Datasets:

Sachin21112004
/

news-entertainment-dataset

title stringlengths 25 207	link stringlengths 49 141	summary stringlengths 102 514	content stringlengths 290 42k	language stringclasses 1 value	category stringclasses 1 value	source stringclasses 2 values	published stringlengths 31 31	fetched_at stringdate 2025-12-23 14:42:52 2026-01-04 18:58:16
‘Avatar 3’ to Rule Over Christmas Box Office; ‘Anaconda’ to Top Fellow New Holiday Releases ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Song Sung Blue’	https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/christmas-box-office-avatar-3-marty-supreme-song-sung-blue-anaconda-projections-1236614973/	Theater owners are preparing for a very merry Christmas season. This holiday might not be one for the record books, but the lineup of films offers something important — a range of genres and styles — as exhibitors brace for what’s usually the busiest stretch of the year. That’s an important distinction in post-COVID times. […]	Theater owners are preparing for a very merry Christmas season. This holiday might not be one for the record books, but the lineup of films offers something important — a range of genres and styles — as exhibitors brace for what’s usually the busiest stretch of the year. That’s an important distinction in post-COVID times. Since the pandemic, cinema operators have relied on one billion-dollar behemoth (“Spider-Man: No Way Home” in 2021 and “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2022) or struggled with none at all (“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” floundered in 2023 and while “Mufasa” rebounded after a soft start in 2024, “The Lion King” prequel couldn’t claw its way to the billion-dollar mark). This year, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will continue to dominate but James Cameron’s sci-fi threequel won’t be alone in enticing audiences. Over the weekend, a trio of holiday releases — A24’s R-rated ping-pong adventure “Marty Supreme,” the Focus Features musical drama “Song Sung Blue” and Sony’s disaster comedy “Anaconda” — hope to cater to moviegoers young, old, or disinterested in returning to the alien planet of Pandora. Popular on Variety “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is aiming for $55 million to $65 million over the traditional weekend and $75 million to $80 million through the four-day holiday frame. Those ticket sales would mark a 30% to 40% decline from its $89 million domestic debut. For context, “Avatar: The Way of Water” dropped by 52% in its sophomore outing after a significantly stronger $134 million debut. Disney and 20th Century’s “Avatar” franchise appears be experiencing diminishing returns, though it’s important to remember these films aren’t known for explosive opening weekends. Instead, “Avatar” installments enjoy exceptional staying power, sticking around at the top of the box office for weeks on end. The first two films, which each ended up grossing over $2 billion globally, were No. 1 for seven consecutive weekends. Barring a surprise, “Fire and Ash” should remain atop the charts in North America well into the new year. In terms of new releases, Jack Black and Paul Rudd’s “Anaconda” is expected to lead the pack with $20 million from 3,400 venues between Christmas on Thursday and Sunday. “Marty Supreme” is targeting $12 million to $20 million, while “Song Song Blue” is projected to earn $10 million to $14 million from 2,400 theaters. In general, Christmas releases don’t always deliver huge debuts but tend to play and play on the big screen into January and beyond. “Anaconda” cost $45 million to produce. A meta-reboot, “Anaconda” follows best friends who travel to the jungle to pursue their childhood dream of remaking their all-time favorite movie (you guessed it!) 1997’s “Anaconda.” The project starts to unravel when life imitates art and a real anaconda begins hunting them down. “Marty Supreme” had a rollicking start in limited release, breaking into the top 10 with $875,000 while playing on just six screens. Those initial returns are promising ahead of the nationwide expansion, which will test the $70 million-budgeted film’s commercial viability. It helps that Timothée Chalamet, who stars as the fictional table tennis champ Marty Mauser, has been rewriting the rules of movie marketing in terms of getting out the word for an original film. “Marty Supreme” has generated great reviews and encouraging word of mouth. Now the question is: Will Chalamet’s viral antics translate to ticket sales? “Song Sung Blue” carries a modest $30 million production budget. Craig Brewer directed the film, featuring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in the true story of two down-on-their luck musicians who form a Neil Diamond tribute band. Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised “Song Sung Blue” as “a winning pop nostalgia trip with a dark side.” With just two weeks to go, overall domestic revenues are hovering at $8.37 billion, just 1.3% ahead of last year and 22.4% behind 2019, according to Comscore. It’s been a wobbly year with several hits (“Lilo & Stitch,” “Zootopia 2,” “A Minecraft Movie” and “Demon Slayer,” among others) but not enough to offset a number of big-budget flops (“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “Snow White,” to name a few). Projections for 2025 were already revised down to $9 billion, but after a brutal fall season, even that milestone feels like a stretch. Will these holiday offerings be able to deliver, or is the box office doomed to fall short of $9 billion for the second consecutive year?	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:30:00 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:52.942238
‘David’ Review: Handsome Animation but Standard-Issue Storytelling in Faith-Based Holiday Hit	https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/david-review-1236616493/	If all you know or remember of the eponymous biblical character’s story is that he defeated a hulking giant with a humble slingshot, then “David” might have some surprises in store for you — chief among them, the fact that the film continues for a full hour after this famous, seemingly climactic showdown. But the […]	If all you know or remember of the eponymous biblical character’s story is that he defeated a hulking giant with a humble slingshot, then “David” might have some surprises in store for you — chief among them, the fact that the film continues for a full hour after this famous, seemingly climactic showdown. But the films of Angel Studios, by and large, are not for audiences only vaguely acquainted with the Bible, and this surprisingly slick animated feature will play best with viewers who can see its every narrative turn coming. That is a sizeable demographic: Released wide last weekend, Brent Dawes and Phil Cunningham‘s film overperformed notably at the box office, landing in the runner-up spot to “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” and aptly defeating relative toon Goliath “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.” This is all a perfectly on-the-nose outcome for a tale preaching the message that one must never underestimate the modest and pious when they’re up against the wealthy and decadent. (Or whatever moral descriptor applies to SpongeBob.) But “David” attains its success by cribbing from the playbook of far mightier animation houses: There are shades here of Disney and DreamWorks — the latter’s scripture-based hit “The Prince of Egypt,” in particular — in everything from the film’s character design to its original song score, making for a proficient family entertainment that’s nonetheless a little too precision-engineered to feel truly stirring. Faith, “David” has in spades; soul, not so much. Popular on Variety With Pixar-wide eyes and a mop of intricately tousled, treacle-brown hair, the young David (voiced by Brandon Engman) presents here as a plucky, intrepid moppet in the typical cartoon-hero mold. He’s introduced as a keen musician and lowly shepherd’s son, dutifully minding his father’s flock on the outskirts of Bethlehem, before swiftly launching into his generic “I want” song, the first of several peppily template-based but swiftly forgettable compositions by Grammy-winning Christian artist Jonas Myrin. Like any cutely drawn protagonist in his position, he yearns for bigger things, though he gets more than he bargained for when — after valiantly protecting his sheep from a preying lion — he’s summoned before the Prophet Samuel (Brian Stivale), who anoints the nonplussed lad the future king of Israel. Meanwhile, the present king, the insecure and short-tempered Saul (Adam Michael Gold), is facing rejection by God and a declaration of war by preening Philistine monarch King Achish (British comedian Asim Chaudhry, offering something of a throwback to limp-wristed comic stereotypes). Enter David, brought into Saul’s court to soothe the king’s anxieties with his deft lyre-playing, though the tyke soon proves an unexpected military asset: Cue the famed face-off against Goliath, which is quite dazzlingly staged in a vast field of scarlet poppies, petals spraying like confetti when the iceberg-sized monster hits the ground. Taking place around the 50-minute mark, this scene proves both the narrative and aesthetic peak of a film that, clocking in at an indifferently paced 110 minutes, could test the patience of younger children. Everything that happens after, as David grows into a strapping, stout-hearted man (now voiced by Christian singer-songwriter Phil Wickham) and eventually challenges Saul for the throne that is rightly his, is checked off in fairly rote fashion. Expanding on their 2023 Angel Studios miniseries “Young David,” Dawes and Cunningham obviously hew closely to the Book of Samuel — this isn’t the genre for significant creative license — but also to the familiar rules of any Hollywood hero’s journey. None of which would be a debit if their David had a little more personality of his own, but he remains a stubbornly dull anchor for the film, bound by the generally humorless, declamatory tone of the writing. Supporting characters are similarly lacking in wit or detail, while the film’s vocal performances (save for Chaudhry’s odd caricature) are adequate but not especially distinctive. It follows that the faces on screen are perhaps the least characterful element of the film’s generally impressive visual design. Everything around them, however, is vividly realized, and occasionally even inspired. “David” is nothing if not a spectacular showcase for the technical capabilities of South African animation house Sunrise Productions — demonstrated here both at a large scale, in the palpably dusty, sun-scorched vistas of ancient Israel, and in small, supple glimmers of fire and water. One musical number, “Tapestry,” registers as a standout not for the song but for its visual treatment amid a busy weaving workshop overhung by cotton-candy bales of pastel-dyed wool. Indeed, textiles are perhaps the most consistent marvel of “David,” as even the ecru hessian of the title character’s shepherding smock is rendered with textured, tactile specificity. Reveling in the material may go somewhat against the film’s principles, but respecting the little things does not.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:28:54 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:53.215189
Hideo Kojima Found Himself Unexpectedly Hooked on ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ — and ‘Ended Up Crying My Eyes Out’	https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/hideo-kojima-kpop-demon-hunters-crying-my-eyes-out-1236616510/	Hideo Kojima is the mastermind behind hit action game franchise “Death Stranding,” set in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world in which humanity is threatened by zombie-like ghost creatures called “Beached Things.” But he’s also a big ol’ softie. Kojima, 62, recently revealed that he “casually” began streaming Netflix’s global hit animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” He […]	Hideo Kojima is the mastermind behind hit action game franchise “Death Stranding,” set in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world in which humanity is threatened by zombie-like ghost creatures called “Beached Things.” But he’s also a big ol’ softie. Kojima, 62, recently revealed that he “casually” began streaming Netflix’s global hit animated movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” He ended up loving it — and sobbing like a baby. “I casually started watching ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ got completely hooked, and ended up crying my eyes out by the end,” Kojima wrote in a post on X this week. “It was so, so good 🥺🫶” Popular on Variety Kojima also apparently is hooked on the film’s soundtrack, following up his original fanboy post with one featuring an image of Huntr/x’s hit song “Golden” playing. In addition, the Japanese game design icon retweeted Variety‘s post naming “Golden” one of the best songs of 2025, which included this blurb: “Love it, hate it, will projectile-vomit if you hear it one more time in this or the next lifetime — whichever describes your reaction, you can’t deny ‘Golden,’ the most gigantic pop song in memory.” “KPop Demon Hunters,” which is officially Netflix’s most-watched movie ever, is produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix. The companies have finalized a deal to bring out a sequel in 2029. From directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, “KPop Demon Hunters” follows K-pop superstar trio Huntr/x, who when they aren’t selling out stadiums use their secret identities as badass demon hunters to protect their fans from an ever-present supernatural threat. Together, they must face their biggest enemy yet: the Saja Boys, an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise. SEE ALSO: Hideo Kojima Talks ‘Death Stranding 2’ and the Importance of Connection: ‘It’s Not Connection With Headshots and Shooting Each Other’	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:15:40 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:53.464241
‘Assassin’s Creed’ Netflix Series to Be Directed by Johan Renck (EXCLUSIVE)	https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/assassins-creed-netflix-directed-johan-renck-1236610672/	Netflix’ upcoming live-action “Assassin’s Creed” series — which has already been building out its main cast, with Toby Wallace (“Euphoria”), Lola Petticrew (“Say Nothing”) recently unveiled as leads and Zachary Hart (“Slow Horses”) and Laura Marcus (“Death by Lightning”) as regulars — has now found its director. Johan Renck, the Swedish filmmaker best known for directing […]	Netflix‘ upcoming live-action “Assassin’s Creed” series — which has already been building out its main cast, with Toby Wallace (“Euphoria”), Lola Petticrew (“Say Nothing”) recently unveiled as leads and Zachary Hart (“Slow Horses”) and Laura Marcus (“Death by Lightning”) as regulars — has now found its director. Johan Renck, the Swedish filmmaker best known for directing HBO’s hit mini-series “Chernobyl,” for which he won an Emmy, is set to helm the show, Variety can reveal. Based on the phenomenally successful time-travelling video game franchise, “Assassin’s Creed” was first announced in July as the first series to be developed under Netflix’s agreement with Ubisoft, signed in 2020. Popular on Variety Plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but the logline says the series will be “centered on the secret war between two shadowy factions — one set on determining mankind’s future through control and manipulation, while the other fights to preserve free will. The series follows its characters across pivotal historical events as they battle to shape humanity’s destiny.” Roberto Patino and David Wiener serve as creators, showrunners, and executive producers. Gerard Guillemot, Margaret Boykin, Austin Dill, and Genevieve Jones of Ubisoft Film & Television serve as executive producers, as does Matt O’Toole. The first “Assassin’s Creed” game — exploring the centuries long war between the rival secret orders of the Assassins and the Templar — debuted in 2007 and became an instant hit. Since then, 13 further installments in the franchise have been released, the most recent being “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows,” released in 2025, with more than 230 million copies overall sold to date. A film adaptation starring Michael Fassbender was released in 2016. Alongside “Chernobyl,” Renck’s TV credits include directing the series “The Last Panther,” plus episodes of “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “Vikings,” “Bates Motel” and “Halt and Catch Fire.” He has collaborated with Netflix previously, having directed the first two episodes of its 2015 series “Bloodline” and last year’s sci-fi feature “Spaceman,” starring Adam Sandler and based on the novel “Spaceman of Bohemia.” Speaking to Variety last year ahead of the Berlinale world premiere of “Spaceman,” Renck said that after the success of 2019’s “Chernobyl,” which was a critical and commercial smash and won numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and BAFTA TV awards, he was “determined to quit” and instead wanted to open “really fucking cool restaurant” in Brooklyn.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 10:10:20 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:53.688354
Ayushmann Khurrana Banks on Family Entertainment With Four-Film Slate Following ‘Thamma’ Success (EXCLUSIVE)	https://variety.com/2025/film/news/ayushmann-khurrana-family-entertainment-four-film-slate-1236616388/	Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana is riding high on the success of “Thamma,” his first festive release that crossed the INR 100 crore mark ($11.1 million) at the box office, marking his fifth film to achieve the milestone and his biggest opener to date. The film is the latest entry in Maddock Films’ horror-comedy universe. The […]	Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana is riding high on the success of “Thamma,” his first festive release that crossed the INR 100 crore mark ($11.1 million) at the box office, marking his fifth film to achieve the milestone and his biggest opener to date. The film is the latest entry in Maddock Films‘ horror-comedy universe. The actor, long known for championing realistic, slice-of-life cinema, is now pivoting toward wholesome family entertainment with a slate of four upcoming projects. “The texture of the theatricals has changed post-pandemic, and in such a scenario, this success feels hugely affirming,” Khurrana tells Variety. “My heart is full of gratitude that both ‘Dream Girl 2’ and ‘Thamma’ were successful. I’m thrilled to be entering into 2026 with two consecutive 100 crore hits.” Popular on Variety Leading his 2026 lineup is “Pati Patni Aur Woh Do,” which Khurrana describes as “a clean family comedy, and there is always a space for clean family comedies.” The film draws inspiration from the 1978 hit starring Sanjeev Kumar and is backed by BR Chopra Films, headed by Juno Chopra. Khurrana expresses particular enthusiasm for his collaboration with filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya, known for his family-oriented films. “For his stature, he’s a very simple man, very humble and hardworking at the same time,” the actor says. “What inspires me most about him is that he’s a true student of cinema and works like a nerd. I’m a true fan boy of his kind of family entertainers, he’s a master of this genre and there is true dearth of this genre. No one does it better than Sooraj sir.” The Barjatya project represents a departure from Khurrana’s typical roles. “What excites me most about his film is that the hero isn’t just one character, the entire family takes centre stage in his family entertainers,” he explains. “I usually enjoy playing characters who are flawed and evolve over time, but this film is different – it celebrates a wholesome, ideal family as the hero.” Khurrana will also begin filming an untitled Yash Raj Films-Posham Pa project in early 2026, followed by the release of a Dharma Productions and Sikhya Entertainment co-production – a spy comedy. The actor, known for his producer-friendly track record, emphasizes his collaborative approach. “When I commit to a project and step onto a shoot, I make it a point to keep things simple, even with my entourage,” Khurrana says. “For me, it’s not only about the scripts I choose but also about the kind of professional I am. I take pride in being a collaborator first, rather than someone who is focused solely on being seen as the leading hero.” Khurrana has established himself as a franchise starter, having launched successful series including “Dream Girl,” “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan” and “Badhaai Ho.” “The credibility of its predecessor is a plus that a franchise film has,” he notes. “The audience’s choices have become selective when it comes to venturing out and watching a new film. So, the priority is always to make a top-notch product, and it really helps when you have a successful franchise to back it.” The actor also expresses interest in exploring “Andhadhun 2” in the future.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 07:56:26 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:53.909665
