The Circle is getting new life over at Hulu, meaning fans will no longer be enjoying it via Netflix subscription. I'm excited about it, however, because the shift to another streamer is bringing some massive changes to the game, far more impactful than that wild AI twist from a while back.

Deadline reported that Studio Lambert will take the show to Hulu, and while we don't know if we'll see it on the 2026 TV schedule, I don't mind waiting a bit. The Circle is getting retooled ahead of its big return, and the massive changes that include a fan vote and celebrities have me ready for the premiere.

The Circle Is Letting The Viewers Vote

One major change that will happen when The Circle is available with a Hulu subscription is that the show will film in real-time. Along with that change, fans will vote during the proceedings for the first time. There are no specifics on what this means, but it could mean people at home influence anything from player rankings on the charts to deciding twists and gifts to send each contestant.

I'm a huge Big Brother fan who once called The Circle a great substitute for the CBS mainstay, and this new element will further enforce that. I would love for the audience to vote on ratings of contestants, but I also think that could break the game in its current format. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what's cooked up!

Celebrities Will Be Joining The Game

It seems like The Circle will also take a page out of The Traitors' playbook, as many other reality shows have already done. People like seeing celebrities on reality game shows, and the newest iteration will mix regular people with the famous.

It was not stated exactly how famous celebrities we could expect, but I think we can all be relatively certain Tom Cruise won't be part of the Hulu premiere cast for The Circle. I'm more curious about whether we'll get someone like Dylan Efron, or they'll be more like "reality show" famous, like Wes Bergmann from The Challenge.

Ultimately, I'm just happy to see a show like The Circle get new life elsewhere. I also think all reality competition shows need something to shake things up after a while, as evidenced when Big Brother introduced the BB Blockbuster to combat the longtime strategy of "backdooring" Houseguests. Ultimately, making sure there's a way to keep the game fresh and entertaining for the fans at home is key, and it sounds like Hulu is on the right path to making that happen.

As mentioned, we're still waiting on a specific return date for The Circle, but I'll be excited when it shows up! Here's hoping it lives up to the excitement I had for the Netflix version in its early seasons, and has a nice long run.

The Circle constantly makes interesting narrative choices and observations about the current and future state of social media and online interactions.  I wouldn’t classify it as a revolutionary Netflix reality TV show. It’s mainly a fun one to not take too seriously. However, it occasionally explores a fascinating topic. This is the case with its integration of AI in The Circle Season 6.

The series introduced one of its most intriguing twists by bringing AI into the conversation and to the forefront. The Circle Season 6 uses AI to catfish the contestants on this popular Netflix reality TV show. It adds a new dimension to this social experiment. The AI integration offers a refreshing twist that is entertaining, but it also raises some concerns. 

Warning The Circle Season 6 spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution. 

The Twist Adds A New Entertaining Layer To The Series 

The AI storyline works very well on The Circle. It helps support my theory that The Circle is one of Netflix’s best reality TV shows. It’s done in a way that shows how AI can work to enhance reality TV. The Circle is all about social media, online relationships, and the pros and cons of the evolving landscape of human social connections. Therefore, it almost seems inevitable the show would have to eventually address AI. It smartly explores what happens when AI impersonates a human. 

In The Circle Season 6, the show introduces a twist where AI becomes a player in the game. It takes on a Max alias. Using algorithms and statistics, it mimics what makes a person likable and popular. The show allows Max the AI to interact with the players before warning them that someone in the game isn’t a real person. Then the players must figure out the AI player and eliminate it. 

Max is never one of the players under suspicion as the AI. This offers a scary and fun look at how AI can blend in online with humans. The AI twist on The Circle only lasts for a few episodes. All the players are shocked by the reveal. From a storytelling perspective, it’s a twist that delivers. You’re entertained and hooked on how it all plays out. It also may make you wonder if you could tell the difference between a real person and an AI mimicking a person.

I think The Circle should have let the twist play out longer. This could show more of the limits, if any, of using AI in this manner. For example, people aren’t neat and they have a rich history that may have been hard for an AI to develop or replicate. The interactions between the AI and the human could have started to feel shallow and surface-level. Even online, people can develop deeper connections that may be beyond an AI’s capabilities. 

The Circle’s AI twist succeeds in creating engaging conversations around the idea. However, not all the conversations are positive.

It’s A Great Twist But Some Of It Makes Me Uncomfortable 

The fact that no one figured out that Max was AI makes me worry about the ease with which people can use the right technology to catfish others. No one wants to become part of a future crazy episode of Catfish. If AI can manipulate people that easily, we’ll see an AI episode eventually. Scamming in America is already a big problem because it is used to financially and romantically manipulate people. Dating apps often become a source for people to catfish and scam others. Usually, if you have enough tech savvy, you can spot a scammer. However, now it may be easier to use AI to deceive people. Imagine meeting someone online only to find out that they used AI to create a persona to trick you into dating them, or imagine you think you’ve made a great business investment but it was a scam made to seem real with the help of AI.

The Circle could be edited to make it seem to viewers like the AI easily deceived the contestants. You always have to approach reality TV shows with a bit of caution. It’s about telling a captivating story with footage and that isn’t necessarily always the true story. Therefore, maybe the contestants did have suspicions about Max, but that was edited out. It would surely be more fascinating if the AI completely deceives them.

AI is constantly evolving and advancing, so currently it doesn’t seem like the technology can catfish people, at least not the basic kind accessible to most individuals. However, in the future, AI could reach scary levels of mimicking human emotions. If a million AI destroys humanity movies taught us anything, especially Ex Machina, it’s to approach it with caution. Also, do not trust it. 

However, it seems like only a few people see these films as cautionary tales because we’re already seeing AI pushed more into our lives, whether we want it or not. To my knowledge, SAG-AFTRA didn’t initially cover reality TV shows, so The Circle using AI didn’t directly affect what the Actors and Writers’ strikes were fighting for. However, it shows how easily it can find its way into the television and film world. Netflix already recently found itself in some AI controversy. According to Futurism, Netflix allegedly used AI in the documentary What Jennifer Did. 

The use of AI in The Circle was done openly, so it doesn’t feel quite the same as how it was possibly used in that documentary but both could show the start of a pattern of Netflix feeling comfortable integrating it into its content. 

The Circle is a very popular Netflix series so people could watch this twist and see ways they can deceive with AI. I would hope anyone watching it would see a way to use AI to enhance their work and lives, not as a means of replacement, but you never know how people will respond to things.

I Am Not Completely Against AI On The Circle 

I think the best way to use AI (if you’re going to use it) is to help enhance not replace. The Circle, overall, used it rightly. It didn’t completely replace the contestants with AI bots. It used it to add an entertaining twist that didn't last long. 

It added an interesting dynamic but the story remained focused on the real people on the show. Their reactions, emotions, stories, and connections stood above the AI’s purpose. Personally, I would prefer every industry that isn’t AI-focused to use it very rarely. However, based on everything we’ve seen so far, that’s not going to happen.

Therefore, I just hope that when utilized it’s used as a way to supplement something and not eliminate the need for human creation. If The Circle decides to add this twist again, I hope they let it play out longer just to show more of the limits of AI. And if the AI wins the season, then maybe it could be turned into the best episode of Black Mirror ever and make us reevaluate technology and this world. 

Stream The Circle on Netflix. 

We’re midway through April and after getting your taxes paid it seems to be it’s only fair that you be allowed to curl up on the sofa and ignore the world for a while. Luckily there are lots of different choices this week, from an epic science fiction movie conclusion to the TV return of Conan O’Brien.

From reality shows to documentaries, to an animated movie release you probably missed in theaters, there’s a lot to choose from over the next seven days from all the best streaming services. Here are the week’s highlights.

Netflix This Week: Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon And More

While many streaming services have a particular focus, Netflix does it all, so it almost always has something of note, but what that is often changes from week to week. This week that means a new season of a popular reality show and the epic conclusion to Zach Snyder’s epic original science fiction movie. 

The Circle: Season 6 - April 17

The social media influencer-based reality show The Circle has been a solid hit for Netflix. While the streamer cancels so many other projects early, the series is getting ready to launch Season 6 for Netflix subscribers and the new series promises new twists and turns as each member of the game attempts to influence their way to the win. The first batch of episodes drop this week, with more coming on April 24 and the season finishing up on May 1.  

Rebel Moon: Part Two: The Scargiver - April 19

Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon was one of the most highly anticipated projects of last year, even before it became so big it became two movies. While the first part of Rebel Moon was met with harsh reviews, expectations are still high for part two, titled The Scargiver. Perhaps once the story is complete Rebel Moon will be better for it. 

Hulu This Week: Lily Gladstone And More

With Hulu now a full part of Disney+ for those who subscribe to both, access to the platform is that much easier for Hulu subscribers. This week’s offerings on the platform are certainly not the sort of content we expect from Disney. Highlights include a crime drama based on a true story and a reality series about drugs.  

Under the Bridge - April 17

True crime has been a popular genre when it comes to streaming documentaries but Under the Bridge brings something a little different to Hulu subscribers as the new series is a dramatization of the true crime book of the same name. It follows the events surrounding the disappearance of Reena Virk in 1997. With a cast that includes Riley Keough and recent Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone, there will likely be a lot of people looking to check this one out.

High Hopes: Complete Season 1 - April 20

Releasing a new reality series that follows the people who work at a marijuana dispensary on 4/20 may not be the most creative decision we can imagine, but it’s certainly on brand. High Hopes follows MMD, one of the oldest dispensaries in Hollywood, founded by a pair of brothers from Belarus. Whether or not you partake in pot or not, a look behind the curtain into the fairly new legal marijuana business will likely be enlightening for many.

Max This Week: Conan O'Brien And More

With an influx of content from Discovery, Max has become the streaming service if reality shows are your particular focus. However, this week’s highlights come from a pair of major returns, with a new show from Conan O’Brien and a sequel to one of HBO’s most popular documentaries.  

Conan O’Brien Must Go - April 18

Since his days on Late Night, Conan O’Brien has been something of a television staple. Following the end of his TBS talk show, the host has kept busy but has largely been off television. That changes this week. Conan O’Brien Must Go's premiere date is set for April 18. The new series is technically a travel show but ultimately looks like a series designed to let O’Brien unleash his trademark humor all over the world. For fans, that’s really all they need.

The Jinx Part Two- April 21

HBO’s The Jinx gave us one of the biggest moments in television history when the documentary series investigating criminal allegations against Robert Durst ended in a confession of murder. Now, Max subscribers get The Jinx: Part Two, a new series that covers the fallout from that epic moment and the eight years that followed from Durst’s arrest to his death in 2022.  

Peacock This Week: Orlando Bloom And More

Peacock is one of the few streaming platforms that is available for free, but many of the best shows and films are still locked behind the paywall. There are a couple of good reasons to become a paying Peacock subscriber this week.  

Orlando Bloom to the Edge, Season 1 - April 18

Following the success of the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean films Orlando Bloom was one of the biggest stars in the world. Fans wondering what he’s been up to recently will get their chance to see the actor put his body on the line in the new reality series Orlando Bloom to the Edge, where the star trains and attempts three extreme sports, rock climbing, free diving, and wingsuiting. 

Migration - April 19

Illumination had one of last year's biggest movies with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While its follow-up wasn’t quite as big, Migration may have appealed to a different audience by creating something increasingly rare, the completely original animated feature. Migration did solid box office business but if you missed the film in theaters, now is your chance to check it out.

While these are the highlights, there’s a lot more where all this came from. Check out the full list of what’s new on Netflix for the complete list of films and series. Everything upcoming on DIsney+ includes new episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch and X-Men ‘97. And be sure to check out what’s new on Hulu so you don’t miss any of the new additions there. 

Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, armed with critiques for Will Smith and others, cracked Netflix's Top 10 with only a limited time to do so compared to other shows. Given that, it seems as though Netflix's foray into live events was a success. No doubt subscribers responded well to the live format and may want to see more. I, for one, am obsessed with the special and the live format being utilized further in streaming. 

So how can Netflix do more with live events? I have a few ideas, and while not all of them are completely groundbreaking or original, they are ideas that Netflix should be trying to implement in the future. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject, and how Netflix can continue to ride the wave of live events after having a hit with Chris Rock's comedy special. 

More Stand-Up Comedy Specials

To get the obvious out of the way, it seems like Netflix should invest in hosting more live stand-up comedy specials. Sure, Netflix already has a lot of stand-up, and a good deal of it was recorded, and that's fine. However, there's still nothing quite like a live performance and the idea that anything can happen. 

It's ironic to speak about the possibilities of what can happen during a live event, especially when Chris Rock is part of the reason behind it. Still, there's no denying that a comedy show is much better when it has improvised/unexpected moments that catch people off guard, as well as jokes that could've been scrubbed in post-production after being viewed by a streamer. Plus, it makes the viewer feel like a part of the audience in attendance, so I'm all for more live stand-up comedy.  

Live Seasons Of The Circle And Other Reality Shows

The Circle and Too Hot To Handle are just two examples of popular Netflix reality shows that would benefit from having a live season. The Circle, specifically, is a series that has often felt rushed when watching the season, as though viewers are missing a hefty bit of context as to why certain decisions in the game happened. 

With a live season, those with a Netflix subscription would get an inside look at what's going on in The Circle at all times or get a front-row seat to the spiciness of Too Hot To Handle. Sure, it's voyeuristic, but live feeds have also helped shows like Big Brother celebrate long runs on television. Plus, it would give audiences more to talk about outside of what airs on episodes. 

Live Tell-All Specials Following Reality Shows

If you're someone who watches 90 Day Fiancé or The Real Housewives franchise, you know that the tell-all specials are half the fun of a season. Now imagine that same thing happening with a Netflix series, but the reactions are live. Network shows like Big Brother have tried to replicate that, but they're bound by FCC restrictions, and perhaps as a result, feel heavily scripted to prevent any surprises or obscenities. 

Netflix isn't beholden to the same rules as network and cable television though, which could make a live tell-all for a show like Too Hot To Handle or Love Is Blind much more exciting. Plus, Twitter is the best place for fans of reality TV, and they tend to be popping during live events like this even more so than they usually are. 

Live Singing Competitions

If there's one non-sports genre that has thrived with a live format, it's the singing competition. American Idol and The Voice are both tried and true examples of singing competitions that have mastered the live show and kept audiences obsessed with their offerings for years. Live singing competitions work, and it's something Netflix can and should pursue. 

One Netflix series I really loved was Rhythm + Flow, which, for the uninitiated, was like The Voice if it was mostly a rap competition. The series had a great Season 1, with its winning rapper D Smoke going on to earn two Grammy nominations just two years later. That's a show I think needs another season, and bringing it back as a live show could get a large audience invested in a show they might've missed the first time around. 

Live Concerts And Music Festivals

If Netflix is willing to go the route of doing a live comedy show, it doesn't seem like that much of a leap to offer live concerts or feeds from popular music festivals. The latter is already normalized for major festivals like Coachella, though I'm sure Netflix could arrange a deal with one of the other big events to broadcast all the fun and chaos of. 

As a parent who lives a good distance away from family, I don't get a lot of nights out. Having the ability to spend my Friday night jamming out to some live concert from the comfort of my living room would be a joy, especially if it's available for just the price of my Netflix subscription. Could I do the same thing with a pre-recorded concert? Sure, but the live element would make me feel like I'm part of the fun, even if I'm just a thirty-something trying to boogie down in my house. Or, I could also see the next Woodstock '99 unfold from the comfort of home, which would also be pretty wild. 

Live Premieres For Shows And Documentaries

It may seem silly for Netflix to host live premieres for its shows and break from its normal release schedule. As someone who lives in the Eastern time zone and works in entertainment, however, I can't stress how much streaming is messing this up. I go to bed still waiting for a premiere because I can't really stay up until 2 or 3 a.m., and by the time I wake up, there are already hundreds of spoilers waiting for me on Twitter from those on the West Coast who did stay up. 

Imagine if when the final season of Stranger Things premieres, we all had access to the premiere at a decent hour? Obviously that's easier said than done when you're an international streamer, but I think live premieres for shows and documentaries could get more people talking about a series at the same time and maybe even draw more eyes to it and get people to tune in. Watching content with others is fun, and I think some people lost sight of that in the jump to streaming. 

We'll ultimately have to wait and see what Netflix attempts to further pursue live content with, if any, but rest assured, the potential is there. While it's not still live, anyone with a subscription can stream Chris Rock: Selective Outrage right now, and I'm sure viewers will still get a chuckle or two out of it. 

Over the course of the past few years, and four seasons, The Circle has become one of the most popular reality programs on Netflix, which is saying something considering all the competition on streaming service. The show takes elements from the likes of Big Brother and Catfish and creates a hilarious, and sometimes intense social media-based competitive experience that has continued to resonate with audiences since its January 2020 debut.

Longtime fans, and those who have only just now discovered the show, are probably wondering about when The Circle Season 5 will premiere and introduce them to another series of challenges carried out by new cast members. Well, sit back and relax, because we are about to break down everything we know about the fan-favorite series, including where it lands on the 2022 Netflix schedule and other tidbits, including changes coming to the game in the very near future…

The Circle Season 5 Premieres December 28th on Netflix

There are a lot of great movies and shows coming to Netflix in December, including the upcoming Emily in Paris Season 3 and the premiere of The Witcher: Blood Origin, as well as the streaming debut of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. But, before the final month of the year closes out, The Circle Season 5 will debut a little more than half a year after the fourth season wrapped up, and take fans of the show (and those who are just now learning about it) back to those fake apartments filled with social media influencers and competitors vying for the cash prize. 

Netflix has announced that The Circle Season 5 will make its debut on Wednesday, December 28th, which seems like the platform’s way of saving the best for last, at least in terms of realty TV competition programs.

The New Season Is Called The Circle: Singles

Netflix is mixing things up for the fifth season of its popular reality TV series as all of the competitors will be single heading into the competition, or so they claim. This time around, the show is being called The Circle: Singles, and according to Netflix, there will be a romantic twist to the game.

Not a lot of details about how the new format will change up the series have been released at this point, but when announcing the alteration, the streaming platform has said the “romantically available” contestants will once again be jockeying for popularity with their fellow co-stars, who are also trapped in small apartments with only social media as a means of communication. Surely, this concept will lead to even more catfishing among competitors, as well as flirtatious behavior and inevitable drama as they battle it out on The Circle: Singles.

Netflix has yet to announce how many contestants will take part in The Circle: Singles or if there will be any returning competitors from previous seasons in addition to the new faces vying for that cash prize and all the glory. Expect to hear more about the individual players as we get closer to the show’s December 28th premiere date.

Michelle Buteau Returns To Host The Circle Season 5

Although we don’t yet know who will be taking part in the competition throughout The Circle: Singles when the show premieres in late December, we do know that longtime host, actress and comedian Michelle Bureau, will once again walk contestants, and viewers at home, through the show’s fifth season. Netflix confirmed that Buteau, who appeared in 2022 movies like Marry Me, Moonshot, Crush, and Clerks III, would be back to keep the singles in check while making sure the reality program stays on track. 

Episodes Of The Circle: Singles Will Be Released In Batches

Like a lot of the other reality programs on Netflix, The Circle has a history of not releasing all of its episodes at once, but instead in batches, with the three latest seasons having been split into four sections, and new episodes dropping each week over the course of a month. It looks like The Circle: Singles will be no different, as the caption accompanying Netflix’s Season 5 announcement on Instagram revealed “the first episodes” will drop on December 28th: 

Although Netflix has revealed the start date for The Circle: Singles, the streaming platform has yet to announce how many episodes will be in that first chunk or how many episodes there will be in total. That being said, we can turn to previous seasons to speculate. 

Seasons 2 through 4 have consisted of 13 episodes each, with four episodes debuting on the first day, and four being released over the following two weeks, and a final chapter debuting in the fourth week. If The Circle Season 5 follows that pattern, then we can expect to see new episodes on January 4, January 11, and January 18, 2023. But again, this is just speculation.

The Circle Season 5 Was First Announced In August 2021

Back in August 2021, before The Circle Season 3 had even aired a single episode, Netflix picked up the reality program for a fourth and fifth season, as reported by Deadline. The news came on the heels of the show’s successful second season, which was watched by approximately 14 million households after its release, according to the outlet. 

There is no word yet if Netflix will pick up The Circle for future seasons following the Singles experiment, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising, considering the popularity of the series and its social media presence. Maybe we’ll know more after the show returns in late December.

Expect to hear much more about The Circle Season 5 as we get closer to the December 28th debut of Singles. In the meantime, you could always watch the first four seasons of the popular competition series with your Netflix subscription, which also grants you access to shows like The Mole, Too Hot to Handle, and Love is Blind, which is slated to return for a fourth season at some point in the near future. Don’t forget to check out the 2023 TV schedule to get an early start on everything else coming to your favorite channels and streaming services in the coming months.

The Circle is an entertaining reality program that has been a favorite amongst Netflix subscribers for a few years now. It feels like the TV show has been on for decades, but it’s only been two long years of this social experiment. More and more fans are jumping on to The Circle craze, but even more are still clueless about it.

It is a really entertaining show once you watch. However, if you don’t know what it’s about, you may not want to check into The Circle. So, let us discuss this great Netflix reality TV show, and why you may want to add it to your Netflix binge-watch list.

The Circle Is Like Big Brother For The Social Media Generation 

MTV and The Real World made people stop being nice and start getting real way before it became the TV norm. The Real World put people from different backgrounds together in a house and turned on the cameras to see what could happen.  

Big Brother launched as a Real World-type competition series in the United States in 2000, and has been on CBS for over 20 seasons, spurring many international versions. 

So, what happens when you take the premises that made The Real World and Big Brother so popular but do it very with a very modern angle? You get The Circle.

What you need to know about The Circle is that it is a Netflix reality show that starts with eight strangers living in the same apartment building, but living in separate apartment units. Their only communication happens through an app called The Circle.

Similar to Big Brother, players have to use their social and strategic skills to make it to the end.

How To Play The Circle

The first round starts with eight initial profiles, but it may be more than eight players, as sometimes multiple players come into the show acting as one.

After a day, a few days, or maybe even a few hours, the players rate each other from first to last. The ones rated highest by the majority of the current players usually win safety and the opportunity to eliminate others.

Once this round of ratings is revealed, the top two players, called Influencers, then go to a private room and chat to discuss who to eliminate. This is often what happens, but sometimes there is a twist with elimination. This twist could involve the lowest-rated player automatically being eliminated, or someone who's not an Influencer getting a chance to eliminate a player, or only the top player having the power to eliminate someone immediately. Additionally, sometimes multiple players are eliminated at once.

After each elimination, either one or more new players enter the game to compete in The Circle. Players are eliminated and new ones added until the final few days of the game.

The eliminated players are also given the chance to have a face-to-face interaction with any of the remaining players.

Participants are also often given fun tasks to keep them from boredom or to stir up some drama.

Every day, the cast has a limited window to chat with others in the Circle. This is where alliances are formed, bonds are made, and scheming happens.

On the final day, the last contestants rate each other from first to last. They have a face-to-face meeting with all the finalists, and they then have a larger reunion with the eliminated players. Host Michelle Buteau announces the rating results until only the two highest-rated players remain. Whoever has the highest rating becomes The Circle winner and wins the grand prize of between $100,000 and $150,000.

The Circle Started In The U.K

Like many great shows, America saw its popularity and then bought the rights to create its own version. The Circle originally began in the U.K. in 2018. It aired for three seasons from 2018 to 2021. It differed from the U.S. version in a few ways, but the biggest difference is that it aired almost daily during its few weeks' run. Therefore, it had 18-22 episodes over the course of a season.

Netflix streams 12 or 13 episodes per season and releases several episodes at a time. The U.K. version also had a shortened celebrity special.

When Netflix bought the rights to The Circle, it also created several international versions. Netflix also has seasons of The Circle France and The Circle Brazil available to stream.

Its Has One Of The Most Diverse Reality TV Show Casts

A beautiful thing about The Circle is that its cast is very diverse. It has everyday people from various socioeconomic backgrounds, a wide range of ethnicities and races, and contestants representing many parts of the LGBTQ+ community. It also has cast members from a wide range of age groups — something that isn’t the norm on most reality television.

This makes it a great successor to Big Brother, which is now going back towards a more diverse cast, after having kind of lost that element over the years.

The diversity in The Circle allows for more depictions of underrepresented groups and allows for more enriching conversations surrounding the show. In a Variety interview, The Circle executive producer Tim Harcourt talked about the diversity with the cast and how it speaks to the power of social media:

Catfishing Is Encouraged In The Circle

Nev Schulman may not be a fan of catfishing, and we can’t blame him with some of those wild Catfish stories, but The Circle encourages it. Players can choose to play the game as their true selves or create a fake persona that they believe will help them get further in the game.

Sometimes pretending to be someone else makes them an easy target, and other times, it helps them win the game. The success of a catfish in the game really depends on how well the player executes their catfish game and uses it to their advantage.

It’s One Of Netflix’s Most Popular Shows

According to Whats on Netflix, The Circle is some of Netflix’s most popular original programming. The site reports that at least 29 million and 14 million viewers watched the first two minutes of Seasons 1 and 2, respectively, during the first 28-days of each seasons’ release. 

The Circle is often in the top ten Netflix shows each week it's streaming. With it being so popular, there is no wonder that Netflix renewed it for two more seasons in 2021.

Netflix recently began streaming The Circle Season 4, but there is plenty of time to binge watch the first three seasons before Season 4 ends and Season 5 begins.

For the first time in what feels like a lifetime, we no longer have to speculate about when Stranger Things Season 4 will arrive. May is the month when we finally get more episodes of one of Netflix’s greatest series, and that’s truly a cause for celebration. Well, maybe not for the characters in the show, but hey, it’s a work of fiction. 

Beyond Stranger Things, there are plenty of other thrilling shows hitting the streaming service in May of 2022. Those with a Netflix subscription would do well to keep an eye on the calendar, so they can make the time for these great shows.

The Circle (Season 4) - 5/4

One of Netflix’s best reality shows is back for another season, and the timing couldn’t be any better. I’ve always considered The Circle to be a Big Brother-adjacent series, and with Season 4 falling right in between the end of the celebrity version and the upcoming Season 24, reality game show enthusiasts have it made for the immediate future. As usual, contestants will compete to be the top-rated individual at the end of the game in a series of new episodes released weekly. Newcomers need not worry, though they’d definitely do well to watch Season 3 and the absolutely wild way it ended. 

