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Hayden Panettiere's most memorable roles from TV and film
Revisit Hayden Panettiere's unforgettable roles spanning TV hits and blockbuster films, following her death at age 36.
Hayden Panettiere, celebrated star of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36
Hayden Panettiere, the beloved star of series like ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville’ and films like ‘Scream 4’ and ‘I Love You, Beth Cooper,’ has died at 36.
I Tried Large Format Photography on a 70-Year-Old Camera (Without Spending a Dime on Film)
After 20 years of avoiding intimidating 4-by-5 cameras and $11-a-shot film, I finally tackled my large format anxiety using an innovative digital attachment and my smartphone.
Locarno Winner ‘Forgotten Spaceman’ Adds Khan & Kumar Media, Prism Entertainment as Executive Producers Ahead of Toronto Bow (EXCLUSIVE)
“Forgotten Spaceman,” the documentary short by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Elham Ehsas that won the Leopard of Tomorrow (International Competition) award at Locarno’s Junior Jury Awards, has added Khan ...
In ‘The Brink of War,’ a Return to an Era of Razor-Edge Diplomacy
A new film depicts the 1986 nuclear arms summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, which both offered and dashed hopes of a dramatic breakthrough.
Harrison Ford returning as Indiana Jones in new Disney project
Harrison Ford will return as Indiana Jones inside Disney World’s new Animal Kingdom ride based on the film series. The ride replaces Dinosaur, which closed ahead of a new Tropical Americas land.
Polaroid’s tiny instant camera is $72 and includes a free pack of film
This tiny instant camera produces tiny photos.
'Marvel's Wolverine' video game moves away from 'X-Men' films and Hugh Jackman with all-new storyline for edgy hero
In “Marvel’s Wolverine,” out Sept. 15, Logan isn’t one of the X-Men anymore.
D23: Marvel hypes 'X-Men' cast but Disney nostalgia reigns
The biggest announcements and takeaways from Disney's D23 showcase on upcoming film and TV projects from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and more.
‘The New Simpsons Movie’ gets a sketchy 1st look from Disney
The Mouse House showed a rough sequence from the upcoming film during the studio's D23 showcase. Watch it now.
'I was screaming': Scientists shocked as dolphins filmed using shells to trap prey for the first time
ENTERTAINMENT: ‘Ghost Army’ film documents World War II trickery
The MacArthur Museum screens “The Ghost Army,” a documentary about American soldiers, “many of whom would later have illustrious careers in art, design and fashion,” who tricked the Germans with rubber tanks, sound effects and carefully crafted illusions during World War II, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
I Can't Tell if I Hate or Love-Hate the #1 Movie on Netflix
It's not often that I watch a film and think 'what the hell am I watching,' especially if it stars powerhouse actors like Greta Lee and Wagner Moura. But 'The Last House' on Netflix was bonkers and confusing, even if it is the number one movie on Netflix. Here, my review.
Marvel unveils X-Men cast: Adam Driver, Inde Navarrette, and more set for May 2028 film
Inde Navarrette, Christopher Abbott, and Adam Driver headline Marvel's rebooted mutant team, arriving in theaters May 5, 2028.
'Hellcat' ending, explained
Let's dive into the secret of Brock Bodell's buzzy horror film.
D23 live updates: Exclusive trailers shown for new movies, shows
Meet Clay and Mooshy from Disney's "Clay," starring Kieran Culkin. This concept art shows the new film, hitting theaters November 2028.
First-look ‘Tangled’ footage shows off Rapunzel costume and Mother Gothel’s grin
Disney revealed at D23 first-look footage for its live-action ‘Tangled’ movie, including costumes worn by Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, and Kathryn Hahn’s Mother Gothel.
D23 live updates: 'Kingdom Hearts' series coming to Disney+
An extended D23 exclusive clip from the upcoming film, "Gatto," was shown during the Disney Entertainment Showcase.
D23 live updates: Disney Entertainment Showcase now underway
Dana Walden gave "The Simpsons" fans a sneak peek at a new film that will be released in September 2027.
Hollywood Scrambles to Address California’s Business Tax Credit Law
A new bill, signed into law on June 29, could persuade film and TV projects to take their business elsewhere. Legislators with ties to entertainment are scrambling for a solution.
D23 Expo 2026 Entertainment Showcase: Every Disney Movie & TV Show Announcement (Live Updates)
Disney's D23 Expo is happening in Anaheim, California, and we have all the movie and TV show details from the Disney Entertainment Showcase, updated live.
Netflix leans into young adult dramas as YouTube threat grows
Netflix is making it easier for fans to find hundreds of YA films and TV shows, including supernatural mystery "Sid & Zoey" and coming of age tale "Sunshine Girls."
Lighthouse Guild Celebrates Blind Changemakers in Entertainment, Content Creation at Lincoln Center Event
NEW YORK—Lighthouse Guild, a New York-based nonprofit that empowers people who are blind or have vision loss to live independent lives, in partnership with Spectrum, the communications services company, held its 4th annual celebration that focused on the state of content and entertainment creators who are blind, according to an announcement from the organization. Titled Access in Focus: Blind Perspectives on Entertainment, the event brought together blind professionals and accessibility advocates for a timely conversation about inclusion across film, television, theater, music, social media and beyond, the nonprofit said.
‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ Review: There’s No Business Like Bee Business
Matthew McConaughey stars as an Oklahoma honeymaker in a perplexing film that also features Kurt Russell and Angelina LookingGlass.