BBC To Reveal The Untold Story Of How It Tried To Persuade Laurence Olivier To Make His Debut TV Appearance	https://deadline.com/2025/12/bbc-archives-laurence-olivier-david-attenborough-vanessa-redgrave-1236655715/	The untold story of how the BBC tried to persuade Laurence Olivier to make his first TV appearance is to be released in a new archive project from the corporation. The BBC will also publish a chain of correspondence between the broadcaster and Vanessa Redgrave, containing a letter from 1952 when the 15-year-old aspiring actress seeks […]	The untold story of how the BBC tried to persuade Laurence Olivier to make his first TV appearance is to be released in a new archive project from the corporation. The BBC will also publish a chain of correspondence between the broadcaster and Vanessa Redgrave, containing a letter from 1952 when the 15-year-old aspiring actress seeks an audition for herself and her brother Corin. Both will be contained in a new archives initiative, which will publish a tranche of 50,000 files detailing part of the 100-year-old national broadcaster’s history. There is also a letter from the BBC inviting David Attenborough to apply for the Television Training Scheme following his unsuccessful application for a producer role in 1952 – a decision that arguably changed the course of broadcasting history. Watch on Deadline Olivier appeared in a number of hit ITV series like Brideshead Revisited, along with American TV including The Moon and Sixpence, but he was never in a BBC drama. This could have been different, the BBC archives reveal, with internal memos showing how the national broadcaster tried to persuade Olivier to make his debut TV appearance. Olivier is a doyen of the British screen and stage, winning an Oscar and five BAFTAs. The BBC said the archives will also show Attenborough’s application for the TV training scheme. Attenborough is best known for his nature documentaries, for which he is unquestionably the world’s best, but he was also the second controller of BBC Two back in the 1960s. The channel thrived under his tenure and he went on to be probably its most successful presenter. The BBC archives initiative, which will release 50,000 files, will also publish reports and cables from the 1930s and 1940s documenting President Franklin D Roosevelt’s presidential inauguration and wartime broadcasts, and correspondence detailing Jawaharlal Nehru’s special BBC broadcasts on Gandhi and world development. “This release is part of our plans to make more of the BBC’s written archives available to the public, opening up the stories behind our programmes and people who have helped shape British broadcasting,” said Noreen Adams, the BBC’s Director of Archives Technology & Services. “This first batch includes extraordinary material with some of our biggest household names, alongside thousands of other documents that give fresh context to our cultural history.”	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 10:16:26 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:54.338237
Lizzie Avery Dies: Long-Serving NBCUniversal TV Sales Exec Was 54	https://deadline.com/2025/12/lizzie-avery-dead-nbcuniversal-tv-sales-exec-was-54-1236648693/	Lizzie Avery, the long-serving NBCUniversal (NBCU) international TV sales exec, has died aged 54. The well-respected and much-liked Avery passed away unexpectedly earlier this month, her family said. She had spent nearly 24 years with Comcast-owned NBCU, rising from a sales administration manager role to eventually become SVP & EMEA Lead Sales Liaison for TV […]	Lizzie Avery, the long-serving NBCUniversal (NBCU) international TV sales exec, has died aged 54. The well-respected and much-liked Avery passed away unexpectedly earlier this month, her family said. She had spent nearly 24 years with Comcast-owned NBCU, rising from a sales administration manager role to eventually become SVP & EMEA Lead Sales Liaison for TV distribution. For the past three years, Avery had led a regional sales team of 30 in EMEA. “It is with great sadness that we share the heartbreaking news that Lizzie Avery, SVP & EMEA Sales Lead for TVD, passed away unexpectedly yesterday,” wrote NBCU’s President of Global TV Distribution, Michael Bonner, and EVP, Sales Liaison, International, Carolyn Stalins in a note to staff on December 8. They called her a “deeply valued member” of the NBCU team, adding: “Her leadership, energy and warmth touched all of us, and her loss is immeasurable.” Watch on Deadline Coincidentially, L.A.-based Stalins had this month been in London, where NBCU offered on-site counselling for staff members – a sign of stature in which the international executive was held within the company. Avery had begun her career in theatrical sales for 20th Century Fox before a short spell at Disney. She joined NBCU in the early 2000s and began her climb through the ranks. Her former boss at NBCU, Don McGregor, who is currently a consultant for Paramount and soon to join the Skydance-owned company full-time in the new year, was close friends with Avery. “Lizzie and I began working together at NBCU’s London office in 2002,” he said. “She quickly rose through the ranks as a sales leader, friend and mentor to the many lucky people who had the privilege of working with her. I genuinely believe there is no one like her in the world; she was a wonderful human being who made you strive to be a better person. “Our business was so fortunate to have her as part of our community. The way she balanced being professional and confident in her negotiations while remaining personable and funny – not only as a genuine friend, but also as a colleague – made every interaction meaningful and important. Lizzie not only loved her beautiful family but also treasured her clients and colleagues tremendously. She will be deeply missed and will forever make an impact on the many people who knew her.” McGregor’s sentiment was shared by many international acquisitions industry, and Deadline has heard from several expressing their sadness, even those on the other side of the negotiating table. Sue Deeks, Head of Scripted Pre-Buy Acquisitions at the BBC, said: “I feel so very fortunate to have known Lizzie. Not only was she an absolute pleasure to deal with professionally, she was also one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet – kind-hearted, fun to be with, just a really lovely person. Her team simply adored her, and you could see why. Lizzie’s loss to all her many friends in the business is immeasurable. We will all miss her so very, very much.” “I was lucky enough to have known Lizzie for over 20 years,” added Katie Keenan, Group Director of Acquisitions at Sky. “We came up in our careers together and often spoke about how we juggled our professional and personal lives – she was always a wise and steady counsel. It was a privilege to sit on the other side of the negotiating table from her – Lizzie always brought her A-game with grace, composure, and quiet strength. She loved her work and cared deeply for her people; I know her legacy will endure with the amazing team she built at NBCU’s GTVD.” Avery is survived by her husband and two children.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:54.661176
Taylor Swift Teases More Music To Come After ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ In ‘The End Of An Era’ Docuseries	https://deadline.com/2025/12/taylor-swift-teases-new-music-end-of-an-era-docuseries-1236655659/	Taylor Swift has made it clear once again that she has no intentions to stop writing and releasing new music. The pop star cheekily teases that new music will eventually be on the way in the final moments of her The End of an Era docuseries. The six-episode series concludes by listing out a few […]	Taylor Swift has made it clear once again that she has no intentions to stop writing and releasing new music. The pop star cheekily teases that new music will eventually be on the way in the final moments of her The End of an Era docuseries. The six-episode series concludes by listing out a few of the milestones she’s reached since the Eras Tour ended on December 8, 2024, including buying back her first six albums and getting engaged to Travis Kelce. Then, it notes that she released a new album, The Life of a Showgirl, on October 3, and it became “the biggest album of her career.” A brief moment later, the words “to date” pop up underneath. The sly addition hints that her 12th studio album will not be her last and that there will be more to come. Swift previously shut down speculation that Showgirl might be her final album, saying during an interview on BBC Radio 2 just after its release that assuming she would stop producing music to focus on her personal life was “shockingly offensive.” Watch on Deadline “It’s not why people get married, so they can quit their job,” she said, adding in regard to her fans: “Oh, I know they love to panic sometimes, but it’s like I love the person that I am with because he loves what I do and he loves how much I am fulfilled by making art and making music.” She continued: “That’s the coolest thing about Travis, like he is so passionate about what he does, that me being passionate about what I do, it connects us. There’s no point in time where he’s gonna be like, ‘I’m really upset that you’re still making the music.'” The End of an Era gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the last legs of Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour in Europe and North America. The Eras Tour is the highest-grossing tour of all time, raking in $2.2B while spanning 149 shows across 21 countries and breaking numerous stadium attendance records. In the final episode, Swift savors the final three shows in Vancouver and counts down to closing the book on yet another era of her life with her family and crew.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 08:05:00 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:54.953431
Democratic Congresswoman Sues To Remove Donald Trump From Kennedy Center’s Name	https://deadline.com/2025/12/trump-kennedy-center-lawsuit-name-1236655635/	A congresswoman who is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board sued other trustees on Monday, seeking a court ruling to force them to remove Donald Trump from the name of the arts institution. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) filed the lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking a declaration that […]	A congresswoman who is an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board sued other trustees on Monday, seeking a court ruling to force them to remove Donald Trump from the name of the arts institution. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) filed the lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking a declaration that the name of the arts institution is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and that a board vote last week to change the name is null and void. “Because Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center’s name requires an act of Congress,” Beatty’s lawsuit stated. “But on December 18 and 19, 2025—in scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic—the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after President Trump. This is a flagrant violation of the rule of law, and it flies in the face of our constitutional order. Congress intended the Center to be a living memorial to President Kennedy—and a crown jewel of the arts for all Americans, irrespective of party. Unless and until this Court intervenes, Defendants will continue to defy Congress and thwart the law for improper ends.” The Trump controlled board voted to rename the center on Thursday. The next day, workers added Trump’s name to the facade of the complex, so it reads “The Donald Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Watch on Deadline The lawsuit named Trump, who is chairman of the Kennedy Center, as well as its president, Ric Grenell, and the members of the board, along with the institution itself. Also named are other ex officio members, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The lawsuit cited breach of trustees obligations under federal law and violation of plaintiff’s rights under federal law, among other claims. Beatty also is seeking an order that “any and all physical and digital signage purporting to rename the Kennedy Center after Defendant Trump, including the signage on the building’s front portico and the website.” The center did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Beatty’s lawsuit. President Lyndon Johnson signed a law in 1964 designating the National Cultural Center as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. After the Trump-controlled board voted, Democrats and members of the Kennedy family quickly cried foul. The lawsuit called the board vote a “sham.” “The conduct in the Board meeting itself confirmed that the meeting was a sham, orchestrated by Defendant Trump and his loyalists as a pretext for a predetermined result,” Beatty’s lawsuit stated. “There was no advance notice in the agenda that the Board would be considering a name change. The meeting was held at the home of Andrea Wynn, the wife of a casino mogul and Republican donor, whom Defendant Trump installed on the Board. At the end of the meeting, Defendant Trump’s loyalists abruptly announced that they had news they would like to share: the Kennedy Center would now be renamed after Donald Trump.” Beatty was on the board meeting call, but was blocked from expressing her concerns because she was put on mute, according to the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center later said that ex officio members do not have a vote, something codified in the center’s bylaws. But Beatty’s lawsuit contended that the “law does not distinguish between the ex officio trustees and general trustees, and the former possess the same rights and responsibilities as the latter.” Roma Daravi, spokeswoman for the center, defended the board’s authority to change the name. “This action is in line with the precedent of the State Department adding President Trump’s name to the Institute of Peace. And the previous Administration renaming military bases,” she said in a statement last week. Yet the effort to strip military bases of Confederate names was authorized by an act of Congress in 2021, something that critics of the Kennedy Center renaming say is required. The lawsuit also contended that the “purported name change will impose financial and operational harms on this already struggling institution by alienating ticket holders, donors, and artists.” The lawsuit noted that after the name change, musician Kristy Lee announced that she was canceling her Jan. 14, 2026 performance. “On information and belief, ticket holders have canceled their tickets in protest of Defendants’ unlawful actions and demanded refunds. There is every reason to expect this trend will continue, with associated financial and reputational harms,” the lawsuit stated. Beatty is represented by Norman Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 02:50:25 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:55.164916
TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2026 So Far	https://deadline.com/feature/tv-show-based-on-books-this-year-1236035246/	Several best-selling books will make way for returning TV shows and new ones in 2026. One of the first major arrivals in January will be A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. The prequel series to Game of Thrones has been a long time in the making. […]	Several best-selling books will make way for returning TV shows and new ones in 2026. One of the first major arrivals in January will be A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. The prequel series to Game of Thrones has been a long time in the making. Then comes Bridgerton Season 4, based on the third book in Julia Quinn’s series. March will see the arrival of a rarer type of book adaptation — the second season of The Last Thing He Told Me based on a concurrent sequel novel that Laura Dave wrote to her first book of the same name that inspired the Apple TV series. And April will welcome Margo’s Got Money Troubles to the Apple TV series family. Read on for more TV shows based on books coming out this year. Watch on Deadline A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – HBO Max, Based on George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight L-R: Peter Claffey and Tanzyn Crawford in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ HBO Max A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which spans six episodes, is based on George R. R. Martin’s prequel novella that is set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire — which lent itself to House of the Dragon. The series premieres January 18. Bridgerton Season 4 – Netflix, Based on Julia Quinn’s An Offer From A Gentleman Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 Liam Daniel/Netflix Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie’s (Yerin Ha) love story will take center stage after Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) went from friends to lovers in Season 3. Season 4 will get the split treatment just as Season 3 did, with Part 1 debuting Jan. 29 on Netflix followed by Part 2 Feb. 26. RELATED: ‘Bridgerton’ Season 4: Everything We Know So Far The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 – Apple TV, Based on The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave L-R: Jennifer Garner in and Judy Greer in ‘The Last Thing He Told Me’ Season 2 Apple TV The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 arrives on Apple TV Feb. 20. The show’s second season will take its lead from Laura Dave’s new sequel novel, The First Time I Saw Him, which publishes Jan. 6, giving readers and watchers plenty of time to catch up ahead of premiere. Judy Greer has joined Season 2, as have Rita Wilson and more. RELATED: Jennifer Garner On ‘The Last Thing He Told Me’: “I Didn’t Think I Could Survive If Somebody Else Played The Role”; Author Laura Dave Hints Season 2 – Contenders TV Outlander, Season 8 – STARZ, Based on Diana Gabaldon The final season of STARZ’s Outlander arrives in March. The show is based on Diana Gabaldon’s hugely popular historical fantasy series that spans nine novels and two novellas. Scarpetta – Prime Video, Based on Patricia Cornwell’s Book Series Kay Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman) Prime Video Prime Video’s Nicole Kidman-starring Scarpetta landed a two-season order at the streamer. Kidman will star as the titular Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner whose attention to detail and steady hand allow her to speak up for victims and unmask a serial killer. Margo’s Got Money Troubles – Apple TV, Based on Rufi Thorpe’s Novel of the Same Name Michelle Pfeiffer (standing) and Elle Fanning (lying down) in ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ Apple TV Elle Fanning stars as Margo, a single mom who dropped out of college to raise her child and found a new source of income in the process — OnlyFans. In the Apple TV show based on Rufi Thorpe’s best-selling novel, Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Margo’s mother Shyanne, and Nick Offerman will portray her father, former professional wrestler, Jinx. The star-studded cast doesn’t stop there. Margo’s Got Money Troubles debuts April 15. Returning and New Book-to-TV Adaptations in the Works: Below find a list of book adaptations in progress from early stages such as casting to production: Adaptations From 2025: Find some of the big book-to-series adaptations of 2025 below. Long Bright River – Peacock – March LONG BRIGHT RIVER — “These Girls” Episode 101 — Pictured: (l-r) Amanda Seyfried as Mickey, Ashleigh Cummings as Casey — (PEACOCK) Peacock Based on the best-selling book by Liz Moore, Long Bright River’s television adaptation arrived on Peacock in March. The show stars Amanda Seyfried in the role of Michaela “Mickey” Fitzpatrick. Ransom Canyon – Netflix – April L-R: Josh Duhamel as Staten and Minka Kelly as Quinn in ‘Ransom Canyon’ on Netflix Anna Kooris/Netflix Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas was adapted into a ten-episode season of television that is now streaming on Netflix. Starring Josh Duhamel and Minka Kelley, the show also follows two other romances in the small Texas town, with the addition of a murder mystery “spine” as showrunnger and creator April Blair called the element of investigating the death of Duhamel’s rancher Staten Kirkland’s son. Forever by Judy Blume – Netflix – May 8 Lovie Simone, Michael Cooper Jr. in ‘Forever’ Elizabeth Morris / ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection Judy Blume’s Forever, published 50 years ago, has been reimagined by producer, creator and showrunner Mara Brock Akil. The show stars Lovie Simone as Keisha Clark and Michael Cooper Jr. as Justin Edwards, a respective up and coming track and field star with good grades and a basketball player who’s really a nerd in an athlete’s body. The pair’s flame that kindles throughout the show reflects the strong feelings of first love that many teenagers experience. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – Season 1 on Prime Video – June 18 Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada and Subham Maheshwar in ‘We Were Liars’ Prime Video Apple TV+’s adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novels will return with a Season 2 in November. The show stars Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Harriet Walter, Chinza Uche, Avi Nash, Alexandria Riley, Shane McRae, Remmie Milner, Clare Perkins, Billy Postlethwaite, Rick Gomez, Caitlin Zoz, Tanya Moodie and Iain Glen. with Steve Zahn joining the cast for Season 2. The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton – Apple TV+ – June 18, 2025 Season 2 of Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers will arrive this summer, and Leighton Meester has joined the cast. Based on the book by Edith Wharton, which was published with multiple versions that end differently, the show’s first season followed a group of five girls led by Nan (Kristine Frøseth) who venture to England from their American homes during the Gilded Age, exemplifying the culture clash between the two countries. The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 (We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han) – Prime Video – July 16 The third and final season of Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty is slated to come out July 16 with a bonus amount of episodes to bring the adaptation of Jenny Han’s beloved book trilogy to a conclusion. The third installment of the YA coming-of-age series, based in We’ll Always Have Summer, will unfold in a whopping 11 episodes, one of which will be directed by Han. Season 1 had seven episodes, which all dropped on the streamer at once, and Season 2 had eight, which released week to week after the first three rolled out on premiere day. RELATED: ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Movie Greenlit At Prime Video Washington Black by Esi Edugyan – Hulu – July 23 L-R: Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Sterling K. Brown in ‘Washington Black’ Chris Reardon/Disney Washington Black will follow the 19th-century journey of George Washington “Wash” Black, an 11-year-old boy born on a sugar plantation in Barbados. Wash’s scientific skill and genius set him up for an interesting and unexpected destiny. Forced to flee his home, he sets out on an expedition across the globe, encountering all kinds of people and characters. The series will star Ernest Kingsley Jr. as Washington Black, Ruper Graves as Mr. Goff, Iola Evans as Tanna Goff, Edward Bluemel as William McGee, Sharon Duncan Brewster as Miss Angie, Eddie Karanga as Young Washington Black, Tom Ellis as Tith and Sterling K. Brown as Medwin. My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak – Season 2, Netflix, August (L to R) Ashby Gentry as Alex, Noah LaLonde as Cole in ‘My Life with the Walter Boys’ Season 2 David Brown/Netflix After a popular first season on Netflix adapted from Ali Novak’s novel that gained traction on Wattpad, My Life With the Walter Boys will is in the midst of production on a second season, though the first season did tackle all the book material. Novak is writing another Walter Boys novel called My Return to the Walter Boys, but the show’s second season won’t be connected with that book. All Her Fault – Peacock – Nov. 6, Based on Andrea Mara’s Novel Peacock’s strong hit series All Her Fault, starring Sarah Snook, Dakota Fanning and Jake Lacy among others, arrived on the streamer at the beginning of November. The story follows Marissa (Snook), whose son goes missing after a playdate. When Snook’s character shows up to pick up her son Milo (Duke McCloud), she doesn’t recognize the lady at the front door, and the woman doesn’t have Milo. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 (The Sea of Monsters) – December 10 Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ Disney+ Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series Season 2 will be based on the events found in the second book of the original quintet: The Sea of Monsters. Season 2 of the Greek mythology-grounded fictional series will arrive on Disney+ in 2025. New casting additions that have been made ahead of the continuation of Percy, Grover and Annabeth’s story include Daniel Diemer as Percy’s half-brother Tyson, a Cyclops, Tamara Smart as Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, Andra Day as Annabeth’s mother the goddess Athena and Courtney B. Vance as the god of skies and thunder, Zeus. Vance will take over from the late Lance Reddick who died shortly after the release of the first season. Thank the gods, Disney renewed the Greek mythology-based YA series for a third season, which will likely follow the events of Riordan’s The Titan’s Curse, ahead of the Season 2 premiere on Disney+.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 02:35:15 +0000	2025-12-23T14:42:55.477146
