SEOUL, South Korea — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s most prominent stars whose 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died on Monday. He was 74.
The death of Ahn, who had been fighting blood cancer for years, was announced by the Seoul-based Soonchunhyang University Hospital.
Ahn had collected more than 20 trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the prestigious Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.
Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor” the most.
“Landman” actress Ali Larter turned heads Sunday while walking the red carpet at the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards.
Larter, 49, slipped into a black silk gown ahead of the show at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. Alicia Silverstone rocked a strapless sparkling Stella McCartney dress.
Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in “Sentimental Value,” Elle Fanning hit the red carpet wearing a shimmering gold Ralph Lauren dress.
Ali Larter, Elle Fanning and Alicia Silverstone shined on the Critics Choice Awards red carpet.(Getty Images)
Nominated for Best Actress for her role in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” Amanda Seyfried sported a strapless Valentino gown.
Leonardo DiCaprio skipped the red carpet, but reunited with his “One Battle After Another” co-stars Chase Infiniti and Benicio del Toro once inside the event.
Ariana Grande continued her “Wicked: For Good” campaign, and wore a custom pink Alberta Ferretti dress complete with a cape and Swarovski jewelry.
The 49-year-old “Landman” actress dressed to impress wearing a chic black silk dress.(Jeff Kravitz)
Alicia Silverstone rocked an ornate strapless Stella McCartney dress.(John Schearer)
Elle Fanning shines at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards.(Gilbert Flores)
Amanda Seyfried sported a strapless Valentino gown at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday.(Matt Winkelmeyer)
“Sinners” director Ryan Coogler enjoyed a date night with wife Zinzi as they walked the red carpet Sunday.
His critically acclaimed horror flick leads film contenders with 17 nominations, the Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced in a December release.
“Sinners” earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, among others, in addition to Best Actor nods for cast members Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and Miles Caton.
Chase Infiniti, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Benici del Toro attend the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards. (Kevin Mazur)
Ariana Grande rocked a pink Alberta Ferretti dress complete with a cape and Swarovski jewelry.(Monica Schipper)
“Sinners” director Ryan Coogler and wife Zinzi Coogler made it a date night at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards.(Tommaso Boddi)
Leighton Meester and Adam Brody pose on Critics Choice Awards red carpet.(Tommaso Boddi)
Caton praised God upon receiving the first award of the night for Best Young Actor.
Leighton Meester echoed spring wearing a lilac-hued Carolina Herrera gown as she smiled alongside husband Adam Brody, who is nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in “Nobody Wants This.”
“One Battle After Another” followed closely behind “Sinners,” earning 14 nominations.
“Nobody Wants This” creators Erin Foster and Sara Foster attend the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards.(Kevin Mazur)
Host Chelsea Handler speaks onstage during the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards. (Kevin Mazur)
“The Diplomat” star Keri Russell is nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series.(Savion Washington)
Janelle James earned Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in “Abbott Elementary.” (Gilbert Flores)
“Adolescence” leads television nominees with six nominations, while Sara and Erin Foster’s “Nobody Wants This” earned five nods, including Best Comedy.
NEW YORK — Hollywood kicked off 2026 with “Avatar: Fire and Ash” atop the box office for the third straight week and with hopes for a blockbuster-filled year after a disappointing 2025.
In three weeks of release, “Fire and Ash” has cleared $1 billion worldwide. The third chapter in James Cameron’s Pandora epic collected $40 million over its third weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Fire and Ash” is doing its biggest business overseas; it’s grossed $777.1 million internationally thus far. The Walt Disney Co. on Sunday trumped the $1 billion milestone as “cementing another monumental achievement for James Cameron’s groundbreaking franchise.”
But over the holidays, it wasn’t just about the weekend ticket sales. The whole week was a lucrative one for Hollywood, with most schools still out. What drove ticket sales, beyond “Avatar”? Sydney Sweeney, Timothée Chalamet and “Zootopia 2.”
The most sustained success over the holiday collider in theaters belonged to a movie that opened all the way back in November. Yet Disney’s “Zootopia 2” has had remarkable staying power. It landed in second place with $19 million, dipping a mere 4% from the previous weekend.
The animated sequel has amassed $1.59 billion in six weeks. That makes “Zootopia 2” Disney’s second highest grossing animated movie ever, trailing only 2019’s photorealistic “The Lion King” ($1.66 billion).
“The Housemaid,” the twisty thriller starring Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, also emerged as a holiday-season hit for Lionsgate. It collected $14.9 million over the weekend, giving it $75.7 million domestically over three weeks. It dipped only 3% from last weekend. Internationally, “The Housemaid,” which cost a modest $35 million to make, has added $57.3 million.
Just as Sweeney’s star power is propelling “The Housemaid,” so is Chalamet’s with “Marty Supreme.” The A24 release also held well in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $12.6 million. After two weeks of wide release, Josh Safdie’s frenetic table tennis tale has grossed $56 million in North America, passing the director’s previous film, “Uncut Gems” ($50 million worldwide).
Just about everything playing in theaters saw small drops from the previous weekend. Sony’s action comedy “Anaconda,” starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, dipped 31% to collect $10 million in second weekend. Focus Features’ “Song Sung Blue” dropped only 17% in its second weekend with $5.9 million. The Hugh Jackman-Kate Hudson Neil Diamond cover band movie has earned $25 million domestically.
With “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and a wide variety of smaller hits, Hollywood started 2026 strongly. Overall sales were up 26.5% from the same weekend in 2025, according to data firm Comscore.
The movie industry is coming off a poor 2025, where domestic moviegoing continued to slide. U.S. and Canada ticket sales in 2025 amounted to $8.9 billion, a 2% increase from the year earlier, according to Comscore, but about 20% below pre-pandemic levels. That slight improvement was notably less than anticipated and was also boosted by higher ticket prices. Actual tickets sold declined from more than 800 million in 2024 to around 780 million in 2025.
The industry is now awaiting a potentially seismic shift with Warner Bros., one of the most theatrical-friendly studios, agreeing to sell to Netflix. That $83 billion deal awaits regulatory approval.
Yet studios are cautiously optimistic 2026 could be the best box-office year of the decade. A release slate filled with marquee franchises, including new “Toy Story,” “Avengers,” “Spider-Man,” “Super Mario Bros” and “Dune” movies, has raised hopes of a turnaround.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $40 million.
