, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil director Joachim Rønning is negotiating to helm the film, a new development in what we know about Tron 3. 

Previously, Lion director Garth Davis was on board to direct Tron: Ares; which seems to have changed since the last reported updates. Also, we now seem to have a likely title of the film after starting life as a supposed leak from Jared Leto. However, until Disney confirms that information, it's probably best to hold off on making any banners.

Even more tantalizing is the detail included in the report above that states Tron: Ares is supposedly a sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. With early details stating that the Jared Leto’s film would be a reboot, we might still see threads from the past being tied up in this new Disney project. Hopefully, someone’s contacted Cillian Murphy’s agent about returning as Edward Dillinger Jr., fulfilling perhaps the most promising tease left unfulfilled in the aftermath of that fan favorite. 

Plenty of time still remains for Tron 3 to change in any way shape or form. Once again, until there’s press releases from Disney announcing that principal photography will start when speculated, you shouldn’t get your hopes up. Let’s not forget the rumors that eventually saw the production of the currently scrapped Tron: Ascension cancelled in the wake of Tomorrowland’s box office stumble.

Patience and accuracy are, as always, the key to winning this game. Obviously Disney's still interested in the property, thanks to the impending debut of the Tron Lightcycle/Run ride, set to take place this April at the Magic Kingdom. With whispers like this being released into the world, it's more of a question of when, not if, we'll see Kevin Flynn's creation back on the big screen. Wouldn't that be something? 

A release date for Tron: Ares is currently not announced, with that alleged August production start also waiting to be confirmed. In the meantime, roam about the digital frontier to our 2023 new movie releases schedule, so you can select your next adventure at the movies. Also, don't forget that the world of Tron is available to stream, so long as you have a Disney+ subscription as your guide. 

Warning: SPOILERS for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery are ahead!

While the first Knives Out movie was unquestionably a star-studded affair, with Daniel Craig being joined by folks like Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collete, Chris Evans and Christopher Plummer, it didn’t have much in the way of major cameos. The closest was Joseph Gordon-Levitt, writer/director Rian Johnson’s frequent collaborator, voicing a TV detective, as well as Frank Oz stopping by as the legal counsel to the late Harlan Thrombey. Here’s a quick spoiler right out the gate: Gordon-Levitt once again lends to his talents to the follow-up movie as the voice of an alarm clock.

But even ignoring that, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a different beast because many of the suspects Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is investigating this time around are famous and/or wealthy. As such, this crtically-acclaimed standalone sequel sees some of these individuals, as well as Blanc himself, interacting with various celebrities, and there are even a few Hollywood heavyweights who stops by as fictional characters rather than themselves. Now that Glass Onion is available to watch with a Netflix subscription following its short theatrical run at the end of November, now’s the perfect time to go over the movie’s cameos, as well as discuss some notable name-drops.

Jake Tapper

Every now and then, real-life TV journalists will cameo as themselves in major movies, like Pat Kiernan appearing in various MCU projects, Anderson Cooper reporting on Doomsday’s rampage in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Wolf Blitzer even playing a key role in the opening of Mission: Impossible - Fallout (though to be fair, we soon learned this was actually Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn in disguise). In Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, CNN’s Jake Tapper briefly appears early on interviewing Kathryn Hahn’s Claire Debella, the governor of Connecticut who’s running for the Senate. Claire chats with Tapper from her home in the midst of lockdown, quickly letting audiences know that Glass Onion takes place during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Yo-Yo Ma

Kate Hudson’s Birdie Jay is technically in lockdown at the start of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery; the problem is that she invited a lot of people to party with her at an apartment. It’s hard to imagine at least one person not walking away from that event with COVID, but the silver lining is that cellist Yo-Yo Ma was nearby when Birdie and her assistant, Jessica Henwick's Peg, were solving Miles Bron’s puzzle box over speakerphone with Claire, Leslie Odom Jr’s Miles Toussaint and Dave Bautista’s Duke Cody. Thanks to Ma’s welcome assistance figuring a musical aspect of the box, simply because he was bored, Birdie and the gang move one step closer to discovering what’s at the center of the box.

Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Natasha Lyonne

When we first meet back up with Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, he’s chatting with Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Natasha Lyonne over Zoom from his bathtub, playing the deduction game Among Us, with this movie marking Sondheim and Lansbury’s final film appearances. Benoit finds the game an inferior substitute to the actual cases he thrives on solving, but hasn’t been getting because of COVID, and the quartet do their best to cheer him up before Benoit is informed there's something at the door for him.

Lest you think Rian Johnson chose these four celebrities at random, think again, as they all have different ties to the mystery genre. Johnson previously referenced Stephen Sondheim in Knives Out when Benoit Blanc was singing “Losing My Mind” from Follies, and the filmmaker also compared Glass Onion’s story to the late composer and lyricist’s production Merrily We Roll Along while speaking with EW. Angela Lansbury, of course, played Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote over 12 seasons of TV and four TV movies. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has contributed to the world of Sherlock Holmes by co-writing the books Mycroft Holmes, Mycroft and Sherlock and Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage with Anna Waterhouse. As for Natasha Lyonne, she’s starring in Johnson’s upcoming series Poker Face, which Peacock subscribers will be able to watch.

Ethan Hawke

Although Ethan Hawke was never officially announced as being part of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’s cast, we learned of his involvement through leaked set photos. As it turned out, Hawke didn’t have a ton to do in the movie. He simply appeared as Miles Bron’s assistant (credited as “Efficient Man”), who oversaw the billionaire’s guests being given a spray that prevented them from contracting COVID before being taken to the island. In the aforementioned EW interview, Rian Johnson shared that Hawke wasn’t originally supposed to appear in Glass Onion, but because he was in Budapest doing Moon Knight when the movie was shooting in Greece, he was able to visit for a day to shoot his cameo.

Hugh Grant

Ahead of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’s release, it was confirmed that Benoit Blanc is queer, although Rian Johnson didn’t want to get too bogged with the character’s backstory, and Daniel Craig didn’t want to make a big deal about Benoit’s sexuality. Nevertheless, at roughly the halfway point of Glass Onion, we meet the detective's domestic partner Phillip, played by rom-com heartthrob Hugh Grant. We see that it was Phillip who informed Benoit earlier in the movie about the arrival at the front door: Helen Brand, who's come to hire Benoit to investigate her twin sister Andi's death. Whether or not Phillip will return in Knives Out 3 remains to be seen.

Serena Williams

There’s a moment in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery when Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe's Helen Brand meet up in Miles Bron’s gym to discuss the case, and on the wall is what looks like a prerecorded home workout video on a fitness mirror featuring tennis superstar Serena Williams. But in the middle of Benoit and Helen’s conversation, Williams suddenly asks them if they want to do a "session" since she's on the clock, letting the audience know that Miles hired her as his personal trainer. The two characters decline, and Williams simply comments that it’s their money and hangs out silently for the rest of the scene. Williams has previously cameoed as herself in movies like Pixels and Ocean's 8.

Jared Leto

For these last two entries, we have people who didn’t actually appear in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, but are heavily featured indirectly. First up is Requiem for a Dream and Morbius actor Jared Leto, who in the Knives Out universe has his own brand of alcoholic kombucha. The beverage is notable because while Helen Brand doesn’t usually drink, she wasn’t aware the kombucha she was drinking had alcohol in it. Fortunately, this particular hard stuff gives her some liquid courage to say and do some things she wouldn’t have done if she was sober.

Jeremy Renner

Then we have Hawkeye and Mayor of Kingstown’s Jeremy Renner, who has his own brand of hot sauce in the Knives Out universe. This particular item actually plays a big role during Glass Onion’s third act. While it initially looks like Helen Brand has been fatally shot right outside Miles Bron’s home (who pulled the trigger is one spoiler I won’t reveal here just to be safe), we later learn that the diary of Helen’s late sister And blocked the bullet. After Benoit learns Helen is still alive, he realizes the value in faking her death for a little bit in order to glean more information from the other suspects. As such, Benoit uses some of Jeremy Renner’s hot sauce as fake blood to sell the picture of Helen looking dead from afar. There’s a brief moment where it looks like the ruse will be ruined when a droplet of the hot sauce starts leaking towards Helen’s nose, but she holds in any sort of reaction like a champ until everyone has left the area.

