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Jurassic World Rebirth North America Box Office Day 38: Beats Shrek The Third (Photo Credit –Facebook)

Jurassic World Rebirth has been released online, which has and will further impact the film’s collections in the long run. Scarlett Johansson’s movie has beaten Shrek the Third’s domestic haul to move up the all-time list of the 100 highest-grossing films domestically. Keep scrolling for the deets.

It was also released in Japan this Friday and is poised to make a decent opening. Even after this weekend, the movie is staying put as the third highest-grossing Hollywood release of the year worldwide and the fifth highest-grossing film in the franchise. Scarlett Johansson, back in her element, is always a visual treat for her fans.

Jurassic World Rebirth’s box office collection after 38 days

According to Box Office Mojo, Scarlett Johansson’s Jurassic World Rebirth collected a decent $1.3 million on its sixth Friday in North America.

The Oscar-Winning Film That Caused A Man’s Death Through Laughter (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

Oscar had no idea that one little comedy might one day take someone out and not in the metaphorical “nailed it” way people say in 2025. You see, back in 1988, A Fish Called Wanda rolled into cinemas like a steamroller, with few basic elements, like a silly plan, a stuttering animal lover, a CIA wannabe and a diamond heist gone sideways.

However, somehow, it rolled right over a poor Danish man’s heart. Literally.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Charles Crichton. pic.twitter.com/6MjlCEeIMS

— Juan Ferrer (@JuanFerrerVila) August 6, 2018

How a Poolside Chat Turned into an Oscar-Winning Comedy

It all started a few years earlier when John Cleese was loafing around a hotel pool with director Charles Crichton, an old friend he had been trying to work with since dinosaurs roamed the BBC. They kicked around some half-baked ideas,...

You may think it’s cute, but NFL players only shuffle like that when they’re distressed.

14 Damnocracy

A band based on TV ratings and wordplay is doomed to fail from the start. The short-lived VH1 show Supergroup stuffed Sebastian Bach, Jason Bonham, Scott Ian, Ted Nugent and Evan Seinfeld into a Las Vegas mansion. They produced seven episodes of television and exactly zero albums, despite staying together for four years.

13 Andrew W.K. x Glenn Beck

The rock-n-roller had a radio show on the perpetual fascist pedophile apologist’s radio network in 2015. Their little odd couple routine was intended partly to highlight conversations between folks with opposing viewpoints, and partly to launder TheBlaze’s dogshit reputation.

12 ‘The Counselor’

Written by Cormac McCarthy. Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt. This is 2013 pop culture in a bottle, but they made Diaz hump a...

Eddie Murphy has confirmed he will play Inspector Clouseau in the next Pink Panther movie.The Shrek star was first reported to be in talks to take on the iconic character back in 2023, and he has now revealed it's among his upcoming roles.He told Al Roker on Today: “I’m getting ready to do a [biopic of] George Clinton, [his music collective] Parliament-Funkadelic. I’m getting ready to do George Clinton.“I’ve already started Shrek 5. And I’m going to be — I’m Inspector Clouseau in the next Pink Panther.”When asked if Clouseau will still be French, Murphy quipped: “Maybe. Well, he has to be French, but he could also be Haitian. I will tell you, he’s Black. He’s Black, for sure.”Sources previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the movie is to be a live-action/ CG hybrid.The original comedy film, The Pink Panther, was released in the...

If you’ve ever wanted to watch Mr. Bean, a Monty Python legend, Seth Green, Whoopi Goldberg, and Smash Mouth all crash headfirst into a live-action cartoon – Rat Race should be right up your alley. And starting August 1, Jerry Zucker’s 2001 chaos-fueled ensemble comedy is making its way to Paramount+, where a new generation of streamers can marvel at the fact that this movie even exists. Loosely inspired by 1963’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Rat Race opens with eccentric billionaire Donald Sinclair, played with unhinged glee by John Cleese, inviting a group of unsuspecting tourists at a Las Vegas casino to compete in a secret race. The rules are simple: There’s $2 million in a locker 700 miles away in Silver City, New Mexico. Whoever gets there first, keeps it. And as if that weren’t absurd enough, Sinclair’s fellow billionaires are gambling on the outcome.

Stellan Skarsgård is the star who will receive this year’s Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, organizers unveiled on Friday.

He will get to honor “in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the film industry and his remarkable acting career.”

Said the star: “The Sarajevo Film Festival remains unwavering and driven in its aim to highlight subjects of great consequence, underscored by an intense lust for life. I love going there.”