BREAKING: Netflix to shut down two more game studios
Netflix is sticking with video games but once again reducing the number of studios it owns making games. The streaming giant is closing Los Angeles-based Night School studio, which it acquired in 2021 and plans to close Helsinki-based Moonloot, which was founded in 2022. Just six weeks ago, Night School had released Unhinged, a novel 30-minute first-person horror game, streamable on TVs to Netflix users. The game was hailed by Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in a call with investors. Six weeks later, Night School is closing. Prior to its Netflix tenure, Night School had developed the award-winning supernatural thriller Oxenfree. A second Oxenfree game followed after the purchase, as well as a mobile game designed to tie in to an episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror. Netflix attributed the studio closures to a prioritization around kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare and games with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game. “We see an opportunity to be more focused in our execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business to match those priorities,” a Netflix spokesperson told Game File. Netflix is also cutting jobs from its internal games team. A rep declined to say how many jobs were being lost by these cutbacks. “We are incredibly grateful to the talented colleagues we’re saying goodbye to today. We thank them for all their contributions to Netflix, and wish them the best,” the rep said. Netflix started releasing video games, initially on mobile as a free bonus to subscribers, in 2021. By 2023, Mike Verdu, then the head of Netflix’s game operations, was telling me that the company was committed to growing carefully, as it offered more games and built up internal game studios. At the time, it hadn’t made any gaming job cuts. Since then, Netflix has altered its approach. In 2024, it shut down Team Blue, a start-up studio led by ex-Call of Duty and Halo developers that was exploring making a high-end first-person game for the service. Last October, Netflix shut down another studio, Boss Fight, shortly after Peters praised the team’s Squid Game game to investors. (One of Boss Fight’s main developers now works on the Netflix FIFA game for outside studio Delphi.) And in December, Netflix sold cozy game studio Spry Fox back to its founders. Amid all of this, Netflix has shifted from emphasizing mobile games to offering games through TVs and PCs, via streamed connections, with phones used as controllers. That’s how Night School’s Unhinged worked, along with games such as Boggle and Party Crashers that have collectively helped the Netflix game controller app chart well on mobile app stores. The studio cuts leave Netflix with a central gaming team that works with external developers, and a dedicated first party studio in, Helsinki-based Next Games, which produced many of the company’s couch-centric party games. The move away from having a roster of internal game studios aligns with Netflix’s own approach to shows and movies, which are largely produced externally. The company owns few TV/film production studios of its own. The gaming industry overall is seeing large holders of multiple studios cut back, with Sony, Ubisoft, Embracer, Microsoft and other giants closing or selling off studios. Cuts in California-based studios, where costs often run relatively high, have been particularly acute. Netflix has faced skepticism about its gaming plans for years. The moves today are likely to fuel them, and the company has few upcoming projects to counter the narrative. Among the few hinted, acclaimed independent studio Don’t Nod said last year it was working on a game tied to a major Netflix franchise.
Edinburgh international film festival showcases a Scottish industry in rude health
This year’s festival is superpowered by a strong year for Scottish cinema, showing it can thrive under the ‘four dimensional perpetual catch-22’ of global ambitions
Apple TV Gains Classic Movies Collection
Apple has again added a collection of classic movies to Apple TV that subscribers can now stream at no extra cost. The films are located in a new "Great Movies Available Now on Apple TV" carousel inside the Apple TV app. So far, free titles are showing up for subscribers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with the exact selection differing by country.
Andreas Dresen, Doris Dörrie Films to World Premiere at Zurich Film Festival
The world premieres of two major German films, Andreas Dresen’s “Love, After All” and Doris Dörrie’s “How Can I Help?,” are among 10 titles to feature in the Gala Premieres section of Zurich Film Fest...
Starbreeze Entertainment & VICE Studios Partners with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and G-Unit Film & Television for PAYDAY
Starbreeze Entertainment together with VICE Studios (Gangs of London) have partnered with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television, to executive produce an adaptation of Starbreeze’s iconic, long-running video game franchise PAYDAY® for global audiences. , , , , “G-Unit Film & TV has built cinematic crime stories that connect with audiences around the world. Teaming up with Starbreeze and VICE Studios and bringing the world of PAYDAY to the screen gives us the chance to build...
Top Horror Movies Streaming This Week
August is getting down to business with the top horror movies streaming this week. New films on the list include the streaming premiere of The Last House on Netflix, which came with the spectacle of a...
Immortality creator Sam Barlow's new video-scouring game is sci-fi horror Precognition, a collab with filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg, in which you see and change the future
Her Story and Immortality creator Sam Barlow is back with a new video-scouring game, and this time it's a sci-fi horror.
Wrapbook Launches New Entertainment Production Finance Series: WRAPPED
Wrapbook, the AI platform with an all-in-one solution for production finance, today announced the launch of WRAPPED, a short-form original video series exploring the business and financial mechanics behind film, television, and digital production. The inaugural episode explores the legacy and the future of federal film production incentives, diving deep to explain the recently expired and often misunderstood tax provision, Section 181.
Sundance Film 'Run Amok' Gets US Distribution With Greenwich
Sundance Dark Comedy 'Run Amok' Gets North American Deal With Greenwich Entertainment
In Venice, it’s not politics as usual as film-makers aim to recapture our attention
As social media shrinks and distorts the EU’s crises, the Venice film festival is delivering politically forthright epics from directors such as Sergei Loznitsa and Alex Gibney
The week in politics (Aug. 12, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. And we reflect on the classic film "Casablanca" ahead of a screening at the River Oaks Theatre.
