Latest from CinemaBlend in Movies

I’m Cracking Up Over Tom Cruise’s F-Bomb-Laced Response To Seeing What Digger Would Look Like

Erik Swann — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 21:51:05 +0000

The 2026 movie schedule marks what might be Tom Cruise’s most ambitious performance yet. Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu are teaming up for Digger – a comedy about the world’s most powerful (and chaotic) businessman who must prevent a global disaster. Cruise really had to go through a physical transformation to play the titular Digger Rockwell, and he’s a sight to behold in the wild trailer. Funny enough, Cruise delightfully dropped an F-bomb when he first saw what had been envisioned for the character’s look.

Earlier this year, Cruise talked about playing Digger and how, in hindsight, the last 40 years of his career had been preparing him for the role. The leading man reiterated that during an event for the trailer launch, which CinemaBlend was fortunate enough to attend. Cruise said he’d “never had something that could challenge me in this way” and that it was uncharted territory for Iñárritu as well. As for the first time, Cruise got a gander at his director’s vision for Rockwell, he made a humorously bold assertion:

The director sets the frame and the lenses and the lighting. It's really my favorite thing. Alejandro, he shows me, he's like, ‘I want you to look like this.’ And it wasn't like he said, ‘This is the kind of character.’ So, I'm thinking, ‘This guy's got fucking balls,’ and I'm like, ‘I can't wait. Let's go.’

Honestly, that's an understandable take. As has been shown, Cruise sports prosthetics, a wig and a faux belly in order to play Rockwell, and he’s more than committing to the bit. That shouldn’t be all that surprising since this is the same actor who effortlessly portrayed the eccentric Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder. Digger definitely has shades of Grossman, especially when it comes to bravado. However, as the Top Gun icon explained, the process of landing on a character varies by project:

When we're looking for characters, we're looking for humor, drama, certain constructs, how do we communicate this? Whether it's Les Grossman or Interview With the Vampire, Collateral or Risky Business, I’m always asking, ‘How do I communicate this?’ The physicality, the makeup, that is stuff that you find as you are learning how to communicate. You really have to understand the tools, it's not one size fits all. You have to find the communication, the lenses, the color of the makeup. The level of detail of making a film like this is... Color of the cowboy boots. What are my shorts like? The sets, the color of the sets. They're beautiful on every single level, and it's all very... You look at the taste of this man. It's very special.

That level of cerebral thinking is why Cruise has done such great work over the course of his illustrious career. He understands that there are different strokes for different folks – or characters in this case. And it’s because of that approach that Lestat de Lioncourt differs from Les Grossman, who differs from Frank T.J. Mackey, who differs from Jerry Maguire. All in all, given Cruise’s approach to his latest role, fans should be in for something special.

It would seem that the Rain Man alum’s cast and crew were also taken with his work on set as well. During this year’s CinemaCon, Iñárritu praised his star’s commitment to his craft and emphasized just how big a swing he was taking with this role. Emma D’Arcy – one of Cruise’s co-stars, also praised his work, and they even said they were taking notes on set.

All signs point to Tom Cruise giving a performance that’s a true tour de force, and I’m eager to see it on the biggest screen possible. Per the footage, I’m expecting Cruise – as Rockwell – to chew some scenery and drop his fair share of F-bombs. Be sure to check out Digger when it opens on October 2.

I Finally Saw Obsession, And Here's Why This One Character Was Worst Than I Expected

jerricatisdale@gmail.com (Jerrica Tisdale) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 21:05:00 +0000

Obsession is the Cinderella story that inspires people to actually go after their dreams, not just dream. It’s a huge box office hit with potential for sequels. I heard a lot about the film before seeing it.

Therefore, I had expectations for Obsession. One was that the plot showed more of Bear’s (Michael Johnston) problematic behavior than Nikki’s (Inde Navarrette) psychotic behavior. I expected Bear to be a villain, but I wasn’t expecting him to make so many bad decisions for love.

Bear was definitely the problem, but in ways I wasn’t expecting.

Warning: Obsession spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.

(Image credit: Blumhouse Productions)

Bear Had Plenty Of Opportunities To Express His Feelings To Nikki, But Chose Not To

I think Bear had a chance with Nikki. One of the moments that stunned me was when Nikki asked Bear if he had feelings for her. He dismisses her question like it’s silly. Then he makes the wish. Additionally, he said he wanted her to love him more than anyone in the whole world. That's generally such an extreme wish that it could only come with major repercussions.

You would want your partner to love you, but not more than anyone else. That’s naturally going to lead to codependency issues. Bear had the chance to tell Nikki he liked her, and the fact that she asked meant there was a chance she might like him too. I understand the anxiety of confessing love and risking rejection, but that’s better than making a dangerous wish. Nikki asking him whether he likes her just makes his wish even sadder and more insane.

(Image credit: Blumhouse Production)

Bear's More Obsessed With Nikki Than She Is With Him, And Proves That Repeatedly

Bear has the opportunity to erase the wish. He doesn’t want to do that because then he will really have to let Nikki go. Despite her unhinged behavior, he still wants her. It’s only when she becomes too crazy and less and less attractive that he finally wants to escape her entirely. Bear has always been the one fixated on her, which is why he makes the wish.

He still wants to be with her, even after her crazy behavior, which shows he’s more obsessed with her. His decisions are his free will; hers are controlled.

(Image credit: Blumhouse Productions)

He Constantly Makes Cowardly Decisions

It starts with him not telling her his feelings and then spirals. He tries to stop Nikki, but only after things escalate, and he becomes complicit in her crimes. He also fears her. Nikki became so deranged that I can see why even horror movie fans are scared to watch, but Bear”s actions are a lot scarier. He has opportunities to stop things but decides not to or can’t communicate well enough to save himself from his ultimate fate. I think the Obsession ending is satisfying because Bear’s death allows Nikki to be free. She’s traumatized and will likely go to prison or be on the run for the rest of her life, but she now has control of her body and mind. That’s not a happy ending, but the best she can get currently.

Rent or buy Obsession on Amazon.

Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt And More Pen Tributes To Sam Neill After His Death

Erik Swann — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:40:41 +0000

Many woke up this morning to the very sad news that Sam Neill died at the age of 78. The New Zealand-born actor’s passing was announced by his family on social media and, quite frankly, it’s hard to believe the beloved thespian is no longer with us. Fans and film pundits alike have since been paying tribute to the late Jurassic Universe star. And, unsurprisingly, a number of Neill’s former collaborators are doing the same, as Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and a host of others have shared incredibly kind words about him.

Laura Dern played the Dr. Ellie Sattler to Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic movies, and the two had incredible on-screen chemistry. Aside from their work, though, Neill and Dern forged a personal friendship, and it was also delightful to see them reunite. Dern reacted to Neill’s death via a statement shared with Variety, and the Oscar winner’s sweet thoughts are so sweet:

Sam was my beloved lifetime friend… He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit. He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.

Both Dern and Neill had the opportunity to reprise their roles as Sattler and Grant for 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion years after they last appeared in the franchise in 2001’s Jurassic Park III. In the more recent movie, directed by Colin Trevorrow, the pair were also joined by co-star Jeff Goldblum, who famously played Dr. Ian Malcolm. Goldblum reacted to Neill’s death on Instagram, sharing a still from JP and penning a brief, but loving, message in honor of his buddy:

The next great adventure begins. Love, always and forever. 🦕💕

Neill’s exact cause of death has not been released, though it’s been reported that he was cancer-free after having been diagnosed with a form of blood cancer in 2022. The following year, Goldblum spoke highly of Neill and said that he was doing well and that they had been in “constant” contact. Also joining this recent course of tributes for Neill was Chris Pratt, who worked with Neill on J-World Dominion. The Owen Grady actor said this about his former co-star on his Instagram story:

So devastated to hear the news on Sam's passing. It was a privilege getting to work with him. All the laughs and memories, I'll cherish forever. He is a true legend. Keeping his family in my prayers.

Additionally, another person to memorialize Sam Neill was Steven Spielberg, who directed him in the all-time classic Jurassic Park. Spielberg released a statement that was shared with Variety and said he was “saddened” by Neill’s death. Spielberg shared the following:

I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in ‘Jurassic Park.’ …. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the ‘Jurassic’ movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our ‘Jurassic’ family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.

Jurassic franchise producer Frank Marshall also reached out in the aftermath of Neill’s death. On X, the producer shared a still of a camera monitor shot from a previous shoot and said this:

Getting to know and work with Sam Neill was an experience I will always cherish. A talented, funny, classy, beautiful and warm human being, he was always up for anything, including putting on the costume for a Super Bowl spot. Sail on, Dr. Grant.

Sam Neill’s body of work is quite impressive and extends beyond the Jurassic movies. Sleeping Dogs (his film debut), Possession, The Hunt for Red October, The Piano and Event Horizon are just a few of the titles in his filmography. Not only that, but Neill also appeared on shows like Peaky Blinders and The Tudors. Neill left an indelible mark due to his body of work and, as Spielberg asserted he won’t be forgotten as an artist. Though I’d wager those who knew him will remember him fondly for being a great human being.

One Dumb Question Christopher Nolan Keeps Getting About Making The Odyssey

Erik Swann — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey is sparking plenty of conversations, and that’s ironic, considering the film hasn’t even hit theaters yet. The past few months have seen some social media users dissect this take on the epic Greek poem. A portion of people have taken issue with some of the casting choices and have also been pointing out historical inaccuracies. When it comes to that latter section of discourse, there’s one particularly annoying question Nolan and co. have been getting, and he recently addressed it.

One of the main details audiences have been noticing in the Odyssey trailers has been the presence of contemporary language in this book-to-screen adaptation. The actors don’t speak in a pronounced dialect but in a way that’s similar to how modern people would speak. While that hasn’t really deterred the Nolan stans, others have been wondering why the characters talk as they do. The topic came up when Nolan and cast member Tom Holland appeared on Channel 4’s The Four Cast, and the director shared his rationale:

When you look at this world, you look at the ancient world, people tend to view it in weird ways. There’s a lot of cultural prejudice. There’s sort of elevating it, because it’s old [or] whatever it is. When you go to the poem, what you find is something that's really earthy and grounded and accessible. And so, for me, in building the world of the film, what I talk to all the actors about is like, ‘I just want to center it on that and make it feel very fresh for modern audiences and do away with some of those assumptions that aren't based on anything logical.

This makes a lot of sense, as Nolan’s goal was apparently to avoid cultural clichés while crafting the film. He’s certainly correct that there can be “cultural prejudice” and, in terms of movies and TV shows about ancient civilizations, that can result in depictions that feel inauthentic. Based on his comments, Nolan wasn’t aiming to overthink it and sought to go with something straightforward and relatable when it came to the language. That feels like a smart move to me though, even before hearing this take, I wasn’t annoyed by the dialogue.

Still, there seem to be those who still take issue with the way characters speak. While Christopher Nolan addressed this recent question in a classy way, it’s hard not to get the feeling that he’s somewhat tired of it. Tom Holland – who plays Telemachus – also seems to be slightly perturbed. During the chat, he was asked about his character saying “dad” instead of “father,” and Holland dropped a respectful, yet very cheeky, response:

I wouldn’t have even said father back in the day, would I? It would have been Greek, so it’s no less correct.

The Spider-Man actor has a point there as well. Overall, the discourse surrounding The Odyssey’s dialogue feels unnecessary, and the same is true regarding other points of criticism. Nolan himself has taken it all in stride, though, and he previously mentioned Interstellar while explaining his approach to world-building in the period piece. More recently, the Oscar winner invoked his Dark Knight Trilogy to discuss the importance of blocking out external chatter and focusing on making the best possible adaptation.

So far, Christopher Nolan’s approach also seems to be speaking for itself, as early Odyssey reactions have been very positive. If you couldn’t tell, I’m looking forward to checking out the historical epic for myself and seeing what Nolan, Tom Holland and the cast and crew bring to this beloved story. And, if the film connects with general audiences, I’ll be eager to see whether the discussions revolving around the modern language persist.

The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17 and, in the meantime, read up on the movie along with other 2026 movie schedule entries.

The Spaceballs 2 Synopsis And Poster Are Giving Me Everything I Need From This Movie

Erik Swann — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:06:00 +0000

The Schwartz has been awakened, as Spaceballs: The New One is set to grace the silver screen as part of the 2027 movie schedule. Producer Mel Brooks and co. announced the legacy sequel in 2025, and it was clear from the opening crawl-centric video that fans were in for a major spoof of a movie. Plot details have mostly been kept under wraps, but there’s now an official synopsis as well as a fresh, new poster. And, after seeing those, I can already say this film is delivering what I’ve been hoping to see from this upcoming flick.

Considering this is a Spaceballs movie we’re talking about here, it’s only fitting that the synopsis be meta and totally self-referential. That’s exactly what we get here, as the logline references an infamous Star Wars line from the jump, and that’s not all. Additionally, there’s even a reference to another long-hoped-for sequel that was released earlier this year. Check out the first portion of this summary, and I dare anyone not to chuckle at least once while reading it:

Somehow, Dark Helmet has returned! Forty years after the events of the first Spaceballs, fifty years after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, and one year after the events of The Devil Wears Prada 2, the galaxy is once again under threat. A threat so evil, so unstoppable, so completely lacking in any original ideas, that it has vowed to bring back the past... every last bit of it.

I mean, how could the creative team not riff on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s “somehow, Palpatine returned” line while referencing the re-emergence of Rick Moranis’ Dark Helmet. What I wasn’t expecting was to see a reference to The Devil Wears Prada 2, but I’m not mad at it. The rest of the synopsis reads as follows:

With Lone Starr in hiding, Queen Vespa on the throne, and the Schwartz stretched thinner than a franchise releasing TV episodes theatrically, the only hope for the galaxy is Vespa's undisciplined son, Prince Starburst, and a mysterious Palace advisor named Destiny. Together, they must find Lone Starr, Yogurt, and any other iconic legacy characters fans are demanding before they discover the hard way that, while some threats you can fight, the reboot is not one of them.

So it would seem Spaceballs: The New One is aiming to play on elements of 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. For example in TFA, Leia helps head up the Resistance and, here Vespa, is now the head of the Druidian Throne. And, of course, the disappearances of Lone Starr and Yogurt parallel the absence of Luke Skywalker at the beginning of the Sequel Trilogy. I’m glad director Josh Greenbaum and co. are seeking to jump into outlandish new territory but, as the poster suggests, they also haven’t forgotten the franchise’s roots:

(Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

The “combing the desert” joke from Brook’s original 1987 film still holds up in my book, and it’s a perfect way to tease the movie by way of its first poster. What’s evident to me right now is that a lot of time and care has seemingly been put into making this sequel. This has particularly been a passion project for cast member/co-writer/producer Josh Gad, who pitched the movie to Mel Brooks. For a while now, Gad has kept fans updated on the production and, to that point, he also spoke out after the movie wrapped.

Gad will be joined in the film by several returning franchise veterans, including Brooks, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, George Wyner and Rick Moranis. As for series newcomers, there’s Lewis Pullman (who gets to work with dad Bill), Keke Palmer, Anthony Carrigan and Rowan Witt.

There’s still plenty of time before Spaceballs: The New One is released and, given footage hasn’t even been shown yet, I don’t want to get too excited yet. Still, if these early marketing materials are any indication, the Schwartz may be strong with this one. Check out the film when it opens in theaters on April 23, 2027.

Toy Story 5 Director Responds To Quentin Tarantino’s Vow Not To Watch Beyond The Third Film

Corey Chichizola — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:55:39 +0000

Generations of moviegoers have grown up with the Toy Story movies, starting with the 1995 original and continuing to this day with Toy Story 5, which is in theaters now. The franchise (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) is still going strong, although Quentin Tarantino maintains he has no interest in watching after the third movie. And now the director and cast of the new movie have weighed in on this choice.

Tarantino is known for his hot takes, including famously calling Paul Dano weaksauce in There Will Be Blood. Back in 2024 he told Bill Maher he wouldn't watch more Toy Story movies since the third one's ending was "perfect." Toy Story 5 director Andrew Stanton shared his reaction to Tarantino's opinion during a chat with THR. He offered:

That’s his choice — it’s the end of the Andy years and he can end it with Andy, but we’ve got another trilogy with Bonnie. It’s for him to miss out on.

Points were made. While the first three Toy Story films revolved around Andy and his toys as he grew up, the two most recent installments are about the new kid Bonnie, who inherited his toys at the end of the third movie. It's a different era of the franchise, and Tarantino has every right to stick to the originals. Although he's missing out one more delightful adventures from Woody, Buzz, and the whole gang.

Quentin Tarantino might have said he's "done" with the franchise after the expert way Toy Story 3 ended, there are plenty of fans who have caught the two more recent movies (as well as Lightyear). Tony Hale, who has voiced Forky since the fourth film, shared his reaction to the Oscar-winning filmmaker's hot take, saying:

I would say the simple pitch of Pixar doesn’t put out bad stuff. The thing about Pixar is they wouldn’t tell another story if there wasn’t a story to tell. Look at this — that marriage of technology and toys, I want to hear that story. So I would have him lean into his trust of Pixar.

Touché. Pixar is a well-oiled machine at this point, and regardless of each movie's box office take, the quality of their movies doesn't really suffer much. That goes for the Toy Story films, as well as other titles from the studio. And the Veep star seems to think that Tarantino should consider the receipts before writing off the more recent Toy Story movies.

(Image credit: Disney/Pixar)

In the Kill Bill director's defense, Toy Story 3 really is top tier. The movie reduced millennials like me to tears when it hit theaters back in 2010, with Andy's journey into adulthood mirroring our own. The scene of the toy holding hands as they prepare for their death was something none of us was expecting, and was overshadowed only by Andy giving them away to Bonnie in its final moments. It was a perfect way for the trilogy to end, and that's what is seemingly holding back Tarantino from seeing any of the newer films.

Toy Story 5 is in theaters now as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see how many movies are produced before the franchise wraps up forever.

Michael Keaton Was Perfect As Vulture, But A Totally Different Actor Was Almost Cast

Ryan LaBee — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:08:28 +0000

Michael Keaton’s Vulture remains one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s better villains, in part because he never feels like he wandered in from a different movie. His Adrian Toomes is a working-class criminal with a legitimate grievance, a terrifying wing suit and enough restraint to make that car ride with Peter Parker feel more dangerous than most battles in new superhero movies. Keaton was so natural in the role that it is difficult to picture anyone else answering the door as Liz’s father in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Apparently, Marvel Studios once had someone very different in mind.

During an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Lin-Manuel Miranda was asked about a Marvel role he had reportedly been offered around 2016. Horowitz first guessed Spider-Man: Homecoming, then worked his way through the cast before landing on the Vulture. Miranda confirmed it and immediately admitted he believes Marvel avoided a major casting mistake. He explained:

It was Vulture. It was Vulture, and Kevin Feige told me the entire plot over the phone, and I was like, ‘Oh!’ And, ‘Then they get to the door and it’s her dad.’ And I went, ‘Ohhhhhh!’ on the phone. [Laughs] ... I was really the canary in the coal mine. And I said, ‘When does it shoot?’ And he goes, basically, ‘The moment you step off stage in Hamilton.’ And I went, well, ‘I love these movies, but I would really like to stay married. So, I cannot do this.’ And I mean, God, that would have been terrible. Michael Keaton was perfect. Like, they found exactly who they needed.