2. “Zootopia 2,” $19 million.
3. “The Housemaid,” $14.9 million.
4. “Marty Supreme,” $12.6 million.
5. “Anaconda,” $10 million.
6. “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,” $8.2 million.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Leonardo DiCaprio emphasized the importance of creating cinema over content at the Palm Springs Film Festival Friday night.
“Movies are still meant to be experienced, together, in a theatre. Right now, that belief matters more than ever. Original films are harder to make and harder to protect. But movies still matter, not content, but cinema. Stories made by people meant to be shared in a dark room in a communal experience,” he said.
The “One Battle After Another” actor accepted the award via a pre-recorded video. Variety reported that he was be unable to attend the film festival due to the ongoing political conflict with Venezuela, which led to the cancellation of multiple flights out of the Caribbean, where the actor was spotted vacationing over the holiday season. His co-stars, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor, accepted the award on his behalf.
The 37th annual International Film Awards at the festival in Palm Springs, California, kicks off Hollywood’s whirlwind award season, honoring some of the film industry’s most anticipated award contenders.
The glamorous night was full of long, heartfelt speeches, each emphasizing the importance of unity amongst artists and the importance of keeping original storytelling and movie theaters alive.
While accepting the Icon Award, Actor Michael B. Jordan told his colleagues to continue to tell original stories that build unity.
“The films were honoring tonight inspire each other to do more, to be better, to see each other more clearly and make the world a brighter place. And maybe when the lights come up in the theater, we could step back into the sun together,” said the actor.
Cyrus accepted the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award for her song “Dream As One” in “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The recording artist hopes artists will pivot to becoming more community-focused instead of seeing each other as competitors.
“Numbers can make it feel like a sport, but performance runs so much deeper than a scoreboard, because each artist can bare their soul in a completely unique way and every contribution leaves its own mark on history,” she said.
Jane Fonda briefly led the audience in a breathing exercise before presenting “Hamnet’s” Chloe Zhao, Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley with the Vanguard Award. Fonda credited the call to the action to director Chloe Zhao, who would routinely lead similar exercises before festival screenings of “Hamnet.”
Guillermo del Toro stood alongside his “Frankenstein” cast to receive the Visionary Award.
The director revealed he recently lost his older brother and reflected on the relevance of Mary Shelley’s classic novel as the world continues to grapple with emerging technology and division. For del Toro, it’s relevance means two things: “We never learn, and sometimes the only way to talk about humanity is through monsters.”
Timothèe Chalamet received the Spotlight Award, and focused his speech on his “Marty Supreme” character’s pursuit of greatness and making his dreams come true.
Mahershala Ali presented Ethan Hawke with the Career Achievement Award, reminiscing on how Hawke’s performance in “Reality Bites” was one of many films that inspired his early acting days.
Hawke’s acceptance speech gave credit to the friends and collaborators that left a mark on who he is today and remembered the influence the late River Phoenix had on his life.
“I stand here in front of you a sum accumulation of all of the individuals who helped shape me,” said the actor.
Hawke made his way to the stage a second time for a “First Reformed” reunion with former co-star Amanda Seyfried to present her with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress.
Seyfried was quick to point out the unexpected full-circle moment while receiving the same award as DiCaprio.
“I want to thank Leo for inspiring me to be an actor. So, it’s weird. It’s amazing to get this award. It’s the same title of the award, so it’s like sharing it with him? Sort of? Maybe,” said the actor.
The night continued with laughter from actor and comedian Adam Sandler after Laura Dern presented him with the Chairman’s Award. Sandler accepted his award with none other than a short stand-up routine about what his life would have looked like if he had chosen a quieter life instead of working in entertainment.
“I’d probably still have a deal with Netflix. But I’d be paying them a monthly fee so I can watch ”Stranger Things” last season,” said the comedian.
The cast of “Sentimental Value” accepted the International Star Award as an ensemble. Rose Byrne took home the Breakthrough Performance Award, Actress, for her work on “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” poking fun at the idea of receiving a breakthrough award in her 40s. The show concluded with Kate Hudson accepting the Icon Award, Actress for her work in “Song Sung Blue.”
Award season continues with the 31st annual Critics’ Choice Awards and next Sunday with the 83rd annual Golden Globes.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Leonardo DiCaprio emphasized the importance of creating cinema over content at the Palm Springs Film Festival Friday night.
“Movies are still meant to be experienced, together, in a theatre. Right now, that belief matters more than ever. Original films are harder to make and harder to protect. But movies still matter, not content, but cinema. Stories made by people meant to be shared in a dark room in a communal experience,” he said.
The “One Battle After Another” actor accepted the award via a pre-recorded video. Variety reported that he was be unable to attend the film festival due to the ongoing political conflict with Venezuela, which led to the cancellation of multiple flights out of the Caribbean, where the actor was spotted vacationing over the holiday season. His co-stars, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor, accepted the award on his behalf.
The 37th annual International Film Awards at the festival in Palm Springs, California, kicks off Hollywood’s whirlwind award season, honoring some of the film industry’s most anticipated award contenders.
The glamorous night was full of long, heartfelt speeches, each emphasizing the importance of unity amongst artists and the importance of keeping original storytelling and movie theaters alive.
While accepting the Icon Award, Actor Michael B. Jordan told his colleagues to continue to tell original stories that build unity.
“The films were honoring tonight inspire each other to do more, to be better, to see each other more clearly and make the world a brighter place. And maybe when the lights come up in the theater, we could step back into the sun together,” said the actor.
Cyrus accepted the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award for her song “Dream As One” in “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The recording artist hopes artists will pivot to becoming more community-focused instead of seeing each other as competitors.
“Numbers can make it feel like a sport, but performance runs so much deeper than a scoreboard, because each artist can bare their soul in a completely unique way and every contribution leaves its own mark on history,” she said.
Jane Fonda briefly led the audience in a breathing exercise before presenting “Hamnet’s” Chloe Zhao, Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley with the Vanguard Award. Fonda credited the call to the action to director Chloe Zhao, who would routinely lead similar exercises before festival screenings of “Hamnet.”
Guillermo del Toro stood alongside his “Frankenstein” cast to receive the Visionary Award.