Dolphins Filmed Hunting With Shells – And Possibly Passing The Skill to Their Offspring
"The second I saw that shell in the air, I immediately knew what was happening."
Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment to Release Makoto Shinkai's Next Movie
Crunchyroll is announcing today that it has acquired the worldwide distribution rights (excluding Asia, but including India) for Makoto Shinkai's next feature film, with Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment to co-distribute.
Jenna Ortega would go ‘all day without eating or drinking’ as a kid on set to ‘not be in the way’
Jenna Ortega was so desperate to ‘not be in the way of anybody’ on set when she was a child actor that she would ‘go all day without eating or drinking.’
Digital Twin in Entertainment Market to Reach USD 2,533.2 Million by 2032, Growing at 31.4% CAGR, Says MarketsandMarkets™
Delray Beach, FL, Aug. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Digital Twin in Entertainment Market is projected to grow from USD 492.4 million in 2026 to USD 2,533.2 million by 2032, at a CAGR of 31.4%, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets™. Growth is being driven by increasing adoption of virtual production technologies, rising investments in immersive entertainment experiences, and expanding deployment of AI-powered digital twin platforms across film, television, gaming, live events
‘Toy Story 5’ deleted scene reveals cut Jessie, Emily reunion (exclusive)
‘Toy Story 5’ deleted scene reveals the emotional reunion between Jessie and older Emily. The director explain why they cut it from the film.
Knights Of The Old Republic Was Censored In The Weirdest Way
Prepare to sit back and say 'damn' when you learn what Lucasfilm saved us from hearing
Lionsgate: Filmed Entertainment Backlog Jumps 21% To $1.5 Billion As Library Revenue Approaches $1 Billion
Lionsgate Studios' filmed entertainment backlog increased 21% year-over-year to $1.5 billion during its fiscal first quarter of 2027, while trailing 12-month library revenue reached $987 million as the company’s existing film and television catalog becomes an increasingly important source of recurring cash flow.
I Made This: ‘Strouse Entertainment: Starting a Business from a Wheelchair’
Recent Full Sail University Digital Cinematography graduate Van Eisenhour created a mini-documentary in class that earned a spot at Wellsboro Film Festival.
50 Cent to executive produce 'Payday' TV series
50 Cent is cashing in on Payday.The rapper/producer has boarded the TV adaptation of the popular first-person shooter video game series. He’ll executive produce under his G-Unit Film & Television prod...
Annual Capitolfest Returns to Rome Capitol Theatre
Rare films will take center stage at the 23rd annual Capitolfest at the Rome Capitol Theatre.
Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani Launch Excel Origins Initiative
Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar launch Excel Origins to back Indian filmmakers under 30.
Aubrey Plaza welcomes first child with Christopher Abbott
‘Parks and Recreation’ star Aubrey Plaza and ‘Poor Things’ actor Christopher Abbott just welcomed their first child together.
Robert Redford’s Final Film, Which He Came Out of Retirement For, Has A Near-Perfect Score on Rotten Tomatoes
Robert Redford became one of Hollywood's top actors during the 1960s and 1970s, spending over six decades in the entertainment business. From his Broadway career in the late 1950s to his later years i...
How Hyundai Is Turning Content Marketing Into Cultural Entertainment
Discover how Hyundai is redefining brand storytelling through films, animation, gaming, and creative collaborations that connect with audiences worldwide.
Molly Ringwald recalls John Hughes film that never got made and would have starred another ‘80s icon
Molly Ringwald recalls the John Hughes film ‘Oil and Vinegar’ that never got made and would have starred another ‘80s icon and collaborator of the late director.
This tiny gold crystal could bring quantum technology out of the deep freeze
Scientists have created the first quantum material that can sort and transport different quantum states of light at room temperature, potentially removing the need for bulky, ultra-cold refrigeration systems. Built from a gold film carved with hundreds of microscopic structures, the ultrathin “metacrystal” acts like a filter that directs different kinds of quantum light along separate paths while preserving the information they carry.
Scientists turn to sharks to improve hurricane predictions
From the killer shark of Jaws to the tornado-tossed predators of the Sharknado movies, films long have portrayed sharks as objects of summer fear. But when a shark cuts through the waters off the U.S. East Coast, it now may be doing more than hunting. It may also be gathering data that helps scientists understand the potential intensity of a hurricane before it makes landfall.
Upcoming PBS docuseries, 'Bucks County, USA,' to examine suburbs' political division
Filmmakers Barry Levinson and Robert May delve into community tensions in the political battleground. The first episodes premiere Sept. 20.
What’s filming in Georgia? Films with the Rock, Kristen Stewart, Pete Davidson
Georgia film production picked up in August from July, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kristen Stewart coming to town for different productions.
Monica Barbaro details deleted ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ scene with Jon Hamm
Monica Barbaro recalled shooting scenes for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ with Jon Hamm and Lewis Pullman that got ‘cut’ from the film.
'Boyhood' child actor lives 'in the middle of nowhere' after leaving Hollywood behind
Ellar Coltrane, now 31, says he lives in the middle of nowhere doing manual labor and firefighting, but misses collaborating on independent films.
Luke Kuechly's game film study helped shape Hall of Fame career
His ability to anticipate plays made him a formidable opponent.