Now that we’ve gone over Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’s cameos and especially notable name-drops, be sure to read our review of the Knives Out sequel and breakdown of its ending. Per the deal Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman agreed to with Netflix, Knives Out 3 is also on its way to Netflix, and once concrete details about the threequel come in, we’ll pass them along.

Not only is Haunted Mansion one of the biggest upcoming 2023 movies, but this year marks a major anniversary for it. To be clear, I am NOT referring to the popular attraction at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, but the first movie based on that ride – from director Rob Minkoff and starring Eddie Murphy – which was released 20 years ago.

Disney has been hit and miss when it comes to turning theme park attractions into movies but the original Haunted Mansion movie, despite having a lot more going for it than you might remember, is seen as one of the misses. But the ride is still popular, and following the success of Jungle Cruise, Disney has assembled an impressive ensemble for the new Haunted Mansion cast to make it a hit with the public. See what foolish mortals are getting spooky – as classic characters and new ones alike – in director Justin Simien’s new cinematic take on the freaky favorite.

Rosario Dawson (Gabbie)

Leading the impressive cast of Haunted Mansion as Gabbie –  a single mother, doctor, and new owner of the “strangely affordable” New Orleans mansion – we have Rosario Dawson, whose relationship with Disney dates back to her role on Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian, as Ahsoka Tano, which she is reprising in her own upcoming, self-titled series on Disney+. The actor broke into Hollywood as a teen with her underrated performance in Kids before becoming a “Geek Goddess” by playing multiple comic book characters like Wonder Woman in some DC animated movies, nurse Claire Temple in Daredevil and other MCU-canon shows, and, eventually, narrating Max’s new DC docuseries, Superpowered: The DC Story. Also recently, she received acclaim for her performance in Hulu’s Dopesick cast, reprised her Kevin Smith movies role in Clerks III, and – according to Variety – is lending her voice to an upcoming interactive animated adventure series called Ghosts of Ruin.

Owen Wilson (Father Kent)

If The Exorcist taught us anything, it’s that when you’re dealing with otherworldly beings, call a priest. In Haunted Mansion, that priest will be played by Owen Wilson, who also has previous ties to Disney as the voice of Lightning McQueen in the Cars franchise and playing Time Variance Authority officer, Mobius, in the MCU. The actor – who has an Oscar nomination for co-writing one of the best Wes Anderson movies, The Royal Tenenbaums – also made his debut under Anderson’s direction (one of many times) in 1994’s Bottle Rocket, before going on to an eclectic career involving a few blockbusters like Armageddon, many classic comedies like Meet the Parents and Wedding Crashers, and films that combine drama with comedy fair like Midnight in Paris and the more recent Paint, in which he plays a Bob Ross-like character hosting a public TV art show.

Lakeith Stanfield (Ben Matthias)

Widowed scientist-turned-failed paranormal expert, Ben, will be played by Dawson’s Sorry to Bother You co-star and one of the first people cast in Haunted Mansion, Lakieth Stanfield. After making his debut in the acclaimed 2013 drama Short Term 12, the actor, went on to star on one of the funniest shows on Hulu, FX’s Atlanta, play a memorable role in Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, and earn an Oscar nomination for Judas and the Black Messiah, among so many other highlights. Next in the pipeline for Stanfield is an Apple TV+ original sci-fi series called The Changeling and a biblical epic coming out in 2024 called The Book of Clarence.

Tiffany Haddish (Harriet)

Playing a psychic named Harriet, we have Stanfield’s co-star from Jay-Z’s “Moonlight” video, Emmy winner Tiffany Haddish, who has also worked with Jordan Peele to great effect in 2016’s Keanu, in addition to her many great scene-stealing and lead roles in comedies like Girls Trip and The Oath. She has also tried her hand at drama in the likes of The Kitchen and The Card Counter, and a mix of both with movies like Here Today and TV shows like The Afterparty as Detective Danner, whom she is reprising for Season 2 on Apple TV+. She is also known for lending her voice talents to many notable roles, such as Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and Netflix original-turned-Adult Swim series, Tuca and Bertie as Tuca.

