The Blue Beetle has Returned

Xolo Mariduena is officially returning as Blue Beetle in Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel that is set to be released on July 9, 2027. Xolo said he found out during his vacation with some friends in Japan. He found out through a phone call from Gunn himself. After being told the good news, he swore his friends to secrecy. Anyway, now we know.

Gunn actually called Blue Beetle the first DCU character after the release of the movie in 2023. He is following up on that.

Take: I am so happy we are getting Blue Beetle back.

The Japanese Godzilla is getting Major Upgrades

Godzilla Minus Zero is a sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One. Director Takashi says the new Godzilla is "pointier, spikier, and edgier. The movie also has a bigger budget and relies more on IMAX cameras, which points to a more fulfilling theatre experience. This monster was thought to have been destroyed in Godzilla Minus One. It seems capable of regenerating.

Take: I must be there for Godzilla Minus Zero. The Japanese can do Godzilla far better than the Americans. Godzilla Minus One is the best Godzilla movie of all time. Its sequel has big shoes to fill. I am curious to see if it does exactly that.

GTA 6’s Extended Look Dominates Netflix

Rockstar’s GTA 6: an extended look captures 27 minutes footage of the gameplay on PS5. It was first released on Netflix, and it pulled 31.1 million views. It was no 1 on Netflix’s Chart in 87 countries, effectively beating both movies and series on the platform. It beat the next thing on the chart, a movie, The Whisper Man, by 8 million views.

Take: Unfortunately, I won’t be playing this game anytime soon because I don’t have a PS5. I still have a lot to catch up to in the gaming world LOL. These days I mostly play Fortnite. Good luck to the people who can play it immediately, though.

Ridley Scott called Alien: Romulus just “Ok” while Glazing Himself

Scott has announced that he is back in the Alien Franchise. He is presently working on a follow-up to Alien: Covenant. When he was asked about Alien: Romulus, one of the best movies in the franchise, he said it was Ok and it needs some help.

Take: Ridley Scott is one of the greatest directors of all time. No debate there. However, sometimes, this man just needs to stop talking. He talks too much. Alien Covenant, which he directed, was nowhere as good as Alien: Romulus, so I don’t understand why he is out here portraying himself as some kind of Saviour for the Alien Franchise when Alien: Romulus effectively revived the franchise. The Last time Scott directed a really good movie was in 2021, and that was House of Gucci, and yet he would come out here to be saying shit like this. Absolutely comical. He also once said that these days movies are not good anymore; only his movies are. The grandiosity and the self-glazing are too much. The man has actually passed his prime. He should rest.

Pokemon returns to the Big Screen in 2027

The Last time an animated Pokémon movie got released was in 2020. This movie is ditching the traditional Ash-and-Pikachu battle formula for competitive Pokémon Trading Card Game action. The teaser (debuted at the Pokémon World Championship) centres on a Mimikyu and a young card-game hopeful.

Take: I really enjoyed Detective Pikachu. I was hoping they would make another live-action Pokémon movie. Anyway, I’ll still be there for this one.

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A few days ago, the trailer for Blue Eye Samurai was released. You should check out the show; it’s really good. It’s animated too. One of the best animated shows so far this decade. Anyway, after seeing the trailer, I was happy and angry at the same time. I was happy because the show is finally returning, and I was angry because it took a really long time. I mean, it took 3 years and 3 months for us to get a season 2. Season 1 was released in November 2023. Some of my friends shared my angry sentiment.

A friend of mine now brought up the fact that it was now a trend for TV shows released through streaming to take a very long time to get released. Many others and I agreed. Netflix is especially fond of this practice. Viewers like me and some others tend to lose interest in a show when it takes a while to get released. That’s one of the problems of the streaming era: the lengthy time gap between the seasons of shows.

I told Eden how I haven’t seen Wednesday season 2 till now; he also said he hasn’t seen it either. Eden is the friend I was talking about earlier, try and catch up. Anyway, the reason why we both haven’t seen Season 2 of Wednesday yet is due to the fact that we lost a great deal of interest because of how long it took just for us to get a second season. I mean, three years just to get a second season of Wednesday? The craziest part about it is that we aren’t even getting many episodes, just 8, after waiting for three whole years? This isn’t a show that involves heavy visual effects or complex storylines, so I wonder why it can even take that long. It isn’t by any means supposed to. I’ll still watch Season 2 eventually, but it isn’t a priority watch for me at the moment.

I haven’t even seen Season 2 of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aside from the fact that it pales in comparison to the animation, Season 2 also took a long time to get released: 2 years. I’m not the only one who lost interest; data shows that there was 59% reduction in viewership for the second season in comparison to the first. Fewer people saw the second season.

Shows like Stranger Things, Squid Game, Beef, The 3 Body Problem and The Witcher, among many other shows, just took unnecessarily lengthy time gaps between each season.

I understand that the aim now is to make TV shows of Cinematic quality after Game of Thrones changed the game in 2011, but seven seasons of Game of Thrones were released annually. It was only season 8 we had to wait two years for.

They didn’t waste time, and Game of Thrones is more cinematic than any show on Netflix, so what’s their excuse exactly? Stranger Things is Netflix’s biggest show, and it took them almost a fucking decade just to release 5 seasons that only had 8 episodes each.

I’ll start talking about traditional TV in a bit, so please just bear with me. The streaming era that we are currently in claims to prioritise quality over quantity. Well, it actually started out like that. Early streaming shows like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Daredevil and even Stranger Things- earlier seasons. It was all about a shorter number of episodes than traditional TV. The episodes on Netflix then didn’t exceed 13 for each season of a TV show that they put out. Nowadays it’s mostly eight. The idea is simple: make each episode feel cinematic. They should have as good a quality as the movies. If you have seen the likes of Altered Carbon, Shadow and Bone, and The Sandman, you’ll understand what I am talking about. The visuals in these shows were the same as in the movies. They were really good. This is the streaming model. Give shows movie budgets, release fewer episodes, and voila quality over quantity. That’s the formula. However, their model isn’t perfect.

Netflix in particular makes too many shows, and most of them are average, not great. So can you still say it’s quality over quantity then? No, we can’t really say that. If only a handful of the shows created by the platform are really good, then they aren’t following the quality-over-quantity model completely. Only two streamers are consistently delivering prestige TV. HBO Max and Apple. Amazon Prime has been on a good run this year, so maybe that too, but MAX and Apple are still way ahead of the curve. I mean, they both have some of the best shows this decade. I’m talking Silo, Succession, Severance, Mare of East town, Ted Lasso, Industry, The White Lotus and Foundation among others. So I can confidently say only two streamers are completely following the model of quality over quantity.

Now, let’s get into traditional television. My scope of Traditional television is going to be limited to the 90s, 2000s and early 2010s. Some of the shows I have seen from the 90s are The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Simpsons, Superman: The Animated Series, and Batman: The Animated Series.

What all these shows have in common is that they didn’t waste time when releasing episodes. I wasn’t born in the 90s, but thank God for the internet; I could get info on the dates each season got released. The entire six seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were released within a time span of 5 years, which is incredible considering how streaming takes time to release seasons these days. That’s not all; each season had at least twenty episodes. In comparison to contemporary TV, where we get just eight episodes or ten in some cases after waiting for over three years or sometimes two years, I’ll say the 90s were much better in this respect of being timely and delivering quality at the same time.

Quality, Quantity and Punctuality were of utmost priority for shows in the 90s, from my own experience. Heck, we got the best adaptations of Batman and Superman on screen in the 90s. Batman: The Animated Series was revolutionary. Superman: The Animated Series was great too. To date, I haven’t seen better adaptations of those characters. We got many episodes of these shows over a few years, and they were of good quality. These are things contemporary TV lacks. The 90s are widely seen as an era that set the stage for the golden age of television, which is the 2000s.

I have seen many good shows from the 2000s. A few are Prison Break, Breaking Bad, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Wire and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The 2000s were better than the 1990s. We got freaking Breaking Bad. That alone tells you enough, not to talk of The Wire and Star Wars: The Clone Wars that made the prequel movies infinitely better than they first were. This era has the greatest shows ever made. The Sopranos, The Wire and Breaking Bad. TV at its finest.

They didn’t waste the time of fans; the quality of the shows didn’t reduce, and just the right amount of episodes were released. The quality of shows reducing in later seasons is a common theme in the streaming era. The plot can become worse; they can unnecessarily drag a show which could have ended sooner, among other things. Shows these days don’t get better with more seasons, unlike the 2000s. A few examples of shows I believe that became worse with each new season are FROM, Outer Banks and Stranger Things. FROM and Outer Banks were unnecessarily stretched. Outer Banks Season 3 was a perfect ending. They had no reason to continue. The kids got the gold, bought Poguelandia, and they were happy, but there were seasons 4 and 5. To my annoyance, a character that deserved to be locked up for all the crimes he committed got a redemption he didn’t deserve. He killed an innocent policeman who was just doing her job, attempted to kill his sister, stole a lot of shit from the poor main characters and somehow, he did a few good things and is allowed to ride into the sunset with his girlfriend? That’s some bullshit. FROM, on the other hand, I just don’t find it interesting anymore. Season 1 and 2 were really good, but watching Season 3 was like a chore for me. I haven’t seen Season 4 yet. Three Seasons in, the mystery gets more complex but less intriguing. Other mystery shows i have seen, like Dark, kept the mystery very intriguing and complex at the same time. That show benefited largely from just having three seasons. Strong start, stronger finish. I can’t tell if FROM would end well.

Stranger Things is one of my favourite shows of all time, but the weakest season of Stranger Things is easily season 5. Season 4 is the best for me. Season 4 reached a climax, and Season 5 went downhill from there. This is not to say season 5 isn’t good. I still like it, but it is the worst season in the show. Vecna, the main villain, should have been harder to defeat. The stakes were not as high as previous seasons. I won’t say more than that.

Finally, the 2010s gave us Game of Thrones, Gravity Falls, Watchmen, Orange is the New Black, Better Call Saul and Atlanta, amongst others.

Game of Thrones alone redefined television by making it a cinematic spectacle. This show is what influenced streaming services nowadays to create cinematic spectacles on TV. One can argue that they got the wrong lesson. Yes, they give us cinematic spectacles, but they kept up with the quality of the show in terms of the plot, characters and writing until they reached season 8 anyway, but that is beside the point. HBO was also timely.

In conclusion, my very humble opinion is that streaming services should prioritise Quality and Punctuality when it comes to TV Shows. The traditional TV era is better.

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It’s been a big week for Navy SEALs, and one very persistent pirate. Grab your popcorn; we’re diving into HBO’s Derry renewal, Chris Pratt’s long-awaited return, the potential comeback of the greatest pirate in Hollywood history, and a bunch of space cops wearing green breaking HBO records. Let’s get into it.

🤡 IT: Welcome to Derry Officially Renewed for Season 2

Pennywise is coming back, just not for a while. HBO confirmed on August 17 that It: Welcome to Derry has been renewed for a second season, nearly ten months after the Season 1 finale aired in December 2025. The wait wasn’t about cold feet from the network; HBO chief Casey Bloys had already said earlier this year that the delay was purely creative, with Andy and Barbara Muschietti “hard at work” figuring out where the story goes next.

Now we know: Season 2 jumps back to 1935, during the Great Depression, and centres on the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry for ammo and never leave. There’s also a showrunner shakeup: Brad Caleb Kane, who co-ran Season 1 with Jason Fuchs, now takes the reins solo.

Take: There is a blueprint for a three-season run. I am happy that HBO is following through with that. I will be there to see this terrifying clown again.

🎯 The Terminal List Season 2: The Trailer Finally Drops

Four years is a long time to wait for a second season, but Chris Pratt’s James Reece is finally headed back to screens. Prime Video has started rolling out marketing for The Terminal List Season 2, adapted from Jack Carr’s novel True Believer, with production wrapped and the show now deep in post. Carr himself confirmed on social media in March that the team was “editing the final episode” and that the season “should drop later this year.”