Lily Collins Premieres ‘Emily in Paris’ Season 5, Connor Storrie and François Arnaud Walk the ‘Is This Thing On?’ Red Carpet and More Celeb Photos From December 2025	https://variety.com/gallery/celebrity-photos-red-carpet-december-2025/	Hollywood returned from the Thanksgiving holiday and headed to New York City to kick off December with the star-studded Gotham Awards. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” picked up the top prize of best feature, while Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” picked up three statuettes. In London, Cate Blanchett, Lily Allen and […]	Hollywood returned from the Thanksgiving holiday and headed to New York City to kick off December with the star-studded Gotham Awards. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” picked up the top prize of best feature, while Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident” picked up three statuettes. In London, Cate Blanchett, Lily Allen and Sharon Stone appeared at The Fashion Awards at Royal Albert Hall. The following night, Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried stunned on the red carpet at the premiere of their new Paul Feig thriller, “The Housemaid.” At the same time, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo wowed at a Los Angeles reception for “Wicked: For Good” with performance of “For Good” and the Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland-inspired medley of “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy.” Baz Luhrmann flew in from Japan to host the evening with Colleen Camp. “Look, it’s easy to come from Tokyo and do this because it’s so hard to make a live-action musical,” Luhrmann said. He praised director Jon M. Chu for making films that “can touch the youngest audience member, an older audience member and be both incredible classical but so pop … that are so about inclusiveness, so about what brings us together [and] not what pushes us apart.” Make sure to keep check back all month long for more red carpet photos from December 2025.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:30:35 +0000	2025-12-23T14:56:41.308094
‘Agon’ Director Giulio Bertelli on How He Got Mubi To Board His Offbeat Allegorical Drama on Sports, Technology, and War	https://variety.com/2025/film/global/agon-giulio-bertelli-mubi-offbeat-drama-sports-technology-1236616455/	First-time Italian director Giulio Bertelli, who is fashion designer Miuccia Prada’s son, made what is probably this year’s most offbeat Italian feature film debut with “Agon,” an allegorical drama that follows three female athletes competing in judo, fencing and target shooting within a fictional live-streamed global sports tournament called the Ludoj 2024 Games. “Agon” (which […]	First-time Italian director Giulio Bertelli, who is fashion designer Miuccia Prada’s son, made what is probably this year’s most offbeat Italian feature film debut with “Agon,” an allegorical drama that follows three female athletes competing in judo, fencing and target shooting within a fictional live-streamed global sports tournament called the Ludoj 2024 Games. “Agon” (which takes its title from the Ancient Greek word for a struggle, contest or competition) was inspired by the historical figures of Joan of Arc, Cleopatra and a Russian cavalry officer called Nadezhda Durova. The experimental drama examines the social pressures of competitive sports, the use of technology and social media applied to sports, and the link between sports and war, providing a fresh and realistic look at contemporary athletic agonism. The film stars Italian judo athlete and Olympic Gold medalist Alice Bellandi and “La Chimera” stars Yile Vianello and Sofija Zobina. Popular on Variety Following its premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week in September, “Agon” was released in Italian cinemas, kicking off Mubi’s Italian theatrical release slate, and has travelled widely on the festival circuit including the Rio, Thessaloniki, Geneva, and Brisbane fests. Bertelli speaks to Variety about his personal connection to the film’s subject matter and how he brought Mubi and The Match Factory on board as producer, Italian theatrical distributor, and global distributor. You’ve been involved with the Italian sailing team that competed in the America’s Cup. Is that what prompted you to depict the world of highly competitive sports? Yes, I definitely have a personal connection to this film. But there is also a broader context. It’s true that “Agon” is centred around the world of sports. And of course it’s open to interpretations. But I also use the sports world backdrop of these fictional Olympics that are almost a geopolitical platform, to make a reflection on the role that competitive sports have taken on over the past century. And also to talk more in general about the feeling in life of not being able to achieve one’s goal. So, at one level it’s also the story of three teenagers who are unable to do what they want. This is observed very differently with respect to each character, contextualising this journey in the preparation for competition in a minor sports category of a hypothetical Olympics. Then there’s the broader issue of macro connections between how we came to call sports what they are today. Where does that comes from? And the relationship between war, violence, and sports. Talk to me about your decision to cast real life world champion judo athlete Alice Bellandi in the film. I initially conceived “Agon” as an animation project. Then, when I decided to make it live-action, I had two big problems. One was: how do I give it a realistic flavour that establishes trust with the audience? For fencing, I knew I could use a stunt person because in fencing you wear a mask. With shooting, I also knew that it was not a big problem because the athlete has to be very still. But when it comes to judo, I knew I had to find a real judoka. Then reality surpassed my expectations when I met Bellandi, who agreed to be in the film. Then five months after we shot she won the Olympic gold medal in Paris. In simplistic terms, “Agon” explores the relationship between sports and technology, which is very clear in competitive sailing. Talk to me about how you weaved this into the film’s narrative. I’m interested in the relationship between sports and technology, but in a broader sense, which is what I think I’ll continue to look at in the future. What really interests me is the rapport between the organic world and technology, “organic” pertaining to the body in this movie. One example is the surgery [scene] in the film, which is obviously a very crude scene. For me it’s very important because it’s not a metaphor. There are other directors who have addressed this theme [of technology and the body] using metaphorical devices that have shaped my imagination. But I’m fascinated by looking at this [rapport] where it doesn’t exist as a metaphor, but exists purely as reality: a robot that digs into the flesh, into the blood. Talk to me about your relationship with Mubi. How did you bring them on board in such a big way? Actually, Mubi was involved in “Agon” since the beginning, before anyone else. When I wrote this story as an animation project, I wasn’t actually actively trying to get this film off the ground. I met Efe Cackarel in 2017 when Mubi was much smaller than it is now. We talked about it. I mentioned that I had this story in mind and I’d like to maybe make movies in the future. He said: “I’m interested. I’m also interested in starting to produce in the future and not just be a platform. Why don’t you write the screenplay?” So I wrote the screenplay and started talking about it directly with Mubi. At first we started developing it directly in London as an animation film, but then we realised that it would be too expensive and complex to do it as an animation project. Meanwhile, my life was changing. I thought: “maybe this could actually be my first feature film. And Efe, rightly, said to me: “Look, you need you to find a producer to take this project forward. But we are on board.” So, with [Italian producer] Max Brun, I introduced myself to Jules Daley, who had just come out of RSA Films. She loved the project and decided to help me and become my producer on this film. So, little by little, “Agon” was born. Then, when the project began to take shape, Mubi came on board. From the very beginning, there was the idea that they would distribute it. But they also became an equity investor. At that point, Mubi had acquired, or was in the process of acquiring, The Match Factory. So, to my great joy, I found myself working with The Match Factory as an international sales agent. Then they said: “Instead of selling the project, we’ll distribute it directly in Italy, because they wanted to start distributing in Italy.” This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:15:22 +0000	2025-12-23T15:30:56.043423
Chris Evans Returns for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ as Captain America With a Child, Teaser Confirms	https://variety.com/2025/film/news/chris-evans-avengers-doomsday-teaser-captain-america-1236609054/	Cap is back — and he’s a dad! Marvel Studios has finally dropped the first teaser trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday” online, after it aired in theaters last Thursday attached to initial screenings of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The first teaser trailer has revealed that Steve Rogers, the star-spangled Avenger portrayed by Chris Evans, will return […]	Cap is back — and he’s a dad! Marvel Studios has finally dropped the first teaser trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday” online, after it aired in theaters last Thursday attached to initial screenings of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The first teaser trailer has revealed that Steve Rogers, the star-spangled Avenger portrayed by Chris Evans, will return in the next Marvel team-up adventure, set to release Dec. 18, 2026. In a twist, Captain America is the father to a newborn child. Marvel is slowly building up to “Doomsday,” which hits theaters in a little less than a year. There will reportedly be more teasers that focus on other characters in the coming weeks. The Captain America trailer leaked online in the run-up to its theatrical debut, and a Thor-focused teaser also appeared in social media leaks this week. It’s expected that it too will run in theaters with showings of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” beginning Thursday, like the Cap teaser. Popular on Variety Joe and Anthony Russo, who previously directed “Captain America: Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” and are back for “Doomsday,” released a short statement on their Instagram page. “The character that changed our lives,” they wrote of Captain America. “The story that brought us all here together. It was always going to come back to this…” The teaser, set on a peaceful farm, begins with Steve riding a motorcycle up to his home as a piano rendition of the “Avengers” theme plays in the background. His blue helmet is reminiscent of his Captain America costume, which he pulls out to reminiscently admire. He holds a newborn baby and looks proudly, as the teaser ends with “Steve Rogers will return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday.'” A countdown timer begins at the end that’s set to expire when “Doomsday” hits theaters. Marvel fans last saw Captain America, the founding Avenger, in the closing moments of 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” After saving the world from the purple villain known as Thanos, Cap makes it his personal mission to return the missing Infinity Stones to their rightful places across time. After finishing his time-traveling mission, an elderly Steve returns to the main MCU timeline and passes down his red-and-white Vibranium shield to his former sidekick, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), upgrading him from the Falcon to the new Captain America. After bestowing his shield to Sam, Steve then goes back in time to reunite with his beloved Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). After Steve went missing and was frozen in the ice in the original “Captain America” movie, Peggy grew old but never stopped loving him. Now with the Quantum Realm time-traveling technology, the two were able to get married and live out their lives together through the decades. Does this teaser mean that Steve somehow returns to the main MCU timeline to rejoin the Avengers? Is this the same Cap, or is he a variant of the elderly hero from the finale of “Endgame”? And who’s the baby. Does he or she have super-soldier powers like Cap? Marvel also dropped the first poster for “Doomsday,” tinged in a green hue very similar to the colors of Doctor Doom’s famous costume. Technically, this isn’t Evans’ first time back in the MCU since “Endgame.” In 2024’s billion-dollar smash “Deadpool & Wolverine,” he returned for a hilarious cameo as the Human Torch, his original superhero role way back in Fox’s “Fantastic Four” movie from 2005. In an Esquire profile of Mackie from earlier this year, ahead of the former Falcon taking on the Cap mantle in “Captain America: Brave New World,” Evans said that he was “happily retired” and denied reports that he would return to Marvel. “That’s not true,” Evans said about his rumored return at the time, explaining that these reports “happen every couple years” since he bowed out in “Endgame.” “I’ve just stopped responding to it,” he added. “Yeah, no — happily retired!” Evans isn’t the only original “Avengers” star who will be back for “Doomsday.” Robert Downey Jr. is returning, but not as Tony Stark. Instead, he is replacing his Iron Man armor to play the ultimate villain, Doctor Doom, in the multiverse-crossing movie. Other returning heroes include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Simu Liu, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman. From the “X-Men” universe, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, James Marsden, Channing Tatum and Rebecca Romijn will cross over into the MCU.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:05:54 +0000	2025-12-23T15:30:56.343361
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week	https://variety.com/feature/new-movie-releases-theaters-1235718020/	As we enter the Christmas holiday, the past few weeks have been filled with blockbusters and independent films for audiences to discover. From sci-fi adventure films to animated comedies, this season is full of movies with wide appeal and independent films for everyone to watch on the big screen over the next few weeks. The […]	As we enter the Christmas holiday, the past few weeks have been filled with blockbusters and independent films for audiences to discover. From sci-fi adventure films to animated comedies, this season is full of movies with wide appeal and independent films for everyone to watch on the big screen over the next few weeks. The widest release this week will be A24’s “Marty Supreme,” a sports dramedy starring Timothée Chalamet as the fictional table tennis champ Marty Mauser. As previously reported, “Marty Supreme” broke into the top 10 at the domestic box office with $875,000 while playing on just six screens during its limited theatrical run on Dec. 19. Leading up to the film’s release, Chalamet has captured the attention of audiences through social media, public stunts, bright orange blimps and other out-of-the-box promotions that have strayed away from the traditional marketing playbook to build excitement for its wide release coming Christmas day. Popular on Variety Check out all the new releases hitting theaters this weekend: December 24, 2025 “The Plague” (IFC Films, Limited) December 25, 2025 “Marty Supreme” (A24, Wide) “Anaconda” (Sony Pictures Releasing, Wide) “The Testament of Ann Lee” (Searchlight Pictures, Limited) “No Other Choice” (Neon, Limited) “The Choral” (Sony Pictures Classics, Limited) “Song Sung Blue” (Focus Features, Wide)	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:57:30 +0000	2025-12-23T15:30:57.038077
‘SNL’ Writer Jimmy Fowlie Asks for Help Finding Missing Sister: ‘We’re Worried She Isn’t Safe’	https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/snl-writer-jimmy-fowlie-missing-sister-1236616579/	“Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie is asking for help finding his missing sister, Christina, who was last seen in Los Angeles. Fowlie shared his sister’s photo and phone number on his Instagram page and asked that if anybody has seen her to contact the police. According to her missing person report, Christina was last […]	“Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie is asking for help finding his missing sister, Christina, who was last seen in Los Angeles. Fowlie shared his sister’s photo and phone number on his Instagram page and asked that if anybody has seen her to contact the police. According to her missing person report, Christina was last contacted in late November. “My sister has been missing and we are worried that she isn’t safe,” Fowlie wrote. “Her married name is Downer but she may go by Christina Fowlie. Please share this so that if anyone has seen her, they can give any information to the police. The phone number is 213-996-1800 and her case number is 25237639. She was last seen in LA. Thank you.” Several of Fowlie’s “Saturday Night Live” cast members, like Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman, also shared his sister’s missing person report. Popular on Variety Fowlie has been a writer on “Saturday Night Live” since 2022’s Season Season 48. He co-wrote the viral “Domingo” sketch starring cast member Marcello Hernandez and host Ariana Grande last year. Before “Saturday Night Live,” he was a member of the Groundlings improv and sketch comedy group and has acted on shows like “The Comeback,” “2 Broke Girls,” “The Other Two,” “Search Party,” “English Teacher” and more. He also co-wrote and starred in the Off Broadway musical “So Long Boulder City.” Last weekend, “Saturday Night Live” aired its Christmas episode, hosted by Grande, and will return in January with host Finn Wolfhard and musical guest A$AP Rocky. It also marked Yang’s final episode as a cast member.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 15:39:37 +0000	2025-12-23T15:55:43.575217