The director revealed he recently lost his older brother and reflected on the relevance of Mary Shelley’s classic novel as the world continues to grapple with emerging technology and division. For del Toro, it’s relevance means two things: “We never learn, and sometimes the only way to talk about humanity is through monsters.”
Timothèe Chalamet received the Spotlight Award, and focused his speech on his “Marty Supreme” character’s pursuit of greatness and making his dreams come true.
Mahershala Ali presented Ethan Hawke with the Career Achievement Award, reminiscing on how Hawke’s performance in “Reality Bites” was one of many films that inspired his early acting days.
Hawke’s acceptance speech gave credit to the friends and collaborators that left a mark on who he is today and remembered the influence the late River Phoenix had on his life.
“I stand here in front of you a sum accumulation of all of the individuals who helped shape me,” said the actor.
Hawke made his way to the stage a second time for a “First Reformed” reunion with former co-star Amanda Seyfried to present her with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress.
Seyfried was quick to point out the unexpected full-circle moment while receiving the same award as DiCaprio.
“I want to thank Leo for inspiring me to be an actor. So, it’s weird. It’s amazing to get this award. It’s the same title of the award, so it’s like sharing it with him? Sort of? Maybe,” said the actor.
The night continued with laughter from actor and comedian Adam Sandler after Laura Dern presented him with the Chairman’s Award. Sandler accepted his award with none other than a short stand-up routine about what his life would have looked like if he had chosen a quieter life instead of working in entertainment.
“I’d probably still have a deal with Netflix. But I’d be paying them a monthly fee so I can watch ”Stranger Things” last season,” said the comedian.
The cast of “Sentimental Value” accepted the International Star Award as an ensemble. Rose Byrne took home the Breakthrough Performance Award, Actress, for her work on “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” poking fun at the idea of receiving a breakthrough award in her 40s. The show concluded with Kate Hudson accepting the Icon Award, Actress for her work in “Song Sung Blue.”
Award season continues with the 31st annual Critics’ Choice Awards and next Sunday with the 83rd annual Golden Globes.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Barry Manilow gave fans an update on his health shortly after sharing his cancer diagnosis.
In an Instagram photo shared Friday, the 82-year-old singer was lying in a hospital bed in a green hospital gown with a smile on his face, captioning the post, “Better Today!”
Fans were happy to see the “Copacabana” singer was doing better, with many sending him love and positive wishes in the comments section.
“We love you Barry!! God is good! Can’t wait to see you again soon.”
Manilow gave his fans a health update, letting them know he is doing better.(Barry Manilow Instagram)
“I’ve loved you Barry for 50 years! My heart skipped a beat when I heard you were sick,” another said. “So glad to see you are doing well and recuperating.”
Manilow first shared that a cancerous spot had been found on his lungs in an Instagram post shared in late December.
He explained that after suffering “through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks,” his doctors ordered more tests out of an abundance of caution and found something more serious.
“Even though I was over the bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK. The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news.”
Manilow first shared his cancer diagnosis last month.(Mat Hayward/Getty Images)
“The bad news is that now that the ‘Christmas A Gift of Love’ concerts are over, I’m going into surgery to have the spot removed,” he continued. “The doctors do not believe it has spread, and I’m taking tests to confirm the diagnosis. So, that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and ‘I Love Lucy’ reruns.”
He went on to apologize to all his fans who had already purchased tickets, telling them he was “looking forward to the January shows” as much as they were and that he “hate[s] having to move everything around.”
Manilow is known for hits such as “I Write the Songs” and “Can’t Smile Without You,” but he told NBC News in April 2024 he didn’t think his biggest hit, “Copacabana,” would become what it did. He explained he and his co-producer at the time, Ron Duarte, “never thought it would ever get played on the radio.”
Manilow didn’t think his hit song “Copacabana” would go on to become as big as it did.(Ann Limongello/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images )
“But we took it to a disco, when there were discos, and we asked the DJ to play it,” Manilow said. “And everybody ran to the dance floor and started to dance like they were back in the 1940s. They were dipping the girls and all because, you know, it’s ‘Copa.’ And, I said to Ron, ‘We may be onto something with this one.’ And then, it turned out to be the most popular song in my catalog.”
Lori Bashian is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital.
Kathy Griffin is sharing how she found love again after her divorce from her husband.
The 65-year-old comedian opened up about her love life in an article for The Cut, explaining she first tried dating apps after her friend, Sia, dared her to. She recalled going on three dates, noting they were “very nice guys, and while I did not get the feels for any of them, it was worth it.”
Eventually, Griffin said she was thrown a curveball.
“I accidentally fell in love with a 23-year-old,” she said. “Because of his age, he didn’t have the usual sexism, misogyny and biases that guys my age tend to have. He seemed to see me. I know that sounds really corny. Oh God, it sounds so lame. But I felt really comfortable with him, and I felt very content just hanging out.”
Griffin said she accidentally fell in love with a younger man.(Patricia Schlein/Star Max/GC Images)
While she knew from the beginning their relationship wouldn’t last due to their age difference, she explained, “It was nice to know that my heart could still feel like that in my 60s,” adding she was “glad that we were able to capture it for a little while.”
Griffin was married to Matt Moline from 2001 to 2006. She then married marketing executive Randy Bick in 2020, filing for divorce in December 2023.
“I knew he was too young when he told me he never wanted to have kids and that he could be with me forever,” she explained. “And I was like, ‘You don’t know that. You’re 23. You have no idea.’ I just wouldn’t do that to him. I mean, when I was 23, I thought I knew a lot of s—, but I didn’t. So, I had to set that dove free.”
The “Suddenly Susan” added that the young man “touched my heart” and came into her life at a time when she thought “men suck” and was left wondering, “Why do I pick the worst ones?”
Griffin was married from 2001 to 2006 and again in 2020, before filing for divorce in December 2023.(Jeff Golden/WireImage)
Things turned around for her when she met this guy, whom she said made her “feel sexy and special and smart and funny.”
“It had a lot of the elements of what I think would’ve made a real, lasting relationship,” Griffin said. “He hadn’t been banged around that much. He’s so young that he didn’t have this baggage. And I just knew that my baggage was gonna get in the way.”