Horowitz sounded genuinely shocked by the answer. Before guessing Vulture, he floated Martin Starr’s role, presumably thinking the theater icon might have been considered for one of Peter Parker’s teachers or another comedic supporting part. Miranda quickly told him Starr was not the answer, which only made the eventual reveal all the wilder.

The Hamilton creator would have been coming directly off his Broadway run when Homecoming entered production. On paper, casting one of the industry’s most recognizable performers made sense. The In the Heights star was already closely associated with Disney through Moana, and his combination of humor, nervous energy and rapid-fire delivery could have produced a very different Adrian Toomes.

(Image credit: Disney )

Miranda’s “miscast” assessment also feels fair. Homecoming needs the Vulture to seem older, worn down and quietly dangerous. Keaton brings decades of screen history to the part, including the audience’s memory of him as Batman, but he never treats Toomes as a theatrical supervillain. He approaches him as a father and business owner who decided the world had cheated him, then built an illegal weapons operation to even the score.

Miranda likely would have emphasized Toomes’ intelligence and restless charm. Keaton made him feel like the kind of man who could sit across from Peter at dinner, make polite conversation and still scare the life out of him without raising his voice.

Marvel near-casting stories often leave fans wondering about the movie that might have been. This one mostly reinforces how well the final choice worked. Miranda protected his marriage, the Beetlejuice star landed one of his strongest blockbuster roles, and Spider-Man: Homecoming found exactly the villain it needed. Both actors have continued working with Disney, while Keaton’s career has remained packed with major projects, including his return as Batman in The Flash.

You can revisit the cinematic Vulture by watching the MCU movies in order, while the filmed Broadway production of Hamilton is also available with a Disney+ subscription.

People Love Interstellar, But I Think It's One Of Christopher Nolan's Weaker Movies. Here's Why

Rich Knight — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 15:05:00 +0000

With Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (which I'm eagerly anticipating) right around the corner, I thought it an opportune time to talk about Nolan’s other Odyssey movie - that being of the space variety, a.k.a. Interstellar.

While Interstellar isn’t exactly Nolan’s version of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, many would say that it’s just as ambitious in scope as what many consider to be Kubrick’s best movie. In fact, a lot of people consider Interstellar (which you can watch with a Paramount+ subscription) to be Nolan’s best movie, with this website even putting it at number one when we ranked his films.

However, even though I write for this website, I have NEVER been of the opinion that Interstellar was Nolan’s best. In fact, I genuinely think it’s one of his worst (though not as bad as Tenet), and for multiple reasons. Here are just a few. And yes, there are spoilers ahead!

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Always Found The Whole S-T-A-Y Scene To Be Predictable And Mawkish

There was a moment when I first saw Interstellar that was make-or-break for me. Early on in the film, Murphy, who is Cooper’s daughter, thinks there’s a ghost in her room. One such incident sees books knocked on Murphy’s floor, seemingly out of nowhere, and it spells out “S-T-A-Y” in Morse code.

Now, when I first saw this movie, I made a quick-time decision. In my head, I thought, this “ghost” is probably Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) communicating with his daughter from the future, because that’s a very sci-fi concept, especially when you’re dealing with time dilation, which I figured this movie was probably heading toward since it dealt with black holes. So, I was like, if this IS Cooper sending this message back to his daughter, I’m going to hate this movie because that’s really obvious. If it’s NOT what I predict, then this movie might have a shot at being good with me.

And…it was exactly what I predicted. Cooper found himself in a tesseract toward the end, and he was telling himself to stay and not go on this mission, which I found super mawkish and lame. I mean, one reason I used to love Nolan was that he was unflinching, and even cruel at times in his storytelling. The Prestige, which is my favorite Nolan movie, is fascinating, but also stark, with nary a maudlin moment. The same goes for Inception, which ends ambiguously, so we don’t know if it’s a happy ending or not.

Interstellar just feels…cheesy to me, and that’s not a word that I ever thought I would associate with Nolan until this movie.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Genuinely Don't Like Any Of The Characters

Another problem I have with this film is that I don’t care about any of the characters. I usually like McConaughey, but Cooper is so bland in this movie, and I have no idea why. His children, who we see both as young (Mackenzie Foy and Timothee Chalamet), and as adults (Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck, respectively) don’t do anything for me, and I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t care if they die on earth or not. They just never moved me in any way.

Anne Hathaway plays a NASA scientist floating around with McConaughey, but I don’t find her interesting, even WITH her being the daughter of Michael Caine’s character, who I feel also isn’t interesting. Heck, I don’t even like Matt Damon as the, I guess you can call him the “bad guy” of the film (And get this. His name is Dr. Hugh Mann…Get it? Hu-man? Oh, brother). Damon appears late in the film trying to get back home (Hmmm…wasn’t Damon in another space movie like that?), and he fudges the numbers in order to get a lift back.

Look. I know Nolan isn't always on his A game when it comes to crafting interesting characters. Shoot, if it weren't for films like Memento, Insomnia, and Oppenheimer, I might even suggest that Nolan is kind of…lacking when it comes to characterization. Interstellar (and Tenet. Remember when John David Washington's character was simply known as…The Protagonist?) is still on another level when it comes to weak characters.

Which wouldn't be such a bad thing if this movie felt sterile and cold like 2001, but it doesn't. It's supposed to find the Hugh-Mann-ity (I’m sorry) in the vastness of space, and it just…doesn't. Not for me, anyway.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Thought Nolan Somehow Made Even Wormholes And Black Holes Boring

When we first heard that Tenet was going to be about entropy, I was like, cool. I don’t really know what entropy is, but I know it has something to do with time travel since that’s what Primer was about, too…I think. Anyway, if Nolan used to do anything well in his career, it was to take these scientific concepts and make them interesting.

So, when we learned that black holes would play a significant role in Interstellar, I was game. I mean, Nolan made a dream machine cool in Inception, and he turned Batman on his pointy head with the Dark Knight trilogy by making it “realistic,” so I was looking forward to Nolan’s take on black holes.

Until I saw the movie, and was just bored by it. Yes, it pays to watch Interstellar on as big a screen as possible, but besides some of the visuals being kind of interesting, I think Nolan made black holes a little boring.

It’s a visual feast for the eyes, and, as my late mother once said, “Really cool if you were on something.” However, the wormhole and black hole scenes in Interstellar are just kind of…mid. I don’t know how else to put it. How Nolan made such cool concepts boring, I don’t know, but he did.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Also Didn't Think Any Of The Planets Explored Were All That Interesting

There was this video game that came out a few years back called Starfield, and even though I didn’t play it, one complaint I kept seeing over and over again from critics was that there were so many planets (like, 1000 or something), but there was virtually nothing to do on them. They were just, like, there, and you could explore them, but why would you even want to?

Now, maybe this has been updated since its 2023 launch, but I get a similar feeling with Interstellar, as there are three planets that are visited - Miller’s Planet, Mann’s Planet, and Edmunds’ Planet - and they’re all even more boring than the last.

Miller’s Planet is the ocean one with the huge waves, and even though it’s cool that time goes faster there…it’s still just a water planet. It looks like something you might find on Earth. The same goes for Mann’s Planet, as it’s just a cold planet, which is dull. And then you have Edmunds’ Planet, which is another bland place, but this one seems suitable for habitation.

That’s it. Like the rest of the film, I’m just left underwhelmed, and this is made worse with a rewatch, as I already know how dull the planets are, so there’s nothing to look forward to. I mean, I don’t know. People love this movie so much, and I just don’t see what the big deal is. Hopefully the actual The Odyssey will be much better (and I’ve heard good things!), because Nolan’s space odyssey? This just ain’t it, man.

A Fan Pointed Out One ‘Funny Outcome’ About Chris Evans In The New Doomsday Poster, And Now I Can’t Unsee It

Corey Chichizola — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:06:11 +0000

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for constantly expanding with new projects in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Without a doubt the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which will arrive this December. The Doomsday cast was recently shown in an official poster, although a fan pointed out a "funny outcome" related to Chris Evans' return as Steve Rogers.

What we know about Avengers: Doomsday has been limited, but fans are hyped to see entire teams united against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. Former Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park recently took to Instagram to show off an epic post for the forthcoming blockbuster. Check it out:

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I mean how awesome is that? This image is the first real glimpse at what costumes various heroes will be wearing in Doomsday. This includes the new looks for the OG stars of the X-Men movies, although one character is especially turning heads. Namely Chris Evan's Steve Rogers, who is shown wearing a casual pants and t-shirt rather than his signature Captain America suit.

This poster quickly went viral online, and fans started sounding off on social media. One tweet that's gotten at on of attention poked fun at Steve's casual outfit for Doomsday, claiming:

The Russos not trusting Sam’s Captain America enough to carry the movie but also not having the balls to say fuck it and fully bring back Steve as Captain America has lead to the very funny outcome of him being some guy in a black shirt

The lack of a costume for Chris Evans' hero is definitely turning heads, although it's unclear if the above claim is accurate. Although Captain America: Brave New World bombed at the box office, so perhaps that's what this user is referencing about The Russos "not trusting" Sam Wilson's version of Cap to lead the upcoming Avengers movie.

There were plenty of response to the above Tweet, many of which were fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order and aren't pleased about Steve's casual outfit. Check it out below:

Chris Evans is playing the hero Shirtpants. You can tell it's him because he is wearing a shirt and pants.
Secret Wars is not a captain america movie at all, its more Doom/Fantastic Four story (with other marvel heroes invovled)
I don't mind Steve not having the mantle BUT AT LEAST GIVE HIM SOME DAMN BATTLE SUIT HOW WILL HE FIGHT USING A PLAIN BLACK SHIRT COME ON
Watch it become a twist where this is not our Steve rogers but Captain Hydra hence no actual suit

The latter post is particularly intriguing, as there were rumors we'd see a villainous variant of Captain America in the blockbuster. But Marvel's tight security has been keeping the movie's contents under wraps, so there's no telling what's actually coming.

Despite Steve Rogers getting his happy ever after during Avengers: Endgame, a teaser for Doomsday confirmed that Chris Evans would be reprising his signature role once again. Check it out below:

While Chris Evans cameos as the Human Torch in Deadpool & Wolverine, the next Avengers movie marks the first time he'll play Steve Rogers since Endgame changed the shared universe forever. The pressure is on, and it should be fascinating to see how the character changed since we last saw him.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully we get a full trailer sooner rather than later.

Tom Cruise’s First Digger Trailer Is Wild, And I Can’t Take My Eyes Off His Strange-Looking Cat

Erik Swann — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:43:46 +0000

For some time now, Tom Cruise has been teasing his next movie, Digger, a dark comedy directed by Oscar winner Alejandro Iñárritu. Some footage dropped earlier this summer and, based on that, Cruise’s titular character mirrored Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman. Well, we finally have the first official trailer for the movie, and it’s somehow even more bonkers than I imagined. There are plenty of striking images and funny quotes, but I just can’t get the image of Digger’s cat out of my head.

The trailer quickly establishes the aging Digger Rockwell as an eccentric tycoon, who enjoys a lavish lifestyle. However, he’s quickly thrown for a loop when he learns that one of his drilling projects has started an environmental chain reaction that could spell the end of life on earth. What strikes me about this footage, which can be seen above, is the sheer scale of Iñárritu’s vision. Shots of floods, aircrafts and missile launches abound, and it’s clear that this is going to be the Birdman director’s biggest film to date.

Ironically, some of this material feels like it would be fitting for an installment of Mission: Impossible, which Cruise has since stepped away from. Personally, I’d imagine Cruise and Iñárritu are fully aware of that and may even be looking to lampoon elements of such blockbusters in that regard. Aside from the spectacle, though, there also seem to be plenty of quirky character moments acted out by the film’s capable cast.

The member of the ensemble that I can’t stop looking at, though, is Digger’s cat, who’s seen better days. In fact, it’s established early on that the feline doesn’t have long to live, which upsets his master. To say that this one-eyed furry friend is quite a sight would be an understatement, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being more essential to the narrative than teased.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Aside from the cat, though, what also sticks out to me is something quite obvious – Tom Cruise really seems to be going for it with this performance. He’s chewing up all kinds of scenery here, from trying to feed his pet peanut butter in bed to using his physical endowment to illustrate his drilling work. As Cruise explained at CinemaCon earlier this year, Rockwell was a role 40 years in the making for him and allowed him to do something different. Now, I can’t argue with that assertion.

After Noah Wyle Recalls Passing On Saving Private Ryan, Matt Damon Admits Robin Williams Helped Him Land The Role

Carly Levy — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:04:41 +0000

Matt Damon became an overnight success story when he and best buddy Ben Affleck, won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting. After that, Damon took on the title role in Steven Spielberg's WWII epic, Saving Private Ryan, after ER’s Noah Wyle turned it down. Damon was a perfect fit for the role, but it turns out he owes Good Will Hunting co-star Robin Williams for helping him land the part.

Noah Wyle turned down Steven Spielberg flick due to his obligations to ER, which was disappointing for him at the time. However, Wyle has since praised Matt Damon for his performance in the film and said he was right for the role. As for the circumstances behind how he landed the gig, Damon spoke about that on Outstanding Screenplays. Apparently, this heartwarming story all starts with Robin performing a cool gesture for Damon and Affleck:

Robin not only got our dream in Good Will Hunting made, he actually got me the role in Saving Private Ryan as well. When we were in Boston, we were rehearsing for Good Will Hunting, and Spielberg came in because he was shooting Amistad. And he was shooting a scene with Anthony Hopkins at the capitol, and it was across Boston Commons from where we were rehearsing. And Robin took Ben and me to meet Steven, because he knew it was never a bad thing to meet the greatest filmmaker of all time and how much we’d appreciate that.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time! If a star knows that THE Steven Spielberg is shooting his own movie in proximity to theirs, I can understand not wanting to pass up the chance to meet him. But not only did Williams arrange a little meet-and-greet between Damon and the E.T. director, but that also sparked a memory on the latter's part. As Damon explained:

I had put myself on tape, and I had read for Saving Private Ryan and I hadn’t been cast. [Steven] met me in person, and he said, ‘I think I know you from somewhere.’ And I said, ‘Well, I did this movie called Courage Under Fire.’ And he goes, ‘That’s the one.’ He goes, ‘You know, that’s funny, I said to my wife that’s the exact type of person I’d want to play Private Ryan, but he’s too thin.’ Because I’d lost 40 pounds, because I was playing a heroin addict in Courage Under Fire. And so it was only because Robin introduced me to [Spielberg] that he went, ‘Oh, okay, no, you’re the kind of guy I’m looking for for that job.’

Sending in an audition tape is certainly one way to land a part, but I there's even greater power in meeting a filmmaker face-to-face (if a person gets the chance, of course). I can also understand why Spielberg would want Damon after seeing his work in Courage Under Fire. The film tells the true story of a young loyal soldier who endures the agony having to watch his men die, but still dedicates himself to his duty for his country. Damon's great in it and, in hindsight, it was definitely a proving ground for him when it came to Private Ryan.

This story is also a testament to the Bourne star's relationship with the late Robin Williams, who had a profound effect on him. Two years after Williams' death, Damon spoke of honoring the Mork & Mindy actor by sitting on the famed Boston Commons bench the two sat in for their movie together. Damon's also praised Williams as a collaborator and has avidly credited him for coming up with Good Will Hunting's final line.

It's been said that in some cases, things happen for a reason, and I'd like to think everything worked out well for both Matt Damon and Noah Wyle. And, today, Saving Private Ryan stands as one of Damon's best performances. Feel free to watch the Steven Spielberg historical drama using a Paramount+ subscription, and Good Will Hunting is available on the platform as well.

Jurassic Park Lead Sam Neill Is Dead At 78

Mack Rawden — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:43:06 +0000

Popular actor Sam Neill, who led the Jurassic Park franchise and starred in a variety of other hit TV shows and movies, died earlier today at the age of 78. An official statement called his passing “sudden and unexpected” but clarified it was not related to cancer, as Neill had fought and won a battle with an aggressive form of blood cancer over the past few years.

The sad news was announced on Neill’s Instagram page. Almost immediately, the comment section was flooded with fans expressing their condolences, as well as their favorite memories of Neill’s career. Many of his former co-stars also shared their own more personal memories of the time they spent with him and what a joy he was to work with.

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Neill, who was born in Northern Ireland but moved to New Zealand as a kid, began acting in college plays in the 1960s and was able to pick up work in some shorts and TV movies after graduation. Those parts earned him bigger roles in New Zealand movies and later work in nearby Australia. The 1979 film My Brilliant Career, which saw him play the love interest opposite Judy Davis, was his first big hit internationally and eventually led to a role in The Omen III.

At that point, Neill was off and running, and he started working all over the world in a variety of movies, playing both leads and key supports. During the late 1980s, he was even heavily rumored as a possible James Bond replacement for Roger Moore before the role went to Timothy Dalton. It was 1993’s Jurassic Park, however, that turned him from well-regarded international actor into Hollywood superstar. The film grossed nearly a billion dollars during its initial run, which was an enormous sum for the early 90s, and remains a hit franchise that still references his character.

Neill later starred in multiple Jurassic Park sequels, but more consistently, he made artsy and daring choices. He played a key role in The Piano, which was nominated for 8 Oscars, and similarly did fantastic work in a ton of off-beat and/or challenging projects like Sirens, In The Mouth Of Madness and the mega-popular mini-series Merlin, which earned him an Emmy nomination.

During the later stages of his career, Neill found a lot of success in the TV space. He soared in memorable turns on The Tudors, Peaky Blinders, among others. In recent years, he was praised for his work in the Peacock adaptation of Apples Never Fall and at the time of his passing, had been playing the lead in the popular Australian series The Twelve.

Neill appeared in more than a hundred projects during his career, and they were all made better by his presence. He added a sense of gravity and seriousness to most of his roles, and his natural charisma helped add depth and intrigue to a lot of characters who could have been one note. He was one of the best of his archetype, and he proved that for more than fifty years.

Neill is survived by four children and millions of fans around the world. He will be missed.

Chris Evans Once Told Scarlett Johansson Chris Hemsworth Was The Best-Looking MCU Star, But She Got Her Revenge

Jessica Rawden — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:05:38 +0000

As we prepare for some of our old favorites to return for the upcoming Marvel Movie Avengers: Doomsday, I do think it’s worth a reminder there’s a reason we love the original gang so much. Their banter is some of the best in the game. Case in point: That time Chris Evans trolled Scarlett Johansson over the best-looking MCU actor, and then she took her sweet time getting revenge.

Chris Evans Thinks Chris Hemsworth Is The Best-Looking MCU Cast Member

Back in the day, MovieManiacsDE talked to some of the major players ahead of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the topic of attractive MCU cast members came up. When asked who was “the best-looking” in the MCU, Chris Evans immediately blurted out “Hemsworth,” despite literally being seated next to Scarlett Johansson at the time. The two had a funny exchange about it, and eventually got on the same page.