Skarsgård, “a longtime friend of the Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as a curator and one of the patrons of the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation – whose scholarships were awarded at the Sarajevo Film Festival – presented the foundation’s scholarship to Juanita Wilson at the festival’s 15th edition in 2009,” organizers highlighted.

Said Jovan Marjanovic, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival: “It is a true honor to present the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to Stellan Skarsgård,...

Monty Python legend Eric Idle is an 82-year-old cancer survivor — so naturally he has to look out for his health. And according to Idle, that now means avoiding engaging with, or reading about longtime frenemy John Cleese.

The two octogenarians have made headlines for their recent social media spats, but the antagonism didn’t stop there. It seems as though every surviving member of Monty Python has dunked on other members of the troupe in at least one recent interview — except for Terry Gilliam who has been too busy complaining that Donald Trump ruined his anti-woke movies.

Recently, Idle sat down with NME, which asked the Rutles star about the possibility of a future Python project. As the music magazine pointed out, Oasis is touring this year, which could perhaps pave the way for another unlikely reunion between people who hate each other only slightly less than they love money?...

Blu-ray.com has reported on Sony’s newest physical media release for the 1985 western Silverado. The Lawrence Kasdan film is packed with an all-star cast that includes Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, John Cleese, Jeff Goldblum, Jeff Fahey, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Hunt & Brian Dennehy. The movie will come in a Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray combo pack and is scheduled to be available on October 7.

Our Eic, Chris Bumbray, raved about the film in a retrospective column and video, in which he stated, “Silverado is so much fun that it’s insane to think that the movie never spawned a western franchise that would have sustained a whole series of films. Kasdan should still be making Silverado adventures thirty years later. For one thing, this was Kasdan in his prime, so the writing and craftsmanship is right-on.”

The description reads,

“This spirited Western stars Academy Award®-winner Kevin Kline,...

The heyday of Monty Python’s comedy may be over, but we’re living through a golden age of Monty Python members sniping at each other in interviews.

After Eric Idle’s Twitter feud with John Cleese, Cleese’s brief spat with Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam’s battle with the invisible woke mob that somehow keeps derailing his movie projects, now Idle is taking Palin to task for a past comment.

Per The Sun, Idle recently spoke to The Big Issue for their “Letter to My Younger Self” section. At one point, he expressed shock that Palin had ever claimed to be regretful about the end of Monty Python. “Michael said he was sad to see us break up?” Idle questioned. “He was the first to leave! He’s such a hypocrite.”

“I can’t believe Michael said he was sad,” Idle continued. “He turned down the opportunity to...

One of the greatest British sitcoms of all-time is blowing up on Premium Video on Demand. The John Cleese-starring comedy series Fawlty Towers has a 100% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and remains one of the 1970s' most beloved shows.

Per FlixPatrol, Fawlty Towers has experienced a sudden resurgence of premium downloads via iTunes, as it currently ranks as the Apple retailer's fifth most popular TV show worldwide as of Monday, July 7. Fawlty Towers is currently only trailing behind modern hits The White Lotus, The Last of Us, Rick and Morty and the CW's DC Comics hit Superman & Lois, but is currently ahead of U.S. TV juggernauts such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and E.R.

It's a bit less surprising that Fawlty Towers ranks as the United Kingdom's most downloaded show on iTunes as of this writing. Cleese's sitcom aired for two seasons on BBC Two in the U.

Star Wars icon Kenneth Colley has died aged 87.The late actor - who is best known for playing Admiral Piett in George Lucas’ sci-fi franchise - “peacefully” passed away on Monday (30.06.25) in Ashford, Kent, after contracting Covid and pneumonia, his agent Julian Owen has confirmed.In a statement, Owen said: “He had been admitted after a fall with an injured arm, however he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia. He passed away peacefully with friends at his bedside.“Ken Colley was one of our finest character actors with a career spanning 60 years.“Ken continually worked on stage, film and television playing a vast array of characters, from Jesus in Monty Python's Life of Brian to evil and eccentric characters in Ken Russell films, and the Duke of Vienna in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure for the BBC.”Colley appeared in 1980’s Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back as Admiral Piett,...

Even the most casual South Park fan knows that the show began as an animated short, or an animated “Christmas card,” as they referred to it. Created in 1992, when Matt Stone and Trey Parker were still students at the University of Colorado, The Spirit of Christmas featured Jesus fighting Frosty the Snowman.

They followed that up with another short three years later, also called The Spirit of Christmas, but this time Jesus fought Santa. This second short was the one that made Parker and Stone famous and led to the creation of South Park.

However, even some South Park die-hards don’t know that Parker and Stone never really stopped making shorts. From 1997 until 2000, they made roughly a dozen shorts for Comedy Central, then at least one short every couple of years thereafter. The most recent one premiered in 2020.