Isabella Rossellini Explains Why She Lives in US Despite Bad Politics
The Italian-American actress, model and filmmaker also explained why "I don’t like TV shows" after being honored with the Swiss fest's Excellence Award the night before.
Science|Business summer reads of 2026
As most people in the European research and innovation policy bubble are going on a well-deserved summer break, we have come up with a list of our favourite books, podcasts and essays from the past year that ask deeper questions about science, technology and politics.BooksPasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, by Donald StokesIf you haven’t read Pasteur’s Quadrant yet, now is the time. In the EU and elsewhere, we’re living through a period of dwindling faith that curiosity-driven research automatically leads to economic growth and technological progress. Pasteur’s Quadrant, published in 1997 by the Princeton academic Donald Stokes, is the most influential critique of the standard “linear model” of R&D: the idea that new discoveries made in ivory-tower labs get neatly passed on for commercialisation by start-ups. In reality, Stokes argues, practical applications often inspire more theorical lines of inquiry. Of course, we have long known that things are more complex than the linear model, but even today, it’s still often assumed in Brussels discourse. The book is a useful corrective, and is being used now to argue for new types of scientific institutions. David MatthewsThe Weaponization of Expertise: How Elites Fuel Populism, by Jacob Hale Russel and Dennis PattersonAre society’s problems solvable by technical expertise alone? “If only the benighted would listen,” say Jacob Hale Russel and Dennis Patterson, two professors at Rutgers Law School who got frustrated with how scientists and politicians handled public health communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the book, they argue that clichéd mantras about scientific evidence and expertise perpetrated by academics, journalists and politicians have harmed public trust in the very institutions they were trying to defend. Paradoxically, slogans such as “we believe in science,” “follow the science” and “defer to the experts” can fuel mistrust in science, experts and democratic institutions. The authors criticise “condescension” and “technocratic paternalism” in the public discourse and make the case for a more nuanced approach to scientific and expert policy advice that rests on humility, doubt, scepticism and open dialogue. “Most complex social questions in fact revolve around values, not the recitation of unambiguous facts,” they say. Florin ZubascuBreakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, by Dan WangIn this book, Dan Wang compares the structural differences between the US and Chinese industrial policies, but raises a very timely question for innovation policy wonks: how can advanced manufacturing know-how contribute to technology-intensive economic growth? Wang says technology has three components: the tools, the blueprints and patents, and the process knowledge. The third component represents the “proficiency gained from practical experience, which isn’t easily communicated and requires years of implementation.” According to Wang, rather than seeing tools and blueprints as the ultimate ends of technological progress, policymakers should see them as milestones in the training of better scientists and manufacturers. Over the past decades, China has amassed “process knowledge” because capital flowed to complex fabrication facilities, while investors in the West have parked their money in capital-light businesses such as digital platforms or chip companies that focus on design. As it turns out, thanks to its oversized focus on manufacturing, China has gained remarkable advantages in the global technology race. Florin ZubascuBaltic: The Future of Europe, by Oliver MoodyWhat can Europe learn from the nine countries surrounding the Baltic Sea? Alongside the familiar stories about Estonia's digital transformation, the book examines how the region has used technology, resilience, education, governance and long-term thinking to respond to geopolitical, economic and security challenges. Innovation policy wonks might find fresh perspectives on how innovation can strengthen defence, societal resilience and Europe's capacity to adapt in an uncertain world. Whether or not you agree with all of Oliver Moody's conclusions, the book is a useful guide to a region that is increasingly shaping European debates on security, competitiveness and technology. Goda NaujokaityteThe Invention of Nature, by Andrea Wulf This book chronicles the wild and adventurous life of natural science pioneer Alexander von Humboldt who at some point in the 19th century seems to have been just about the most famous person in the world. Through scientific expeditions to the Andes Mountains and to the depths of Siberia, von Humboldt contributed a host of discoveries and concepts. During his life he met and formed relationships with historical figures as different as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Simon Bolivar, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles Darwin. He is also claimed to be the person in the world with most things named after him, a list that includes an ocean current, a penguin and a region of the Moon. Still venerated in Germany, with numerous scientific institutions named after him, von Humboldt has slipped out of public consciousness in most of the rest of the world. For anyone not familiar with him, this book does a good job of describing his fascinating life. Ole EllekrogCareless People, by Sarah Wynn-WilliamsYou may have heard this referred to as the book Meta doesn’t want you to read. The 2025 memoir from Sarah Wynn-Williams, former director of global public policy at Meta, then just called Facebook, includes explosive claims about everything from a toxic workplace culture to how the company worked with advertisers to target vulnerable teens, and the lengths it was prepared to go to in order to break into China. It’s a fascinating insight into how and why the tech company gradually shifted its approach to policy, whether in the US, Europe or Asia. Meta has denied the allegations in the book, and last year won an emergency ruling to prevent Wynn-Williams from promoting it. In response, the author is now suing her former employer. If that doesn’t make you want to read it. Martin GreenacrePodcastsThe Europeans: Europe’s anti-ElonThis podcast is a great