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It’s worth pointing out that Samuel L. Jackson insta-answered Black Widow earlier in the interview, so she got some brownie points there, and Chris Hemsworth was not involved in this specific conversation himself. Yet, I do love a little tale of petty revenge, and the perfect opportunity came up for Johansson years later.

The Insult Lobbed At Chris Hemsworth Years Later

Thank goodness we get a new Avengers movie every few years, because Scarlett Johansson got the chance to get a great “ugly barb” in years later. She and Hemsworth were paired together as part of Endgame’s press tour, and joined a BBC bit called “Playground insults” in which she just dumped on the Thor actor’s looks right out of the gate. What did she say?

You’re ugly. Everyone’s been talking about it. You’re just really ugly.

Chris Hemsworth did fumble around a bit to get his own barb in, but the poor guy was out of his depth trying to go toe-to-toe with Scarlett Johannson’s perfect timing. He could only think to target her brain while she gets in the best barb about him wearing a “grandma’s sweater.” Take a look.

I’m not sure Hemsworth was even aware of the prior conversation between Johansson and Evans, but he has to know it’s a recurring theme where his stunningly good genetics come up. He was Sexiest Man Alive in 2014. Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen agree he’s got that dreamy thing going on. In fact, he’s so good-looking the likes of other handsome men like Kevin Costner have even remarked on it unprompted. Though Hemsworth himself is known to be humble when it comes to his own looks.

Honestly, it’s probably a good thing people aren’t focusing on Scarlett Johansson. The actress has been open about how a lot of roles she was offered early in her career were often good-looking-but-shallow characters like the “side-piece” or “bombshell." Her Black Widow character, despite being a bit of a sex symbol in Iron Man 2, really helped to change that. So, if people want to focus on how Hemsworth’s arms are the size of Elizabeth Olsen’s head instead of her own Black Widow looks, she’s probably OK with that narrative.

Just give her all the props for that Grandma sweater joke.

That Time Johnny Knoxville Got Real About Most ‘Psychologically Damaging’ Jackass Stunt

Ryan LaBee — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:06:00 +0000

Johnny Knoxville has been hit, launched, trampled by bulls, shocked, slammed and generally treated his body like a stunt prop for more than two decades. That is the bargain Jackass made with its audience: the crew would do wildly stupid things, and viewers would laugh, cringe and occasionally wonder whether someone should call a responsible adult. But, even in a franchise built on pain, one Knoxville injury stands apart. Let's take a look at the time the iconic stuntman shared the most "psychologically damaging" stunt.

In a video shared by The Graham Norton Show’s official Instagram account, Knoxville looked back on what he considered the most psychologically stringent stunt of his career. The story came from a classic appearance on the show, but it still hits with the force of a medical chart being thrown directly into your lap. You can see the video below.

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The Ringer star has talked about brutal injuries before, and fans of the franchise know the list is long. Broken bones, concussions, stitches and hospital trips are part of the mythology of the Jackass franchise. But, when Norton asked about the stunt that messed with him mentally, he did not go with one of the big animal attacks or high-impact wipeouts. He went with the time he broke his "gym dog." As he describes it:

I think the most psychologically damaging was when I broke my penis a few years ago.

That is a sentence that only makes sense in the Jackass universe of films and spinoffs, and somehow Knoxville delivered it with the same energy most people use to describe losing their keys. He explained that he had been trying to backflip a motorcycle, despite one fairly important problem: he could not actually ride a motorcycle. That feels like the exact kind of detail a person should probably sort out before attempting a backflip, but this is the same guy who willingly gets hit by stampeding bulls (more than once) we are talking about.

According to the Action Point lead, the bike came off the ramp, went roughly 20 feet into the air and then came down in the worst possible place. The handlebars broke into his crotch, sending him straight to the hospital and into surgery. He said the injury’s aftermath did not end when the stunt did:

I still have to catheter twice a day. Like a 15-inch tube, about the size of a No. 2 pencil, twice a day.

There are Jackass stunts that look more violent in the moment, including Steve-O’s “Tropical Pole Vaulting” bit and its drug-fueled backstory. But that is what makes Knoxville’s injury feel uniquely awful. A bad landing is one thing. A long-term medical routine is something else entirely.

That is probably why the Dirty Grandpa performer called it psychologically damaging. The pain of the stunt itself sounds bad enough, but the ongoing reminder is the real nightmare. It is hard to file an injury away as just another funny story when it follows you into your daily life for years.

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Still, this one is different. A guy getting knocked over by a bull or blasted with a paintball is one kind of Jackass pain. A failed motorcycle backflip leading to surgery and years of catheter use is a whole different chapter in the long book of terrible ideas. Johnny Knoxville has plenty of painful memories to choose from, including a brain injury thanks to a bull. But, when he says this was the most psychologically damaging, I believe him. Some stunts leave bruises, but this one apparently came with paperwork, surgery and a twice-daily reminder that maybe motorcycles should be left to people who can ride them.

Jackass: Best and Last, the fifth and final film in the franchise, is now playing in theaters amid the 2026 movie schedule. Be sure to check your local listings for showtimes. Or if you're feeling nostalgic, revisit all the prior movies, streaming, with your Paramount+ subscription.

I’m Unsure If Tim Allen Will Do More Toy Story, But I Love His Idea For A Different Disney Project

Erik Swann — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 22:06:00 +0000

Disney and Pixar are currently basking in the box office success of Toy Story 5, which has smashed records and earned critical acclaim like its predecessors. Director Andrew Stanton doesn’t miss a beat, and the same can be said for Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack and the rest of the cast. Of course, now there’s a question as to whether the stars will reunite for a sixth movie. I’m not sure if the cast will have the opportunity to reprise their roles but, for right now, I’m just focused on another idea Allen has for the House of Mouse.

Although Allen has admitted to being shocked by just how long the Toy Story franchise has been going, he still relishes his role as Buzz Lightyear. What’s more is that like so many of us, the Shifting Gears star grew up a fan of Disney’s work himself. He expressed that affection during an interview with Us Weekly and also discussed the impact the TS characters have had on kids. On top of that, though, Allen also shared his desire to see is a “high-end” animated production centered around two beloved characters:

What these characters have done for them is what Mickey and Donald Duck did for me at a certain time in my life. I think it’s time to [do] a high-end Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse [project], because those two were Woody and Buzz for me when I was a kid.

Please, just take my money! I’m a fan of animation in general, but the thought of seeing a major production centered around Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck just sounds like too much fun. Sure, fans of the characters have been satiated in recent years due to the funny TV shorts that have been produced. Yet I’d love to see a full-blown motion picture centered around Mickey and Donald, and it could harken back to the days in which the Odd Couple-type characters headlined their own stories on a more consistent basis.

(Image credit: Disney Television Animation)

Of course, selling such a project to execs could be challenging, and even I can admit I’m not sure how much the general public wants a Mickey/Donald movie. Still, in a world where we’ve been graced with the acclaimed The Day the Earth Blew Up (a Looney Tunes movie centered around Porky Pig and Daffy Duck), it feels like Donald and Mickey should have their time in the sun as well.

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More immediately, however, I’m also curious as to whether Toy Story 6 will become a reality at some point. Woody voice actor Tom Hanks weighed in on that and said another installment should only happen if there’s a story worth telling. I agree with that assessment and, given the continued reach of this franchise, I could imagine the folks at Pixar kicking around ideas. What I love is that, in the meantime, the cast expresses gratitude for the gigs and, as Allen explains, he and Hanks find ways to delight the fanbase:

Seeing a kid’s face when I say, ‘To infinity… and beyond!’ Tom taught me this trick — we’ll have [kids] shut their eyes and turn around, and then we do Woody and Buzz, and to see the look on their faces.

It’s great to hear just how much the role of Buzz means to Tim Allen, who penned a sentimental message after he wrapped his work on TS5 near the end of last year. Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Rex and co. are great characters and, if the right idea comes along, I’m open to seeing them in a sixth (and hopefully) final installment. At the same time, I’ll also be keeping hope alive for a polished Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck motion picture because, just like the Toy Story crew, they’re timeless.

See Toy Story 5 in theaters now alongside other 2026 movie schedule releases, and stream the first four installments using a Disney+ subscription. That membership also grants access to the Mickey Mouse shorts, which are also worth checking out.

About That Time Marlon Brando Wore An Ice Bucket Hat Since It Was Hot, And It Ended Up In The Movie

Rich Knight — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Well, for today’s cinema spectacular, I want to focus on Marlon Brando in 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau. Also starring Val Kilmer (though nobody would mistake it for one of his best movies), the serendipitous moment in question is when Marlon Brando wore an ice bucket hat on his head because he was hot, and it made it into the movie.

Serendipity, which is also known as “a happy accident,” is something that I’m always quick to point out since it happens so rarely. Usually, serendipitous occasions occur with discoveries, like finding mold in a Petri dish, or learning that two foods go together remarkably well. I always like the moments in films that were initially unintentional but ended up creating movie magic.

It’s so strange, but also so wonderful. Let’s talk.

(Image credit: New Line Cinema)

As You Probably Already Know, Marlon Brando Wasn't The Easiest Person To Work With

If there’s any actor who was notoriously difficult to work with, it was Marlon Brando. From not memorizing his lines in one of Coppola's best movies, The Godfather, to suggesting that he look like a glowing green bagel in Superman, Brando was certainly unique to say the very least, and a terror on set to say the very most.

Well, that notoriety followed him into the already difficult production of The Island of Dr. Moreau, which was a genuine disaster behind the scenes. According to Far Out, Brando is said to not have gotten along with Val Kilmer, like, at all. Not only that, but Brando donned kabuki make-up (which, according to FXGuide, he applied himself), and an ice bucket hat on his head…and he wanted all of this written into the script.

Now, Brando wanted to wear the ice bucket hat simply because it was hot in Queensland, Australia, where filming was going on, and it became an actual prop in the film (and hence, serendipity). In fact, according to SlashFilm, it is said that Brando wanted it to be revealed that his character was a dolphin, which might be why he needed the ice bucket hat in the first place. It's just sheer lunacy.

(Image credit: New Line Cinema)

There Was Also A Notoriously Difficult Production In Extreme Climate

One of the best war movies ever made, Apocalypse Now, is said to have had hellish conditions when it was filmed in the Philippines, but at least Apocalypse Now, which Brando also starred in, only had one director.

The Island of Dr. Moreau, however, infamously had two directors, with the first one, Richard Stanley, unceremoniously ousted early on in production, and John Frankenheimer brought on to replace him. Also interesting: Similar to how Apocalypse Now has a documentary about the troubled production titled Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, The Island of Dr. Moreau also has a documentary, that being Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau.

Doomed is right. The film was originally going to have Bruce Willis, but he declined as he was getting divorced from Demi Moore. So, Val Kilmer was brought on…and he was also served divorce papers. Tragically, Brando’s daughter died by suicide around this time, and it put into question whether he was going to be in the movie. When Brando eventually did come, he was wearing the make-up, a muumuu-esque ceremonial robe, and the ice bucket hat, and he demanded that it be in the film.

With Frankenheimer realizing the mess that he inherited, certain things were probably allowed into the movie that shouldn’t have been…namely, the ice bucket hat. At least it was memorable.

Newest Batman: Part II Villain Rumor Wildly Flips Sebastian Stan And Scarlett Johansson Expectations

Nick Venable — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:11:59 +0000

For a very short while there, it seemed like everyone was on the same page in regards to The Batman: Part II’s villain castings, with Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson and Charles Dance joining the sequel to reportedly play various members of Gotham City’s Dent family. But then direct Matt Reeves went and confirmed the sequel’s cast members without revealing any new characters, which strengthened the emerging speculation that the trio are playing completely different villains.

Now, weeks into filming the new movie, alleged details about Stan, Johansson and Dance’s characters have emerged, and Harvey Dent’s Two-Face is nowhere to be seen, much less his wife and father. Instead, the actors are each reportedly playing completely different villains that tie into past rumors and speculation.

Rumor: Goodbye To Two-Face, Hello To Poison Ivy?

The latest report stems from the DCULeaks subreddit, (via @DCVers0 on X) where a post was shared that was apparently vetted and approved by mods, with some form of additional proof offered for verification purposes, before being taken down for unknown reasons. But what did it say?

With a clarification from the leaker saying that character names were not spoken aloud in their presence, the message essentially purports that The Batman: Part II will be introducing Poison Ivy, Victor Zsasz, and the Court of Owls. Here’s how each is described:

Scarlett Johansson is reportedly Poison Ivy: referred to as "the main villain" and "a serial killer with an obsession with plants" who also "uses toxins" in relation to her villainy.
Sebastian Stan is simply referred to as a "bald serial killer," which does legitimately seem like confirmation that he'll be portraying the sadistic criminal and frequent Arkham resident Victor Zsasz. It's also noted that Batman initially believes Zsasz is the sequel's key troublemaker, but it's actually Ivy.
Meanwhile, Charles Dance is supposedly playing one of Gotham City's upper crust, who "leads a secret organization made up of the city's most powerful figures" while also being targeted by Johansson's character. While his specific identity is harder to guess, it's less difficult to assume that the org being referred to is Gotham's age-old threat, the Court of Owls.

That set of alleged reveals totally throws any and all Two-Face speculation out the window, since Ivy and Zsasz aren't big players in the comics' "Long Halloween" storyline that reportedly had a big influence on the upcoming 2027 movie. Is it possible the movie will completely twist up expectations on the source material, or are Reeves and co-screenwriter Mattson Tomlin shooting for a completely original storyline?

To be fair, Poison Ivy was a villain whose name was in the mix when Scarlett Johansson's casting was first reported, and it's not exactly a stretch to imagine the actress rocking long red hair. As well, recent sightings of Sebastian Stan in hats have sparked speculation that the actor did indeed shave his head for his Batman role. No word on whether or not Charles Dance has been seen training owls or getting his face fitted for an owl mask or anything.

i was certainly looking forward to seeing the two MCU vets portraying Harvey and Gilda Dent for Matt Reeves, but I won't be upset in the slightest to have to swap out the Dents for Pamela Isley and Victor Zsasz. Could just be that green gas that started billowing out of my air conditioner vent, though.

The Batman: Part II is set to hit theaters on October 1, 2027.

Moana Nabs The Top Box Office Spot, But The Biggest Winner Isn't Even In The Top 10

Heidi Venable — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 19:49:20 +0000

Moana sailed to Box Office gold this weekend, with the live-action remake earning $43 million in its first three days on the big screen. That’s way below projections, as the Disney flick competed with the 2026 movie calendar’s other family-friendly fare — Minions & Monsters and Toy Story 5. If we want to talk big wins, we've got to look at a flick that fell out of the Top 10 weeks ago, because this weekend belonged to Michael.

The Michael Jackson biopic starring the King of Pop’s nephew Jaafar Jackson has continued to bring in the bucks — especially overseas — to cross the 10-digit mark with a global box office total of $1,001,691,000, becoming the first biopic ever to surpass $1 billion.

Check out the weekend’s Top 10 movies below, per The Numbers, then we’ll get into what is all means, and of course, Michael’s huge milestone. (* denotes a new release)

Weekend Box Office: July 10-12

TITLE	WEEKEND TOTAL	DOMESTIC TOTAL	LAST WEEK	THEATERS
1. Moana*	$43,000,000	$43,000,000	N/A	3,875
2. Minions & Monsters	$20,500,000	$108,273,000	1	4,244
3. Toy Story 5	$18,500,000	$403,772,720	2	3,575
4. Evil Dead Burn*	$13,700,000	$13,700,000	N/A	3,004
5. Young Washington	$6,447,757	$33,105,849	3	2,771
6. The Invite	$5,721,061	$7,384,507	10	1,610
7. Obsession	$3,800,000	$253,322,000	6	2,069
8. Supergirl	$3,560,000	$66,001,000	4	2,584
9. Disclosure Day	$3,200,000	$111,314,000	5	2,204
10. Backrooms	$1,485,500	$194,197,303	7	1,262

Moana’s Opening Is Second-Worst Of Disney’s Live-Action Remakes — And Barely

Estimates for the live-action remake of Moana — starring Catherine Laga'aia and Dwayne Johnson — were in the $60 million range, with low-end projections around $57 million. The reality is much bleaker at $43 million, and it didn’t get much help from the rest of the world, adding just $52 million for a global three-day total of $95 million.

That’s especially rough considering its hefty $250 million budget, which doesn’t include marketing costs. In fact, it’s the second-worst debut for a Disney live-action remake (and just barely) behind Snow White’s $42 million.

While many fans have expressed that they’re sick of these remakes, the House of Mouse has seen quite a bit of success, with 2016’s The Jungle Book possibly the best of the bunch. Let’s see how Moana’s opening weekend compares with some of the others:

Moana (2026): $43 million
Lilo & Stitch (2025): $146 million
Snow White (2025): $42.2 million
The Little Mermaid (2023): $95.6 million
The Lion King (2019): $191.8 million
Aladdin (2019): $91.5 million
Beauty and the Beast (2017): $174.8 million
The Jungle Book (2016): $103.3 million
Cinderella (2015): $67.9 million

How did Moana's live-action debut compare to its 2016 animated predecessor?

The 2016 animated version of Moana brought in $56.6 million on opening weekend, grossing $684.4 million globally during its theatrical run. Moana 2, the 2024 animated sequel, opened to $139.8 million and ended up bringing in $1.06 billion.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Evil Dead Burn Also Misses The Mark

Like Moana, Evil Dead Burn’s $13.7 million was far lower than projections, which had the movie making around $28 million. That’s somewhat surprising, given that horror has been so popular at the theater this summer, and the sixth offering in the Evil Dead franchise offered counterprogramming for all of the family-friendly fare.

However, critics were split, as some missed the signature Evil Dead humor that made the series so popular decades ago. Did Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore audiences agree with critics for this weekend's new movies?

How Critics And Audiences Scored This Week's New Releases
RANK/TITLE	RT CRITICS	RT AUDIENCES	CINEMASCORE
1. Moana	30%	90%	A-
4. Evil Dead Burn	71%	82%	B

Moana saw a shocking disparity between its reviews and audience opinion, so I guess viewers didn't find the live-action remake as "unnecessary" as the critics.

(Image credit: Annapurna Pictures, A24)

The Invite Climbs Upon Wide Release

While it doesn’t technically count as new, Olivia Wilde’s The Invite drew in $5.7 million in its first weekend in wide release (after two weekends of limited viewing), jumping from No. 10 to No. 6. Critics praised The Invite with a 96% RT score, and audiences seem to agree, giving it 89%.

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Michael Crosses $1 Billion After 12 Weekends

Michael may have fallen out of the Box Office Top 10 in the U.S. and Canada back in June, but it’s continued to see plenty of ticket sales overseas — particularly in Japan, where Michael Jackson was super popular and where Michael saw a later release date of June 12. So, 12 weekends after its initial opening, the film has crossed the $1 billion milestone.

It is just the second movie to break into 10 figures this year, following The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it’s Lionsgate’s first-ever billion-dollar title. This comes weeks after Michael surpassed Bohemian Rhapsody ($911 million) as the highest-grossing music biopic ever and outgained Oppenheimer ($975.8 million) as the overall highest-grossing biopic.