James Cameron on ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’ Explaining Performance Capture in the Age of AI and Why He Isn’t Ready to Talk About ‘Avatar 4’	https://variety.com/2025/film/features/james-cameron-avatar-fire-and-ash-avatar-4-1236616244/	“Nous verrons,” says James Cameron when asked about a specific plot point in “Avatar 4.” (That’s French for “we shall see,” he tells Variety.) It’s the day after the “Avatar: Fire and Ash” world premiere, and it’s my turn to spend 10 minutes with the blockbuster filmmaker at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, the […]	“Nous verrons,” says James Cameron when asked about a specific plot point in “Avatar 4.” (That’s French for “we shall see,” he tells Variety.) It’s the day after the “Avatar: Fire and Ash” world premiere, and it’s my turn to spend 10 minutes with the blockbuster filmmaker at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, the hallways and lobby of which have been transformed to resemble Pandora for the press junket. (Thus, one might’ve expected Cameron to slip a little Na’vi into the interview, not French.) But no matter what language he speaks, the filmmaker makes it known he’s not keen to discuss the future of the franchise — at least, not until the box office returns have been counted. Popular on Variety “We’re getting ahead of ourselves because, first of all, we’ve got to make some money with this one,” Cameron says. “Every time we go out, we have to prove this crazy business case yet again. “The world has changed. We all know the stats, where theatrical is. It’s been a bad year,” he goes on. “It’s starting to perk up a little bit with a couple of recent releases: ‘Wicked: For Good’ has done well, and ‘Zootopia 2’ is doing well. So, we’ll see.” Cameron is not being modest; he’s a pragmatist. His “Avatar” movies — about the adventures of Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family — come with significant box office expectations. The original 2009 film and its 2022 sequel, “The Way of Water,” stand as two of the highest-grossing movies in history, with $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively. “Fire and Ash” earned a strong $345 million globally in its opening weekend, but that figure is down from “The Way of Water’s” $435 million start. As Variety’s Rebecca Rubin explains in her box office analysis, Disney spent a massive $350 million to produce the threequel and roughly $150 million to promote it, meaning the big-budget blockbuster needs to deliver in terms of ticket sales for Cameron to move forward with his planned fourth and fifth installments. (For the record, “Avatar 4” is slated for Dec. 2029 and a significant portion of the film has already been shot, while “Avatar 5” is expected to debut Dec. 2031.) In the meantime, “Avatar” super fans can also enjoy the making-of documentary, “Fire and Water,” where Cameron reveals how his groundbreaking performance capture process really works. Here, Cameron reflects on how the Disney+ documentary is changing the conversation around performance capture, particularly in the age of generative artificial intelligence, and more about making the new movie, like introducing Oona Chaplin’s villainous Varang and just how spicy her relationship with Quaritch (Stephen Lang) was intended to be. You’ve said that you’re always a little nervous before these movies come out. Are you feeling a little better now? It’s a good first step. People are responding well. I hadn’t seen it with a big audience before [the premiere], because we’ve done these small press screenings, and I don’t really go to those. There’s some laughs. Did any of those laughs surprise you? The strength of a couple of them surprised me. And then there’s some applause too. There are moments that appear to be quite cathartic for the audience — some of the quieter, emotional stuff. For that, I just look at my wife, Suzy [Amis]; if she’s grabbing her tissues, then I know the scene’s working. It’s a little harder to read that in a big room. The crowd applauded for Zoe Saldaña’s performance as Neytiri. You’ve described her work on the “Avatar” movies as “ferocious,” and since we last spoke, she’s won an Oscar [for “Emilia Pérez”]. Do you think pulling the curtain back on how performance capture technology works helps audiences appreciate her performance differently? That’s a really great way to put it. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I’ve hidden the performance capture methodology because I thought, “I don’t want to see people in a performance capture suit. I want them to think that the characters are real.” Right? But it’s been such a disservice to these actors who are doing some of the best work in their careers. I’ve got Kate Winslet, Academy Award winner; Zoe Saldaña won an Academy Award last year; Sigourney Weaver, a highly respected actress, nominated multiple times. And I just think, “Why am I hiding this under a bushel here? I should be celebrating it.” James Cameron (right) directing Zoe Saldaña and Sam Worthington on the set of “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Mark Fellman We just take all the cinematography — all the cameras and the lenses and the lighting and all that stuff — and we just shove it into the future. It’s like black box theater or a stage rehearsal. A lot of my cast have done theater, and they go, “Oh, this is like, standing up a play.” It’s that quiet, intimate exploration. Everybody said, “Well, how can they possibly do that without all the sets and all the wardrobe?” Well, actors live in their imagination, right? And we give them the things they need. Sigourney said, “I’d really like to have a shawl or something that I can kind of pull around myself and hide behind as this kind of sulky and misunderstood teenager.” It’s like, “Sure, no problem.” It’s a wonderful process. And as a writer-director who’s created these characters, handing that baton to the actors, and then seeing what they do with it, there’s nothing better. I learned that Sigourney, who plays Kiri, the Sullys’ adopted teenage daughter, actually narrates the next one. That could be the case. We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Oona Chaplin’s character, Varang, who leads the Ash people, steals the show. But her relationship with Quaritch takes a sexier turn than some people might expect. There’s a mutual seduction, but did you ever consider showing a Na’vi sex scene? We never really shot anything beyond what you see. Let’s put it that way. We knew what we were going for was an undercurrent of sensuality, and it’s a PG-13 movie as well. The bigger question is, why did we spend 10 minutes — which is an eternity in screen time — not on our main characters, not on our protagonist characters? And the answer is very simple: Because it was cool. That’s my ultimate modus operandi. If it’s cool, we’re gonna explore it. And I’m very proud of that scene where he goes to her, and they go inside the tent, and they tussle over the power. It’s a fun scene. Oona Chaplin as Varang in “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS Much like Zoe, this film is a showcase for Oona’s talent. Many people know her from “Game of Thrones” [Chaplin played Talisa Maegyr, Robb Stark’s ill-fated wife], but this is her big screen breakout moment. I didn’t know who Oona was when I cast her in 2016; I certainly hadn’t seen [“Game of Thrones.”]. But she had such a grasp of the character. Oona herself is just a very warm, beautiful, heartfelt person, almost the exact opposite [of Varang]. But isn’t that fun to play the opposite and find you have the ability to play that. It can be a little scary. That’s that actor-director connection that you like to explore. In an age of Gen AI chomping at the film industry, that’s another reason I’m pulling back the curtain to show that this is an actor-centric, artist-centric process, and we don’t use those tools. Historically, we haven’t used it at all. I’m curious about what it can do that’s done ethically and constructively. I don’t want to replace actors, even though people are stampeding to [saying,] “Oh, I can make a film in my mom’s basement, and I don’t need to pay any actors. How cool is that?” I’ve been mentoring some young filmmakers in New Zealand in a short film class, and I saw presentations for seven projects. All seven of them showed us their storyboards, their pre-viz, their music choices, their mood board, their character design. Not one of the presentations mentioned their cast. Afterwards, I said, “Guys, what the hell is going on here? You didn’t lead with your actors. Do you have actors?” [They said,] “Well, yeah.” And I said, “Why didn’t you lead with that?” I said, “You know what you all need to do when you get your films done? Go do some acting.” I think every director should do some acting. There’s a lot of acting in directing.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:30:00 +0000	2025-12-23T16:35:19.742509
‘The Office’ Star Melora Hardin ‘Burst Into Tears’ When Fired From ‘Back to the Future’ Amid Michael J. Fox Recasting Drama: ‘A Huge Disappointment’	https://variety.com/2025/film/news/melora-hardin-fired-back-to-the-future-michael-j-fox-1236614891/	Melora Hardin, the actor best known for playing Jan Levinson on NBC’s “The Office,” recently told Entertainment Weekly that she “burst into tears” when she was fired from Robert Zemeckis’ blockbuster “Back to the Future.” While original Marty McFly actor Eric Stoltz being let go from the production and replaced by Michael J. Fox is […]	Melora Hardin, the actor best known for playing Jan Levinson on NBC’s “The Office,” recently told Entertainment Weekly that she “burst into tears” when she was fired from Robert Zemeckis’ blockbuster “Back to the Future.” While original Marty McFly actor Eric Stoltz being let go from the production and replaced by Michael J. Fox is one of Hollywood’s most infamous re-castings, it turns out that decision led to a second firing. Hardin was originally cast as Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer Parker. “‘Back to the Future’ was a huge disappointment. I was 17, you know. I burst into tears,” Hardin told EW. “It was very sad. There were quite a few of those that I remember, you know, things that never really got made. But that I remember being very tough.” Popular on Variety Hardin revealed earlier this year that she also got the boot from “Back to the Future” when Stoltz was fired because studio executives thought she was too tall to star opposite Michael J. Fox. She explained: “It was apparently the two female executives at the time that thought that it was emasculating for their lead male character to be in scenes with a woman that was taller than him. If I had done it, I’m sure it would have all gone in a different way. I wouldn’t have done ‘The Office.'” “To be where I am, you have to have failed more than you’ve succeeded,” Hardin now told EW. “I think people don’t realize that when they look at it from the outside — you have to really be somebody who’s comfortable with failure, and with putting yourself on the line all the time. That failure doesn’t mean anything about you. You just have to fail better, and keep failing better … to be able to really weather this career choice.” Stoltz and Hardin were in production for six weeks on “Back to the Future” when the decision was made to boot Stoltz and recast the lead role with the director’s first choice, Fox, who had originally been blocked from the film due to his commitment to the NBC sitcom “Family Ties.” Hardin was replaced by Claudia Wells. Fox revealed in his new memoir, “Future Boy,” that he wrote a letter to Stoltz asking to finally meet 40 years after the recasting. “Eric has maintained his silence on the subject for 40 years, so I was prepared for the likelihood that he’d prefer to keep it that way,” Fox writes in the memoir, noting the two had never come face to face to discuss the casting swap. Fox wrote to him: “If your answer is ‘piss off and leave me alone’… That works, too.” Stoltz responded with a “beautifully written reply” that “began, ‘Piss off and leave me alone!’ Thankfully, this was followed by ‘I jest…’ Eric was thoughtful about my outreach, and although he respectfully declined to participate in the book, he seemed open to the idea of getting together.” When Fox and Stoltz finally found themselves together in the same room, the actors “immediately fell into an easy dialogue about our careers, families, and yes, our own trips through the space-time continuum,” Fox writes. “[Stoltz entered] with a smile, and we quickly acknowledged that neither of us had an issue with the other. What transpired on ‘Back to the Future’ had not made us enemies or fated rivals; we were just two dedicated actors who had poured equal amounts of energy into the same role. The rest had nothing to do with us. As it turned out, we had much more in common than our spin as Marty.”	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:06:51 +0000	2025-12-23T16:35:19.981063
Paco León’s ‘Aida, the Movie’ Landing in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Central America	https://variety.com/2025/film/global/paco-leon-aida-the-movie-wiesner-distribution-outsider-1236615842/	“Aida, the Movie,” the feature film spinoff of the wildly successful Spanish TV series “Aida,” is crossing the Atlantic next year, a rare move for a broad Spanish comedy. Wiesner Distribution, marking 25 years as a leading distributor of Ibero-American cinema, will be releasing the ensemble comedy on Feb. 6 across the U.S., Puerto Rico, […]	“Aida, the Movie,” the feature film spinoff of the wildly successful Spanish TV series “Aida,” is crossing the Atlantic next year, a rare move for a broad Spanish comedy. Wiesner Distribution, marking 25 years as a leading distributor of Ibero-American cinema, will be releasing the ensemble comedy on Feb. 6 across the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Central America’s Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures partners with Wiesner on the U.S. release. This follows its Spanish theatrical release on Jan. 30 by Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia. Popular on Variety Directed by Spain’s Paco León, whose storied career in film and television kicked off with such comedic gems as “Carmina or Blow Up,” “Kiki, Love to Love” and the “Aida” series, the comedy reunites León with his original co-stars from the sitcom, including Carmen Machi, Miren Ibarguren, Mariano Peña, Eduardo Casanova, Pepe Viyuela, Melani Olivares, Canco Rodríguez, Secun de la Rosa, David Castillo, Marisol Ayuso, Pepa Rus, Óscar Reyes and Adrián Gordillo. They are joined by 96 other actors, mostly chosen via an open casting call on the film’s Instagram account. “Aida, the Movie” expands on the story of Aída, a divorcée struggling to make ends meet while raising her teenage children in the fictional Madrid neighborhood of Esperanza Sur. The massive ensemble series ran from 2005 to 2014 on Spanish broadcast network Telecinco where it became a cult classic and helped launch the international careers of its lead actors. The movie is described as a “blend of fiction with meta-cinematic storytelling.” It takes place during the production of an episode of the series, wryfully blurring the boundaries between actors and characters, both on and off screen, while exploring themes like the limits of humor, the power of comedians and the complexities of fame. Outsider Pictures and Wiesner Distribution have often teamed up on U.S. theatrical releases, most recently on Gerardo Herrero’s dramedy “Under Therapy.” Their upcoming releases include the “The Condor’s Daughter,” which premiered at TIFF and was closed at this month’s Ventana Sur. “’Aida’ is a beloved cultural phenomenon that became a massive television hit in Spain. We’re excited to bring ‘Aida, the Movie’ to U.S. audiences and share a story whose humor connects effortlessly across cultures, grounded in heart and authenticity,” said Cynthia Wiesner, founder and president of Wiesner Distribution. The pic is produced by Globomedia, part of The Mediapro Studio, and Telecinco Cinema, with the participation of Mediaset España and Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group. León, whose international credits include “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” starring Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal, and Machi, whose credits include breakout hit “Furious” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “I’m So Excited,” will be attending the comedy’s Miami premiere on Feb. 5 next year.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:03:24 +0000	2025-12-23T16:35:20.284906
Playwrights Horizons Sued Over Discount Tickets For BIPOC Audiences	https://deadline.com/2025/12/playwrights-horizons-lawsuit-1236655764/	Playwrights Horizons, one of New York’s premiere Off Broadway theaters and producers, is being sued by a New Jersey musician who claims that the venue’s recent discount offered to people of color is racially discriminatory. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Playwrights Horizons […]	Playwrights Horizons, one of New York’s premiere Off Broadway theaters and producers, is being sued by a New Jersey musician who claims that the venue’s recent discount offered to people of color is racially discriminatory. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Playwrights Horizons violated federal law when it offered discount tickets for a November 6 “BIPOC night” performance of the play Practice. Tickets, according to the suit, “were massively discounted for patrons who identified as black, indigenous, or people of color. For everyone else—essentially, whites—tickets were full price.” “Charging people different prices based on race is illegal,” the suit states, alleging that “race-based pricing” violates federal, state and city law. Watch on Deadline The lawsuit was facilitated by Edward Blum, who, according to The New York Times, is a nationally known lawyer who leads the American Alliance for Equal Rights, an organization that has filed 21 lawsuits in the last two years challenging affirmative action and other race-based policies. The plaintiff listed in the suit, Kevin Lynch, is a New Jersey composer, producer and music director. Lynch attended Practice on November 6. The lawsuit says that “because [Lynch] is white, he paid full price. Many other patrons also paid full price for Practice. All are harmed by Playwrights’ discriminatory pricing, and all are entitled to recover.” The suit seeks class certification on behalf of all ticket buyers who allegedly paid more for tickets than the discounted amount. According to the suit, Lynch bought two tickets to Practice for $90 each. Patrons using the BIPOC night discount code paid $39 a ticket. The class-action complaint, filed by the conservative Arlington, Va., law firm Consovoy McCarthy, seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. In a statement to the New York Times, Playwrights Horizons said, “This is a meritless lawsuit, and Playwrights Horizons intends to defend itself in court.” The recent practice of inviting people of color to attend specific performances is an attempt by theater companies to diversify their audiences. The highest-profile example was a 2019 “Black Out” performance of the Broadway production Slave Play; a similar promotion was undertaken for London performances of the play last year, drawing controversy. Practice, written by Nazareth Hassan and directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant, began performances October 30 and ran through December 19. The comedic play focuses on a company of actors cast in an avant-garde performance piece.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:16:46 +0000	2025-12-23T16:35:20.600778
‘Anaconda’ Review: Paul Rudd And Jack Black Hilarious In Inspired Comic Reinvention About 2 Guys Remaking Sony’s 1997 Giant Snake Movie	https://deadline.com/2025/12/anaconda-review-paul-rudd-jack-black-comedy-reinvention-1236655668/	It is probably too much hypebole to call Sony’s Anaconda the funniest movie of the year but for my money it really is. It initially started out to be the studio’s desire to remake or “reimagine” their 1997 horror movie of the same name that starred Ice Cube, Jon Voight, and Jennifer Lopez among others […]	It is probably too much hypebole to call Sony’s Anaconda the funniest movie of the year but for my money it really is. It initially started out to be the studio’s desire to remake or “reimagine” their 1997 horror movie of the same name that starred Ice Cube, Jon Voight, and Jennifer Lopez among others and dealt with a National Geographic film crew hijacked by an insane hunter in his quest to bag an elusive giant snake. Studios naturally love to find a way to just repeat their successful IP and Anaconda was enough of a hit to think about a reboot all these years later. If Jumanji keeps working for Sony, why can’t this one also? And director Tom Gormican and his co-screenwriter Kevin Etten had a unique idea, quite an inspired one. Previously they had paired on the very funny 2022 comedy, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent with Nicolas Cage playing a whacked out version of Nicolas Cage. Similarly their pitch for this one was to turn it into a comedy vehicle, that also takes satirical shots at the movie business. Two down-on-their-luck guys come to a point in life where they team up to do a remake of their favorite movie as teenagers, Anaconda. Take a sharp premise for laughs and add in the first-ever teaming of Paul Rudd and Jack Black, and you have a recipe for a LOL good time at the movies. Comedy has been in short supply of late, and this one is sort of sneaking in at the end of a year where a traditional movie comedy is suddenly an endangered species. Naked Gun ably filled the bill over the summer, and I loved Aziz Ansari’s Good Forturne with Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves also in the cast, but that one sadly opened and closed this Fall without making much of an impression on audiences. There just aren’t that many comedies that aren’t also masquerading as something else. This one just wants to make you laugh. It does. Watch on Deadline Here Gormican switches up the expected casting by making Black largely the straight man to Rudd’s crazier friend. Doug McCallister (Black) is a frustrated filmmaker stuck in a dead-end job as a wedding videographer, always wanting to sell his blockbuster tentpole ideas to the bride and groom who just only want the traditional treatment, not the blood and gore he has in mind. Ronald Griffin Jr, aka Griff (Rudd) is a failed actor with a few small credits, most notably a 4 episode arc on Swat, who gets fired from his latest job and then comes up with the idea to call Griff, get their school cameraman Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Griff’s ex-girlfriend Claire (Thandiwe Newton) back together to go to the Amazon and do a low budget remake of Anaconda, which through happenstance somehow Doug claims he has the remake rights. With a reluctant Doug finally aboard after his wife Malie (Ione Skye) convinces him to live the dream, they all leave Buffalo for the snake infested waters of Brazil’s Amazon. After getting a boat and a captain, Ana (Daniela Melchior) the first order of duty is sign on a title star, and they get one, a professional huge anaconda named Heitor who comes with his trainer and best friend, a local named Santiago (Selton Mello). Though Heitor is claimed to be no more harmful than a puppy, there are some moments of fright for Griff who is a little uneasy acting opposite him and at one point panics and tosses him overboard resulting in Heitor’s gruesome demise. Santiago is distraught and wracked with grief while Doug and Griff now have to figure out how to replace their star with another snake to keep this production afloat. Well isn’t the Amazon full of these things? They will find one. Not a good idea when suddenly the real thing starts to eat everyone for dinner. With Australia’s Queensland coast standing in the Amazon, Gormican skillfully milks all the inherent humor in the situation while also not letting the horror aspects of the original film overtake this one, at least not enough to threaten a PG13 rating. Thankfully he has this cast and a teaming of Rudd and Black who never go into Abbott & Costello territory with the premise but create likeable characters trying to find the spark of life and creative worth they once had in school. And although Black is largely playing it pretty straight he does have a killer signature scene involving a Wild Boar carcass attached to his back as bait for the real anaconda. Priceless Jack Black stuff. The rest of cast fits in nicely , particularly the ever-reliable Zahn and the great Brazilian actor, Mello (I’m Still Here) who is an amusing scene stealer as the grief stricken anaconda trainer. Without spoiling anything you can also bet on a couple of ace cameos from the original 1997 film. As for all the creature action, the VFX work here is first rate as are all the big ass snakes employed to play the real deal. Producers are Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, Gormican, and Etten. Title: Anaconda Distributor: Sony Pictures Release Date: December 25, 2025 Director: Tom Gormican Screenplay: Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten Cast: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, Daniel Melchior, Selton Mello, Ione Skye. Rating: PG13 Running Time: 1 hour and 39 minutes	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:59:00 +0000	2025-12-23T17:00:26.831742