The scale is bigger this time around, too. Filming reportedly took the production across Hungary, Croatia, South Africa, Canada, and Morocco, with Reece pulled into a globe-spanning hunt to stop a string of terrorist attacks in exchange for a presidential pardon.

Take: It’s been four years since the first season aired. This is mostly due to Chris Pratt’s scheduling issues. I haven’t seen the show yet, but I plan to.

🏴‍☠️ Johnny Depp's Comeback Continues — Just Not With a Pirates Deal (Yet)

Two separate Depp storylines are circulating right now, and it’s worth being precise about which is which.

First, confirmed: Depp is starring in Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol for Paramount, directed by Ti West (X, Pearl, MaXXXine), alongside Andrea Riseborough. It’s set for a November 13, 2026 theatrical release and marks his first major studio lead since his defamation case with Amber Heard. This one’s locked and dated.

Second, still speculative: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has continued to talk up a possible Jack Sparrow return in Pirates of the Caribbean 6, Disney’s franchise, not Paramount’s. Bruckheimer has said “if it’s up to me, he’ll be in it,” and confirmed he’d spoken with Depp directly about the part. But there’s no script Disney has greenlit, no production start date, and reboot plans (including a Margot Robbie-led version) have been kicked around for years without resolution.

Take: There is no Pirates of the Caribbean without Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). I hope Disney finds a way to bring him back. Depp should forgive Disney for what they did to him. He probably will if the paycheck is big enough 😂.

💚 "Lanterns" Just Gave DC Studios Its Biggest HBO Max Premiere Ever

DC Studios has its first bona fide streaming hit of the Gunn era. Lanterns, starring Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, pulled in 9.3 million viewers worldwide across HBO and HBO Max in its first three days, the biggest premiere for any DC Studios series on the platform, and one of the top five launches in HBO Max history overall. Of that total, 6.6 million viewers watched from the U.S. alone.

For context on where that lands: it comfortably outpaced It: Welcome to Derry’s first-three-days haul of 5.7 million viewers, and it’s already ahead of The Penguin‘s 10.4 million, a number that took The Penguin eleven days to reach, not three. It’s the strongest debut yet for a DC Studios title, ahead of The Penguin, Peacemaker, and Creature Commandos on HBO Max specifically.

Take: This is a well-deserved win for DC Studios. To be honest, they really needed the win, especially after Supergirl. I enjoyed the premiere, and I can’t wait for the upcoming episodes. It’s been so long since we got Green Lantern content on screen. This is a breath of fresh air for comic book readers like me.

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This is probably the first article relating to sex that I have written. The Polygamist portrayed promiscuity so well that I feel compelled to write this. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t. First off, what is Promiscuity? My very good friend, Google, defined promiscuity as having sexual activity with many different partners or choosing sexual partners without careful selection.

Is promiscuity a bad thing? Personally, I think it is simply because I am monogamous in nature, in addition to the obvious health risks that come with it. The show, Polygamist, even highlighted this with a major character catching both Gonhorrhea and HIV/AIDS ultimately. Yes, condoms are to be used for protection, but some people actually like to do without them because they see it as uncomfortable. I have a friend who unintentionally got a lady pregnant. When I asked him why he just didn’t use condoms, he used the following words, and I quote, “condom no sweet na”. The parents of the lady tried to get him to marry the lady, but he refused. Well, to his credit, he is taking care of the child at least. Right now he is married, so that’s good for him. However, when he was engaged, he was still sleeping with another lady in the corper’s lounge. Yes, you guessed it, all this happened during my youth service. He is an old friend. Point is, I have seen promiscuity up front. I didn’t like this one because it seemed like he didn’t learn his lesson when giving a woman an unwanted child, and he continued his shenanigans in the lounge. My situationship at the time told me that he was also trying to hit on her. When I confronted him about it, he denied it. This was obviously someone who couldn’t control himself. I think the addiction is something that he needs to fight.

On the other hand, another person I know was dating three girls at the same time. The good thing about this is that they all knew, and they didn’t mind it, so none of them suffered as a result of his actions. I think if one is polygamous in nature and can’t fight it, why not just actually do polygamy or be in an open relationship? What’s the point of sneaking around and cheating because you can’t hold yourself? I mean, there are options for you. If you are promiscuous and you are in a relationship, you are just hurting your partner; why not let go? him/her deserves a monogamous person capable of making love to only that individual.

This is the part where I start talking more about the TV Show, The Polygamist. In this show, the second leading character, Jonasi Gomora, loved sleeping with anything that wore a skirt. He obviously hated using condoms because the results of his sexcapades announced themselves in broad daylight like a rooster at dawn.

The show started with him having a loyal wife, Joyce, who still tried to convince the world that she was in a happy marriage. Jonasi was cheating on her, and when she found out about it, he gaslighted her and then moved out of the house for over a year. Seeing her in distress, hardly keeping it together while smiling at the cameras at the same time simply because she was the ambassador of a brand reminded me of how social media doesn’t necessarily reflect reality.

Anyway, ultimately Jonasi had to marry the second woman he was sleeping with. It was later revealed that he also had a third wife. At the end of the day, the results of Jonasi’s promiscuity entail gonorrhoea not just for himself but for his wives, the pregnancy of an underage lady who later miscarried, a torn family that was deeply unhappy and, of course, HIV/AIDS for himself.

This show was largely character-driven, so I have to examine all Jonasi’s wives independently.

This is Joyce Gamora, or as I would like to call her, Mummy Gamora. She is Jonasi’s first wife. She is easily my favourite character in the show because what’s not to love about her? She is brave, loyal, loving, forgiving and ruthless. I know being ruthless contradicts some of the other qualities, but her ruthlessness was justified. She was married to Jonasi Gamora for over 19 years, and she had two kids with him. After Jonasi left his house for over a year to be with another woman, Joyce kept up a charade of a happy marriage on social media. She was still getting her estranged husband to assist her in keeping up the charade. Eventually, Jonasi proposed divorce to Joyce, but she wasn’t having it. Shortly after that, there was peace in their marriage. Jonasi started to distance himself from his concubine; he moved back in, and he was happy with Joyce once more. Later, Jonasi inevitably went back to his ways with his concubine. His concubine eventually gave birth to twins for him. Joyce involuntarily found out about it. At first, she felt like the whole world was collapsing around her. The discovery affected her health. In a desperate attempt to stay married to Jonasi, she arranged a second marriage for him. She made him marry his concubine so the two of them could legitimately share Jonasi. My brothers and sisters in Christ, it took a 19-year-old secret, raping, beating, and STDs all inflicted on Joyce by Jonasi for Joyce to finally realise that enough is enough. As good a character as she was, she has two shortcomings I can easily identify. She was living a fake life and displaying it for the world to see. This made the young girls who looked up to her think that she willingly and happily accepted the polygamy, which she actually arranged out of frustration. This actually affected some of them because there was a scene where a young girl in particular met Joyce and told her that Joyce had inspired her to happily enter a polygamous marriage. It was obvious the young girl never wanted to, but because Joyce displayed a fake life, she was convinced it was the best thing for her. The second shortcoming is that Joyce didn’t love herself enough. If she did, she would have realised sooner that her piece of shit husband wasn’t worth it. It shouldn’t have taken all it took for her to finally get rid of him.

Ladies and gentlemen, this beauty here is Jonasi’s third wife. Her name is Matipa. She graduated from being Jonasi’s concubine to being his third wife. Yay, let’s clap for her. Just kidding, don’t clap. Being the husband of that man is hell on earth. Anyway, they both met in Jonasi’s workplace, and he started having an affair with her while Jonasi’s first wife, Joy, was in labour. It was heartbreaking.

You already know about the twins she gave birth to, so I’ll skip that whole ordeal. At first I hated her character because she knew damn well Jonasi was married, so why sleep with him? She was just after his money and favouritism in the workplace at first because of how she strongly seduced him. I mean, the encounters were premeditated. Shortly after she started sleeping with him, she enjoyed perks in the office that older staff didn’t get.

Eventually I came to like her character. At first it was pity because she actually fell in love with Jonasi, but his attention was divided. He didn’t attend the naming ceremony of the twins she had for him; he ceased to spend meaningful quality time with her except when he wanted to have sex. My pity evolved to a liking for her character because she reconciled with Joyce. Jonasi, whom she loved, gave her Gonorrhoea and beat the living daylight out of her. She decided to hide away for a few years, and of course, Jonasi didn’t bother looking for her. He also froze all her assets. She tried to take some money from their joint account, which warranted that reaction, but the reaction in question was too brutal. I now started feeling pity for her character again, but at least this time I liked her, so I pitied her and liked her at the same time. As for her flaws, she was a gold digger at first. She was mostly after Jonasi for the money and status at first. Funny enough, she was with Jonasi’s brother first. My theory is that Jonasi’s brother was just a stepping stone for her to get to Jonasi. Moreover, she was fully aware that she was having an affair with a married man, which makes her a home wrecker in her part. Finally, she was stupid because she actually thought a man who can cheat on his wife like that would end up loving only her.

Drums roll, the crowd goes wild, and boom, here comes Essie Gamora, Jonasi’s second wife. You might be wondering why I put her under his third wife. Well, that is because we, as viewers, initially thought she wasn’t even married to Jonasi until the crazy plot twist. So, who is Essie? Essie is the only one of his wives who knew him when he was growing up. Essie is the only woman from Jonasi’s childhood whom he married out of all three. Jonasi needed to go to university to study, but he didn’t have any money. Out of her love for him, she practically gave up her savings just for him to study. Before Jonasi’s departure, they were both dating. He told her how much he loved her, how he would remain faithful to her even when he was in school, blah blah blah. You get the gist. Eventually, Jonasi graduated, married and didn’t tell her about any of it. Poor Essie had to find out from her friend about it. She looked and felt like a fool. Jonasi now came by her place later and fulfilled some of his promises. He bought a house for her and a car. He then convinced her to marry him too while lying to her that Joyce, his first wife, knew about the marriage. Ultimately, Jonasi didn’t just trap Essie in a marriage; he forced her to not only keep the marriage a secret but the kids she had for him as well. This secret was kept for over 19 good years!!

What’s my take on Essie? She is a very foolish character. She willingly let her children suffer all because of one promiscuous bastard. Her daughter only wanted acknowledgement and love from her father, Jonasi, but she never got it. Of course she got money from him and gifts, but it could never fill the void inside her, and she kept on being depressed. Essie’s son, on the other hand, kept on drinking and acting out just to try and suppress all the pain he was feeling. Essie is the only one out of all three wives to know early on the kind of man Jonasi is, but she still stupidly stuck with him and willingly helped him to create a broken home. Before Jonasi and Essie ever dated, she helped him to two-time ladies. She is, no doubt, the worst out of the three wives.

This is Jonasi’s whore. No welcome parties here, no light mood writing for her character, nothing from me. That’s how much I hate the character. I know I said I would be examining his wives, but come on, there has to be space for his whore too. One more couldn’t hurt. I just noticed that I haven’t mentioned the whore’s name. I almost forgot to do so. Her name is Lindani. For me, after Jonasi, she is probably the second biggest piece of shit in the show. I am not going to bore you by giving you much background about her character. I’ll just mention the specifics and tell you why she is a piece of shit.

She was a close friend of Jonasi’s children. Jonasi’s child, Menzi, had a crush on her. She told Menzi that she liked him too, but it would be weird for her to be involved with her friend’s brother. Eventually, this foolish Lindani started seeing Menzi’s father, Jonasi. I guess she can easily get involved with her friend’s father, but sleeping with her friend’s brother is where she draws the line. What a fucking joke. Mind you, she had a boyfriend while she was sleeping with Jonasi.