(Image credit: Pixar)

Toy Story 5 Continues Its Climb Toward $1 Billion. Will Minions & Monsters Make It?

From everything we’ve seen and talked about above, it’s hard to argue that families are dominating the theaters right now, with the Top 3 movies all catering to the young ones. After Minions & Monsters’ less-than-ideal opening weekend, it dropped just 45% weekend over weekend, and when you add in its international numbers, it’s earned $280 million so far. It may not be the most successful of the franchise, but with an $85 million budget, nobody’s worried about this title.

The banana-loving blobs can’t seem to shake Toy Story 5, though. Despite the Pixar sequel being released nearly two weeks earlier, it remains on the Minions’ tail, with just $2 million separating the two in the weekend numbers. The global picture isn’t as close, with TS5 well on its way to $1 billion with $879 million worldwide.

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Summer Blockbuster On Deck: The Odyssey

The time has finally come for The Odyssey — Christopher Nolan’s epic follow-up to Oppenheimer — featuring an all-star cast led by Matt Damon’s “insane” abs. OK, OK, I know the man is more than his chiseled midsection. The book-to-screen adaptation is projected to make between $100 million and $110 million, according to Box Office Pro, but after a few weekends of low numbers, I’m wary of the nine digits.

I’m trusting the experts, though, so snatch up your tickets if you’re so inclined, and then check back in with me next Sunday so we can crunch those numbers.

The More I Think About It, I Wish Michael Took A Cue From Another Biopic

Erik Swann — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 18:05:00 +0000

The 2026 movie schedule has yielded some major films thus far, though few have arguably been as successful as Michael. Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic managed to dance around negative reviews and moonwalk its way to box office glory. If I’m being honest, I’m not exactly the biggest fan of the high-grossing flick, but I’ve still been thinking about it. I’ve specifically been thinking about how its structure could’ve been better, and I’m of the belief that it should’ve taken a cue from a certain biopic.

How An Acclaimed Biopic Could’ve Been The Perfect Blueprint For Michael

One of the best biopics I’ve seen is Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, which sports a sharp screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin. Instead of tracking the late Apple co-founder’s life from his birth to his death, Sorkin structures the story so that each act centers on a pivotal moment in Jobs’ life across 14 years. Each third of the 2015 movie sees Jobs preparing for a major press conference, with Act 1 dealing with the reveal of the Macintosh 128K, Act 2 revolving around the NeXT Computer and Act 3 covering the iMac G3 unveiling.

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Steve Jobs wasn’t a hit at the box office, but it was critically acclaimed, with some of that praise aimed at its story structure. I appreciated Sorkin and Boyle’s approach upon my first viewing, too, and, years later, I thought about it again while watching Michael. Yes, Jackson fans seemingly wanted an exhaustive look at the late singer’s life complete with recreations of his iconic music videos and concert performances. But, given how extensive Jackson’s story is, the Jobs approach could’ve been a keen way to get to the core of who he was.

To me, it would’ve made sense to break Michael down by starting with the Jackson 5’s first big TV performance on ABC’s The Hollywood Palace in 1969. The second act could then jump to the year 1984, with the end of the Jacksons’ Victory tour, which marks Michael’s final time touring with his brothers and a definitive show of independence from father Joe. (The tour and father drama is actually included in the movie.) And, finally, the third act could’ve centered on Jackson preparing for his This Is It residency shortly before his death in 2009.

With that structure, the film could’ve theoretically put more emphasis on the relationship between Michael Jackson and his brothers and how those dynamics changed as his stardom surpassed theirs. Audiences would also get to see Michael at three distinct periods in his life, in which he’s a bright-eyed kid, a bona fide superstar and a somewhat weary performer ready to move away from the concert circuit. The final time jump would’ve also helped avoid legal issues with depicting Jackson’s sexual abuse allegations in the ‘90s.

(Image credit: Lionsgate/Glen Wilson)

Is A Michael Sequel Going To Happen?

Lionsgate seems quite pleased with Michael’s performance at the box office and, per execs, a sequel is being explored. This development comes despite the fact that aspects of Jackson’s life can’t be depicted due to legal issues. It was for that reason that the film’s ending needed to be reshot. I’m not sure how that’ll be remedied in a sequel, but it seems the creative team is going to try.

I honestly don’t expect a sequel to break the mold in terms of storytelling structure for a biopic. Despite that, I’m intrigued by how Antoine Fuqua and co. will proceed if given the chance to finish Jackson’s story. Of course, if Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan had gone the Steve Jobs route, this second film wouldn’t even be necessary.

Michael is currently available to buy or rent on digital platforms, and cinephiles can use those same resources to stream Steve Jobs.

Christopher Nolan Had A Classic Response After Odyssey Actors Started ‘Heaving Up Their Breakfasts’ During Filming

Carly Levy — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 17:20:43 +0000

Anyone who knows anything about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey or the epic poem it's adapted from, is likely aware it follows the dangerous journey of Odysseus, who tries to return to his home of Ithaca. To create that adventure for the big screen, Nolan and the crew had to film some massive and wild sequences. In fact, filming got so intense that some actors started “heaving up their breakfasts” during a ship scene, leading Nolan to drop a funny response.

One particularly grueling portion of the film shoot saw the actors being tossed in a longship. Nolan spoke about that experience with The Telegraph and, based on the vomit-based details, it doesn't sound like it was much fun. Nolan, for his part, didn't lose his signature wit even amid those trying times, though. At the time, he apparently asked the following question of cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema:

Excuse me. But would you mind if we get the vomiting on camera?

Such a funny reaction is so on brand for the Inception filmmaker that it hurts (though probably not as much as his actors were hurting in that moment). Seriously, though, it's Nolan's commitment to practical effects over CGI that makes his take on the vessel scene understandable. The man truly commits to his craft, and he expects the same from his collaborators, who he also strives to keep safe amid filming.

To that point, The Odyssey's actors were willing to go all in as well, as Nolan also recalled this other moment from filming his 2026 movie release:

And credit to them. They said, ‘Absolutely, bring it on’. They were really game for it. And that day ended up being fabulous as well as miserable; it yielded some of my favourite shots in the film.

I love how some of the Memento director’s favorite shots now come from that scene. Only a director as gifted as Nolan could channel seasickness into cinematic gold.

The material filmed on that rollercoaster of a vessel wasn’t the only challenge the Odyssey actors had to endure. Its lead, Matt Damon, spoke of the rough conditions he went through while filming, saying every day he was feeling wet, cold and hungry. However, Damon charged through and his since spoken about how grateful he is to have played the role. Calypso actress Charlize Theron also endured 30- to 40-mile-an-hour winds blew sand into her eyes but still stayed in character. And Corey Hawkins (who plays Polybus) had to walk up a mountain on his first day.

Even Nolan described what a “dank” mess it was filming a Cyclops scene in a real cave. But, despite the discomfort, the British filmmaker stood by his artistic choice to provide a true sense of realism to the scene, and it's that level of commitment that makes him one of the best directors of his generation.

Now, I'd like to hear a few actors speak about their recollection of the vomiting on the vessel and Christoper Nolan's A+ response. I'm not sure if they'd look on it so fondly but, given how gung-ho they were about shooting it, I'd imagine they can at least appreciate that they got the material Nolan needed. Now, dare to watch this stellar cast puking it up on a vessel when The Odyssey hits theaters and IMAX on July 17th.

Critics Didn't Hold Back On Moana, But Does The Live-Action Director Read The Takes?

Erik Swann — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 16:04:58 +0000

Moana is the latest live-action Disney remake to hit theaters and, so far, it isn’t quite making waves as the studio would’ve hoped. Early reactions to the film were mostly negative, and that mostly continued when the formal reviews were released shortly after. Reports also point to the film having a tepid opening weekend at the box office. As of this writing, none of the cast or crew have formally responded to the less-than-positive responses to the movie. Before all that, though, the director did weigh in on reading reviews in general.

Thomas Kail is Moana’s director and, over the last several months, he’s spoken enthusiastically about his remake of the beloved animated 2016 film. While doing press for the fantasy flick, Kail spoke to Variety and was asked for his take on reading reviews of his work. What needs to be pointed out is that it’s unclear whether the Hamilton helmer shared his thoughts before he caught wind of the reactions to his 2026 movie schedule entry. Regardless, his perspective on film criticism is quite level-headed:

I get the gist of things. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I learned early on that getting a sense of a conversation was enough for me. I want as many people as possible to watch the movie, and I love making things for people. If that can be a tool to get people to watch it, great. But I also feel like there’s lots of ways to reach the people.

So Kail is definitely aware of the critics’ reviews and seems to get a general idea of how they’re feeling. However, it sounds like he doesn’t dwell on the responses regardless of how they shake out. That’s probably a smart way to approach the critiques, as a filmmaker may not want to get in their head about them, whether they’re good or bad. I like the idea of a director just releasing their movie into the wild and simply allowing audiences to take it for what they perceive it to be.

As far as the live-action Moana movie goes, pundits haven’t been kind, with many referring to the remake as “unnecessary.” As it stands, the movie has a 34% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, but a 90% audience score on the site as well. There has been praise for the performance of lead actress Catherine Laga'aia, her chemistry with returning Maui actor Dwayne Johnson and the film’s songs. However, the consensus seems to be that the new movie pales in comparison to its critically acclaimed predecessor.

Something that a number of Disney fans have seemingly questioned is whether it was necessary to make a live-action Moana movie a little less than a decade after the OG flick. Andrew Cripps, Walt Disney Studios’ Head Of Theatrical Distribution, addressed that and argued that due to the film’s large fanbase, the studio wasn’t risking saturation. Ahead of that, Kail also admitted to be cognizant of how the OG film “is in people’s molecules” at this point, but he still felt he could put a fresh spin on the story.

(Image credit: Disney)

Likewise, Dwayne Johnson has also pushed back against the notion of this remake having been produced too early. This was something of a passion project for Johnson, who took extreme care (alongside Kail) in making sure that the franchise’s authentic approach to Polynesian culture remained intact.

It now remains to be seen whether Thomas Kail might feel compelled to give a formal response to the Moana reviews. However, if he stands by his rationale on film criticism, the public probably shouldn’t expect him to do that. For now, though, audiences can make up their own mind on the movie by checking it out in theaters. Anyone with a Disney+ subscription can also stream the 2016 movie along with its 2024 sequel.

I Thought Avengers: Doomsday Was Gonna Be The Big Heroes Team-Up, But I’m Intrigued By Kevin Feige’s Florence Pugh Comments

Ryan LaBee — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 14:18:42 +0000

I had been thinking about the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as the next massive Marvel roll call. You know the deal: heroes from all corners of the MCU multiverse, the Fantastic Four, returning legacy names, Doctor Doom chaos stirring things up, and so many heroes it could feel a little crowded. But producer Kevin Feige just made me much more interested in the upcoming Marvel movie, thanks to his comments about Florence Pugh’s Thunderbolts* character, Yelena Belova.

During Feige’s appearance at BiliBili World in Shanghai, via Entertainment Weekly, the Marvel Studios boss teased what is coming for Pugh’s fan-favorite former assassin on the 2026 movie schedule. While talking about Yelena’s MCU future, Feige made it clear she will not just be hanging around in the background of the next Avengers movie. He said:

If you’re a fan of Yelena, wait until Avengers: Doomsday. Yelena plays a big part in that. But if you don’t want to wait until then, you might see Yelena a little bit sooner in the movies.

That is the kind of Feige tease that immediately sends Marvel fans like me into detective mode. The obvious part is Doomsday. Yelena playing a “big part” in the next Avengers movie makes sense after everything Marvel has been building with her and how Thunderbolts* ended. Since her debut in Black Widow, Pugh has turned Yelena into one of the MCU’s most reliable newer characters, bringing dry humor, emotional baggage and a very specific “I could kill you, but I’m hungry” energy to every appearance.

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The more interesting part is Feige saying we might see Yelena “a little bit sooner in the movies.” Unless Marvel is holding back another theatrical surprise, that seems to point toward the soon-to-be-released Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which hits theaters nearly six months before Avengers: Doomsday. And, honestly, Yelena crossing paths with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is just odd enough to have my attention.

At first, Peter and Yelena do not sound like an obvious pairing. Peter is still dealing with the fallout from No Way Home, where everyone forgot Peter Parker existed. Yelena is a trained killer with a sharp tongue and very little patience for nonsense. But Brand New Day already seems interested in unusual combinations, especially with the Punisher and Hulk appearing in the movie. If those characters can fit into Peter’s world, Yelena does not feel like much of a stretch.

The team-up of characters is also not as strange as it might sound, because to anyone with a Disney+ subscription who has already watched Hawkeye and seen Yelena work in a more family-friendly Marvel story. She brought a sharper edge to that show, but she never felt out of place or as if she were pulling it into a completely different tone.

From a bigger MCU standpoint, it makes sense too. Avengers: Doomsday is going to be huge and, if Yelena really has a major role in it, Marvel may want to remind audiences where she is before that movie arrives. A smaller appearance beforehand could give her story some momentum and make her role in the next Avengers film feel less sudden.

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That is especially important because Yelena is not just another name on the team sheet. Pugh has been one of Marvel’s strongest additions in the post-Endgame era, and the MCU could use more characters who feel specific rather than interchangeable. So, yes, Avengers: Doomsday is still the big heroes team-up. That is clearly the main event. But Feige’s comments have me watching the road to that movie more closely, because Yelena may be more important to this phase than I expected.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which could possibly feature Yelena, hits theaters July 31. As for Avengers: Doomsday, where we know she is confirmed to appear in the stacked cast, that arrives in theaters Dec. 18.

I Never Knew Harry Potter's Luna Lovegood Actress Made A Cool BTS Contribution To Her Character

Carly Levy — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 13:05:19 +0000

One of the best additions to the Harry Potter film cast came in 2007's Order of the Phoenix, as the franchise introduced Luna Lovegood on the big screen. Played by Evanna Lynch, the Hufflepuff student was a side character who truly came through for Harry when he was dealing with personal trauma. Lynch's portrayal of Luna is still widely loved, and she apparently put a lot of work into it. As a matter of fact, I just found out the Irish actress made a cool BTS contribution to her character, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Luna Lovegood doesn't have a lot of screen time in the Potter movies. But we still got to know her zany nature not only through her knowledge of nargals and wrackspurts, but through her wardrobe. Whether she’s wearing a giant lion-topped hat or a pair of Spectrespecs, the Hogwarts student has got a rather unique style that she’s not ashamed of. I love her fashion, so I was delighted to learn that Lynch helped craft the outfits. Harry Potter costume designer Jany Temime recalled this during an episode of the franchise’s official podcast as shared on Instagram:

I love Luna and her dad, and I get so many questions about Luna and her clothes and what she wears. [Lynch] had a quality, which made her costume very easy. You know, she was making herself all this jewelry, with the radishes and the carrots and the thing. And then she brought them, and I said, ‘Of course, you’re going to wear them. I mean, everybody wears a carrot around their ears. It’s no problem.’

I love that! What especially impresses me is that Evanna Lynch made those kooky earrings, as they’re truly very fitting for the character’s lovably bizarre nature. I mean, it’s not every day you see a girl sport vegetable-like accessories. But, of course, now those accessories have become iconic. And, aside from the jewelry, Lynch -- appeared in the final four Harry Potter movies -- provided another quintessential piece for Luna. As Temime explained:

She was really happy to be contributing to her costumes. You know, she did a mask, a lion mask and helped with that. She was a very creative little girl, and her costumes were very, very organic because of that — because of that kid, which was extraordinary.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Hold the phone — Lynch created the lion mask?! My mind continues to be blown. Clearly, the young actress deserved a co-costume designer credit.

Lynch was truly born to play Luna. Before being cast, she was already a die-hard fan of the books, she even sent fan mail to Daniel Radcliffe. Lynch previously admitted, that after landed the role, she sought perfection during filming and tried to nail every line and movement. But, after seeing co-stars Helena Bonham Carter and Jason Isaacs goofing around in the midst of serious scenes, she knew she’d be fine.

It's amazing that even years after the Harry Potter movie series ended, there are still plenty of sweet behind-the-scenes facts to learn. These comments about Evanna Lynch also speak to the keen collaborations the cast and crew had as they brought the Wizarding World to laugh. Moving forward, when I watch Lynch's performance, I'll have an even greater appreciation for her work.

You can watch Luna Lovegood and the rest of your favorite Harry Potter characters by streaming the movies with a Peacock subscription or an HBO Max subscription.

I Love Horror, But Nothing Prepared Me For Body Horror From Martin Scorsese

Rich Knight — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 11:05:00 +0000

Did you know that Martin Scorsese once made a horror movie? I mean, it’s okay to admit that you didn’t, because I certainly didn’t until recently, and I thought I’d seen all of Scorsese’s movies, from the ‘60s all the way up to current day.

However, that’s not fair, since the “horror movie” I’m referring to isn’t an actual “movie,” per se, but rather a short titled The Big Shave, which came out in 1967, the same year as his feature-length debut, Who’s That Knocking at My Door?

That said, The Big Shave is definitely horror, albeit only six minutes in length, and one that I would put up there with the best body horror movies of all time. Here’s why.

(Image credit: New York University's Tisch School of the Arts)

I Love Horror, But I Simply Could Not Watch This Short All The Way Through Without Turning My Head

I’ve seen most of the best horror movies ever made, and a vast majority of them don’t scare me. I mean, I LIKE them, but it’s not like they make me cover my eyes or turn my head (I’m talking about the ones that I can actually watch, that is. Some I can’t).

I could not sit through The Big Shave without turning my head, which I must say, is the highest compliment for somebody who regularly watches horror. In short, a man (Peter Bernuth) goes into the bathroom and simply shaves himself. All the while, Bunny Berigan’s “I Can’t Get Started” plays throughout. That’s it.

However, that’s not quite it. Because even though the silent protagonist shaves himself just fine at first, he keeps shaving…and shaving…and shaving! There’s a little bit of blood at first…then more blood…then even more blood, until he just starts shaving off his skin. And by the halfway point, I was just like, “Stop! Stop!” which I guess was the point, given what the film has been interpreted to actually be about…

(Image credit: New York University's Tisch School of the Arts)

Some Say It's Meant To Be Allegorical For Vietnam

The Big Shave is also known as Viet ‘67, and ahhh. NOW The Big Shave makes a bit more sense. At its heart, the short is about pointless self-mutilation, and it seems that Scorsese was making a point about America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and how we were futilely hurting ourselves by engaging in the conflict.

In that way, even though nobody would mistake this short of a man shaving in his bathroom as a war movie, it actually very much could be interpreted as one, just as Godzilla can be interpreted as an allegory for the atom bomb.

So, yeah, Scorsese directed both a body horror short and an anti-war short, all in one shot. Amazing stuff!

(Image credit: New York University's Tisch School of the Arts)

Honestly, Try To Watch It For Yourself. I Dare You. See How Long You Make It

So, now, I have a challenge for you. I want you to WATCH The Big Shave for yourself and see how long you can last. Yes, I’m definitely hyping this film up, and you might watch it and think, This Rich Knight guy was just farming for clicks.