Russell Brand Charged With Two More Counts Of Rape & Sexual Assault	https://deadline.com/2025/12/russell-brand-charged-two-more-rape-sexual-assault-1236655804/	Russell Brand has been charged with two more counts of rape and sexual assault. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star’s charges relate to two further women on top of the previous charges, which were two of rape, one of indecent assault and two of sexual assault. He will […]	Russell Brand has been charged with two more counts of rape and sexual assault. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star’s charges relate to two further women on top of the previous charges, which were two of rape, one of indecent assault and two of sexual assault. He will appear in court on January 20 next year in relation to the charges. Six months later, his trial starts for the other charges, for which he has pled not guilty. He has previously denied all charges against him and said he is “incredibly grateful” to be able to defend the charges in court. “The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” said the UK’s Metropolitan Police. “The Met’s investigation remains ongoing, and detectives urge anyone affected by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with police.”	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:55:26 +0000	2025-12-23T17:00:27.047655
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Teaser Unveiled: Chris Evans Is Coming Back As Steve Rogers	https://deadline.com/2025/12/avengers-doomsday-trailer-steve-rogers-returns-1236655793/	Yes, Virigina, there will be Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday. The Disney studio label and the Russo brothers delivered an early Christmas gift to fans that Captain America is returning, but he’s a father now with a little baby. The question is whether or not he puts on the suit […]	Yes, Virigina, there will be Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday. The Disney studio label and the Russo brothers delivered an early Christmas gift to fans that Captain America is returning, but he’s a father now with a little baby. The question is whether or not he puts on the suit and picks up the shield. The one minute and 20 second teaser shows Rogers picking up his tights and putting them in a box. We told you a year ago that Evans was coming back, this despite Evans’ remarks to the press that he wasn’t during The Materialists promo tour. “I mean, it’s sad to be away. It’s sad to not be back with the band,” Evans told ScreenRant this past summer. Watch on Deadline Evans began playing Captain America/Steve Rogers in the 2011 movie Captain America: The First Avenger. He continued to reprise the Captain America role across the MCU until 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The characters passed on the Captain America shield to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson in the Disney+/Marvel series Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Captain America: Brave New World. Evans wound up his role as Rogers in Endgame as an elderly man. These bits and bobs of Doomsday teasers are playing in cinemas attached to prints of Avatar: Fire and Ash. There’s reportedly a Thor-themed teaser with Chris Hemsworth. The Russo brothers last Avengers title, Endgame, is the second highest grossing movie of all-time with $2.799 billion. Avengers: Doomsday will be the big Christmas movie next year on Dec. 18, 2026.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:49:06 +0000	2025-12-23T17:00:27.944039
Taylor Swift Donates $1 Million to Nonprofit Feeding America	https://variety.com/2025/music/news/taylor-swift-donates-1-million-to-feeding-america-1236616635/	Taylor Swift is ringing in the holiday cheer with a sizable donation of $1 million to Feeding America, a nonprofit network of 200 food banks combating hunger in the United States. The charity announced the donation on Instagram, thanking the singer for her act of altruism. “We are incredibly grateful for Taylor Swift’s $1 million […]	Taylor Swift is ringing in the holiday cheer with a sizable donation of $1 million to Feeding America, a nonprofit network of 200 food banks combating hunger in the United States. The charity announced the donation on Instagram, thanking the singer for her act of altruism. “We are incredibly grateful for Taylor Swift‘s $1 million gift to Feeding America,” reads the post, authored by Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. “This holiday season, her continued support is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we unite to end hunger. When we join together alongside people facing hunger, we can make sure families have a full table this holiday season and beyond.” Swift previously donated $5 million to Feeding America in October 2024 in an effort to provide relief to communities struggling in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. She also made similar contributions in the past, including $1 million towards natural disaster relief after storms impacted Tennessee in December 2023, as well as $100,000 to the family of a 44-year-old woman killed at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February 2024. Popular on Variety More recently, Swifties banded together to rally support for Feeding America to help support food banks and those affected by potential cuts in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Swifties for Hope used social media this past October to encourage fans to donate $13 or whatever they could provide. Swift is gearing up to release the final two episodes of her docuseries “The End of an Era,” which will bow on the service tonight at midnight PT.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:30:53 +0000	2025-12-23T17:32:07.659822
The Worst TV Shows of 2025	https://variety.com/lists/worst-tv-shows-of-2025/	We are allegedly beyond the namesake apex of peak TV, yet the television landscape remains far too vast for anyone to watch it all; there’s only so many hours in a day, let alone free ones. With so many new shows to navigate, there’s no bigger let-down than turning on a series you were excited […]	We are allegedly beyond the namesake apex of peak TV, yet the television landscape remains far too vast for anyone to watch it all; there’s only so many hours in a day, let alone free ones. With so many new shows to navigate, there’s no bigger let-down than turning on a series you were excited to indulge in, only for the experience to fall short. As TV critics, it’s our job to tell audiences about the elevated storytelling, worthwhile characters, and transportive settings of the medium at its very best. (You can find our selections for the best shows of 2025 right this way! There’s plenty to feel good about.) Regrettably, the flip side of that pursuit means sharing the series that didn’t quite capture our attention or imagination, to spare our readers the same disappointment. Our list of the year’s worst TV shows includes spinoffs and stale IP, reminding us all why Hollywood desperately needs to open its doors to new creators and new ideas. There are also promising premises that failed to capitalize on their name-brand stars and intriguing concepts. As the year ends, Variety TV critics Alison Herman and Aramide Tinubu have identified eight series that we definitely wouldn’t recommend to viewers in pursuit of a good time. Of course, everyone has their own unique tastes, so your own mileage may vary — though several of our picks have already been canceled, suggesting we weren’t alone in our assessment. From lackluster procedurals to misguided attempts at prestige, read on to see Variety’s picks for the least successful shows of the year (in alphabetical order).	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:30:00 +0000	2025-12-23T17:32:07.889716
‘Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender’ Skipping Movie Theaters for Paramount+ Streaming Debut	https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/legend-of-aang-last-airbender-skipping-theaters-paramount-debut-1236616631/	“Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender” won’t play in movie theaters as intended and will instead debut directly on the Paramount+ streaming service. The animated adventure, based on the popular TV series, was slated for release on Oct. 9. “The Last Airbender” will now land on the streamer on a yet-to-be-determined date in the fall. […]	“Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender” won’t play in movie theaters as intended and will instead debut directly on the Paramount+ streaming service. The animated adventure, based on the popular TV series, was slated for release on Oct. 9. “The Last Airbender” will now land on the streamer on a yet-to-be-determined date in the fall. More to come…	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:24:33 +0000	2025-12-23T17:32:08.096288
Mads Mikkelsen on ‘Freezing to Death’ Filming ‘Rogue One’ and How the Script Was ‘Surprisingly Unfinished’: ‘I Don’t Think They Ever Locked a Draft’	https://variety.com/2025/film/news/mads-mikkelsen-star-wars-rogue-one-script-1236615584/	While looking back on his career with Variety, Mads Mikkelsen recounted his experience working on the 2016 “Star Wars” prequel “Rogue One,” saying that the script was “surprisingly unfinished” while filming. “It kept changing,” he explained. “One would think that that was already done. I don’t think they ever locked a draft. I think they […]	While looking back on his career with Variety, Mads Mikkelsen recounted his experience working on the 2016 “Star Wars” prequel “Rogue One,” saying that the script was “surprisingly unfinished” while filming. “It kept changing,” he explained. “One would think that that was already done. I don’t think they ever locked a draft. I think they kept working on it and improvised and went back and reshot stuff and then came up with a better idea, which is kind of livable for a character like mine. I mean, I had my mission. I knew what it was, but it was obviously tricky for the two young heroes, not knowing exactly what they were carrying into a room of baggage.” Mikkelsen played Galen Erso in the film. He starred alongside actors including Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic and Donnie Yen as Chirrut Îmwe. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the “Star Wars” anthology film follows a band of resistance fighters as they embark on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. Popular on Variety He also noted that the scene where he says, “It must be destroyed” while water rains down on him was particularly difficult to re-shoot as the story kept changing. “That was a brutal, I would say day, but it was days, because there was a lot of changes in the story,” the actor said. “We went back and forth, and it was raining. When you do artificial rain, it is almost impossible to do that in a long scene without having ice cold water. So I was lying there, freezing to death, trying to keep my eyes open.” Mikkelsen also revisited his other acclaimed roles including “Casino Royale” for Variety, sharing that he and co-star Daniel Craig were asked to stop improvising during filming, and that Craig was the only cast member who didn’t know how to play poker. “He was the only guy in that film who did not know how to play poker, and he ran away with $150 million of my dollars,” said Mikkelsen. Most recently, Mikkelsen starred in Bryan Fuller’s feature film debut “Dust Bunny,” which premiered on Dec. 12. Watch the full video here:	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:20:00 +0000	2025-12-23T17:32:08.310768
Russell Brand Charged With More Counts of Rape and Sexual Assault	https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/russell-brand-charged-further-counts-rape-sexual-assault-1236616617/	Russell Brand has been charged with further offences. London’s Metropolitan Police said Tuesday that the disgraced comedian, actor and TV host had been issued with two additional charges: one count of rape and one count of sexual assault. The allegations relate to two further women on top of the previous charges against the “Forgetting Sarah […]	Russell Brand has been charged with further offences. London’s Metropolitan Police said Tuesday that the disgraced comedian, actor and TV host had been issued with two additional charges: one count of rape and one count of sexual assault. The allegations relate to two further women on top of the previous charges against the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” star, which included two of rape, one of indecent assault and two of sexual assault. Brand will now appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Jan. 20 in relation to the additional charges. Popular on Variety Earlier this year, Brand appeared in London’s Southwark Crown Court and pleaded not guilty to the previous charges. The allegations, involving four women, relate to incidents that occurred between 1999 and 2005. The trial for these charges is due to start on June 3, 2026. He will remain on conditional bail until then. “The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” said the Met Police’s detective chief inspector Tariq Farooqi in relation to the new allegations. Farooqi added that the Met’s investigation, first launched after the police received several allegations in the wake of a major expose in 2023 from both Channel 4’s “Dispatches” documentary series and The Sunday Times, “remains ongoing,” and urged anyone affected by the case or with information to come forward. The 2023 expose saw Brand accused of “rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse.” A rep for the show said that “Five women, four of whom asked to remain anonymous, agreed to share their stories of serious sexual allegations in the program.” Just months after the expose ran, Brand converted to Christianity and has been outspoken about his new faith. Last year he prayed on stage with Tucker Carlson and later Jordan Petersen at events in the U.S.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:04:26 +0000	2025-12-23T17:32:08.581980
Connor Storrie Thought ‘Heated Rivalry’ Book Fans Would ‘Hate My Performance’ and He’d Get ‘Torn Apart’ Before Show Became a Hit	https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/connor-storrie-heated-rivalry-fans-performance-1236616636/	Before “Heated Rivalry” quickly became a global television phenomenon, star Connor Storrie wasn’t quite sure how fans would receive his portrayal of the Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov — especially having seen “adaptations be torn apart online previously,” he said on a recent podcast episode of “Shut Up Evan” hosted by Evan Ross Katz. “I’m […]	Before “Heated Rivalry” quickly became a global television phenomenon, star Connor Storrie wasn’t quite sure how fans would receive his portrayal of the Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov — especially having seen “adaptations be torn apart online previously,” he said on a recent podcast episode of “Shut Up Evan” hosted by Evan Ross Katz. “I’m very optimistic, but I’m also a firm believer in optimistic nihilism: accept the worst, but expect the best,” Storrie continued. “I went through this entire process, even if it sounds pessimistic, accepting the worst case, which is that they’re going to hate my performance, I’m so wrong for the part [and] it’s going to be torn apart by people who love the book, and be like, well, if that were the case, all I can do is really try to give an honest performance and trust that Jacob [Tierney] knows the story well enough to to bring the right moments to it.” Popular on Variety The show, which centers on a decade-long secret relationship between Rozanov and fellow hockey player Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), was created by Jacob Tierney, who adapted the material from author Rachel Reid’s popular “Game Changers” book series. Since the show’s debut in November, it has swiftly topped the charts: the Crave-created romance has become the Canadian streamer’s most-watched original series and HBO Max’s top-rated non-animated acquired series. The center of conversation has been William’s and Storrie’s performances. Later in the podcast, Storrie discussed how he approaches significant moments in the show that book fans will have expectations for. “For moments like that,” Storrie explained, referring to his now-viral “I’m coming to the cottage” moment at the end of the fifth episode, “I had some ideas about trying to really play to the book. But Jacob just knows that book. He knows that story like the back of his hand. I read the book twice, read all the scripts a million times.” Storrie also noted the importance of not getting too wrapped up in “trying to please the fans.” “Honestly, I think with acting or art in general, trying to feed too much into what you think other people want is kind of the death of anything that’s actually humane and inspiring.”	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:52:32 +0000	2025-12-23T17:53:58.176513
‘The Legend Of Aang: The Last Airbender’ Won’t Play Theaters, Will Debut On Paramount+ Instead	https://deadline.com/2025/12/the-legend-of-aang-the-last-airbender-paramount-skip-theaters-1236655848/	The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, which was greenlit by the previous Paramount Animation administration, won’t be getting a theatrical release, rather it’s headed to Paramount+ next fall. The movie’s most recent release date was Oct. 9, 2026. It had jumped around the calendar, first set of Oct. 10, 2025, then Jan. 30, 2026. […]	The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, which was greenlit by the previous Paramount Animation administration, won’t be getting a theatrical release, rather it’s headed to Paramount+ next fall. The movie’s most recent release date was Oct. 9, 2026. It had jumped around the calendar, first set of Oct. 10, 2025, then Jan. 30, 2026. In Comscore that leaves nine theatrical releases date for Paramount, the first up being the Jan. 9 Walter Hamada produced genre movie Primate. Paramount announced last month that next year will count at least 15 theatrical releases. In the movie, directed by Lauren Montgomery with Steve Ahn and William Mata, Avatar Aang, the world’s last Airbender, learns of an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction. With the help of his friends, he embarks on a global quest to find it before it falls into the wrong hands and threatens to upend the peace they sacrificed everything to achieve. Voice cast includes Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Dee Bradley Baker, Freida Pinto and Ke Huy Quan, joining previously announced Dave Bautista, Eric Nam, Jessica Matten, Dionne Quan, Román Zaragoza and Steven Yeun. Watch on Deadline There’s also a new 2D series coming to P+, that being Avatar: Seven Havens from Avatar Studios. That series from Nickelodeon Animation is set in a world shattered by a devastating cataclysm where a young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar after Korra. But in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse. The series is comprised of Book 1 (13 half-hour episodes) and Book 2 (13 half-hour episodes). Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko serve as co-creators and executive producers. Ethan Spaulding is executive producer, and Sehaj Sethi is co-executive producer. Both properties are based on the original series Avatar: The Last Airbender created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The new movie and new series join The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender on Paramount+. The original series ranks among Nielsen’s Top 100 most-streamed titles during 17 of 139 weeks since its debut on the OTT service in March 2023.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:40:53 +0000	2025-12-23T17:53:58.567866
How to Watch the NBA on Christmas Day Online Free	https://variety.com/2025/shopping/news/how-to-watch-nba-on-christmas-day-online-1236258877/	The NBA has released its 2025 Christmas Day schedule with this year’s games featuring superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards and more. The 2025 “NBA on Christmas Day” schedule features five games with 10 powerhouse teams taking to the court. The day of games tips […]	If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The NBA has released its 2025 Christmas Day schedule with this year’s games featuring superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards and more. The 2025 “NBA on Christmas Day” schedule features five games with 10 powerhouse teams taking to the court. The day of games tips off at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT, with all matchups airing on ABC and ESPN. If you want to watch the NBA Christmas Day games on TV, you can tune in with any cable package that includes ABC and ESPN, or get a local ABC affiliate feed through basic cable or a digital antenna (like this one from Amazon). Don’t have cable? You can also livestream the NBA Christmas Day games online with a live TV streaming provider like DirecTV or Fubo. DirecTV’s packages include a live ABC and live ESPN feed so you can use it to stream the Christmas Day basketball games online without cable. DirecTV currently offers a five-day free trial that you can use to livestream NBA Christmas Day online for free. You can also watch NBA Christmas Day games online through Fubo, who is currently offering a seven-day free trial here. Fubo’s free trial includes access to ABC, ESPN and more than 100 other live TV channels that you can stream online. You also get free DVR to record the basketball games live to watch a replay back on-demand later. Other streaming options include Hulu + Live TV and Sling Orange + Blue (depending on your local TV market). NBA on Christmas Day also livestreams on NBA League Pass for subscribers only. NBA Christmas Day Schedule 2025 The first game of this year’s NBA Christmas Day broadcast features the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, with a start time of 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT. The second game features the San Antonio Spurs taking on defending NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT. The third Christmas Day NBA game features the Dallas Mavericks visiting the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, with a start time of at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. Prime time coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT with Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets paying a visit to LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA on Christmas Day slate concludes with at 10:30 p.m. ET tip-off time for the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. the Denver Nuggets. In addition to the regular action on the court, the NBA will once again be airing the kid-friendly broadcast called “Dunk the Halls” for the Cavs vs. Knicks game. If you want to watch Daisy Duck and the gang talking basketball with NBA players, it airs on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+. Last-minute tickets to the Christmas Day NBA games, meantime, are still available on sites like StubHub and Vivid Seats. Use Variety’s exclusive promo code VR30 to take $30 off your purchase at VividSeats.com.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:03:00 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:37.654747