Here’s your guide to every one of these lost shorts — okay,...

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This July, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the much-anticipated release of the final season of The Summer I Turned Pretty to John Cena and Idris Elba‘s fun-looking action comedy film Heads of State. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 14 best films that are coming to Prime Video in July 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

A Fish Called Wanda (July 1) Rt Score: 96% Credit – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

A Fish Called Wanda is a heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Cleese. The 1988 film revolves around a group of diamond thieves who must backstab each other to get to the loot after their leader is jailed.

Rudyard Kipling first published his novel "The Jungle Book" in 1894, and its sequel, "The Second Jungle Book," the following year. The books followed the adventures of a boy named Mowgli, a five-year-old who becomes lost in the jungles of India and who is taken in and raised by the local wildlife. He is taught the ways of the jungle, mostly by a benevolent panther named Bagheera. He also is given some more raucous advice from a bear named Baloo, and is taught to be wary of the vicious tiger, Shere Khan. 

Most schoolchildren have read one or both of Kipling's "Jungle Book" novels, and it has been adapted to film multiple times. Director Zoltan Korda directed a rather fine 1946 Technicolor version, although more popular to today's audiences is the 1967 animated film directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Walt Disney was credited as a producer, but he died shortly before "The Jungle Book" was released,...

When it comes to streaming services, most sites are an ever-changing pool of mystery. Disney+, on the other hand, is one site you can always count on to know what you're getting. Disney+ has pretty much every Walt Disney Studios staple, as well as the complete collections of iconic franchises such as "Star Wars" and Marvel.

When picking the best films on Disney+, the choices could be obvious. We could easily include "Beauty and the Beast," the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. There's "The Empire Strikes Back," which many consider to be the best "Star Wars" entry. While including those films and fan-favorites like "The Lion King" and "Toy Story" would probably result in kinder reactions, we decided to mix it up a bit.

Even if your favorites are missing, every movie on this list is an absolute banger. If our choices don't...

Shout! TV presents a special 24-hour presentation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail streaming exclusively on Shout! TV and Shout! Movies June 21, to commemorate the film’s 50th anniversary. Throughout the 24-hour marathon, fans can enjoy appearances from Python legends John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, and Michael Palin as they reflect on their favorite memories from making the film. These newly filmed interstitials are exclusive to Shout! TV and Shout! Movies feature the cast reflecting on the movie’s lasting impact — from Terry Gilliam talking about his dual role as director and actor, John Cleese sharing what quotes he still gets to this day, Michael Palin saying it was all a bit silly, and plenty more behind-the-scenes stories and laughs along the way.

The marathon will be available to stream on Shout! TV and Shout Movies, as well as the Shout! TV app on Roku, Android, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.

Star Trek fans surely got a kick out of seeing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock villain Christopher Lloyd co-starring as Doc Brown alongside Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future. And those same fans no doubt loved it when Marty, disguised and masking his voice, identifies himself to his future father as “Darth Vader… from the planet Vulcan,” and proceeds to offer the patented split-fingered Vulcan greeting.

But… a document from 1984, from the office of Back to the Future’s casting directors, Fenton-Feinberg Casting, reveals that several other familiar Star Trek names were considered before director Robert Zemeckis chose Lloyd. Among those considered: Joe Piscopo, Rene Auberjonois, Paul Dooley, Kevin Conway, and Gerrit Graham. Piscopo later played The Comic in the Star Trek: The Next Generation second-season episode, “The Outrageous Okona,” which premiered in 1988. Auberjonois joined the Star Trek universe in 1991, playing Colonel West...

Nearly 15 years after the conclusion of the "Harry Potter" film franchise, and almost 20 years since the release of J.K. Rowling's final novel, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Warner Bros. is teaming up with HBO to produce an all-new TV series based on the beloved books. We've already met many members of the cast, and while details remain scarce, it's safe to assume the show will stick more closely to the source material, perhaps even expanding on moments the films had to omit.

Yes, the movies are genuine classics -- well, most of them, anyway -- and the various directors and writers did their best to adapt Rowling's massive texts into feature-length films suitable for general audiences. But that meant many important characters and plot threads were either glossed over or cut entirely.

With 8–10 hours at their disposal per season, the "Harry Potter" TV series showrunners should have more...

Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” is finally getting a U.S. release, six years after premiering at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize under Lucrecia Martel’s jury. The film, which won four of its 12 César nominations including Best Director in 2020, is now set for a two-week limited engagement, starting August 8, at New York City’s Film Forum.