I’m being dead serious. Because as somebody who has actually cut himself shaving (I’m pretty sure all males have done it at some point), the genuine terror of REALLY hurting yourself is palpable. And just the idea of cutting yourself until you’re a bloody mess is nightmare fuel.

So, even though this is also technically a silent movie, it’s one of the most effective silent/body horror/anti-war short films you’ll ever watch. So, give it a try, and let me know your thoughts!

We Don’t Talk Enough About How Jennifer Lawrence’s Hunger Games Role Impacted The Action Genre, So I Love That Maya Hawke Did

Sarah El-Mahmoud — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 23:06:00 +0000

I’ll never forget my first time seeing The Hunger Games in theaters. I was 16, the exact same age Katniss Everdeen is in the dystopian thriller. And while I wasn’t thinking about it too much at the time, in 2012 it was rare to see a young woman lead a massive action film and feel as human as Jennifer Lawrence made her. But Maya Hawke just talked about it ahead of her Hunger Games debut on the 2026 movie calendar, and I’m so happy she did.

Hawke is best known for voicing Anxiety in Inside Out 2 and playing Robin in Stranger Things – a role that actually makes her more famous than her dad, Ethan Hawke, in some circles. Here’s what she had to say about her personal connection to the book-to-movie adaptations as we get ready to see her in Sunrise on the Reaping:

I credit the original Hunger Games movie a lot with inspiring me to want to be an actor, honestly.

In a new interview with People, Hawke had high praise for the franchise. As she added regarding Jennifer Lawrence’s performance specifically:

It’s so hard to give a good performance in a big action movie [because] so many pieces in the machine are usually working against the capacity to give a good performance… In those movies, she gave a performance so singularly excellent and weird, and she painted a true individual that was not at all neutralized by the genre.

This is so true. JLaw’s role as Katniss Everdeen really raised the bar for what heroines could be in big movies, and it was really inspiring to a young Maya Hawke. The actress is just two years younger than me, so she must have had a similar experience seeing those movies come out from 2012 to 2015 and watching how they changed the game for what could be possible.

I find it interesting to hear this from Maya Hawke considering her mom is Uma Thurman, who’s an action legend in her own right. Thurman flexed some major action hero chops in the likes of Kill Bill and Batman & Robin, but one could certainly argue those roles were more reflective of the 1990s and 2000s, and The Hunger Games offered something new to the genre.

(Image credit: Lionsgate)

While Maya Hawke admitted her role as Wiress in Sunrise on the Reaping is “very small”, getting to be in the new Hunger Games has to be a cool full-circle moment for her. She said she loves her role as Wiress, and she’s very “excited to get to see the movie and to be a fan.” Plus, Hawke had the chance to work with director Francis Lawrence, who also helmed Catching Fire, both Mockingjay movies, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as well.

Oh, and if the report that JLaw and Josh Hutcherson are in Sunrise on the Reaping is true, Hawke and Lawrence might even be in the same Hunger Games movie. We’ll find out once the new movie comes out on November 20. Until then, you can watch all the Hunger Games movies with a Netflix subscription starting July 15 and revisit them in theaters this September.

The Reminders Of Him Cast Had Frequent Taylor Swift Dance Parties, And I Love How It Got Started

Sarah El-Mahmoud — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 22:06:00 +0000

I watch so many movies that only a select few get me misty-eyed, but one of the 2026 movie releases that really gets me there is Reminders Of Him. The film -- based on a novel by Colleen Hoover -- had me emotional over the journey Maika Monroe’s Kenna goes on after re-entering the real world in the aftermath of a six-year prison stint. Adding to the drama is the fact that Maika has never even met her own daughter due to her jail time. It’s a dramatic premise, but when I talked to the cast, I learned that Taylor Swift's music added some sweet vibes behind the scenes.

If you’ve seen Reminders Of Him already, I don’t have to tell you how adorable the child actor in the movie is. And, according to lead actress Maika Monroe, Zoe Kosovic really livened things up for everyone, too. In her words:

She quite literally was a bright light on set. She loved Taylor Swift, so we'd have Taylor Swift dance parties every time she was there.

While I’d expect such a book-to-screen adaptation to have a more somber set, that wasn’t the case. thanks to the actress who played Kenna’s daughter, Diem. As a big Swiftie, she got the cast dancing around to her music, which sounds like a great on-set ritual. She also got especially close to the actor who played Ledger, Tyriq Withers. Monroe said the pair were “besties,"and Withers added this during our interview with them:

She didn't know my name. It was not Tyriq. It is Ledger…It's still Ledger.

Given the child actor is just six years old, it’s certainly understandable she might get the actors’ names and characters mixed up, but hearing about it just makes you want to go “awww!” Check out the two actors -- who play out Reminders Of Him's main romance -- gush about Kosovic in the video below:

A post shared by CinemaBlend (@cinemablend)
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It sounds like the young actor really brightened up everyone’s day when she was on set in an otherwise serious film. Lauren Graham, who plays Grace, Diem’s grandma, also says this:

It's kind of unbelievable that she exists, and is very lovely and a sweet kid, but like, so excited and so happy to be there. And, she got sad at the end of the day. It was like ‘We gotta go home.’ And she was like, ‘No, I love it.’ And I had scenes with her in the car and we'd be there for long periods of time and she never complained.

In Reminders Of Him, Kenna returns to her hometown, after pleading guilty for vehicular manslaughter in the wake of her boyfriend, Scotty, dying in a car accident. While Scotty's parents and Diem's grandparents won’t let Kenna meet her daughter, Scotty’s best friend, Ledger, starts to get to know Kenna and realizes she might not be the criminal she's been painted as.

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Reminders of Him may have left critics calling it “predictable,” it was a crowd-pleaser when it came out earlier this year. And, if you’ve seen the film, you know how emotional the ending gets. I love the cast's behind-the-scenes stories about the making of this Hoover adaptation and, now, I’m eager to start a Taylor Swift dance party of my own.

I'm Shook After The Princess Diaries' Author Reveals Reason For Killing Mia's Dad In The Movie

Sarah El-Mahmoud — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 21:15:25 +0000

The Princess Diaries’ Mia Thermopolis may not be an official Disney Princess, but she certainly shares one popular thing many of them sadly have: a dead parent. But I just learned that Mia’s dad is very much alive in The Princess Diaries books. When it came to Meg Cabot's novels being turned into a movie from Walt Disney Pictures, the producers had a big reason for why they felt Mia's dad needed to be dead, and what a revelation!

Why are the characters in Disney movies always without parents? When it came to Cabot’s The Princess Diaries books, she had no intention of following that trend and leaving Mia without a father. However, here's why the storyline changed for the 2001 movie, per Cabot:

They actually called me, and they go, ‘Well, we have some bad news; we have to kill the dad in your book.’ And I was like, ‘Why? What did he do?’ They go, ‘Well, we have an actress that we want to play the grandmother, and she’s a really great actress, and she hasn’t done anything in a while, and we really want to give her more lines. So we’re going to kill the dad and give this actress the dead dad lines.’

If you’re a reader who follows along with all the book-to-screen adaptations, you know that changes between the book and movie are inevitable. A film script just doesn’t have the kind of time to get into as much detail as a novel can, and characters being combined into one role is common. As Cabot also said in a new interview with CBS Mornings:

So I said, ‘Well, who’s the actress?’ And they said, ‘Julie Andrews.’ I said, ‘Kill the dad. Bye dad! It’s Julie, you’re out.’

So, I’m never looking at The Princess Diaries movies the same again whenever I watch them with my Disney+ subscription. While it’s kind of sad that the studio felt they needed to give Mia a darker backstory, they also had a really good reason for it: Julie Andrews. And all they had to say was her name for Cabot to get on board, too.

(Image credit: Walt Disney Pictures )

When Julie Andrews was approached for The Princess Diaries, it became her first Disney film since 1964’s Mary Poppins; it was also a big deal because she only worked on six projects during the '90s. And, four years prior to signing on for The Princess Diaries, Andrews actually had surgery to remove a non-cancerous lesion on her vocal cords that ended up leaving her without the four-octave soprano range she once had.

Ultimately, Walt Disney Pictures made a good decision to give Andrews the bigger role as Queen Clarisse rather than balancing the characters of Mia’s grandma and dad in one movie. But, wow!

Cabot just released a graphic novel version of her classic middle-grade novel as we look forward to the third Princess Diaries movie that's currently in development. Cabot also recently said The Princess Diaries 3 script is “amazing,” and she’s “so excited” for it.

I'm also hyped after hearing that it's going to be shot in Europe and be a “wish fulfillment movie for queens” per the director's most recent update about it in May. Right now, the star of The Princess Diaries movies, Anne Hathaway, is booked and busy on her third press tour of the year, The Odyssey. (She's the lead of five 2026 movies). So, it's unclear when exactly production will begin on The Princess Diaries 3. However, we do know that it's being actively worked on.

I felt like Mia Thermopolis when she learned she was a princess when coming across this story of Mia's dead dad's origins, and I will feel that way again when my burning questions about The Princess Diaries 3 are answered. While we wait, you can grab The Princess Diaries graphic novel on Amazon and see Hathaway in The Odyssey when it hits theaters on July 17.

I Watched Independence Day With A Zoomer Who Had Never Seen It. Her Reactions Were Maddening

Corey Chichizola — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Roland Emmerich's 1996 movie Independence Day is a truly iconic movie and is arguably one of the best sci-fi movies from the '90s. That film (which is streaming with a Hulu subscription) is regularly re-watched to this day, particularly during the Fourth of July season. I recently did just that over the Holiday Weekend, and was shocked when my Gen Z sister-in-law was not only not a fan... but actively made fun of the movie throughout our watch.

Independence Day just turned 30, and remains a vital part of the pop culture landscape despite how many years have passed. So when it rained one morning during the Fourth of July weekend at a friend's lake house, I made the suggestion that we put on the beloved blockbuster. And while the millennials and Gen X-ers in the room loved re-watching that acclaimed movie, my Zoomer sister-in-law did not have the same reaction.

I Was Shocked My Sister-In-Law Made Fun Of Independence Day

While I unironically decided to re-watch Independence Day, my sister-in-law started poking fun at it pretty immediately. She picked apart some of the movie's logic, such as the way Vivica A. Fox's Jasmine was able to save herself (and her son and dog) by hiding in a tunnel inspection alcove as Los Angeles was destroyed. She also laughed at how many cars were shown flying through the air as a result of the UFO's destructive beams.

I got defensive when she started making fun of Bill Pullman's performance as President Thomas J. Whitmore. He's typically a fan favorite character, with Whitmore's titular speech being one of the most iconic moments in the entire movie. But she thought he kept mogging throughout his scenes, whether or not he was actually the focus. It's not the actor's fault that he was so handsome during the movie! I mean, I could say the same for Jeff Goldblum, who looks truly incredible as David Levinson.

(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

While I could understand some of my sister-in-law's points, I also found myself defending Emmerich's movie throughout the re-watch on Hulu. The title was universally acclaimed upon its release, and I maintain that it holds up well all these years later. What's more, BTS information about Independence Day is still trickling out to this day.

Now if she wanted to poke holes in the sequel Resurgence, that would have been a different story entirely. The long-awaited Independence Day sequel's reviews were poor upon its release, mostly because it failed to reach the same level as its predecessor. Although clearly the 1996 original isn't for everyone. Regardless, I can't stop, won't stop defending its quality.

Both Independence Day and Resurgence are streaming now on Hulu. We'll just have to wait and see if more Zoomers feel similarly when it's annually rewatched next year.

The Funny Spider-Man Movie Line Zendaya Quotes To Tom Holland ‘A Lot’

Riley Utley — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:56:12 +0000

There’s one very famous and serious quote associated with Spider-Man that always comes up (you know what I’m talking about). However, the Spider-Man movies are packed with very funny lines too that are also worth quoting. In fact, there’s one line from Spider-Man: Homecoming that Zendaya says to Tom Holland “a lot” that’s hilarious.

So, as Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon promote Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s release on the 2026 movie schedule, they were asked about movie quotes they use in their everyday lives during an interview with BBC Radio 1. In response, the Challengers star recalled a funny line Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark says in the trio's first Spider-Man movie:

I do sometimes. Well, you're going to be like, ‘No, you don't.’ But sometimes I do, ‘You really screwed the pooch on that one.’ I just think that’s so funny.

While The Drama star claimed Holland wouldn’t agree with her, he actually did, confirming that she does “say that a lot.”

I get why it’s stuck with them, too. Not only is it a memorable line in Spider-Man: Homecoming, it’s actually said multiple times by Tony Stark (which you can witness by watching the movie with a Disney+ subscription). He says it once right after the whole debacle with the Staten Island Ferry, telling Peter:

Previously on Peter screws the pooch…

He also says it at the very end of the movie, after Peter defeated The Vulture. Both complimenting the boy’s actions and reprimanding him, Robert Downey Jr.’s character said:

You screwed the pooch hard. Big time. But then you did the right thing: you took the dog to the free clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies... alright, not my best analogy.

(Image credit: Marvel)

While it’s considered one of Tony Stark’s funniest lines, and it’s easily one of the sillier MCU quotes, it is admittedly an odd statement. That’s something Zendaya, Holland and Jacob Batalon joked about too, as they spoke about how it doesn’t make much sense, but it totally works in the movie:

Zendaya: I think that was just like—what?
Jacob Batalon: I think that’s just a bad white guy thing to say.
Tom Holland: Again, not written. I remember walking down the thing, and he said that. And I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Zendaya: [I don’t know] what that means, but it’s great.

I totally see what they’re saying; it is an odd thing to say. However, it’s also not that uncommon, and it’s used often when people mess up big time or embarrass themselves, which Peter did on a few occasions in Homecoming.

Now, if you’ve seen the Marvel movies in order, you know how quotable they are. And personally, Homecoming is one of my favorites to quote. It’s awesome that Zendaya does that too, and I love that the line she references most is this hilarious one that’s said by Robert Downey Jr.

Overall, this whole discussion made me want to rewatch Homecoming. However, it also made me even more excited for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, because I’m sure it will be full of great one-liners, just like the other three Holland-led Spidey films are. So, to see if that’s the case, you can see this trio's fourth Spider-Man movie in theaters on July 31.

Christopher Nolan Invokes The Dark Knight Trilogy While Discussing The Odyssey Backlash

Carly Levy — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 20:21:42 +0000

With Christopher Nolan adapting Homer’s The Odyssey into a big-budget, IMAX-filmed movie, it was probably a given that people would nitpick the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation. After all, the source material is one of the most studied and analyzed works in literature. Nolan himself is aware of the comments people have been sharing across social media. With that, while discussing his 2026 movie release, he made some points about his Dark Knight Trilogy, which I agree with.

In terms of backlash, the final trailer for The Odyssey received 600,000 dislikes on YouTube. Businessman Elon Musk and social media users have critiqued the film for a lack of Greek representation. They've also taken issue with Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o being cast as Helen of Troy/Clytemnestra, transgender actor Elliot Page playing Sinon and rapper Travis Scott portraying a bard. With the film set in Ancient Greece, there was also criticism towards its historical inaccuracies, such as the use of the Viking longship, modern dialect and the use of American accents.

While speaking with The Telegraph, Nolan got real about knowing from the get-go that there would be criticism of how he adapted a 2,800-year-old piece of literate. Yet the Oscar winner also explained why he wouldn't pay the critiques any mind:

Comes with the territory. But look, these conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet.

The Oppenheimer director makes an excellent point. As the film has yet to be released, audiences may want to abide by the common expression of “don’t judge a book by its cover.”

While it may appear rough for Christopher Nolan to have to endure early criticism of The Odyssey, this wouldn’t be the first time he’s had to deal with this from a book adaptation. For the Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan faced similar backlash when adapting Batman, and he explained what he learned from that experience:

But remember, I spent 10 years of my life dealing with Batman. When I came on to Batman Begins, writers and artists had been working on this beloved character for almost 65 years, and a lot of freighted thoughts were out there about what he represents. And what I learnt over my time on that trilogy is you can’t worry about any of that at all. What you have to do is honour the original text by interpreting it in the strongest way you personally can.

Up to that point, portrayals of Batman were either campy and bright like that of the 1960s TV series or more gothic via the Tim Burton movies. The beloved comic book character went back to camp again in Batman Forever and the panned box office sequel Batman & Robin, which got a lot of hate from critics. So, needless to say, Nolan was just the latest person to put their spin on the Caped Crusader.

As Nolan stated during his interview, he didn't pay much attention to the chatter and simply decided to make the best movies he could. With that, he made an incredible interpretation of the DC Comics character by adding realism to Gotham City and by diving into the depths of Bruce Wayne's psyche. And, even though heartthrob Heath Ledger getting cast as Joker got initial backlash, he ended up being one of the best portrayals of the famed antagonist and a true standout of The Dark Knight. So it's understandable as to why Nolan has developed such a healthy approach to varying fandoms:

In the end, fans of the property – even when we were doing something that was not what they would have done – enjoyed the sincerity of the attempt to put as good a version of it on screen as we could. All I can do is make the best film I possibly can in the most sincere way. It’s very different from how anyone else would do it, but that’s what adaptation is.

Nolan actually said it was actually through the comic book trilogy that helped him make The Odyssey by doing his best to make a “sincere” interpretation of fan-favorite, well-known characters. I'd like to think that approach paid off, at least based on the positive early reactions Odyssey has garnered thus far.

All in all, if commentators are already being skeptical of The Odyssey’s modern tweaks, they ought to look to The Dark Knight trilogy as an example that Christopher Nolan knows how to adapt material quite well. The man is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of our time, and I'd definitely argue that, at this point, he's earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his work.

Check out Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of Homer’s epic poem when The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17th.

Dwayne Johnson Snagged A Great Prop From The Jumanji 4 Set (And I’m So Jealous)

Emma Lambiaso — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 19:22:00 +0000

There are some huge blockbusters set to release on the 2026 movie schedule, but the one I’m most excited for, Jumanji: Open World, isn’t slated to hit theaters until December 25. As a huge fan of the rebooted Jumanji franchise, I am so excited that all the main players, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Kevin Hart, are returning for one final mission. As it turns out, The Rock had a final mission of his own, snagging an incredible prop from the Jumanji 4 set, and I’m so jealous.

As the third and final sequel to the classic ‘90s family movie, Jumanji: Open World knew it had to pay tribute to the original starring Robin Williams, which is available to stream with a Netflix subscription. Upon wrapping production on this latest installment, The Smashing Machine actor shared a picture of the core four to Instagram, dedicating the franchise finale to Williams. As a longtime admirer of the legendary comedian, Johnson told People he also took a physical souvenir from set to remember his time with the iconic franchise:

The last prop that I took from set was the dice that I wore in Jumanji 3. That is one half of a pair of dice that they used in the original, OG Jumanji.

On the first day of production for Jumanji: Open World, Johnson shared with fans on Instagram something new added to his character’s wardrobe: a leather necklace featuring the special prop from the original 1995 film. The Moana actor, wanting to honor Williams in some way, had gone to costume designer Laura Jean Shannon, and together they came up with the idea to use the original dice. The Rock shared the prop’s special significance, too:

There’s a big scene where the dice are slow rolling, and it’s slow motion and it’s so dramatic. One half of those dice — Die? Dice? — my character wears in the film. And I took that home. Props, they’re always amazing, but you gotta give that shit back.