Jonasi got her pregnant; she now went to present the pregnancy to her boyfriend like he was in any way responsible for it. Her boyfriend was suspicious of her infidelity, so he told her to swear that the child was his; she hesitated, and that’s when he knew. Lindeni is also the bitch who infested Jonasi’s family with Gonorrhoea. Later on, when Jonasi’s wife finally didn’t want anything to do with him anymore, he carried his whore to another house and started living with her. He still cheated on her too. When Jonasi got seriously ill, she hardly cared at all for him. She even fucked another man right there in the house. During the act, a handicapped Jonasi was crying out to her to be taken care of, but she continued in her extracurricular activities and told her fucker that it was just her father rambling.

During Jonasi’s funeral, she started crying crocodile tears for Jonasi, trying to cause a scene. I was so happy when they escorted the bitch out. After the funeral ended, that same day, she had sex with Jonasi’s son, Menzi, while moaning, “Mr Gomora”. Lindani never loved anyone. The only thing she cared about was money. Jonasi, on the other hand, also never truly loved anyone he had been with; the only thing he cared about was sex.

At the end of the day, Jonasi’s promiscuity brought about three broken homes with three different women. Being promiscuous at the expense of others doesn’t pay.

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Puss in Boots 3 was Teased!!!

DreamWorks isn't confirming anything officially, but Puss in Boots: The Last Wish co-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado gave fans real reason to hope at MultiCon 2026. Mercado told The Direct he's "sure things are stirring in development," while Crawford revealed the pair have long discussed bringing back fan-favourites like Perrito, the Wolf, and Florence Pugh's Goldie, hinting any threequel would "write bigger" than the last film.

Take: They better make a part 3. The Last Wish was really good. I don’t care how long it takes till we get a part 3, as long as we get it!!

Tom Holland Is Closing In On Box Office History

At just 30 years old, Tom Holland is on track to become the third highest-grossing actor of all time worldwide, with a career total north of $13.6 billion. He's currently trailing only Zoe Saldaña (~$16.8B) and Scarlett Johansson (~$15.4B), and is poised to pass both Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr. His numbers are powered by the Spider-Man trilogy, his Avengers appearances, and non-Marvel hits like Uncharted and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (which has now crossed $930M globally).

Take: This is very impressive, especially when we consider that he is just 30. Let’s see RDJ catch up with Secret Wars and Doomsday 😂

DC Hits Pause on Female-Led Projects

Entertainment Weekly reports DC Studios has paused active development on both Waller (starring Viola Davis) and Paradise Lost, its Amazons-of-Themyscira series once compared to Game of Thrones by James Gunn. Neither is officially cancelled, but HBO has shelved them for now. This comes right after HBO Max reportedly passed on solo Poison Ivy and Catwoman series, meaning four separate women-led DC projects have lost momentum in a short window.

Take: I would have loved to see Paradise Lost and Catwoman. I think that they are missed opportunities. As for Paradise Lost, who wouldn’t like to see a Game of Thrones-style epic show featuring characters in Wonder Woman’s homeland, Themyscira? The show would have been a prequel for Wonder Woman. Batman and Superman have their own live-action prequel series, Gotham and Smallville; Wonder Woman, on the other hand, doesn’t even have an animated show to her name, not to talk of a live-action prequel TV show. DC has shat the bed with her so much that it’s not even funny. This was a chance to start correcting that, and of course they shat the bed again. As for Catwoman, they could have easily picked up a Catwoman show with the way The Penguin ended. They basically teased Catwoman in the ending of The Penguin. Obviously, after Supergirl’s failure, they don’t have confidence in future female-led projects, which is why they are axing them, but who is to blame for the failure of Supergirl? The director and writers, of course. That movie wasn’t good. The comic they claimed to be adapting was miles better. The whole blueprint was there, and they still, you guessed it, shat the bed!!!

🌀Pluribus Season 2 Starts Filming Soon

Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) confirmed on a Deadline podcast that Pluribus season 2 is fully written and filming will begin "in a couple months." Using season 1's production timeline as a guide (7 months filming + 14 months post, all following a 21-month gap from filming start to premiere), that points toward a possible 2028 release, nearly three years after season 1 wrapped.

Take: Vince Gilligan can take as long as he wants; I will be there nevertheless. He single-handedly created some of the greatest shows ever made: Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He is about to score a hat trick with Pluribus.

🍫 Netflix Goes Big (Theatrically) for Charlie vs. The Chocolate Factory

Netflix's animated Charlie vs the Chocolate Factory, starring Taika Waititi as Willy Wonka alongside Kit Connor, Nicola Coughlan, Kate Winslet, and Helena Bonham Carter, will get a 45+ day exclusive theatrical release starting November 5, 2027, before streaming on December 22, 2027.

Take: This is only the third Netflix title ever promised a real theatrical push, joining David Fincher's The Adventures of Cliff Booth (Nov 25) and Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, which will be Netflix's first-ever wide theatrical release (Feb 12, 2027). Netflix has resisted theatrical windows for years, so this signals a real shift in strategy for their biggest awards and event titles.

🧌 Shrek 5: Recording Has Wrapped

Director Conrad Vernon confirmed exclusively to SYFY Wire that voice recording has officially wrapped on Shrek 5, with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy all back in the booth. Zendaya, Marcello Hernández, and Skyler Gisondo are confirmed as Shrek and Fiona's triplets Felicia, Fergus, and Farkle, but Vernon teased more casting news is still to come.

Take: I must be there!!!

That’s a wrap on Edition #14. See you next Friday. What release are you hyped for?

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is arguably the greatest live-action Spider-Man movie ever made. It is my favourite live-action Spider-Man movie made. Where do I even start?


Let me start with the webbing in this movie. That might be a weird place to start but I don't care.
Holland hands down has the best webbing ability in a Spider-Man live-action movie. The webs were awesome. I have never seen a live-action Spider-Man utilise webs as well as he did.

My favourite scene is at the end of the movie when he fought the Hand. The way he effortlessly trapped all of them in a beautiful cocoon of webs like a Spider traps its prey, it was EPIC !!!!!


Moreover, this is Tom Holland's best performance as Spider-Man. He passes the message of depression and loneliness perfectly. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him almost every time he was on screen. It was so obvious he was suffering and the way he played a depressed Peter Parker is unmatched. A Peter Parker we couldn't help but feel sorry for and root for at the same time because we always wanted him to win. I'm glad he decided not to do it all alone. 
Now let me talk about the Punisher. Frank was just Frank and that's a good thing. He was everything we expected him to be, plus he was really damn funny at the same time. I have never seen Frank as a funny person in every other project I have seen him appear in, with the sole exception of Brand New Day of course. This movie brought out the funny side of him.
The relationship between him and Spider-Man is arguably the best part of the movie. 
Spider-Man told The Punisher that Hulk is way above his pay grade, and he gladly returned the favour by telling Spidey good luck when he was facing Hulk on his own. It was the manner in which he said it and how he left Spidey to fight Hulk on his own that was really funny. 
Sadie Sink was incredible as Jean Grey. This is one of the best Jean Grey performances I have seen. I love how they still made Jean Grey work in a world that doesn't have the X-Men, a world where Mutants have not been formally introduced. 
They still kept the underlying basis of the X-Men and Mutants in general. Humans would always try to control or kill mutants. This overarching theme of mutants was a good thing to keep because it helped the character Jean Grey work in a Spider-Man movie. I also love the fact that the theories on who the main villain was, were wrong. People were saying Mr Negative. It wasn't even Jean Grey, it was Damage Control. What a revelation!!!!


They really did their best to keep it under wraps.

We finally got Peak Hulk back. It was awesome. The hallway scene where he did his iconic Clap was nothing short of incredible. This is inarguably the best Hulk has been since Thor Ragnarok. Overall, the fighting scenes in the movie were awesome, and I love how they spun through Spider-Man's rogue gallery. Showing him fighting as many villains as possible in the film was brilliant. It was like I was reading a comic book. The only thing I have a little complain about is the introduction of Jean Grey in a Spiderman movie. Yes, they did it well like I said, but I would just have liked her to come in the X-Men after secret wars. Jean Grey in this movie attempted murder many times like it was child's play so she was kind of out of character, plus it didn't make sense that she nearly killed a lot of people that worked for damage control, attempted to kill MJ who was innocent, allowed a bus to hit a man which very nearly got him killed and drew the line for the head of Damage Control who actually got her sister killed? Aside from these few things, everything else was good. Yelena's(Black Widow)addition to the movie was awesome. Her conversations with Peter were comical and the analogy she used to call Spiderman a small-time hero while her New Avengers were big time made me laugh too hard. 
This is one of the best movies the MCU has released since Endgame. They really leaned into our friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman and I need more of my friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman in the next adventure.

Final Verdict: 9.5/10

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Spider-Man took Endgame's crown at the Domestic Box Office🕸️

Spider-Man: Brand New Day pulled in $360,091,572 domestically over its opening weekend, edging out Avengers: Endgame’s $357,115,007 by less than $3 million. The Russo Brothers, who held that record for seven years, reacted on Instagram with a BossLogic image of Spider-Man styled after Michael Jordan’s six-rings photo, captioned “the gauntlet has been passed.”

What makes this one worth sitting with is that this wasn’t a three-Spider-Men multiverse event. Destin Daniel Cretton’s film opened in 4,487 theatres on a comparatively modest $225 million budget, landed a 90% critics score with a 98% audience score and an A CinemaScore, and still out-drew Endgame’s eleven-years-of-setup finale. The film had cleared $1 billion globally in six days, second only to Endgame itself, and Disney’s CEO has already folded the number into the studio’s Avengers: Doomsday outlook for December. I’ll be curious whether that read-through holds; an ensemble Christmas tentpole and a “small” street-level solo movie aren’t really doing the same job at the box office, and the Russos, of all people, know that.

Take: I knew this movie was going to make bank; I didn’t expect it to beat Endgame’s record. Spider-Man is without a doubt the most popular superhero right now.

Netflix drops the first look at Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's true-crime anthology is back on September 17, and this season hands the "Monster" title to a woman for the first time. Ella Beatty plays Lizzie Borden, with Rebecca Hall, Charlie Hunnam, and Vicky Krieps rounding out the Borden household, plus Billie Lourd, Sarah Paulson, and Jessica Barden in supporting roles. Beatty has described the season as an exploration of "female rage and repression," and going off the synopsis, this looks like the franchise's most stylised swing yet: less procedural, more myth-making. Eight episodes, directed mostly by Max Winkler.

Take: All the entries in the Monster series have been good so far. They have explored Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers and Ed Gein. It’s Lizzie’s turn now. I am really excited for this because this is the first female serial killer they are covering. It has a lot of potential.

James Cameron sounds like a man ready to leave Pandora

In a new interview after receiving a lifetime achievement award, Cameron said he's now asking himself "what are the other stories I want to tell" after 21 years in the Avatar universe, and specifically weighing how much longer he wants to direct versus write and produce for other filmmakers. Avatar 4 and 5 are still dated for 2029 and 2031, and part of the fourth film is reportedly already shot, so nothing's actually changing yet. But this is the most candid he's been about wanting out from behind the camera, and it's worth remembering he said something similar in May about wanting to make the next two films faster and cheaper. That's two signals pointing the same direction in one summer.

Take: I just hope the Avatar films finally end with a bang. I hope faster and cheaper doesn’t eventually translate to a watered-down version of these visually stunning and immersive films. Well, assuming they just made it three films instead of five, a lot of these issues could have been avoided, but I sincerely hope that Avatar 4 and 5 would make me eat my words. Avatar: The Way of Water is still my favourite in the franchise. I am eager to see if Cameron can top that.

A scrapped Fire lord Zuko movie, allegedly

A report from Knight Edge Media claims Avatar Studios had a standalone Zuko film in serious development, reaching voice recording and pre-visualisation before the studio pivoted to finish Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender. The alleged plot centred on the murders of the dragons Ran and Shaw and an assassination attempt on Uncle Iroh, with Zuko himself as the ultimate target. Worth flagging clearly: none of this is confirmed by Avatar Studios or creators DiMartino and Konietzko, so treat it as rumour for now, but it's the kind of rumour that tends to get confirmed eventually.