choice for a light-hearted dose of European policy and culture news. Most of it has little to do with research, innovation and technology, but this particular podcast features an interview with Mastadon’s founder Eugen Rochko. He talks about his experience running an open-source, federated, European-made social media platform, and leaving it all behind. The conversation, which starts 14 minutes in, gently encourages us to reflect on what kind of technology we, as Europeans, want to make. Goda NaujokaityteSolarpunk and how we escape dystopiaNew technologies are very often taken from science fiction. Alberto Santos-Dumont, inventor the airship, was inspired as a child by the adventure stories of Jules Verne. OpenAI’s attempt to build a personal assistant with the voice of Scarlett Johansson was lifted from the 2013 film Her, completely ignoring the movie’s cautionary message. So if we want better tech, we need to imagine it first. Unfortunately, the state of current sci-fi is relentlessly dystopian, giving inventors precious few ideas or hope. However, a new genre, Solarpunk, which envisages a technologically advanced but ecologically harmonious future, is now taking off. The actual tech the genre imagines, such as permaculture, renewable energy or community repair workshops, while nice, isn’t all that inspiring or ambitious. But it’s a first step towards rescuing sci-fi from its pessimistic Blade Runner rut. David MatthewsEveryday AbundanceLaunched in June, Everyday Abundance is a podcast that tells the stories of the inventions we now take so for granted that we barely given them a second thought. For example, the washing machine, which liberated women from a lifetime “bent over washtubs and washboards.” Or modern dentistry, which ended the reality that “tooth pain was simply part of human life.” Historians of technology, Virginia Postrel and Charles C Mann are very much on the optimistic end of the spectrum when it comes to the capacity of invention to improve human life. Here, they set out their case: if it wasn’t for progress, you might be hunched over a washtub with toothache rather than reading these words. David Matthews‘We will not know what we lost’: Conservation fallout a year after USAID shutdownSince his return to the White House, Donald Trump has been on a mission to undermine science. He slashed jobs at federal agencies, terminated grants in some research areas, took unprecedented control over university affairs and, within hours of his inauguration, suspended the US Agency for International Development. While its initial focus was to administer health and food aid around the world, it had since expanded to conservation projects. The result? Some of these projects were stopped abruptly. In this Mongabay podcast, environmental reporter Michelle Nijhuis tells the story of the EcoGuard conservation programme in Liberia, whose local patrols had helped protect rainforests, monitor endangered wildlife and track illegal threats. From one day to the next, these were left without salaries. Luckily, she notes, the initiative was able to get emergency funding from international NGOs, but its future remains “incredibly uncertain.” Juliette PortalaEssaysThe Mars Delusion, by Henry WismayerWhy is humankind so fixated on establishing a colony on Mars? asks London-based writer Henry Wismayer. From space evangelists promoting Martian settlement as an insurance policy, to billionaire Jeff Bezos, who said humans should settle on Mars “because it’s cool,” the mission is not running short of advocates. However, in this essay, Wismayer reminds us that some critics expect any future Mars pioneer to end up “irradiated, sick, mad and dead.” Scientists have already looked into the possible effects of prolonged exposure to Martian gravity, and it’s not pretty: muscle shrinking, bones weakening, changes to the central nervous system and other biological modifications to make us all reconsider the journey. “Some researchers have forecast that the future settler, after generations of evolutionary conditioning, will look less like an Übermensch and more like ET,” Wismayer writes. Juliette Portala
Hallmark Media, NFL, Skydance Sports and the Chicago Bears announce the starting lineup for Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story
With production wrapping last month in the Chicago area, the starting lineup for Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story has been named. The film will feature cameo appearances from head coach Ben Johnson, tight end Colston Loveland, tight end Cole Kmet, al
Movies to help understand the politics of immigration
Explore powerful films that illuminate the challenges of immigration, examining policy impacts and sociopolitical drivers for migration.
Universal's 'Disclosure Day' Rises to No. 1 on U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through Aug. 5
Universal’s Disclosure Day moved up to No. 1 on the Official Film Chart, the U.K.’s weekly home entertainment sales chart, rising two spots in its second week on the chart. The Steven Spielberg-directed sci-fi drama pushed Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu to No. 4 in its second week on the chart. Lionsgate/Universal’s Michael … Continue reading "Universal’s ‘Disclosure Day’ Rises to No. 1 on U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through Aug. 5"
New York Film Festival unveils lineup to main slate. James Gray opens and Ava DuVernay closes
The New York Film Festival has unveiled the main slate of films to its 64th edition, including films from James Gray, Ava DuVernay and Tony Gilroy.
Atlanta’s entertainment scene gives rise to lawyer John Rose
Atlanta-based entertainment attorney John Rose helps recording artists land deals, film studios relocate productions and creatives understand their value.
Variety names Joyce Choi ’19 among Hollywood’s rising entertainment leaders
Elon alumna Joyce Choi ’19, vice president of film at Imagine Entertainment, has been named to Variety's
Disney's 'Toy Story 5' fuels streaming business and merchandise sales for June quarter
Disney said the blockbuster success of "Toy Story 5" extended beyond the box office for the June quarter, as the hit film fueled sales of merchandise, added to engagement on the Disney+ streaming service, and attracted more visitors to its theme parks.
New "Ted Lasso" season features NWSL's Kansas City Current as plot point
The new season of "Ted Lasso" was filmed in the U.S. at a real-life NWSL club for a cameo that serves as a key plot point of the show.