There’s no way they let him keep the die, right? It’s more than a prop–these dice are pieces of cinematic history. Here’s the iconic Jumanji scene in question:

Apparently, after they wrapped filming, producers asked the San Andreas actor if he had the necklace with the die, and he told a white lie and totally just brushed them off. I have no idea why he is saying anything now. He had gotten away with it!

While I know this custom necklace is Johnson’s way of honoring the Dead Poets Society actor’s legacy, I can’t help but wonder if the talisman will play a role in this final chapter of Jumanji.

Already, with the reveal of its title, Open World, Jumanji 4 is shaping up to follow in the original film’s footsteps. In all the sequels thus far, different people have been sucked into the world of Jumanji, becoming Dr. Bravestone (Johnson), Ruby Roundhouse (Gillan), Mouse (Hart), and Professor Oberon (Black), among others. But the jungle of Jumanji has yet to seep into the real world, as it did in the 1995 classic, and this upcoming title suggests it finally might. So I kind of hope there is some secret meaning behind the dice returning, and that it will play into a very full-circle moment for the franchise.

The most recent film, Jumanji: The Next Level, is available to stream now with a Hulu subscription, so be sure to brush up on your Jumanji lore! All will be revealed Christmas Day as the saga comes to a close.

Of Course, JLo Rocked Show-Stopping, Sheer Gowns To Celebrate Her Birthday In Paris

Sarah El-Mahmoud — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 18:42:19 +0000

As of late, Jennifer Lopez has been enjoying the single life and getting ready to be an empty nester… so, obviously, the best way to celebrate another year around the sun is by being fabulous in Paris with the gals! After JLo rocked a dreamy number to Paris Fashion Week, I’m in awe of the gorgeous (and sheer) dresses she wore while celebrating her birthday early in the City of Love.

JLo Posted About Three Stunning Gowns She Wore In Paris

Lopez doesn’t turn 57 until later this month on July 24, but when you’re in Paris, why not get the party started? Check out the pretty ensembles she had on while out on the town with her sister and girlfriends:

A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo)
A photo posted by on

Obsessed… but JLo has such amazing fashion sense that I’m not surprised my jaw has dropped, yet again. The first picture shows her wearing a white sculptural haute couture gown designed by French couturier Stéphane Rolland. Her giggling as she spins in it (in slide 4) is exactly the kind of energy I’d expect from wearing the fun piece.

And that Zuhair Murad nude gown with crystals all over it? JLo was born to wear that. Lopez also looked great in a sultry black sheer number from Tamara Ralph as she posed for Eiffel Tower pics. It’s the ultimate lavish dress for going out in Paris, and it was definitely made even more show-stopping by the tons of jewels around her neck.

Overall, these outfits fit right in with the singer's style. JLo has loved showing off her body in sheer dresses for occasions like her appearance at the 2026 Golden Globes or the 2024 Met Gala. So, obviously, she had to pull out all the stops for her birthday too.

How Her Early Birthday Celebration Went

But what exactly did she do while out in Paris? Per People, JLo and her crew dined at an Italian place called Siena before the pop star and actress was surprised with a birthday cake. An insider source shared this about the evening:

Jennifer was beaming all night. She looked absolutely stunning. You could tell that she was enjoying every moment. The group dined on Mediterranean cuisine before the restaurant surprised Jennifer with a Chantilly-style birthday cake made with fresh berries and torched meringue. Birthday sparklers lit up the cake as friends and fellow diners sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ Jennifer even shared slices of the birthday cake with nearby diners.

Since Jennifer Lopez’s “baby sister” Lynda just turned 55 about a month ago, it sounds like the Lopez sisters were also celebrating each other while in beautiful Paris together. The source also said this:

After dinner, the atmosphere shifted into a late-night scene with live music and Jennifer got up to dance. It looked like the perfect way to kick off her birthday celebrations.

According to another source, JLo has been having a “wonderful week in Paris” and is “enjoying the summer in Europe.”

And she deserves all this celebration and fun too. Last month, JLo’s rom-com Office Romance was a No. 1 hit on Netflix. Meanwhile, in her personal life, she can also celebrate her twins Max and Emme both recently graduating high school and earning scholarships to continue their education, and her positive mindset on breakups after ending things with Ben Affleck back in 2024.

So, with all that said, let's wish an early happy birthday to the ever-stylish JLo! We can’t wait to see how else she celebrates throughout the month.

People Are Mad About The Odyssey, But It's Not Bothering Me

Hugh Scott — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 18:05:00 +0000

Christopher Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey, is still a few days away from hitting the 2026 movie schedule, but for months it's been in the firing line for angry people on the internet. I know it’s best to stay out of the comment section, but sometimes I can’t help myself. It doesn’t take long when I do dip my toes in to see some of the major complaints that people have even before seeing the movie. I have to say, none of these are concerns of mine. I remain highly optimistic about this epic that is about to unfold for all of us seeing the movie next week.

(Image credit: Universal)

The Casting Seems To Be The Focus Of Many Commenters’ Ire

There is no question that Nolan has assembled one heck of a cast. Matt Damon leads the movie as Odysseus. Anne Hathaway is playing his wife, Penelope. Tom Holland is playing Telemachus, his son. Joining them, we’ve got stars like Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Samantha Morton (who has apparently killed it with her performance), and Jon Bernthal, along with many others. It’s stacked. There are two or three cast members who have some people upset, and it makes no sense.

Lupita Nyong'o (Helen of Troy), John Leguizamo (Eumaeus), and Elliot Page (Sinon) have drawn the most wrath, and Travis Scott (playing a bard) has also taken some shots. Of course, it’s easy to see why these four have been in the firing line, and frankly, I think it’s all silly (and offensive, of course). The Odyssey is a myth. It’s not history. Historical accuracy should take a backseat to storytelling in this case. Helen of Troy wasn’t a real person, so why does it matter if the actress playing the character doesn’t look Greek or Spartan? Nyong'o certainly fits the description of being beautiful, and she is one of the most talented actresses in the world. That’s by far enough for me.

(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

The Accents, Armor, And Ships Are Also Popular Complaints

The second most common whine is that the armor Odysseus and his men wear is not period-accurate. I’m all for historical accuracy in film; in fact, it’s often a deciding factor in whether I like a movie or not (I’m looking at you, Napoleon), but again, this is a myth. I don’t care that Damon and his cohorts are dressed in armor that doesn’t fit the age. That’s not the point of the story here. Let’s be honest, period-accurate armor looks rather ridiculous, and so making it look “cooler” is just fine by me. The same goes for the ships used by our hero and his men. Yeah, they look more like Viking ships than boats from ancient Greece, but again, this story is a myth, so why care?

Another popular refrain seems to be that all of the actors are using American accents in the movie, even the Brits. I have to say, again, why is this something people are mad about? They aren’t speaking ancient Greek in this modern telling of the myth, either. No one is upset about that, because everyone understands why the movie is in English, so what does it matter which accents are being used? Nolan apparently was looking for consistency, and so this decision makes total sense. This is seriously just complaining to complain.

Luckily for me, none of these creative decisions bother me in the slightest, and I can say that this is by far my most anticipated movie of the summer.

Is Moana A Disney Princess? The Live-Action Actress Weighs In

Mack Rawden — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 16:05:09 +0000

Moana is a Disney Princess. That’s the official line from Disney at least, but not every fan is in agreement on who should or shouldn’t qualify as a Princess. Like everything else Disney-related, people have strong opinions about which of the ladies should be on the list. So, we decided to talk to an expert: the actress who is actually playing Moana in the new live action adaptation.

During the press junket for Moana, CinemaBlend had the privilege of speaking with Catherine Laga’aia, and we asked her whether she views Moana as a Disney Princess. In return, she gave us a super thoughtful answer that I think encapsulates how the majority of us feel. Here’s a portion of her quote…

I think she kind of falls into that category that Mulan and kind of Pocahontas fall into where it's that warrior… So I would say beyond being a princess, I think you can be kind of be two things at once. So she is that Disney princess, she represents that beautiful femininity and pride and kind of honor that comes with that title as well as being powerful and strong and courageous with the Warrior title.

Laga’aia is right. A lot of fans lump Moana, Mulan and Pocahontas together into almost like a sub-category of Princesses. They technically qualify, but to some, they feel different because they’re more physically involved in the conflicts. I don’t really see how that makes them any less of Princesses though. In fact, I’d argue it’s especially important to categorize them as such because they offer an alternate path that shows younger viewers you can have a wide variety of personality types and life goals and still be a Princess.

The other group of Princesses or non-Princesses that Disney fans argue over includes entirely separate characters like Anna and Elsa from Frozen and Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. They all fit more into the traditional archetype of Princesses, but Disney doesn’t officially include them, allegedly because the company wants to keep them separate for branding reasons. That’s a separate article that could easily be a thousand words, but if nothing else, it’s a good representation of why fans don’t always agree with Disney’s official roster.

Regardless of how you classify her, Moana is back at the movie theater this weekend. The new take on her title film officially hits the movie release schedule today, and it’ll give everyone the chance to relive the magical Polynesian story with non-animated characters. Dwayne Johnson is back as Maui, complete with a gigantic tattoo suit and a ridiculous wig, and Laga’aia is ready to give fans a familiar yet unique take on the Disney Princess herself.

Reese Witherspoon And New Elle Lexi Minetree Know They Look Alike, But They Have Another Thing In Common

Christina Radish — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 14:16:31 +0000

One of the most striking things about the Legally Blonde prequel TV series Elle, which is available to stream with a Prime Video subscription, is just how much Elle Woods newcomer Lexi Minetree looks like Reese Witherspoon. Don’t take my word for it. Witherspoon herself posted on Instagram to show that comparison pics between the two are pretty spot-on. But the similarities don’t just stop there.

In an interview with Variety, Jason Moore, who directed the first two episodes of Elle, noted that Reese Witherspoon and Lexi Minetree are also the same height. He said:

We’ve all seen the video now of when Lexi learned she got the role. They’ve always been aware of how much they look alike and they’re the same height. I had to text Reese before she came to tell her how high Lexi’s heels were so she would wear the same. But that’s also why Reese didn’t come for a few weeks. We felt it was important for Lexi to feel she had ownership.

To get the nerves of the initial in-person meeting out of the way, Reese Witherspoon attended a table read to break the ice with the cast of the series on the 2026 TV schedule. By the time she got to set for the scene where Elle gets knocked in the face and Miles (Jacob Moskovitz) takes her to the hospital, she was able to just be a part of the day, which included 200 extras.

Reese Witherspoon was also generous with advice that she gave to Lexi Minetree, to always choose kindness and never go low, even when other people do. How very Elle Woods of her.

While the similarities between Lexi Minetree and Reese Witherspoon are easy to see, the 25-year-old who filmed her version of Elle Woods’ Harvard admission essay as her audition was able to make the role her own. You can check out a video of that video essay below:

A post shared by Hello Sunshine (@hellosunshine)
A photo posted by on

The best kind of prequel is the one that allows its lead to understand the character and follow their own instincts, never forgetting where they came from, or in this case, where they’re going. Minetree has revealed that she watched Legally Blonde somewhere around 150 times, which shows that she’s quite the overachiever herself. And she had the same dedication when it came to perfecting the voice of Elle Woods. Moore said:

She’s a special actress on her own, but she also really understands the character. I hired one of the best Broadway voice coaches for her. She went to her religiously every week for months. She got every intonation, the little breaths.

A lot of the critics have objections to the Legally Blonde prequel series, which I don’t agree with. Personally, I found Elle delightfully entertaining. As someone who’s spent time in the Seattle music scene, it was full of nostalgia that brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart. And watching Lexi Minetree pay tribute to Reese Witherspoon’s iconic work made me excited to see what she does as the character continues her prequel journey.

Elle’s love triangle, a tribute to The Breakfast Club, Bruiser, and all sorts of silly fun were present when the series hit the streaming schedule. While you’re waiting for Season 2, you have plenty of time to rewatch Elle and Legally Blonde to do your own Lexi Minetree and Reese Witherspoon comparison.

Why Blake Lively (Allegedly) Won’t Respond To Justin Baldoni’s It End With Us Video Despite Being ‘Furious’

Erik Swann — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 14:04:06 +0000

This past week, in the aftermath of his legal battle with Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni addressed the public in a video posted to social media. Baldoni – alongside his wife, Emily – shared how they were feeling following the drama that’s reportedly played out since late 2024. Since then, Baldoni has received support from his Jane the Virgin co-stars and, as of this writing, Lively has yet to issue a formal response. Now, a new report claims the actress is “furious” over the video but allegedly has specific reasons for not weighing in publicly.

Justin (42) and Emily (41) Baldoni released their video on July 8 and, in it, the couple talked about Justin’s since-settled legal skirmish with Lively (38). The pair referenced “trauma” their family had reportedly experienced, though they also expressed gratitude to those who’d supported them. While explaining their reasoning for speaking out, Justin said there’d been “so many painful things that have been spoken into existence over the last couple years.” And, while they didn’t want to add to the “noise,” they felt compelled to speak out.

Several sources recently spoke to noted Hollywood insider Rob Shuter for his Naughty or Nice substack after the fact, and one of them alleged that Lively had indeed watched the five-minute long video herself. If that person is to be believed, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants alum has some brutally honest thoughts on the viral clip:

Blake watched every second of the video, and she was absolutely furious. She believes Justin is trying to rewrite history and recast himself as the victim. That’s not how she sees it.

Despite that, another source claims Lively reportedly has no interest in responding to the video publicly. As for her purported rationale, the person said this:

She’s not taking the bait. Blake has no interest in giving this another news cycle. In her mind, the case is over, and she’s determined to keep it that way.

At this point, it would seem that the Lively/Baldoni case has come to a close. The situation began in December 2024 at which point it was revealed that Lively filed a legal complaint against Baldoni for allegedly sexually harassing her on the set of It Ends with Us. Lively also accused Baldoni (who co-starred in and directed the movie) of launching a smear campaign against her. After Lively filed suit against Baldoni and others for those reported offenses, he countered her as well as her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and more for $400 million.

Lively saw a legal victory in 2025 when Baldoni’s suit against her was dismissed by a judge though, earlier this year, he also notched a victory when 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against him were tossed. By May, the two actors released a joint statement in which they revealed their intention to settle, though Lively later pursued damages and legal fees from Baldoni. The former co-stars eventually went back to court and, ultimately, it was ruled that Lively was entitled to legal fees. With that, the Shallows star is seeking over $8 million in fees.

While Blake Lively allegedly feels like the situation has come to an end and doesn't want to respond to Justin Baldoni’s video, her spouse supposedly feels differently. Another source made this claim about Ryan Reynolds:

Ryan is enraged. He thinks Justin is reopening wounds that everyone worked incredibly hard to close. He doesn’t understand why anyone would want to drag this back into the spotlight.

Nevertheless, another insider alleges that Reynolds – like his partner – isn’t going to issue a formal response. They said:

Justin wants to tell his story. Blake and Ryan believe responding only amplifies his message. They think the most powerful statement they can make is saying nothing.

Right now, it’s unclear if the Baldonis will say more about the legal situation, though it remains to be seen if they will. In the lead-up to their video being posted, though, it was reported that Justin was eager to share his account. It was even rumored that Justin was mulling a tell-all interview that could’ve been worth a lot of money. Yet it’s largely been reported that Justin’s main focus is on his wife and two kids. All the while, Blake Lively is reportedly prioritizing her family and well-being during this time as well.

'Like A Birthing Suite': Anne Hathaway Talks About How Intense Filming The Odyssey Got

Mack Rawden — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:28:19 +0000

There’s a level of seriousness to many Christopher Nolan movies that you don’t always get from big budget films. That’s not to say there aren’t moments of levity, but there’s something about his direction (and his red scripts) that makes it all feel really grand and important. At least that’s how it comes across to viewers when you’re watching Oppenheimer or The Prestige or The Dark Knight, and apparently, it’s how it comes across a lot of times on the set too.

That was especially true while shooting The Odyssey this time around, both because it’s an over-the-top mythic adventure and because the famed director made the practical decision to shoot all of it with IMAX cameras. He’s worked extensively with the high tech format in the past for action scenes, but on The Odyssey, he decided to shoot the entire movie with IMAX cameras, which means he could only shoot for three minutes before calling cut.

The combination of that pressure to get things right, plus the gravity of the material they were shooting was a lot to deal with, at least for star Anne Hathaway. She recently told CinemaBlend during an interview at The Odyssey junket that it felt like being in a “birthing suite.” Here’s a portion of her quote…

I remember thinking, gosh, these rooms can, when you're acting in them, they can often feel like a birthing suite, like, you know, like just a room where something is being born. And so you don't want to speak too loudly. And where else would you ever want to be? It's a joy to be present in that. It's not going to last forever. You know, the day will end. So yeah, so I just kind of went with it and tried not to... And suppress every instinct I had to crack a joke.

Anne Hathaway plays Penelope in The Odyssey, who is the wife of Matt Damon’s title character Odysseus. She has, by all accounts, quite a few intensely emotional scenes in the movie. She’s also, by all accounts, great in the film, and I’m sure a lot of that has to do with her being able to stay with the emotions of her characters while stopping every three minutes. Because of that, it makes a lot of sense that everyone remained really serious.

That’s not to say there wasn’t the occasional break in character though. Hathaway said some takes definitely got disrupted, but her rule of thumb was she couldn’t break character or interrupt the seriousness unless Christopher Nolan did. If he broke then all bets were off…

Chris is a good reason not to break. If he does, if he breaks, you can break, but not before him.

It’s hard to call a movie a Best Picture frontrunner in July, but there are high hopes for the movie to put it modestly. It’s at the top of pretty much everyone’s Oscar boards at this point, and the early buzz from the set and the screenings has been overwhelmingly positive. Fans are going to love it, and like everyone involved in the movie, they’ll take it very seriously.

I Had Four Hours To Burn, So I Rewatched Zack Snyder's Justice League, And I Again Owe An Apology

Rich Knight — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Flashback to 2021, and you couldn't find a bigger hater of the Snyderverse than me. Hell, I even danced on its grave when we received word that it was finally over.

However, flash-forward (DC pun not intended) to 2026, and I've actually come around on the failed DCEU. Maybe it's because I wasn't in love with James Gunn's Superman, or perhaps it’s because I have no interest whatsoever in Supergirl (and apparently, I'm not alone), but I've been giving Zack Snyder's DC movies another chance recently, and oh, man. I think I owe Zack Snyder yet ANOTHER apology.

You see, I already apologized for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and after rewatching the four hour long Zack Snyder's Justice League, I have to apologize again, because this movie is amazing. Here's why.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Originally Thought This Movie Was Way Too Long. But Now, It Feels Just Right When It Comes To Pacing

You want to know what's crazy? Not too long ago, I rewatched Joss Whedon's version of Justice League, which is only two hours long, and it's so bad that it actually feels LONGER than Snyder's version, which is literally double the runtime. I think this is because Whedon's Justice League feels aimless and dull, whereas Snyder's version has direction and vision. And look, no offense to Whedon, as he was given the impossible task of reshooting aspects of Snyder's movie into something feasible for the big screen, but his version just does not work.