The 120 Most Powerful Executives in Entertainment, Ranked	https://variety.com/lists/hollywood-studios-executives-ranked/	In business, the power of individual leaders is an inherently hard thing to measure. It’s subjective, and it fluctuates on any given day, just like the strength of an electrical current goes up and down depending on environmental conditions. To commemorate Variety’s 120th anniversary year, we gave ourselves a tough assignment. We wanted to take a snapshot […]	In business, the power of individual leaders is an inherently hard thing to measure. It’s subjective, and it fluctuates on any given day, just like the strength of an electrical current goes up and down depending on environmental conditions. To commemorate Variety’s 120th anniversary year, we gave ourselves a tough assignment. We wanted to take a snapshot of leadership and muscle in the entertainment industry at this fraught moment of turmoil and transition for Hollywood. After months of internal debate, months of arguing over draft lists and a last push of double-checking titles and name spellings, here we finally arrive at the end result: The Variety 120 list of the most powerful executives in entertainment. Notice the emphasis on executives. We realized early on that we needed strict guidelines for who to include and who not to include. The Variety 120 is a survey of executive leadership at the industry’s biggest and most influential companies. That includes some companies that are far removed from Hollywood geographically but still have influence in the global business of entertainment, which we define here as film, TV, music and gaming. We intentionally did not include actors, writers, directors, producers, multihyphenates, lawyers, talent agents or managers, simply to make the ranking process more manageable. We also kept our lens focused on traditional entertainment, thus this list does not include leaders from sports or news. When you get down to it, 120 isn’t that many slots to cover a truly global business. So we lean toward the C-suite – the senior managers who are responsible for driving their companies forward and delivering the bottom line. Also, notice the emphasis on big. This list leans toward the biggest studios, labels, streamers and game publishers who dominate mass media production and distribution. We considered a company’s market share and market cap in determining this ranking. A person’s career achievements and overall industry stature were also a factor for inclusion. We also considered things that can’t be tallied with a calculator. In many of the entries, you’ll read our assessment that the individual has strong ties or deep connections to the creative community, or the investment community, or that he or she commands great respect among colleagues. It’s a relationship business, after all. Executive careers rise and fall on the strength of reputations. All kidding aside, it really is like high school with money and stock options. Variety journalists write every day (every hour) about how dramatically our industry is being transformed by the streaming revolution, by the growth of the global demand for content and by the rise of digital-native creators who would scoff “TLDR” at the idea of getting notes from a creative executive. But in reality, if you want to break a new artist, launch a TV show, open a movie or orchestrate a blockbuster video game release – most roads to achieving a bona fide hit still run through the companies and the leaders highlighted here. Spoiler alert: Our selection for the last slot on this list, No. 120, was carefully considered. The person is the leader of Indonesia’s largest media conglomerate. Indonesia is one of the world’s fast-rising entertainment hubs. We noticed that from our internet traffic and by the growing number of markets and festivals that we cover in the region. We made this choice to bookend the list with a signpost of the future and an example of the reach and influence of movies, TV, music and games. From our very first issue, published Dec. 16, 1905, much of Variety’s focus has been on the people who work behind the scenes to make things happen for those who take the stage. We hope this list can be a scorecard for readers who, like the staff of Variety, are eager to see what comes next for our fascinating industry in 2026 and beyond. Profiles written by Jem Aswad, Matt Donnelly, Angelique Jackson, Brent Lang, Cynthia Littleton, Jennifer Maas, Naman Ramachandran, Rebecca Rubin, Michael Schneider, Todd Spangler, Brian Steinberg and Nick Vivarelli.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:38.228933
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Casts Sulu and Bones for Series Finale	https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-sulu-bones-1236616591/	Hikaru Sulu and Leonard “Bones” McCoy, two iconic characters from the original “Star Trek” series, will make their first appearances in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” during the finale of the fifth and final season. Thomas Jane will play Bones and Kai Murakami will play Sulu in the episode, which recently wrapped production. The news […]	Hikaru Sulu and Leonard “Bones” McCoy, two iconic characters from the original “Star Trek” series, will make their first appearances in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” during the finale of the fifth and final season. Thomas Jane will play Bones and Kai Murakami will play Sulu in the episode, which recently wrapped production. The news comes ahead of the 2026 release of Season 4. Jane’s credits in film include “Boogie Nights,” “Deep Blue Sea,” “The Punisher” and “The Mist.” His TV work has included HBO’s “Hung,” Syfy and later Amazon Prime Video’s “The Expanse” and Amazon’s “Troppo,” which he also executive produced. Murakami is making his TV debut in “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” Previously, he has acted on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and worked in performance-capture on the video games “Assassin’s Creed” and “Rise of the Ronin.” He is repped by Identity Agency Group in London. Popular on Variety “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Season 4 stars Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun and Martin Quinn, along with guest stars Carol Kane and Paul Wesley. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners, and executive produce alongside Alex Kurtzman, Mount, Aaron Baiers, Dana Horgan, Alan McElroy, Robbie Thompson, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Chris Fisher, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth. “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” premiered in 2022, followed by Season 2 in 2023 and Season 3 in 2025. Paramount announced the series’ renewal for a fifth and final season in June of this year, ahead of the Season 3 premiere.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:38.512101
‘Marty Supreme’s Odessa A’zion On Connecting With Timothée Chalamet, The ‘Euphoria’ Audition That Started It All And ‘I Love LA’ Season 2	https://deadline.com/2025/12/marty-supreme-odessa-azion-interview-1236655757/	Odessa A’zion has shot to stardom in mere minutes — or so it seems. Just a few weeks ago, she appeared in Rachel Sennott’s new comedy series, I Love LA, which has already been renewed for a second season. And now, the world is about to see her opposite Timothée Chalamet in Josh Safdie’s much-anticipated […]	Odessa A’zion has shot to stardom in mere minutes — or so it seems. Just a few weeks ago, she appeared in Rachel Sennott’s new comedy series, I Love LA, which has already been renewed for a second season. And now, the world is about to see her opposite Timothée Chalamet in Josh Safdie‘s much-anticipated A24 film Marty Supreme. So, where did she come from? When we meet via Zoom, A’zion addresses this right away, saying, “It’s really funny, because I’m seeing a lot of these things online of people being like, ‘Odessa A’zion just came out of nowhere and she’s an industry plant.’ And I’m like, ‘I’ve been acting for 10 years now.’” Very early roles included an episode of her mom Pamela Adlon’s show Better Things, and in the past few years, A’zion has been in the Dakota Johnson-starrer Am I OK?, the comedy series Ghosts, and this year the films Pools and Until Dawn. It was this last she was shooting in Budapest when she found an old phone booth and used it to record a self-tape audition for Marty Supreme — a scene in which her character, Rachel Mizler, is in a 1950s-era phone booth negotiating with the owner of a dog Marty is holding for ransom (yes, you read that correctly). Watch on Deadline Rachel is crazy in love with Chalamet’s Marty Mauser — a ping pong king and hustler extraordinaire, loosely based on a real person named Marty Reisman. Ultimately, both Rachel and Marty will reveal a level of determination that leans towards the twisted. Here, A’zion reveals how she persevered through a long period of not booking anything, how a long-ago Euphoria audition led to the role of Rachel and how her acting style blended with Chalamet’s approach. DEADLINE: Last time we met it was at a panel onstage at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and we talked about I Love LA. I think that was my first ever [on-stage Q&A]. That’s not true. I had done it once before, for Pools, but that felt like my first ever panel in front of a big audience like that. DEADLINE: Since then, you’ve been doing a lot of interviews. The last few months must have been very intense in the run-up to the Marty Supreme premiere. How are you coping with it? It has definitely been crazy. It’s definitely a new thing I’d never experienced before. How am I coping with it? I’m learning the ways. I’m trying to get past anxieties of talking to big groups of people. That’s scary. I have stage fright, so that’s really hard. Which I know maybe just goes away with experience of getting on stage more, but I never wanted to get on stage in front of people because it’s scary as hell. But I’m just excited that people are getting to see the show and the movie and projects that I care so deeply about. So if that means me having to do that, then I’m happy to be a part of it. Odessa A’zion in ‘Marty Supreme’ A24 DEADLINE: Tell me about the process of getting the role of Rachel in Marty Supreme? I know that you sent in some self-tapes you made in a Hungarian phone booth. I feel like for me personally, and when I first started acting and doing my own thing, I feel like I didn’t book anything for a really long time, I don’t know. It took a really long time for me to book something. And it really didn’t happen until I started making my tapes my own and dressing as the character, what I thought the character would look like, versus people telling me, “Just wear neutral colors, go with a blank background.” And when I first started, it was in person too anyway, so it was whatever background they had. But self-tapes, I feel like are so special because you really have an opportunity to make it your own and make it as realistic as you want to make it. And if I didn’t find a phone booth, I was going to find a way to find a phone booth. I sent the tape a sh-t-ton of times, a bunch of different tapes over the course of a couple days. And I memorized that faster than I’ve ever memorized anything in my life. DEADLINE: Because the audition was the scene where Rachel’s in the phone booth in the movie… Yeah. Which I think is way worse in the movie than my audition was. But yeah, it was a tape that had come about. I had met with Josh beforehand and Jennifer [Venditti, casting director] remembered me from my audition for Euphoria years ago and thought that I was right for this role, and was trying to tell Josh that she felt that she found his Rachel. And at first, when I met with him, he thought I was maybe too young and it didn’t go my way. And then a couple months later, it came back around and I was able to send the tape. I sent an improv portion, I sent an interview portion. And I mean, I sent the tape a sh-t-ton of times, a bunch of different tapes over the course of a couple days. And I memorized that faster than I’ve ever memorized anything in my life because I never will do a tape not memorized, like holding the paper. I feel it’s so important to show that you really took time and care about it. But yeah, after that, Jen and Josh Fac-Timed me. Josh was showing me around the stadium because the movie used to have a different ending and they were scouting for the stadium for the ending. And he was like, “This is where we’re going to shoot this. And this is where we shoot this. And this is Jack Fisk, he’s doing the set design.” I’m [thinking], what the f–k is going on? Did I get the part or are you just like, dangling it? And then he told me that I got the part. It was so crazy. DEADLINE: Did you have the full script? Did you know about the different ending at the time? I had the script with the original ending before it was changed a couple different times, and then a couple things just had to be cut timing-wise in the movie because otherwise it would’ve been an even longer movie. I feel like they got it to a really good time. Timothée Chalamet in ‘Marty Supreme’ A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection DEADLINE: Did you do chemistry reads with Timothée before you got the role? Obviously your characters have this intense connection. No, no. Nothing. Personally, I feel like Josh, I think he’s got a really good read on actors — a really, really good read. And I think he could just tell if someone will work with someone else beforehand. I think if he has an intuition on someone or something, he’s going to go with it, no matter what. Even if maybe they don’t have chemistry in person or something, I think he can see his vision. DEADLINE: So, then what was your first interaction with Timothée? Did you just go right into shooting? Josh thought that it would be a good idea to have us go and have breakfast together somewhere. Or maybe it was dinner. Me, Josh, and Timmy at this little diner in New York. And so, we just hung there for a little bit, and all talked before we started things. I was so excited to start that movie. That movie just is so special for so many reasons. I was kind of feeling at a time where I know I want to do acting with my life… I was just talking to my agent and friend a couple days before I got the tape and I’m like, “Dude, I love working. I love doing these horror movies and I love doing these Indies.” But I’m just like, “I don’t know if I’m going to ever have a career more than this.” And then… This is the first time I’m in something of this scale and this character. I’ve been thinking about that so much. I feel so lucky that I was able to be a part of it. And I feel like Rachel came at such an important time in my life too, just mentally, because I felt like she came when I really needed her. I don’t know, not to get emotional… It was just a hard, hard year, a lot of loss, a lot of people lost and you can’t do anything about that. Once people are gone, they’re gone. So this whole thing felt really, really special and kismet and from the angels, kind of. She’s just such a special character to me. Penn Jillette, Kevin O’Leary, Timothée Chalamet, Odessa A’zion, Tyler, The Creator, Gwyneth Paltrow and Koto Kawaguchi at the ‘Marty Supreme’ LA Premiere DEADLINE: What do you think of Rachel? She’s scrappy. She’ll do what it takes to get out of a situation. She, in a way, feels like a mixture of inner child and chaos and freedom, while also being really, really strong, secure adult. She’s so confident in what she wants and what she believes she deserves for herself. I wish I had that confidence and to defend yourself and stand up for yourself. And I just think she’s just a really layered, really beautiful strong, character… I just think she’s so stuck in this world. I mean, you look at 1952 and her situation and her husband and being pregnant with the other guy’s baby, but she really wants to be with the other guy, because they’ve loved each other their whole lives. And she’s just so stuck. She’s just restrained by this societal pressure to settle down and get married and do it fast, when she knew that she wanted to be with this other person. And so she takes it into her own hands. She says, “OK, if he doesn’t want to be with me this way, I’m going to show him.” I really, really admire her. I’m going to go home and watch Hitchcock because I know that those are the movies that were going around at that time. And I’m going to chop my hair off for the role and strip the color out to make her feel younger. DEADLINE: I interviewed Timmy for A Complete Unknown last year, and one of the things we talked about was how much he immersed himself in this role for Marty Supreme. Tell me about your impressions of working with him, the way he works, and the way your styles fit together as actors. So, I think in ways we’re very similar and in ways we’re very different. We’re very similar in ways of we just want it to be as authentic as it possibly can be, which means for me, less rehearsal. Let’s just go in and do it and feel it out and feel what comes. And if there’s something that one of us is stuck on, let’s talk about it. We can easily talk about it. There’s not one of us saying, “I don’t want to talk about it.” It’s fully open, flowy. If one of us feels stuck, we’re there. But then [we’re] different in the other sense of he really immerses himself in the character in that way — I don’t really know because I haven’t really talked to him about it, so I cannot speak on his behalf, but from what I’ve witnessed. Versus for me, I immerse myself in the character in just a different way where I’m going to go home and watch Hitchcock because I know that those are the movies that were going around at that time. And I’m going to chop my hair off for the role and strip the color out to make her feel younger. Josh liked my natural color better, and I’m going to make my hair super frizzy so that I’m extra Jewish for the role because that’s what that character was. And I’m going to put the weights on my belly so that I could really feel like I’m pregnant. I’m going to make the playlists so that I have the Rachel playlist of what I think that she was listening to then. And then just a playlist of what I feel about Rachel and Marty’s love. So, I immerse myself in a different way than Timmy immerses himself. I think he needs to be locked into the character in just a different way, but we work with each other really, really well. And I loved working with him and he’s just so incredible. He’s such an amazing actor. Rachel Sennott and Odessa A’zion in ‘I Love LA’ HBO DEADLINE: Do you feel ready for everyone to see the film when it premieres in a couple days? I don’t know. I’m a little scared. I’m really, really excited for people to see the movie. I’m really excited for people to see the movie because it’s just such an incredible movie, and these filmmakers, they really have a vision. And I’m so grateful to have been a part in it, in even the tiniest way. It happened really fast. I feel like we just finished filming and boom, now it’s coming out. DEADLINE: And what are you most excited about making Season 2 of I Love LA? I’m just excited to go back with all the cast. And the character’s very different for me. We talk different, we walk different. I feel like we look a little different. So that’s always really weird for me, but it’s really fun to do with the cast and to be able to shoot at home because I’m from LA, I live in LA. It’s the best. I’m super excited to go back. Marty Supreme is in theaters from December 25th.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:46:52 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:39.745461