Burt Reynolds was gifted a brand new Pontiac Trans Am every year for the rest of his life until an awkward call with General Motors president
Following the huge success of the film Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds struck a deal with GM for a free Pontiac Trans Am a year, but something went wrong
Tim Matheson Recounts “Yours, Mine & Ours” Costar Henry Fonda ‘Doing Needlepoint’ on Set in an Effort to Quit Smoking
Matheson played Fonda’s son in the 1968 film, which also starred Lucille Ball
Galaxy S27 Ultra to use inkjet lens printing across all three rear cameras
Instead of the usual anti-reflective films, they’re using a precise application of matte ink delivered through inkjet printing.
‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 2 Is Filming, and the Show Has a Message for Overexcited Fans
As season 2 of 'Heated Rivalry' begins production, the official account for the show has posted a statement asking fans to give the cast and crew the space they need.
MrBeast Sales Slow, Angel Stock Falls, MUBI and Neon Look for Hits, and Will an NBA Franchise Set a Sales Record?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) You probably remember egg prices spiking a few years ago. This led to a lot of debate between the pro-market/pro-competition/antitrust/Neo-Brandesian crowd and the center/center-right/center-left/abundance/libertarian crowd over the cause, whether it was the avian flu outbreak or whether industry consolidation led to price fixing, using avian flu as a convenient cover. Basel Musharbash wrote a whole investigation at BIG looking at it. Well, two years later, we have our answer: it was price fixing. The Justice Department found proof, via emails, of price fixing. Indeed, just the threat of an investigation brought prices down two years ago: I bring this up because at least half a dozen of my favorite political writers and pundits, who were skeptical about price fixing at the time, haven’t written any mea culpas on this issue. It’s really dispiriting and makes it much, much harder to trust their work on other issues. If you take a hard stand on an issue, then you get it wrong, you need to explain how and why you got it wrong. Or update your priors. This is how epistemological bubbles are formed! All of which is to say, it’s time for another installment of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. Last issue, I mostly focused on the “wrong” side of the equation, so today’s is a bit more balanced, but with one big mea culpa (though I still stand by my original concerns). Let’s dive right in! Subscribe CORRECTION: UFC Didn’t Release Subscriber Data (But Seems to Have Bragged About It Internally) In my analysis of the viewership of UFC Freedom 250, I wrote... “Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers.” Well, that datecdote did not come from a PR rep, but from great reporting from James Faris at Business Insider. The actual quote was this: “Paramount’s flagship streaming service generated about a million new subscribers on the day of its first-ever UFC event, Paramount product chief Dane Glasgow told employees in a town hall on Tuesday morning, three staffers who attended the meeting told Business Insider.“ This wasn’t the biggest goof in the world; even Faris emphasized to me that this is more a “clarification” than a correction. Still, it sounds like, internally, the folks at Paramount were very happy about this result—and I’m guessing they were happy with this news getting out—even though the gains didn’t last through the quarter, dropping to 700K adds. RIGHT: MrBeast’s Struggles Continue... I’m very skeptical about MrBeast’s burgeoning media “empire” and, in particular, its $5 billion valuation, as I wrote earlier this year and last year. Sure enough, according to Business Insider, regarding its “booming” consumer products division_:_ “US sales volume grew 13% year-over-year in 2025, following a 33% leap the previous year, according to a presentation deck dated May 2026....A February 2025 investor deck viewed by Business Insider showed Feastables’ net revenue more than doubled in 2024 from 2023, to $215 million, and was forecast to grow 74% in 2025, to $375 million.” [Emphasis mine.] If you told investors that you projected 74% growth but delivered 13%,1 that’s not ideal. But it’s not just MrBeast. Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime had sales drop in half for their energy drinks. It’s one thing to build a successful entertainment company and an entirely different thing to succeed in the heavily-consolidated-but-also-very-competitive consumer packaged goods space! CPGs are dominated by a few firms with very wide moats compared to YouTube, which has few barriers to entry. These businesses require different skill sets and have completely different business environments. WRONG: Does the NBA Have an $8 Billion Bidder? Almost as soon as I published my article about the NBA’s finances, casting skepticism on NBA expansion, I saw this Front Office Sports headline: One group “claims to have already raised $8 billion” for the Vegas expansion team. I mean, wow. That’s just $2 billion less than what the Los Angeles Lakers were valued at when they were sold just last year. And they’re arguably the most popular team in the NBA. (Side note: the new owner is now under an investigation for fraud in how he went about financing the Lakers and the Dodgers purchases.) So much for the “dried up” language I used in that article. (This is why I usually stick to my “Entertainment Nuance Guy” tone in articles...) I went off old information—from April, when I read/heard about the NBA downplaying expansion efforts—instead of doing a quick double-check for new news. That said...if you read the article, the market for Seattle is “slow”, with just one reported bidder. So I wasn’t entirely off. This goof has annoyed me since I first published it, mainly because it undercut that article’s real point, which I stand by: NBA franchises are really overvalued right now. Now, I get why NBA teams are overvalued. When it comes to owning sports teams, it’s basically never wrong to assume that some rich person somewhere will care more about owning a team (or just being part of a group since they’re so expensive) than the actual financials. There are only so many teams to own, and opportunities to buy in preferred markets don’t come along very often. This explains why the teams sell for such high multiples (usually above a 10 to 12.5 revenue multiple, which is very high). You only need one person to overpay! Beyond the ultra-wealthy luxury good explanation, I worry NBA teams are becoming speculative assets. More and more private equity investors are buying into NBA teams. But the value, in owning a team, comes from selling it later, not any meaningful relationship to revenue or profit growth. In other words, the newer NBA owners are increasingly expecting