Take: If this is true, then they made a mistake. They could have worked on both movies and finished them.

Until next Friday, Cinephiles

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🤖 Blade Runner Is Finally Coming Back, but as a TV Show

After roughly five years of waiting, Blade Runner 2099 finally has a trailer and a release date: November 25, exclusively on Prime Video. This is huge for the franchise because it’s the first-ever live-action TV series in Blade Runner history (the animated Black Lotus doesn’t count).

The setup: The eight-episode limited series is set 50 years after Blade Runner 2049, and from the trailer, the world has changed; replicants now appear to outnumber humans, and there are hints of a mysterious war that broke out sometime after the events of the last film.

Who’s involved:

• 🌟 Hunter Schafer stars as Cora, a blade runner

• 🌟 Michelle Yeoh plays a replicant Cora is forced to team up with to track down “a runaway hiding a truth that could collapse their fragile city”

• 🎬 Showrunner Silka Luisa (Shining Girls)

• 🎬 Ridley Scott, the original 1982 director, is on board as executive producer

Take: Amazon Prime has been on a generational run this year, and they are really good at sci-fi series when we look at their history with sci-fi. I am so glad that Amazon is helming this show. I must be there!!!!

🥋 Simu Liu Would Literally Crawl Through Broken Glass for Shang-Chi 2

Simu Liu just gave one of the most quotable answers of the year when asked about the long-delayed Shang-Chi sequel. Speaking after Marvel’s SDCC Hall H panel came and went with zero Shang-Chi 2 news, Liu made his devotion crystal clear: he says he’d crawl through broken glass on his bare hands to make the sequel happen, though he admitted he was hoping people would take it metaphorically rather than literally.

The honest part: Liu was refreshingly candid that the sequel’s fate is completely out of his hands. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said when pressed on timing. Director Destin Daniel Cretton, who’s fresh off directing this week’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day (more on that below 👀), has confirmed the project is still alive, just slow-moving.

The silver lining: Fans won’t have to wait for the solo sequel to see Liu back in the role. He returns as Shang-Chi in Avengers: Doomsday, sharing the screen with Channing Tatum’s Gambit.

Take: Marvel had misplaced priorities after Avengers: Endgame. They kept churning out unnecessary content we didn’t need. Shang-Chi wasn’t one of them. I can’t believe we don’t have a part two yet. It is easily one of the best MCU films, and they could have capitalized on that with a second part. Well, I am happy the project is still alive. I’ll be there for part 2.

⚽ Cristiano Ronaldo Is Producing (and Starring In) a Soccer Drama Series

Yes, you read that right: Cristiano Ronaldo is stepping into scripted television. He’s set to executive produce and appear in a new drama titled “Day 1s,” created alongside Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn.

The details:

• Based on an idea from real-life soccer agent Darren Dein

• Follows a fictional UK football agent, Stanley Dalton, played by Damian Lewis

• Ronaldo appears alongside Thierry Henry and musician Dave

• It’s the first TV project from UR•Marv Studios, Ronaldo and Vaughn’s joint venture

• Filming is already underway in London, independently financed

Why it matters: Athletes producing scripted content isn’t new (LeBron’s done it for years), but Ronaldo, arguably the most recognizable athlete on Earth, jumping into the sports-agent-drama genre (think a football version of the recent Brazilian hit The Playoffs) signals just how much star power is migrating from the pitch to the screen. At 41 and still playing for Al-Nassr, this looks like Ronaldo building his second act early.

Take: Vaughn is the director of the Kingsmen movies, so seeing him step into the sports genre when we don’t even have a Kingsmen 3 yet is actually weird. It may take longer for that to happen; it has almost been a decade. Anyway, I’ll be there for this.

🏛️ The Odyssey Crosses $700 Million, And It's Not Even Out in China Yet

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has officially passed $700 million globally after just 12 days in theatres, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2026, behind only Toy Story 5 ($1.02B), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($1.001B), and Michael ($1.001B).

The numbers:

• $320.5 million domestic

• $407.4 million international

• $727.9 million worldwide total

• All this without a China release yet, the world’s second-biggest movie market

The IMAX angle: As the first feature shot entirely on IMAX cameras, The Odyssey has been the format’s second-fastest title ever to cross $100 million (10 days), behind only Avengers: Endgame. IMAX alone has contributed $140 million of its total gross.

Why it matters: A nearly three-hour, R-rated adaptation of a 3,000-year-old Greek epic starring Matt Damon shouldn’t be pulling numbers like this. Nolan is proving, again, that his name alone can turn “hard sell” material into a cultural event, and he’s on track to make this his highest-grossing film ever, ahead of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

Take: I always knew this movie would be a massive success. I never doubted Nolan or the beautiful cast he went with. I applaud them for making this Masterpiece. I can’t wait to watch it again.

🕷️ Spider-Man: Brand New Day Just Broke Avengers: Endgame's All-Time Record

Speaking of records falling, Spider-Man: Brand New Day earned $72 million in domestic previews (Wednesday early access plus Thursday shows), the biggest preview haul of all time, beating the $60 million Avengers: Endgame set back in 2019.

Context on how big that is:

• More than double what No Way Home made in previews in 2021

• Bigger than The Odyssey and Toy Story 5’s previews combined, and those were 2026’s previous leaders

• The film is now tracking for an opening weekend between $260–280 million, which would make it the second-biggest opening weekend ever, behind only Endgame

The story: Picking up after No Way Home’s ending, where the whole world forgot Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Tom Holland returns alongside Zendaya (MJ) and Jacob Batalon (Ned), joined by Jon Bernthal as Punisher, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, and Sadie Sink in a mystery role that’s had the internet buzzing for months.

Why it matters: This is Destin Daniel Cretton’s movie, the same director Shang-Chi fans are begging to return to that franchise. If Brand New Day delivers the numbers everyone’s expecting, expect that pressure (and hopefully good news) on Shang-Chi 2 to grow even louder.

Take: I remember when someone told me Marvel can’t reach the heights of Avengers: Endgame again. As I type this, all I can do is laugh. This has been a phenomenal year for Marvel. It’s arguably Marvel’s best year since 2019, and they are not done yet. They’ve given us the likes of Wonderman, X-Men 97, Daredevil: Born Again and Spider-Man: Brand New Day in just this year alone. It’s just peak after peak. I can’t wait for Avengers Doomsday. I am a very happy Marvel fan right now. We are eating good!!!!!

🛡️ Kevin Feige Says the MCU Is Officially Choosing Quality Over Quantity

In a new interview with Empire, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed what fans have suspected for a while: Marvel deliberately left a gap between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars so both films could get the attention they deserve.

Feige’s own words on the strategy: “We always try to focus on quality, but when quantity is so much, you get spread thin. We didn’t want to be spread thin, and the Avengers is as important as it comes.”

What else he revealed:

• Secret Wars isn’t just a Multiverse Saga finale; it’s designed to set up 2028’s slate, two titles of which have already been revealed: Ghost Rider and Panther III

• Ryan Gosling was reportedly the driving force behind the new Ghost Rider film. Feige says it was Gosling’s own pitch that convinced them to bring it to life

Take: I said earlier that they were aggressively putting out content nobody wanted after Endgame. Their eagerness to put content out there eroded their sense to put out quality content. I respect Kevin Feige for admitting to this, and I am so glad that they are scaling back now. Quality must come first.

💬 That’s a wrap on Edition #12!

Six stories, one wild week for the industry, a franchise reborn, an athlete-turned-producer, an actor begging (nicely) for a sequel, Marvel recalibrating its whole strategy, and two box office records shattered within days of each other.

Which story are you most invested in this week? Blade Runner 2099, Ronaldo’s TV pivot, or the Spider-Man numbers? Hit reply and let me know. See you next Friday. 🎬

— The Cinephile Space

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When I saw The Furious, I was reminded of a stark reality: child trafficking and Kidnapping. This film made sure I remembered how rampant it actually is. On May 15, 2026, up to 46 people, mostly children, were kidnapped in Oyo State Community Grammar School and First Baptist Primary and Nursery School. They were eventually rescued on July 12, 2026. Oyo State has actually been flagged as a state where trafficking thrives because of how close it is to the Republic of Benin. The international border there makes it easier for traffickers to move victims within and outside Nigeria.

I have actually been to a Nigerian border. The Seme border that separates Nigeria from Benin. Benin Republic, the country. I was there because of a field trip I went on. An educational field trip that my course mates and I were eventually graded on. I was disappointed with what I saw there. The border is quite porous. People can easily flock in and flock out. As if that’s not enough, the facilities the immigration had weren’t good enough to handle the incursions into the country. I saw firsthand why it isn’t difficult to traffic children with a border as porous and poorly guarded as that. The border problem is definitely an issue that needs to be fixed because, at the end of the day, it would reduce child trafficking in Nigeria. We don’t really talk about our borders.

In recent years, children now make up to 38% of all detected trafficking victims globally. Nearly 40% of victims that are eventually identified are children. It’s a pressing global issue. There are different methods used for trafficking. I need to point them out. Appealing to a child’s innocence and naivety. In Furious, the main character’s child got kidnapped when another child spoke to her under the guise of him needing help on the streets. She went a few miles away from her father to help the other child. Guess what? The other child was working with the traffickers. Another method is family-facilitated placement. One documented case of Trafficking from Benue State involved traffickers negotiating directly with parents for a nominal sum before moving the child internally to Oyo State for exploitation. The parents were indirectly involved in the trafficking of their own child. Baby factories. This is a method that entails the selling of minor girls to infertile couples. It actually exists in Nigeria, but I first learned about this method by watching this South African show called Blood and Water. The final method I’ll talk about is evangelism. As crazy as it sounds, it’s true. I don’t have another name for that method. In December 2024, law enforcement authorities dismantled a child trafficking syndicate led by Pastor Dayo Bernard of the End Time Army Ministry, based in the Jos-Bukuru area (in Jos LGA of Plateau State). During the operation, five children between the ages of 2 and 4 were rescued. According to police reports, the pastor allegedly used evangelism as a means to persuade parents to release their children under the false promise of educational sponsorship. He later confessed to abducting and selling a total of 13 children. I know you must have heard this many times, but don’t trust your child with strangers even if they offer you money; anything that sounds too good to be true is most likely too good to be true. Don’t let your child out of your sight when outside. Anything can happen when you are outside. I know this may sound unpopular, but I believe in a child having his/her phone early. Yes, some apps can be blocked depending on your discretion; as long as the phone can be tracked, it can be a huge help if anything were to happen. Watch The Furious and Sound of Freedom so you can be reminded of how serious Child Trafficking and kidnapping are.

Unlike The Furious, Sound of Freedom is actually based on a real story. If you know any other movie with the child trafficking theme, please recommend it.

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🌍 "Avatar: Seven Havens" Gets an October Premiere and Its First Teaser

Paramount+ used its San Diego Comic-Con panel to confirm that Avatar: Seven Havens, the new animated series from original Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, will premiere globally on Friday, October 9, alongside its first teaser trailer.

The 26-episode series is set after The Legend of Korra and follows a young Earthbender who discovers she’s the new Avatar in a world reshaped by a devastating cataclysm, a title that marks her as a threat rather than a hero to the people hunting her. She and her long-lost twin have to trace their own origins while trying to save the Seven Havens before what’s left of civilisation collapses.

Take: I don’t like the animation style I saw in the trailer. It seems like something that should be airing on Jimjam. It deviates heavily from its predecessors, Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender. Nevertheless, I’ll be there. It might be better than I expect. This is a big year for the Avatar franchise, to be honest. ATLA live-action season 2, The Legend of Aang movie and now this.