Film Forum isn’t handling the release beyond showings at its own venue, IndieWire has learned, which were booked by “An Officer and a Spy” producer Alain Goldman. News of the engagement was included deep into Film Forum’s summer programming announcement that went out Monday, June 9 (and also highlighted by World of Reel).

“An Officer and a Spy” is led by Louis Garrel, who portrays French army Captain Alfred Dreyfus after his trial. The politically scandalous Dreyfus affair took place around the turn...

It’s the comedy classic that may have annoyed you with fans’ endless quoting and impressions. But there is no doubt that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a staple in the culture of the genre, with one of the most famous comedy troupes taking their brash, unhinged and cartoonish humor and satirizing King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail on the big screen. Monty Python and the Holy Grail will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary with special 4K remastered screenings and a new 4K Blu-ray.

Blu-ray.com has announced that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is unveiling a new 50th Anniversary 4K restoration Blu-ray with a batch of special features, which include the shortened VHS cut (which is remastered in HD) and a “special Japanese version.” This new physical media release is due to hit retailers on August 26.

The description reads,

“Once in a lifetime there comes a...

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein continues a rating trend for the iconic monster story. The upcoming Netflix movie, which premieres in November, is an adaptation of the classic 1818 horror novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The upcoming Frankenstein features a star-studded cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Charles Dance, Christian Convery, Ralph Ineson, and Christoph Waltz. It marks del Toro's first reimagining of an iconic Universal monster since his Oscar-winning 2017 movie The Shape of Water drew inspiration from 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Per FilmRatings.com, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein has been given an MPA rating of R, which continues a modern trend of adaptations of the original Mary Shelley novel becoming more graphic, violent, and adult in the modern age. The majority of the best-known early adaptations or continuations of the literary classic are either rated PG, PG-13, or Approved (during the pre-mpa...

As we’ve mentioned already, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Perhaps predictably, in addition to John Cleese’s pricey screening tour, we’re also getting a brand new physical release of the movie from Sony.

This time, the movie is being issued in 4K for the very first time, which will either look great, or make it very apparent that the film was made on a shoestring budget and had to keep using the same castle over and over again.

While Python fans and physical media enthusiasts are clearly excited about this news, one detail in the press release is a little confusing. The disc will contain the “feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision,” as well as a “Near-Theatrical Version of the Film (in HD resolution)” which will allow viewers to “experience a slightly shorter version of the film, as seen on VHS!

Synopsis

Once in a lifetime, there comes a motion picture that changes the whole history of motion pictures. A picture so stunning in its effect, so vast in its impact that it profoundly affects the lives of those who see it. That picture might well be Monty Python & The Holy Grail, featuring the entire Python gang in this hilarious retelling of the Knights of King Arthur and their quest for the Holy Grail.

Disc Details & Bonus Materials

4K Ultra HD Disc

• Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision

• English Dolby Atmos + English 5.1 + English Mono

• Special Features:

o Near-Theatrical Version of the Film (in HD resolution) – Experience a slightly shorter version of the film, as seen on VHS!

o ‘Tis But A Tribute – 50 Years of Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Over 25 comedy luminaries share their memories of, affection for, and continued fascination with the film

Blu-ray Disc

• Feature presented...

Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino is this year’s recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award to be bestowed upon him during the 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which will also feature a retrospective of his films that will be screened as part of the fest’s “tribute to” program.

The honor and tribute will be “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the art of cinema,” Sarajevo fest organizers said on Tuesday. Sorrentino will also hold a masterclass and “share his thoughts on contemporary art in a conversation with the audience,” they noted.

“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious recognition and grateful for the attention given to my filmography,” said Sorrentino. “I look forward to being with you in Sarajevo. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The fest highlighted the effect the Italian director and screenwriter’s oeuvre has had on audiences. “Paolo...

While John Cleese has been behind some of the greatest comedies of all-time, the latter phase of his career has been a tad more questionable. In recent years, Cleese has starred in a Rob Schneider vanity project, participated in a cringey Australian roast and hosted an anti-woke talk show set in a medieval castle for some reason.

But even given those baffling career decisions, his latest gig was about as expected as the Spanish Inquisition.

Cleese is currently the face of The Revelation of the Andalusian Crush, which, per EuroWeekly News, is a “new international tourism campaign video launched by the Andalusian regional government” in order to “promote Holy Week,” timed to coincide with this past weekend’s Procesión Magna.

The ad, which runs for over a minute and was recently shared by Cleese on social media, finds the Fawlty Towers star visiting a Catholic confessional. He then mumbles vague...