The Pentaverate - 5/5

Mike Myers has had some sporadic appearances as Dr. Evil over the years and that weird stint posing as a host of The Gong Show, but nothing too substantial. Now, he’s making a big return in his much-anticipated Netflix series The Pentaverate, which follows a Canadian journalist’s efforts to help save a secret organization from a threat within. This comedic limited series stars Keegan-Michael Key, Jennifer Saunders, Jeremy Irons, and of course, Mike Myers doing some classic character work. 

Workin’ Moms (Season 6) - 5/10

Kate, Anne, Jenny, Sloane, and Val are back for more adventures as Workin’ Moms heads into Season 6. As usual, the series centers on thirty-something moms just trying to navigate the ins and outs of working in addition to raising children. Most of the people who are going to tune in for Season 6 already know what to expect, so this is just a reminder that the show exists for anybody looking for something to binge.

The Lincoln Lawyer - 5/13

From noted TV creator David E. Kelley, this television take on The Lincoln Lawyer is rooted in the book The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo plays defense attorney Mickey Haller in this adaptation, but he still works out of a chauffeured Lincoln Town Car. Netflix covers a lot of genres with its originals, though I’m hard-pressed to think of any other major original legal dramas on the platform. Perhaps if this one is successful, we’ll see more. 

Love On The Spectrum U.S. - 5/18

When the original Love On The Spectrum premiered, it got a lot of people talking. Now the series is coming back, set in the United States with the intention of showing more people with autism looking to find love. In a time when inclusivity and representation are needed, now is as good a time as any to see stories we don’t often see in an attempt to better understand the challenges, struggles, and triumphs that others go through. 

The Boss Baby: Back In The Crib - 5/19

Boss Baby is back, baby, and it’s time to usher in a new era. Following the events of the latest movie, a grown Ted Templeton Jr. is using his niece’s magic formula to turn himself back into a baby, so he can work at BabyCorp. Unfortunately, Ted’s latest foray into the baby corporate world isn’t quite what he expected. I personally believe The Boss Baby is one of the highest-quality kids franchises on Netflix, so any parent who hasn’t given it a shot should definitely do so if their kid is interested. 

The G Word With Adam Conover - 5/19

Adam Ruins Everything was one of the best exposé shows on television, but unfortunately, the show was cancelled. Now, Adam Conover is back on Netflix with The G Word With Adam Conover, which looks to talk about the ways the government impacts our everyday lives. It sounds like the kind of show that can definitely be informative, though also maybe a bummer considering what’s being discussed. In short, it sounds like a spiritual successor to Adam Ruins Everything, which ultimately is a good thing for television audiences. 

Somebody Feed Phil (Season 5) - 5/25

I will die on the hill that there are few better people to travel the world with than Phil Rosenthal. Of course, I’ve never done it personally, but it certainly feels that way after the past four seasons of Somebody Feed Phil. This season we’ll see the happy-go-lucky world traveler (and creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) head to Oaxaca, Maine, Helsinki, Portland, and Madrid. I’m sure whether he’s stateside or overseas, Rosenthal is going to show viewers the best eats around (even if he almost makes himself sick), and isn’t that the best part of traveling? 

Stranger Things 4: Volume 1 - 5/27

I did say at the beginning that Stranger Things 4 is the main event that we’re all waiting for, but I guess I could’ve mentioned that fans will have to wait almost the entirety of May to see it. In all honesty, though, that’s nothing compared to the wait so far, and in a short time, we’ll all get to see Hawkins experience its next big crisis just in time for the town’s spring break. Plus, we’ll get to see what’s next for Hopper while he’s in Russia, the Byers and Eleven in California, and apparently, a war on the horizon. It’s been so long since Season 3 that I would highly advise anyone rewatch the season just to get back in the mood for the series, and get ready for what could be the series’ greatest season yet. 

The only way to watch all these great originals arriving in May is with Netflix. Be sure to sign up if you’re not already, and get ready for a great month of killer content from the streamer. 

Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Circle Season 3 finale. Read at your own risk!

The Circle Season 3 is done, and for the first time in the American version of the series, the winner was someone who joined in late, as opposed to the core squad there during Episode 1. Rather, the unscripted Netflix original crowned James Andre Jefferson Jr. as the winner, which may have surprised some fans.

One person who wasn’t surprised about the winner, however, was Season 3's youngest competitor Daniel Cusimano. In an interview with CinemaBlend ahead of the finale, Cusimano told me he was not at all taken aback in seeing the big winner was not one of the eight contestants who started the season off. Specifically, I asked if Cusimano was shocked that Nick Uhlenhuth and Kai Ghost didn’t win, and Cusimano held nothing back with his colorful response, saying:

Daniel Cusimano saw what The Circle fans might not have: that sometimes the strongest players set themselves up for the biggest falls down the stretch. Fans shouldn’t fault themselves for not seeing James Jefferson’s win coming, though, as the victors from Season 1 and 2 were arguably the most deserving players. Joey Sasso and DeLeesa "Trevor" St. Agathe were both immensely popular throughout the entire seasons, so it made sense they won at the end.

That’s not to say James Jefferson wasn’t popular after his late-stage entry, but if we’re speaking objectively here, he wasn’t in the game as long as Kai Ghost or Nick Uhlenhuth. And since most of The Circle Season 3 revolved around Kai and Nick’s alliances they'd cultivated, including the secret alliance they made between themselves, everything made it seem like it would come down to Nick vs. Kai in crowning the winner of the most cut-throat season of the American series to date. But that clearly wasn’t the case.

Essentially, their strong games and personalities ultimately led the other players to give them low final rankings, which pushed James Jefferson to the top. Jefferson’s win essentially confirmed there’s a new way to play The Circle and win, while also spotlighting the risk of being a dominant player and decision-maker early on. Of course, the threat was always there, but this was just the first season where we saw a popular player lose because of how much they deserved to win, ironically enough. It will certainly be interesting to see how Jefferson’s win impacts future seasons and if future players use similar tactics to try and secure their own victories. And whether or not Daniel Cusimano will want to send any of those people to the electric chair.

The Circle Season 3 is available to binge in full on Netflix, which subscribers will want to do ahead of the already confirmed Season 4. Those looking for something else to watch can have a much easier time doing so by checking out some of the spectacular shows arriving in October and mark their calendars appropriately.

The Circle Season 3 is out on Netflix, and thus far, it feels like a radically different game. Players have been cloned, players have been deceived, and the gameplay has drastically improved from Season 1 and even Season 2 of the social media-based reality game. With that said, it would appear that while the game has moved past the Season 1 cast, that didn't prevent their playstyles from influencing players like Ruksana Carroll on how they would enter the game.

I got a chance to speak to Ruksana Carroll about Season 3 of The Circle and asked her if any past players of the original season had inspired her game. Carroll didn't waste any time with her response and brought up the cast member that was a big part of why so many fans fell in love with this series.

Shubham Goel, or "Shooby" as he was known to fans and The Circle Season 1 cast, went from underdog to one of the most liked people in his season. Shooby's rise in the ranks came from his earnest attitude and honesty, and an online persona that presented an accurate version of himself. Ruksana Carroll told CinemaBlend she was inspired by Goel's game and worked to go into the house with a style that's very much the same.

Knowing that, it's very easy to see the "Shooby" style in Ruksana Carroll's game. Thus far in The Circle Season 3, she's played a straight-up game, has kept up an honest and open front where she could, and has generally been open about her intentions and made strong alliances in the process. Her bond with Kai Ghost really came through when she reached influencer status in Episode 4, but can this alliance hold strong and push them through to the end? It's hard to say, given how players have won Season 1 and 2 in different ways, but we've got a couple more weeks before we'll know for sure!

Catch Episodes 1-8 of The Circle on Netflix right now, and continue to check in on Wednesdays for new episodes. For more on upcoming shows on Netflix, check out the stunning praise horror writer Stephen King had for the upcoming horror series Midnight Mass.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Circle Season 3's first four episodes that were released on Wednesday, September 8th. read at your own risk!

Netflix's The Circle recently returned for Season 3, and the social media reality competition really hit the ground running with an awesome cast and some new fresh twists. Few felt the burn harder from those early-episode twists than Michelle Rider, the wife, mother, and dog-lover from South Carolina whose identity was stolen by the season's first evicted contestants, sisters Ava and Chanel Capra. There were two Michelles in the game, and the exit ultimately came down to one fateful question about dogs.

I'm talking, of course, about the seemingly innocuous poll in which the cast was asked whether they let their pets kiss them on the mouth. Orange Michelle — the real Michelle — chose no, and it was that avoidance of canine saliva that ultimately caused the cast to wrongly determine that Ava and Chanel Capra's Blue Michelle was the "true Michelle" that entered the game. When I spoke to Michelle Rider about the moment that effectively ended her game, I asked if she expected her thoughts on dog kisses would go over so poorly with her fellow competitors. Her response:

I certainly understand what Michelle Rider is saying, but I can't deny being just as shocked as the rest of The Circle Season 3 cast was in hearing that she did not allow her dogs to kiss her on the mouth. She was the self-professed dog lover of the group, after all, so when Blue Michelle chose the answer everyone expected a dog-lover to pick, I could only cringe, knowing it hurt her chances of staying in the game.

Ultimately, that was the deciding factor that convinced The Circle cast to keep Blue Michelle and block Orange Michelle's profile from the game. As one would expect, Rider wasn't on board with how the cast reacted whenever she watched the finalized episode, and then doubled down on her response in a hilarious way.

If it's any consolation, at least the Capra sisters didn't go much further than the fake Michelle Rider. Episode 4 ended with Kai Ghost's arrival to the room, as marked by her stunned face when she realized The Circle Season 3 cast had made a terrible mistake. Of course, these things happen in The Circle, and if it's any consolation for Rider, it doesn't seem she would have lasted much longer anyway, given Ava and Chanel Capra didn't exactly sweep the competition as catfish Michelle.

The Circle Season 3 airs new episodes on Netflix every Wednesday all throughout September.

Summer is still around for the majority of September, but the swan song of the season is upon us. Slowly but surely, summer plans will give way to colder temperatures, and it'll soon be time for those cozy fall nights on the couch watching Netflix. The good news is there will be no shortage of good content this month, with something for everyone.

Cowboys, astronauts, demons, and devious dessert creations. All that and more is on tap for September, as well as some other content that subscribers will be psyched for. Let's dive in and run through the spectacular shows coming to Netflix in September 2021.

How To Be A Cowboy - 9/1

Cowboys aren't really a widespread profession in 2021, but that's not to say it's impossible to find work as one. How To Be A Cowboy host Dale Brisby used social media and his rodeo skills to rope cowboy culture into a modern era. This series will feature a bunch of wannabe cowboys learning the ropes and grabbing the bull by the horns in the most literal ways you can imagine. I mean, did you expect to see a cowboy series where no one rides a bull?

Countdown Inspiration4 Mission To Space - 9/6

The first all-civilian space mission is set to take place in September, and Netflix will be there to document every step of the way. The journey will start with behind-the-scenes footage of the training mission on Monday, September 6, with new episodes on the 13th, 14th, and later in September. It's a big historic moment in human history, and just a step further to a world where space travel among non-astronauts is the norm. In short, this is an event subscribers won't want to miss.

On The Verge - 9/6

Those who were stoked to see Elisabeth Shue's return in Cobra Kai will be excited to know she'll be on Netflix in a new comedy coming this September. This comedy set in L.A. follows four women that are "on the verge," as the title would imply. What could a chef, an heiress, a single mom, and a woman in need of a job have in common? Apparently, a mid-life crisis can hit someone no matter what they've done or are doing in life. This comedy should be a good time, and perhaps one that can give some perspective to others who find themselves at a crossroads in life as well.

The Circle (Season 3) - 9/8

Streaming's greatest reality television show has returned, and it's back much sooner than some may have expected. The Circle has another cast ready to compete and do whatever they must to win $100,000. Season 2 was a big upgrade from Season 1, and Season 3 promises to raise the stakes yet again. Expect to see more twists and turns, and get hyped that we didn't have to wait that long after Season 2 for new episodes. Hopefully, this is the trend going forward, and we can just get two seasons of The Circle a year indefinitely.

Lucifer (Final Season) - 9/10

Lucifer has had about as charmed of an existence as any television show, but with this upcoming batch of episodes, the ride is finally over. The final season is coming, and Lucifer finally got the big promotion. Unfortunately, now that he's in the role of God, does he actually want the job? The final season will also show things like Amenadiel joining the LAPD, as well as a few other surprises. Hopefully, this final run will be every bit as enjoyable as fans hoped it would be when they campaigned for the show to be saved.

Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father (Season 5) - 9/14

Jack Whitehall's adventures with his father have provided great entertainment for audiences for some time now, so naturally, they're out adventuring again. What exactly is on the menu seems to be under wraps at the moment, but those that enjoy the duo know the travel is only an enhancement of the great chemistry they have. If I were to travel with my father, I can guarantee it would not be nearly as entertaining.

Nailed It! (Season 6) - 9/15

Cooking competition shows are a staple of modern television, but leave it to Netflix to reinvent the wheel and make a hit out of a show where folks are bad at cooking. Nailed It! will return for Season 6 in mid-September, and more amateur bakers will attempt to recreate trendy treats for a shot at $10,000. As a fan, I can say the novelty of the series still has yet to wear off, especially with someone like Nicole Byer as the host.

Chicago Party Aunt - 9/17

One can never have enough animated comedies, in my opinion, and while Netflix hasn't quite found another that delivers quite as much comedy as Big Mouth, I feel optimistic about Chicago Party Aunt. Superstore star Lauren Ash leads in this comedy about a partying aunt who isn't quite ready to grow up despite the need to. Her love for her "nerdy" nephew may just spark some change in her, though, or she'll figure out how to keep on moving or thrive in her element the way she is. I'm rooting for the latter.

Midnight Mass - 9/24

Mike Flanagan delivered some of the best original horror to Netflix with The Haunting of Hill House, so subscribers can understand why there's a lot of hype about his upcoming creepy series Midnight Mass. The series is based around a dying town that finds hope when a priest arrives performing miracles, but obviously, there's more to it than that. I'm already creeped out just talking about it, but think this may be the perfect series to warm me up for Halloween.

Netflix subscribers will be able to watch all these shows and more during the month of September. This is just a handful of shows coming to the streaming service this month, and there's a ton of movies as well. Check our full list of what's being offered this month right here, and block out your whole viewing lineup, so you're ready when those cold nights start to arrive.

Netflix has handed out renewals for three of its most popular reality shows, so fans have a reason to celebrate. Netflix has renewed social media competition series The Circle, as well as Indian Matchmaking and The American Barbecue Showdown.

Just a few months following The Circle’s second season, Netflix has given the reality series a two-season renewal. Since Season 3 was already in the works, The Circle is now guaranteed to last at least to Season 5, and the major vote of confidence isn't altogether shocking. Within a month of its premiere in April, Season 2 was watched by 14 million households.

The series, which has multiple versions pertaining to different countries, follows several contestants as they compete, form allies and rank each other to be the top influencer and win a cash prize. Competitors can either enter The Circle as themselves or as someone else. The first season quickly became a must-watch and Season 2 was no different when it dropped.

Indian Matchmaking, which premiered on Netflix last year, has been renewed for a second season. The series follows matchmaker Sima Taparia who helps singles across the world who have decided to turn to an expert to handle their love lives. It’s been over a year since the series dropped on the streamer last July, so fans were probably a little worried that it wouldn’t be renewed. Sometimes Netflix does like to take its sweet time when it comes to deciding a series’ fate!

Food competition series The American Barbecue Showdown has been renewed for a second season as well. With A.P. Bio’s Lyric Lewis and Floor Is Lava host Rutledge Wood hosting, the best backyard smokers and competitive barbecuers in the country face off for the title of American Barbecue Champion. It’s been almost a year since Season 1 premiered, but since it is yet another food competition series, the odds for it to be renewed were good since people can’t get enough of that genre.

Netflix has quickly become a spot for reality shows, but don’t count out scripted originals just yet. Recently the streamer finally dropped a teaser for the long-awaited fourth season of Stranger Things, which got an official 2022 release date. And Fox-turned-Netflix Original Lucifer will be premiering its sixth and final season next month. Meanwhile, fans are still hoping that the streamer will renew cancelled NBC series Manifest after it nearly broke a major milestone.

The Circle’s third season will likely premiere sometime next year, which means that Seasons 4 and 5 won’t be coming until later. However knowing that fans will be able to receive alerts from The Circle for at least a few more seasons should make it worthwhile. Fans can also likely expect Indian Matchmaking and The American Barbecue Show to premiere new seasons next year. For now, you can find all three shows' existing seasons streaming on Netflix.

After Season 2 impressed so many subscribers, The Circle Season 3 on Netflix may be the most anticipated reality television season on the platform. Folks are ready to see more strangers from around the nation (and even abroad) compete for a chance to win $100,000. Who will be the next person to win the competition, and will they play as themselves or a catfish?

We don't have the answers to all that just yet obviously, but there are a few things we're absolutely sure of when it comes to The Circle Season 3 on Netflix. Don't worry, we're not trying to catfish anyone with this information, we just want fans to have all the details they need to put this upcoming season at the top of their list in the near future.

The Circle Has Been Renewed For Season 3

To start at the most basic level, fans worrying that The Circle Season 3 at Netflix is still hypothetical needn't worry. The Circle has been renewed for Season 3, and was renewed before Season 2 was a thing. Yep, Season 3 was already guaranteed before Season 2 already premiered, so anyone who worried about it after binging the season did all that worrying for nothing.

The Circle Season 2 introduced a number of tweaks to the game, so it'll be interesting to see if any further changes will be made to further improve the game in Season 3. It was certainly an interesting spin to have two eliminated players re-enter the game as a new catfish player, but it's fair to say the series has not successfully solved the problem of helping late-entries to the game survive and actually stand a chance in the finale.

Season 3 May Already Be Finished Filming

The Circle Season 3 on Netflix isn't just confirmed to be happening, there's a chance that it already happened. The news was first reported by reality television journalist Martin Holmes, who said that Season 2 and 3 were filmed back to back. Obviously, this news hasn't been confirmed by Netflix, but the fact it comes from a noted reality television writer does give it a bit more weight than the average rumor on the internet.

If The Circle Season 3 on Netflix was already filmed, that can be a good and bad thing. The good news here is that it's possible that the season may arrive sooner than expected, and we could possibly even get two seasons in a year. The bad news is that Season 3 would have been filmed without the input from fans after Season 2, which means some of the complaints viewers had could remain in the upcoming season, whatever they may be.

Applications For The Circle Are Now Open

While we don't know for sure whether or not The Circle Season 3 on Netflix has already filmed, we can explicitly confirm that applications are being accepted for a chance to appear on "a future season" of The Circle. Anyone interested in hanging out in a room and talking to strangers on social media all for a chance to win $100,000 can head on over to the official casting website and put in their details for a chance to be included in on the fun.

The application process to appear in The Circle isn't too complicated, though there are some things applicants should be prepared for. Pictures, a video, and some general information are all required to successfully apply, and obviously, there are no guarantees you'll get picked. Interestingly enough though, it's possible someone who applied can be contacted and have their photos used for a catfish profile for another contestant. That wouldn't be quite as cool as appearing on the show, but a decent consolation prize.

The Circle UK Has Been Canceled

As exciting as it may be that The Circle Season 3 on Netflix is coming to American audiences, there has been some upsetting news abroad. The Circle U.K., which was a different style of the series, has officially been canceled after Season 3. The series was beloved by fans both far and wide, and in the opinion of some, believed to be the superior show compared to the American counterpart.

It's unclear what, if any, bearing The Circle U.K.'s cancellation has on its American counterpart. One thing that may worry fans is that the international series had a pretty supportive following, and was reportedly up in its ratings when the cancellation came down. Again, it doesn't seem as though this series being canceled means that The Circle Season 3 on Netflix is in jeopardy, especially since it's already been confirmed. Afterward, it may be interesting to see if the series returns for Season 4.

While there's been some postseason messiness and drama among The Circle U.S.' Season 2 cast, it seems there is no shortage of fans of The Circle that are ready to see the series return for Season 3. Many are ready to see a new season with even more players looking to do whatever it takes to win the game. So far, The Circle has delivered two very worthy likable winners, will that streak continue in Season 3?

As a fan of reality television, I'm personally waiting for The Circle to hand a victory to its first villain. I guess it would be harder for a villain to win than most, considering the point of the game is to be liked by everyone. Still, I have faith that the Netflix series will provide one unlikable player who ultimately ends up winning the game via masterful deception. That's my hope anyway, and admittedly, I know it's kind of messed up I want that to happen. Here's hoping the series will continue and evolve through multiple seasons in the years to come.

The Circle Season 1 and 2 are currently available to binge over on Netflix. Season 3 likely won't arrive by the end of this summer, but that's ok because there are plenty of great things for viewers to check out on our Summer TV schedule to fill out the next couple of months of programming and beyond.

Netflix's popular reality series The Circle has been releasing new Season 2 episodes weekly, and fans already have found the sophomore season to generally be a step up from the first. Part of that positivity is due to the cast being a bit more into playing the game than playing nice, though unlike Season 1, one of the contestants has garnered some controversy online with some allegedly not-so-nice behavior. Season 2's Mitchell Eason, whose mother Tammy and brother Ed competed in The Circle Season 1, has come under fire after allegations surfaced online painting him in a racist light.

The behind-the-scenes drama initially started when a picture surfaced online supposedly taken from a live stream that allegedly occurred some years ago when Mitchell Eason, now 22 years old, was still in high school. The picture, which showed what appears to be a younger Eason in front of a large confederate flag that was hanging on a wall in the background. That post can be found below.

Obviously, the Confederate flag has long been a controversial symbol in American history, and has often been connected to people who hold racist viewpoints. While some have argued that the flag is a symbol expressing pride in Southern heritage, Mitchell Eason was born and raised in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, which would seemingly negate any attempts to use regional semantics as his argument.

After the still-unconfirmed picture surfaced, one Twitter user appeared online and alleged to have known Mitchell Eason from their respective high school days. In a series of tweets (condensed for length and clarity below), he went on not only to allege that Eason was racist in his teen years, but that he was also homophobic at the time.

The accuser above expressed disbelief that Mitchell Eason could possibly find such a large platform during a time of more diversity and inclusivity on TV. At the time of this writing, Eason has not publicly commented about either the picture and allegations that hit the web, though he has shared unrelated online posts in the time after the claims first circulated.

Whether the claims against Mitchell Eason are true or not, The Circle would not be the first major reality show to let a problematic contestant through the audition process, accidentally or otherwise. The Bachelor, Big Brother, and an unfortunate number of other major reality shows have faced similar situations happen in the past, and it's almost always a question of whether contestants were properly screened prior to being given a platform and potential influencer status by appearing on heavily publicized series.

The Circle releases new episodes on Netflix on Wednesday mornings, with the finale airing on May 5. Aside from the controversy, the season has been great thus far. Those who haven't been watching the season should certainly make it a priority to catch up and check out what other cool stuff is headed to Netflix in the near future.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Circle Season 2's first four episodes. Read at your own risk!

The Circle US has returned to Netflix for Season 2, and if you don't know what that is, you've been missing out on one of the best new reality television shows of the past couple of years. Season 1 had a lot of heart, fun and gave the world the bromance of Joey Sasso and Shubham Goel. Those who watched Season 1 may think Season 2 won't raise the bar much higher, but I'm here to say it absolutely has.

One of my major gripes with Season 1 of The Circle is that as fun and as entertaining as it was, the competition fell somewhat flat. The cast got so caught up in trying to expose other players as catfish that it became most of what they focused on each and every episode. There was also just a general kumbaya vibe throughout the whole season, to the point that it wasn't hard for the core group to just steamroll any newcomers out of the game.

To put it as kindly as possible, The Circle Season 1 cast didn't have a strategy to play the game other than being nice and hope for the best when rankings rolled out. Now, four episodes into Season 2, it seems like these competitors are much more willing to get messy, and more importantly, do what they need to win the $100,000 grand prize.

For example, as much as I hated to see breathing guru Bryant go, it was absolutely the right call strategy-wise. Sure, leaving likable saintly people in The Circle can lead to a wholesome experience, but look at Season 1's cast. Everyone loved Joey and Shubham, so of course, when it came down to the nitty-gritty, it was Joey and Shubham in the Final 2. Bryant definitely had the potential to be the next "Shooby" of the group, so good call by getting him out as soon as possible.

To be quite honest, I couldn't have been happier with who all was put in the bottom in the first elimination. Savannah and Terilisha put Bryant, Courtney, River, and Too Hot To Handle's Chloe up for elimination! Frankly, that was good to see right out the gate because if this were Season 1, I could see Chloe coasting to the finals based on just her celebrity alone. I'm optimistic, though she's going to have to fight to stay in the game.

Honestly, full credit to Savannah and Terilisha for setting the tone, and, in another thing I didn't see in Season 1, actually using the decision to cut Bryant against each other. These two middling players really found a way to mix up the drama and divide the game with some tension we never saw, and I love it so far.

The Circle Season 2 has its first four episodes up on Netflix, and more will be released each Wednesday. The show is a must-watch for fans of reality television and one of the most bingeable. Those wanting to know more should reference our handy guide, which details the ins and outs of the game.

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John Boyega is at the height of his career. The Star Wars movies may have made him a household name, but his talent and passion have made him an actor with career longevity. In recent years, we have seen Boyega diversify his profile, appearing in everything from big-budget action films to art house indie flicks and critically acclaimed series. John Boyega is definitely one to watch.

If you’re a fan of Boyega, or just looking to explore more of his film and TV credits, then, luckily for you, the vast universe of streaming services has plenty of John Boyega projects to watch on various platforms. Let’s take a look at some of the John Boyega TV shows and movies currently available to stream.