🩸 Ryan Reynolds Confirms Another Deadpool Movie Is Coming

Speaking at Fanatics Fest 2026 in New York, Ryan Reynolds confirmed that a new Deadpool film is in development, though he offered no writer, director, or release window. Reynolds teased that the project would pull from “deep cuts” in the comics, name-checking Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza and longtime series writer Gerry Duggan as influences he’d like to draw from.

He also reiterated something he’s said before: he doesn’t see himself carrying the character as the sole lead going forward, describing Deadpool as more of a scene-stealing supporting player going forward someone who thrives inside a group rather than fronting his own franchise.

Take: Reynolds is right. In the comics, Deadpool has been in almost every team that exists in Marvel. He does better in groups, to be very honest. I can’t wait to see the heroes they put him with going forward.

🧟 "Afterlife With Archie" Is Officially Becoming a Disney+ Series

Disney+ has greenlit a live-action series based on Afterlife With Archie, the 2013 horror comic that turned Riverdale into a zombie apocalypse. Series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa returns as showrunner, reuniting with Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina producer Greg Berlanti. The show is slated for a fall 2027 premiere at Warner Bros. TV. Aguirre-Sacasa has called the comic the true origin point for the entire Riverdale-verse. This project came before Riverdale or Sabrina even existed, making this as much a full-circle moment for him personally as it is a new IP bet for Disney.

Take: I still haven’t finished Riverdale to date because it fell off after Season 4. After Season 4, they didn’t know what they were doing anymore. I finished Sabrina, though. That was good till the end. Because of how good Sabrina was, I might watch this. Sabrina proves that they can handle the supernatural aspect of Riverdale better than the banal aspect when it comes to adaptations.

Kevin Feige Says Marvel Has Plans Mapped Out Through 2042

In comments made during a tour stop in Shanghai, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed the studio has sketched out its film slate all the way through 2042 while cautioning that the exact lineup and timeline could shift. He described Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars as both the conclusion of storylines that predate the MCU (including the original X-Men lore) and the start of a “streamlined, simplified” new era. Feige singled out the X-Men as the foundation of what comes next, calling the mutants the true engine of the franchise going forward rather than any single character. Beyond Secret Wars, Marvel has acknowledged that an X-Men reboot and Black Panther 3 are both in planning, alongside a long-gestating Nova project now being developed as a film instead of a Disney+ series.

Take: I am very much interested in the future of this franchise.

Tom Cruise Confirms Days of Thunder 2 Is Happening

Days of Thunder 2 is officially moving forward, with Jonathan Levine in talks to direct and Tom Cruise attached to both star and produce alongside longtime collaborator Jerry Bruckheimer. Filming is expected to begin early next year. No word yet on whether original cast members like Nicole Kidman, Cary Elwes, Michael Rooker, or John C. Reilly will return.

Take: I haven’t seen part one, but I will see it soon. This reminds me of Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick. It took a long time before we got Top Gun: Maverick. Same with this.

That’s a wrap for edition 11. What release are you excited for?

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So far, this year 2026, there are only two movies I have seen that I can comfortably call Masterpieces. They are The Odyssey and Project Hail Mary. What makes The Odyssey a Masterpiece? There is no flaw I saw in this movie. It is quite hard not to spoil a 3,000-year-old story, but I’ll try my best.

First of all, let’s talk about how Nolan presents the storyline. He tells the story in a non-linear manner. The events don’t come chronologically as they did in the book, but still, it was arranged satisfactorily. It reminded me of Tenet because in that movie too, Nolan told a story using a non-linear narrative. Don’t worry, The Odyssey is nothing as crazy as Tenet. It is quite easy to understand. It isn’t a mindfuck. I love how everything came together at the end of The Odyssey. In the end, it’s easy to realise why things happened the way they did to King Odysseus and his soldiers. Although the story was told through a non-linear narrative, Nolan was careful to ensure that all the pieces of the story had a centre. It was like a web entanglement. Webs are not actually organised in the purest sense, but web entanglements can be arranged to have a centre. The centre is the moral point of the whole story that we should all learn from.

Moreover, I loved the performances of the entire cast. It wouldn’t hurt to talk about their roles because their roles are public, so it isn’t a spoiler. I won’t talk about what they did in the movie, so don’t be afraid. I’ll just talk about the features of the characters in the movie and how well the actors portrayed these features and embraced them. Anne Hathaway plays the beautiful wife of Odysseus, Penelope. I felt the emotional impact of her character every time she appeared on screen. For me, she stole almost every scene she was in. When you see Penelope, you see a strong woman in distress, a monarch who always worries about her son and the choices she has to make for him. This is one of the best performances of Anne Hathaway’s career. She portrayed a character you can’t help but root for. The dialogues she had with her son and Odysseus himself were some of the best parts in the movie. The unwavering faith, unyielding dedication, generosity and Agape Love are just some of the elements of Penelope Anne Hathaway portrayed with maximum efficiency. I can confidently call it a generational performance. I’ll never forget it.

Furthermore, let’s talk about Tom Holland’s character, Telemachus. Tom Holland’s character, Telemachus, was focused, mission-driven, and he had a big heart. He is the kind of person who could always show love whenever he had the opportunity to. I liked Tom’s performance as Telemachus. Telemachus was just, and Tom Holland embraced that characteristic of Telemachus wholeheartedly. He interpreted it to the best of his ability with a stellar performance.

Travis Scott’s performance as the blind poet Demodocus was magnificent and memorable. His performance was proving a point. The whole story of The Odyssey has been passed through generations with the help of rhythm and song. Odysseus’s exploits in the Trojan War were sung by the Greeks to their children and their children’s children. Nolan’s idea was to draw a deliberate creative parallel between ancient Greek oral storytelling and modern rap music. They tell stories through modern rap music too these days, which is similar to how the Greeks told the story of Odysseus with rhythm and song.

Elliot Page as Sinon was excellent casting. Elliot portrayed Sinon well. Sinon’s scene nearly brought tears to my eyes. Sinon’s dialogue with Odysseus was my favourite part of the movie. When you watch it, you’ll feel the guilt, the tension and the regret in the atmosphere. Great performances like that make you feel strongly, and this performance stirred up strong feelings within me.

Finally, let me give credit to who credit is due. Odysseus Himself. As you all know by now, Matt Damon portrays Odysseus. This is easily one of the best roles he has taken on in his career. The guilt he carries, his ingenuity, his faith, his pragmatism, the undying love he had for Penelope and the sense of duty he had for his men are all the qualities Matt Damon expresses through his portrayal of Odysseus.

Ultimately, every actor was good. I just highlighted some of the actors that stood out for me. Aside from the good storyline and the stellar performances of the actors, the VFX was magnificent. In short, it felt real. It was like I was in Ancient Greece. Nolan’s practical effects shine in the movie. The scenes that had supernatural elements were not even done with CGI, which explains why they looked more realistic than they should. That’s a good thing. This movie is a must-watch if you are the type who likes an epic ancient fantasy. It’s one of the best movies I have ever seen. It was really hard to write this without giving away spoilers. I’ll write another review that has spoilers when I watch it a second time.

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I know it’s been another week that was dominated by football. Messi advanced to the finals after defeating England. Sorry to all my English friends out there. France’s epic run was stopped by Spain. Sorry to my French friend. If you are English or French and you are reading this, I understand your pain. Y’all were so close.

Anyway, It's been a wild week at the movies. The King of Pop biopic just joined the billion-dollar club, Nolan's latest is breaking review-score records, Disney had a flop, Marvel dropped a not-so-subtle hint, and Alvin and the Chipmunks are returning. Let's get into it.

👑 Michael Becomes the First Biopic to Cross $1 Billion

The Michael Jackson biopic Michael has officially made history, becoming the first biographical film ever to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office. After 12 weekends in cinemas, the Antoine Fuqua-directed film has pulled in just over $1.001 billion. $371.8 million from North America and $629.8 million internationally, with a late boost from Japan (where MJ remains massively beloved) pushing it over the line.

That number doesn’t just make it the biggest biopic ever; it dethrones both Bohemian Rhapsody ($910.9M) as the top music biopic and Nolan’s own Oppenheimer ($975.8M) as the highest-grossing biopic period. It’s also only the second 2026 release to hit ten figures, after Super Mario Galaxy. For Lionsgate, a studio that’s been quietly struggling since its Hunger Games/Twilight peak, this is a genuine lifeline. Locally, the film has also been a big deal, grossing over ₦801 million in Nigeria, one of the biggest hauls for an international release here.

Take: We all saw this coming.

🏺 The Odyssey Just Posted Nolan's Best Rotten Tomatoes Score Ever

Christopher Nolan doesn’t really do “quiet” releases, but even by his standards, this is big. With reviews now in, The Odyssey has landed a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, comfortably his highest-ever score, ahead of The Dark Knight and Memento (94% each) and well past Oppenheimer (93%). For context, that also puts it above buzzy 2026 titles and even last year’s Sinners (97%).

Critics are apparently near-unanimous, with reportedly only a single mixed review in the mix so far, and depending on how Rotten Tomatoes’ scoring shakes out, the film could technically end up at 100%. Early weekend estimates already had it tracking toward roughly $200 million globally, and that was before the review embargo lifted. If audiences match the critics’ enthusiasm when the film opens wide, expect The Odyssey to dominate conversation and awards buzz for months.

Take: If you know me, you know how much I hate Rotten Tomatoes, but I can’t ignore its impact, and this right here is a big win for Nolan, regardless of my feelings for Rotten Tomatoes.

🌊 Disney's Live-Action Moana Sinks at the Box Office

Not every remake gets the billion-dollar treatment. Disney’s live-action Moana, starring Dwayne Johnson, opened to a rough $95 million globally against a production-and-marketing budget north of $350 million, a start being called “brutal” by industry watchers. Domestically, it made just $43 million, well short of Disney’s $60 million target, and nowhere near the animated original’s 2016 opening or Moana 2’s blockbuster 2024 debut. Part of the problem: heavily CGI visuals that critics say made the film feel like a glossy copy rather than a fresh take, plus timing. Disney usually waits decades between animated originals and live-action remakes. Still, this one arrived just a decade after the 2016 film, competing the same weekend against Minions and Monsters and Disney’s own Toy Story 5. With Disney running low on untapped animated classics to remake, this flop raises real questions about how much longer the remake well can be drawn from.

Take: I always knew this movie was a stupid idea, and I am not surprised it flopped. Why did Disney expect people to watch an inferior version of the animated Moana we all love? What’s worse is that it has only been ten years since we got the animated Moana. The existence of this live-action version is pissing me off, and I’ll never watch it.

🕷️ Kevin Feige Just Teased Florence Pugh's Yelena Showing Up in Spider-Man Brand New Day

Marvel fans, start your theories. Speaking at BiliBili World in Shanghai, Marvel boss Kevin Feige dropped a pretty unsubtle hint about Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. He confirmed she’ll play a major role in Avengers: Doomsday this December, but also teased that “you might see Yelena a little bit sooner in the movies.”

Since Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the only Marvel theatrical release between now and Doomsday, fans have connected the dots fast: Yelena is expected to pop up in Tom Holland’s next Spidey outing, likely bridging her Thunderbolts* storyline into the Doomsday ensemble. It would add yet another name to an already stacked Brand New Day cast that includes Zendaya’s MJ, Jacob Batalon’s Ned, and newcomers like Sadie Sink and Tramell Tillman. Whether Yelena gets a full subplot or a quick cameo, Marvel clearly wants her fresh in everyone’s mind before December’s mega-crossover.

Take: I guess that we’ll see her in the post-credits of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It would most likely be a scene from Avengers: Doomsday that plays in the post-credits. Marvel has done this before. They put a scene from Thor: Ragnarok in the Doctor Strange movie post-credits.