However, after rewatching Zack Snyder's Justice League, I am in awe at how he was able to take all of these characters and still have it all make sense. For example, in his version, Batman and Wonder Woman's quest to assemble a team really feels cohesive and organic, whereas in Whedon’s version, it all feels like a hurried mess, which is strange because it also feels plodding.

We get more backstory for all of the characters in Snyder’s version, as well as a true villain in Darkseid, who I'll get into later. Snyder's version is also (surprise, surprise) way darker in tone than Whedon's version, which is also something I now appreciate over the more upbeat Superman from James Gunn.

Honestly, it's really weird that all of the things that I once hated about the Snyderverse – the overseriousness, the darker tone, etc – I now view as pluses. However, I think there's one reason in particular why I love this movie now.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Cyborg's Story Is The Heart Of This Movie

One character who I always thought never got his time to shine when it came to the Snyderverse was Cyborg. Played by Ray Fisher, you could tell that he had a bigger role in Whedon's Justice League, but there was just something…missing.

In Zack Snyder's Justice League, however, almost the entire plot hinges on Cyborg’s role in the story. The fact that his role was truncated so much in Whedon’s version just goes to show you why that film felt like such a mess, because Victor Stone's (Cyborg) role is absolutely vital in Snyder's cut.

Stone's father, Silas (Joe Morton), is kidnapped, and Cyborg joins the team. He was a former athlete and had to be reconstructed after a horrible car accident, so his journey as a broken man to one of the saviors of the world is thoughtful and surprisingly heartfelt.

Also, being that Cyborg has such a connection to this film's Macguffin in the Mother Boxes, he’s essentially the most important character in the entire film, and I really appreciate that when watching this a second time.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Also Find All Of The Characters-Even The Flash-To Be Interesting In This Film

You know, when I first saw Zack Snyder's Justice League, I still very much loathed all of the scenes involving Ezra Miller's The Flash. Upon a second viewing, I find that I actually like him, as well as pretty much every other member of the Justice League this time around. It might be because I, like others, actually enjoyed the eventual Flash movie that came out in 2023 (I even wrote about how it annoyed me that it didn't do better at the box office).

The Flash is incredibly important in this film. When the world starts to be destroyed, The Flash has to reverse the flow of time using the Speed Force, which allows Superman (Henry Cavill) and Cyborg to get the job done.

And, what about Aquaman? I liked Jason Momoa's first Aquaman movie - to a certain extent - but I found him super annoying in Justice League. However, I guess adding more screen time for him makes him more interesting this time around. I also think that learning more about the other metahumans and the Atlanteans makes him feel more at home here.

Not only that, but this movie has freaking Martian Manhunter (Harry Lennix) in it. I mean, it's at the end, and it's pretty much just a cameo, but at least he's here. What's not to love?

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

I Also Love This Version Of Darkseid

I know I keep harping on Joss Whedon's Justice League, but a big reason why I feel that movie failed was that its main antagonist, Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds), was super lame. It's just that he didn't seem like a worthy opponent for the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, or The Flash.

In Zack Snyder's Justice League…well, he's still pretty lame, but much better since you don't feel like he's the REAL final boss. The main boss would be Ray Porter's Darkseid, who is a way more terrifying villain and an existential threat to humanity.

Darkseid is all about that Anti-Life Equation, and we learn that he's been a threat to Earth for millennia, what with the Old Gods waging war against him to prevent him from taking over the planet. All of this backstory really elevates the danger he presents, making him feel like a truly worthy adversary.

Unfortunately, since this was pretty much the end of the DCEU, we never got to see Darkseid get his own movie where he got to be the central villain, but I really appreciate what we got in this movie. He’s absolutely horrifying.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

In The End, The Further We Get Away From The Snyderverse, The More I Find That I Miss It

When looking at the upcoming slate of DC films (and TV–let's not forget about TV), I think there's a lot to look forward to (Especially when it comes to Clayface, which I can't wait for!) Yet…I kind of now miss the Snyderverse.

I don't know what it is. It might be because I used to pledge allegiance to the MCU, and I think I viewed the DCEU as a pathetic alternative. After getting off the Marvel hype train quite a while ago, I've since been reevaluating the Snyderverse, and I think I had it all wrong.

Was it too dark and broody? Maybe, but upon reflection, it was actually a novel alternative to the overly cheery MCU. I now find that I get nothing out of movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Guardians of the Galaxy upon a rewatch, and I view them more as artifacts than anything else.

Movies like Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Batman v. Superman? They just seem to get better with age. So, if you happen to be reading this, Mr. Snyder. I’m sorry! Your fans were right all along, and I’m happy that the powers that be eventually RELEASED THE SNYDER CUT!

Noah Wyle Had To Turn Down A George Clooney Reunion And One More Huge Movie Because Of ER

Megan Behnke — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 12:59:15 +0000

After turning up his nose at doing television, Noah Wyle’s career has been, well, mostly television. The Emmy-winning actor has gone from ER to Leverage: Redemption to now The Pitt on the 2026 TV schedule, and many more, with several films under his belt. He’s done a lot on the big and small screens, but there were actually a couple of roles he had to turn down because of ER, and this includes a reunion with George Clooney.

Even though Wyle starred on ER as Dr. John Carter for most of ER’s 15-season run, Clooney bowed out at the end of Season 5 as Dr. Doug Ross to pursue his film career. While there have definitely been some actors who have made film and television work together, sometimes it’s easier to balance one and not the other, like what Clooney did.

In Wyle’s case, he stuck around on ER for a long time and it hurt his chances to expand his career. He was asked on the Still Here Hollywood Podcast if there were any roles that he wanted that he didn’t get, and he revealed two big ones that he couldn’t do because of the hit medical drama that would have included a reunion between Carter and Doug:

Yeah, tons. Happens all the time. We’ve talked about a couple of them actually. Good Night, and Good Luck, George offered me a part in that. I couldn’t get out of ER to do it. I was offered the part of Private Ryan in Saving Private Ryan. [I] couldn’t get out of ER to do it.

It’s definitely disappointing to know that we could have gotten more of Clooney and Wyle together on-screen in completely different roles, and the fact that Clooney even offered him a part in 2005’s Good Night, and Good Luck shows just how close they had gotten in those first five seasons. Luckily, the two remain close today, and even though Clooney may not be appearing on The Pitt any time soon, there have been some mini ER reunions, which are better than nothing. If anything, we can see more of Carter and Doug on ER with an HBO Max subscription and a Hulu subscription.

And Saving Private Ryan is another big one that would have definitely been a game-changer, but it just didn’t work out because of a particular show. However, Wyle doesn’t seem too torn up about the roles he had to pass on because of how great they eventually turned out:

There was, you know, there was a bunch that, in retrospect, I’m glad that I didn’t do them, because those guys made those parts.

Just like with Good Night, and Good Luck, it’s disappointing to know that Wyle was close to playing the titular soldier in Saving Private Ryan, which eventually went to Matt Damon. Apparently, that wasn’t even the only role that Wyle was offered in the critically acclaimed film, meaning that they really wanted him:

There was two. I got offered the part of [Timothy] Upham, which was Jeremy Davies’ part, and he was so phenomenal in that. I couldn’t imagine doing anything close to what he did.

It’s hard not to think about the “what ifs?” when it comes to roles because if Wyle had done Good Night, and Good Luck or Saving Private Ryan or any other projects he almost did but couldn’t because of ER, who knows how much would have changed. If Wyle followed in Clooney’s footsteps and left ER earlier than he had, a lot would have been different.

Of course, Wyle doesn’t have any ill will towards the outcome because there’s nothing he can do to change it, and he knows that the films turned out phenomenal. He also seems to love doing television, so some things just work out for the better.

Glen Powell Had A Much Better Fourth Of July This Year Than He Did The Year Tom Cruise Called Him

Riley Utley — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 12:43:50 +0000

In 2018, Glen Powell got a sad call that led to some serious conversations with Tom Cruise about his role in Top Gun: Maverick. Tragically, he got that phone call the week of the Fourth of July, and it made that holiday the “worst.” Ultimately, everything worked out. And Powell’s post about this year’s Independence Day certainly proves that he’s doing fantastic.

Glen Powell Found Out He Lost The Rooster Role Right Before The Fourth Of July

At this point, it’s well-known lore that Glen Powell auditioned for Rooster in Top Gun: Maverick, but lost the role of Goose’s son to Miles Teller. What you might not know is that the Twisters actor found out about this on July 3. Recalling how that ruined his Fourth of July on The Rich Eisen Show, the actor said:

So, I auditioned for Rooster, felt great about it, but got a call – I remember it was July 3rd, 2018 – that I wasn’t going to be Rooster. And I’m a very patriotic guy; I was wearing literally an American flag tank top and aviators, when I got the call, and immediately was in the fetal position. Worst July 4th ever.

Well, that sucks. While I’m one to rewatch Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick with my Paramount+ subscription to celebrate the holiday, said movies certainly ruined it for Powell eight years ago.

However, it all turned out OK in the end, as he ended up playing Hangman in the beloved sequel. Before that happened, though, he had some important conversations with Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer. It began with a phone call from the Maverick actor, and Powell was told they still wanted him in the movie. The Chad Powers star was still on the fence, though, so he went in for a meeting. Here’s how that conversation went:

I sat down with Tom in Jerry’s office, and we talked about what kind of career I wanted, and why I kind of didn’t want to do the movie now that I didn’t get that role. And Tom was like, ‘What kind of career do you want?’ I go, ‘You man, I’m trying to be you.’

That led to Tom Cruise giving Powell some advice that really stuck with him. Recalling the conversation he had with the lead of Top Gun: Maverick, the Anyone But You star explained:

And he goes, ‘Do you know how I do that?’ I go, ‘Yeah, you choose great roles.’ He goes, ‘No, I choose great movies, and I make the roles great.’ And it kind of changed my perspective on it, where even if you’re a great player on a great team, it’s better than being the star player on a losing team. It’s better to be on a championship team, and that’s one of the things Tom changed my perspective on all that, where even being a small part of the Top Gun ride has changed my life forever. So, I’m really glad I listened to him.

I think we’re all glad he listened too. As we all know, Powell did end up saying yes to Top Gun: Maverick, and his performance as Hangman helped his career go sky-high. Now, he’s spending his Fourth of July partying rather than mourning the loss of a role.

Glen Powell, His Loved Ones And His Girlfriend All Partied Together This Year

While the primary emotion on the Fourth of July in 2018 was sadness for Powell, 2025’s emotion seemed to be fun. The actor took to Instagram to post a photo dump about the day, calling it one “hell of a Fourth.” Take a look:

A post shared by Glen Powell (@glenpowell)
A photo posted by on

Well, this looks like an absolute rager, and one hell of a good time. It was pretty star-studded too. In the dump, Powell tagged his girlfriend Michelle Randolph (they went IG official with this post), Chord Overstreet, Jimmy Tatro, Zoey Deutch (they need to have an on-screen Set It Up reunion ASAP), Madelyn Cline, his mother, Cyndy Powell, his sisters, Lauren and Leslie and many more.

All that’s to say, I think Glen Powell had a much better Fourth of July than he did all those years ago.

However, I also bet he’s happy that sad call happened, because it's helped shape his career and life into what it is today. Since Maverick, Powell has turned into quite the leading man, starring in projects like Hit Man, Twisters, Anyone But You and Chad Powers. There’s a lot more on the way too. So, all in all, I’d say life (and the Fourth of July) was very worth celebrating the way he did this year with his loved ones.

Matt Damon Knew Pedro Pascal Was A Freaking Star Years Before The Rest Of The World Caught On

Liz Konkel — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Matt Damon totally just blew my mind by dropping some unexpected BTS trivia about Pedro Pascal. It’s hard to imagine a time when Pascal wasn’t “even a day player” since practically everyone knows who he is thanks to playing The Mandalorian, Mister Fantastic, and Joel in The Last of Us. But there was a time when the actor spent years doing random parts before hitting celebrity status.

That time apparently included a part in The Adjustment Bureau, starring Damon and Emily Blunt. And despite the small part, Damon knew Pascal was a freaking star years before the rest of the world caught on. Somehow I’m not surprised that Damon was impressed. He revealed the story when he stopped by The Howard Stern Show:

And there was this throwaway part of a maître d that got cut out of the movie. But I remember Emily and I went and sat down, you know and this maître d walked away and they cut and we both looked at each other and Em goes 'That guy’s really fucking good' and I said ‘yeah, what the fuck? That guy was really good.’

Damon’s not the only one who thinks that he's "really good.” I think we can all agree that there’s a reason Pascal has become so beloved. And it’s not just because of baby Yoda. He’s so good as the Mandalorian that people want to know just how long he’s going to play the part.

It's always fun to see stories like this to remind us that celebrities all started somewhere. And for Damon to share this story about Pascal, it adds further proof as to why the latter is always working. He even has a romance with Danny Ramirez coming out soon. But I think Damon describes Pascal's star power best:

There was something just interesting and incredibly real and natural and I was just like guy’s really - and years later I found out it was Pedro Pascal.

Maybe that's the best way to describe why so many love Pedro Pascal. His roles as Joel, the Mandalorian, and Mister Fantastic have all felt real. It doesn't matter if he's in a post apocalyptic world or in space, he gives a performance that's believable. And fans have become protective over his roles, specifically Last of Us fans who couldn't imagine anyone else in that part. Additionally, there's his memorable roles in Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman 1984 and more

A post shared by Howard Stern Show (@sternshow)
A photo posted by on

Damon's story reminds me of the time I learned Pascal was in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was a small part that included his character being killed and becoming a vampire, but it was a role that helped keep him in Hollywood. I guess we have Buffy to thank for all of the amazing Pascal roles we’ve seen the last few years.

The actor has become synonymous with certain roles thanks to fandoms, but there are several TV roles that you may have forgotten. For instance, I recently re-watched the Burn Notice TV movie and was shocked to see Pascal in one of the antagonist roles. He was even in an unaired Wonder Woman pilot. And now Damon has me wanting to go see what other Pascal roles I can dig up.

The Miranda Priestly Line From The Devil Wears Prada 2 That Left Emily Blunt Shook: ‘I Shriveled’

Corey Chichizola — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 21:30:00 +0000

The Devil Wears Prada is one of the best 2000's movies, which is why fans were so hyped when it was revealed that a long-awaited sequel was finally coming. The Devil Wears Prada 2 hit theaters back in May, and caught up with the beloved cast of characters. That includes Emily Blunt's Emily, and the actress revealed one line of dialogue that made her "shrivel" in front of Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly.

The original movie (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) made audiences fall in love with Emily, and moviegoers were shocked when she was an antagonist of the sequel. But Miranda threw some epic shade at her as a result, saying, "You’re not a visionary, you’re a vendor." During an interview with The New York Times, Blunt revealed her reaction to that savage line, offering:

I did dissolve! We were very close, and then she fixes those minty green eyes on you, and I shriveled. She really relished the word 'vendor' as well. But you need Emily to get a dressing down. It’s vital that character gets her comeuppance. I think it feels very Greek, that scene.

She's not wrong. While she eventually reached peace with Miranda and Andy at the end of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Emily needed to be put in her place after trying to steal control of Runway. The Devil Wears Prada has lots of great quotes, and the one about Emily being a "vendor" is definitely a memorable one from the sequel.

While Emily Blunt has a great relationship with Meryl Streep in real life, that doesn't mean that she wasn't intimidated when getting read to filth by Miranda Priestly. That's why she "shriveled" on the set, although the scene in question is one of the most delightfully savage in the sequel's 119-minute runtime.

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Reviews for The Devil Wears Prada 2 were generally positive, and the audience score was even higher on Rotten Tomatoes. The original movie is what made Emily Blunt into a household name, so it was definitely a full-circle moment for her to reprise that role in the long-awaited sequel. And while Emily was one of the antagonists of David Frankel's follow-up film, she reached peace with Andy by its conclusion. The final shot of the movie features Andy, Miranda, and Nigel working in their respective offices at Runway in a gorgeous ending to the story. Of course, there are some fans who are hoping for a third book-to-screen adaptation.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is currently available to rent or purchase digitally as part of the 2026 movie release list. It'll set to arrive on streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on July 29th, so fans can re-watch that epic "vendor" line over and over again, and see Emily Blunt shrivel in the process.

We Don't Talk Enough About How The Only Man To Win 2 Oscars For The Same Role Also Lost Both Hands In The Army

Rich Knight — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Usually, when people refer to the best war movies of all time, they focus on war flicks that take place during their respective conflicts.

However, some war movies are actually about the aftereffects, like First Blood. Well, another such film is one of the best war movies ever to win Best Picture: 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives, directed by William Wyler and starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, and Dana Andrews, just to name a few.

Actually, there's one other actor I'd like to highlight, and that's because he's the only person in Academy Award history to win two Oscars for the same performance, and that man is Harold Russell.

(Image credit: Samuel Goldwyn Productions)

Harold Russell's Character, Homer, Lost His Hands, Just Like The Actor Himself

The story of how Harold Russell made his acting debut in The Best Years of Our Lives is an interesting one. Russell lost his hands while teaching how to detonate explosives in the Army during World War II, and he was later given mechanical hooks. Always one to help, Russell was featured in a short film from the American Army titled Diary of a Sergeant, which showcased his rehabilitation at Walter Reed Hospital.

Well, William Wyler saw Diary and wanted Russell for his movie, even though Russell had no prior acting experience. His role as Homer is one of three returning soldiers from the Second World War, but his story might be the most potent, given his struggles with his new hands, since he lost them in the war.

In fact, it was so potent a role that not only was he awarded an honorary Oscar for “bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures,” but he also ended up winning the Best Supporting Actor Award, too, making him the only actor in Academy history to win 2 Oscars for the same performance. Now that’s something.

(Image credit: Samuel Goldwyn Productions)

Homer Struggles With Losing His Independence Due To His Disability

To watch somebody with a disability is eye-opening, since the first gut reaction for many of us is to often look away. In our heads, we do this because we don’t want to make the disabled person uncomfortable, but in truth, we ourselves are likely uncomfortable, and we turn our heads because we don’t know what else to do.

This is Homer’s life ever since he returned home from the war. Once a former athlete in high school, he struggles with things he once found simple since he has mechanical hooks. You can tell that he’s embarrassed when he’s around other people, as some of them do look away. When he’s alone, he gets angry since he can no longer be independent like he once was.

As I said, it’s eye-opening to watch somebody who truly struggles with their disability, and there is nothing you can do but sympathize with them. It’s a hard watch, but I’m sure an infinitely harder experience to live through.

(Image credit: Samuel Goldwyn Productions)

Homer Also Struggles When It Comes To Romantic Relationships

A while back, I wrote about how much I love the movie CODA, but one aspect I didn’t mention was how impactful the love story was in the background. There are actually three love stories going on. There are the parents, who are both deaf; there is our protagonist (Emilia Jones), and the boy she’s crushing on, and both of them can hear. Then you have the protagonist’s brother, Leo (Daniel Durant), who’s deaf, but is dating somebody who can hear.

I bring this up because this is probably the most difficult relationship in the film, but they make it work, even though Leo has doubts about its future given his disability. Well, in The Best Years of Our Lives, we have a similar story.