The Star Wars Movies, Episodes 7-8 (Disney+)

Star Wars fans were first introduced to Finn (John Boyega) in episode 7, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Finn is an ex-stormtrooper who meets Rey (Daisy Ridley) and becomes part of the Resistance. Star Wars: The Force Awakens establishes Finn, Rey, and eventually Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) as the new Star Wars movies' lead trio. Throughout the course of the trilogy, we see them grow and become stronger fighters and people. John Boyega appears in three Star Wars movies, The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

This new trilogy has had mixed reviews from die-hard Star Wars fans and casual viewers, but these films helped shape Boyega’s career. They got his name to the masses and offered him a platform that allows him to speak his mind and take on more diverse projects which suit his talents. Also, if you're without that emotional attachment, or just enjoy a fun galaxy adventure film, then the new Star Wars movies may be worth your time. Boyega’s time in this universe seems done, but you never know whether or not he might appear in any upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.

Stream the Star Wars movies on Disney+

Small Axe (Amazon Prime)

Small Axe is Steve McQueen’s anthology series about the lives of West Indian immigrants living in London in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Each story is distinct and depicts both fictional and true-life events. John Boyega is the main character in Episode 3, Red, White, and Blue. It’s based on the real-life of Leroy Logan, who joined the police academy to become a London cop at a time when racial tensions were at an all-time high. He’s also one of the first black police officers in the area.

Small Axe is a series definitely worth your time, and Red, White, and Blue is an interesting look at the struggle Logan faced trying to make a difference in his community and bring about change at a time when so many were resistant to it. John Boyega’s role in Small Axe earned him a Golden Globe award and showcased his immense talent as an actor.

Stream Small Axe on Amazon Prime.

Detroit (Tubi)

Detroit is a drama directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It depicts the Detroit Riots of 1967, and focuses on one event during it, the Algiers Motel incident, where the police held a group of black men and two white women hostage while looking for weapons and a suspected shooter. The night becomes increasingly more violent as the police abuse, murder, and mentally and emotionally torture these people. John Boyega plays Melvin Dismukes, a security officer who helps the police keep these men detained. Detroit’s cast also includes Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Kaitlyn Dever, Hannah Murray, and Anthony Mackie.

Detroit is one of those movies that’s haunting, first because it’s based on true events, and second because Bigelow creates this atmosphere that is intense, emotional, and unforgettable. Boyega gives one of his best performances in Detroit as you feel his anxiety, even while being both frustrated by and sympathizing with him for being in this situation that is mainly beyond his control. Detroit is a gripping film that more people definitely need to watch.

Stream Detroit on Tubi.

The Circle (Amazon Prime)

The Circle stars Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt, and John Boyega. The film is about Mae (Emma Watson), who goes to work for a high-tech company called the Circle, which basically controls all aspects of people’s lives. At first, Mae is skeptical of the company, but eventually, she starts drinking the Kool-Aid as well. Mae becomes the poster child for the company and it takes a lot for her to finally break free from the Circle.

John Boyega has a small role in the film, but an important one to the story of how the Circle developed. He plays Ty, the creator of True You, one of the Circle’s products, who sees Mae as a potential ally because she seems to see the problems with the Circle. Boyega isn’t in the film as much as other characters, but The Circle has an interesting plot that puts a spotlight on some problems with modern technology.

Stream The Circle on Amazon Prime.

24: Live Another Day (Tubi)

24: Live Another Day is a limited event series that brings back Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). The series ran for 12-episodes on Fox and took place four years after 24’s original eight-season run. In this one, Jack is trying to stop a drone attack on London that will result in many casualties and the death of President James Heller (William Devane). It follows Jack, the terrorist plotting the attack, and Heller’s staff, crew, and family.

John Boyega only appears in a couple of episodes of 24: Live Another Day. He plays Chris Tanner, a United States airman and drone pilot whose drone is hijacked. Boyega’s Tanner is a pawn in a bigger plan, and Boyega plays that frustration of feeling like there's no real way out well. In general, even if you’re not a huge 24 fan, 24: Live Another Day is a way to dabble in the series without committing to eight seasons. It’s fast-paced and keeps you engaged.

Stream 24: Live Another Day on Tubi

Imperial Dreams (Netflix)

Imperial Dreams follows single father Bambi (John Boyega) as he’s released from prison and returns to his violent, poverty stricken block in Watts, Los Angeles. Bambi tries to leave his old life behind and just raise his son Daytone (Ethan and Justin Coach), but he’s tested at every corner.

Imperial Dreams is a sad but powerful story of how life can beat someone down so much that just surviving it is a major accomplishment. John Boyega is the lead in this film, so it heavily depends on him to succeed or fail, and he gives a great performance. You’re captivated by Bambi’s story and just want him to finally win in life.

Stream Imperial Dreams on Netflix.

Half Of A Yellow Sun (Amazon Prime)

Half of a Yellow Sun is based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book of the same name. It’s historical fiction, and follows sisters Olanna (Thandiwe Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) as they try to survive during the Nigerian Civil War. Half of a Yellow’s cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor and Joseph Mawle.

John Boyega has a small role in Half of a Yellow Sun. He plays Olanna and Odenigbo (Ejiofor)’s servant Ugwu. In many ways, Ugwu is an outside observer and constantly sees what happens between Olanna and Odenigbo. He becomes less of a servant and more of a family member as the movie progresses.

Stream Half of a Yellow Sun on Amazon Prime.

Major Lazer (Hulu)

Major Lazer is an FXX adult animated series about a Jamaican DJ and superhero called Major Lazer (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Each episode has him fighting some sort of villain, whether vampires or mad scientists. Major Lazer also has two main sidekicks, Penny (Angela Trimbur) and Blkmrkt (John Boyega). The series was created by Diplo and often features original songs.

Some of the guests on Major Lazer were Aziz Ansari, J. K. Simmons, Matt Berry, Charli XCX, and Andy Samberg. This series is one that many have probably missed, especially because it only lasted for one season, but it's oddly entertaining and the music is really good. Boyega’s Blkmrkt isn’t the most vital character to the series, but Major Lazer is so unique that I think it’s worth watching.

Stream Major Lazer on Hulu.

Watership Down (Netflix)

Watership Down is a 4-part miniseries based on Richard Adams’s book of the same name. It follows a group of rabbits who leave their home to find a safer place to live after one of them predicts that danger is coming to their home. The story focuses on their journey and the danger they encounter along the way. Watership Down’s voice cast includes James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, John Boyega, Ben Kingsley, and many more famous names.

Boyega plays Bigwig. He’s one of the animals who's tough on the outside and hard to get to know. He reluctantly follows Hazel (James McAvoy) but gives him a hard time about everything. Watership Down is a really compelling series that depicts a human journey but with rabbits.

Stream Watership Down on Netflix.

Law And Order: UK (Tubi)

John Boyega appeared in the Law and Order: UK episode “Survivor’s Guilt.” Th episode focuses on the murder of a cop as officials try to track down his killer. Boyega’s character, Jamal Clarkson, turns out to be the one who killed the cop but the story is more complicated than that. Boyega gives a strong performance as Jamal. You sympathize with him and never completely see him as a bad person for what he has done. He’s just as much of a victim as anyone else.

Stream Law and Order: UK on Tubi.

You can next catch John Boyega in Naked Singularity, which premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 9, 2021.

The weather is getting warmer in a lot of places, and as tempting as that may be to get out and do something, Netflix is still providing ample reason to stay home and binge shows. April is one of the strongest months of content the streaming service has had in 2021, and that's evidenced by some of the awesome shows that will arrive.

This month features deadly killers, lots of family fun, and a series that I'm a little surprised wasn't cancelled after the drama it caused but I'll let it slide because it has Dustin from Stranger Things in it. Let's dive into all that below, as well as the young adult series that may dominate our lives come the month's end.

Prank Encounters (Season 2) - 4/1

Remember that Netflix show that featured Gaten Matarazzo that caused a lot of controversy? Well, apparently, that wasn't enough for the streamer to send Prank Encounters to the Upside Down, and now the show that viewers feared tricked people into thinking they got a job is back for another season. This time around, unsuspecting subjects will be exposed to premises that include ancient burial grounds and even a haunted mansion. Personally, I'm curious to see whether audiences will forget the original controversy or blow this show up all over again because of the premise.

The Serpent - 4/2

The Serpent takes on the real-life murders of Charles Sobhraj in the 1970s, which happened along the "hippie trail" in South Asia. The series stars The Looming Tower's Tahar Rahim and a face Doctor Who fans know well, Jenna Coleman. I can personally say I enjoyed the stuff I've seen both actors in, though they weren't thieves who killed and took people's identities just because they could. With the star power attached, I expect this series will draw some eyes and possibly be the next hit true-crime drama series we're all talking about next month.

Family Reunion (Part 3) - 4/5

The McKellan family is back and will prove yet again that love and family can conquer all kinds of heartaches, hardships, and loss in life. Of course, it's not all as heavy as it sounds, as Family Reunion gets up to the typical sitcom hijinx that fans who enjoyed the past episodes have grown fond of. Plus, Tia Mowry is a riot in this show, so definitely make a point to check this one out if you're looking for a fun and wholesome family drama.

The Wedding Coach - 4/7

Just on the heels of another marriage series, Netflix is at it again with The Wedding Coach. In this series, comedian Jamie Lee will mentor six engaged couples and help them navigate all the stressful moments that can come from planning and actually having a wedding. As someone who has been through the process, it sounds like a really ambitious series given the sheer amount of things that can and do go wrong on a big day. Wouldn't it just be easier to coach these couples in advance that it's not that big of a deal?

The Circle (Season 2) - 4/14

One of my favorite reality competitions since Big Brother is back, and I can't wait to see how Netflix's The Circle does in its sophomore season. I enjoyed Season 1, though I'm certainly hoping the next season of this weekly release series introduces more people willing to make waves in private chats, create a catfish persona, and stress a less "kumbaya" kind of vibe amongst other competitors. After all, this is a game with a good chunk of money on the line! We need more people willing to sabotage others for that cash, and do what they can to raise their popularity however possible!

Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! (Season 1) - 4/14

Jamie Foxx has a new series on Netflix, and for anyone looking for another family comedy to jump into, here's your sign. When his daughter comes to live with him, Brian Dixon does all he can to be there for her as she tackles all the big issues in life. Of course, he's got some help from his best friend, sister, and his dad. Based on the title, I'm assuming there's some embarrassment that happens through this, and it probably isn't Brian's father embarrassing him. That would be a great subversion of expectations though!

Life In Color With David Attenborough - 4/22

It's basically a rule now that if one sees David Attenborough's name attached to a series, they should expect a visually stunning docuseries. Life in Color with David Attenborough is exactly that, in which Attenborough travels the world in a three-part series unveiling the various ways that animals use color. It utilizes new camera technology that was made for the series, and the fact it airs on Earth Day makes it the perfect environmentally conscious series to watch on the day.

Shadow and Bone - 4/23

After lots of hype from Netflix, Shadow and Bone will finally arrive on Netflix in April. This young adult fantasy series centers around orphan mapmaker Alina Starkov after it's discovered she has an extraordinary power that could change her life and the lives of those around her. Of course, there are some dark forces that wish to put a stop to that power. Whether they'll be successful remains to be seen, as the book this series is adapted from is a trilogy, so there's a lot of source material for future seasons if it's a hit.

Headspace Guide To Sleep - 4/28

Netflix subscribers struggling with sleep may find the next Headspace series very helpful, as Headspace Guide To Sleep explores the various aspects of sleep. The meditation guide was very interesting, so I have to think the same will be true of this upcoming guide. With that said, maybe it's not something that someone who is suffering from sleep disorders should watch at night, lest they be too entertained and lose sleep because of it.

Catch all these shows and more on Netflix in the month of April. Of course, there are also many other shows and movies headed to the streaming service in April, so be sure to check out the full list of offerings right here.

Another month’s worth of entertainment and social media discussion is on its way, thanks to Netflix unveiling the lineup for April 2021. In what’s supposed to be a banner year for the streaming platform, there’s always the potential for the next Bridgerton-level hit to make its way to the masses. In the wake of March 2021’s cache of titles, the anticipation for this next month is running at a high. If you want to take a moment and see what came online last month, as well as the highlights of the film titles that joined the library, you can catch up with those titles before heading in. Otherwise, let’s take a look at what the showers of April 2021 are bringing to the garden known as the Netflix streaming queue.

Week of April 1

Magical Andes: Season 2 - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/1/21

Prank Encounters: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/1/21

Tersanjung the Movie - NETFLIX FILM - 4/1/21

Worn Stories - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/1/21

2012 - 4/1/21

Cop Out - 4/1/21

Friends with Benefits - 4/1/21

Insidious - 4/1/21

Legally Blonde - 4/1/21

Leprechaun - 4/1/21

The Pianist - 4/1/21

The Possession - 4/1/21

Secrets of Great British Castles: Season 1 - 4/1/21

The Time Traveler's Wife - 4/1/21

Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family - 4/1/21

White Boy - 4/1/21

Yes Man - 4/1/21

Concrete Cowboy - NETFLIX FILM - 4/2/21

Just Say Yes - NETFLIX FILM - 4/2/21

Madame Claude - NETFLIX FILM - 4/2/21

The Serpent - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/2/21

Sky High - NETFLIX FILM - 4/2/21

Escape from Planet Earth - 4/3/21

Week of April 4

What Lies Below - 4/4/21

Coded Bias - 4/5/21

Family Reunion: Part 3 - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/5/21

The Last Kids on Earth: Happy Apocalypse to You - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/6/21

The Big Day: Collection 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/7/21

Dolly Parton: A MusiCares Tribute - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/7/21

Snabba Cash - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/7/21

This Is A Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/7/21

The Wedding Coach - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/7/21

The Way of the Househusband - NETFLIX ANIME - 4/8/21

Have You Ever Seen Fireflies? - NETFLIX FILM - 4/9/21

Night in Paradise - NETFLIX FILM - 4/9/21

Thunder Force - NETFLIX FILM - 4/9/21

The Stand-In - 4/10/21

Week of April 11

Diana: The Interview that Shook the World - 4/11/21

New Gods: Nezha Reborn - NETFLIX FILM - 4/12/21

Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn: Seasons 1-4 - 4/12/21

The Baker and the Beauty: Season 1 - 4/13/21

Mighty Express: Season 3 - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/13/21

My Love: Six Stories of True Love - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/13/21

The Circle: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/14/21

Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/14/21

Law School - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/14/21

The Soul - NETFLIX FILM - 4/14/21

Why Did You Kill Me? - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/14/21

Dark City Beneath the Beat - 4/15/21

The Master - 4/15/21

Ride or Die - NETFLIX FILM - 4/15/21

Arlo the Alligator Boy - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/16/21

Ajeeb Daastaans - NETFLIX FILM - 4/16/21

Crimson Peak - 4/16/21

Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 4: Mexico - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/16/21

Into the Beat - NETFLIX FILM - 4/16/21

Rush - 4/16/21

Synchronic - 4/16/21

Why Are You Like This - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/16/21

The Zookeeper's Wife - 4/16/21

Week of April 18

Luis Miguel - The Series: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/18/21

Miss Sloane - 4/19/21

PJ Masks: Season 3 - 4/19/21

Izzy's Koala World: Season 2 - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/20/21

Zero - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/21/21

Life in Color with David Attenborough - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/22/21

Stowaway - NETFLIX FILM - 4/22/21

Heroes: Silence and Rock & Roll - 4/23/21

Shadow and Bone - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/23/21

Tell Me When - NETFLIX FILM - 4/23/21

Week of April 25

August: Osage County - 4/27/21

Battle of Los Angeles - 4/27/21

Fatma - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/27/21

Go! Go! Cory Carson: Season 4 - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/27/21

Sexify - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/28/21

Headspace Guide to Sleep - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY - 4/28/21

Things Heard & Seen - NETFLIX FILM - 4/29/21

Yasuke - NETFLIX ANIME - 4/29/21

The Innocent - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/30/21

The Mitchells vs. The Machines - NETFLIX FAMILY - 4/30/21

Pet Stars - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/30/21

The Unremarkable Juanquini: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL - 4/30/21

April TBD

The Disciple - NETFLIX FILM

Searching For Sheela - NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Netflix’s Movie Highlights For April 2021

As if to anticipate her role in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, Netflix gave Melissa McCarthy superpowers. Which is perfect, because Octavia Spencer looks like she’s having fun with her newly metahuman friend in the heroic comedy Thunder Force. Though you may want to watch that before the machines take over, as the Netflix original/Chris Miller and Phil Lord produced The Mitchells vs. The Machines has been given a prime release date at the end of the month.

While this is a family-friendly robot apocalypse, it still looks pretty dangerous; therefore, you may want to unplug your smart devices before you sit down to watch that colorful blockbuster. Finally, if peril in space is something you’re into, then Stowaway fits that bill. Streaming dominator Anna Kendrick has to puzzle out survival in the deep dark void, alongside cast members Shamier Anderson, Toni Colette, and Daniel Dae Kim.

Netflix’s TV Highlights For April 2021

After a first season that saw some backlash visited upon its premiere, Stranger Things star Gaten Materazzo’s Prank Encounters is returning for its second season on Netflix. Who knows what pranks will pop up in this brand new outing? Regardless, if you’re looking for some hidden camera shenanigans, you don’t have to wait much longer. Though should your tastes run a little more dramatic and war torn, then the long-awaited adaptation of Shadow and Bone should do the trick.

Based in the universe of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse Novels, this YA fantasy will see warfare and magic collide, with a bit of flesh eating creatures on the side.

Netflix has it all for subscribers in the month of April! But you’re still going to want to pay close attention to the list of incoming titles throughout the month, as everything is subject to change and availability. As always, contents may shift during the passage of time. So stream safely and smartly, and we’ll see you back here around this time next month, with May 2021’s titles on display for everyone’s excitement.

If one thing can be said about the entertainment world in 2020, it is that it was the year of streaming. Despite some strong competition from the likes of Disney+, Amazon, Hulu, and new additions including Peacock and HBO Max, Netflix proved that it is still at the top of the pecking order. With returning Netflix original TV shows like The Crown and Ozark and record-breaking newcomers like The Queen’s Gambit, Tiger King, and many others becoming pop culture phenomenons more than made up for the absence of Stranger Things, The Witcher, and Mindhunter. But as we look at the start of the 2021 Netflix premiere line-up, a lot of us are wondering what all will be new on Netflix in the coming weeks and months.

Well, just like in years past, 2021 (the early part at least) will be another great year for Netflix with the long-awaited debut of new episodes of Cobra Kai in January and so much more beyond that. Below is a monthly rundown of all the Netflix series (both new and returning) you can expect to catch on the popular streaming service over the course of the next year. Please note that all release times are at 3:01 a.m. ET (12:01 a.m. PT), and all new series are listed in ALL CAPS.

January 2021 Netflix Premieres

Netflix is kicking off (pun intended) 2021 in a spectacular way with the arrival of Cobra Kai Season 3 at some point during the first month of the new year. The third season of the former YouTube original series was originally slated to premiere on January 8, 2021, but Netflix shifted to a New Year's Day launch after temporarily announcing the next chapter in the never-ending saga of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as “Coming In January 2021.”

Friday, January 1

Cobra Kai Season 3 - Netflix - 3:01 a.m. (Martial Arts Comedy)

Dream House Makeover Season 2

HEADSPACE GUIDE TO MEDITATION

Monarca Season 2

The Netflix Afterparty

Tuesday, January 5

GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE

HISTORY OF SWEAR WORDS

Nailed It! Mexico Season 3

Wednesday, January 6

SURVIVING DEATH

Friday, January 8

The Idhun Chronicles Part 2

Inside The World’s Toughest Prisons Season 5

LUPIN Part 1

PRETEND IT’S A CITY

Wednesday, January 13

NIGHT STALKER: THE HUNT FOR A SERIAL KILLER

Friday, January 15

THE BLING EMPIRE

Carmen Sandiego Season 4

Disenchantment Part 3

Tuesday, January 19

Hello Ninja Season 4

Wednesday, January 20

DAUGHTER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER

SPYCRAFT

Thursday, January 21

Call My Agent! Season 4

Friday, January 23

LOVE

Friday, January 22

Blown Away Season 2

Busted! Season 3

FATE: THE WINX SAGA

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Season 2

Tuesday, January 26

GO DOG GO

Wednesday, January 27

50M2

Bonding Season 2

February 2021 Netflix Premieres

There are currently only two series confirmed to premiere on Netflix in February 2021, but more is on the way. The first of the announced shows is Firefly Lane, a new drama series starring Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke as two friends who strike up a friendship that becomes unbreakable over the course of several decades. There is also the German sci-fi series Tribes of Europa, which follows three siblings who set out to change the fate of near-future Europe after a global catastrophe.

Tuesday, February 2

KID COSMIC

Mighty Express Season 2

Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready: Season 2

Wednesday, February 3

FIREFLY LANE

Friday, February 5

Hache: Season 2

INVISIBLE CITY

Wednesday, February 10

CRIME SCENE: THE VANISHING AT THE CECIL HOTEL

Thursday, February 11

CAPITANI

Friday, February 12

BURIED BY THE BERNARDS

NADIYA BAKES

Hate by Dani Rovira

XICO'S JOURNEY

Sunday, February 14

THE BIG DAY

Monday, February 15

THE CREW

Wednesday, February 17

BEHIND HER EYES

HELLO, ME!

MeatEater: Season 9 Part 2

Thursday, February 18

THUS SPOKE KISHIBE ROHAN

Friday, February 19

TRIBES OF EUROPA

Sunday, February 24

CANINE INTERVENTION

GINNY & GEORGIA

Monday, February 25

HIGH-RISE INVASION

Tuesday, February 26

BIGFOOT FAMILY

Netflix Series To Be Announced:

SISYPHUS

VINCENZO

March 2021 Netflix Premieres

Not much has been announced for Netflix originals in March 2021 but you can expect to see the Spanish crime drama Sky Rojo from the creators of Money Heist.

Tuesday, March 2

Word Party Season 5

Wednesday, March 3

FARMHOUSE FIXER

MURDER AMONG THE MORMONS

Thursday, March 4

PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK

Pokémon Journeys: The Series Season 23

Friday, March 5

CITY OF GHOSTS

NEVENKA: BREAKING THE SILENCE

Monday, March 8

BOMBAY BEGUMS

Tuesday, March 9

THE HOUSEBOAT

Starbeam Season 3

Wednesday, March 10

DEALER

LAST CHANCE U: BASKETBALL

MARRIAGE OR MORTGAGE

Friday, March 12

Love Alarm Season 2

THE ONE

Paradise PD Season 3

Monday, March 15

THE LOST PIRATE KINGDOM

ZERO CHILL

Tuesday, March 16

WAFFLES + MOCHI

Wednesday, March 17

UNDER SUSPICION: UNCOVERING THE WESPHAEL CASE

Friday, March 19

SKY ROJO

Alien TV Season 2

COUNTRY COMFORT

Formula 1: Drive To Survive Season 3

Thursday, March 25

DOTA: DRAGON'S BLOOD

Friday, March 26

THE IRREGULARS

April 2021 Netflix Premieres

With a new three-part David Attenborough docuseries, the arrival of Shadow and Bone, plus a ton of family-friendly content, there's plenty to choose from throughout the month of April.

Thursday, April 1

Magical Andes: Season 2

Prank Encounters: Season 2

WORN STORIES

Friday, April 2

THE SERPENT

Monday, April 5

Family Reunion: Part 3

Wednesday, April 7

The Big Day: Collection 2

SNABBA CASH

THE WEDDING COACH

Thursday, April 8

THE WAY OF THE HOUSEBAND

Tuesday, April 13

Mighty Express: Season 3

Wednesday, April 14

The Circle: Season 2

DAD! STOP EMBARRASSING ME

LAW SCHOOL

Friday, April 16

Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Season 4: Mexico

WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?

Sunday, April 18

Luis Miguel - The Series: Season 2

Tuesday, April 20

Izzy's Koala World: Season 2

Wednesday, April 21

ZERO

Thursday, April 22

LIFE IN COLOR WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

Friday, April 23

SHADOW AND BONE

Tuesday, April 27

FATMA

Go! Go! Cory Carson: Season 4

Wednesday, April 28

SEXIFY

Friday, April 29

YASUKE

Saturday, April 30

THE INNOCENT

PET STARS

The Unremarkable Juanquini: Season 2

May 2021 Netflix Premieres

The month of May will see the return of a few of Netflix's biggest shows, including the second part of Lucifer Season 5, Selena: The Series Part 2, and Who Killed Sara? Season 2, which is returning less than two months after the first season became an instant hit with the streaming service's subscribers

Tuesday, May 4

Selena: The Series Part 2

Trash Truck Season 2

Wednesday, May 5

THE SONS OF SAM

Friday, May 7

JUPITER'S LEGACY

Girl from Nowhere Season 2

Saturday, May 8

MINE

Tuesday, May 11

Money Explained

Wednesday, May 12

THE UPSHAWS

Thursday, May 13

Castlevania Season 4

Friday, May 14

Haunted Season 3

Love, Death And Robots Season 2

MOVE TO HEAVEN

Wednesday, May 19

Who Killed Sara? Season 2

Thursday, May 20

Special Season 2

Friday, May 21

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Season 3

The Neighbor Season 2

Thursday, May 27

BLACK SPACE

EDEN

Friday, May 28

Lucifer Season 5B

The Kominsky Method Season 3

Monday, May 31

THE PARISIAN AGENCY: EXCLUSIVE PROPERTIES

June 2021 Netflix Premieres

The month of June will see the return of a few of Netflix's biggest shows, including Lupin: Part 2, Workin' Moms Season 5, and more.

Tuesday, June 1

SUPER MONSTERS: ONCE UPON A RHYME

Thursday, June 3

CREATOR'S FILES: GOLD

Summertime Season 2

Friday, June 4

Feel Good Season 2

SWEET TOOTH

Wednesday, June 9

FRESH, FRIED & CRISPY

Thursday, June 10

LOCOBIANOS

Friday, June 11

Love (Ft. Love and Marriage) Season 2

Lupin: Part 2

TRESE

WITH DRAGON

Monday, June 14

ELITE SHORT STORIES

Tuesday, June 15

Rhyme Time Town Season 2

UNWIND YOUR MIND

Workin' Moms Season 5

Thursday, June 17

Black Summer Season 2

The Gift Season 3

Hospital Playlist Season 2

KATLA

Friday, June 18

Elite Season 4

THE RATIONAL LIFE

THE WORLD'S MOST AMAZING VACATION RENTALS

Saturday, June 19

NEVERTHELESS

Wednesday, June 23

Too Hot to Handle Season 2

Thursday, June 24

The Naked Director Season 2

Friday, June 25

The A List Season 2

SEX/LIFE

Tuesday, June 29

StarBeam Season 4

July 2021 Netflix Premieres

The month of July will see the debut of several long awaited Netflix animated series including Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom.