🐿️ Alvin and the Chipmunks Are Getting a Reboot

In maybe the most unexpected pivot of the week, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are being reimagined as digital-first influencers. Big Shot Pictures (led by former Paramount co-CEO Brian Robbins) has taken a 25% stake in the franchise alongside the Bagdasarian family, who’ve owned and voiced the Chipmunks since the 1970s. The plan involves short-form videos rolling out later this year. Think the Chipmunks reacting to trending moments or dropping sped-up covers followed by a theatrical film in 2028 marking the franchise’s 70th anniversary. It’s a bold swing for a nearly seven-decade-old property, essentially betting that squeaky voices and mischief can still cut through an endless scroll of algorithm-chasing content. Sony holds the first-look theatrical deal for the eventual movie. Whether this keeps the Chipmunks’ charm intact or turns them into just another content machine remains the big open question.

Take: The Chipmunks as influencers. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not. Well, only time will tell.

That's a wrap on Edition #10! Which story has you talking the most?

See you next week, The Cinephile Space.

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Anthony Starr not getting an Emmy Nomination for Homelander at all has to be one of the biggest robberies the Emmys have pulled. First things first, what are the Emmys? Well, the Emmys are for TV shows, just as the Oscars are for movies. They are the most prestigious awards for TV. Personally, I prefer the Emmys to the Oscars because they are more fair to all genres when compared to their counterpart, the Oscars. The Oscars don’t rate Superhero movies, Sci-fi movies, fantasy, and even animations. I know they have a category for the animations alone, which is separate from the normal live-action films, but trust me when I say that it doesn’t mean that they care much about animation. I’ll speak more on the animated aspect later.

Since the inception of the Oscars till present day, over 621 movies have been nominated for Best Picture. 98 winners have emerged from the best picture category. Over 85% of nominees are of the drama genre, while 89% of winners are of that same drama genre. The Sci-fi genre has only produced 6 nominees and 0 winners across eight decades.

Frankly, the bias is quite obvious and appalling. The one that even pained me the most was the 2025 edition, where it was looking like Dune 2, one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, could have won. Unfortunately, it got beaten by Anora. An award system that only favors a single genre of movies is not one I rate highly, which is why I like the Emmys more. Moreover, do you know that it was only in 2025 that the academy made the rule for the voting members to watch all the movies before voting? Before, they weren’t even watching all that they nominated. What a joke. So, about animation, Oscar voters usually skip voting for the animated feature because of the biases they have toward animation.

So, enough of the Oscars now; let me get back to the Emmys and how insane it is that Anthony Starr didn’t receive any love from them. It’s insane because Anthony Starr’s Homelander is arguably the greatest villain in fiction, not just on TV. This man brought a generational performance similar to that of Josh Brolin as Thanos in The Avengers and Heath Ledger as Joker in The Dark Knight. His performance was so good that I always felt rage and hatred whenever I saw him on screen. I wanted his character to die so badly. To know a great performance, the character being portrayed on screen should make you have a strong feeling or connection towards the said character. It isn’t a stretch to say that Anthony Starr outacted almost everyone on TV for the last six years. Nobody else on TV made me feel the kind of hatred I felt towards his character. To actually put this into perspective, I hate his character more than all the wicked bastards that were in Game of Thrones. That psycho is worse than Jeoffrey and Ramsey. I actually didn’t expect this kind of snub from the Emmys, but here we are.

Superhero, Fantasy, Comedy, and Sci-fi shows have won Emmys. Unlike the Oscars, they actually put in effort to celebrate almost every genre. The only problem is the fact that all the shows that fall into the categories of the genres I just mentioned don’t win the outstanding drama category. They also usually fail to recognize the performances of the actors in sci-fi and fantasy shows. This actually explains that they continued their trend by not nominating Anthony Starr as Homelander in The Boys, but the Boys show, on the other hand as won Emmys for technical categories like visual effects and sound editing, which is actually the type of awards that they give to most of the shows that fall under the genre I mentioned.

However, the most awarded TV Show of all time is Game of Thrones, which is a fantasy. That’s still a huge win. I just wish Anthony Starr as Homelander got nominated at the very least. Hopefully, the Oscars respect other genres apart from Drama more, and the Emmys respect the actors who helm these Sci-fi, Fantasy, and superhero shows.

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Grab your popcorn, this is a big one🍿

🦖 Godzilla Minus Zero Roars Into UK Cinemas This November

The King of the Monsters is back. Godzilla Minus Zero, the sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, has landed its UK release date: November 6, 2026, just three days after it opens in Japan on the symbolic “Godzilla Day” (marking 72 years since the original 1954 film). It’ll also open the same day in the US and Canada.

The film is a big deal for another reason too: it’s the first-ever Japanese production and first Toho-produced Godzilla film to be shot for IMAX. A fresh 30-second teaser and poster just dropped, giving fans another look at returning stars Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe.

Take: Its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One, is a cultural phenomenon. That one is easily the best Godzilla movie ever made. I believe the Japanese can still top that with Godzilla Minus Zero. After that disappointing Season of Monarch, a Godzilla series, the Japanese are eager to show the Americans again how Godzilla is done!!!!!

🏆 Emmys 2026: These Are the 5 Most-Nominated Shows

The 78th Emmy nominations are in, and the race for September’s ceremony (hosted by Mariska Hargitay, airing Monday, Sept. 14) is shaping up to be fierce. Here’s who topped the leaderboard:

1. The Pitt (HBO Max) — 25 nominations. The medical drama dominated the drama categories yet again.

2. Hacks (HBO Max) — 24 nominations. The comedy set a series record in its final season.

3. Widow’s Bay (Apple TV) — 19 nominations. A strong showing for the streamer’s new horror-comedy.

4. Pluribus (Apple TV) — 18 nominations. Apple’s twisty new drama had a big freshman outing.

5. Beef (Netflix) — 16 nominations.

At the network level, HBO Max led all platforms with 122 total nominations, edging out Netflix’s 111. Apple TV notably landed its most nominations ever across its slate.

Take: Some of the shows I really liked this year, which are very good, were snubbed. Daredevil Born Again and The Madison were snubbed. It’s actually crazy. The craziest part is the fact that, once again, the Emmys didn’t nominate Anthony Starr for his performance as Homelander in The Boys. It’s a generational performance. They snubbed his performance throughout the entire TV Show. The EMMYS remain my favourite award show, but they do have some faults. Well, this year they went out of their way to nominate a superhero show for 11 awards. Spider Noir. Normally, they have a history of not nominating superhero shows, so this was refreshing. Every Genre should be respected. The Oscars should learn from them.

🏜️ Dune: Part Three Trailer Arrives

Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy-closer just got its most substantial trailer yet, which debuted at a global IMAX fan event simulcast across eight cities. Dune: Part Three hits theaters December 18, 2026.

The story jumps nearly two decades ahead, and Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides is a changed man now facing the fallout of the holy war he unleashed at the end of Part Two. Zendaya’s Chani, shown pregnant in an early scene, is furious at Paul’s political marriage and walks away from him.

New cast additions include Robert Pattinson as the mysterious antagonist Scytale, while Anya Taylor-Joy (more on her below) expands her role as Alia Atreides. Villeneuve has called this installment, based on Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah, his most personal film yet, describing it as a shift from the first film’s contemplation and the second’s war-movie energy toward something “more action-packed and tense.”

Take: This is easily my most anticipated movie of the year; I can’t wait for it. The Oscars should better damn make sure they show this movie some fucking respect, unlike last time, when we got a sex worker movie with a mediocre storyline winning best picture over Dune 2, LMAO.

🕴️ The Gentlemen Season 2: Netflix Sets a Date (And Moves to Italy)

After a two-year wait, Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen returns September 3, 2026, and all eight episodes will drop at once- no split-season nonsense this time.

Season 2 relocates the action from the English countryside to the lakeside villas of Italy, as Eddie Horniman (Theo James) and Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) try to expand Bobby’s criminal empire overseas, a decision that predictably invites new (and increasingly unsound) chaos. New cast additions include Hugh Bonneville, Sergio Castellitto, and Michele Morrone, joining returning favorites Ray Winstone, Vinnie Jones, and Joely Richardson.

Take: We have waited long enough; I hope the delay is justified with a great second season.

Anya Taylor-Joy Feels "Born" to Play an Elf

Anya Taylor-Joy has officially confirmed her casting in Andy Serkis’s The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and she’s not being subtle about how much this role means to her. She plays Seren, an original Sindar Elf character created specifically for the film (not found anywhere in Tolkien’s books), described as a “trusted and lethal agent” of King Thranduil and a new ally to Aragorn. Speaking about the role, Taylor-Joy said: “I feel like I’ve been an elf my whole life, so it feels very validating to go and actually be able to do it as a job.”

This marks her third major Warner Bros. franchise role, following Furiosa and the Dune films, and she’ll appear alongside Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo), and Jamie Dornan, who steps into the role of a young Aragorn. The Hunt for Gollum arrives in theaters on December 17, 2027.

Take: Anya Taylor-Joy can easily pass as an Elf. If Elves existed, they’d think she was one. She is so beautiful. What if elves secretly existed and she is actually one of them? She might just be hiding her identity from the real world lol. Don’t mind me. I believe she will easily knock this elf role for The Lord of the Rings out of the park.

🌊 The Odyssey: Early Reactions Call It a "Masterpiece"

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, his first film since Oppenheimer, has started screening for press ahead of its July 17 release, and the initial word of mouth is glowing. Critics have reached for words like “staggering,” “monumental,” and “flawless filmmaking.” Los Angeles Times critic Joshua Rothkopf called it “pure cinema,” while others have praised Matt Damon’s lead performance as Odysseus as a potential Oscar contender, alongside strong turns from Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, and a widely praised single scene from Samantha Morton as Circe.

Not everyone is uniformly rapturous. IndieWire’s David Ehrlich called it “too clunky to be S-tier Nolan” while still praising its final act, but the overall temperature is extremely warm for what may become a major Best Picture contender this awards season.

Take: I am excited for The Odyssey for many reasons. First, The Odyssey is the first film ever shot entirely in the IMAX format. Moreover, it reportedly features Nolan’s first fully realized horror sequence. Even though this movie has generated controversy for some people because Helen of Troy is black, I am really happy the movie is doing well. I can’t wait to see Elon’s tears on Twitter when this movie keeps excelling lol. To understand why Elon would cry at the success of this movie, see my article on that below.;

That’s a wrap on Edition #9! Which of these has you the most excited? Godzilla’s IMAX debut, Dune’s dark turn, or Nolan’s Greek epic? Hit reply and let me know. 🎥

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By now, you would have guessed that what inspired this article is the movie Obsession. The title and the picture that comes before the text are obvious giveaways. Anyway, let’s get to it. There is a popular saying that goes like this: “If you truly love something, you should let it go.” I am not sure if I got the quote correctly, but you already know what it means at this point.

If you love someone, you’ll want the best for that person. At a point, you can realize that you are not the best for the person; you can even possibly be one of the worst options for the person. If you refuse to let the person go, I think that is selfish. I mean, you claim to love this person, and yet you can’t let the person go and be free of you and the demons you harbor. I don’t mean literal demons, though. Figure of speech. In the movie Obsession, Bear was obviously selfish.

After making that wish, he should have immediately realized that Nikki wasn’t in love with him. It was just a fucked up supernatural obsession. Even when they had sex, it was clearly rape because Nikki didn’t consent to it. That sex scene was actually horrific because Nikki looked like a rape victim in that scene. She was just there, frozen while Bear was penetrating. That scene finally opened my eyes to the fact that Bear didn’t actually love Nikki; he just wanted to fulfill his selfish and impulsive desires. So it is possible to claim to love someone, become convinced that you love the person, all while just wanting the person for your own selfish needs.

By the way, you can convince yourself that you love someone, and you are simply obsessed with the person. I think that being obsessed with someone is also you being selfish because constantly being a part of this person’s life is what makes you happy. It might not necessarily make the other person happy, but that might not bug you because you can’t help yourself; you are obsessed. In Bear’s case. He was also obsessed with Nikki. I know at first glance, it might look like it was only Nikki who was obsessed after that fucked up spell that put Nikki in that state. However, there were scenes where Nikki was fighting to gain control of herself. She even asked Bear to kill her while being under that spell because she couldn’t live like that, being obsessed with someone.