While we clearly don’t need any more reasons for the U.S. to be feuding with foreign countries right now, two Monty Python fans recently got into a spat on social media over whether or not Americans “get” the Pythons’ humor. This prompted Eric Idle to step in and settle the “silly” argument once and for all.

As Idle pointed out, while Monty Python’s Flying Circus began in the U.K., it’s been consistently popular in the U.S. ever since it began airing on public television in 1975, which also coincided with the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Idle also explained that Monty Python’s American popularity originated with a PBS station in Dallas. And, as he confirmed to one follower, it was in fact the father of future stars Owen and Luke Wilson who was responsible for making it happen.

Robert A. Wilson,...

I first met actors Jiri Bartoska – who died Thursday at the age of 78 – and Leonardo DiCaprio at the same time, at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival 31 summers ago.

The encounter was memorable for all three of us, I suspect. Leo was a teenager, just beginning his march to fame and glory, and Karlovy Vary was his first film festival, also attended by his German mother Irmelin and his German grandparents. He climbed into his grandparents laps and I have that snap eternally imprinted in my memory banks of my favorite movie business moments.

Leonardo DiCaprio with his grandparents in Karlovy Vary Kviff

That fortnight in the Bohemian sun led to a marriage and a daughter for me, but it also led to a fortuitous journalistic adventure that I like to think benefited Variety’s readers as well.

I had just begun my 32 seasons as an editor at the magazine. Jiri...

Just recently, we heard a nice little anecdote about how the surviving members of Monty Python are still there for one another during life’s hard times. But now it seems that they’re already back to their regular routine of petty grudges and hurt feelings.

Last weekend, Monty Python and the Holy Grail returned to movie theaters thanks to Fathom Events and Shout! Studios. The screening, which was intended to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary, also included “an exclusive special introduction from Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and John Cleese.”

Notably absent from that list of names is the only other living ex-Python: Eric Idle. Why was the guy who played Brave Sir Robin and Roger the Shrubber not part of this new intro? Well, according to Idle, it’s because nobody actually invited him to participate.

Fielding questions from fans, who were naturally curious about his absence,...

Monty Python has been in the news a lot lately, partly thanks to the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but mostly because the surviving members of the iconic comedy troupe just can’t stop publicly berating one another.

Eric Idle and John Cleese obviously have their long-running social media feud, which led to Cleese claiming that the Pythons “always loathed and despised each other” in a 2024 post.

Cleese also randomly dunked on the “boring” Michael Palin in an interview, prompting his A Fish Called Wanda co-star to later defend himself during a talk show appearance. And when one interviewer asked Palin whether or not he can rely on the Pythons for emotional support, he offered a pretty dispiriting response. “No, I don’t anymore. Whether I ever did, I don’t know,” Palin stated. Similarly, Idle once claimed that the Pythons were never friends, only “colleagues” who “worked together very well.

In order to exploit celebrate the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, John Cleese is embarking on Holy Grail-themed live tour, which will include a screening of the film, a Q&a about its production history and the regret that comes with spending $70 on a movie ticket so that Cleese can make his alimony payments.

But just because Monty Python and the Holy Grail is regarded as one of the greatest comedies of all-time, doesn’t mean that Cleese won’t be taking the opportunity to criticize it. Specifically, he isn’t a big fan of the ending.

The movie memorably ends with King Arthur and Sir Bedevere leading an attack on the Castle Aaargh, only to be arrested by a squad of modern police officers who have been investigating the murder of the film’s historical commentator. The final shot of the movie is a cop...

Reflecting on the 50th anniversary of one of the best comedy films in history in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, British actor John Cleese had quite a lot to say about the legendary film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The star and co-writer of the comedy ensemble film set in the time of King Arthur, witch hunts, and the plague recalled how BBC executives thought their sketch comedy show Monty Python’s Flying Circus was awful and how the group complemented each other's strengths, and weaknesses, perfectly. However, Cleese had a fresh and classically humorous answer to the often asked question: If you made Holy Grail today, would you have less comedic freedom?

Released by Emi Films in the U.S. on Apr. 28, 1975, Holy Grail has not suffered the same fate as so many other comedies made during that time and for good reason. It's genuinely funny. Being the...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the pinnacle of British comedy and possibly all comedy if you’re a fan of more nonsensical humor, is returning to cinemas in celebration of its 50th anniversary. There’s even a brand new introduction from original members of the Monty Python troupe, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and the legend that is John Cleese. When it was released back in 1975, Monty Python and the Holy Grail quickly became the highest-grossing British film in the US. It’s a cult classic at this point, and it will be back in theaters between May 4 and May 7. This will give old fans the chance to relive the excitement while offering new fans a chance to discover the brilliance of Monty Python. If you were born at any point after 1975, there’s a chance that you’ve never had the opportunity to see the absolutely genius movie on the big screen.