Thursday, July 1

GENERATION 56K

YOUNG ROYALS

Friday, July 2

BIG TIMBER

Mortel Season 2

Sunday, July 4

WE THE PEOPLE

Monday, July 5

YOU ARE MY SPRING

Tuesday, July 6

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson Season 2

Wednesday, July 7

THE MIRE: '97

THE WAR NEXT DOOR

Thursday, July 8

RESIDENT EVIL: INFINITE DARKNESS

Friday, July 9

Atypical Season 4

Biohackers Season 2

THE COOK OF CASTAMAR

Virgin River Season 3

Tuesday, July 13

RIDLEY JONES

Wednesday, July 14

MY UNORTHODOX LIFE

Thursday, July 15

BEASTARS Season 2

Never Have I Ever Season 2

Friday, July 16

Explained Season 3

Wednesday, July 21

SEXY BEASTS

The Movies That Made Us Season 2

TOO HOT TO HANDLE: BRAZIL

Thursday, July 22

WORDS BUBBLE UP LIKE SODA POP

Friday, July 23

A SECOND CHANCE: RIVALS!

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION

Sky Rojo Season 2

Tuesday, July 27

Mighty Express Season 4

Wednesday, July 28

THE SNITCH CARTEL: ORIGINS

TATTOO REDO

Thursday, July 29

TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON: KINGDOM

Friday, July 30

CENTAURLAND

Glow Up Season 3

Outer Banks Season 2

August 2021 Netflix Premieres

The month of August will see the debut of the long awaited Netflix animated series The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, which will surely toss viewers a coin while they wait for The Witcher live-action series to return later in the year.

Tuesday, August 3

TOP SECRET UFO PROJECTS: DECLASSIFIED

Wednesday, August 4

Control Z Season 2

Car Masters: Rust To Riches Season 3

COOKING WITH PARIS

Friday, August 6

HIT AND RUN

Monday, August 9

SHAMAN KING

Gabby's Dollhouse Season 2

Tuesday, August 10

UNTOLD

Wednesday, August 11

BAKE SQUAD

Thursday, August 12

ALRAWABI SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

MONSTER HUNTER: LEGENDS OF THE GUILD

Friday, August 13

BRAND NEW CHERRY FLAVOR

Fast And Furious Spy Races Season 5

GONE FOR GOOD

THE KINGDOM

Valeria Season 2

SCHMIGADOON!

GONE FOR GOOD

Tuesday, August 17

Go! Go! Cory Carson Season 5

Wednesday, August 18

THE DEFEATED

Friday, August 20

THE CHAIR

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE 

Monday, August 23

THE WITCHER: NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF

Wednesday, August 25

CLICKBAIT

MOTEL MAKEOVER

OPEN YOUR EYES

POST MORTEM: NO ONE DIES IN SKARNES

Thursday, August 26

EDENS ZERO

Family Reunion Part 4

Friday, August 27

TITLETOWN HIGH

I HEART ARLO

Saturday, August 28

HOMETOWN CHA-CHA-CHA

Tuesday, August 31

SPARKING JOY

September 2021 Netflix Premieres

The month of September will see the return of Lucifer for one one more season before the fan-favorite series is put on a shelf. The month will also see the arrival of several highly anticipated shows including Squid Games and Midnight Mass.

Wednesday, September 1

HOW TO BE A COWBOY

Thursday, September 2

Q-FORCE

Friday, September 3

DIVE CLUB
Money Heist Part 5: Volume 1
SHARKDOG

Monday, September 6

COUNTDOWN: INSPIRATION4 MISSION TO SPACE

Tuesday, September 7

Kid Cosmic Season 2
OCTONAUTS: ABOVE AND BEYOND
ON THE VERGE

Wednesday, September 8

The Circle Season 3
Into The Night Season 2

Friday, September 10

FIREDRAKE THE SILVER DRAGON
Lucifer: The Final Season
METAL SHOP WORKERS
POKÉMON MASTER JOURNEYS: THE SERIES

Tuesday, September 14

Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Family Season 5
The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals Season 2

Wednesday, September 15

Nailed It Season 6
TOO HOT TO HANDLE LATINO

Thursday, September 16

HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Friday, September 17

CHICAGO PARTY AUNT
Sex Education Season 3
SQUID GAME

Tuesday, September 21

Love on the Spectrum Season 2

Wednesday, September 22

Dear White People Volume 4
JAGUAR

Friday, September 24

Blood and Water Season 2
GANGLANDS
JAILBIRDS NEW ORLEANS
MIDNIGHT MASS
MY LITTLE PONY: A NEW GENERATION

Tuesday, September 28

ADA TWIST, SCIENTIST

Wednesday, September 29

THE CHESTNUT MAN
ManEater Season 10

Thursday, September 30

Love 101 Season 2
Luna Park

October 2021 Netflix Premieres

October 2021 will see plenty of creepy and spooky arrivals for the month of Halloween, but one of the most anticipated shows coming out is the long-awaited return of the hit series You.

Friday, October 1

MAID
PAIK'S SPIRIT
SCAREDY CATS
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: CURSED BY LIGHT

Sunday, October 3

Scissor Seven Season 3

Monday, October 4

On My Block Season 4

Wednesday, October 6

BAKING IMPOSSIBLE
THE FIVE JUANAS
LOVE IS BLIND: BRAZIL

Thursday, October 7

THE BILLION DOLLAR CODE
Sexy Beasts Season 2
The Way of The Househusband Part 2

Friday, October 8

A TALE OF DARK AND GRIMM
Family Business Season 3
PRETTY SMART

Saturday, October 9

BLUE PERIOD

Monday, October 11

The Baby-Sitters Club Season 2
THE KING'S AFFECTION

Tuesday, October 12

Mighty Express Season 5
The Movies That Made Us Season 3

Wednesday, October 13

REFLECTION OF YOU

Thursday, October 14

Another Life Season 2

Friday, October 15

Little Things Season 4
MY NAME
You Season 3

Saturday, October 16

MISFIT: THE SERIES

Wednesday, October 20

Gabby's Dollhouse Season 3

Thursday, October 21

Go! Go! Cory Carson Season 6
INSIDERS
LIFE'S A GLITCH WITH JULIEN BAM
SEX, LOVE AND GOOP

Friday, October 22

ADVENTURE BEAST
INSIDE JOB
Locke and Key Season 2
MORE THAN BLUE: THE SERIES

Tuesday, October 26

SEX: UNZIPPED

Wednesday, October 27

Sintonia Season 2

Thursday, October 28

Luis Miguel: The Series Season 3

Friday, October 29

COLIN IN BLACK AND WHITE
THE TIME IT TAKES

November 2021 Netflix Premieres

November 2021 will see plenty of great arrivals in the penultimate month of the year, including the debut of the live-action Cowboy Bebop as well as the long-awaited return of Narcos: Mexico and Big Mouth with plenty of other surprises along the way.

Monday, November 1

Ridley Jones Season 2

Friday, November 5

Big Mouth Season 5
THE CLUB
GLÓRIA
Narcos: Mexico Season 3
THE UNLIKELY MURDERER

Saturday, November 6

ARCANE (New Episodes Weekly)

Tuesday, November 9

SWAP SHOP

Wednesday, November 10

Gentefied: Season 2

Thursday, November 11

LOVE NEVER LIES

Monday, November 15

LIES AND DECEIT 

Tuesday, November 16

JOHNNY TEST’S ULTIMATE MEATLOAF CHALLENGE
STORYBOTS; LAUGH, LEARN, SING

Wednesday, November 17

CHRISTMAS FLOW
The Queen Of Flow Season 2
TEAR ALONG THE DOTTED LINES
TIGER KING 2

Thursday, November 18

DOGS IN SPACE

Friday, November 19

BLOWN AWAY: CHRISTMAS
COWBOY BEBOP
HELLBOUND

Saturday, November 20

NEW WORLD

Tuesday, November 23

Masters Of The Universe: Revelation Part 2

Wednesday, November 24

Selling Sunset Season 4
TRUE STORY

Thursday, November 25

F Is For Family Season 5
SUPER CROOKS

Friday, November 26

LIGHT THE NIGHT
SCHOOL OF CHOCOLATE

Sunday, November 28

ELVES

Tuesday, November 30

CHARLIE’S COLORFORMS CITY: CLASSIC TALES WITH A TWIST
CHARLIE’S COLORFORMS CITY: SNOWY STORIES
CHARLIE’S COLORFORMS CITY: THE LOST VALENTINES MUSICAL

December 2021 Netflix Premieres

December 2021 will see plenty of great arrivals in the final month of the year, including the return of fan-favorite series like The Witcher Season 2, Emily in Paris Season 2, and Cobra Kai Season 4.

Wednesday, December 1

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: STONE OCEAN
KAYKO AND KOKOSH
Kayko and Kokosh Season 2
Lost In Space Season 3

Thursday, December 2

COYOTES

Friday, December 3

COMING OUT COLTON
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Season 4
Money Heist Season 5 (Part 2)
The Great British Baking Show: Holidays Season 4
Money Heist: From Tokyo to Berlin Volume 2

Monday, December 6

VOIR

Tuesday, December 7

Centaurworld Season 2
Go Dog Go Season 2 

Thursday, December 9

Bonus Family Season 4

Friday, December 10

ARANYAK
How To Ruin Christmas: THE FUNERAL
TWENTYSOMETHINGS: AUSTIN
SATURDAY MORNING ALL STAR HITS!

Saturday, December 11

THE HUNGRY AND THE HAIRY

Tuesday, December 14

THE FUTURE DIARY

Wednesday, December 15

ELITE SHORT STORIES: PHILIPPE CAYE FELIPE
SELLING TAMPA

Thursday, December 16

Aggretsuko Season 4

Friday, December 17

Fast and Furious Spy Races Season 6
The Witcher Season 2

Saturday, December 18

BULGASAL: IMMORTAL SOULS

Sunday, December 19

WHAT HAPPENED IN OSLO

Monday, December 20

ELITE SHORT STORIES: SAMUEL OMAR

Wednesday, December 22

Emily In Paris Season 2

Thursday, December 23

ELITE STORIES: PATRICK

Friday, December 24

THE SILENT SEA

Saturday, December 25

SINGLES INFERNO

Wednesday, December 29

ANXIOUS PEOPLE
Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer

Thursday, December 30

KITZ

Friday, December 31

Cobra Kai Season 4
Queer Eye Season 6
STAY CLOSE

Returning Netflix Show Premiere Dates TBD

There are still plenty of returning Netflix series that have yet to receive a release date for 2021. More information on all these shows and many others will be released in the weeks and months ahead, so make sure to check back for updates on your favorite shows like Stranger Things, Dead To Me, and The Circle.

blackAF Season 2

Dead to Me Season 3

Grace and Frankie

Green Eggs and Ham Season 2

Ozark Season 4

Perfume Season 2

Raising Dion Season 2

Rhythm + Flow Season 2

Stranger Things Season 4

The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow Season 2

This is currently everything that has been announced to premiere on Netflix in 2021, but make sure to check back for updates throughout the year so you don’t miss out on your favorite returning shows. If you want to know what else is coming out in the first few months of the year, check out our Winter and Spring 2021 premiere schedule.

In the early days of 2020 (which honestly seems like an eternity ago), The Circle on Netflix became one of the most popular and addictive shows on the platform thanks it part to its crazy combination of elements from Big Brother and Catfish. And even though nearly a year has passed since the winner was named at the conclusion of the first season, people are still obsessively asking all of the internet when they can see The Circle Season 2.

Unfortunately, no one here has a magic ball that can look into the future (thought that would be handy), so it's hard to say exactly when the revolutionary and somewhat dystopian competition reality TV series with some serious Black Mirror vibes will be returning to the popular streaming platform. There is, however, quite a bit of information about what's been going on behind the scenes of The Circle throughout 2020, including its renewal, open casting call, and even a big tease from the show's host. Here's what's going on with The Circle Season 2 on Netflix.

Netflix Ordered The Circle Season 2 In March 2020

A little more than two months after The Circle Season 1 came to a close, Variety reported in March 2020 that the social experiment would be brought back to Netflix for at least two more seasons, meaning that two whole new crops of contestants would be forced to spend weeks in isolation and only communicate through a special app (life imitating art and the other way around here). In the announcement, it was revealed that the Netflix competition series would have new strategies and challenges upon making its eventual return to a hungry audience obsessed with watching people push themselves to their absolute limits all for bragging rights and a cool $100,000 grand prize.

The Circle Official Twitter Account Sent Out A Casting Call Once Season 2 Was Announced

Shortly after it was revealed that The Circle would be returning to the Netflix for Season 2, the show's official Twitter account posted a 30-second video (emojis and all) announcing the start of casting for the upcoming season:

Along with the video was a link going to thecirclecasting.com which allowed hopeful contestants in the United States and United Kingdom to sign up for the two different versions of the hit reality series and social experiment that quickly became one of the most binge-worthy Netflix shows in recent memory. There was no other information shared in the tweet (or any subsequent tweets), but this was more than enough to hype up the The Circle Season 2.

Casting For The U.S. And U.K. Versions Of The Circle Are Now Closed

At some point between March and October 2020, the open casting call for the U.S. and U.K. versions of The Circle was closed. It's not entirely clear if both shows have found their respective stables of contestants (which is the most likely scenario) or if the casting was put off until the world begins to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily for The Circle, most of the show is shot in isolation, so it's entirely possible that the producers were able to find some safety measures to put in place in order to make the contestants even more isolated from one another and the production crew. Let's just hope that whenever the cast of The Circle Season 2 is announced, Netflix does a better job than it did with the confusing tweet posted ahead of Season 1.

The Circle Season 2 Was Tentatively Scheduled To Start Shooting In October/November 2020

There have been no official announcements from Netflix as to when The Circle Season 2 will premiere or even enter production, but a casting listing on Backstage detailing the reality competition's casting does have a section containing the tentative shooting dates for the upcoming season. According to the site, production was tentatively scheduled to get underway in late October or early November 2020 and would take up to six weeks to complete. Given the frequency of production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we don't know if the series was/is still on track to begin shooting on schedule, as no official information on that has been released. 

A similar casting post ahead of The Circle Season 1 from back in 2019 called for a three-to-four-week shoot starting in August of that year. That season premiered on Netflix in January 2020, so it's entirely possible that the second season returns in the first few months of 2021. Fingers crossed.

It should also be noted that the producers of The Circle Season 2 were looking for "entertaining, funny, confident, and competitive people" to take part in the upcoming reality competition.

The Circle's Host, Michelle Buteau, Has Hinted At A Big Surprise For Season 2

The first season of The Circle gave audiences some of the most surprising moments and exciting partnerships in recent memory, but if what the show's host, Michelle Buteau, told Insider is any indication, Season 2 is going to be just as wild, if not wilder. During the October 2020 conversation, the comedian explained that audiences are in for some pretty big surprises that she's not even in the loop on, stating:

Like Michelle Buteau, no one (outside of The Circle's producers, anyway) know exactly what these surprises mean, but if it means the return of some of Season 1's most memorable contestants, then it's going to be okay.

Here Is How The Circle Season 1 Played Out For Those Who Forgot

Throughout The Circle Season 1, 14 contestants (trapped in isolated apartments) competed against one another to become the most popular although they never met face to face. As the show went on, the contestants rated one another based solely on how they were able to portray themselves in the app made specially for the show. Immediate fan-favorite Joey Sasso, who didn't try to hide his identity or put on a show, ended up winning the $100,000 prize while Shubham Goel was named the runner-up. Sasso's victory came down to his likability, but it could also be because he was constantly able to make the most of any situation, including building a friend out of Play-doh.

That about catches us up with everything that's going on with The Circle Season 2, but make sure to check back for updates in the future as we all look toward to the Netflix show's eventual return. If you want to know what else Netflix has in store for subscribers, check out this list of upcoming titles and other great stories here at CinemaBlend.

While few may have expected it, it is not so surprising to learn that the biggest movie star to debut in the Harry Potter films is, statistically, not the Boy Who Lived, but the girl who saved his butt on a regular basis at Hogwarts. Indeed, there are quite a few Emma Watson movies available to stream right now that offer significant proof toward that claim.

The 30-year-old English actress, originally born in Paris, France, achieved instant fame in 2001 at only 11 years old with her first ever acting role in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stoneas precocious young wizard Hermione Granger, whom she would reprise in seven more films. More often than not, most child stars who spend years in such a long-running blockbuster franchise later succumb to a destiny as an obscure has-been. Yet, Emma Watson is one of the few (along with her Hogwarts buddy Daniel Radcliffe) to come out completely unscarred, maintaining a reputation as one of the most talented, respected, and charming actresses of her generation.

More impressively, her fanbase surpasses just the “Potterheads,” thanks to surprising turns in films like This Is The End (in which she plays a fictionalized version of herself hardened by the Apocalypse), Noah (Darren Aronofsky’s retelling of the Biblical account of the first Apocalypse), and more that we have compiled below for you to stream. Hopefully you get the ultimate Emma Watson binge you have been looking for with the following 9 films, beginning with the star’s other most successful adaptation of a classic literary fantasy.

Beauty And The Beast (Disney+)

In exchange for her elderly father’s (Kevin Kline) freedom, a young female villager (Emma Watson) makes herself a prisoner to a conceited prince cursed with a monstrous form (Dan Stevens in a motion capture performance) unless he can find true love before it is too late.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: Casting Emma Watson as Belle, the titular “Beauty” of Beauty and the Beast, may have been key to the overwhelming box office success of Disney’s 2017 live action update of their heartwarming Best Picture Golden Globe-winning animated musical inspired by the famous French tale.

Stream Beauty And The Beast on Disney+ here.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (Netflix)

A grieving, introverted high school freshman is befriended by an openly gay senior and his stepsister of the same age who introduce the lonely teen to the bewildering and exhilarating aspects of the social world previously unknown to him.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: Based on the novel by Stephen Chbosky (who also wrote the screenplay and directs), The Perks of Being a Wallflower is another one of the more acclaimed (albeit heartbreaking) book adaptations starring Emma Watson, who co-stars with fellow YA fantasy novel movie vet Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and Ezra Miller, who would go on to play Credence Barebone in the Harry Potter prequel franchise beginning with 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Stream The Perks Of Being A Wallflower on Netflix here.

Little Women (Starz)

A young writer living in New York (Saoirse Ronan) reflects on the romances, poverty struggles, tragedies, and other life-changing moments that she and her three sisters (Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen) have shared in the post-Civil War American landscape.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: This Academy Award-winning (for Jacquelin Durran’s costume design) 2019 reimagining of Louis May Alcott’s groundbreaking novel Little Women is just about the most acclaimed (and, indeed, heartbreaking as well) book adaptation starring Emma Watson to date, brought to new, refreshing life by writer and director Greta Gerwig in her sophomore directorial effort and the rest of its stellar cast, which also includes Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, and Meryl Streep.

Stream Little Women on Starz here.

The Circle (Amazon Prime)

A young woman (Emma Watson) lands the opportunity of a lifetime when she lands a job working for a world-renowned tech industrialist (Tom Hanks), but her dream come true becomes an ethical nightmare after suspicions arise that that company is hiding more sinister intentions.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: While it is based on a best-selling technophobic novel by Dave Eggers (who also co-wrote the screenplay with director James Ponsoldt), The Circle is actually one of the lesser acclaimed and financially successful book adaptations starring Emma Watson, but her lead performance (as well as that of Tom Hanks as the dubious social media guru, Karen Gillan as Watson’s friend, and John Boyega as another co-worker) make this dystopian social commentary worth a watch.

Stream The Circle on Amazon Prime here.

Colonia (Hoopla)

A young woman’s (Emma Watson) desperate search for her kidnapped lover (Daniel Bruhl) leads her to join a charitable religious commune, which she soon learns is actually a fanatical cult known for being both dangerous and inescapable in 1973 Chile.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: Playing the girl who saves the guy is one of the essential aspects that attracted Emma Watson into playing the heroic lead role of Colonia, a pulse pounding escape thriller from 2016 that is especially disturbing for the mere fact that it is inspired by true events.

Stream Colonia on Hoopla here.

The Bling Ring (Netflix)

A group of fame-obsessed California teenagers (including Emma Watson, American Horror Story’s Taissa Farmiga, and Happy Death Day’s Israel Broussard, to name a few) figure out that they can live just like the celebrities they worship by tracking their whereabouts on the Internet in order to determine the perfect moment to break in and steal their valuables.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: Believe it or not, the crazy Hollywood heist by high schoolers plot of 2013’s The Bling Ring (which was one of the first post-Harry Potter films to see Emma Watson adopt a wildly un-Hermione persona for a role) is also based on true events, specifically a Vanity Fair article on the topic by Nancy Jo Sales which director Sofia Coppola adapted into the fourth film produced by A24.

Stream The Bling Ring on Netflix here.

My Week With Marilyn (Netflix)

A young aspiring filmmaker (Eddie Redmayne) lands a job working on the London, England, set of Sir Laurence Olivier’s (Kenneth Branagh) 1957 movie The Prince and the Showgirl, where he strikes up a friendship with the film’s star, Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), and learns more about the beloved starlet than he could have ever imagined.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: Wearing a wig to hide her circa 2011 pixie cut, Emma Watson plays an on-set wardrobe assistant not so much obsessed by fame like her The Bling Ring character, but more threatened by it (particularly how the titular blonde bombshell of My Week with Marilyn seems to be affecting her relationship with Eddie Redmayne’s character) in this biographical drama that offers fascinating insight into the hidden life of one of Hollywood’s most prolific figures.

Stream My Week with Marilyn on Netflix here.

Regression (Amazon Prime)

Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) undergoes an investigation of a man (David Dencik) who claims to have no recollection of abusing his daughter (Emma Watson), eventually leading him to confront the possibility that a Satanic cult may be involved in early 1990s Minnesota.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: In addition to having a reunion with fellow Harry Potter vet David Thewlis (best known for playing Hogwarts professor and lycanthrope Remus Lupin), Emma Watson also gets to see what it is like to play a Muggle who falls prey to “witchcraft” for her role in Regression - a gloomy psychological crime drama/horror film supposedly based on true events from The Others director Alejandro Amenábar.

Stream Regression on Amazon Prime here.

The Harry Potter Movies (Peacock)

After learning that he is a wizard, an orphaned boy (Daniel Radcliffe) attends a boarding school that specializes in teaching young students magic, while also (with the help of his new friends) investigating the history of an evil being connected to his parents’ death who may be planning his revenge.

Why Emma Watson Fans Will Like It: As I said before, Harry Potter - the heroic title character of the blockbuster franchise inspired by J.K. Rowling’s best-selling novels - probably would not have survived all eight movies if not for the help of his friend Hermione Granger, played to immortal perfection by Emma Watson from age 11 to 21.

Stream all of the Harry Potter movies on Peacock here.

What do you think? Do you believe that even after the Harry Potter films have ended, Emma Watson still possess her own kind of onscreen magic that propels her beyond whatever Hogwarts could teach, or will she always be the same clever Hermione Granger in your eyes? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the former Harry Potter actress, as well as even more of our own recommendations of the best movies and TV shows to stream starring your favorite celebrities, here on CinemaBlend.

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By now, no moviegoer or frequent TV consumer should have any trouble identifying who Karen Gillan is, even if she is almost entirely unrecognizable in her, arguably, best known role. Speaking of which, you can stream Guardians of the Galaxy, and her other MCU appearances as Nebula, right now, along with her breakout role in Doctor Who, and pretty much anything else the actress is known for.

The 32-year-old Scottish native has proven herself to be one of Hollywood’s most versatile artists, from saving the world(s) again and again in high-concept science fiction stories, saving herself again and again in a virtual jungle setting, or falling victim to some very possessive common household items (and I am not just referring to her social media obsessed character on the ABC comedy Selfie). Beyond her acting career, fewer people know that Karen Gillan has also moonlighted as a writer and director of several short films and one feature-length project thus.

If you are curious about about Karen Gillan’s feature-length directorial debut, which she also stars in, read further to learn what it is and where to stream it, as well as nine other notable roles of hers available now of various streaming platforms. Well, to be clear, it should be mentioned that the ninth item is really four movies, but for now, we will start with a beloved British import that first introduced this talented redhead to American audiences.

Doctor Who (HBO Max)

The sole survivor of an alien race called Time Lords (currently played by Jodie Whittaker) travels to different planets, time periods, and alternate realities in a vessel that resembles an old Police Call Box, encountering bizarre and dangerous adventures along the way, and often joined by an earthly companion.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: If most things starring Karen Gillan are already your cup of tea, you will probably dig all 11 seasons of Doctor Who's 21st century reboot currently available on HBO Max, but you are still welcome to skip over to Season 5 when she joins The Doctor (then played by Matt Smith) as Amy Pond, a favorite companion among many Whovians.

Stream Doctor Who on HBO Max here.

Oculus (Hulu)

A young woman (Karen Gillan) convinces her reluctant brother (Brenton Thwaites), recently released from a mental institution, to help her prove that an antique mirror is responsible for the tragic events of their childhood.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: As a huge fan of horror movies, Karen Gillan was game to star in Oculus, a terrifying and deliciously clever supernatural Blumhouse classic from Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan, which, on a deeper level, is a moving analysis of the differing ways people people process trauma and the troubling discourse that may ensue.

Stream Oculus on Hulu here.

Not Another Happy Ending (Amazon Prime)

A best-selling novel and new romance has given Jane Lockhart (Karen Gillan) more happiness than ever, as well as a bad case of writer's block, which inspires her petty, struggling editor (Stanley Weber) to make her life a living hell so she can finish a new book for him.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: While it may seem odd to see someone best known for action-packed blockbusters like Karen Gillan as the female lead of a romantic comedy, her surprisingly impressive comedic timing is key to why Not Another Happy Ending, a Scottish-based 2013 film proves to be as dark as it is funny, is worth a watch.

Stream Not Another Happy Ending on Amazon Prime here.

Alex & The List (Amazon Prime)

A lovesick dog trainer (Patrick Fugit) plans to propose to his girlfriend (Jennifer Morrison) when she presents him with a list of requests which he must be willing to adhere to before he can spend the rest of his life with her.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: In keeping up with the topic of rom-coms, we have Alex & the List, a quirky, low brow feature about how far men will go for love, starring a scene-stealing Karen Gillan in the supporting role of the title character's female best friend, Lily.