Everything We Know About ‘Percy Jackson And The Olympians’ Season 3 So Far	https://deadline.com/feature/percy-jackson-and-the-olympians-season-3-news-updates-1236495797/	Although Season 2 of Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series adaptation hasn’t even arrived yet, the cast and crew are hard at work on Season 3 already. The series received a very early Season 3 renewal in March 2025, and some very key players have been cast for the third installment. Read on […]	Although Season 2 of Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians television series adaptation hasn’t even arrived yet, the cast and crew are hard at work on Season 3 already. The series received a very early Season 3 renewal in March 2025, and some very key players have been cast for the third installment. Read on for more details and everything we know about Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3. What will Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 be about? Watch on Deadline Season 3 of the show will be adapted from the third book in Riordan’s original series — The Titan’s Curse. This book marks a shift in the tone of the books as things get a little darker and heavier for the demigods. Will there be new characters in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3? Yes, several new faces will appear in Season 3 just as they were new to the book. At San Diego Comic Con 2025, Disney announced the casting of Bianca and Nico Di Angelo, children of Hades who team up with Percy in the third book. Olive Abercrombie will portray Bianca, and Levi Chrisopulos will play Nico. RELATED: ‘Percy Jackson And The Olympians’ Unveils Season 2 Release Date, Epic Teaser Trailer & Bianca And Nico Di Angelo Casting For Season 3 — Comic-Con The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported the news that Dafne Keen (Deadpool & Wolverine, His Dark Materials) has been cast as Artemis, the goddess of hunting and the moon and that Saara Chaudry (The Mysterious Benedict Society, PAW Patrol: The Movie) will play Zoë Nightshade, Artemis’ lieutenant and an immortal hunter. Before she joined the Hunters of Artemis, Nightshade, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, used to be a Hesperide, or nymph of the sunset. Variety exclusively reported Kate McKinnon’s casting as Aphrodite for Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite can alter her appearance based on the beholder. Deadline broke the news of Holt McCallany’s casting as the feared Titan Atlas, who holds up the sky. We also revealed that David Costabile will play Dr. Thorn, who readers meet at the very beginning of The Titan’s Curse. Jesse L. Martin will portray Annabeth’s mortal father, Frederick Chase. When will Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians come out? Is Season 3 in production? The release date for Season 3 will likely not be confirmed for a while, because it is still in production. Filming for Season 3 started in August 2025, a year after production on Season 2 wrapped. Who else is behind Season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians? Percy Jackson and the Olympians stars Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Charlie Bushnell, and Dior Goodjohn. Season 2 stars include Daniel Diemer as Percy’s half brother Tyson, and Tamara Smart as Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Other recurring guest stars include Jason Mantzoukas as Dionysus the leader of Camp Half-Blood, Simons as Tantalus and Lin Manuel-Miranda as Hermes, messenger of the gods. Courtney B. Vance has been recast as Zeus, taking up the mantle from the late Lance Reddick. Sandra Bernhard, Kirsten Schaal and Margeret Cho will portray The Gray Sisters in Season 2. Executive producers include Jonathan E. Steinberg and showrunner Dan Shotz. Author Rick Riordan also serves as co-creator and executive producer.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:28:53 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:40.035440
Late-Night TV Got More Liberal In 2025, Per Study	https://deadline.com/2025/12/late-night-tv-more-liberal-2025-study-1236655871/	Late-night television has had a wounding year; The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled ahead of David Ellison’s purchase of Paramount, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air following a furor around Charlie Kirk’s murder and CBS axed its 12:30am slot. Pressure from the right, whether direct in Kimmel’s case or implied in Colbert’s, was […]	Late-night television has had a wounding year; The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled ahead of David Ellison’s purchase of Paramount, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air following a furor around Charlie Kirk’s murder and CBS axed its 12:30am slot. Pressure from the right, whether direct in Kimmel’s case or implied in Colbert’s, was a defining feature of the year for the sector so it’s not a huge surprise that the content of these shows got more liberal, according to a new study. The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group which is part-funded by Republican donor Robert Mercer, clocked that 92% of jokes told on the six nightly late-night shows were aimed at conservatives. Watch on Deadline The group analyzed jokes from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from January 6 through December 19, as well as jokes told on After Midnight until its cancellation on June 12. It found that of the 13,097 political jokes told, some 12,011 were about figures such as President Trump, Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Pete Hegseth. This 92% figure was up from the 82% last year, per the study. Liberals were the butt of the joke just 982 times across 818 episodes, which was the first time in the study’s history that this joke count failed. The group noted that this marked the first time for that figure to reach quadruple digits. Melania Trump, President Biden, JD Vance and Eric Trump rounded out the top ten alongside general MAGA/Trump supporters and Republicans. Party leadership, however, was fairly even with late-night hosts mocking Mike Johnson around the same amount as they mocked Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. Real America’s Voice’s Brian Glenn was the most joked-about conservative media personality. The study found that Kimmel was the biggest source of gags against the right with 97% of his 3,046 jokes about them, understandable given that Trump and his FCC commissioner Brendan Carr went after him so directly. Colbert was next with 92% of his jokes aimed at Republicans, again, understandable given that he was canceled days after accusing his parent company Paramount of making a “bigfatbribe” to settle a lawsuit with the President to smooth over a deal with Ellison. The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon hosted the most number of shows this year with 161 episodes but had the lowest percentage of jokes against Republicans with 89%.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:12:59 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:40.682625
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Casts Bones & Sulu For Final Season	https://deadline.com/2025/12/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-bones-sulu-cast-final-season-1236655773/	It’s official. Classic Star Trek characters Bones and Sulu will be making an appearance in the final season of Strange New Worlds, which recently wrapped production. Thomas Jane portrays Leonard “Bones” McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley in the original series, and rising actor Kai Murakami plays Hikaru Sulu, portrayed by George Takei in the OG. […]	It’s official. Classic Star Trek characters Bones and Sulu will be making an appearance in the final season of Strange New Worlds, which recently wrapped production. Thomas Jane portrays Leonard “Bones” McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley in the original series, and rising actor Kai Murakami plays Hikaru Sulu, portrayed by George Takei in the OG. Both will appear in the final episode of Season 5, which brings the series to a close. Neither character has yet appeared in the prequel series, as the show is set years before Star Trek: The Original Series, but there has been speculation that they would be introduced as the series moves closer to the OG timeline to round out the Enterprise crew before Kirk takes command. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was renewed by Paramount+ in June for a six-episode fifth and final season ahead of its Season 3 premiere in July. Watch on Deadline Premiere dates for seasons 4 and 5 are TBD. Seasons one through three are streaming on Paramount+. Season 4 stars Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun and Martin Quinn, along with guest star Carol Kane and special guest star Paul Wesley. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners. Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers, Aaron Baiers, Dana Horgan, Alan McElroy, Robbie Thompson, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Chris Fisher, Anson Mount, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as season four executive producers. Jane is known for his work in films such as 61*, The Thin Red Line, Boogie Nights, The Punisher, The Predator and Amazon series The Expanse and Troppo, in which he starred and directed, among many others. He recently wrapped the upcoming Western Frontier Crucible with Armie Hammer, which he produces and stars. Jane is repped by Paradigm. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds marks Murakami’s television acting debut. He previously performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company as Kazego in My Neighbour Totoro, the critically acclaimed, multi-Olivier award-winning stage show adapted by Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer). Next year, Murakami will take on the leading role of Oba Yozo in the 2026 stage adaptation of No Longer Human produced by Art’Morte. Murakami is repped by Identity Agency Group (IAG) in London.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:40.942624
‘Wicked: For Good,’ ‘Nuremberg’ & ‘Train Dreams’ Filmmakers Set For Book To Screen Program At 2026 Palm Springs Film Festival	https://deadline.com/2025/12/palm-springs-film-festival-book-to-screen-program-2026-lineup-1236655786/	The Palm Springs Film Festival is bringing back its Book to Screen program for its 2026 edition, in partnership with Deadline, and on Tuesday unveiled the lineup. Celebrating the intersection of literature and film while fostering meaningful conversations between creators and audiences, the program will feature conversations with Nuremberg filmmaker James Vanderbilt, the Trains Dreams […]	The Palm Springs Film Festival is bringing back its Book to Screen program for its 2026 edition, in partnership with Deadline, and on Tuesday unveiled the lineup. Celebrating the intersection of literature and film while fostering meaningful conversations between creators and audiences, the program will feature conversations with Nuremberg filmmaker James Vanderbilt, the Trains Dreams duo of Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, as well as Winnie Holzman, the Tony Award-nominated playwright and screenwriter behind Broadway’s Wicked and the recent pair of Wicked films from Universal, including this year’s Wicked: For Good. Deadline’s Matt Grobar will moderate the conversations, taking place between January 5-9, 2026. For more information on this year’s crop of films, and when each panel is set to take place, read on. Watch on Deadline Monday, January 5 9:30 a.m. Wicked: For Good with screenwriter Winnie Holzman Universal Pictures’ epic conclusion to the untold story of the witches of Oz finds Elphaba and Glinda estranged and living with the consequences of their choices. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good. Tuesday, January 6 9:30 a.m. Nuremberg with director/screenwriter James Vanderbilt Sony Picture Classics’ Nuremberg follows the Allies, led by the unyielding chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, as they take on the task of ensuring the Nazi regime answers for the unveiled horrors of the Holocaust while a U.S. Army psychiatrist is locked in a dramatic psychological duel with former Reichsmarschall Herman Göring. Friday, January 9 7:30 p.m. Train Dreams with director/screenwriter Clint Bentley and screenwriter Greg Kwedar Based on the beloved novella by Denis Johnson, Netflix’s Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier, whose life unfolds during an era of unprecedented change in early 20th century America. Orphaned at a young age, Robert grows into adulthood among the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, where he helps expand the nation’s railroad empire alongside men as unforgettable as the landscapes they inhabit. After a tender courtship, he marries Gladys and they build a home together, though his work often takes him far from her and their young daughter. When his life takes an unexpected turn, Robert finds beauty, brutality and newfound meaning for the forests and trees he has felled.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T19:00:41.229644
Kevin Arkadie, Co-Creator of ‘New York Undercover,’ Dies at 68	https://variety.com/2025/tv/obituaries-people-news/kevin-arkadie-dead-new-york-undercover-creator-1236616738/	Kevin Arkadie, the American television producer who created the police drama “New York Undercover” with Dick Wolf, has died. He was 68. Arkadie was born on Dec. 10, 1957. He grew up in Maryland and received his BFA in acting from Southern Methodist University in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career […]	Kevin Arkadie, the American television producer who created the police drama “New York Undercover” with Dick Wolf, has died. He was 68. Arkadie was born on Dec. 10, 1957. He grew up in Maryland and received his BFA in acting from Southern Methodist University in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. He secured his first job as a staff writer on the NBC drama series “I’ll Fly Away.” He subsequently created “New York Undercover” with Wolf in 1994. The series, which starred Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo as undercover NYPD officers, was the first American cop drama to feature two people of color as the leads. It ran on Fox for four seasons before going off the air in 1999. Popular on Variety During and after “New York Undercover,” Arkadie produced “Chicago Hope” on CBS, “NYPD Blue” on ABC and “The Shield” on FX, among other series. He also continued to write, penning episodes of the NBC miniseries “The Temptations” and serving as showrunner on BET’s “Sacrifice” for two seasons. He was twice nominated for an Outstanding Drama Series Emmy in 1996 and 1998, for “Chicago Hope” and “NYPD Blue,” respectively. He recently collaborated with Tony Award winner Lamar Richardson and Zaire Julion-Richardson’s Ivy Lion Productions on the TV project “Freeman Ranch.” His additional credits include “Dr. Quinn,” “Medicine Woman,” “Law & Order,” “High Incident,” “Rescue 77,” “Ambitions” and “The Quad.” In July, Arkadie said in an Instagram video that he was dealing with kidney failure. Since his death on Dec. 22, several of his colleagues and collaborators have made statements. Wolf said, “Kevin brought the voice of the next generation to cop shows and was instrumental in bringing diversity to the forefront of network television. We will all miss him.” Wolf Studios also released an official statement, celebrating Arkadie’s impact on television through “New York Underground” and his other shows. “Beyond his creative achievements,” the statement concludes, “Kevin was a trusted collaborator and a generous presence. His legacy lives on in the meaningful and memorable stories he helped tell. We remain grateful for his contributions, and he will be deeply missed and always remembered. Lamar also released a statement, calling Arkadie “a consummate professional, true collaborator, and astute researcher” while Arkadie’s cousin and fellow producer L True Green called him “one of America’s greatest storytellers” in a Facebook post. Arkadie is survived by his wife and family.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:21:16 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:21.066953
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Blood! How ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Make-Up Team Recreated ‘Cinderella’ as a Body Horror	https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/ugly-stepsister-body-horror-cinderella-1236616590/	Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt’s feature debut “The Ugly Stepsister” takes inspiration from an unlikely pair of genres: Disney fairy tales and Italian Giallo films. The movie, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was acquired by Shudder, reimagines “Cinderella” as a body horror film from the empathetic perspective of the titular, […]	Norwegian director Emilie Blichfeldt’s feature debut “The Ugly Stepsister” takes inspiration from an unlikely pair of genres: Disney fairy tales and Italian Giallo films. The movie, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was acquired by Shudder, reimagines “Cinderella” as a body horror film from the empathetic perspective of the titular, vilified sibling, Elvira (Lea Myren). As Elvira prepares for the prince’s royal ball, she undergoes body transformations large and small to try conforming to society’s highest beauty standards. “The most important thing was to make just a normal, cute teenager who is just really in love with this prince,” explains the movie’s makeup designer Anne Cathrine Sauerberg, “and to show what people do to themselves.” Popular on Variety Just the initial effect of making the 24-year-old Myren look like a teenager was a feat for the prosthetic and makeup departments. “She was wearing cheeks and a nose and has a fake neck that actually stops in the middle of the neck,” says prosthetic makeup designer and special effects artist Thomas Foldberg. “We didn’t want her neck to be too broad. We wanted to erase the collarbone and some of the neck muscles. We wanted to make her softer without exaggerating, so it had to be kept really tight and really subtle.” At first, Elvira’s transformations are indeed subtle. At the behest of her mother, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), Elvira undergoes a cosmetic nose realignment, executed in the archaic medical practices of the film’s 19th-century setting. The doctor (Adam Lundgren) intentionally fractures Elvira’s nose and she wears a face brace for much of the first act, removing it once to reveal a partially healed, misshapen ridge and later removing it again to reveal a much more conventional nose. Because Foldberg and Sauerberg had Myren in a prosthetic nose from the beginning, they were able to adjust it accordingly to create the subtle change. The subtlety decreases as Elvira further modifies her body in anticipation of the ball. Once her nose is in place, Elvira gets an eyelash transplant whereby the same doctor threads fake lashes through her lower eyelid. The camera captures the procedure in an extreme close-up of Elvira’s eye and reverse shots from Elvira’s horrifying perspective. To achieve the realistic look of the extreme close-up, Foldberg opted for a blend of practical and digital effects. He collaborated with visual effects supervisor Peter Hjort to composite the actor’s actual eye onto a dummy head. “We did the whole scene with the actress and then we did it with the fake head, which I was actually stitching into, and everything was put together afterwards” Foldberg explains. “It’s basically half a dummy head from the eyelids below and then the other part is the actor herself.” The film’s most gruesome scene, however, comes after the ball and is ripped straight from the pages of the original “Cinderella” folk tale. In an effort to fit into the slipper that her stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) left at the ball, Elvira severs the toes from her right foot. In a series of sanguinary close-ups, Elvira takes a cleaver to her digits, first slicing them and then fully dismembering them. “It was extremely complicated to do the slit where the blood is kind of beating out,” explains Foldberg. “That was one big prosthetic foot and then we had two fake legs that went from under her knees and below. We had this blood rigged leg for the initial chopping off of the toes and then it had some small attachments.” After Elvira cuts off her toes and is bleeding out, Rebekka finds her and realizes that she severed the wrong foot for the slipper. Obsessively, Rebekka recreates the wound on Elvira’s left foot, this time captured in a wide shot that shows the foot and leg attached to Elvira’s body. “The real leg was hidden under her dress,” says Foldberg of the shot. “It’s just bent and then the prosthetic leg goes from the knee and down.” Despite her pathological efforts, Elvira fails to win over the prince and in the final sequence, she crawls about on her broken feet, her hair thinning and teeth chipped from the trauma she’s put herself through. Much of that trauma stems from a tapeworm egg that Elvira consumes to lose weight at the beginning of her transformation. By the end, the worm is fully grown, several feet long, and Elvira’s sister, Alma (Flo Fagerli) must help her remove it in a gristly game of tug of war. To achieve the effect of Alma extracting the worm from Elvira’s mouth, Foldberg and his team created several silicone worm pieces and then fed them through a contraption attached to the side of Myren’s face. The contraption was composited out in post-production to make it look like the worm is expelled from the depths of Elvira’s throat. “We also had a puppet head of her from the nose down,” says Foldberg. “Where you could push big chunks of this worm and slime out of her.” The film as a whole used minimal CGI and instead went for practical effects paired with compositing, creating a raw and seamless look throughout. This ingenuity paid off, as “The Ugly Stepsister” is now shortlisted for Best Makeup & Hairstyling at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards. It is Shudder’s first shortlisted film in the category. For the film’s success, Sauerberg and Foldberg credit Blichfeldt. “She was so well prepared and had so many ideas,” says Foldberg. “I was really, really blown away by her knowledge of genre films and she had really a specific vision for this project.” “We all know Cinderella’s story so well, so we all have different pictures of how it should look like, and [Blichfeldt’s] vision was just so extremely clear,” adds Sauerberg. “It was so easy to connect with her and her visions and align them with my own visions.”	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:16:18 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:21.481439
Rob Reiner and Wife’s Death Certificates Confirm They Died ‘Minutes’ After ‘Multiple’ Knife Wound Injuries; Children Say Memorial Service Will Be Held at a ‘Later Date’	https://variety.com/2025/film/news/rob-reiner-died-minutes-after-knife-inuries-memorial-service-1236616737/	Rob and Michele Reiner died “minutes” after sustaining “multiple sharp force injuries,” the couple’s official death certificate confirms. Rob, 78, the legendary actor-turned-director, and his wife Michele, 70, were found dead on Dec. 14 in their Brentwood home. The death certificates listed the cause as “with [a] knife, by another” and noted the time between the […]	Rob and Michele Reiner died “minutes” after sustaining “multiple sharp force injuries,” the couple’s official death certificate confirms. Rob, 78, the legendary actor-turned-director, and his wife Michele, 70, were found dead on Dec. 14 in their Brentwood home. The death certificates listed the cause as “with [a] knife, by another” and noted the time between the attack and death as “minutes.” Rob was discovered at 3:45 p.m. and Michele was found at 3:46 p.m. on Dec. 14. They have since been cremated, according to the death certificates. Their son Nick, 32, has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder. Rob and Michele Reiner met while he was directing the rom-com “When Harry Met Sally” and got married several months later in 1989. They had three kids, Nick, Romy and Jake. Rob also adopted his daughter, Tracy, during his first marriage to Penny Marshall. Popular on Variety Rob and Michele’s bodies were found by Romy, who was called to the house after a massage therapist couldn’t reach the couple, according to the New York Times. Nick was arrested later that night. Jake and Romy first spoke out about the death of their parents on Dec. 17. “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” they said in a statement. They have since released a statement to People to share their gratitude for the “outpouring of love and support.” Jake and Romy added that a memorial service honoring Rob and Michele will be held “at a later date.” Rob Reiner, the son of famed writer-director-comedian Carl Reiner, starred in the 1971 sitcom “All in the Family” before directing films like “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “A Few Good Men” and “Stand by Me.” Rob’s most recent film, “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” was released earlier this year.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:08:45 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:21.780881