To fans of J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, the original Harry Potter movies are magical classics. But, to John Cleese, who appeared in two of the eight movies, they were a lonely and somewhat boring experience. Unlike the rest of the cast who got to see the phenomenal sets of Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and other magical locations, the Monty Python legend got to see a green screen room. Cleese played Nearly Headless Nick in the franchise, one of the many ghosts who haunted the halls of Hogwarts.

John Cleese recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and the comedian and actor was asked about his time working on the Harry Potter movies as Nearly Headless Nick. "When you’re doing special effects, you never get to meet the other actors," Cleese said of his unexpectedly lonely time shooting the films.

This week on the Film Stories Podcast Network: shock death and tragedy, surprise twists and turns, fortune and glory and much more. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

The Rest of Us

Maria Latilla and guest Sam Stokes bear witness to what has to be one of TV’s most seismic moments of the year as they discuss The Last of Us 2×02 ‘Through the Valley’…

Ask Us About Loom

A discussion at least five years in the making, Matt Latham sits down with old pals Lee Chrimes and Aj Black to discuss the seminal point and click adventure game, 1992’s Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis…

Writers on Film

John Bleasdale is joined by a pre-eminent critic of cinema, Jonathan Rosenbaum, to discuss his wide-ranging book in conversation with film scholar Ehsan Khoshbakht…

Britcom Goes to the Movies

It’s all going wrong for John Cleese’s...

Even at the age of 85, John Cleese is hard at work announcing new versions of classic comedies he was involved with, then never actually making them. Remember the Fawlty Towers reboot starring Cleese and his daughter? How about the Life of Brian stage show that Cleese refused to censor even though no one had actually asked him to?

One of Cleese’s oldest ill-conceived, yet-to-be-produced reboot pitches is a proposed musical version of A Fish Called Wanda, the acclaimed 1988 comedy that he both starred in and scripted.

Cleese has been working on the Wanda musical since at least 2008, which, perhaps not coincidentally, wasn’t long after Cleese’s frenemy Eric Idle achieved Broadway success with his own musical adaptation of an old movie: Spamalot.

Regardless of whether or not it was motivated by spite, Cleese’s musical has yet to come to fruition because, according to the 85-year-old comedian, it...

If there’s one thing the surviving members of Monty Python love, other than comedy and petty social media beefs, it’s publicly complaining about the state of their personal funds.

Last year, Eric Idle made headlines for revealing that he is unable to retire because Monty Python’s finances are a “disaster,” allegedly due to the group’s current business manager, and also the lack of royalties and residual payments that get paid out in the streaming era.

While Idle’s complaints about the Monty Python brand’s financial decisions aren’t shared by his fellow Pythons, John Cleese recently made a similar admission concerning his bank account. In a new interview with The Times, per The Daily Express, Cleese claimed that his three divorces have depleted his resources. “The third wife got two properties, one was in London and one was in New York, and we had to sell the other three,...

Hidden references and in-jokes in cinema can be an acquired taste, but here’s a festive selection of the best arch nods for aficionados to enjoy

One of Hollywood’s most durable Easter eggs debuted in Howard Hawks’s His Girl Friday (1940) when Cary Grant’s character says: “The last man who said that to me was Archie Leach just a week before he cut his throat!” And in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) his character sits pensively in a cemetery where Archie Leach’s gravestone is to be seen. In Charles Crichton’s A Fish Called Wanda (1988), John Cleese’s character is called Archie Leach. Leach is, of course, the real name of Cary Grant – a very goofy and unglamorous sounding name compared with the sonorous “Cary Grant” – and a rare example of Hollywood alluding to the open secret of rebranding its stars and effacing the bland ordinariness of their origins.

With multiple alimony-inspired money-making projects in need of promotion, Monty Python legend John Cleese recently appeared on ITV’s Lorraine in the U.K. Unfortunately, things got off to a rocky start when Cleese inadvertently insulted the interviewer.

As reported by Yahoo!, guest host Kate Garraway asked Cleese if he would consider appearing in a reality TV show, like The Traitors. “Only if I went completely mad, “Cleese responded. “I can’t imagine anything more awful. And you get offered so much money. (But) I couldn’t stand the humiliation.”

Garraway mentioned that she has appeared on several of these shows, adding “so we’ve got off to a great start, haven’t we?” Although she somehow restrained herself from pointing out that she perhaps doesn’t need lessons in avoiding career humiliation from the fifth-billed star of Daddy Daughter Trip.