Stream Alex & the list on Amazon Prime here.

In A Valley Of Violence (HBO Max)

When a drifter (Ethan Hawke) retaliates against the unwarranted harassment of a random bar patron (James Ransone), he unwittingly incites a war between him, the local marshal (John Travolta), and practically the entire populace of a hostile town in the Wild West.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: Ironically, In a Valley of Violence, Karen Gillan's second role in a Blumhouse production directed by a notable horror auteur, is far from anything in the vein of Oculus, but could be described as Ti West's western reimagining of First Blood, in which the actress plays the hot-headed wife of the man who antagonizes Ethan Hawke's innocent stranger.

Stream In A Valley of Violence on HBO Max here.

The Circle (Amazon Prime)

After landing a dream opportunity to work with a prolific tech and social media guru (Tom Hanks), a young woman (Emma Watson) soon encounters an ethical dilemma when the company's more sinister agenda becomes apparent.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: Karen Gillan gives a standout performance as Annie, Emma Watson's friend, then co-worker, then former co-worker in director James Ponsoldt's The Circle, a technophobic drama based on the novel by Dave Eggers.

Stream The Circle on Amazon Prime here.

The Party’s Just Beginning (Hulu)

A young Scottish woman (Karen Gillan) goes on a downward spiral of one night stands, alcohol, and narcotics after her best friend takes his own life.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: In addition to her breathtaking lead performance, Karen Gillan's deeply moving and darkly comic feature-length debut as a writer and director, The Party's Just Beginning (also starring her Guardians of the Galaxy partner in crime Lee Pace), makes it clear that her career behind the camera is just beginning as well.

Stream The Party's Just Beginning on Hulu here.

Stuber (HBO Max)

A lowly Uber driver named Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) is forced into a violent hunt for a terrorist after a vengeful detective (Dave Bautista), fresh out of laser eye surgery, makes him his chauffeur.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: Karen Gillan had another Guardians of the Galaxy reunion with her brief, ill-fated appearance as Officer Morris, Dave Bautista's partner, in Stuber, a high-octane, comedic take on Taxi for the ride sharing era.

Stream Stuber on HBO Max here.

Jumanji: The Next Level (Starz)

Having once survived an adventurous video game that gives "immersive" a new meaning, three collegians must venture through unfamiliar "levels" of terrain to rescue their friend, but accidentally take his ailing grandfather (Danny DeVito) and friend (Danny Glover) inside the game with them.

Why It's A Good Option for Karen Gillan Fans: While her co-stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart become the lifelike video game avatars for a different set of characters, Karen Gillan once again stars as Martha's (Morgan Turner) avatar Ruby Roundhouse in Jumanji: The Next Level, the sequel to the surprise hit, digital reboot of the 1995 classic about a mystical board game.

Stream Jumanji: The Next Level on Starz here.

All Of Karen Gillan's Marvel Movies (Disney+)

After witnessing a group of space misfits become a family in Guardians of the Galaxy and then struggle to stay a family in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, watch them team up with the Avengers to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War and then attempt to reverse his devastating victory in Avengers: Endgame.

Why They Are A Good Option For Karen Gillan Fans: The unrecognizable Karen Gillan is strikingly brilliant as the partially mechanical Nebula, whose evolution from a burdened Kree ally who has it out for her adoptive sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to a fierce warrior for good is one of the strongest character arcs the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever told.

Stream Karen Gillan’s Marvel movies on Disney+ here.

What do you think? Have we covered all of the best films and TV shows from Karen Gillan’s resume, or should we take a deeper look in the mirror to realize that the party really is just beginning? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the badass MCU actress, as well as even more recommendations for movies and TV shows now available for you to stream, here on CinemaBlend.

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Netflix is already one of the most popular streaming services in the world for its licensed and original content. With the addition of Love is Blind and The Circle, major networks should be even more worried now, because Netflix is coming for the reality TV shows crown too.

Netflix reality shows often spark conversations and trend on most major social media platforms. The streaming service knows a good thing when it acquires or creates it, so it recently renewed most of its hit reality TV shows, like The Circle and Love is Blind for multiple seasons. Netflix also renewed other popular reality programming, like Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo and Rhythm+ Flow, for second seasons. All of these series won’t start streaming on Netflix until 2021, which makes now the perfect time to watch these series and other reality TV shows.

The Circle

The Circle is a combination of Big Brother and Catfish. It starts with eight original players moving into an apartment complex, where they’ll stay isolated from each other. Their only way to communicate is through the Circle app. Some players play as themselves and others make up characters that they feel will gain them popularity. Every couple of days, new players are “blocked" (eliminated) from the Circle and new players take their spot. The object of the game is to have the other contestants vote you most popular and win the $100,000 prize.

The Circle is so addictive because we now live in a world ruled by social media and mobile devices. It’s part of the norm to start some relationships and make friends first online before ever meeting in person. This makes the concept of the series plausible and enthralling. The Circle also is just an interesting show from a psychology and gamer point-of-view. How will these people use only their words to manipulate, gain trust, build bonds, and charm their way to the prize? It’s the kind of series that may not sound thrilling on paper, but works so well in practice. Stream it HERE.

Love is Blind

Love is Blind is a series about singles dating and falling in love only through communication. They are blocked off by a wall and only talk in pods. After their time in the pods, the singles can decide to leave the experience or explore their connections by becoming engaged. They then spend about a month together in the real world before deciding to go through with the wedding or not.

Love is Blind takes the messiness of The Bachelor but somehow makes it more messy? It’s an interesting series because both cynics and romantics find something they can enjoy about the series. Romantics get to watch two strangers fall in love and then marry. Cynics get to watch a big train wreck if the couples realize they're incompatible and call off the wedding. Love is Blind reveals both the fairytale and nightmare of new relationships. Stream it HERE.

Nailed It!

Nailed It is a competition reality series about ordinary people and occasional celebrities making cakes, but wait, there is more. These contestants aren’t professional bakers nor are they amateur bakers like on The Great British Baking Series, instead sometimes these people are known kitchen disasters. They must try to recreate professional grade-cakes in a few hours.

Nicole Byer hosts Nailed It and brings enthusiasm and character to the series. Her infectious nature is made even better with the complete travesty of cakes created by the contestants. It’s an enjoyable series because you’re laughing with the contestants not at them. They know their cake sucks and they’re enjoying the crazy process as much as you are enjoying watching it. Nailed It is definitely one of Netflix’s best food reality shows. Stream it HERE.

Ultimate Beastmaster

Ultimate Beastmaster is an international competition where athletes and everyday people compete in a series of obstacle challenges to win the title “Ultimate Beastmaster.”

The series combines the obstacle course style of American Ninja Warrior with the country pride of the Olympics. Ultimate Beastmaster draws you in because of the personal stories of those competing and the skills the competitors show. These obstacle courses aren’t easy, so it’s thrilling watching contestants finish them with ease and confidence. By the end of each season, you have your favorites and truly care who takes home the title. Stream it HERE.

Queer Eye

Queer Eye consists of life coach Karamo Brown, hairstylist and beauty guru Jonathan Van Ness, Chef Antoni Porowski, interior designer Bobby Berk, and fashion designer and stylist Tan France. These men travel around the world to help those in need revamp their lives. They give them a physical makeover but also help them overcome obstacles in their personal or professional lives.

Queer Eye is feel good TV because of its heartwarming stories and ability to make you curl up in a corner in cry. You’ll end up binging Queer Eye because it is full of empowering stories and moments. It binds its sentimental stories with a bit of humor and life hacks in between. Stream it HERE.

Chef’s Table

Each episode of Chef’s Table focuses on a different world-renowned chef and their journey. Over the course of Netflix’s six volumes, the series has profiled at least 24 different chefs.

Chef’s Table is a reality show and docu-series that showcases and humanizes these professional chefs. If you’re a foodie or just a fan of cooking shows, then you may have heard or seen some of these people before, but not like this. Chef’s Table offers an intimate look into the genius behind some of the world’s most popular restaurants or famous foods. The series offers a fascinating portrait of each food artist. Stream it HERE.

Storage Wars: Northern Treasures

Storage Wars: Northern Treasures is a series that follows different groups of storage hunters. These people go to public auctions for storage lockers and bid on them with the hope of finding treasures that they can sell.

Much of Storage Wars: Northern Treasures feels scripted, but the show is really a fascinating look at a very niche group of people. They spend all their time, energy, and resources traveling around looking for gold amidst junk. Despite the scripted feel, Storage Wars: Northern Treasures is oddly riveting. These people have made fortunes on something that most people wouldn’t even consider. The series puts a big flashy microscope on a unique way of life and makes it thrilling. Netflix only has one season of the Canadian version of Storage Wars available, but we hope that they’ll gain access to more seasons and versions soon. Stream it HERE.

Cheer

Cheer follows the Navarro college cheer squad as they prepare for a big national competition. The series follows their head coach Monica Aldama, and specifically profiles some of the interesting characters and stars on the team, like Gabi Butler, Jerry Harris, La’Darius Marshall, and Lexi Brumback.

By Episode 2 of Cheer, you’re completely enthralled in these athletes’ stories. Jerry Harris’s story is especially captivating. His spirit along with the rest of the team gets you invested in their success. Cheer has a bit of a love-hate relationship with Coach Monica. It paints her as this tough, perfectionist coach who pushes her cheerleaders to extremes, but she is also shown as this compassionate mother figure who pushes them because she cares. It’s nice to see a reality program show human duality. Cheer makes you root for Navarro college all the way to the end. Stream it HERE.

The Rap Game

Jermaine Dupri acts as mentor on The Rap Game, a series about aspiring rappers whose ages range from 12 to 18. These rappers compete in weekly challenges to increase their spots in weekly rankings. The first few seasons, Jermaine Dupri didn’t eliminate anyone. The ranking just helped to increase contestants’ odds of winning the grand prize. Dupri also used them to build tension and competition among the contestants and their parents. He changes this format by Season 5 with eliminations spontaneously happening all season. At the end of the competition, Dupri picks someone to sign to his label.

The Rap Game is an interesting music competition series because it feels like the underrated gem Making the Band, but without the hilarious hijinks of P-Diddy. The Rap Game is part lifestyle reality and part competition reality TV. The series also works as a case study in the making of a child star, and the ways the music industry pushes kids to grow up in order to achieve their dreams. Stream it HERE.

Rhythm + Flow

Rhythm + Flow is a series that follows up and coming rappers as they go from the audition process to weekly challenges. T.I, Chance the Rapper, and Cardi B are judges on this reality series.

Rhythm + Flow is a great series to watch for those interested in the hip-hop industry. This show puts heavy emphasis on the artists being true to their identity and original material, unlike many reality singing competitions that focus on how well the artists can cover other’s music and fit into the industry standards. Rhythm + Flow also nicely balances showcasing the colorful judges without overshadowing the charismatic contestants. Stream it HERE.

Billy On The Street

Billy on the Street is a reality TV show that consists of mini-segments hosted by Billy Eichner. His segments usually revolve around him roaming around New York City asking residents questions. Most of the questions are nonsensical but always hilarious.

Billy on the Street is a reaction-based reality TV show, which means most of the comedy comes from Billy Eichner and the New Yorkers responses to his games and questions. Eichner is a master at developing instant witty responses. He feeds off the energy of New Yorkers and the result is golden. Stream it HERE.

Love is Blind and The Circle have proven that Netflix has a unique perspective and enough freedom to test out unusual but compelling concepts. We cannot wait to see what Netflix comes up with next.

The past few weeks (or, months, depending on your location) have been trying ones for many of us. What we really need right now is to know that some sort of hope lies ahead on the horizon, even if it comes in the form of something relatively small during this age of Very Big Problems. Well, Netflix has decided to help us out by guaranteeing that we'll have more of the reality show goodness we love in the future by giving us more seasons of Love Is Blind and several other shows.

Netflix has been killing it lately with its reality shows that bring the drama and, well, the messiness we all want in our real life stories. So, the streamer has confirmed that it will give us more of Love Is Blind, The Circle and Rhythm + Flow, as well as a new show from petite organizational maven Marie Kondo with Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo. All shows are currently set to debut or premiere their new seasons sometimes in 2021.

So, just how much can we expect to see of these shows? Well, Rhythm + Flow was granted one new season by Netflix, taking it into Season 2. Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and Tip “T.I.” Harris will return to judge the performers and try to put their fingers on hip-hop's next star. The trio will, again, be joined by other music industry luminaries in their multi-city search to find raw talent that deserves to break away from the pack of undiscovered artists, and I have no doubt that we'll get to see some amazing performances, just like in Season 1.

Netflix had a major success on its hands almost immediately when Love Is Blind debuted right before Valentine's Day this year. And, the show, which puts singles in dating "pods" so they can get to know one another without ever seeing the other person, earned all of its pop culture prominence by giving us lots of drama, dreams and broken promises. Hosts Vanessa and Nick Lachey will once again guide our love hopefuls through the process of seeing if love truly can be blind when they enter this dating experiment.

Now, here's the awesome news. We're going to be getting two more seasons of Love Is Blind, you guys! That's right, the folks behind Netflix loved how the result resonated with people so much that they've renewed the show for Seasons 2 and 3, with the next season already in the casting process.

You know what else is now, officially, getting Seasons 2 and 3 from Netflix? You got it, friends: The Circle! This combo of Catfish, Big Brother and The Real World also kept viewers locked in when they first saw it, and the social experiment (which has contestants use social media and messenger-style chats to obtain the most popularity among each other) will now feature new challenges, twists and strategies for every player vying for that $100,000 prize. Host Michelle Buteau will return to guide us through the madness.

Last, but not least, we have the return of Marie Kondo in Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo. While her first series saw the tidying powerhouse visit families and get them to each clean up their homes, this new show will see Kondo and her team (I hope they call themselves the Joy Luck Club, but that's probably wishful thinking) actually attempt to tidy one entire small town in America. Yes. A WHOLE TOWN. We don't know right now if this just means the private residences or if it also includes the messy business locations, but, either way, this sounds like a major task the I can't wait to watch unfold.

Here's what Netflix had to say about the renewals:

Spark joy, they will! Hopefully, all of these shows can record on whatever schedule Netflix has set for them, because I think we will really need these shows in 2021. As you can imagine, premiere dates aren't set right now, and we're not sure how many episodes each series / season will get, but expecting them to have seasons of the same length as before is probably a good bet.

As always, you can stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more on Netflix's Rhythm + Flow, Love Is Blind, The Circle and Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo. To see what else you can watch right now, check out our 2020 midseason guide, and to see what's been delayed so far, we've got you covered there, too.

Since 2000, Big Brother has become one of the most popular and beloved reality TV shows.

Every summer, fans devote their lives for about 100 days to watching strangers interact, strategize, form relationships, backstab, and all the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with being a Big Brother fan. However, once those nearly 100 days are over, you may be in dire need of a replacement show. 

You need something that will offer a similar thrill to Big Brother. A show that will be just as entertaining, but not require the same level of devotion. Well, let me tell you about these unscripted shows that may make the Big Brother hiatus seem less daunting. 

Big Brother: Over The Top (Paramount+)

In 2016, CBS: All Access introduced a Big Brother spin-off series called Big Brother: Over the Top. Basically, it was the same series as the CBS network version but shorter and online. The series included twists, weekly competitions, and 24-hour access to the contestants. Big Brother: Over the Top had some distinct features that differentiated it from the primetime version. It gave viewers even more access to the contestants. 

Over the Top gave viewers access to competitions, meetings, diary room sessions and other things not normally seen on Big Brother.  The series also had more fan input with such things as the extension of the Big Brother Care Packages (introduced in Big Brother 18). This twist allowed new powers and prizes to enter the game each week. Big Brother Over the Top only aired for one season and forever remains in limbo. Fans of Big Brother should check out Over the Top if they missed it during its original run. 

Stream Big Brother Over the Top on Paramount+. 

The Circle (Netflix)

The Circle is like Big Brother if the contestants played only via the internet. The Circle starts with eight players living in their own apartments and only interacting through a chat app called The Circle. The contestants can play the game as their real selves or by pretending to be someone else. The Circle originally aired in the UK for two seasons before Netflix adapted it. The first season of Netflix’s The Circle launched in January of 2020 and released four episodes a week for three weeks.

The Circle has the same opportunity for strategizing, alliance forming, and connection-making that Big Brother offers, but with the inclusion of social media instead of face-to-face contact. The Circle is a clever update of a Big Brother type game, while having its own identity. It’s also just a really engaging and fun reality series. 

Stream The Circle on Netflix. 

Survivor (Paramount+)

Survivor and Big Brother premiered on CBS around the same time, but Survivor has a few more seasons under its belt. The hit CBS series usually airs multiple times a year and has much shorter seasons than Big Brother. Survivor puts a group of strangers on an island, where they need to survive the elements and weekly votes. The winner of Survivor is the person who convinces a jury of eliminated contestants to give him or her the grand prize.

Survivor and Big Brother share a network and many similarities. Both shows involve strategizing, alliances, and they even share some contestants. A few Big Brother players have appeared on Survivor, like Big Brother 16’s Caleb Reynolds and Big Brother 12’s winner Hayden Moss. Survivor’s season with former winners competing for $2 million might be the best season to start because it has the best of the best playing. 

Stream Survivor on Paramount+.

Big Brother Canada (Paramount+)

Big Brother Canada premiered in 2013 and isn’t just the US’ versions odd cousin. It’s just as exciting as the other North American version. The formats are pretty much the same, but in 2023, Big Brother Canada made the controversial decision to eliminate live feeds and  replace them with something called “The Digital Dailies.” 

Despite the change, Big Brother Canada is worth watching for its own brand of drama, strategizing, and entertaining gameplay. Fortunately for Big Brother fans, Paramount+ has multiple past seasons available to stream.

Stream Big Brother Canada on Paramount+.

The Challenge (Paramount+)

The Challenge has been on the air since its 1998 debut. The series originated as a competition show between The Real World and Road Rules contestants. It’s evolved to include MTV stars, international reality contestants, professional athletes, and many US reality show stars. Each season, The Challenge has a different theme, but the format stays similar. Weekly, teams compete in challenges, and then two contestants battle each other to avoid elimination.

The Challenge combines the two greatest aspects of reality TV: drama and challenges. The series has built itself on the drama that exists between contestants. Unlike many competition reality series, The Challenge doesn’t involve a new cast every year. Instead, The Challenge vets often return and win seasons after seasons. Former Big Brother contestants have become a regular part of The Challenge. The series also has many spin-off series that are also available to watch on Paramount+. 

Stream The Challenge on Paramount+.

Claim To Fame (Hulu)

Claim to Fame is an ABC reality show that enlists the relatives of famous people. Basically, it’s a live action version of Guess Who, but the guessing involves figuring out famous relatives. Each week, these relatives of celebrities must try to hide their identities and win competitions to not face elimination.

It’s a reality show that is a lot more strategic than it may seem, because the contestants will often form alliances and strategize to make it to the end and win the prize. Claim to Fame is also a fun reality show to watch and practice your own guessing and detective skills.

Stream Claim to Fame on Hulu.

Ex On The Beach (Paramount+)

Similar to Love Island, Ex on the Beach involves hot, young singles. The shows differ in Ex On The Beach is specifically designed to bring romantic drama. The series starts with a bunch of single people and each week, an ex from one single’s past shows up to join them as a contestant.

Ex on the Beach may appeal to Big Brother fans because the American version includes former Big Brother contestants. Big Brother 19’s former showmance Mark Jansen and Elena Davies appeared on it as exes, and the Big Brother Over the Top winner made an appearance. Additionally, Big Brother fan favorite Da’Vonne Rogers has appeared on Ex on the Beach. 

Stream Ex On The Beach on Paramount+ 

The Amazing Race (Paramount+)

The Amazing Race involves teams racing around the world to win $1 million. Each week, the teams must complete a series of tasks or challenges in order to advance in the race. The players who arrive last to a designated checkpoint may be eliminated. Some weeks, there are no eliminations but the last place finishers receive a penalty that could hurt the team’s chances of making it to the next checkpoint.

The Amazing Race is more task-based than Big Brother. A team’s performance is what usually determines if they win the game. However, there is some strategizing and social game involved. At multiple points, players can try to hinder another team’s winning chances. Many famous Big Brother couples have appeared on The Amazing Race, and Big Brother 19’s Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson and Big Brother 23’s Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss even won it. 

Stream The Amazing Race on Paramount+.

Pressure Cooker (Netflix)

Pressure Cooker is a reality cooking show that involves the contestants living and cooking together. Each week, they’re given challenges and must vote for best and worst dish.

It’s a lot more strategic and cutthroat than many other cooking shows because it puts the power to pick a winner in the hands of the contestants themselves. This means that contestants often join forces to take out a contestant, or they don’t necessarily pick based on who actually made the best dish. It’s the cooking series closest to Big Brother, but a new upcoming reality TV show may also add to the new strategic cooking show genre.

Stream Pressure Cooker on Netflix.

The Traitors (Peacock)

Like Big Brother, The Traitors is an international series that started off as a Dutch series and then quickly expanded to many international versions. The American version of The Traitors began with reality TV stars and civilians competing for a grand prize. Each week, the contestants must build their pot. However, there are traitors among them.

The Traitors’ goal is to remain hidden among the civilians. If one or more Traitors make it to the end, they steal the grand prize away from the civilians. If the civilians get rid of all the traitors, they split the grand prize.

The first season of The Traitors included a few Big Brother alumni, including Rachel Reilly. It’s a game all about manipulation and strategizing. Peacock also has other international versions of The Traitors available to stream. 

Stream The Traitors on Peacock.

Stars on Mars (Hulu)

Imagine Big Brother but on mars and you have Stars on Mars. It’s similar to Celebrity Big Brother in that every few days celebrities are eliminated basically by a vote. Then it also includes challenges and a Head of Household type figure.

Stars on Mars very much takes inspiration from Big Brother but the celebrities seem a little more well-known than many of the ones we’ve seen on Celebrity Big Brother, but they also aren’t bringing the drama as much as the Celebrity Big Brother version.

Stream Stars on Mars on Hulu. 

Outlast (Netflix)

Outlast is a lot more like Survivor than Big Brother because it involves people being put in the middle of nowhere and told to survive. However, it shares Big Brother’s social experiment roots. It wants to know what happens when people must survive in the wilderness with minimal supervision.

The results are outstanding as people go to extreme measures, including a bit of cruelty. It’s a fascinating show but often too difficult to digest. Still, it says a lot about what happens when people are stripped of their comforts. 

Stream Outlast on Netflix. 

Sequester (Youtube)

Big Brother 17’s Audrey Middleton created Sequester. The series originally began in 2016 and it used to include contestants interacting and voting each other off all through live video chats. Since then, Sequester has evolved to a reality show about 20 contestants moving into a house together. They then must compete in challenges and strategize to win the grand prize.

Sequester is very similar to Big Brother, but it’s more fast-paced and strategy based. It also has different layers of challenges and eliminations. For example, when Sequester reaches the jury portion, once a player gets voted off, he or she can challenge anyone who voted for them off to a battle. These two players then compete in a challenge, and whoever wins, stays. Former Big Brother USA and Canada players also appeared on Sequester, like Judd Daugherty from Big Brother 15. 

Stream Sequester on Youtube.

Big Brother returns to CBS this summer. All past seasons are available to stream. Stream Big Brother on Paramount+. 

Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of The Circle on Netflix.

Netflix has completed its first American season of The Circle, and there was a lot to love. Joey Sasso was certainly one of those major positives for the season, as the New York native became a fan-favorite with his honest and heartwarming attitude. Fans are well familiar with the alliance and bromance he formed with fellow contestant Shubham Goel, but Joey exclusively revealed to CinemaBlend there was another friend he made that we didn't see.

I spoke to Joey Sasso following his win on The Circle, and asked about whether or not there were any moments from the game that were cut from episodes that he wished had been included. Without missing a beat, Joey revealed that he literally created a friend using materials from the welcome box at the competition's beginning, and confided in it throughout the entire game.

So while The Circle was drawing attention to Ed bringing his mom along to play the game, Joey was chilling out in his apartment with his imaginary friend made out of Play-Doh Garfunkel. As mentioned previously, Garfunkel only gets a bit of screen time at the beginning of the show, where Joey can be seen fiddling with the Play-Doh and combining it.

It's an amazing reveal from Joey Sasso, and one can't help but wonder what a "Garfunkel cut" of The Circle Season 1 would look like. Imagine Joey having that heart to heart with Miranda and sharing that sultry kiss all while the Play-Doh idol he's secretly conferred with the entire game is just chilling in the background. Joey assured us he committed to the bit throughout the course of the show, but at the end of the day, had his doubts it would make it into episodes.

As ridiculous as it may have been, Garfunkel allowing Joey to talk out his gameplay could have been the key to what won him The Circle. From a fan perspective, it would be very interesting to learn what else from other competitors was cut from the show if something that big was removed from Joey's experience.

The Circle Season 1 is currently available to binge on Netflix. Stick with CinemaBlend for more details on what's coming to the service in the near furture, and for the latest news happening in television and movies.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the currently available episodes of The Circle as of January 9, 2020. Read at your own risk!

America is eight episodes into The Circle, and those watching are on social media showing love to their favorite players. In what may be a surprise to no one, Shubham Goel has become just as popular in real life as he is in the competition, where he's been a top influencer 3 times. His latest stint shown was with fellow player Joey Sasso, who Goel revealed he's still having a bromance with since the show's conclusion.

The Circle has technically finished production on Season 1 (as the final batch of episodes will debut Wednesday, January 15), and while Shubham Goel can't reveal who won the unique Netflix original, he can say that he's still friends with Joey Sasso. Goel said the two have touched base since the show's conclusion, and yes, they're just as cool outside the show despite the major differences in their personality.

It's good to hear that friendship wasn't just a show for the game, but would viewers expect anything less from either player? Out of all the players competing in The Circle, Shubham Goel and Joey Sasso are the two least afraid to say exactly what they're thinking in the moment. Perhaps that's why the two connected despite the clear differences in their personalities, and why this bromance is rolling strong since the show's ending.