Griffin went viral in November 2025 for sharing how much she spent on her third facelift while on the “Good Guys” podcast, saying there are plastic surgeons charging $1 million per facelift.
Her facelift, however, was considerably cheaper, telling the hosts, “I’m just such a money person. I can’t bring myself to do it.”
Griffin shared how much she spent on her third facelift.(Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images)
“What I love about my D-List life is I went to Kris Jenner’s last guy,” she said. “Not the million ponytail … where they pull your whole face up. … That’s what Kris got. But I went to her last guy.”
Well, that’s all I’ve got for this week’s edition of Screen Time. Come back every week to get more TV and movie recommendations, find out which celebs we’re working with, and so much more!
Have a question for me, or want to tell me what you’re watching right now, or have a suggestion of what I should watch next? Send it to me now at screentime@buzzfeed.com, in this Google form, or in the comments below!
Will Smith was accused of sexual harassment by Brian King Joseph in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles just before the new year, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Joseph, a professional violinist, alleges Smith was “deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation” in the complaint against the Academy Award-winning actor and associates with his Treyball Studios Management, Inc.
After his first performance with Smith in December 2024, the “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” singer allegedly hired Joseph to join his “Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour.”
Will Smith was accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed Dec. 30.(Matt Winkelmeyer)
Joseph claimed their “relationship grew even closer” after Smith offered him a chance to play on several tracks of the rapper’s upcoming album.
“Smith and Plaintiff began spending additional time alone, with Smith even telling Plaintiff that ‘You and I have such a special connection, that I don’t have with anyone else,’ and other similar expressions indicating his closeness to Plaintiff,” documents state.
Joseph allegedly joined the first leg of the tour in March 2025 in Las Vegas, where he was provided a hotel room booked by Smith and his team. He claimed “no other individuals besides … the crew and hotel staff would have had access” to his personal room.
The violinist, who competed on “America’s Got Talent” in 2018, claimed to place his room key in his bag, which was left in a van responsible for transporting the cast and crew around. After a rehearsal at the venue, management allegedly spent hours retrieving the bag.
Brian King Joseph was a finalist on “America’s Got Talent” in 2018.(Trae Patton)
When Joseph returned to his hotel room later that evening, he claimed to have “discovered evidence suggesting that an unknown person had unlawfully entered the room.” Joseph subsequently called hotel security.
“The evidence included a handwritten note addressed to Plaintiff by name, which read ‘Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F,’” the lawsuit states. “Among the remaining belongings were wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication with another individual’s name, an earring, and hospital discharge paperwork belonging to a person unbeknownst to Plaintiff.”
Joseph feared that an unknown individual would return to his room to engage in sexual acts, documents said, and he “immediately notified hotel security and representatives for Defendant, obtained photo documentation, requested a room change, and called the local non-emergency police line (311) to report the incident.”
Days later, Joseph claims, Smith’s team began “blaming” him for the incident.
“Rather than being protected against further assault, and for attempting to understanding Plaintiff’s complaint, Plaintiff was shamed by Defendant and told that he was being terminated,” the complaint stated.
Will Smith initially found fame as a rapper before starring in “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” in the ’90s.(Isa Foltin/WireImage)
“When Plaintiff requested … further reasoning, Tim Miller, acting on behalf of Defendants, redirected the blame for the termination onto Plaintiff, replying, ‘I don’t know, you tell me, because everyone is telling me that what happened to you is a lie, nothing happened, and you made the whole thing up. So, tell me, why did you lie and make this up?’”
Joseph, at the request of Miller, compiled a timeline “to explain the traumatic series of events that occurred that evening.”
“However, following Plaintiff’s report and termination, Defendant hired another violinist to assume the same position on the tour,” documents stated. “This hiring strongly suggested that Defendant’s stated reason for the termination was pretextual.”
“The facts strongly suggest that Defendant Willard Carroll Smith II was deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation. The sequence of events, Smith’s prior statements to Plaintiff, and the circumstances of the hotel intrusion all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident,” the lawsuit states.
Brian King Joseph allegedly suffered “severe emotional distress” after the incident.(Max Faulkner)
“Defendant’s actions caused Plaintiff severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm, and other damages. Plaintiff was also harmed as a result of the stress of losing his job his health deteriorated causing major physiological damage. Plaintiff suffered from PTSD and other mental illness as a result of the termination.”
Representatives for Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Joseph filed his complaint after a $3 million lawsuit was filed against Jada Pinkett Smith by a former associate, Bilaal Salaam.
Salaam claimed Jada approached him with physical threats of violence and demanded he sign a nondisclosure agreement while at a private gathering at a movie theater in Calabasas for her husband’s birthday in September 2021.
Tracy Wright is an entertainment reporter for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to Tracy.Wright@fox.com.
Before I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premiered on Thursday, January 1, Sweeney, 75, was asked about some of the story lines featured in the doc, including the alleged abuse he faced as an adult.
“Boohoo … poor screwed up kid,” Sweeney shared with The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Tuesday, December 30. “So THAT’s why he’s so rotten!!!!!!!”
In the documentary, viewed by The Hollywood Reporter in advance of its release, director Marina Zenovich also looked back on the alleged feud between Sweeney and Chase, 82, at Saturday Night Live.
Chevy Chase’s turbulent life and career are profiled in the CNN documentary I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not. The comedian became the breakout star on the first-ever season of Saturday Night Live in 1975 — later becoming the first major cast member to leave the comedy institution the following year. (George Coe was technically the […]
“You said something to Sweeney like, ‘Oh, you’re the gay guy. Why don’t we ask if you have AIDS? And every week, we weigh you,’” Zenovich said in the doc.
Chase responded in the doc, “Terry Sweeney, he was very funny, this guy. I don’t think he’s alive anymore.”
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney confirmed he is alive and responded to the documentary. “Don’t you think he is saying this and making himself look more like the ass he is!!!” he told the publication.
Terry Sweeney as Nancy ReaganNBC / courtesy Everett Collection
At another point in the documentary, Zenovich explores a portion of the SNL oral history, Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests.
In the oral history, Sweeney reportedly recounts how Chase entered his dressing room and apologized for the AIDS joke, but was “furious that he had to apologize to me.”