Cleese also discussed Fawlty Towers, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

In a world of endless reboots, revivals, and almost every studios' desire to continually bank on reliable IPs, it was only a matter of time until Hogwarts was revisited on the screen. Despite the controversy surrounding author Jk Rowling's involvement in the project, HBO is pressing ahead with a planned seven-season "Harry Potter" series for Max, with each installment set to adapt a different book from the original literary saga. With the intended 2026 premiere date on the horizon, the show has added some star-studded names to the cast, including John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, and Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape.

What's more, all of those actors are joining the Wizarding World for the first time, so the series should feel different from previous cinematic adaptations due to the fresh faces playing such iconic characters. However, some blasts from the past are returning to the fold,...

It’s officially been five decades since Monty Python and the Holy Grail first delighted audiences and boosted the coconut shell industry. To celebrate the iconic 1975 comedy’s 50th anniversary, the BBC recently chatted with every surviving member of Monty Python, minus John Cleese and Eric Idle, who were presumably too busy rage-tweeting about the U.S. president and/or each other.

But just because they’re available for interviews doesn’t mean that fans should be expecting another Python reunion any time soon, as one member made clear.

Michael Palin noted that The Holy Grail very nearly didn’t happen because not everyone in the group was into the idea of following up Monty Python’s Flying Circus with a movie. “It was by no means unanimous that we should do a film after the television series,” Palin recalled, pointing out that two of the Pythons were busy working on their own TV projects,...

As of this week, it’s officially been 50 years since Monty Python and the Holy Grail first hit theaters. While some Python fans may choose to celebrate this milestone by paying nearly $300 to ask John Cleese questions about the production after watching the movie for the billionth time, here’s another idea: Why not visit the castle where much of The Holy Grail was filmed?

The building itself dates back to the 14th century, as The Daily Telegraph recently reported, but Scotland’s Doune Castle has fully embraced the fact that it’s become a tourist destination for Monty Python obsessives who are eager to visit the spot where King Arthur was taunted by an outrageous French soldier.

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Doune Castle wasn’t actually the Pythons’ first choice for a filming location. “We’d picked all these wonderful castles,” Terry Jones explained in Monty Python Speaks: The Complete Oral History,...

Quick LinksA Man Died From Laughing While Watching A Fish Called WandaThe Role of Wanda in A Fish Called Wanda Was Written for Jamie Lee CurtisKevin Kline Won His First and Only Oscar for a Fish Called Wanda

1998's A Fish Called Wanda was a zany heist comedy starring Jamie Lee Curtis as the title character. It had a script written by Monty Python alumni John Cleese, who also featured in a lead role opposite Curtis. The movie was a major success in its time and led to accolades for almost all of its major players. Screenwriter Robert McKee references it multiple times in his script-writing manifesto: Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. To this day, it's considered by many to be a near-perfect comedy.

Curtis would eventually win an Oscar for the comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), but her performance in A Fish Called Wanda showcases her comedic prowess perfectly.

Ba-dah, bummm, ba-dah, bummmm, ba-dah, ba-dah-dah! Cue a silhouette of a man adorned in a trilby walking across the screen, outlined by the barrel of a gun. Suddenly, he turns, pointing a Walther Ppk directly at the audience, and fires. The frame turns red, and the barrel drops out of sight. Monty Norman's iconic theme suddenly blares, signaling the rival of cinema's most enduring hero: James Bond. 

Initially portrayed by Sean Connery in classic capers like "Dr. No," "From Russia with Love" and "Goldfinger," Bond eventually fell into the lap of several different actors, namely George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, resulting in 25 motion pictures -- 27 if you include 1967's "Casino Royale" and 1983's "Never Say Never Again" -- a flurry of iconic James Bond movie theme songs sang by everyone from Shirley Bassey to Billie Eilish, TV shows, spoofs, knockoffs, and popular video games like Nintendo 64's "Goldeneye.

As we’ve mentioned before, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And while a full-on Python reunion seems highly unlikely, due to tensions within the surviving members of the group, John Cleese has decided to reunite with himself for a Python-themed tour that won’t involve working with others, line memorization or really any prep work at all.

“Not Dead Yet! John Cleese and the Holy Grail at 50 Tour” will reportedly find Cleese visiting 17 cities throughout the U.S., for a show that will include a screening of the classic film, followed by a Q&a. According to the event listing at New York City’s Town Hall Cleese will “share behind the scenes stories, wit and wisdom — assuming he remembers any of it.”

But it isn’t exactly cheap. Tickets for the stop in Charlotte, North Carolina range from $69.05 to the...