Shubham Goel told Cosmopolitan he never intended to be anything but genuine from the game's start. As he's said on The Circle, social media feels fake, which is why he may appreciate that Joey Sasso is so upfront and honest even if he shouldn't always be. The two ended up hitting it off from the start after Sasso reached out to console Goel when the first ranking showed him at the bottom. Goel wasn't playing the game like anyone else, probably because he wasn't heavily into social media prior to The Circle.

Had Shubham Goel and Joey Sasso tried to be someone other than themselves, there's a chance their wonderful friendship in The Circle wouldn't have manifested. That said, Goel has formed a pretty close relationship with "Rebecca" in the game, and Rebecca may be the fakest player. It's great to hear he and Joey are close, but how does Shubham feel now that he knows Rebecca is actually her boyfriend Seaburn?

Related: 6 Ways Netflix's The Circle Is The Perfect Big Brother Substitute

Hopefully, viewers will find out on The Circle when the final batch of episodes go up Wednesday, January 15. Stick with CinemaBlend for more on what's happening on streaming, and for other news in television and movies.

If you're a Big Brother fan, the stretch of time since Season 21 ended has been rough. Besides the finale not going down the way many wanted, the fandom was led to believe an All-Stars season was on the way, but there's been radio silence on the theme for 2020. Luckily, Big Brother loyalists, I've found a shining light in this time of unknowing, and it's Netflix's U.S. adaptation of The Circle.

Netflix's latest reality show (which became a breakout hit in the U.K. before heading stateside) is perfect for Big Brother fans looking for something new. While in execution The Circle is very different than the CBS hit series, there are plenty of similarities between the two that viewers will appreciate, and eventually grow to love as they dive deeper into this three-week event series.

The Circle Is Big Brother's "Social Game" On Steroids

The Circle doesn't have physical competitions quite in the same way Big Brother does. Instead this is basically the "social game" of Big Brother on steroids, with it being the only way a player can interact and secure their safety within The Circle. One would think removing a dynamic of immunity via physical competitions would lessen the experience, but I honestly think it enhances the game greatly.

Especially in the case of The Circle, where players are in complete isolation minus the social media site they used to interact with each other, fittingly called "The Circle." It means no opportunities for players to eavesdrop on other's conversations, and sometimes, a player could say something everyone disagrees with, but they're all oblivious because nobody expressed it in the public chat. Immunity is earned by being the "most likable," though viewers will see that's way harder than people think.

The Circle Has Plenty Of Likable People

Whether they're playing themselves, or catfishing the other contestants, the people featured in the first four episodes of The Circle have been pretty likable in my opinion. Netflix did a great job with the casting, and this may be the most inclusive lineup a reality series has had in quite some time. Even the contestants all seem to generally like each other, even though many aren't entirely sure if the other is a catfish or not.

Without digging too deep into spoilers, one thing I really love is that The Circle has, so far. led to many unique partnerships I don't believe would exist on Big Brother. Looks and appearances often mean something in reality television, and as fans have complained in the past, reality shows can turn into a popularity contest that feels rooted in looks. Contestants in The Circle feel less concerned with that considering they don't know who's real and who's not, which ensures decisions are being made without any unconscious or conscious bias toward other players.

The Circle Has All Sorts Of Deception

In a game where 95% of interactions between characters take place via social media, players are able to comfortably be deceptive. This means some players can represent someone they aren't to the most extreme levels, and say what they need to in the moment with a lesser chance of discovery or exposure by other players in the game. Hilariously enough, even those playing the game as their true selves sometimes appear less genuine than the fakers!

Personally, I love how contestants on The Circle can talk out their strategies in real time. Seeing as the contestants are all in separate rooms, their apartments serve as confessionals that eliminate the diary room bits Big Brother has to edit in while events transpire. It makes it easier to follow a contestant's habits, and more or less confirms that everyone is playing the game at some level whether they're playing themselves or posing as their girlfriend back home.

The Circle Already Has Had A Few Profound Moments

So often society talks about the ugliness of social media, and how various platforms have brought out the worst in some of us. The Circle can certainly show that side, but it can also show the magic of how we as a society have grown from having this type of technology in our lives. As someone who just recently witnessed a slew of controversies on Big Brother Season 21, it was nice to see a show that, for the most part, isn't too toxic in its first four episodes.

The good news, for those Big Brother fans who secretly thrive on that drama, is the tease for the next batch of episodes has certainly shown that toxicity could rise. The Circle looks like a game that could quickly turn ugly with the right player, and that player seems to be on the way very soon. That's not a bad thing, as all reality shows thrive on tension and drama, though I would hope things don't get as bad on this show as some other shows in 2019.

The Circle Truly Feels Like It's Anyone's Game

I can't speak for the U.K. version because I have yet to see it, but I love how The Circle U.S. feels like anyone's game. The isolation of each person does a solid job of preventing a mob mentality seen in Big Brother, in which the first few eliminations can be rather easy due to large alliances. So far, we haven't even seen players mutually agree to put a player towards the bottom, though it wouldn't be surprising if that happens.

At the moment, it's hard to make a case for anyone being a clear favorite to win Season 1. Obviously, the eliminated players (who we won't get into to avoid spoilers) are out of contention, but even their exits were relatively shocking when they were handed down. Unpredictability often makes for the best reality television, which may be a key reason why Big Brother has had such longevity.

Related: Big Brother Advertisers Vacate Spanish Series After Alleged Rape Scandal Resurfaces

The Circle has episodes currently up on Netflix, with more on the way every Wednesday until the finale Wednesday, January 15. Stick with CinemaBlend for more on the world of streaming, and for a look at what's happening in the world of television and movies.

On January 1, Netflix plans to launch an all-new reality series called The Circle. The Circle is a bit of a mixture of a variety of different reality series, like Big Brother, Catfish, and The Real World, with some elements similar to The Black Mirror episode “Nosedive.” The big twist of The Circle is that all the interactions happen through social media and messenger-style chats. The contestants all live in the same building, but unlike with Big Brother, the players stay separated, and The Circle keeps them confined to their own apartments and select areas.

The Circle is a complex game of strategy and manipulation. Obtaining popularity is the main objective of The Circle: at the end of the three weeks, one person wins $100,000 for being the most popular player. Those deemed less popular or disingenuous face elimination. The Circle sounds complicated, but it’s simpler to follow than it appears. The Circle turns the everyday mundanity of social media into a thrilling game of deceit, power, and triumph.

What Is Netflix’s The Circle About?

Netflix’s The Circle is about the power of social media: It can create influencers and destroy someone’s reputation. In terms of how the show actually works, each contestant is set up in their own apartment where they can only communicate with one another through the show's social media platform and chats. So they don't actually see each other, but viewers are able to watch them as they interact with the other contestants in an attempt to form friendships and further themselves in the game. The point of the game? To avoid getting "blocked" through each elimination round.

Because they're quarantined separately, the format allows people to present any persona that they want. The Circle showcases this message by giving each contestant the freedom to choose a profile image that they believe will gain them popularity. While some will choose a flattering photo of themselves, other contestants of The Circle choose to catfish the others by pretending to be someone they're not. They can either take the personality and pictures of someone in their lives, or make up a person that they think will be popular. On Netflix’s version, two of the original eight contestants are taking on completely new personalities.

As it's revealed in the first episode, a contestant named Seaburn uses his girlfriend’s image to catfish the other Circle contestants, and a contestant named Karyn uses a completely new persona to represent herself. There are also little instances of omitting information to try to rank high in popularity. A professional basketball player—with his girlfriend’s permission— decides to change his relationship status to single instead of in-a-relationship.

The Circle contestants communicate in several different ways. They have an initial profile, which contains a picture, their written bio, relationship status, age, and other general information. This profile introduces each player. The contestants then communicate through a main chat that everyone can see, or through group and private chats.

The Circle is a revolving door of players, at least until there are only very few days left. In the U.K. series, after a contestant leaves, another one moves into their room. Usually there are eight contestants living in the apartments at any given time. The influencers vote out players of The Circle each week. Every few days, The Circle contestants rank each other from least to most liked players. The players with the highest averages become the influencers, and then they discuss in private rooms who to block (aka eliminate).

Before exiting the Circle, the eliminated player gets the opportunity to meet one of the players face-to-face. That's a game twist used in the U.K. version, and it looks like Netflix's version of the series will include it as well. This face-to-face meeting can either end in a sweet meeting between new friends, a huge confrontation between enemies, or a Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man interaction if they’re both catfishes. The Circle only lasts for three weeks. At the end, the final remaining players rank their favorites. The player with the highest overall average wins the game and $100,000. On the UK version, all the finalists meet in person at a dinner. Netflix will hopefully follow suit with that portion of the series, as there's so much potential for drama.

Netflix regular Michelle Buteau, who appeared in Always Be My Maybe, Someone Great, and Isn’t It Romantic, hosts and narrates The Circle.

When Does The Circle Arrive on Netflix?

The Circle begins on Netflix on January 1. The streaming service plans to release four episodes of the series on Wednesday, and then four more episodes every Wednesday until January 15. There will be four new episodes on January 1, January 8, and January 15. This brings The Circle Season 1 to 12 episodes.

How Is The Circle Related To The British Reality Series?

The Circle is a direct import from the British version that launched on 2018. Netflix bought rights to the American version in October 2018, with plans to develop versions of it for Brazil and France as well. The Channel 4 series gained a lot of buzz and popularity during its first season, but seems to have become even more popular with season 2. The Circle Season 2 finale, which aired in October 2019, drew 1.2 million viewers. Currently, it appears that The Circle US is a direct copy of The Circle UK. They both share a premise and style.

UK Circle spoilers ahead! If you're planning on watching the original series, skip the next section!

The first season of the UK The Circle ended with Alex Hobern winning. He used his girlfriend’s pictures to catfish as a girl named Kate. The Circle Season 2 divided fans as James Doran, pretending to be a single mom named Sammie, led a group of fellow contestants to manipulate the voting system to ensure that one of them became influencer for the remaining votes. This strategy worked because one of Sammie’s co-conspirators Paddy Smyth won the season.

How Is Netflix’s The Circle Different From The British Version?

Since Netflix hasn’t officially released The Circle, we won’t know all the changes until all 12 episodes air. However, the UK version of The Circle aired daily five nights a week, and each episode was filmed only a few days before they aired. Based on what's been reported, Netflix's version has already filmed. Because the UK version of the series filmed close to the air dates, they were able to include interactive polls that allowed viewers to influence the game. If Netflix has already filmed all of its Circle episodes, it's safe to assume viewers won't be interacting with the game in any meaningful way.

The UK version had many twists, some of which involved audience participation, including a fan favorite prize at the end of the season. And during The Circle season 2, there was a fan vote to decide if two players should be eliminated or have to play as one new fake player. It seems unlikely that we'll see those kinds of twists play out on the Netflix Circle, if it's all pre-taped. But there may be changes from the original format in store.

Netflix gave fans of The Circle a late holiday present with a half hour sneak peek of The Circle Season 1’s premiere, which you can watch on Youtube. The first four episodes of The Circle are set to arrive on Netflix on January 1.

January is the start of a new decade, and a new era for Netflix. The year 2020 will see many other big names enter into streaming, so expect the streaming giant to defend its crown with even more great content and surprise additions to its lineup.

It's hard to say what new shows on this list could be that next sleeper hit for Netflix, though there's no denying quite a few have potential. Jump down below to see what show's will kick off the decade, and which classics will take their final bow right as 2020 kicks off.

Messiah 1/1

Netflix is diving into the world of modern-day prophets with a series that imagines what would happen if a Messianic figure appeared in today's modern world. One CIA officer is tasked with investigating the individual, his massive following, and whether or not the miracles he's allegedly performing are the real deal or this is just the work of a con man who has duped a world ready to believe.

Spinning Out 1/1

Kaya Scodelario and January Jones star in a figure skating drama that takes the action on and off the ice. Kat Baker is an up-and-coming skater fresh off of a bad performance, and hoping to revitalize her career amidst a lot of family drama. Her goal is making it to the Olympics, and it sounds like that goal will be quite an uphill battle that should make for great television. Oh yeah, and Johnny Weir plays a character, so this should be a real treat for fans of figure skating.

The Circle- 1/1

Big Brother and other reality show fans can prepare for a new obsession. The Circle takes the social element of reality television and removes a key component, looks. Contestants only interact through a social media platform which means they can be whoever they want. Contestants will continually rank each other and the lowest ranked person will get eliminated each time. Will the winner be the person who is the most genuine, or the players who lived a complete lie for prize money?

Anne With An E (Final Season) - 1/3

Anne With An E has been vastly different than the old Canadian miniseries adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, and fans have responded to it well. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and the final season will feature Anne setting out to figure out what the rest of her life will look like. Series creator Moira Walley-Beckett expressed some sadness the series couldn't continue, but promised this final season will give a satisfying end to Anne's journey.

Dracula- 1/4

Sherlock and Doctor Who fans, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have a new show for you to fawn over. This upcoming three-part series will revisit the tales of the iconic vampire Dracula, and re-tell the tale in a way only Gatiss and Moffat can. Early footage for this one looks particularly gruesome, so anyone who isn't too comfortable with things that are on the gory side may want to focus on Season 12 of Doctor Who instead.

Medical Police- 1/10

In what may be one of the more interesting entries in the January Netflix lineup, cult classic Adult Swim series Children's Hospital is getting a spinoff. Medical Police follows doctors Owen Maestro and Lola Spratt in Brazil where they uncover a deadly virus. The two are enlisted as government agents, and must work to find a cure and bring whoever is responsible for this illness to justice. Expect things to get goofy, and expect to laugh a good deal.

Zumbo's Just Desserts (Season 2)- 1/17

One of the most technically intense cooking shows is back! Zumbo's Just Desserts brings back Australian celebrity baker Adriano Zumbo and his over-the-top creations that have shocked chefs worldwide. Contestants will return for another grueling season that demands perfection, creativity, and some of the most mouth-watering desserts Netflix subscribers have ever seen. For those looking to stick to a New Year's diet, this may not be the best one to binge.

Sex Education (Season 2)- 1/17

Otis is back, but his adventures in Season 1 have come back to bite him in Season 2. He's now navigating his own sexual desires while the school is in the midst of a chlamydia outbreak, and trying to revive his strained relationship with Maeve in the process. Things will only get more complicated as some new kids come to town, and really shake up this entertaining series yet again.

The Ranch (Final Season)- 1/24

A little under four years since its debut, The Ranch is finally airing its final season on Netflix. The Bennetts have some issues on the horizon as Christmas nears, the least of which being that Lisa Neumann is in control of the ranch. The series has weathered the storm of controversy during its run, can it finish strong and become one of Netflix's most successful originals?

The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina (Part 3)- 1/24

Sabrina Spellman stopped the Dark Lord's reign on Earth, but unfortunately, it cost her the new love of her life. The Dark Lord is trapped inside Nick's body, and unfortunately, there's no saving Nick without risking the devil's escape. Luckily, Harvey, Rosalind, and Theo are down to help Sabrina attempt to rescue Nick from Hell and help the new "Queen" as she defends her title against would-be newcomers hoping to pick up where satan left off. All that and a mysterious carnival in town? This season is about to get crazy.

Next In Fashion- 1/29

Queer Eye star Tan France is known for his fashion sense, which may be why Netflix tapped him for a competition series where he'll put that to use. Next In Fashion takes up-and-coming people in the fashion industry and gives them a chance to go head-to-head all for a shot of becoming one of the next big names in fashion. Netflix has delivered solid competition shows like Rhythm and Flow in the past, so I'm optimistic about this one being a hit.

Bojack Horseman (Season 6B)- 1/31

Back when Bojack Horseman first premiered, it would've been laughable to imagine it'd become one of Netflix's most emotional, critically acclaimed, and thought-provoking shows. Now, the ride is finally at an end, and we'd like to think the final part of Season 6 will be just as strong as the rest of the series. For those that haven't gotten a chance to check this one out, make it a New Year's Resolution to do so.

Related: The Best Shows On Netflix That You Can Binge Over A Weekend

Be ready to binge all these shows on Netflix in January. Be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news happening in the world of television and movies.

Twitter is a weird place where users can start a revolution or post something completely stupid, and both can go viral. This was the recent case with Netflix, with the streamer's official account posting a photo of a flexing shirtless man that sent people into confusion and made them wonder what the hell was happening.

It's the kind of picture that would be great for a brand offering a hot new diet or workout plan, but when a streamer does it it's just a little bizarre. Despite that, Netflix threw up this chiseled shirtless man on its Twitter page without immediately revealing it was tied to an upcoming project and left the world to wonder what to make of it.

It's not hard to see why people might have thought Netflix's account was hacked, as Netflix is not in the business of posting shirtless dudes. The tweet hung around without explanation for about 30 minutes, and people made all sorts of assumptions about what it was about. One entertaining theory was the man in the picture was the new, but soon to be unemployed Netflix social media poster who meant to tweet to his personal account.

No one is getting fired, at least for this tweet. Netflix eventually attached the reason for the weird tweet, which was to promote its American adaptation of its British reality show The Circle. The show, which was super popular overseas, puts contestants into an apartment building where they will communicate strictly through social media. This allows each contestant to become whoever they want, and potentially fool their competitors in order to be the last one standing with $100,000. It sounds crazy, and certainly looks entertaining based on the trailer.

As mentioned, The Circle was a huge hit in the U.K., and now Netflix is bringing an adaptation to America. While this adaptation's success is yet to be determined, American audiences have responded well to shows like Catfish, and this series has a fair few contestants who look like they'll be catfishing other competitors. It's all necessary as the competitors rank each player throughout the series with the lowest ranked player being blocked from the competition. Once blocked, exiting competitors get to meet one other competitor in person. Sounds like a situation that could cause drama, and reality-show lovers often love drama!

Netflix Now Has More TV Shows But Fewer Movies Than 5 Years Ago: Smart Trend?

The Circle premieres on Wednesday, Netflix January 1, 2020, and will be a three-week event. Stick with CinemaBlend for more updates on the series, and for a look at what else is happening in the world of movies and television.

Reality shows have become a staple of modern-day television, and Netflix has been cashing in on their popularity. Last year, the streaming giant announced that it's adapting the British reality competition series The Circle for U.S. audiences, and ahead of its American premiere on Netflix, the reality show premiered its second season to huge numbers on Britain’s Channel 4.

Much like other British reality shows, such as The Great British Bake Off and Love Island, The Circle is also making its way across the ocean and to American audiences (or at least its premise is). Lucky for Netflix, The Circle Season 2 has already proven to be wildly popular with British audiences. Per Deadline, the reality competition series debuted to 1.3 million viewers when it launched on Tuesday, September 24. That’s 30% higher than the audience that watched its Season 1 premiere, which aired on Channel 4 in September of 2018.

The show is drawing in many younger viewers, with about half of the 1.3 million audience members coming from the 16-34 age group; that stat jumped up by 26% compared to last year’s premiere. The strong younger demographic isn’t surprising when the premise of the show is factored in, since The Circle is essentially a social media-based competition show that has been compared a lot to Big Brother, while also giving off Catfish vibes.

Though the contestants live in one location, they're in separate rooms and can only interact with each other through The Circle, which works exactly like an app. The spectacle of The Circle stems from the fact that the competitors are judged solely on their popularity with audiences. The less popular you are, the less likely you are to win. It’s like if people were able to win money based only on the likes garnered from their Instagram posts. I'd lose that competition.

The Circle also brings to mind the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive,” starring Bryce Dallas Howard. In it, everyone’s lives were judged by their social media platform status. For example, posting cute cat videos would win over a lot of people and would raise the user's score, which ultimately led to a better lifestyle. It’s scary to think that there’s now a reality show that essentially has a similar premise.

Netflix's deal included the ability to adapt the reality show in three different markets: the U.S., France, and Brazil. The fact that The Circle is already so popular in the U.K. ultimately bodes well for Netflix, though the streaming service probably won’t be releasing its audience numbers to the public. What might make things interesting is that reality shows that follow the competition format have historically aired on network shows while adhering to a weekly format.

On Netflix, that presumably wouldn't be the case, especially given the streaming giant’s affinity toward the binge-watching model they’ve had for years now. However, the service did opt to put out weekly episodes of Great British Baking Show, as opposed to everything at once, so perhaps The Circle will be another exception along those lines.

The American remake of The Circle does not yet have a Netflix premiere date. Can’t wait for a new reality show? Be sure to check out the full list of every new and returning competition show premiering this Fall.

It's been a long time since the star children of Harry Potter played their magical characters, and the actors have done what they can to convince audiences they're more than the heroes of the magical world. Daniel Radcliffe has taken on a series of bizarre roles, Rupert Grint has made the jump to television, and Emma Watson has starred in a bunch of different movies that feature different characters with totally different attributes.

Sure, she may not have portrayed a corpse Swiss army knife, but Emma Watson's movies since Harry Potter have shown there's so much more to her acting ability than what she did as Hermione Granger. For those who may be unaware, or those who recognize this and just need more chances to appreciate that, here are the movies that really drive that point home.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Emma Watson isn't the main star in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, but she definitely stands out in her co-starring role in the coming-of-age story. Her portrayal of Sam is a perfect compliment to Logan Lerman's Charlie, who has a lot on his plate he can't reconcile. Sam doesn't always understand the magnitude of that, but it all works out for the two of them in the end.

Of all the Emma Watson movies, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a great show of her ability to play a teen that is a vast departure from anything Hermione Granger. She's not neurotic, meddlesome, or even the most level-headed character. For those who think Watson doesn't have more to offer the world outside of Harry Potter, this is the movie that will shut most critics up. The movie is definitely different than the book, but still very good.

This Is The End

Emma Watson movies tend to have a serious tone, and one won't be finding a lot of intentional comedy in her works. This Is The End is the exception to this rule, as Watson joins an ensemble cast of actors playing fictitious representations of themselves in an apocalyptic setting. Emma Watson doesn't have as much screen-time as others in the cast, but it's safe to say her scene is one of the movie's more memorable moments.

Part of that is due to the aggression in Emma Watson's This Is The End scene, in which she misunderstands a conversation between the main cast of men. It leads to Watson taking some heavy swings with a fire ax, and uttering a litany of swears one doesn't typically hear the actress say in her movies. It's a nice change of pace, and offers evidence that comedy is something she should pursue more often.

Noah

Darren Aronofsky's Noah is one of the more controversial Emma Watson movies on this list, as the adaptation of the biblical epic was banned in some countries and was considered somewhat polarizing in certain religious circles. For all complaints that were lodged against the movie, it still skews fresh by Rotten Tomatoes' aggregate ranking systems, and is lauded for the performances by its all-star cast that included Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Anthony Hopkins in addition to Watson.

Emma Watson plays Ila, who is Noah's daughter-in-law and the wife of his son Shem. She's still in the role of a young adult, but obviously the biblical context makes her more of an adult in many regards. The crowning moment in this Emma Watson movie comes when Ila begs Noah not to sacrifice her children. The raw emotion of Watson and her pleading that they at least die peacefully is a powerful moment, and certainly one of the highlights in the film.

Beauty And The Beast

With The Lion King and Aladdin premiering in 2019, no doubt the year will be a reckoning for Disney's live-action adaptations for animated classics. One of these movies with the largest box office total so far is Emma Watson's Beauty And The Beast, a movie that has some detractors, although there are more critics who are positive on the film than negative.

One thing viewers may notice about Emma Watson movies is that, even when they aren't universally acclaimed, few ever point a finger at her performance. This is the case with Beauty And The Beast, as many enjoyed her portrayal of Belle and instead pointed toward some of the other casting and creative decisions made by the film. For those strictly watching for a great Emma Watson performance, this movie gives us a view into a world where Emma Watson is a princess, thus further diversifying her Hollywood resume.

The Circle

One of the most recent entries on this list is The Circle, an Emma Watson movie that place her character in the world of tech. The Circle explores the increasingly accessibility of technology, and the consequences of using said innovative tech in our everyday lives. The subject matter and insane cast which includes Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan and many others had a real chance to tell a poignant tale about technology, and stun audiences for years to come.

The Circle was viewed as a disappointment from critics, who felt the movie didn't do enough to differentiate itself from other popular tech-based movies and shows of the era, but it still highlights Emma Watson in a totally different role than we've seen her play in the past. Perhaps one day she can tackle another modern-day thriller that gets better reviews.

The Bling Ring

By far one of the most obscure projects in this lineup, The Bling Ring is an Emma Watson movie that film buffs should check out. Watson teamed up with director Sofia Coppola in a movie based on a criminal group the film gets its name from. Watson stars alongside others as part of a group of teens obsessed with fame and yearning for the finer things in life. To achieve this, they attend the parties of celebrities and rob their homes.

The movie didn't exactly stun at the box office, yet it's cool to see Watson play a narcissistic character largely unconcerned with the crimes she's committed or any consequences she may face for them. For those looking for an Emma Watson movie where she portrays a character who is the exact opposite of Hermione Granger, this is it.

Emma Watson fans are encouraged to share their favorite non-Harry Potter roles by the actress, and make a case for why their selection is mandatory viewing. Be sure to stick with CinemaBlend in the meantime for updates on all things related to movies, television, and pop culture.

Although John Boyega has previously starred in projects like Attack the Block and 24: Live Another Day, it was after appearing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as Finn that his acting career soared to new heights. Besides reprising Finn for The Last Jedi and Episode IX, Boyega has been cast in a number of other high-profile movies, including The Circle, where he performed alongside Emma Watson. When The Circle's principal photography was winding down, Boyega found himself struggling with one of the scenes, but fortunately Watson was around to help him work through it with some advice on how to recall his lines. Boyega recalled:

In order for John Boyega to make it through this scene, The Circle's crew as forced to shoot it "chunk by chunk" rather than in one take. Boyega also informed his fellow actors at THR's Actor Roundtable that this experience led him to realize that this issue he was dealing with was a "fear of schedule," as he now finds himself being pressured with having more projects to work on. Regardless, Emma Watson's advice to him was no doubt appreciated, and for any actors out there who find themselves struggling with lines, it never hurts to follow the Beauty and the Beast star's cue and recall your character's motivations. That by itself may not get the job done immediately, but it's a good start.