someone later to buy their inflated asset. That’s not sound economics; that’s the “greater fool” theory at work.2 At some point, actually making money has to matter. Especially since revenue growth is now below the growth of the stock market. (And this matters because the NBA doesn’t have easy levers to pull to drastically lower their costs—half of their revenue has to go to players and then you actually have to run a team, including coaching, training, travel, media expenses, and more—or raise revenues aside from one-off expansions in America and overseas.) I just don’t see how investors make their money back buying NBA teams, except for selling at a higher price later on down the line. But if revenue/profit growth continues to slow, at some point, someone will be left holding the bag. RIGHT: Baseball and Basketball are about equally popular. Related to the above, I wanted to cite two quick pieces of evidence for one of my other theories: that the NBA and MLB are about as popular as each other, but the NBA gets much, much better media coverage. One YouGov survey has that fans prefer basketball to baseball by 52% to 48%, which I’m guessing is within the margin of error for that poll. That’s virtually even, meaning they’re about the same popularity. Over on NBC, a recent Red Sox-Yankees game averaged 4 million viewers, higher than Sunday Night Basketball’s average of 3.4 million on the same network. A Yankees-Dodgers game averaged 3.9 million two weeks ago. Not every game averages this much, but it shows you that baseball isn’t far off from basketball, depending on the matchup. Altogether, the NBA is just slightly more popular than baseball, but NBC is paying MLB a fraction of what they pay the NBA, a point I’ve made before. RIGHT: Angel, MUBI and Neon Updates... I’ve long been skeptical about many of Hollywood’s buzziest startups/smaller indie studios. It’s not that they don’t make great movies—films like Anora and Everything Everywhere All at Once are amazing—or that they’re not (rightfully) pushing the majors to make better films, but...they get a ton of hype, and that hype often doesn’t live up to the reality or difficulty in scaling up. Starting with MUBI, well, The Wall Street Journal wrote a feature on MUBI’s struggles last April, best summarized by the subheader “After Sequoia valued Mubi at $1 billion, a left-wing revolt sent the indie film company into a tailspin”. MUBI lost $7.3 million on $200 million in revenue in Q4 2025, but reportedly hit a record 1.7 million subscribers at the end of Q1. As for Neon, Department M purchased a “significant stake” in the company earlier this year. How much is that “stake” worth? According to Deadline, “No financial figures for the Neon-Department M deal were disclosed.” So...that’s not great! If it was a big valuation, we’d hear about. Also, I found this curious: “Both Neon and Department M already have separate partnerships with Qatar. The Qatar Film Committee has a slate deal in place with the former, and a biopic production pact with the latter.” Color me skeptical about much Middle Eastern investment dollars. See: LIV Golf. Finally, as for Angel (formerly Angel Studios), their stock very, very slightly popped last month after Young Washington ($20 million budget) which made $45 million in the US, but their stock is still way down from its opening. Smaller Updates RIGHT: The WGA should focus on antitrust concerns! I’ve been on this for years. Post-WGA/AMTPT deal in 2023, I wrote an article for the Ankler calling on the WGA to focus and organize against industry consolidation. Sure enough, the WGA filed a lawsuit against the Paramount-WBD merger, and people are organizing around this issue now. I wish this energy had coalesced earlier (specifically to lobby Washington much earlier), but better late than never! WRONG: Actually, the chip shortage might be due to market manipulation. In my last “Long Reads for the Long Summer” article, I shared an article about how LLMs are causing memory chip prices to spike, which will make all electronics more expensive. Well, turns out, three RAM manufacturers control 90% of the market, and now a private lawsuit accuses them of price-fixing. So yeah. WRONG/UPDATE: The Odyssey will hold! Two weeks ago, I wrote, “As of this moment, we haven’t had a super-blockbuster, though The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday could all cross the $500 million mark. (At this point, The Odyssey would need a very strong hold to get there.)” Well, it’s safe to say it’s going to have that hold! It only dropped 30% in weekend two and IMAX screenings are sold out all month. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is also off to a great start. RIGHT: People are rushing to get shows out yearly. I’ve long been bullish on yearly, weekly-released shows, and Leslie Goldberg at The Ankler wrote about how many people in town are now listening. WRONG: Mark Carney reverses Canada’s stance on homegrown production. After writing about Canada installing domestic production quotas, Canada has backed off. WRONG: I don’t trust Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s online “views”. When I originally wrote about the latest Spider-Man film’s record-breaking trailer, I thought this was just YouTube views, but after watching this Corridor Crew video and doing more research, well, it’s all social views of the trailer globally. Really? That stat includes TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts views. Basically, I don’t trust it anymore. (This film will probably set record, but I trust the pre-sales data more.) RIGHT: Celebrity Production companies are still struggling. I’ve written about this for years, but the company that I didn’t track was Kevin Hart’s HartBeat, which was valued at $650 million but is struggling now and might just end soon, especially after Kevin Hart pulled his endorsement deals. And Bad Robot is moving to NYC. CORRECTION: SpongeBob is a “second run” title. In my 2025 recap article, I had _SpongeBob SquarePants_labelled as a “library” title, when it is still a “second run” show, with new episodes still coming out on Nickelodeon. CORRECTION: In my last “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong” update, I offered a correction from Doug Creutz and misspelled TD Cowen. Thanks, Grammarly! 1 Though he could have increased prices to make up for the gap, he couldn’t have increased them that much. 2 There’s a theory, which I think that Daryl Morey created and Bill Simmons popularized, that, to be successful building your team, you only need a handful of bad GMs in the league to take advantage of. To be clear, Daryl Morey’s theory was also for signing bad contracts, that you could always get out of bad contracts. Basically, there’s always someone who will make a bad trade. It’s not the same exact thing, but similar enough to the Greater Fool Theory that I really like it.