Instead of Bear attempting to let her go after that, the first words that came out of his mouth were, “Would it be so bad being with me?” Bear wasn’t in love; he was fucking obsessed, and he was selfish all while pretending to be in love or convincing himself that he was in love. Nikki’s asking for death was a clear sign that she didn’t love Bear back in an erotic way, but Bear, being obsessed with her, didn’t care. He just wanted to keep her. Ultimately, it is possible to be selfish and obsessed while claiming to be in love.

Side note: I was meant to write this last week Friday. As I write now, my plate of food is on my lap. I have been taking some bites. Now you understand why this article might look rushed. Sigh. That’s because it is. I have to eat. Ciao

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Lionsgate/Universal’s Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson, has crossed $977 million worldwide. This edges out Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ($975 million) to claim the top spot among biopics. The film, which focuses on Jackson’s journey from the Jackson 5 to the King of Pop, has been a powerhouse with strong international earnings ($607.2M) and domestic earnings ($370.2M). It’s also Lionsgate’s biggest film ever.

Take: I’m happy and sad at the same time. I love Michael, but the movie just broke a record set by Nolan, my favorite director, sigh.

‘Minions & Monsters’ Poised for Huge Opening

Illumination’s latest Minions adventure is tracking for a massive $170 million global weekend, with strong overseas projections (~$90M) and a solid U.S. holiday opening around Independence Day. The film, directed by Pierre Coffin, features the Minions becoming Hollywood stars in the 1920s before unleashing chaos. Early reviews are strong (92% on Rotten Tomatoes), continuing the franchise’s billion-dollar legacy.

Take: Minion’s box office dominance was never in doubt

Enola Holmes 3 Now on Netflix

Millie Bobby Brown’s intrepid detective returns in Enola Holmes 3, the darkest installment yet. The film sees Enola’s wedding plans derailed by Sherlock’s kidnapping, leading to a mystery involving empire secrets, missing gold, and Moriarty. Critics praise the mature characters, Maltese scenery, and Bobby Brown’s performance, though the mystery itself is seen as less twisty than its predecessors. It’s streaming now.

Take: I haven’t seen it yet, but I will.

X-Men ‘97 Season 2 Streaming on Disney+

Marvel Animation’s acclaimed series is back! Season 2 follows the time-displaced X-Men as they fight to return home amid rising mutant intolerance in the ‘90s. The season has a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes so far and features the returning voice cast. All episodes are now available exclusively on Disney+.

Take: I have seen all 3 episodes from season 2 so far, and I can confidently say it maintains the quality it started with. It is still my favourite superhero show of this decade.

Reacher Season 4 Lands on Prime Video

Jack Reacher is returning on Wednesday, August 12. Season 4 adapts Lee Child’s Gone Tomorrow, pulling Reacher into a conspiracy after witnessing a suicide. Bonus: The fan-favorite spin-off Neagley (focusing on Frances Neagley) drops all episodes on September 16, right after Reacher Season 4’s finale. Season 5 is already confirmed.

Take: I don’t really think the Neagley spinoff is necessary, but I’ll be there anyway.

That’s a wrap for this edition!

Keep watching movies and TV shows. I’ll see y’all next week

THE CINEPHILE SPACE

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By now, you know this post is about the Michael Jackson movie Michael. You also know I am talking about Rotten Tomatoes. What is Rotten Tomatoes, you ask? Rotten Tomatoes is a site where critics rate movies. It’s one of the most popular rating sites for movies. They score every movie over 100%. Search up any movie on Google, and you will see the Rotten Tomatoes score displayed. I will be talking about Rotten Tomatoes before I talk about the Michael movie.

I’m not going to tell you about the history of rotten tomatoes, though. To read that, click here. My own is to just tell you how it works and why I said fuck it. So, Rotten Tomatoes has two different ways of scoring movies, which simultaneously run on the site. They have the Critics Score and the Audience Score. The critics’ score is called the Tomatometer, and the Audience Score is called the Popcornmeter. In Michael’s case, the Tomatometer Score was 38% while the Popcometer Score was 97%.

The critics’ score always comes out before the audience score. Before this movie was widely released on the 24th of April, the critics scored it on the 21st of April. It first debuted with a 24% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. Only 46 critics rated it at the time. Before you question how they watched the movie prior to when it was widely released, know that critics get to see it before the general audience. When I first saw that rating, I knew it was bullshit, so I visited the Rotten Tomatoes site to read what the critics were actually saying.

I noticed that most of them were complaining about the fact that the allegations against Michael were not portrayed in the movie. They said it only showed the bright side of Michael Jackson. First of all, this movie only covers the timeline of Michael Jackson’s life that leads up to the release of Thriller and the tour he did after Thriller. It was already common knowledge that the movie was only going to cover that part of his life. They stated it before releasing the movie, so that criticism was nothing short of ridiculous. Michael is having a part two, which will include these allegations.

Secondly, Michael was tried for abusing kids, but ultimately he was proven innocent. I don’t know if you have heard about Leaving Neverland, the infamous documentary where two grown men alleged Michael abused them as kids. Before the documentary, in 2005, the man who appears in the documentary said under oath that Michael didn’t abuse him, but 10 years after Michael’s death, he said Michael abused him. Am I meant to believe that? PLEASE. If Michael actually abused him, why didn’t he say he abused him then? At least Michael might have served jail time, or he would have paid him some settlement, but ten years after Michael’s death, he recanted his testimony. That’s fishy. Anyway, I don’t want to dig deep into a rabbit hole here. The point is they all waited till the man died to posthumously soil his image. Now, how does Rotten Tomatoes fit into Leaving Neverland? Guess the score Rotten Tomatoes gave the documentary. They gave it a 98%. The Tomatometer was 98%, while the Popcornmeter, which represents the general audience, was 26%.

So the Rotten Tomatoes critics liked it because the show portrayed Michael in a bad light. They didn’t care if any of the allegations were accurate or not; as long as he was accused of something, they liked it. Since 2020, I have known Rotten Tomatoes has been unreliable, but I will get to that later. The truth is, the only thing on Rotten Tomatoes that is remotely reliable is the audience score because, unlike the critics, the audience is less likely to push agendas. The job of the critic is to tell you if it’s a good movie or not, not to push an agenda. They were obviously pushing an agenda against Michael. Eventually, Netflix released a documentary on the third of June this year about Michael. This documentary highlights the accusations made against Michael and his acquittal from all charges. Now, the questions are these. Why did they bring out the documentary now that he has a movie that’s about to gross a billion dollars? I think the answer is simple. They just want to make money on his name, like Hollywood liked doing even when he was alive. Guess what the Rotten Tomatoes Critics gave that documentary? They gave it 82%, and the audience gave it a 7%. The division between the audience and the critics on Michael continues. The audience could see that the documentary was a shameless cash grab. The Rotten Tomatoes critics, on the other hand, didn’t care if it was a cash grab or not; as long as it showed Michael in a bad light, it was good.

So let’s go back to why I said that I knew Rotten Tomatoes was unreliable since 2020. I don’t know if you have heard of the movie Cuties. This movie, called Cuties, sexualizes young girls. Out of disgust, I didn’t even see the movie. I just read about it. Seems like their target audience was pedophiles because pedophiles would have a field day with that movie. Getting eleven-year-old girls to sexually tease in a movie is crazy work. They are not even old enough to give consent. Guess what Netflix critics rated a horrendous film like that? They gave it 87% while the audience gave it a well-deserved 14%.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the allegations against Michael were true. If they were, I wouldn’t have many problems with them review bombing any movie, documentary, biopic, or TV Show that excludes the allegations made against Michael. If the allegations were true, then review bombing those entertainment media that portray Michael’s Global popstar prowess would be noble. It would mean that they care about the children who were molested, but the high ratings given to Cuties prove that they don’t give a FUCK about children. There are people the Rotten Tomatoes critics don’t like, and there are people they like. It’s that simple. They rate based on their personal agenda, so like I said before FUCK them. If you want to use a rating site that is far more accurate, use IMDB. It’s the most popular rating site for movies and TV Shows in the world, plus far more people review there in comparison to Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it more accurate. I have personally noticed that any movie or TV show that gets an 8/10 or more ends up being great.

The IMDB average score on Cuties, which was determined by over thirty-three thousand people, stands at 3.6/10 as opposed to Rotten Tomatoes’ 46 critics who live in their own absurd bubble.

By now, I believe I have dealt a thrilling blow to the joke that is Rotten Tomatoes. Now, let me talk about Michael, the movie. I don’t need to discuss it in much detail because who doesn’t know Michael Jackson? LMAO.

Well, the movie was great. It’s undoubtedly the best musical biopic I have seen. It’s better than The Complete Unknown, Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, Ma Rainey’s black Bottom and Tar. Jafar Jackson’s performance as Michael was generational. He played his uncle Michael Jackson, so well. He deserves an Oscar nomination for that performance. The movie made me reminisce about the entire thriller album. I listened to the songs over and over again, especially Billie Jean, my personal favorite. My only problem with the movie is that they showed that he only had a difficult relationship with his father, and that he was cool with the rest of his family members. This wasn’t entirely the case. Michael Jackson famously excluded his siblings and his abusive father from his will. His siblings were actually receiving allowances from him till his death. Since he excluded them from his will, I refuse to believe that they were completely cool with each other. The movie should have included more family drama, but maybe they are saving it for part two. It’s an 8.5/10 for me. Thank you for reading. Now say it after me, FUCK ROTTEN TOMATOES!!!!!!!!

Unrelated: I should have released this article earlier, but I had to help my mom and brother kill a rat disturbing us this morning. Took time to kill that rat. It was moving like James Bond, very agile and athletic. To top it all off, I still had to feed the chickens this morning. All these interruptions came when writing this article. Sigh.

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After 13 years of memes and patience, Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders finally went live on June 25. The game drops on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and if you pre-order before November 20, you get the Vintage Vice City Pack, a bundle of throwback cosmetics. The standard edition is priced at $80, with the Ultimate Edition hitting $100 and including bonus vehicles, weapons, and two exclusive side missions.

But here’s the problem: Rockstar launched with no physical disc. In-store buyers get a code in a box. The internet was not having it. One user on X put it best: “The day Rockstar’s servers go dark, so does your ‘copy.’” Faced with the backlash, Rockstar confirmed a disc version will arrive in later months, likely December. Classic Rockstar: makes you wait forever, then makes you wait a little more.

Take: This game is going to be the biggest entertainment event of 2026. But launching without a physical disc is diabolical.

Batman: Knightfall Gets an R-Rated Animated Trilogy, and the First Trailer Is Here

A few days ago, Warner Bros. Animation dropped the first trailer for Batman: Knightfall, a three-part animated film event adapting one of the most iconic Batman storylines ever told. The trilogy covering Knightfall, Knightquest, and KnightsEnd premiered Part 1 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week. A wider release is coming later in 2026.

The story: Bane engineers a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum, forces Batman to fight through his entire rogues’ gallery until he’s literally broken, then takes him down. His protégé Azrael takes up the cape with far more brutality than Bruce ever used. The cast is stacked: Anson Mount (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) as Batman, Michael Mando (Better Call Saul) as Bane, and Pablo Schreiber (Halo) as Azrael. It’s rated R, directed by Jeff Wamester, and written by Jeremy Adams, and if you’ve read the comics, you know why they needed that R rating.

Take: The Knightfall saga is one of the greatest Batman stories ever written. If this trilogy does it justice, it could be one of the best superhero trilogies of all time. It could rival the Dark Knight trilogy.