Even though Star Wars: The Force Awakens was what introduced John Boyega to many people, 2017 has unquestionably been his biggest year yet. First he appeared as Ty Lafitte in The Circle, which was directed by James Ponsoldt and also starred Tom Hanks. That movie went on to make $40.6 million worldwide, but was met with negative critical reception. Next, Boyega appeared as Melvin Dismukes in Detroit, which only made $21.3 million worldwide, but was met with many positive reviews and could be a contender for the upcoming awards season. Finally, we'll see Boyega back in the Star Wars universe for The Last Jedi, where Finn will go on an important mission for The Resistance. No doubt more projects are heading his way for the coming years, so let's hope he heeds Watson's earlier advice for those times when he fails to recall what he's supposed to say next, not to mention keeps mindful about his scheduling.

John Boyega can be seen next in Star Wars: The Last Jedi on December 15, and then he'll be back for Pacific Rim Uprising on March 23, 2018.

Warning: Spoilers for The Circle are in play. If you haven't seen the movie, and want to remain unspoiled, please bookmark this page and feel free to wander off to another one of our articles in the meantime.

During the marketing push for writer/director James Ponsoldt's The Circle, the film was made to look like a straightforward "villain / hero" paranoia tract, with Emma Watson being pit against Tom Hanks' tech magnate in charge of the latest, greatest social media monster. Really thinking about the marketing for this film, you can't help but figure that the folks in the marketing department either had no clue how to market this film, or they slyly misled the audience on purpose.

I say this, because once I'd gotten out of my screening of the film this weekend, a thought came to me loud and clear. While the film is about the supposed villainy about all-encompassing social media, there are three vital parties that are responsible for The Circle winning in the end. And when you get to its ending, it seems like the question of who the real villain of The Circle is happens to be a multiple choice scenario. Which means, we have to ask flat out, who's the true villain of The Circle?

Now obviously, a case could be made that Bailey and Stenton, the duo respectively played by Tom Hanks and Patton Oswalt, are the baddies at the top. They're at the head of The Circle throughout the whole film, and they use the company to conduct all of the shady shit of which they're a part. From buying politicians to monitoring their employee "family," they built the empire to what it is today. So almost anything that comes out of the company would certainly be at their hands.

However, there's the scenario that paints John Boyega's Ty, the mysterious creator of The Circle, and its progenitor, TrueYou, as the head honcho of heinousness. For starters, without TrueYou, The Circle would have never happened. Solidifying a person's digital identity was the basis for creating a more secure social network, which leads to more confidence in everything from legislation to integration of such a platform into everyday life. Most importantly, Ty's totally working within the framework of The Circle, and could have stopped or sabotaged it at any moment. But he didn't, until someone asked him to.

That someone is Emma Watson's Mae, our last competitor for the title of the true villain of The Circle. While Ty may have created The Circle, and Bailey and Stenton may have built it up into what it was at the beginning of the film, Mae proposed the crucial ideas that turned it into the all-encompassing horror we came to know towards the end of the film. But is taking the tools that someone laid out for you and running with them really as bad as building those tools, or reforming them into the weapons they've become?

Well, now that you've read all three scenarios, feel free to create your own opinion, and join us on the next page to see just who I think the true villain of The Circle is.

Surprise surprise, Mae is the true villain of The Circle. In fact, the crucial push of the second act is the transformation of the formerly skeptical Mae into the full bore team player she winds up becoming. That transformation comes at a pretty high cost, as she not only spoils her relationship with her parents and her best friend, she also gets someone killed because of the SoulSearch tech demo she conducted, proving that finding someone outside of The Circle is easier than you'd think. Mae gave The Circle the push it needed to become what it was by the end of the film.

Even though she tried to derail Bailey and Stenton's plans by pushing for their full personal transparency, this pretty much dooms the world to constant, invasive surveillance. Whether it be Mae, or someone else, at the head of The Circle, who's running the company, the policies she pushed for will help ensure that personal privacy is a thing of the past. Not to mention, her brilliant idea to require people to vote through their Circle profile, as well as allow random civilians to track supposed criminals, are both dangerous tools to have laid down in the wrong hands.

Mae may have awoken from her power hungry / workaholic drive to make The Circle the dystopian starter kit it became in the end, but by that time, it couldn't be stopped. At any other point along the line, revealing Bailey and Stenton's dirty laundry might have worked. But by time she submitted her bright ideas to the inner workings of the platform, it was way too late. If Mae thought she was ever going to kayak without her loyal fans watching her through social media, she had another thing coming. And it's all because she had a couple brilliant ideas.

The Circle is in theaters now, in case you want to give it a watch. And weigh in with your own theories below!

Three new movies hit theaters this weekend, and the surprise wasn't that The Fate of the Furious remained on top, it's that a Bollywood movie in small release topped Tom Hanks and Emma Watson.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion banked $10 million for a third place debut, higher than Hanks' and Watson's The Circle which whimpered in at fourth place with just $9 million. Baahubali 2 didn't just best The Circle. Opening in just 425 domestic venues, it cleared over $23,500 per location. That's a higher per screen opening than The Fate of the Furious and Logan. Only the Beauty and the Beast remake has had a higher top ten per screen debut.

Second place this weekend went to How to be a Latin Lover. While the comedy only took in $12 million, it was also in smaller release. With just over 1,100 theaters it topped $10,500 per screen, besting this weekend's number one The Fate of the Furious by almost $6,000 per location.

The Fate of the Furious added $19 million, holding the top spot for a third weekend in a row. It just missed the $200 million mark, landing at $192 million domestic. Before it's finished it will have passed Logan's $225 million domestic total to become the second highest grossing movie of the year to date domestically, behind the Beauty and the Beast remake's total of $480 million.

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:

Hollywood royalty Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are celebrating 29 years of wedded bliss. At the premiere of Hanks's new movie The Circle, the Hollywood power couple received questions about their plans for the anniversary, and Hanks had a sweet response. Check out how he responded in style:

We love that answer. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson did not dish much about their long-lasting relationship when E! asked about the 29th anniversary. However, Hanks did weave talk of their first date into the conversation. Before the premiere, news had broken about the passing of film director Jonathan Demme, with whom Hanks had worked. In the interview, Hanks mentioned that he took Wilson to see Demme's concert film Stop Making Sense for their first date.

The relationship kicked off after Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson both starred in the film Volunteers, and the wedding happened not long after in 1988. It marked Wilson's first marriage and the second for Hanks, who had been married to late actress Samantha Lewes from 1978 to 1987. Thus, Wilson is the stepmom of Hanks's two children from his previous marriage, and Hanks and Wilson also share two children of their own.

The level of commitment in Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson's relationship has long been palpable. Before they married, Hanks converted to the Greek Orthodox Church because Wilson and her family are devout members. They have retained that same level of commitment throughout their years together. For example, in 2015, Rita Wilson underwent a double mastectomy after receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer. Wilson issued a statement about her recovery, and she revealed her "loving, supportive husband," Tom Hanks, had been right by her side, attending to her with devotion. Afterward, Wilson expressed beautiful words of gratitude for him, saying,

Tom Hanks previously indicated that he always knew there was something "crazy great" about Rita Wilson. He explained that he met her and knew there was "something cooking" between them right away. Hanks once said he and Wilson also "got married for all the right reasons", which has helped them keep their union rock solid. He said the secret to their marriage is always telling the truth. The movie star has said his love for his wife has only grown over the years, and these days she makes him laugh more than ever.

Another interesting tidbit Tom Hanks once revealed is that he and Rita Wilson's marriage is young compared to the marriages of the people in their inner circle of family and friends. According to Hanks, he and Wilson are "the young pups." Apparently, the secret to their marriage is devotion, honesty, humor, and supportive friends whose marriages have lasted longer than theirs. Congratulations, Tom and Rita!

When you're in a franchise like Harry Potter, you form a sort of familial bond with the co-stars that stick around for as long as you do. In the case of Emma Watson, she had a small family reunion of sorts last night, as the premiere of her new film The Circle saw her meeting up with an unexpected guest. As you'll see in the Tweet below, Watson met up with Bonnie Wright, Ginny Weasley herself, on the red carpet.

A spectator on the red carpet snapped and posted this photo to Twitter after last night's big debut of The Circle at the Tribecca Film Festival. With six years gone by since the two had shared the screen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, it looks like not a day has passed between the two, judging by the smile that Wright had on her face. And while we can't see really see Emma Watson in the photo, we'd like to think she's as excited to be in the middle of this surprise occurrence.

Judging by the advanced word on The Circle, it looks like this reunion may have been the most exciting part of last night's big premiere. Even our own Gregory Wakeman blasted the film as, "Smug, condescending, and completely without incident," equating the film to all of the reasons why the public lashes back against the film industry. So it must have been comforting for Emma Watson to know that a dear friend was in the audience, not only to give her a dose of honest feedback on just how good or bad The Circle was, but also to help her deal with some of the more negative reactions. It's the sort of thing that good friends do, and the sort of thing that fan-run Twitter feeds eat up.

While it's early days for a film, seeing friends meeting again for a moment of red carpet camaraderie is always a welcome sight. It's doubly exciting when it happens to be between two parties of a fan friendly franchise such as Harry Potter. Though seeing Emma Watson and Bonnie Wright together does have us asking a kind of important question: is there any chance we could see a proper reunion of the entire Potter cast? Maybe for next year's annual shindig at Universal Studios Orlando.

Wishful thinking aside, you'll now be able to see just what The Circle is hiding, as the film is already in early showings this evening. The full roll-out is slated for tomorrow, Friday April 28th.

You keep expecting the proverbial ball to drop with The Circle. Hoping that it actually has more to say than "over-sharing is bad," "our dependence on social media is ruining our privacy," and "there's a right way to use the internet." But it doesn't. Instead, the movie's grand philosophical debate is so simplistic and comes from two opposing and extreme sides of the spectrum that it's basically rendered mute. In fact, by its conclusion, you feel like you have just watched the equivalent of two internet trolls barking their different opinions at each other without any consideration for the human being beyond the avatar.

The film opens on Emma Watson's Mae Holland being saved from her mundane call center job and being hired at the titular company, which appears to be a mixture of Facebook, Snapchat, and Apple, with an added political intent thrown in there for good measure. Despite her original trepidations, Mae slowly becomes indoctrinated into the way of The Circle, especially after they provide her mother and multiple-sclerosis suffering father with full health insurance, while an accident soon makes her the perfect candidate for their latest technological advancement.

The Circle is about as excruciating as cinema gets. Not because it is shabbily put together. There are too many talented individuals involved for that to be the case, with director James Ponsoldt behind the camera, Emma Watson leading the way, and Tom Hanks, Patton Oswalt, Karen Gillan, and John Boyega in supporting roles. There's actually a smoothness to how it proceeds. It's just unfortunate that what it is trying to say is so utterly obvious and self-aggrandizing that if you were stuck in this topic of conversation with a stranger you'd immediately fake an illness or drop to the floor and pretend to be dead to get out of it.

The Circle literally plays as if it has been written by a bunch of elites that have spent a little bit too much time on their phones, decided that the world has become too dependent on technology, and now they're going to make a film that saves people from themselves. It's smug, condescending, and completely without incident. In fact, The Circle is the reason why people hate Hollywood. It feels like a decree laid down to "the people" from those up in their ivory towers, a call to arms for everyone to put down their keyboards and just come together in peace, love, and heart-emojis, but which unfolds in an overly heightened and sensationalized world with barely a semblance of reality.

There's literally no complexity to the characters, who are either looking to exploit social media for their gain, forcing people to post everything that they've ever uttered or done onto such accounts, or they have realized that The Circle has gone too far in these pursuits. The latter trait is embodied by John Boyega's character Ty Lafitte, who at one point is able to take Watson's character, Mae Holland, to the side and perfectly detail why The Circle is corrupt. This might have been riveting and suspenseful if it wasn't already crystal clear to everyone watching that what the company is trying to perpetrate is, at the very least, unethical as well as blatantly felonious.

Mae Holland doesn't really take notice, though, and instead Emma Watson skips through the rest of the film, going higher and higher through the company courtesy of her likes and followers and constant posts. The Circle obviously believes that it's encouraging a discussion on the topic of social media, and is even trying to be sensationalist and divisive to stir the pot. Maybe it achieves that, but the conversation it is trying to create is so dull and mundane that no one is listening, while the answer of using these accounts in moderation is so plainly obvious to anyone with common sense that you're never invested in the characters or their plots. It also doesn't help that The Circle's various arguments come in the form of overly judgmental and preachy speeches that will leave you pining for the days of the Stone Age.

The Circle's only saving grace is the presence of Bill Paxton, who lights up the screen as Mae's father, and even though it's just a minute supporting role, he manages to instantly bring subtly, humor, and warmth. Something that the rest of The Circle is completely lacking.

Some actors are happy to take pretty much any and every role that comes across their desk, while others weigh their options with a little more of a strict criteria. One celebrity on the stricter side of the equation is Emma Watson, whose critical eye has landed her roles in films such as The Perks of Being A Wallflower and Beauty and the Beast, while keeping her out of films like La La Land. So what's the key to landing a Watson performance in your major motion picture? According to the actress herself, it's the right words that really sweeten the pot.

While discussing the lessons she's learned between her debut in the Harry Potter franchise and her current role in writer/director James Ponsoldt's adaptation of The Circle, Watson laid out the following game plan she usually engages in when evaluating a potential role:

Luckily for Emma Watson, The Circle has both components, which are further helped along by the fact that the film's writer is also it's director. Adapted from Dave Egger's novel of the same name, the film centers around Watson's Mae, an employee at a Google-esque company that is on the cusp of a technological advance that makes privacy almost impossible. Naturally, something within the film's script has spoken to Watson's sensibilities, as she's been well-known for her progressive outlooks. Team that up with the fact that James Ponsoldt has had a history of well-regarded literary adaptations, including The End of the Tour and The Spectacular Now, and you can kind of see the Watson method at work!

Certainly the methodology described to Interview Magazine has served Emma Watson well, as it helps narrow down films she'll actually take a look at from an undoubtedly huge stack of projects she sifts through regularly. Though, from the outside, missing out on La La Land might feel like the moment that proved that even Emma Watson's methods aren't foolproof. But consider this: when pitted between the roles of aspiring actress Mia, or kind and bravehearted Disney princess Belle, which seems like the better fit? As cool as it might have been to see Emma Watson tap dancing on a lovely night, she clearly had other plans. Plans that turned out to include one of this year's biggest hits, while at the same time allowing Watson to sing her heart out, and court a guy that loves wearing blue formal wear.

Knowing now how Emma Watson chooses her roles, we're more excited than ever to see what her work in The Circle brings. We'll all get our chance to find out firsthand, when the film invades our privacy, and theaters all over, this Friday.

We've got three movies hitting the big screen this week with a tech company overstepping their bounds, a latin lover getting lessons on life, and a street magician really honing his powers. Get ready for The Circle, How To Be A Latin Lover and Sleight. It's gonna be a Rotten Week!

Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at This Rotten Week has to offer.

We are well beyond the pale now with how technology is integrated into our life. That isn't exactly news, but gone are the days when movies like The Circle are seen as using futuristic ideas. It's happening in real time. So Emma Watson's character slowly learning that her company, The Circle, might have malicious intent in how they access people's personal information isn't exactly farfetched. This is happening to us now.

The Circle is based on the Dave Eggers book of the same name, and has a strong cast with the aforementioned Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega leading the way. And it's directed by James Ponsoldt, who helmed two of my favorite movies from the last few years in The Spectacular Now (93%) and End of the Tour (91%). The Circle is a step away from those two in both it's scope and tone. This one is more of a big budget thriller piece. I don't think it ends in the same critical realm as his previous work, but it should score well above average.

It can't be easy making super-power/superhero movies these days without succumbing to the temptation of throwing in a ton of special effects, costumes, over the top fight scenes, etc. And yet Sleight seems to be just the kind of understated, story-based tale we are looking for in this genre. In centers on a young man with real ( I mean real) magic skills (basic levitation, card trick stuff) who is just looking to make his way through life, do the right thing, and raise his younger sister. But he's forced to up his game when his life is in danger and we see him start to harness those powers. Frankly, it looks awesome: a coming of age, superhero story with grit.

Early vibes are more than positive, with Sleight sitting at 71% on the Tomatometer with ten reviews posted. Critics appreciate the understated tone and new take on the genre, while also drawing comparisons to Chronicle. Here's to hoping it's a welcome addition to the realm of characters finding their super powers.

I barely got through the trailer for How To Be A Latin Lover. I don't know if it is the over-the-top, cliched role being played by star Eugenio Derbez, or his modus operandi of living the life of leisure as a gold-digging gigolo. I get that they may be going for the cliches on purpose, but it just looks like it rings both flakey and not funny. But it all has me confused because I'm a fan of almost every player here from director Ken Marino in his wide release directorial debut to the bit players like Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Michael Cera, Rob Riggle and more. The cast is a comedy all-star team and yet it just doesn't look all that funny.

I'm sure there will be moments of laughter in the film - there just have to be with this kind of team taking part. But I'm worried the over-arching story of this (presumably) completely irredeemable dude who walks around in banana hammocks and wants his old rich wife to die just strikes me as off. The trailer did it no favors, and I don't predict critics will love How To Be A Latin Lover.

It was a clean sweep last week for the Rotten Watch, with all three predictions coming in as winners. First off, Born in China (Predicted: 75% Actual: 81%) finished in the same range as other Disneynature films, and keeps the studio going as one of the better documentary-style, kid-friendly movie houses around. Critics loved the visuals and used words like "breathtaking" and "majestic" to describe the film. You're never really going to go too wrong with pandas of course, but it appears they went above and beyond.

Meanwhile, Free Fire (Predicted: 68% Actual: 66%) was almost a direct hit (pun intended) as the comedy/action film about a shootout in a warehouse did fine enough with critics. Some critics thought it went overboard (or may have missed the point altogether), while more than half were fine with the spectacle. Either way, lots of bullets are fired, and critics had mixed feelings about it.

Finally, Unforgettable (Predicted: 21% Actual: 25%) sucked. If I had missed on this prediction and it had come in as an actual good flick, then I really would have questioned everything I know about looking at trailers. Even the 2.5 minutes selling us as something we'd want to see was a total and complete mess. Clearly critics saw it the same way, and this is swimming toward the bottom of the barrel.

Next time around we've got the much-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It's gonna be a Rotten Week!

Barring a legitimate life or death situation, few scenarios can rival the sheer terror of a job interview. You have to be your best self and provide correct answers to open-ended questions while also conveying a sense of authenticity. That idea alone is enough to induce anxiety in anybody, but a newly released clip from James Ponsoldt's The Circle dials that awkwardness up to eleven and rips the knob off. Check out the clip below to see for yourself.

If you are feeling a bit anxious after watching that clip, then it probably means that you have sat through a job interview before. The sequence sees Emma Watson's Mae Holland interviewing for her dream job at an influential tech company and answering a series of unorthodox questions in a desperate bid for the position. The rapid-fire editing and performances in the scene lend a genuine sense of franticness through the entire affair, and James Ponsoldt makes it clear in the way that he handles this scene that we are meant to feel all of Mae's anxiety as she responds. I think it's safe to say that the tactics definitely work in this sequence.

Based on Dave Eggers' hit novel of the same name, The Circle tells a story that's uniquely tailored to the modern era. Centering on a tech industry icon who believes that he can change the world, the central narrative examines the concept of how human beings behave when they are being watched, and addresses questions about the nature of privacy in the digital era. It is clear from this scene that Mae Holland wants this job when she sits down for her interview, but by the time the story comes to an end, she may grow to regret that decision.

In addition to Emma Watson, The Circle has assembled an all-star cast of international actors. Among these performers include Tom Hanks (playing against type as the villain of the story), John Boyega, Karen Gillan, and the late Bill Paxton. Given the profound philosophical questions asked by the central story of the film, as well as the sheer amount of talent in front of and behind the camera, it does not seem outside the realm of possibility to imagine that The Circle could become an award contender later this year.

Check out a full trailer for The Circle below for a better look at the upcoming film.

CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to The Circle as new details related to the upcoming techno-thriller become available to us. The film is currently slated to make its theatrical debut later this month on April 28.

Set amidst the hustle and bustle of downtown Manhattan, and overlooked by One World Trade Center, there really is nothing like the Tribeca Film Festival. Attended by everyone from bona-fide cinephiles to suits trying to broaden their cinematic horizons, the festival will cater to every type of moviegoer when it runs between April 19 and 30.

This year's Tribeca Film Festival includes the premieres of studio films led by some of Hollywood's biggest names, pet projects from cinema's most talented storytellers, as well as lower-budgeted but still exhilarating efforts from burgeoning filmmakers on the cusp of reaching the next echelon. But what movies from the Tribeca Film Festival will everyone be talking about? There will be quite a few actually. In fact, here are 10 movies screening at the festival over the next two weeks that will demand your attention soon after.

The Circle

Fresh from the mega success of Beauty And The Beast, Emma Watson's next film The Circle pairs her up with Tom Hanks and director James Ponsoldt, who combine to examine the increasing prevalence of social media and privacy. In The Circle, Emma Watson plays Mae, who quickly rises through the ranks of the world's largest and most powerful tech and social media company. After coming into contact with its founder Eamon Baily (Tom Hanks), Mae is encouraged to take part in an experiment that pushes the boundaries of ethics, privacy, and her own freedom, as each of her decisions affects the lives and future of not just those around her, but also humanity. The Circle's cast also boasts John Boyega, Karen Gillan, and Patton Oswalt, as well as giving us a chance to say goodbye to the late great Bill Paxton, too.

Chuck

After last year's Hands Of Stone and Bleed For This failed to build off of the success of Creed, it's up to Chuck to breathe life into the boxing genre again. There's every chance it will do just that, as Liev Schreiber bares an uncanny resemblance to the Bayonne Bleeder Chuck Wepner, while his story is ripe for the biopic treatment, as well. It's not just that Chuck was the real-life inspiration for Rocky, a subject that's touched upon in the film, but he also fought Muhammed Ali, George Foreman, and even a real-life bear. Try and tell me you're not interested in seeing that. Liev Schreiber is joined in the film by Elisabeth Moss and his now ex-wife, Naomi Watts, which also adds an extra ounce of intrigue to the film.

The Trip To Spain

Those of you who have seen The Trip and The Trip To Italy already know that watching Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon bicker, trade impressions, and discuss fame, male friendship and all of its trappings over the course of a few days produces comedic gold. This time, the duo are taking on Spain's finest fine dining, while it unfolds off the back of Steve Coogan being critically lauded for a recent film performance, which he obviously reminds Rob of at every opportunity. Michael Winterbottom is back in the director's chair again, which means that The Trip To Spain has all the ingredients to make one hell of a movie dish.

Aardvark

Jenny Slate's outstanding performance in 2014's Obvious Child proved that she was one of the most beguiling comedic presences on the big and small screen, something she backed up with her work in Zootopia, The Secret Life Of Pets and Gifted. In the comedy-drama Aardvark, Jenny Slate takes the role of therapist Emily Milburton, who struggles to deal with her new patient Josh Norman (Zachary Quinto). Especially because of his estranged relationship with his brother Craig (Jon Hamm), a famous TV actor that just so happens to be in town for a visit. Aardvark's main allure comes from the fact that it possess one of the finest leading ensembles at the Tribeca Film Festival, which is particularly impressive when you consider that it's Brian Shoaf's feature film debut.

Manifesto

Even though no one needs any additional reasons to adore Cate Blanchett, the Oscar-winning actor continues to provide them. Not only does she look utterly terrifying in Thor: Ragnarok, but Tribeca Film Festival will also feature a screening of Manifesto for fans to fawn over. Previously shown at the Australian Centre For The Moving Image and the Park Avenue Armory, Manifesto sees Cate Blanchett taking on 13 different roles. In each of these she performs a variety of manifestos from Karl Marx, Yvonne Rainer, and Dogma 95, while the vignettes are also broken up and set against different backdrops and locations. They also question the true nature of art, and, with the help of artist/director Julian Rosefeldt, see Cate Blanchett transcend class, gender, and nationality, while also blurring the lines of conventional story.

Dog Years

20 years after the release of Boogie Nights proved that Burt Reynolds hadn't lost any of his screen presence, and even earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, Dog Years marks the umpteenth return of the legendary actor. In it he plays Vic Edwards, an aging actor whose Hollywood glory days are long behind him. After being humiliated when picking up a lifetime achievement award at the International Nashville Film Festival, Vic decides to take a road trip with his driver for the weekend, Lil (Modern Family's Ariel Winter), to his hometown of Knoxville, which proves to be rather eventful. Dog Years incorporates archival footage from Burt Reynolds' past films, and might just also have provoked one final evocative performance from the 81-year-old actor, too.

The Clapper

With a cast that includes Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried and Tracy Morgan, it's hard not to be a little intrigued by The Clapper. Ed Helms plays the hilariously named Eddie Krumble, who after the death of his wife decides to move to Los Angeles and, alongside his best friend Chris (Tracy Morgan), becomes a professional paid audience member of live studio tapings. Eddie soon catches the attention of a late night talk show host, and they quickly turn him into a national obsession, which in turn threatens his budding romance with the sweet gas station attendant, Judy (Amanda Seyfried). A biting satire on the current meme-obsessed generation, The Clapper is actually an adaptation of writer and director Dito Monitel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)'s own novel, and considering its leading trifecta, should possess a copious amount of laughs.

Rock'n Roll

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon aren't the only pair playing fictionalized versions of themselves at the Tribeca Film Festival, as real-life partners Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet follow this trend in the satirical comedy Rock'n Roll. After being told by his younger co-star that he's not cool anymore, Guillaume Canet decides to try and reclaim the lifestyle and image that he pines for. His pursuits become more and more extreme, to the point that he starts to ruin the marital bliss he's built with Marion Cotillard. As well as taking the lead role, Guillaume Canet has also written and directed Rock'n Roll, which is heavily inspired by Curb Your Enthusiasm and revels in poking fun at celebrity culture.

Sweet Virginia

Described as a neo-western with nods to the work of the Coen Brothers, there's every chance that Sweet Virginia could prove to be the Hell Or High Water of 2017. After a burglary-homicide rattles the inhabitants of a small Alaska town, particularly the two women left widowed by the incident, Jon Bernthal's Sam decides to befriend Christopher Abbott's Elwood, who has a propensity for violence, in an attempt to try and calm the situation. Sam is a former rodeo champ who's firmly an outsider in the town, but as the violence increases and more secrets are revealed, he wrestles with whether or not to get involved. Rosemarie DeWitt and Imogen Poots also co-star in Sweet Virginia, which is the sophomore film from Jamie M. Dagg after the criminally underlooked River.