In the documentary, Chase responded, “My memory is that he is lying, is my memory. He’s not telling the truth. That isn’t me. That’s not who I am. And if I am that way, my life has changed, because I have to live with that now for the rest of my f***ing life.”
Chevy Chase’s family is ready to peel back the curtain and share a glimpse into the comedian’s drug abuse. In the new CNN documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, several relatives speak candidly about the actor’s struggles with cocaine and alcohol. According to Chevy’s wife, Jayni Chase, an ENT doctor called her one day […]
When reacting to Chase’s comments in the documentary, Sweeney replied, “It all reflects rightly horribly on him!”
According to CNN, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not charts Chase’s rise from breakout Saturday Night Live phenomenon to box-office royalty, “thoughtfully examining the complexities and challenges that have shaped his legacy.”
Chase, as well as some family members and former coworkers, participated in the documentary that “cuts through the legend to reveal the complicated man beneath the smirk.”
One costar who appears to be uninterested in the documentary is Community actress Yvette Nicole Brown.
Chevy Chase was part of the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live, but the actor’s time on the sketch comedy program was rather short-lived. Chase left the show in the middle of SNL’s second season after originating the Weekend Update segment and the catchphrase “I’m Chevy Chase … and you’re not.” The cast member and […]
Days before CNN premiered I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, Brown, 54, seemingly addressed the project. (According to The Hollywood Reporter, Brown and her Community cast members did not participate in the doc.)
“If I have something to say, I have NO problem saying it. I’ve never had a problem speaking up and out with my whole chest when it is warranted or when I think it will change a wayward mind or some truly disgusting behavior,” she wrote via Instagram on Monday, December 29. “When I choose NOT to speak on something, it’s usually because it won’t change a thing and more importantly because it’s most likely tawdry, low-vibrational or dumb and therefore BENEATH me.”
I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premieres on CNN Thursday, January 1, at 8 p.m. ET.
In a new round of Instagram photos, the 36-year-old “Vampire Diaries” actress shared a series of pictures of her celebrating the end of the year with close friends.
One of the photos features her standing on the sand in front of the ocean in a strapless light brown bikini with a matching cover-up skirt, as she shields her face from the sun with a smile on her face.
“Final days of 2025 🤘🏼,” she captioned the post.
Dobrev shared a photo of herself in a brown bikini on Instagram.(Nina Dobrev Instagram)
Another photo shows Dobrev lounging on a yacht in a black bikini with the sunset behind her. She can be seen lounging on the yacht in another shot, this time in a brown floral bikini top with matching pants, showcasing her toned abs.
Other snaps in the slideshow feature the “Degrassi the Next Generation” star working out and being silly with her friends, dancing on the yacht and the beautiful scenery around them.
Another shot features Dobrev in a black bikini on a yacht.(Nina Dobrev Instagram)
“It’s so good to see that you and your friends are having fun!❤️,” one fan wrote in the comments section. Another added, “Waiting for 2026. Nina’s vacations🤭❤️❤️.”
“Nina knows she is the main character and the 2025 top IG baddie 🔥😍,” a third fan wrote.
Dobrev showing off her abs in a brown bikini with floral designs.(Nina Dobrev Instagram)
The actress also shared a sultry photo of herself lounging in a wood-paneled room which appears to be a sauna, with a large circular window overlooking a lake. In the photo, she can be seen lying on the wooden bench wearing a black bikini.
Fans couldn’t help but comment on the actress’s toned figure, with many of them also congratulating her on her independence since ending her engagement earlier this year. “Love Nina single girl era!” one fan wrote.
Dobrev and White announced they were going their separate ways in September 2025. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Speculation the two were in a relationship first began in March 2020. They confirmed they were dating in May 2020, with a playful video of Dobrev cutting White’s hair, which they shared on Instagram.
The first appearances of the classic cartoon and comic characters are among the pieces of intellectual property whose 95-year U.S. copyright maximum has been reached, putting them in the public domain on Jan. 1. That means creators can use and repurpose them without permission or payment.
The 2026 batch of newly public artistic creations doesn’t quite have the sparkle of the recent first entries into the public domain of Mickey or Winnie. But ever since 2019 — the end of a 20-year IP drought brought on by congressional copyright extensions — every annual crop has been a bounty for advocates of more work belonging to the public.
Jenkins said that, collectively, this year’s work shows “the fragility that was between the two wars and the depths of the Great Depression.”
Here’s a closer look at what will enter the public domain on Thursday, based on the research of Jenkins and her center.
Betty Boop began as a dog. Seriously.
When she first appears in the 1930 short “Dizzy Dishes,” one of four of her cartoons entering the public domain, she’s already totally recognizable as the Jazz Age flapper later memorialized in countless tattoos, T-shirts and bumper stickers. She has her baby face, short hair with groomed curls, flashy eyelashes and miniature mouth. But she’s also got dangling poodle ears and a tiny black nose. Those would soon morph into dangling earrings and a tiny white nose.
She started as essentially the Minnie Mouse to a popular anthropomorphic dog named Bimbo, whom she would eventually outshine — and push aside. She’s got a supporting role in “Dizzy Dishes,” performing a slinky song-and-dance in a tiny black dress. She’s not named, but sings “boop boop, a doop.”
Jenkins suggests this canine Betty Boop could be rich for exploitation in new works, and has a free idea: “She was bitten by a radioactive dog, that’s why she had this weird backstory,” she said with a laugh. “This movie needs to be made.”
The character was designed and owned by Fleischer Studios, and the shorts were released by Paramount Pictures. She was based at least in part on singer Helen Kane, known as the “Boop-Oop-a-Doop Girl,” thanks to a hit 1929 song. Kane would lose a lawsuit over Betty Boop’s character and use of the phrase. During the proceedings the defense alleged Black singer Esther Lee Jones used similar phrases first.
Artists are now free to use this earliest Boop in films and similar work. But making merch won’t be free. In an important distinction often raised by Disney over Mickey Mouse, a character’s trademark is distinct from the copyright of works that feature them. The Fleischer Productions trademark of Betty Boop remains intact.
Boops and doops were apparently in the air in 1930. Blondie Boopadoop was, like Betty, a young flapper, and the central character of Chic Young’s newspaper comic strip that debuted in 1930. It inspired a film series and radio show, and is still running today in papers that still have comics.