Danny DeVito (Bruce)

As a “crotchety” college history professor named Bruce – according to D23.com – is an actor more than capable of embodying the concept of “crochety”: Danny DeVito, whose own previous Disney credits include Dumbo (which also reunited him with his Batman Returns co-star, Michael Keaton, and director, Tim Burton) and the One and Only Ivan voice cast in 2020. Years earlier, he was best-known for his Emmy-winning role on Taxi and movies like Throw Momma From the Train, The War of the Roses, and Matilda (all of which he also directed), but the Academy Award nominee (for co-producing Erin Brockovich) has a special fanbase these days that know him as Frank from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Also this year, he lends his voice to Migration and will soon star alongside Chris Pine in his directorial debut, Poolman.

Chase Dillon (Travis)

Rounding out the key cast members as Gabbie’s son, Travis, is Stanfield’s The Book of Clarence co-star, Chase Dillon, who makes his theatrically released filmed debut with Haunted Mansion, as his only other film role was the Netflix original western, The Harder They Fall, in 2021. The young actor has appeared in several TV projects – including his debut on BET’s series reboot of First Wives Club; the Max original sketch comedy, That Damn Michael Che, as the SNL star’s younger self; one of the best Amazon Prime original series, The Underground Railroad; and Apple TV+’s animated series, Pinecone & Pony.

Jared Leto (The Hatbox Ghost)

It wouldn’t be much of a Haunted Mansion movie without some direct references to the popular attraction, and the new film has found some big names to take on some key roles, such as Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost, according to EW. The Academy Award winner (for 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club) last played a creepy creature in his Marvel movie debut, 2022’s Morbius, (six years after his DC movie debut as the Joker in Suicide Squad) but has a more longer history with horror, having starred in the 1998 slasher Urban Legend, a memorable scene from American Psycho, and the extremely disturbing thriller, Requiem for a Dream. From his breakout performance as Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life to his lead role in the upcoming Tron sequel, Ares, the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman has led a pretty eclectic career.

Jamie Lee Curtis (Madame Leota)

Succeeding Jennifer Tilly in the role of the iconic Madame Leota – the head inside the floating crystal ball – is, arguably, the all-time best Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis. Of course, in addition to being the face of the Halloween movies not named Michael Myers and starring in plenty of other great horror movies, the daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh has a couple of other Disney movies on her resume – namely Freaky Friday and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Curtis – who recently won Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once – will also soon appear in the film adaptation of the Borderlands video game. 

Winona Ryder (Pat)

As a teaser for Haunted Mansion reveals, Winona Ryder is making a cameo as a tour guide named Pat – only her latest role in a long line of creepy credits. After breaking out in the Beetlejuice cast as Lydia (whom she is reprising in the upcoming sequel), she led the dark teen movie, Heathers; starred in a some more classic Tim Burton movies (such as Edward Scissorhands); and played Mina Murray in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula adaptation. Of course, the two-time Academy Award nominee (for Little Women and The Age of Innocence) is also expected to return for Stranger Things Season 5 as Joyce Byers.

Dan Levy (Vic)

Along with Ryder, another actor revealed to be joining Haunted Mansion at D23 Expo in a small, unconfirmed role is Dan Levy, who is best known from the Schitt’s Creek cast as David Rose. The son of his co-star and co-creator, Eugene Levy, first got into acting with a small role on Degrassi: The Next Generation and more recently appeared in Hulu’s Happiest Season cast, lent his voice to Netflix’s Q-Force, and was on an episode of The Idol for HBO. He also created and judges a reality cooking competition for Max called The Brunch. 

Hasan Minhaj (Sketch Artist)

Appearing as a police sketch artist whom Ben and Bruce enlist to identify a ghostly encounter, we have Hasan Minhaj – formerly of The Daily Show and Netflix’s Patriot Act. Some of his most notable acting credits include two of Kate McKinnon’s best movies (Rough Night and The Spy Who Dumped Me), and Jennifer Lawrence-led 2023 comedy, No Hard Feelings, more recently. The comedian also has a couple great Netflix original stand-up specials called Homecoming King and The King’s Jester.

There are plenty more other grim, grinning ghosts to behold, in addition to star-studded Haunted Mansion cast. Any volunteers to see the new film when it hits theaters Friday, July 28th?