Pilgrimage

While most of Tom Holland's summer will be taken up with his antics as Spider-Man, there's an even more enticing film of his that's premiering at Tribeca. Pilgrimage revolves around a small band of Catholic monks traveling through the 13th-century Irish countryside, which is filled with warring clans and Norman conquerors, all the way to Rome so that they can give the Pope their most sacred relic. Along the way the group's faith and loyalty to one another is tested, as they are confronted with increasing violence. Pilgimage marks Brendan Muldowney's third feature film after Savage and Love Eternal, and from all accounts it could end up being a more visceral version of Martin Scorsese's recent flop Silence.

Although 2016 was arguably a letdown at the movies, 2017 is already shaping up to be a major improvement. Spring has only just begun, and some movies have already debuted in theaters that are pretty much guaranteed to go down as some of our favorites. It's a phenomenally promising start, and it certainly bodes well for the movies that have yet to premiere this year.

We sincerely hope that your calendars are relatively free for the next few months because there are some genuinely enthralling films on the horizon. On that note, we have compiled a list of the 14 upcoming films that you should definitely keep an eye on going into the summer. There are plenty of great movies to get to, so let's kick this off with Anne Hathaway's latest film: Colossal.

April 7 - Colossal

Kaiju movies have a long and storied history in Hollywood, but Colossal looks like a fascinating twist on the formula. Centering on a young woman (Anne Hathaway) whose life is in shambles, the film follows her as she discovers that she finds that she is in complete control of a giant monster rampaging through South Korean cities. Early buzz on Colossal is almost universally positive, so all eyes are on this black comedy to take the monster movie genre in a very new direction.

April 7 - The Void

The horror renaissance has been an absolute treat to watch unfold over the last few years, and it appears to be in full swing with the upcoming release of The Void. A love letter to the 1980s (in the vein of Stranger Things), The Void centers on a group of people in a hospital surrounded by members of a violent cult as monsters begin to run wild. Expect practical effects and all of the blood and terror that you can take.

April 14 - The Fate of the Furious

The Fast & Furious franchise continues to get faster and more furious, and it will once again come to a head when The Fate of the Furious hits theaters on April 14. Positioning Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto as the "villain" of the story, the eighth installment in the series has shifted its focus to give Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw the spotlight. Expect muscles, muscle cars, and an insane number of explosions when this one debuts.

April 14 - The Lost City of Z

Featuring a star-studded cast, which consists of Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Charlie Hunnam, and Tom "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" Holland, The Lost City of Z centers on British explorer Percy Fawcett as he treks through the Amazon rainforest in the early 20th century and discovers the remains of a lost culture. The Lost City of Z has already garnered a ton of fanfare with critics, so this is one adventure that you won't want to lose in the shuffle.

April 21 - Free Fire

It's been a while since we last saw a good, old-fashioned gunfight movie in theaters and Ben Wheatley's Free Fire looks like it will definitely fill the void. A stylish, entertaining, and (most importantly) violent thriller, Free Fire stars Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, and Cillian Murphy as a group of criminals trying to survive a gunfight in a warehouse after a deal goes south. Expect riotous laughter and buckets of blood with this one.

April 28 - The Circle

Who would've ever thought that Tom Hanks would make such a compelling villain? Based on Dave Eggers' 2013 book of the same name, The Circle centers on a brilliant young woman (Emma Watson) who takes a dream job at a prestigious Silicon Valley tech company. However, once she begins working for the company, she finds herself in a bizarre experiment that pushes all ethical boundaries about humanity's right to privacy in the modern digital age.

April 28 - Sleight

Equal parts Chronicle and Dope (with a dash of Now You See Me thrown in for good measure), Sleight tells the story of a young street magician struggling to make ends meet while coping with the death of his parents in Los Angeles. The kicker? He actually has magical abilities and can truly pull off these bizarre illusions. The film looks like a gritty and gripping drama that eschews the trappings of traditional superpower-based movies, and a grounded breath of fresh air from the blockbuster scene.

May 5 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn't just one of the most highly anticipated films of the next few months. It's one of the most highly anticipated films of the entire year. Three years after our first adventure with this team of misfits, James Gunn has finally returned to give Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and the rest another delightful sci-fi romp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Welcome back, Guardians; we missed you so much.

May 12 - King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

After a consistent series of delays, Guy Ritchie's take on the classic King Arthur legend will finally debut this May. Starring Charlie Hunnam as the titular mythological figure, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword will use Ritchie's particular talents for crafting stories around scrappy street hustlers and completely reinvent everything that we think we know about this king. It worked wonders for Sherlock Holmes, and we believe that it will work even better this time around.

May 12 - The Wall

Single location thrillers are a consistent box office draw, particularly during the summer. Last year we had The Shallows, and this summer will follow suit by taking the small-scale terror to the Middle East. The Wall centers on two American snipers who find themselves pinned down in the middle of nowhere by an insurgent sharpshooter. The film stars John Cena and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and it looks like a tense, emotional roller coaster that we won't want to miss.

May 19 - Alien: Covenant

After the lackluster reception to Prometheus, Ridley Scott has finally returned to the proper Alien franchise and continuity in earnest for what looks like one of the scariest Alien films of all time. Simultaneously a prequel to the Alien movies and a sequel to Prometheus, Alien: Covenant tells the proper origin story of the Xenomorphs while also offering up plenty of grisly and gory deaths along the way. It looks like a horror/sci-fi fan's dream come true.

May 26 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

It's been a few years since we last saw Captain Jack Sparrow on the silver screen, but that's poised to change with the upcoming fifth installment in the Pirates series. Reactions to early screenings of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales have indicated that it may be the best entry in the series since The Curse of the Black Pearl, so let's keep our fingers crossed that it revitalizes the high seas franchise.

May 26 - Berlin Syndrome

Hot off of the heels of her stellar performance in last year's Lights Out, Teresa Palmer is getting back into the thriller genre with Berlin Syndrome. Centering on a young woman who goes home with a stranger one night while backpacking through Germany, the story follows her as she discovers that he has trapped her in his apartment -- refusing to let her leave. Early buzz surrounding the film is very impressive, so this could be a big win for director Cate Shortland.

May 26 - Baywatch

Beach season really kicks into high gear at the end of May, so it only makes sense that a Baywatch movie will hit theaters on Memorial Day weekend. Using the tried and true 21 Jump Street formula, Baywatch is a hard reimagining of the classic lifeguard series that seems to perfectly capitalize on the comedic chops of The Rock and Zac Efron. The film looks ridiculous, and that's exactly what we want from our R-rated raunch comedies.

What major 2017 movie premiere are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments section!

Regardless of narrative or genre, every film adaptation of a novel faces a similar hurdle. After all, stories in book form have a freedom to delve into details that simply cannot be included within the confines of a two-hour long interpretation. It's this familiar challenge that writer/director James Ponsoldt faced in the making of the upcoming thriller The Circle -- based on the novel by Dave Eggers -- and it's part of the reason why readers will find that the movie will be putting a much stronger emphasis on character while moving focus away from the more technology-driven and science-fiction elements of the story.

In anticipation of today's trailer drop, I had the pleasure of hopping on the phone with James Ponsoldt to talk about his work on The Circle, and one subject that we dove into was the many-years-long process of adapting Dave Eggers' book. Recognizing that the novel was first published in 2013 and that technology has advanced a great deal since then, I asked how our own world wound up affecting the process of adapting the story for the movie. The filmmaker explained that it was a process of valuing relationships and core meaning within each scene over the many incredible ideas that the original author imagined. Said Ponsoldt,

It should be noted that there is still an incredibly important technological presence in James Ponsoldt's adaptation of The Circle, as an important element of the plot is instigated by cameras that provide complete access to an individual's life. That being said, the obliquity of social media today definitely means that the film will be a pretty accurate reflection of our own world, rather than a sci-fi story set in the distant future.

In case you didn't catch it before, you can watch the brand new trailer for The Circle below -- and we definitely recommend that you do.

Sporting a phenomenal and star-studded cast featuring Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Patton Oswalt, Glenne Headly, Ellar Coltrane, and Bill Paxton, The Circle will be arriving in theaters on April 28th. In the meantime, stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about the film from my interview with James Ponsoldt!

If a movie needs to cast an incredibly likable male character, Tom Hanks is a dream catch. The man has been making audiences smile going back to his television days in the 1980s, and he's very much earned an on-screen reputation as the modern day Jimmy Stewart. This makes him a surprising choice to play the antagonist in writer/director James Ponsoldt's upcoming thriller The Circle -- but the actor's personality actually wound up proving essential to his character. As while Hanks' Bailey winds up orchestrating a seriously scary world for Emma Watson's Mae Holland in the narrative, the legendary star's presence helps the audience still give his point of view an attentive listen.

Tom Hanks' casting in The Circle was the opening subject of my interview with James Ponsoldt earlier this week -- who I spoke with in advance of the brand new trailer that dropped this morning. I asked about the sinister fronts put on by both Hanks and comedian co-star Patton Oswalt in the footage, and the filmmaker explained,

In the movie, Tom Hanks plays one of the heads of The Circle, a technological company very much on the cutting edge. Emma Watson's Mae becomes an employee, but soon also finds herself as the user of a trademark portable camera that can be used to broadcast a person's entire life. Driving home ideas like "secrets are Lies", "sharing is caring," and "privacy is theft," Bailey preaches that complete openness is the only way for us all to come together as a society. Because this is a thriller, we know that this certainly will all be corrupted in some way -- but the question is how.

Taking his point further, James Ponsoldt also told me that an important part of his experience making The Circle was being sure that his movie wasn't carrying a message suggesting that all technology is evil and that privacy is totally sacred. Instead, he understands the incredible opportunities that come with advancements, and he made sure that voice is heard in the film as well. Said Ponsoldt,

Admittedly the new trailer for The Circle mostly drives home the creepy side of things, but you definitely do get a good bit of Bailey's message in there as well. See the full trailer on the next page.

The Circle will be in theaters on April 28th. As the film is one of our most anticipated titles of the spring season, you can definitely expect to read much more about it in the coming weeks here on CinemaBlend -- including more from my interview with James Ponsoldt!

Surveillance, and how it's used, are major concerns for a lot of people in the modern era. After watching the new trailer for The Circle we're guessing a lot of people will be looking over their shoulder a lot more often. The movie promises us a look at a tech company that is trying to make the world a safer place by making sure that there is always somebody watching, but that only goes so far if you don't actually trust the people who are watching.

The new trailer for The Circle is equal parts inspirational and terrifying. It opens with some truly wonderful ideas about humanity reaching its potential through the creation of new technology. There are truly some great benefits that global communication and the Internet of Things have brought to us. Of course, those ideas can also be used in some very invasive ways, and this is when The Circle gets spooky.

The Circle looks to be what would happen if Google or Apple just decided to privatize global security. The technology is cutting edge, and while the motives of those behind it certainly appear to be good, we can tell by the way the tone takes a turn that even the best of intentions can go bad if taken too far.

The second trailer for The Circle gives us a bit more insight into a few of the character. Emma Watson is our heroine, Mae, who gets her dream job working for the tech company The Circle, which gets her out of her dead-end call center job. Things get even better for her when The Circle adds Mae's sick parents to their health care. It's clear that this is how the company gets a hold of her, which makes things difficult when the story goes bad. John Boyega is the brains behind the camera technology that is at the core of the film's plot. He enlists Emma Watson to somehow help him fix what's being done to his idea.

It's not clear whether the motives of The Circle are pure and they're just being taken to terrible ends, or if Tom Hanks is truly up to no good. What is clear is that the company is not going to stop. Tom Hanks has become a popular actor in large part because he comes across in his films as a simple, relatable guy. What's creepy here is that part of Hanks persona hasn't changed. Rather, that relatability is being used to make his character even scarier. You can tell there's something going on behind the mask of affability.

The Circle is looking like a very entertaining technology based thriller. With a rock solid cast that also includes the great Karen Gillan, we're hoping this one turns out to be as good as it appears. The Circle comes out April 28.

With the likes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World laying waste to the box office in 2015, science fiction had a big year. Just a month into 2016, we’ve already got two entries into this arena, The 5th Wave and Synchronicity, but this is already shaping up another big one for the genre.

There are sure to be massive spectacle blockbusters, as some of our favorite franchises are returning to the big screen. But on the other side of the coin there are smaller, more idea driven sci-fi films that are worth seeking out, too. With this in mind, here are 15 of the science fiction movies, big and small, that we’re dying to see in 2016.

One note, we’re leaving out superheroes on this list, even those with more explicitly sci-fi elements. With them this would become an unwieldy beast, and we have plenty of comic book movie themed lists to check out.

10 Cloverfield Lane (March 11)

Cloverfield hit in 2008 there’s been talk that a super-secret sequel or spinoff, or a movie somehow tangentially related to the found footage creature feature, was in the works. Last month the notoriously enigmatic Bad Robot dropped a trailer and was like, Boom, here’s 10 Cloverfield Lane. We don’t know a ton about it or how it connects to the earlier film, but it revolves around a young woman who is in a car crash and wakes up in a survivalist’s underground bunker. He tells her there’s been an attack that rendered the outside world uninhabitable, but there’s obviously much more going on. A viral marketing campaign just kicked off, so expect the mysteries to keep swirling around this one until it opens.

Midnight Special (March 18)

Parents will do almost anything to keep their children safe, and that’s at the core of Jeff Nichols’ upcoming sci-fi thriller Midnight Special. Roy’s (Michael Shannon) son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), has powers, the kind of things that the likes of a government task force led by Adam Driver and a cult fronted by Sam Shepard, would really like to use for their own nefarious ends. Rather than hand him over, Roy and Alton head out on the run to protect themselves, and possibly the fate of the world. Midnight Special has been finished for a while and pushed back a couple times, but it will debut at SXSW 2016 and hit theaters shortly after.

High-Rise

J.G. Ballard’s dystopian 1975 novel, High-Rise, about a modern high-rise apartment complex, where every need is catered to, but that devolves into a violent, vicious class war between floors, may have found the perfect director to bring it to the screen in Ben Wheatley. The man behind such genre-benders as Sightseers, Kill List, and A Field In England has a sharp satiric eye, a twisted sense of humor, and a mean streak that suits this material to a T. With a cast that features Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, and Luke Evans, among others, High-Rise got mixed reviews out of the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but this is still something I’m wildly stoked about and can’t wait to see for myself.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (June 3)

I wasn’t a huge fan of the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, but to be fair, that wasn’t the fault of the Turtles themselves. When they’re actually on screen—my biggest problem was that the movie is more about April O’Neil than the title characters—they managed, at least for me, to capture spirit and energy of the quartet, despite the fact that they look terrible. Hopefully Out of the Shadows will rectify this and put Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael front and center and leave April as the side character she should be. And we’re also going to get to see fan favorite villains Rocksteady and Bebop, and reportedly Krang, so if nothing else, TMNT 2 promises to be interesting in that regard.

Independence Day: Resurgence (June 24)

Sure, you won’t see Will Smith’s Stephen Hiller on screen—he’ll have reportedly died in the twenty years since Independence Day—but the franchise is soldiering on without him with Independence Day: Resurgence. Now it’s up to a new generation to defeat the aliens, who, a few decades after the fact, have returned. Sounds like that first visit was just an advanced party. Fortunately, humanity used the recovered alien tech to bolster our own defenses that cover the entire planet. Still, nothing can prepare us for the coming onslaught, and it will be up to a few brave, inventive men and women (you just know that Jeff Goldblum’s David Levinson is going to be one of them) to save the day, again.

The Purge 3 (July 1)

Though The Purge movies often get lumped in with horror, there’s a dystopian sci-fi streak that informs the world of these films. The Purge: Anarchy was a gritty throwback to exploitation titles of an earlier time, and I dug it way more than the first, which was a low-budget, self-contained home invasion yarn. We don’t know a ton about the plot of The Purge 3, but there has been talk it revolves around a Presidential candidate who opposes the Purge—the annual night where all crime, including murder, is legal—who has been targeted for assassination. Frank Grillo’s grim, stoic character, Sergeant, is coming back, and as this has been referred to as The Purge: Beginnings, it sounds like it could be a prequel and that we’ll learn some more about the near-mute anti-hero. There is space for a variety of different social commentaries, and while the first films touched on them, they’ve been generally unexplored, so hopefully The Purge 3 will tackle some of that.

Star Trek Beyond (July 22)

Despite a sturdy box office haul and largely positive critical reviews, Star Trek Into Darkness takes a lot of heat, especially from fans, and Paramount hopes to change that narrative this summer with Star Trek Beyond. And with the third chapter in the rebooted franchise, there are some big changes in store. The core cast is more or less intact, but Fast & Furious’ Justin Lin took over the directing duties from J.J. Abrams, star Simon Pegg was tapped to rewrite the script (which I assume means Scotty is the captain now), and the story reportedly finds the crew of the Enterprise in the midst of their traditional five-year mission instead of hanging around Earth. The first trailer left a lot of people, including some of the cast members, wanting, but with new additions like Idris Elba playing the villain, and Sofia Boutella, there is a lot to look forward to in Star Trek Beyond.

The Space Between Us (July 29)

There is no shortage of adolescent romance to be found in you local metroplex, but The Space Between Us, formerly titled Out of This World (I’m really glad they changed that), looks like something other than your typical dystopian teen love triangle. People fall in love online all the damn time, however, it’s a bit more complicated than living in different states when a 16-year-old boy (Ender’s Game’s Asa Butterfield) from Mars falls in love with a young woman from Earth (Tomorrowland’s Britt Robertson) and he sets out to meet her. The stakes are even higher because he’s the first person born on Mars, and is totally secret from the rest of the world. Gary Oldman and Carla Gugino add their presence to the cast, and with a prime summer release date, someone appears to have high hopes for this one.

Star Wars: Rogue One (December 16)

Given the record-breaking success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the next installment, Star Wars: Rogue One has some added pressure on its shoulders. It’s also the first of the standalone Star Wars Story films, which explore that far, far away galaxy outside of the scope of the Episode films. This one has been described as both a heist film and a gritty war movie, and centers around a group of Rebels who steal the plans for the first Death Star that Luke Skywalker and company use to blow the weapon out of the sky in A New Hope. Rogue One looks to deliver something quite different from the Star Wars films that we’re used to, but it sounds pretty damn awesome, and with as good as The Force Awakens was, we can’t wait to see what this movie has in store.

Assassin’s Creed (Dec 21)

Video game movie adaptations have, at best, a spotty track record, but if any film has the potential to change that, it’s Assassin’s Creed. When a bartender discovers he is the descendent of a long line of assassins, he relives their memories to gain their knowledge and put their skills to use in the present day battling a huge corporation. Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard top line a great cast, and they rejoin director Justin Kurzel, who they worked with on last year’s adaptation of Macbeth. Something tells me this is going to be a very different movie, but Macbeth is a visually stunning film, and Assassin’s  Creed should be beautiful to look at. And it’s got some balls going up against Rogue One, so the studio must have confidence in this one.

Passengers (December 21)

Another big sci-fi film that’s opening dangerously close to the next Star Wars movie, Passengers can do that sort of thing because it boasts two of the biggest stars in the world in Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in the lead. On a spacecraft travelling to a distant planet they intend to colonize, thousands of people sleep away the journey. One man accidentally wakes up 60 years early, realizes he’s going to grow old and die alone with just androids for company, and, in kind of a dick move, wakes up a female passenger. Passengers has been bouncing around for years with Keanu Reeves and a number of high-profile actresses attached, but with Lawrence and Pratt, and The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum at the helm, it finally got rolling, and with a huge payday for both stars.

Replicas (2016)

To be honest, I would watch this just to see Keanu Reeves play a neuroscientist. In the Tanya Wexler-directed sci-fi thriller, Reeves plays a scientist on the cutting edge, but when his family dies in a car accident, he will stop at nothing to bring them back to life. This puts him at odds with his government-controlled lab, a ruthless law enforcement task force, and, of course, the laws of science. Written by Chad St. John, the writer behind London Has Fallen and that gritty Punisher short, Dirty Laundry, this has the potential to be a fun genre actioner take on Frankenstein. I can’t help but hope for a more sci-fi John Wick, but that’s probably just a pipe dream. Replicas is in pre-production now, so whether or not it hits in 2016 remains to be seen, but fingers crossed.

The Circle (2016)

With a cast that includes Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, John Boyega, Patton Oswalt, and Karen Gillan, The Circle would have been on most radars regardless of what it’s about. Based on the 2013 novel by Dave Eggers and directed by James Pondsoldt, the plot follows a young woman who gets a job at a massive, Google-esque tech company called The Circle, run by the so-called "three wise men." What begins as the opportunity of a lifetime takes a darker turn. Her ambition and idealism soon give way to suspense, and the story involves themes of privacy, history, memory, and more. This is certainly fertile ground of a tech thriller, and we can’t wait to see what this cast and crew has in store.

Story Of Your Life (2016)

Based on a short story by Ted Chiang, Story of Your Life promises to be something different from your average sci-fi film. Helmed by Sicario and Prisoners director Dennis Villenueve (who will also direct Blade Runner 2), it stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, and Michael Stuhlbarg. As alien spaceships land all over the planet, a linguist is tasked with determining if they come in peace or are out to get us. But as she learns how to communicate with the visitors, she experiences flashbacks that help her unlock the real purpose of the invasion. This sounds tense and mysterious and, in such capable hands, should be a damn fine time.

The Blob (2016)

As a kid, both the 1958 and 1988 versions of The Blob straight up scared the shit out of me like few other movies. It’s getting another facelift, this time courtesy of Con-Air director Simon West. While it’s going to give the titular gelatinous pile of goo a big Hollywood CGI makeover, there are some other changes in the works. West has said that he plans to give the amorphous antagonist a backstory, saying it will be "more sophisticated," and that it will be more based on science. We’ll find out where it came from, and how it works. While this may be overkill, and I don’t really need to know why the Blob is here devouring everyone it touches, I’m still all-in on the idea of a blockbuster spectacle version of one of my all-time favorite movie monsters. 

For a film called The Circle, the James Ponsoldt adaptation of Dave Eggers' novel has had a bit of a merry-go-round when it comes to its cast. With Tom Hanks being the first star announced for the film, Alicia Vikander initially landed the lead role of Mae. This didn't last long, as she was won away by the latest Bourne film and replaced with Emma Watson. Now John Boyega has jumped aboard as a co-lead for the tech thriller.

Deadline confirmed that Boyega, star of Attack The Block and the forthcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will play the role of Ty Gospodinov, the inventor and founder of the titular company where Watson's Mae finds herself employed at the beginning of The Circle. While details of his role are in short supply, and for good reason, rest assured he'll be on screen quite a bit with Emma Watson throughout the film.

This is a impressive get, as John Boyega has been having a hell of a time rising among the ranks of young actors. His role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens has increased his visibility enough that he's started to land big time projects like this, and his natural charisma will mesh well with Emma Watson's similarly seasoned acting skills. The funny thing about Boyega landing the gig in The Circle is that he was once rumored for another tech genius in a major motion picture, as he was tipped as being the prime candidate to play Danny Dyson in this summer's Terminator: Genisys. 

Thankfully for Boyega, his Star Wars schedule seems to allow him the time to be in The Circle, which is the main reason Terminator: Genisys eventually went with The Hunger Games'  Dayo Okeniyi. Considering how well received the former film was by the public, Boyega must be thanking his agent and sending J.J. Abrams a bottle of something real nice at this point, as he's able to maintain a spotless record. 

What he won't be able to maintain is the spoilerish twist that was revealed in Deadline's casting coverage, as they flat out admit that Ty engages in a relationship with Mae. This was a twist supposedly revealed in the book's third act, and makes us wonder if this is going to be done away with in the final film, or if Deadline just dropped a massive bomb on unsuspecting audiences. Still, twist ending or not, the fact that John Boyega and Emma Watson will be generating sparks on the big screen is exciting enough to generate further interest in this technological thriller. With Tom Hanks in the mix somewhere else in the picture, that's just the cherry on top of the box office sundae, and it'll have us keeping our eyes out for whatever The Circle throws our way in its next revolution.

The Circle has no release date just yet, but a production start date is supposedly set for some point within the next month.

Ex Machina was a huge career booster for Alicia Vikander, what with the rave reviews and consistent success coming her way after her pivotal role in Alex Garland's directorial debut. So naturally, as with any actor who has become a hot commodity, she's got some prime projects lined up for her immediate future. The latest of which will be quite the test of her career, as her role in The Circle - based on the novel by Dave Eggers - will pit her skills and character against that of a worldwide icon, again in both the on and off screen world. That icon is Mr. Tom Hanks himself.

The Hollywood Reporter has broken the scoop from the pre Cannes Film Festival press rounds, as the producing partners behind The Circle are looking to shop the film that Hanks himself started the ball rolling on back in last December. The story follows a tech worker named Mae Holland, who winds up taking a gig at the world’s biggest internet company, called The Circle. Her ambition drives her to make her work at the company a bigger and bigger part of her life, but soon everything else begins to fade into the background – leading to a mysterious story of suspense.

Vikander will obviously be playing the role of Mae, while Hanks will be filling in the role of one of the book's "Three Wise Men," the three men who start the book's fictional and titular company. Reading the basic summary of this book, it sounds as if the plot is going to basically detail what would happen if the Google campus was a place of corporate intrigue and after hours liaisons between colleagues, mixed in with a parable on the ethics of the ever invasive phenomenon known as social media. Of course, who's to say the real Google isn't anything like that to begin with?

Teaming up a legend like Tom Hanks, who's racking up his second Dave Egger's adaptation with The Circle, with a rising talent like Alicia Vikander, is presumably as exciting a prospect for the audience that plans on watching it as it is for the actors themselves. Though it does add a bit of freakiness to the mix if you consider this an unofficial companion to Ex Machina, as Vikander has had some previous experience with a tech company run by a "charismatic man" in that very film. Considering her 2015 roster, which has her appearing in everything from summer blockbusters like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to awards hopefuls like The Danish Girl, The Circle sounds like a natural project for Vikander to add to her CV.

The Circle has no production start or release date in mind, but does have a director in The Spectacular Now's James Ponsolt, which only further enhances this film's limited but impressive pedigree. As the project develops, you can bet we'll be broadcasting updates as they occur.