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It’s just good business
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‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ a new Gregg Araki film, and an ‘Adults’ prequel episode top our Must List
See EW’s top pop culture picks for the week, including ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ the new Gregg Araki film ‘I Want Your Sex,’ and a special prequel episode for FX’s comedy series ‘Adults.’
The Streaming Bubble Keeps Popping
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) One of my rules is “never bet against PE [private equity]”. This isn’t to say that I agree with their methods or tactics or strategies or financial innovations (aka shenanigans). Just that in the long arc of financial history, they’ve tended to return very good returns to their shareholders. That said, their forays into entertainment have left me...skeptical. I’ve written before about PE’s production company/celebrity production company roll ups, and those haven’t really worked out. Some PE groups tried to “roll up” an industry that isn’t “roll-up-able” for lack of a better term—since the barrier to entry for starting a production company is very low—often paying top dollar for celebrity production companies at the height of streaming valuations. So yeah maybe we can bet against PE when they venture into filmed entertainment. I’ve also noted that studio lots seemed to be a bubble back in 2022. Sure enough… Yikes! That sure sounds like some private equity guys lost some money. The only caveat being that holding a lot of land in Los Angeles is always valuable. But that wasn’t the pitch and likely real estate investment companies overpaid for said land. I mean, Goldman Sachs had to repossess it after all. (Technically, I’m not sure these buyers were traditional private equity, but PE was buying LA studio lots earlier this decade.) All to say: I call out bubbles when I see them, and they often pop. Anywho, my most famous bubble call was the “streaming bubble”, specifically that the major streamers were making too many shows and films. And that it could all come crashing down. Notably, I made this call before the strikes of 2023, but those strikes potentially accelerated the popping. And now it has indeed popped. One of my most popular articles of last year made that exact case. A year later, it’s time to update that analysis. The bottom line is that the streaming contraction continues. Credit where credit is due, Luminate—an analytics company whose data I use weekly in my streaming ratings report—called this out in a recent report I saw highlighted in both Bloomberg and The Hollywood Reporter. But I’m adding my data to their look, including streaming films and kids TV shows. I’ll also provide some other data that all tells the same picture. Let’s dive in! Subscribe The Number of Streaming TV Shows, Films and Specials Is Declining AGAIN in 2026 Let’s get right to the data, starting with my dataset. Specifically, each week I track every “notable” title to come out on streaming. I try to grab every title on every major streamer, meaning if it’s a first run or original or exclusive, I track it. This helps me call out the “dogs not barking” and the misses/flops each week. So that will be our first series of charts, my weekly collection data. Let’s start with the raw TV show, film and special data, by week. Note: As the years have gone by, I have actually added more sources (going from just one source to five sources) to find new titles, meaning that this data collection is, likely, more accurate now than in the past. Which means my team and I are more likely to have undercounted titles in the past rather than today. I like to cut the data several different ways. Here’s that same look, by quarter, to more sharply show the trends: And here’s the data just looking at the first half of each year. That’s the same data, just cut three different ways with three different time periods. Note that films, TV shows, and specials are all down by 25%, 42% and 17%, respectively, from 2022. The good news is that the number of films and specials actually increased year-over-year from 2025 to 2026, but not enough to offset the 25% decline in TV shows. Now, I also look at kids shows, and here they are pulled out on their own: And here’s that by quarter: This really seems to be a notable area of pullback by the streamers. Kids shows are down 80% from 2022. This reflects some formerly Disney+ shows going to cable TV first, but also pullbacks from HBO Max, Prime Video and Netflix. I also categorize the TV shows by English language and non-English language, and that also reveals a lot of where the drop comes from: And here is by the half-year: In this look, the good news is the drop for English language shows seems to have stabilized in the last year. But the bad news is the long term decline from the 2022 peak. Other Data So I wasn’t the only person to notice this decline in the number of shows. I have a few other data sources for this, though most only go through the end of 2025. As I said, Luminate beat me to the punch, so let’s look at their data. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… What TV loss streaming didn’t make up for... How Netflix has changed their programming slate over time… Ten more images charting the decline of production... What type of films aren’t being made anymore... The good news (for movie theaters)… And more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Sees Revenue Drop 13% In Latest Quarter; Big Gains In Music
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Makers of unreleased Nicolas Cage movie sue Netflix for $105 million after theft of film
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ArtBeat: Arts & Entertainment Showcase
Whether you’re looking for Broadway-style theater, live music under the stars, family-friendly films, art exhibitions, or community festivals, there’s plenty to enjoy across East Tennessee this week. Week of July 29–August 5 This week’s highlights are compiled from the Arts & Culture Alliance and participating arts organizations across East Tennessee. On Stage Through – August […]
'Children of Blood and Bone' film drama continues with a new claim
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Business In Filmmaking lecture held in Richmond with Mad Skillz
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The latest trailer for Jumanji: Open World brings its avatars into the real world.
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'Tormented Souls': ZQ, Prime Universe & Longevity Acquire Film Rights
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'The Thomas Crown Affair': Everything to know about the Michael B. Jordan film, in theaters March 5, 2027