Homer was literally dating the girl next door named Wilma (Cathy O’Donnell), and he doesn’t think their relationship will last once he gets back. In fact, he’s even expecting her to leave him, but she doesn’t, and they ultimately end up getting married. That said, it’s only once he learns to accept his disability that he can truly find peace within himself, and I think that’s a wonderful message–a wonderful message, and a wonderful movie.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Hulk Rumor Has Been Debunked In A Surprising Way

Corey Chichizola — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:32:37 +0000

The Marvel Cinematic Universe can't stop, won't stop expanding, thanks to exciting titles arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The next highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Destin Daniel Cretton's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and there are countless rumors about what the movie might contain. And one about The Hulk was recently debunked in an unexpected way. Let's break it all down.

The hype around Brand New Day has been sky-high, with fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order eager to catch up with Peter Parker after No Way Home's twist ending. They're also hyped for Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/ The Hulk, and there were rumors swirling that he might transform into Grey Hulk from the comics. But that's reportedly not happening anymore, because in the new book Spider-Man: Brand New Day - The Art of the Movie (via CBM), it's revealed that the concept of Grey Hulk was tossed around...

...before ultimately deciding that audiences needed the familiar green version.

What a bummer. While we'll have to wait until the movie comes out to confirm this with our own eyes, it sounds like we allegedly aren't going to see Grey Hulk in the new Spider-Man movie. I guess we should expect the massive Avenger to stay the signature shade of green that's been shown in Spider-Man: Brand New Day's trailers.

Fans have been curious about the role Banner/Hulk will play in the new blockbuster, especially since he's been missing from the MCU for a few years. It looks like the OG Savage Hulk will be back, despite previously being introduced to Smart Hulk in Avengers: Endgame and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

(Image credit: Sony)

From what we've seen from Brand New Day's limited footage, Banner will be working as a college professor when we see him, and wearing the Hulk Inhibitor Device that allows him to transform into Bruce again. We previously saw him with this device in Shang-Chi's credits scene as well as She-Hulk. But there's a mysterious villain in the new Spidey flick controlling people's minds, which will presumably spell disaster for Mark Ruffalo's hero.

The hype for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is high, and not only because the movie will feature both Hulk and Jon Bernthal's Punisher. Fans are extremely invested in Peter Parker's story, and are eager to see how he's been doing in the years since Doctor Strange's spell made everyone forget who he was. That includes both Ned and MJ, who Tom Holland's hero has been watching from afar.

Our questions will be answered when Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31st as part of the 2026 movie release list. The movie's secrets have largely been kept so far, including Sadie Sink's mysterious role. And who knows where the story will take Hulk?

Why Did Disney Create A Live-Action Moana Just 10 Years After The Original, Anyway?

Sarah El-Mahmoud — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 19:34:35 +0000

Live-action remakes have become like bread and butter on the upcoming Disney movies list lately, but the live-action Moana is the first time we’re seeing such a new animated movie get the treatment. If you've been wondering why the House of Mouse jumped on remaking Moana so quickly, and we’ve got a new answer from one of the company’s key decision makers.

Andrew Cripps, who is the Head Of Theatrical Distribution globally at Walt Disney Studios just shared his thoughts on the subject amidst the rough reviews coming out around Moana often calling the movie "unnecessary". In his words to the LA Times:

I don’t think two movies make saturation. There’s a huge fanbase for the Moana franchise.

For big movie studios like Disney, when fans put their time and money into a franchise it helps decide what we see next on movie schedules. In terms of the Moana movies, the 2016 original film made $643 million worldwide and remains the most-watched movie in Disney+ history. Additionally, Moana 2 crossed $1 billion globally after hitting theaters during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2024. As Cripps also added:

It goes back to the original [intellectual property] of these movies. People grow up with it, they become fans of it, they live with it. When you’ve got IP that resonates so well literally around the world with fans, I just think it’s a clever extension.

The Moana remake was an opportunity for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to portray his role of Maui in live-action alongside a new Moana actress, Catherine Laga'aia, and even bring back the original voice actress in a special way. Johnson and director Thomas Kail have also spoken about their excitement to bring the movie’s representation of Polynesian culture to the forefront as another special reason for its existence.

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But just as the enthusiasm for the animated Moana movies communicated to Disney to make this “extension” to the franchise, we'll have to see how the response to this live-action version might determine the future of more remakes of contemporary Walt Disney Animation favorites. The live-action Tangled movie is currently in production and a sequel to last year’s Lilo & Stitch is expected to start filming later this year. But so far, the most popular live-action movies have come from Disney's Renaissance Era (i.e: The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin).

Critics have greatly rejected the live-action Moana, calling it “a quick and easy buck” and “the most unnecessary remake yet.” And opening weekend projections place the movie in the neighborhood of flops like Dumbo and Snow White. But it's way too soon to say how audiences feel about it.

Now that Moana is in theaters, we'll have to wait and see how far it goes this summer alongside other family films like Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters. It should also reveal if it was actually too soon to bring a live-action version to the big screen.

Christopher Nolan's Son Absolutely Roasted His Dad Over One Oppenheimer Oscar He Lost

Hugh Scott — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:47:03 +0000

Next week, Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated The Odyssey is finally coming to the 2026 movie schedule. It is, of course, the director’s first film since 2023’s Oppenheimer, which not only blew up at the box office but also took home a slew of Oscars. That included Best Picture and Best Director for Nolan. It wasn’t a clean sweep, however, and Nolan’s son was all too keen to point that out his dad while the director was writing the script for The Odyssey.

Nolan Didn’t Win One Oscar He Was Nominated For

While Oppenheimer was nominated for an incredible 13 Academy Awards, it “only” won seven. Of the seven, Nolan won two. He was nominated for a third. As he was writing The Odyssey, which has so far been met with positive reactions ahead of its release, his son visited him in his office one day, as he related to the BBC:

My son walked into my office while I was writing on The Odyssey and said, ‘Where are your Oscars?’ He’d been away for the whole time.

Nolan had a very reasonable response to why he didn't want to have the Oscar statues in front of him, saying:

I said to him very seriously, I was like ‘Well, I’m trying to write a new project, and if I’ve got the Oscars sitting there on the shelf, think about how daunting that would be.’

As any kid might be, he wasn’t impressed by Dad’s answer. Nolan admits:

He looked at me [and] he said, ‘But you didn’t win for writing.’

Now, that is a roast! Sure, Oppenheimer was the most-awarded film of 2023, and Nolan took home his first two Oscars in his illustrious career. And sure, it makes sense that Nolan wouldn’t want to be constantly reminded of the pressure to create a fantastic follow-up to that. But neither Oscar was for writing (Cord Jefferson took home the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for American Fiction), as his son so eloquently pointed out, so why hide them? Only a family member could get away with such a burn, and Nolan clearly appreciated the barb.

The Pressure Must Feel Very Real

Christopher Nolan's films have been some of the best movies in Hollywood for decades now, and with each movie, his ambition and scope have grown. At the time, Oppenheimer seemed like the pinnacle of that ambition, but now comes The Odyssey. Adapting the epic has been an epic undertaking, by all accounts. It is the first movie shot entirely on IMAX cameras, for example. Not to mention the poem being one of the most beloved works in history, and a foundation of Western culture.

It’s easy to see just how daunting it would be and why someone would want to forget about past successes for the moment as he struck out on this epic journey, much like Odysseus does in the story. Also like Odysseus, Nolan has his family to keep him in check and grounded.

Obsession's Star Met With The MCU X-Men Movie’s Director, And Fans Know Who She Could Play

Corey Chichizola — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:13:16 +0000

The horror genre has been thriving for years now, to the delight of fans like me. Obsession became a wild box office success this year, and has made household names out of its cast, especially Nikki actress Inde Navarrette. She recently confirmed she met with director Jake Schreier, who will helm the new X-Men movie. And fans think they know which mutants she could play in that upcoming Marvel movie.

After Obsession's insane success, moviegoers are curious about what's next for Navarrette, and if she'll be recognized during Awards Season like Weapons' Amy Madigan. During an interview with Nylon, the 25-year-old actress was asked if she'd do a Marvel movie, responding with:

I would.

She also confirmed to the outlet that she's already met with Jake Schreier, who directed Thunderbolts* and will once again be behind the camera for the developing X-Men movie. This news turned heads for fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order and can't wait for mutants to finally take center stage.

A thread over on Reddit responded to the news that Navarrette met with Schreier, with folks sounding off about which X-Men character they think she'd be great playing. The responses read as follows:

Inde is my top choice to play Mystique. The woman has a REALLY expressive face that could portray a lot of great emotion even with the makeup.
She would definitely make a great Laura Kinney.
I'd rather they keep Dafne Keen who's just 21 as Laura in the reseted universe and cast Navarrette as Kitty Pride.
Shes Psylocke for me.

Clearly there's a ton of love for the X-Men, and fans are hyped about the idea of Inde Navarrette joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We'll just have to wait and see if she actually joins the cast of Schreier's developing blockbuster, and if any of the above casting guesses end up being legit.

Out of the four characters listed above, I think I'm most inclined to see Navarrette as Mystique. She was basically playing two characters in Obsession, which shows how transformative she can be. Of course, she'd have some big shoes to fill thanks to the role previously being played by Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence. Although I could honestly see her as X-23, Psylocke, or Kitty Pride as well. Talk about versatility.

For years, mutants were noticeably missing in the MCU, but Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox finally opened the door for the X-Men to join the fun. Since then, characters have been used here and there, and the OG actors from Fox's franchise will appear in the next Avengers movie. But Schreier is expected to bring in a new group of actors for his movie.

It's currently unclear when the X-Men movie will hit theaters, but a handful of mutants will appear in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. As for Obsession, it's available for rent or home purchase now and will arrive on Peacock on July 17th.

Rumored DCU Batman Actor Tom Brittney Responds To Chatter About Casting (And Looks Kinda Guilty)

Corey Chichizola — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 17:34:38 +0000

The comic book genre continues to be wildly popular, and things on the DC side of things are changing thanks to plans formulated by co-CEO James Gunn. We're still early into the run of the newly formed DCU (whose first slate of projects is titled Gods and Monsters), and there are countless questions about which actors might play beloved heroes. Actor Tom Brittney is rumored to be playing Bruce Wayne/ Batman, although he recently denied these reports. Still, he looked kinda guilty to me.

Fans are curious about the upcoming DC movies, especially since so little is known about casting. While James Gunn claimed he wasn't rushing to bring Batman to the shared universe, that hasn't stopped casting rumors from swirling. Brittney recently appeared on FOX5’s Good Day New York (via Twitter) to promote the new series The Westies, where he was asked about the Batman chatter. Check out his response below:

Tom Brittney addresses the DCU Batman casting rumor"No comment. I know nothing. Just lovely wonderful rumors" pic.twitter.com/jyDtlDCSY6July 9, 2026

Is it just me, or does the Greyhound actor look like he's hiding something? While it would have been easy enough to deny that he's in talks for Batman, instead he played dumb, even jokingly asking "Who?" when asked about the rumors that he's playing the Caped Crusader. I mean, who doesn't know that specific hero? After all, he's one of the most popular DC characters of all time. It's reminding me of how Andrew Garfield lied for a year about his Spider-Man: No Way Home role.

Of course, this isn't a confirmation that Tom Brittney is actually playing Gotham's Protector in the DCU (which is streaming with an HBO Max subscription). But I'm sure his mischievous smile is going to keep the discourse going. As far as his actual words, the actor responded by saying:

No comment. I know nothing. Just lovely wonderful rumors.

If Brittney doesn't end up playing Bruce Wayne, it sounds like he's honored to even be rumored for that role. Batman is a dream role for many, despite the pressure and how many actors have already famously played the role. Still, the newly formed DCU is going to need a new version of the Caped Crusader eventually.

Of course, there is another version of the character happening right now. Namely Robert Pattinson, who starred in The Batman and will reprise his role in Matt Reeves' upcoming follow-up Part II. It's largely believed that the DCU won't move forward with a new version of the beloved character until that long-awaited sequel finally arrives in theaters. So the ongoing discourse about casting rumors will likely continue for the foreseeable future. We'll just have to wait and see if Tom Brittney ends up being the lucky actor to wear the cape and cowl.

The next DC movie hitting theaters is Clayface on October 23rd as part of the 2026 movie release list. As for The Batman: Part II, that's not expected to arrive until October 1st, 2027. As such, we might have to wait even longer before DCU Batman casting is announced.

Evil Dead Burn Reviews Agree It's 'Relentlessly Violent,’ But One Question Is Splitting Opinions

Heidi Venable — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 16:06:24 +0000

Many longtime fans of the Evil Dead franchise have been excited for Evil Dead Burn — the sixth installment in the series. Reactions to the brutal first trailer were wild, with people freaking out about the “horrible, horrible things” being portrayed. Evil Dead Burn reviews are out ahead of its release on the 2026 movie calendar, and while critics agree this is the most violent of the franchise, one big question has them split: Is an Evil Dead movie dependent on at least some humor?

In the latest offering a recently widowed woman and her in-laws seclude themselves in a remote house that has ties to the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. Despite hitting the obligatory beats like the Book of the Dead and requisite Deadites, some critics like David Rooney of THR crave some laughs to break up the “grisly carnage” and “vicious cruelty.” Gorehounds, however, will be more than satisfied. Rooney writes:

I missed the antic spirit, the wicked sense of mischief and the straight-up goofy comedy that defined Raimi’s originals, not to mention the unhinged madness of Bruce Campbell’s beloved leading character, Ash. (Raimi and Campbell serve as a producer and executive producer, respectively.) The series’ new iterations, starting with Fede Álvarez’s 2013 soft reboot Evil Dead, have largely abandoned its roots as horror-comedy in favor of orgiastic slaughter. There’s no doubt an audience for that, but it’s a whole other style that honors the early chapters in name alone.

Mark Kennedy of the AP agrees, rating the movie just 1 star out of 4. With so much elevated horror available these days (see Obsession and Backrooms’ record-breaking box office runs), Evil Dead Burn seems like a step in the wrong direction. Director Sébastien Vaniček promised to make this installment the franchise’s most brutal, and he did — just without being artful, clever or scary, Kennedy says, writing:

Vaniček has certainly delivered — a relentlessly violent, overlong, one-note, meandering grindhouse that lacks its predecessors’ Looney Tunes approach to horror and humor. Evil Dead Burn shows signs that the franchise may have found itself a savage, nihilistic dead end in torture-porn, even as a seventh is on its way.

Maria Loreto of Polygon notes that while the first three Evil Dead movies brought slapstick comedy, the fourth and fifth offerings added gravitas with dramatic storylines. Evil Dead Burn is successful on neither of those levels, Loreto writes. Her Evil Dead Burn review reads:

The Evil Dead franchise has room for everything. It has room for camp but also for serious subject material like addiction and loss. Still, for these elements to work, the filmmakers need to have a firm grasp on the movie’s tone. Evil Dead Burn throws a bunch of guts against the wall to see what sticks. Filmmakers want the audience to laugh and cover their eyes in disgust. They want to deliver pathos when Alice reckons with her husband’s true nature. The movie ends up falling flat on all fronts.

Meanwhile, Nick Schager of the Daily Beast agrees that both revulsion and hilarity are the lifeblood of the Evil Dead movies, but unlike the above critics, he thinks that dichotomy is on full display in Evil Dead Burn. The movie, according to Schager, “finds the funny in the fantastically nasty — and, in doing so, proves a stomach-churningly amusing nightmare." The critic says:

For the first time since Raimi was at its helm, the Deadites’ demented butchery feels fresh in Evil Dead Burn, and credit for that rejuvenation goes squarely to Vaniček, who recognizes the material’s inherent rollercoaster-from-Hell appeal. Escalating his carnage to staggering heights without losing sight of the relatable real-world stresses and strains that make his protagonists such vulnerable targets for the Deadites, the director goes old-school with his latest, devising a series of episodes so deeply discomfiting that they invariably elicit chuckles.

Alison Foreman of IndieWire also says she found plenty of goofiness in the upcoming horror movie, and even more than that or how Sébastien Vaniček’s monsters contort victims into “inventive new shapes,” Foreman seems impressed by what the Evil Dead franchise has been able to do overall. In the critics’ words:

Rather than forcing every filmmaker to imitate Raimi, the IP has evolved into one of genre’s most generous proving grounds. Each new artist inherits the same blood-soaked toy box and discovers an entirely different way to play with it. Vaniček doesn’t reinvent Evil Dead, but he does reinvent how an Evil Dead movie can feel. Whether or not that ultimately works for you, it’s the rare legacy sequel that expands the possibilities of its own franchise — and leaves you genuinely excited to see who will push themselves to the point of exhaustion next.

So there’s little question that if you’re looking for gore, Evil Dead Burn won’t disappoint. If you’re looking for Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s slapstick approach to Deadite horror, this may not be the movie for you. How important is humor to the franchise anyway?

Whatever your feelings on the topic, if you’re excited about this next Evil Dead offering, don’t let these reviews stop you from getting your ticket to the movie, which hits theaters Friday, July 10.

Fresh Off Office Romance, JLo Goes Dreamy And Romantic At Paris Fashion Week

Jessica Rawden — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 15:34:51 +0000

Jennifer Lopez has kept very busy in 2026, which means we’ve gotten a lot of darling red carpet looks from the actress. Over the last few months, we’ve seen her try out many lovely dresses thanks to Netflix’s Office Romance (plus one fit we still don’t think was summer-appropriate). I thought she might take a little bit of a break from celebrity fashion for a bit, but I was very wrong.

Paris Fashion Week beckoned for some big names already. We already saw Emma Corrin and Bad Bunny dress to the nines in Schiaparelli, for one example. In comparison, Lopez did not go for an avant-garde look in 2026. Instead, she popped up at the Celia Kritharioti show in a sheer dress that was romantic enough it would have fit right in during the Office Romance press tour. It’s also giving Noughties vibes. Take a look.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The actress and singer eventually popped up at the event with her younger sister Lynda, who is one year her junior. Both looks featured feathers, beading and more. They made a good pair.

Separately, Lopez shared a post on her social that took a closer look at the darling way she had her hair styled, complete with the perfect little ribbon.

A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo)
A photo posted by on

JLo has actually been in Paris for the past few days and posting up a storm. And why not? Paris Fashion week is the perfect opportunity to go glam and try out new fashion personas.

Not that she needs more fashion cache. She's pulled together many daring outfits over the years. Some personal favorites of mine were the sheer, skin-toned dress she pulled off for the 2026 Golden Globes, the time she threw back to Maid in Manhattan with a pretty sculpted number, and of course, her iconic green Versace Dress. The latter has also been coming up a bit more as the early aughts become trendy again, and appear in all corners of pop culture, including the recent Amazon series Off Campus.

The green dress may be on another level, but Lopez has remained a fashion icon for decades. She's an actress who notably works hard to stay fit, and I like to think it’s in the name of fashion. Given how much she’s been posting in recent days, I’m hoping this is not the last we see of the actress on a red carpet this summer, but I’m glad she’s keeping the romantic looks going even after Office Romance dropped off Netflix’s Top 10.