The strip followed her carefree breeze through life with her boyfriend, Dagwood Bumstead. The two would marry (and she would change her name) in 1933, and the strip would become the sandwich-heavy domestic comedy familiar to later readers. Though the strip was meant to be based on a woman’s life, Dagwood would in many ways become its breakout star — a proto- Adam Driver, if you will, as the breakout actor from “Girls.”
Nine new Mickey Mouse cartoons also are becoming public domain, two years after “Steamboat Willie” made the first version of him public property. He’s joined this year by his dog Pluto, who, in 1930, was known as Rover. (He would get his long-term moniker the following year.)
The books entering the public domain this year open the door to three iconic detectives from the 20th century:
— The teen sleuth Nancy Drew, whose first four books came in 1930, starting with “The Secret of the Old Clock.” They were written by Mildred Benson under the pen name Carolyn Keene.
— The middle-aged(-ish) sleuth Sam Spade, who debuted via the full-book version of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.” (It had been serialized in a magazine the previous year.)
— The elderly sleuth Miss Marple, who solves her first mystery in Agatha Christie’s “Murder at the Vicarage.”
A year after his “The Sound and the Fury” became public, William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” becomes public domain. It would help lead to his Nobel Prize in literature.
And kiddie lit legends Dick and Jane, who taught generations to read and became essential parody fodder for decades, become public via the “Elson Basic Readers” textbooks.
A year after their film debut, “The Cocoanuts,” entered the public domain, the Marx Brothers’ beloved “Animal Crackers” joins it, as they entered their prime of high cinematic antics. The film finds Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo invading a Long Island society party celebrating an explorer of Africa.
Other movies entering the public domain include:
— “The Blue Angel,” the German film from Josef von Sternberg that emblazoned Marlene Dietrich’s top-hatted image into film lore.
— “King of Jazz,” featuring the first screen appearance of Bing Crosby.
— A pair of Oscar best picture winners, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which won in 1930, and “Cimarron,” which won in 1931. The award was known as “Outstanding Production” then, and the Academy Awards eligibility period didn’t sync with the calendar year.
The coming decade will bring a true bounty of Hollywood Golden Age films into the public domain. 2027 will be a truly monster year, literally, with the original 1931 Universal Pictures versions of “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” among the titles due.
As in the last several years, a whistle-worthy stream of tunes from the Great American Songbook will become public:
— Four cherished classics written by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira: “Embraceable You,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “But Not for Me” and “I Got Rhythm.”
— “Georgia on My Mind,” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell.
— “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” written by Gus Kahn, Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt.
Different laws regulate the actual recordings of songs, and those newly in the public domain this week date to 1925. They include Rodgers and Hart’s “Manhattan” by the Knickerbockers, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” by Marian Anderson and “The St. Louis Blues” by Bessie Smith, featuring Louis Armstrong.
NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — English actors Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton have welcomed their second child.
Hiddleston confirmed the news to GQ in a feature published Monday. He described birth as the “most beautiful, profound, earth-shattering, life-altering” experience. He did not share his child’s birthday, but according to the feature, the interview took place in early December, and the birth was “just the other day.”
Hiddleston, 44, and Ashton, 41, first met while starring in a 2019 revival of the play “Betrayal.” They confirmed their engagement in 2022 and welcomed their first child later that year.
“Becoming a father is the most important and meaningful thing that’s ever happened to me, and the most important thing I will ever do,” Hiddleston told The Associated Press earlier this year.
Ashton is also a member of the MCU, having portrayed Dar-Benn in the 2023 film “The Marvels.” She’s also known for roles in “Fresh Meat,” “Not Safe for Work,” Netflix’s “Velvet Buzzsaw” and other projects.
Representatives for Hiddleston and Ashton did not immediately reply to AP’s request for comment.
Isiah Whitlock Jr., an actor who made frequent memorable appearances on the HBO series “The Wire” and “Veep” and in five films with director Spike Lee, died Tuesday. He was 71.
Whitlock’s manager Brian Liebman told The Associated Press in an email that the actor died in New York after a short illness.
Whitlock played openly corrupt state Sen. Clay Davis on 25 episodes across the five seasons of “The Wire.”
Davis, a fan-favorite character, was known for his profane catchphrase — “sheee-it” — delivered by Whitlock in moments of triumph and blunt honesty. The actor first used the phrase in his first film with Lee, 2002’s “The 25th Hour,” when his detective character discovers a cache of drugs hidden in a couch.
“It’s a big, big, big loss,” Lee said in a phone call with the AP on Tuesday night. “I’m going to miss him for the rest of my life.”
Whitlock went on to appear in four other Lee films, including 2004’s “She Hate Me,” 2012’s “Red Hook Summer,” 2015’s “Chi-Raq,” 2018’s “BlacKkKlansman” and 2020’s “Da 5 Bloods.”
“We vibed over all those years,” Lee said. “We clicked from the jump.”
Lee said he has especially sweet memories of the extended time he spent with Whitlock shooting “Da 5 Bloods” on location in Thailand, and he fondly remembered the last time he saw Whitlock — Lee and his daughter, Satchel, sat with him at a screening of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” earlier this year.
“He was just a beautiful, beautiful soul,” Lee said. “If you were around him, he made everybody feel good in his presence. He would radiate. I would put that over his acting.”
Lee pointed to Whitlock’s comic talents both on screen and off.
“He was hilarious,” Lee said. “That was just his nature, he made people laugh. Everybody was in on the joke.”
Whitlock is the second significant star of “The Wire” to die in recent weeks after the death of actor James Ransone.
A native of South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock went to Southwest Minnesota State University, where he played football and studied theater. Injuries pushed him to study acting, and he moved to San Francisco to work in theater.
He began appearing in small television guest roles on shows including “Cagney and Lacy” in the late 1980s, and he had very small roles in the 1990 films “Goodfellas” and “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”
After “The Wire,” Whitlock moved on to another HBO show, the political satire “Veep,” where he played Secretary of Defense George Maddox for three seasons. The character ran against Julia Louis-Dreyfus ′ Selina Meyer in presidential primaries.
“The Wire” creator David Simon also paid tribute to Whitlock in a post on Bluesky.
“As fine an actor as he was,” Simon said, “Isiah was an even better spirit and the greatest gentleman.”