Although Jason Momoa and Jared Leto are connected through the DC Extended Universe, their respective characters, Aquaman and The Joker have never crossed paths. In real life though, the actors are apparently quite familiar with one another. Momoa and Leto recently palled around together on vacation, and clearly they had an amazing time together.

Jared Leto shared a photo of himself with Jason Momoa and rock climber Chris Sharma somewhere on Mallorca, the biggest of the Balearic Islands, which are located in the Mediterranean east of Spain. Why do I say they had an amazing time together? Well, Momoa straight up said he had an “amazing time bro” in the comments. Check out the Instagram post for yourself below!

It’s unclear when specifically these three were together, but it is worth noting that in late June, Jason Momoa traveled to Lisbon, Portugal to attend the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, where he received the nature baton from the UN's Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean. Since Portugal is neighbors with Spain, and thus not that much farther off from Mallorca, it would have been easy enough for Momoa to travel there after the conference. Whether his meetup with Jared Leto and Chris Sharma was coordinated ahead of time or not, this trio had a blast, so perhaps there will come a time when they adventure together again.

As for if Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Jared Leto’s Joker will ever come face to face in DC movies, that seems unlikely. While the two did both appear in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, they didn’t share any screen time, as Joker only appeared in the Knightmare sequence at the end, and Aquaman had already been killed by Darkseid in this apocalyptic (or should I say, Apokoliptic) future. While Momoa will reprise Arthur Curry next year for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, there’s been no word on if we’ll ever see Leto’s Joker again. Between Barry Keoghan appearing as a proto-Joker in The Batman continuity and Joaquin Phoenix gearing up to reprise Arthur Fleck in the Joker sequel, we’re well covered with Batman’s arch-nemesis in the cinematic realm.

Outside of the DCEU, Jared Leto left his mark on a different corner of the superhero genre by playing Morbius in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The actor also recently starred opposite Anne Hathaway in the miniseries WeCrashed, which is available to Apple TV+ subscribers. Meanwhile with Jason Momoa, last fall saw him starring as Duncan Idaho in Dune, and he’ll soon be back as Baba Voss in the final season of Apple TV+ series See. Momoa will also appear next year in Fast X, the penultimate entry in the main Fast & Furious film series, as a yet-to-be-identified villain.

Those of you looking forward to Jason Momoa jumping back into action as Aquaman will want to mark March 17, 2023 on your calendars, as that’s when Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom finally arrives as part of the 2023 movie releases slate. For other news concerning what Momoa and Jared Leto are up to in their professional and personal lives, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

The DC Extended Universe is a wild place that’s known for keeping fans on their collective toes. Nowhere is that more obvious than with the unprecedented life of Justice League, especially once the Snyder Cut was released on HBO Max years later. It sounds like Jared Leto really loved working with Zack Snyder during the limited reshoots, so bring on the sequel.

After years of fan campaigns, the full four-hour vision for Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released on HBO Max in spring of 2021. In order to complete the DC movie, Syder took no pay from HBO Max and had very limited reshoots to add the new ending and Knightmare sequence. Jared Leto reprised his role as The Joker for the latter, speaking with CBM about what a pleasure it was participating in that apocalyptic scene. As Leto put it,

While Jared Leto’s DCEU debut might have left much of his performance on the cutting room floor, the Oscar-winning actor seems thrilled about his legacy as the Joker. And now that he also played the lead role in Morbius, Leto has the privilege of being in a group of actors that have played in both comic book sandboxes.

DC fans will no doubt be thrilled to hear how much Jared Leto enjoyed playing the DCEU’s Joker for the second time. His first appeared as the Clown Prince of Crime was in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, with a ton of stories of his behavior on set going viral. But in the end much of Leto’s work would end up on the cutting room floor, with Ayer citing studio interference. The director even went so far as to call Joker and Harley’s story “eviscerated.”

Zack Snyder’s Justice League finally revealed the titular director’s vision for the DCEU, and that includes planting narrative seeds for sequels. After all, Snyder was originally planning a five-film story that started with Man of Steel and ended with Justice League 3. As such, fans have been hoping to see Warner Bros. make the bold decision to #RestoreTheSnyderVerse and produce those two additional blockbusters. And that would seemingly open the door for more appearances of Jared Leto’s Joker in the apocalyptic Knightmare reality.