John Cleese’s social media accounts are chock-full of heated political opinions, peppered with the occasional “Ministry of Silly Walks” Gif that his assistants no doubt scheduled for him. Now, one of Cleese’s takes is reaching a lot of eyeballs — but it’s nearly 40 years old, and was shared by the guy who used to host Fear Factor.

Yes, podcaster Joe Rogan recently took to Instagram to praise an archival clip of Cleese from 1987, in which the ex-Python ironically argues for the advantages for “extremism,” which include how it makes you “feel good” because it “provides you with enemies.” Get it?

“If you have a lot of anger and resentment in you anyway, and you therefore enjoy abusing people, then you can pretend that you’re only doing it because these enemies of yours are such very bad persons,” Cleese deadpanned. “And if it wasn’t for them,...

Eric Idle isn’t exactly known for holding back his opinions on social media. After all, he’s been spilling digital tea relating to Monty Python for quite a while now. Most recently, Idle took the opportunity to blast an old TV special that, in his opinion, represents the troupe’s creative rock bottom.

A Python fan shared a clip in which “seventh Python” Carol Cleveland asks if the BBC is “dumbing” their programming down, before introducing a panel of brick-toting Gumbys. The scene was an excerpt from 1999’s Python Night, which Idle was quick to dismiss as “unquestionably the worst Python show ever.”

Python Night was an evening of programming on BBC Two that included documentaries and clip shows, all intended to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Most significantly, it actually featured new material from the Pythons. Well, some of the Pythons.

Obviously Graham Chapman wasn’t around,...

British actor Simon Fisher-Becker has sadly passed away. Best known for his roles in fantasy movies and TV series, fans might recognize him, especially from his iconic scenes in Harry Potterand Doctor Who.Fisher-Becker embodied some of the most timeless characters in the media, like Doctor Who's Dorium Maldovar. As such, people could often find him at different science fiction conventions. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Fisher-Becker portrayed the Far Friar, Hufflepuff's affable ghost, giving fans the only live-action adaptation of this amazing character so far.

The Fat Friar might be a small character in the Harry Potter franchise, but as with every personality in the series, his supportive role enriches the storytelling and world-building of the saga. The Fat Friar's background story, cheerful personality, and kindness show his powerful Hufflepuff roots. As brief as this role is, Ficher-Becker shines in it, adding the good-natured and...

When he’s not busy backing out of TV interviews, blowing up rockets or laying the groundwork for an Ebola pandemic, Elon Musk is still CEO of a major car company. But things haven’t been going so great at Tesla, and not just because owning a Cybertruck is apparently the automotive equivalent of wearing a “Kick Me” sign.

In 2025, Tesla’s share price has plummeted, reportedly costing Musk $102 billion. It’s been said that this is due to his work with the Trump administration, but even without Trump, presumably going full “midlife crisis Leatherface” at public events isn’t the best move for any CEO.

During a recent interview with Fox Business, Musk was asked about some of these problems, as well as the protests targeting Tesla dealerships and charging stations, and the recent X/Twitter outage. Musk responded to the pile-up of terrible news by invoking Monty Python’s Eric Idle,...

Good news for comedy fans — and terrible news for English-French relations — Monty Python and the Holy Grail will be returning to theaters this spring in order to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary. Yes, it’s been five whole decades since the Pythons somehow convinced a bunch of rock stars to fund their groundbreaking parody of Arthurian legends.

On May 4th, the legendary comedy will return to theaters thanks to Fathom Events and Shout! Studios, who acquired the Monty Python catalog last fall. They’ll also be screening it on May the 7th, presumably in case some Python fans already have “Star Wars Day” plans that can’t be canceled.

But the press release makes no mention of whether or not these screenings will include any complimentary coconuts. Famously, Monty Python and the Holy Grail substituted coconuts for real horses because the production couldn’t afford them. According to John Cleese,...

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 6, 2025.

Prime Video sets premiere date for Étoile

Étoile, the latest venture from legendary TV producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, is coming to Prime Video on April 24. The French word for "star," Étoile (pronounced "ey-twal") is an eight-episode dance dramedy that's set in both New York and Paris. The plot follows two ballet companies that swap artists in order to survive. The cast of Étoile includes Luke Kirby, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lou de Laâge, Gideon Glick, David Alvarez, Ivan du Pontavice, Taïs Vinolo, David Haig, Simon Callow, and Yanic Truesdale. This is the third show from the Palladinos after The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Gilmore Girls — and all three will be honored at the upcoming PaleyFest.

The Mid-Century Modern trailer introduces three gay besties

Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, the Emmy-winning creators of Will & Grace, are back with a new TV sitcom centered...