___
This story has been corrected to show that Clay Davis was a state senator, not a city councilman.
From Jamie Campbell Bower‘s intriguing take on Stranger Things‘ Vecna to Bill Skarsgård‘s chilling iteration of Nosferatu, there’s a surprising amount of hot monsters on our screens these days.
Skarsgård has made a name for himself playing strangely appealing creatures since his blood-hungry character on Hemlock Grove. From there, Skarsgård terrified Us as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the It franchise — and as Count Orlok in Nosferatu.
“He’s gross. But it is very sexualized,” he told Esquire in 2024 about the role he considered “erotic” for viewers. “It’s playing with a sexual fetish about the power of the monster and what that appeal has to you.”
Skarsgård continued: “Hopefully you’ll get a little bit attracted by it and disgusted by your attraction at the same time.”
“I’m grateful … the whole effects team — we’re very grateful for the fact that you think [Vecna] is sexy,” Campbell joked in a 2022 Netflix featurette. “If you can’t have me at my Vecna then you don’t deserve me at my One.”
Keep scrolling for more TV and movie monsters that have Us questioning our taste in men:
Isiah Whitlock Jr., an actor who made frequent memorable appearances on the HBO series “The Wire” and “Veep” and in the films of Spike Lee, died Tuesday. He was 71.
Whitlock’s manager Brian Liebman told The Associated Press in an email that the actor died in New York after a short illness.
Whitlock played openly corrupt city councilman Clay Davis on 25 episodes across the five seasons of “The Wire.”
Davis, a fan-favorite character, was known for his profane catchphrase — “sheee-it” — delivered by Whitlock in moments of triumph and blunt honesty. The actor first used the phrase in his first film with Lee, 2002’s “The 25th Hour.”
“The Wire” creator David Simon posted a photo of Whitlock on Bluesky in tribute.
Whitlock is the second significant star of the show to die in recent weeks after the death of actor James Ransone.
A native of South Bend, Indiana, Whitlock went to Southwest Minnesota State University, where he played football and studied theater. Injuries pushed him to study acting, and he moved to San Francisco to work in theater.
He began appearing in small television guest roles on shows including “Cagney and Lacy” in the late 1980s, and he had very small roles in the 1990 films “Goodfellas” and “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”
He went on to appear in five of Lee’s films, including “She Hate Me,” “Red Hook Summer,” “Chi-Raq,” “BlacKkKlansman” and “Da 5 Bloods.”
He played Secretary of Defense George Maddox for three seasons on the political satire “Veep.” The character ran against Julia Louis-Dreyfus ‘ Selina Meyer in presidential primaries.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Several talented actors blew Us away with their jaw-dropping 2025 onscreen movie transformations.
Stars like Jacob Elordi, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Ethan Slater sat in the hair and makeup chair for hours on end to make sure they got into character for films like Frankenstein, The Smashing Machine and Wicked: For Good, respectively.
For Johnson, transforming into MMA fighter Mark Kerr for Benny Safdie’s biographical sports drama was the opportunity of a lifetime.
“This transformation was something I was really hungry to do,” Johnson told The Hollywood Reporterin September 2025. “I had been very fortunate to have the career that I’ve had over the years and to make the films that I’ve made, but there was just a voice inside of me, a little voice that said, ‘Well, what if I could do more — I want to do more and what does that look like?’”
Scroll below for a roundup of the craziest onscreen movie transformations of 2025.
Sure, 2025 had plenty of incredible movies, but what about a best-of list filled with the films that actually kept Us talking — not just the ones making the most awards season noise? Don’t get Us wrong: Frankenstein, Hamnet, One Battle After Another and the rest of the other Oscar-buzz crowd absolutely deserve their moment, but sometimes […]
Jacob Elordi in ‘Frankenstein’
It’s a story that’s been told many times before, but Jacob Elordi somehow manages to bring a special charm to The Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, even though most of the characters in the film view him as nothing more than a monster. It’s Mia Goth’s Lady Elizabeth Harlander who sees the innocence and curiosity beneath his appearance before she meets her tragic fate.
“It was 10 hours to kind of relinquish myself and become this thing that’s other, which was a great relief, really,” Elordi told Deadline in October 2025 of the “incredibly liberating” transformation.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in ‘The Smashing Machine’
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson committed to taking on the persona of Mark Kerr, sporting over a dozen prosthetics and a wig in The Smashing Machine. In fact, his performance in the film was so convincing, it left Us doing a double take.
“I just sat in front of that mirror for three to four hours and watched it all change. There were about 13 or 14 different prosthetics. Subtle, yet I think very impactful,” he told Vanity Fair in August 2025. “By the time I got to set, I was Mark Kerr and I felt it, from how he walked to how he talked and how he looked at life.”
His costar Emily Blunt was impressed by Johnson’s dedication to accurately portraying the former professional fighter.
“It seemed to be an effortless immersion — like a full disappearance, spooky. From day one, he was elsewhere,” Blunt told the outlet. “He has absorbed and borne witness to so much of what Mark has experienced that it was such a beautiful thing to watch this person let go of having to be an image, of having to be The Rock, and crack himself in half for this role.”
Sydney Sweeney gained over 30 pounds to play former professional boxer Christy Martin in the biographical sports drama Christy, unlike anything she has ever done before.
“I loved it,” Sweeney told W Magazine in June 2025. “I came onboard to play Christy, and I had about three and a half months of training. I started eating. I weight-trained in the morning for an hour, kickboxed midday for about two hours and then weight-trained again at night for an hour.”
Emma Stone in ‘Bugonia’
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia wastes no time presenting viewers with an important question — is Emma Stone’s character, Michelle Fuller, an alien or not? She has her head shaved within the first few minutes of the film by kidnappers Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis) and smears her entire body in histamine cream for the terrifyingly brilliant performance that drops jaws.
Stone revealed she would only buzz her hair off to play the role under one condition.
“When I knew we were gonna do this … I said to Yorgos, ‘We’re gonna have to shave your head too so that we’re in solidarity.’ And he’s like, ‘OK,’” she said in a behind-the-scenes clip shared by People in November 2025. “It was exciting but it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be to shave his head. It was cool. But it felt more dramatic, my shave. I don’t mean to brag, but my hair was pretty long, and his was not.”