Of course, there’s been no indication of Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder collaborating for two Justice League sequels. In fact, the director revealed that he hasn’t heard from the studio since the Snyder Cut was released. But it did killer numbers on HBO Max, so perhaps there’s a chance in the future.

The next installment in the DCEU is Black Adam on October 21st. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Ever since it was released, Jared Leto’s Morbius has been receiving an unusual amount of attention in the form of social media memes. Sometimes, the stem from Matt Smith’s bizarre dances in the film (one of which he performs after turning into a vampire). Other times, the lean into the idea of Morbin Time, a concept that Morbius fans – well, “fans” – dreamed up that really has stuck on Twitter and TikTok. Sensing an opportunity to capitalize on the buzz, Sony put Morbius back into theaters over the weekend, aiming to add more to the film’s domestic take. And they did… just, not as much as they likely were hoping to do.

Going up against the juggernaut that is Top Gun: Maverick, which won the box office weekend for its second frame and stacked up enormous amounts of cash, Daniel Espinosa’s Morbius managed a measly $300,000 across 1,037 theaters, amounting to $289 per location (according to The Numbers). The rerelease wasn’t able to crack the Top 10, and finished behind the new David Cronenberg and Kristen Stewart film Crimes of the Future, Sandra Bullock’s The Lost City (in its 11th weekend), and Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore… which is available to stream on HBO Max.

Morbius deserves more than that. While our own Eric Eisenberg hated the movie and said so in his review, the film is far better than the Rotten Tomatoes score suggests, which is why the Critics’ score is 17%, and the audience rating is 71%. Perhaps Sony was hoping that the hype that Morbius gets on social media would translate into tickets sold, even if people were heading back to theaters to goof on the movie. But the numbers suggest that people chose to stay home. 

That didn’t stop Morbius’ online army from mobilizing in the face of the rerelease. Even better, Morbius star Jared Leto played along, suggesting that he was reading a script for a sequel when he got caught on camera.

It doesn’t look good for a Morbius sequel. Even after the rerelease, the Spider-Man spinoff film, which is part of Sony’s larger Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (or SPUMC), sits at $73.6 million in the U.S., and $163 million worldwide. This is a massive downturn from the $856 million earned by Venom in 2018, and the $501 million earned by Venom: Let There Be Carnage worldwide. These numbers could be troubling for Sony as they seek to establish a separate universe that doesn’t have Spider-Man in it. 

Sony’s next effort in that universe will be Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web, aiming for a 2023 release date. If you are unfamiliar with the character, we made a list of interesting facts about her. We also dove into some speculation on who Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney might be playing in the movie. Let’s just hope Sony makes a great movie, so the SPUMC can get back on track.

Sony’s Morbius has had an “interesting” impact on the moviegoing public thus far. The Jared Leto-led comic book movie received negative reviews ahead of its release in April, and some fans later took to social media to express their disdain as well. However, the film overcame negative reviews to top the box office in its opening weekend and, more recently, the viral “Morbin’ Time!” meme has caused the movie to go viral. This notoriety arguably earned the production its recently announced second theatrical stint. And on the heels of that news, Leto is getting in on the meme madness himself.

Fans have seemingly been enjoying themselves with the “It’s Morbin’ Time” meme that’s been making the rounds. As you’ve probably figured out, the saying is a play on the iconic “It’s Morphin’ Time!” declaration made famous by Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the ‘90s. Some may have never expected such a crossover, but here we are. In a Twitter post, Jared Leto expressed his appreciation for the post through a video. The clip shows the star holding what appears to be a script for a Morbius sequel. And you can probably guess what the subtitle for the proposed flick is:

Such a sequel idea would be pretty wild, and I honestly can’t shake the thought of the titular character uttering that phrase when transforming into his vampiric alter ego. It’s probably safe to say that Sony wouldn’t actually give the film that title if it were to come to fruition. However, if it does happen, I wouldn’t be surprised if the filmmakers poke fun at the viral trend due to just how popular it’s become. 