‘The Plague’ Director Charlie Polinger on Making Audiences Squirm by Revisiting Their Childhood and How a Film About Bullying Plays in Trump’s America	https://variety.com/2025/film/features/the-plague-bullying-film-trump-america-1236614036/	“Sometimes I’m so fucking glad that I never have to be young again.” Film critic David Ehrlich’s brief review of Charlie Polinger’s “The Plague” on Letterboxd succinctly sums up scores of sentiments shared on social media. The film, which opens in theaters on Dec. 24 via Independent Film Company, is an unconventional horror tale about […]	“Sometimes I’m so fucking glad that I never have to be young again.” Film critic David Ehrlich’s brief review of Charlie Polinger‘s “The Plague” on Letterboxd succinctly sums up scores of sentiments shared on social media. The film, which opens in theaters on Dec. 24 via Independent Film Company, is an unconventional horror tale about a young boy named Ben (Everett Blunck), who is new to the social structure of an all-boys water polo camp. Other children, under the direction of their cruel peer Jake (Kayo Martin) and with very little adult supervision, alienate shy young Eli (Kenny Rasmussen) by saying he has the titular disease. Things get uncomfortable from there. The casual viciousness of children is the centerpiece of the film, which has triggered audiences who grew up in the same era as Polinger. After he directed a 2018 short film named “Sauna” with similar themes, he caught COVID and was quarantined in his childhood bedroom. While there, Polinger went through his journals and was reminded of the genesis of the “Plague” game and the memories of people he hadn’t thought about in ages. Popular on Variety “I’ve been surprised every step of the way, even just how cross-generational and cross-cultural that sentiment of youth seems to be,” he says. “I had that experience looking at these journals, where it was a sensory portal bringing me back to a time that I had really buried. It was very intense and visceral and overwhelming. I think that the movie has that effect on other people, where it’s like that smell, that candle that brings you back to certain times in life. That takes you on your own journey, and anyone might apply something personal to the movie. People come up to me after screenings and talk to me about their experiences, very personal stories.” Although the film is a period piece set a few decades ago without cellphones, it’s being released at a time when the country is run by President Trump, who frequently uses bullying to set the national tone. Polinger says that although his film is informed by specificity, it can speak broadly to many different cultural touchpoints. “My feeling about films in general is, when you’re making something that feels as honest as possible and personal, those things usually apply in larger political ways,” he says. “I think there are dynamics of how bullying works, but also how social hierarchies are developed, and myths are made. ‘The Plague’ is kind of a myth. In the beginning, it’s clearly a very dumb game and a dumb joke, and it’s not taken very seriously. But because everyone else chooses to take it seriously, because everyone else is doing it, it starts to become something increasingly real because the collective has made it so. “Jake, as a ringleader, will look at you like you’re crazy if you don’t take it seriously,” Polinger continues. “You want to fit in with Jake because it’s too scary not to have his approval, because he’s so charismatic, and he’s bonding with everyone else by making fun of the outcast. So you don’t want to be that person. You play the rules of the game, and suddenly they become crystallized. I think that paradigm applies to bigger social structures, political things … in general, authoritarianism. There are cycles of this throughout history that are built around the same human instincts that, hopefully, this film is exploring through a more personal lens.” After “The Plague,” Polinger is set to adapt a high-profile property, helming a feature-length version of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death,” starring Oscar winner Mikey Madison. Polinger is excited to start filming his unique vision of the classic text. “It’s definitely inspired by the short story, but it goes into a completely new story,” he says. “So it’s a very bombastic, irreverent, dark comedic tale, set in this medieval, slightly fantastical world. It’s not a modernized version of it at all. It’s high energy, it’s out there and very different in many ways on the surface from ‘The Plague,’ but also exploring claustrophobic group dynamics — just from a very different genre and tone.” Watch the trailer for “The Plague” below.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:22.054550
‘Stranger Things’ All-Time Stats: 1.2 Billion Total Views, Most Rewatched Scenes and $1.4 Billion Contributed to the U.S. Economy (EXCLUSIVE)	https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/stranger-things-stats-views-rewatched-scenes-1236615396/	As “Stranger Things” comes to a close, with the Netflix hit’s series finale set for release on New Year’s Eve, its impact on culture over the last nine years is hard to ignore. The fifth and final season helped the show achieve new viewership records before it was even released, then achieved Netflix’s biggest-ever opening […]	As “Stranger Things” comes to a close, with the Netflix hit’s series finale set for release on New Year’s Eve, its impact on culture over the last nine years is hard to ignore. The fifth and final season helped the show achieve new viewership records before it was even released, then achieved Netflix’s biggest-ever opening week for an English-language series. Now, less than a month after Season 5 Volume 1 and days ahead of Volume 2, Netflix reports that the entirety of “Stranger Things” has crossed 1.2 billion views in total. That statistic, calculated by dividing the total amount of time the series has ever been streamed by the combined runtime of all available episodes, puts “Stranger Things” as a whole above any series in Netflix history — even “Wednesday” and “Squid Game,” which are the only projects with individual seasons that rank above “Stranger Things” Season 4. Released in 2023, Season 4 remains at No. 2 on Netflix’s list of its most popular English-language TV title of all time. Season 3, which is more than six years old now, only recently fell off that chart. Popular on Variety As such, the most-rewatched scenes in the show’s history came in those seasons: No. 1 is the scene in Season 4 Episode 7 when Nancy (Natalia Dyer) falls into a trance while being possessed by Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower), followed by the Season 3 Episode 8 scene when Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) sing the “NeverEnding Story” theme song together. In just 25 days, Volume 1 of Season 5 has reached 102.6 million views. It’s all but guaranteed that Season 5 will make the all-time viewership chart next month; if it was eligible now, before its final episode have been released, it would already rank at No. 9, between “Bridgerton” Season 3 (2024) and “The Night Agent” Season 1 (2023). Plus, Netflix measures its all-time chart ending 91 days after each title’s final episodes are released, meaning Season 5 will continue accruing views until three months after the New Year’s Eve finale. The season has a solid shot to make it to No. 1 during the first quarter of 2026. In addition, “Stranger Things” Season 5 has ranked as the most-watched title of the week in 90 of the 93 countries Netflix tracks while also directing viewers back to previous seasons. “Stranger Things” became the first Netflix series to have four seasons in the Top 10 at once, then the first to chart with five seasons — and all five seasons remain on the chart even now, four weeks since Season 5 debuted. And since the advent of the Netflix Top 10 in 2021, the series’ five seasons have made the global Netflix Top 10 a combined 78 times. All 93 countries tracked have seen on “Stranger Things” on their individual Top 10 lists at one point or another. Still, the reach of “Stranger Things” expands beyond Netflix views. The show made headline after headline for its use of “Running Up That Hill” in Season 4. 38 years after the song was released, “Stranger Things” helped earn Kate Bush her first-ever Top 10 hit in the U.S. Additionally, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” (1986) made the U.K. Top 10 for the first time after being used in the season. With Season 5, that effect has been replicated again and again. According to Spotify, several oldies have seen major streaming boosts since their use in Volume 1. Among Gen Z, Diana Ross’ “Upside Down” (1980) saw an increase in streams of 1,250% and Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1987) jumped by 880%. Across all demographics, streams have risen for The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman” (1954) by 625% and for ABBA’s “Fernando” (1976) by 335%, with the latter getting a 645% boost with Gen Z. The music streamer also reports that users have created 205,000 “Stranger Things”-themed playlists since Season 1 debuted in 2016. Eggo, the frozen waffle brand that has existed since 1956, enjoyed renewed interest after being prominently featured in “Stranger Things” as the favorite snack of Millie Bobby Brown’s character, Eleven. Parent company Kellogg’s reported 14% growth in the fourth quarter of 2017, which followed the release of Season 2, and 9.4% growth in the first four months of 2018. Netflix also boasts that interest in “Dungeons & Dragons” has grown by 673% since the 2016 debut of “Stranger Things,” which constantly references the table-top role-playing game — though it must be noted that the “Dungeons & Dragons” universe has made many big strides of its own over the last nine years, including expansions to the game itself, a 2023 feature film and more. Still, its rise — which also includes sales increases of 96% in both 2017 and 2018 — was still heavily impacted by “Stranger Things,” and the show and game have released multiple official collaborations. The show also drove a collaboration between Netflix and Nabisco, with the snack company releasing limited-edition “Stranger Things” Chip’s Ahoy cookies ahead of Season 5. The campaign around the cookies reached 11 billion impressions. Naturally, the series has been a massive boon to the business of content. Since 2016, “Stranger Things” has created more than 8,000 production jobs in the U.S. and contributed $1.4 billion to the national GDP. That impact has been strongest in Georgia, where most of the series was filmed, with $650 million contributed to the state GDP and more than 2,000 vendors involved in production. Next in line was California, with $500 million contributed to the state GDP. “Stranger Things” has also spawned a universe of its own, even before on-screen spinoffs have been released. In the U.S. alone, “Stranger Things” books, comics and other publishing projects have crossed 3.1 million sales since Season 1. “Stranger Things: The Experience,” a live event that was first produced in 2022, has led to 850,000 ticket sales across cities including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, London, Paris, Brazil and Australia. Other live events around the globe, pegged to Season 5 specifically, have attracted more than 300,000 fans across 32 cities and 23 countries, with highlights including the “One Last Ride” cycling event in Los Angeles (50,000 fans) and a parade in São Paulo (13,000). There are still more events to come in London, Bangkok, Milan, Las Vegas and Madrid as 2025 concludes. And in an unprecedented move especially for Netflix, the series finale on New Year’s Eve will be played in movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada. “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” a play that serves as a prequel to the TV series, debuted in London’s West End in 2023, with a Broadway transfer opening earlier this year. The play won four Tony Awards in the U.S. plus two Olivier Awards and Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards in the U.K. — adding to the 70 awards and 230 nominations the TV series has earned to date, which includes 12 Emmy wins. And when looking at the career trajectories of the young cast of “Stranger Things,” the series can be looked at as a Disney Channel-like talent pipeline, generating celebrities out of tweens who were relatively unknown beforehand. Brown has become Netflix royalty, leading the films “The Electric State” and “Damsel” — the latter being the streamer’s No. 10 most popular English-language movie of all time, plus the “Enola Holmes” franchise, which has a third film premiering in 2026. Social media is another good measure of the cast’s rise. Netflix’s earliest tracked Instagram follower count for Brown — which came before “Stranger Things Season 1 debuted but potentially after trailers and marketing had been released — was 2.1 million, and she now has more than 68 million. Sadie Sink, who plays Max, has the next-highest following with 26.8 million, up from 1.1 million before her debut in Season 2. Other following increases include 6,400 to 23 million for Finn Wolfhard; 10,000 to 23.4 million for Noah Schnapp; 18,000 to to 13 million for Caleb McLaughlin; and 20,000 to 17 million for Matarazzo. New Season 5 stars Jake Connelly and Nell Fisher have seen increases from 12,000 to 582,000 and 30,000 to 875,000, respectively. Also on social, the pre-launch marketing campaign for “Stranger Things” Season 5 was Netflix’s biggest ever with 5.8 billion impressions. The concurrent rewatch campaign for previous seasons generated 1.3 billion impressions, and “Stranger Things: The Experience” has achieved 2 billion social impressions to date. Even the show’s Easter eggs have gone viral; the subtle inclusion of a “Missing Teen” hotline for Eleven in Season 5 went viral online and resulted in more than 1 million calls.	en	entertainment	https://variety.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:00:00 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:22.324121
‘Emily In Paris’ Season 5 Jettisons To No. 2 On Netflix’s English TV List; Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua Fight Takes Third Place	https://deadline.com/2025/12/emily-in-paris-season-5-premiere-jake-paul-fight-viewership-1236655947/	Emily in Paris returned to Netflix last week and, even though she’s jetted off to Rome, audiences are still tuning in. The fifth season came in No. 2 among English series from December 15 to 21 with 13.5M views in its opening weekend. That’s down from Season 4, which debuted to 19.9M views, though still […]	Emily in Paris returned to Netflix last week and, even though she’s jetted off to Rome, audiences are still tuning in. The fifth season came in No. 2 among English series from December 15 to 21 with 13.5M views in its opening weekend. That’s down from Season 4, which debuted to 19.9M views, though still a strong showing for a returning series. Netflix has, of course, thrown its weight behind a hefty marketing campaign for Emily in Paris Season 5, which included a press preview aboard a Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train for a 24-hour journey from Venice to Paris. The stunt also offered press interactions with lead cast including Lily Collins and Ashley Park during tea service, Aperitivo Hour, a three-course dinner, and late-night afterparty. The streamer also hosted the Paris world premiere for Season 5 at Le Grand Rex, the largest theater in Europe. Jake Paul got knocked out by Anthony Joshua to the tune of 10.9M views for the December 19 fight. That put it in third place for the week. That’s nowhere near the audience for his Mike Tyson matchup, though that tracks given this one was not quite as big of a spectacle. Watch on Deadline In other words, per data provided by VideoAmp and Netflix, the fight got an average minute audience of 33M live + 1 viewers globally from opening to closing bell. Nothing is taking audiences out of the holiday spirit this year, it seems, because Rowan Atkinson’s Man Vs. Baby remained the top English series on Netflix last week with 14.6M views. The Christmas comedy maintained the No. 1 spot after debuting the week prior on December 11, racking up just over 19M views. Stranger Things also flooded the list again with Season 5, Vol. 1 raking in another 8.2M views. The first four episodes alone have now generated 102.6M views globally to date, just ahead of the Vol. 2 release on Christmas Day. The season came in fourth place on the weekly TV list, but it’s expected to shoot right back up to first place next week thanks to those three new episodes. And, in fact, that already makes it one of Netflix’s most-watched seasons of television ever, soaring right past The Night Agent and Fool Me Once on the English-language most popular list. The only reason it isn’t there yet is because it’s not eligible until its final episode is out. So, now the only question is how high it will go. All four previous seasons were once again in the Top 10 as well: Season 1 at No. 8 (3.5 million views), Season 2 at No. 10 (3.3 million views), Season 3 at No. 7 (3.6 million views), and Season 4 at No. 6 (3.9 million views) The actual biggest title of the week was a Korean disaster film called The Great Flood with 27.9M views, while Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery took No. 1 on the English film list with 20.9M views. Surprise, surprise, Kpop Demon Hunters came in third with 7.9M views and has now surpassed 500M views since premiere.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:27:32 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:22.758364
‘KPop Demon Hunters’: Read The Screenplay For The Global Anime Hit That Became Netflix And Sony Animation’s Golden Ticket	https://deadline.com/2025/12/kpop-demon-hunters-script-read-screenplay-netflix-1236655469/	Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the awards season’s most talked-about movies continues with Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation’s megahit KPop Demon Hunters. Directed and written by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and co-written by Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan, the film follows the global K-pop sensation HUNTR/X — comprising members Rumi, Mira and Zoey […]	Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the scripts behind the awards season’s most talked-about movies continues with Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation‘s megahit KPop Demon Hunters. Directed and written by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and co-written by Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan, the film follows the global K-pop sensation HUNTR/X — comprising members Rumi, Mira and Zoey — who lead secret double lives as elite demon hunters dedicated to protecting their fans from supernatural threats. The pic premiered on Netflix in late June and never looked back — first becoming the streamer’s most viewed animated film of all time, and then, it became Netflix’s most popular English-language film ever with more than 325.1 million views to date. It has made a couple of theatrical runs (including a sing-along version) that has grossed $24.6 million. On the awards front, the pic has Best Animated Film noms from the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, and it was voted the year’s best in that category from the New York Film Critics Circle. Its soundtrack snagged five Grammy nominations behind the smash hit “Golden,” which also made the Oscar Original Song shortlist. A sequel is in the works eyeing a 2029 release. Watch on Deadline KPop Demon Hunters’ narrative centers on their battle against the Saja Boys, a rival boy band whose members are secretly demons serving the villain Gwi-Ma, a flaming, all-consuming mouth inspired by Korean mythology. The story, which originated from Kang, is anchored by the internal struggle of the group’s leader, Rumi, voiced by Arden Cho, who harbors the secret that she is half-demon. Trained to believe that all demons are inherently evil, Rumi lives in fear that her bandmates will destroy her if they discover the golden patterns hidden beneath her skin. This personal conflict serves as a central theme, illustrating the battle between one’s public persona and their inner demons — the negative, nagging voices of self-doubt that the filmmakers represent through literal supernatural forces. Beyond the action, the film explores the nuances of cultural belonging through the character of Zoey, a Korean-American maknae who overcompensates for her fear of not being “Korean enough” as a Korean. Kang, who drew from her own heritage and childhood love of Korean mythology, emphasized that the film is rooted in the tradition of female shaman warriors who used music and dance to connect communities. Ultimately, Kpop Demon Hunters explores how music and human empathy create a literal shield, known as the Golden Honmoon, against the darkness. The filmmakers aimed to show that while inner demons may never fully disappear, individuals can find power in their “true voices” and integrate the fractured parts of their identities rather than hiding them. Employing the blend of K-pop and ancient mythology, the film seeks to tell a universal story about the strength found in vulnerability and communal connection. Read the screenplay below.	en	entertainment	https://deadline.com/feed/	Tue, 23 Dec 2025 20:12:00 +0000	2025-12-23T20:29:22.971480

End of preview. Expand in Data Studio

README.md exists but content is empty.

Downloads last month: 659

Size of downloaded dataset files:

2.7 MB

Size of the auto-converted Parquet files:

1.62 MB

Number of rows:

541