Ethan Hawke was nearly unrecognizable in Blue Moon, but he assured fans that wearing brown contacts was the reason behind his massive transformation.
“It’s funny, I’ve read reviews that cite the prosthetics or a bald cap or all these different things, none of which is there,” he said at the 2025 Hamptons International Film Festival, adding that the contacts “somehow changed my face dramatically in a way that I didn’t understand or anticipate.”
“But I found the eyes had the biggest impact. And I noticed it right away with my castmates,” Hawke added. “They were like — everybody treated me differently. The height, obviously, the hair, obviously, the body language, the voice. There were a lot of things that went into creating this character, but I found the eyes the most dramatic.”
Ralph Fiennes in ‘28 Years Later’
Ralph Fiennes is quite literally covered in blood and dirt in 28 Years Later, and yet somehow still left Us buzzing over his character’s humanity in a seriously messed up world. The actor also appeared more muscular in the film, something that he intentionally worked on to benefit the character of Dr. Ian Kelson.
“Dr. Kelson had to look strong and agile enough to be able to survive in a world full of the infected and to look like someone that’s able to build the bone temple,” Fiennes’ trainer Dan Avasilcai told British GQ in June 2025.
Nicholas Hoult’s villainous Lex Luthor was, dare we say … still very hot. The actor slayed the bald look for James Gunn’s Superman, a hairstyle choice that reminded Us of his Mad Max: Fury Road character, Nux.
Amy Madigan in ‘Weapons’
Amy Madigan’s performance in the mystery horror Weapons gave a whole new meaning to petrifying. When we first meet Aunt Gladys, she’s already quite spine-chilling in a bright red wig and clownish makeup. It turns out, Gladys is so much more than that — she’s disguising the way she actually looks with witchcraft.
“It was very freeing to work with everybody and create this look because you didn’t have to put yourself in a contemporary box of what a woman is supposed to look like, of how you’re supposed to dress,” Madigan said in December 2025, per Screen Daily. “I loved how Gladys was physically. I loved her whole thing. She puts it together. That to me, workwise, was just liberation.”
Ethan Slater and Jonathan Bailey in ‘Wicked: For Good’
Ethan Slater and Jonathan Bailey tapped into new sides of their Wicked characters in the 2025 sequel. Slater stunned the audience with his portrayal of the Tin Man following a kerfuffle with the heartbroken Nessarose (Melissa Bode) while Bailey made his debut as The Scarecrow, fresh off a steamy cave sex scene with Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba.
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“It took a long time,” Slater said of the hair and makeup process on SiriusXM’s The Morning Mash Up in November 2025. “The first time we did it, it took about five hours.”
Matt Smith in ‘Caught Stealing’
Matt Smith with a neon orange mohawk was not something Us had on our bingo card for 2025, but Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing delivered just that.
“I get to work and you put this sort of peacock on, and actually just the very idea of being a punk is an interesting thing because it’s a really deliberate thing,” Smith told Yahoo! Entertainment in August 2025 of the hairdo. “It takes a lot of work and actually something’s drawing you there, because it’s about attitude, ultimately, isn’t it? And I f***ing loved it. I loved it.”
New year, new movies, and we cannot wait! From comedies to thrillers to documentaries, there are so many highly anticipated movies hitting the big screen in 2026. Whether it’s one you have been waiting on or one you didn’t know about, they are a must-see! Why not add going to the movies monthly as a 2026 resolution, so you catch all of the best movies this year?
Check out the list below of a few movies that are making their way to the big screen in 2026.
The Rip
Coming to theaters January 16, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are back together again! This action thriller is about a group of Miami cops who discover millions in hidden cash. What will they do?
Send Help
This dark, comedic thriller is coming to theaters on January 30. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien star as a worker and boss forced to navigate their tensions after surviving a plane crash on a deserted island.
Wuthering Heights
The adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel, “The Greatest Love Story of All Time,” will hit theaters on February 13. This version will star Margot Robbie in this escalation of abuse and trauma.
Scream 7
Ghostface is back again with the 7th installment of the film. This one will feature the original Scream queen, Neve Campbell. Some new faces and old faces, but Ghostface continues.
Michael
One of the most anticipated biopics will hit theaters on April 24. Learn more about the story of Michael Jackson and all that went into becoming the King of Pop.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
For the girls who loved the original, they’re back at it again on May 1. 20 years later, Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway are back together again!
Toy Story 5
Get the family together to continue the love for Toy Story on June 19. The movie has been described as “Toy meets Tech” as the movie introduces a new threat, the Lilypad, a frog-like tablet.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
On July 31, the first in a new trilogy of Spider-Man will hit theaters, led by Tom Holland. Get reintroduced to some past villains and see how Spidey handles things.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
The Hunger Games battle continues on November 20. This will depict Haymitch Abernathy’s participation in the Second Quarter Quell. If you have been following the Hunger Games, then this is your time to gear up for another movie.
PARIS — The funeral for Brigitte Bardot will be held next week in Saint-Tropez, the glamorous French Riviera resort she helped make famous and where she lived for more than a half-century, local authorities said.
A ceremony is scheduled on Jan. 7 at the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Catholic Church and will be broadcast on two large screens set up at the port and on the Place des Lices central square, Saint-Tropez town hall said in a statement Monday.
The burial will then take place “in the strictest privacy” at a cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, according to the statement. The ceremony will be followed by a public homage for fans at a nearby site.
“Brigitte Bardot will forever be associated with Saint-Tropez, of which she was the most dazzling ambassador,” the statement said. “Through her presence, personality and aura, she marked the history of our town.”
The movie star settled in her Riviera villa, La Madrague, in Saint-Tropez and retired from the film industry in 1973 at age 39.
The so-called marine cemetery, where Bardot’s parents are buried, is also the final resting place of other celebrities, including filmmaker Roger Vadim, Bardot’s first husband.
Bardot’s younger sister, Marie-Jeanne Bardot, known as Mijanou, posted on Facebook a photo of Brigitte at age 12, accompanied by a message honoring “the one I adored more than anything.”
She wrote that Bardot now “knows whether our beloved pets are waiting for us on the other side.
“Let her not be afraid, and let her instead be in the love and joy of reuniting with them all.”