A second installment still feels like a pipe dream at this point, but the panned production’s staying power on the Internet could help its chances of getting a follow-up. As we’ve seen in the past, social media can be crucial when it comes to making things happen within the cinema and TV landscapes. For instance, without a social media campaign, fans may never have seen Jared Leto return as Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

And though Sony has yet to confirm any kind of sequel, it’s not far-fetched to assume that the studio would consider one if there seems to be interest. Morbius eventually plunged at the box office, but it wasn’t a total disaster financially. Plus, the lead actor is still hoping that his character will meet up with Spider-Man one day. While social media doesn't automatically equate to massive financial numbers, this re-release could still be an interesting experiment, right? 

Meanwhile, other stories are taking shape within Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The next film on the docket is Kraven the Hunter, which will see a ripped Aaron Taylor-Johnson play the starring role. Dakota Johnson will also star in Madame Web alongside Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney. From a BTS standpoint, there seems to be optimism surrounding the future of the Spidey-centric franchise.

We’ll still have to wait and see what role Jared Leto’s Living Vampire has to play in it, though. The ending of Moribus definitely set up an interesting (if not confusing) future for the eponymous character, so there are more stories to tell. Until a concrete announcement arrives, I’m sure fans and Leto will continue to have fun with the meme. And I’d bet that if (or when) something is confirmed, much of the Internet will collectively shout, “It’s Morbin’ Time!”

Morbius is currently playing in theaters once more and is also available to own on Digital HD. Be sure that you also check out CinemaBlend’s schedule of upcoming movies for updates on other releases in the SSU.

At the beginning of April, Morbius, the third entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, premiered on the big screen, but unlike the prior Venom movies, it failed to make a splash at the box office. In addition to being met with primarily negative critical reception, the Jared Leto-led vampire flick only made approximately $163.3 million worldwide. However, now Morbius is getting some extra time to increase that amount, as it’s heading back to domestic theaters.

For those of you who live in the United States, this weekend will be Morbin’ time! Exhibitor Relations Co. reports that Morbius is returning to starting tomorrow, June 3, Morbius will return to 1,000+ theaters. It’s unclear if this revived theatrical run will only last for the weekend or if it could stretch beyond that, but if you missed out on seeing Morbius on the big screen in April, you’re welcome to rectify that now. Right now, Morbius’ domestic total stands at $73.3 million, so it’ll be interesting to see how much more money is added 

As for why Morbius is returning to theaters, that hasn’t been officially disclosed, but this does follow a little over two weeks after the movie became available on digital platforms. Since then, Morbius has spawned a lot of memes, many of which incorporate the  aforementioned phrase “It’s Morbin’ time” (which wasn’t actually in the movie). Between this social media chatter and Morbius grabbing attention online in other ways, like when it was streamed in its entirety on Twitch, Comicbook.com speculates that this theatrical rerelease could be looking to capitalize on the flick’s internet fame.

Just like Venom did in 2018, Morbius took an antagonist traditionally associated with Spider-Man and fashioned an origin story for him that didn’t involve the Wall-Crawler (that Spider mural didn’t even make the final cut). Similar to his his comic book counterpart, Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius attempted to devise a cure for his rare blood condition involving vampire bats. While the cure worked, Morbius was subsequently transformed into a vampire, giving him abilities like super strength, super speed and echolocation, but also requiring him to drain blood from living creatures.

Jared Leto’s costars on Morbius include Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson. Michael Keaton also reprised his Spider-Man: Homecoming role of Adrian Toomes/The Vulture, but I won’t spoil how he fits into the narrative; you can read our Morbius mid-credits scene breakdown for that information. Behind the cameras, Daniel Espinosa directed the feature (and is optimistic about the future of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe), and Matt Salaam and Burn Sharpless wrote the script.

If you’re not interested in seeing Morbius in theaters, along with it still being able to buy digitally, the movie arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD on June 14. Like other Sony movies released between 2022 and 2026, Morbius will also eventually make its way to Netflix, as well as Disney+ and/or Hulu later down the road thanks to a streaming deal struck between Sony and Disney.

This past weekend’s box office results saw an impressive performance for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, as well as a somewhat lackluster opening for the latest Michael Bay film Ambulance. In-between those pillars of new releases, the second weekend for Marvel/Sony’s Morbius has a rather interesting story to tell. While its second weekend grosses plunged, Jared Leto’s bloodsucking offering isn’t a total disaster in the realm of current and upcoming Marvel movies. 