Supergirl Opens Today, Reviews are Mixed

The second film in James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe opened nationwide today, and the verdict is complicated. Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El is getting near-universal praise. Critics across the board are calling her magnetic, unpredictable, and genuinely great in the role. The film itself, however, lands at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 148 reviews, trailing last year’s Superman (83%) by a significant margin.

The story follows Kara hunting down a space pirate who poisoned her dog Krypto, alongside a teenage narrator named Ruthye. Jason Momoa’s Lobo is a wild-card addition not in the source material (a 2021 Tom King miniseries), and most critics found his energy genuinely fun. Box office projections put the opening weekend at $39M–$51M domestic, well below Superman’s $125M debut and likely second behind Toy Story 5. Against a $250M budget, that’s a problem for Warner Bros. The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella).

Take: I will still watch this movie; critics have never influenced me on what to watch, and I’m all the better for it. Watch and form your own opinion.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 Is Now on Netflix

All seven episodes of Season 2 of Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation are now streaming. This season adapts the Earth arc. Aang and crew are searching for an Earthbending master. Season 2 introduces fan-favourite Toph Beifong, played by Miya Cech. The returning cast includes Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, and Daniel Dae Kim as the menacing Fire Lord Ozai.

New additions to the cast include Chin Han as Long Feng, Hoa Xuande as Professor Zei, and Justin Chien as King Kuei. The good news for fans: Season 3 has already finished filming, so we won’t be left waiting long for the finale. Showrunners for this season are Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani.

Take: I saw the recap of Season 1 as I am about to dive into Season 2. You should do that too. The only thing that annoyed me was the live-action Azula. The inaccuracy of her casting is stunning.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4, “The Calamity” Is Coming This July

It ends this summer. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4: The Calamity is set to release in July 2026 on Disney+, officially wrapping up one of shonen anime’s greatest final arcs. The season adapts manga chapters 664–686, bringing Ichigo’s battle with the almighty Emperor Yhwach to its conclusion. A teaser and a full international trailer are already out, and they look stunning.

Expect around 13 episodes, with creator Tite Kubo reportedly involved in adding anime-exclusive scenes to flesh out the famously rushed manga ending. The confirmed cast includes Ichigo (Masakazu Morita), Yhwach (Takayuki Sugo), Uryu (Noriaki Sugiyama), and Orihime (Yuki Matsuoka). Early theatrical screenings are taking place in Japan ahead of the global Disney+ drop. This is it, Soul Reapers.

Take: One of the best anime of this decade is coming to an end. Be there!!!

The Powerpuff Girls Are Getting an Animated Movie at Warner Bros

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are heading to the big screen again. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that a new Powerpuff Girls movie is in early development. No deal is signed yet, and plot details are under wraps, but the announcement alone is enough to send ‘90s and 2000s kids into a spiral of nostalgia.

The original Cartoon Network series ran from 1998 to 2005. There was a 2002 theatrical film that flopped ($16M against an $11M budget), a 2016 reboot, and a live-action CW pilot that never aired. WB Animation is on a roll right now. Their upcoming slate includes The Cat in the Hat (November 2025), Bad Fairies with Cynthia Erivo, and Oh, the Places You’ll Go featuring Ariana Grande and Josh Gad.

Take: I am just happy they are sticking to animation and not attempting live-action again, like they tried to do before. This year alone, we have gotten a Regular Show and Adventure Time revival, and now we are getting Powerpuff Girls. The nostalgia is insane. I can’t lie.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 2 Reveals First Look, Trailer Drops June 29

Night City is calling again. Netflix officially confirmed that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 2 is moving forward, dropping a new promotional poster via social media and teasing that the first full trailer arrives on June 29. The promo image, dark, moody, with hints that fans are reading as a possible bloodstain, has already sent the internet into full speculation mode.

Season 2 is a standalone story with an entirely new cast of characters, described officially as “a raw chronicle of redemption and revenge.” Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red are back at the helm, with Kai Ikarashi (animation director on Season 1) now directing. There will be 10 episodes, just like the first season. A dedicated panel is also scheduled for Anime Expo on July 3. No release date yet, but the machine is moving. David Martinez may be gone, but Night City never sleeps.

Take: If you are a fan of anime or you have seen Cyberpunk: Edgerunners season 1, you should be excited. I know I am. If you haven’t seen the first season yet, go and see it. I highly recommend it.

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What release are you looking forward to the most? Bleach, Cyberpunk Edgerunners or Batman: Knightfall?

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What will you be watching this weekend?

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I saw this anime called Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. You can read the synopsis in the picture up there, lol. Anyway, the core of this anime is that a religious institution, which is the church, simply couldn’t accept a theory that contradicted its doctrines, so it tortured and killed people who believed and spread these theories. The theory in question was about how the Earth revolves around the Sun. Turns out the people whom the church branded as Heretics were actually correct.

Now, on this app called Substack, I have seen someone make the following statement: “You can’t be a sane person in Nigeria and not believe in God”. First of all, this statement is weak and laughable. Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world, if not the most religious, and yet it is still one of the poorest countries in the world, with the lowest life expectancy, by the way.

Using that Logic alone, is it truly insane that a Nigerian decides to be an atheist? Moreover, did Christ go around telling people that if you don’t believe in God, you are insane? Is that a Christlike thing to do? I don’t think it is. Christ hung out with sinners and tried to convert them all. He welcomed everyone. He didn’t go and start insulting people. You don’t have to attack someone for not believing what you believe. It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Judaist, or an atheist. I believe that keeping the peace with everyone is more important than any religion. As a matter of fact, isn’t that what most religions are about?

In this scene of the anime, Schmidt, the captain of the Heretic Liberation Front, a man who openly defies and fights the Church that forces its beliefs on others, meets a girl called Draka. Draka is the first person he has seen who doesn’t believe in God. Before Draka told Schmidt that she didn’t believe in God, he found himself sharing some of her beliefs. Both characters don’t believe in the church; they don’t believe in the bible; they don’t believe that the world was created for the sake of human beings either. The only thing that they don’t agree on is the existence of God. The backbone of Schmidt’s argument is that the proof for God’s existence is the world. The world exists, so there has to be a maker. However, Schmidt’s believes that nobody can understand God. All he does is worship the natural world God created. He believes that nobody can interpret anything God says. To him, the likes of the Church and the bible are just human constructs in their pathetic attempts to interpret a being they cannot fathom. Draka fired back at Schmidt. She said that worshipping Nature itself is a kind of interpretation of what God is all about. Schmidt countered and said that it is just a feeling; it isn’t logic. He doesn’t trust religion because it tries to be logical.

If you want to know how their argument ended, you can watch the anime. Spoiler Alert: That isn’t the only time they argued. Anyway, what am I trying to bring out? What’s my biggest takeaway from this?

My biggest takeaway from this is the fact that Schmidt was able to tolerate Draka. He respected her so much that he engaged in an intellectual conversation with her, and he didn’t immediately start raging because she didn’t believe in God. Mind you, that was the first time he met someone who didn’t believe in God. I know I have said it before. In this age of AI and the internet, religious people in Nigeria can easily see Atheists online, so it’s pathetic to react in a wild manner when you meet an atheist. Learn to respect the beliefs of others. Crashing out against someone who doesn’t believe in what you do isn’t doing you any favours. You are actually driving the person away. That is just a display of bad character. The inability to respect the beliefs of others. You just prove you are rigid and closed-minded while pushing a potential convert away at the same time. What if the way you live can convert that person?

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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office in its tenth weekend, becoming the first film of 2026 to reach the milestone and doing so on a lean $110 million production budget that makes its returns even more extraordinary.

Domestically, the film has earned $428.5 million, leading the 2026 box office rankings, while its overseas total of $571.5 million also makes it the top-grossing MPA title internationally this year. The sequel brings back the full ensemble. Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jack Black, while adding Brie Larson as Princess Rosalina, Donald Glover as Yoshi, Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr., and Glen Powell as Fox McCloud.

The nearest 2026 competitor is the Michael Jackson biopic Michael at $888 million, with Project Hail Mary and The Devil Wears Prada 2 trailing further behind. All eyes now turn to Toy Story 5, opening June 19, as the first real threat to Mario's throne.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has a 2h 30m Runtime, the Longest Spidey Film Ever

The wait for Spider-Man: Brand New Day keeps building, and the latest detail confirms just how ambitious Tom Holland's fourth solo outing is shaping up to be. AMC Theatres listings reveal the film will clock in at 150 minutes, two hours and thirty minutes, making it the longest Spider-Man film in history, edging past No Way Home's 148-minute runtime. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and releasing July 31, 2026, the film follows Peter Parker navigating a New York that no longer knows who he is after voluntarily erasing himself from the memories of everyone he loves. The cast includes Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Jon Bernthal as the Punisher, with Sadie Sink joining in a mystery role heavily speculated to be Jean Grey.

Marvel Studios has not officially confirmed the runtime, but with multiple independent theater chains AMC, Cineworld, and Shaw Theatres all listing figures around 150 minutes, the picture is becoming clear. Given that trailers suggest the film’s entire final act is still unseen, that confidence in the runtime feels entirely deliberate.

Among Us Animated Series Surprise-Drops on Paramount+

The Among Us animated TV series has dropped on Paramount+ completely unannounced, with all ten episodes available to stream in full right now. The surprise release was announced at Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles by cast members Yvette Nicole Brown and Liv Hewson, a fitting reveal for a game that built its entire identity around surprise betrayals.

The series comes from creator Owen Dennis and animation studio Titmouse, and features a stacked voice cast: Randall Park as Red, Dan Stevens as Blue, Elijah Wood as Green, Patton Oswalt as White, Debra Wilson as Yellow and Computer, Phil LaMarr as Brown, Wayne Knight as Lime, Kimiko Glenn as Cyan, Hewson as Black, and Brown as Orange. The crewmates aboard an intergalactic ship must root out an impostor hidden among them, exactly as you’d expect.

Adventure Time: Side Quests Gets a June 29 Premiere Date on Disney+ & Hulu

Finn and Jake are coming back, and this time they’re landing on Disney+ and Hulu, marking the first Adventure Time project to premiere outside the Warner Bros. Discovery ecosystem. Adventure Time: Side Quests arrives on June 29, 2026, with an international rollout on Cartoon Network and HBO Max to follow later in the year.

Produced by Cartoon Network Studios and showrun by Nate Cash, Side Quests is a prequel companion series set during the earlier, scrappier days of Finn and Jake’s adventures in the Land of Ooo. Sasha Knight voices a younger Finn, while John DiMaggio returns as Jake the Dog. Fan-favourite characters including Ice King (Tom Kenny), Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch), Marceline (Olivia Olson), and BMO (Niki Yang) are all back.

The creative philosophy here is a deliberate course correction. Standalone episodes, self-contained silliness, and zero continuity baggage. It’s the version of Adventure Time that hooked millions of viewers in 2010, rebuilt for a new generation. The series is the third spinoff following Distant Lands and Fionna and Cake, with Adventure Time: Heyo BMO also in production.

The Social Reckoning Trailer: Jeremy Strong Is Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s Social Network Sequel

Sixteen years after The Social Network defined an era of tech-industry filmmaking, its sequel is finally here in trailer form, and it looks like it was worth the wait. The Social Reckoning is written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, who now takes the director’s chair after winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the original. Jeremy Strong steps into the role of Mark Zuckerberg, succeeding Jesse Eisenberg, while Mikey Madison plays Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White plays Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz.

The film covers the true story behind “The Facebook Files”, the 2021 investigative series that exposed the company’s internal research into its platform’s harmful effects on teenagers and its role in spreading political misinformation and inciting violence. It’s a story that touches nearly everyone who’s ever been online. As Sorkin put it at CinemaCon: “There isn’t a life that Facebook’s algorithm hasn’t touched, and that influence has shaped everything. So it’s time to say more.”

Sony Pictures will release The Social Reckoning in theaters on October 9, 2026. Given that the original grossed $226 million, earned eight Oscar nominations, and won three, and given this cast, this director, and this subject matter, awards season conversation is already inevitable.

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