Just How Far Did Morbius Plunge At The Box Office?

Based on reporting/number crunching by Forbes, director Daniel Espinosa’s MCU adjacent movie took quite a tumble. Last Friday alone, Morbius brought in only $2.95 million in domestic grosses for that day alone, tying Dark Phoenix's record setting dip of 83%. The picture is a bit rosier when looking at the total weekend’s grosses, as our box office report saw an estimated $10.2 million falling into Sony’s pockets. Compared to Morbius’s $39.1 million opening weekend, that would indicate a 74% drop for the full weekend’s take.

It looks like bad news if you’re comparing this particular project to the standard performance of comic book movies. While those films do tend to shed a sizable percentage of audiences after opening weekend, this sort of drop is still pretty significant. Even when compared to the second weekend for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius looks to have fallen quite mightily. However, from a certain point of view, this bat has accomplished as flying feat that should soften this weekend’s monetary blow to a degree.

Why Morbius Might Not Be A Box Office Disaster

It's good news time for you folks hoping Jared Leto will once again return to the world of Morbius. While the news discussed above pertains to the domestic box office, the worldwide grosses look pretty promising. $126.4 million is the current standing total in the bank, meaning that Sony’s latest Spider-Man connected property is very close to doubling its production budget. 

For reference, the movie’s price tag is in the range of between $75 - $83 million, which sets up a $150 - $166 million threshold to double its money. Of course, that doesn’t give us the exact figure that Sony and Marvel may have on paper to consider Morbius a profitable venture. Under normal circumstances, backend expenses like print and advertising, as well as a number of other factors unknown to the public at large, need to be considered. 

But let’s not forget that much like other COVID-19 delayed films, this is a title that was subject to several delays to its ultimate opening. Just as No Time To Die incurred about $1 million in additional costs for each month it sat on the shelf, one could assume that Morbius has a specific figure it racked up in a similar manner. Using that figure as a rough benchmark, and taking into account its intended July 10, 2020 debut and the April 1, 2022 date it finally landed, about $21 million may need to be added to the equation. 

Again, that’s not an exact figure, as James Bond movies tend to be more expensive, with more moving pieces to account for in the budgetary pie. Morbius may not have as much weight on its shoulders, and we’ll have to wait and see how Morbius’ fortunes progress in the weeks to come. If you haven’t seen it for yourself, or have a notion to revisit Matt Smith’s bonkers performance, the film is exclusively showing in theaters. To catch a glimpse of what other excitement waits in the wings, head over to our schedule of 2022 movie releases, and quench your thirst for cinema!

Sony’s newest movie in its Spider-Verse is here with Jared Leto’s Morbius and things are… not looking that great with the new film. Morbius did open at number one at the domestic box office, bringing in $39 million, which isn’t terrible all things considered, but it’s certainly no blockbuster and the movie is being savaged by critics. Having said that, director Daniel Espinosa is taking the movie’s poor reviews in stride.

With only a 17% score on Rotten Tomatoes, most critics really don’t like Morbius very much. Speaking with Insider, Daniel Espinosa admits that he’s no stranger to strangers telling him what’s wrong with his movies. It’s happened to him even with his smaller productions, so he’s used to being told what he did wrong. Espinosa explains… 

I’m not sure you can make it to the world of directing feature films without gaining a pretty thick skin. Very few movies are truly universally loved so even if most people thought Morbius was great, there would be some talking about what was wrong with it.

Critical response and box office response are very different things more often than not. It’s far from uncommon for movies that critics don’t seem to like to still make a lot of money.  It’s unlikely that the lack of critical praise is the reason Morbius had a luke warm opening. There are numerous other factors including a significant delay brought on by a global pandemic, 

And for what it’s worth Daniel Espinosa doesn’t even need critics pointing out what’s wrong with his work, as the director admits that he can be pretty hard on his own films, though he’s made some solid projects that people . He knows he can improve and potentially sees that his work has problems, but he is ultimately proud of the work he does.  Espinosa continues...

Few movies are seen as universally great and just as few are universally bad. Even if Morbius isn’t a great movie, it may still have elements worthy of praise. It may just be that not everybody will find those praise worthy moments in theatres.