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Actress Angelina Jolie is set to reunite with Mr. & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman for a new movie, and may have inadvertently snubbed Tom Cruise from an upcoming project in the process. Jolie is set to star in Liman’s upcoming film, titled The Initiative (via The Hollywood Reporter). As a result, the Jolie-led project might lead Liman to exit Cruise’s supernatural thriller Deeper.

It marks the second time Jolie has impacted a major Tom Cruise vehicle, following her replacement of the action star in 2010’s box office hit Salt. Cruise was initially in talks to join the project in 2007 (reported via Variety) but later exited, leading to Jolie replacing him.

Meanwhile, Deeper was reportedly put on hold at Warner Bros this week (via Puck). Therefore, Liman is likely to move forward with the Jolie-led movie. Here is everything we know about Cruise’s exit from Salt and Jolie...

Smallville and Wednesday creators Al Gough and Miles Millar have revealed that they worked on an Iron Man script for Marvel Studios years before Robert Downey Jr. suited up as the Armored Avenger in Jon Favreau's 2008 movie.

Talking to Josh Horowitz, the filmmakers reflected on their time working on the version of Iron Man that Marvel Studios was developing in the mid-2000s. They also confirmed that this was the iteration that Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise was circling.

"[Marvel Studios founder] Avi Arad had come to us after [we wrote the story on] Spider-Man 2," Gough explained, prompting Millar to add, "After Spider-Man 2, they say, 'guys, we've got another crown jewel – which is Iron Man."

Noting that they visited Marvel Studios' modest offices in Arad's Toy Biz company, Gough said, "To be honest with you, I hadn't heard of Iron Man. Avi said, 'Perfect. Here's what he is: he's a billionaire who sells weapons,...

Angelina Jolie is teaming up again with director Doug Liman, the filmmaker behind Mr. and Mrs. Smith, for a brand-new spy thriller. The news comes as Universal Pictures finalizes the deal for the project, called The Initiative. Jolie is set to star, Liman will direct, and F. Scott Frazier is writing the script, according to sources.

Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum of Rk Films are producing. The company has worked with Jolie before on Disney’s Maleficent movies and has recently been behind Netflix’s Damsel and Sony’s rom-com Anyone But You.

The story is described as a “Training Day set in the world of spycraft.” Jolie will play a rogue master spy named Bright, who does whatever it takes to stop dangerous enemies. A new agent named Charlie joins her team and quickly discovers that Bright may be as dangerous as the people she is fighting against.

The...

Angelina Jolie is teaming up again with Doug Liman, the director behind Mr. & Mrs. Smith, for a brand-new spy thriller called The Initiative, according to sources. Universal is finalizing the deal to produce the film, which will star Jolie, be directed by Liman, and feature a script by F. Scott Frazier.

Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum of Rk Films will produce the movie. The banner has worked with Jolie before on big Disney projects like the Maleficent films, and recently produced Netflix’s Damsel and Sony’s rom-com Anyone But You.

The Initiative has been described as “Training Day set in the world of spycraft.” Jolie will play Bright, a rogue master spy who doesn’t follow the rules. “Sometimes you need someone bad to bring down people who are even worse,” the story explains. When a new agent named Charlie joins her team, he quickly realizes he isn...

In recent years, Angelina Jolie has been a world-class opera singer (Maria), a death-defying smoke-jumper (Those Who Wish Me Dead), an evil witch (Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil), and an Eternal. But what she hasn't been, not since Salt and The Tourist some 15 years ago, is the lead in a good old-fashioned propulsive spy thriller. Enter Doug Liman. Enter The Initiative.

Per THR's reporting, Jolie is set to reteam with her Mr. And Mrs. Smith director Liman on The Initiative, a movie that's being pitched as "Training Day set in the world of spycraft". Penned by genre veteran scribe F. Scott Frazier, the film will see Jolie take on the role of Bright, a rogue spy whose unorthodox — and not always entirely ethically sound — methods leave new recruit Charlie uncertain whether his new boss is there to guide him or to kill him. It's a simple, peppy premise, and the promise...

Angelina Jolie is set to star in the new spy thriller “The Initiative,” reuniting with her “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” director Doug Liman.

Universal is in talks to land the hot project with F. Scott Frazier attached to write the screenplay — plot details for which are being kept under wraps — and Jeff Kirschenbaum to produce for Roth/Kirschenbaum Films. Like Liman, Rk Films also has a solid relationship with Jolie as the company backed Disney’s hit “Maleficent” movies, in which she played the title role.

While plot details are being kept under wraps, “The Initiative” looks to return Jolie to the slick action thrillers that made her a box office megastar, including “Salt,” “The Tourist” and “Wanted.”

If the deal with Universal closes, executive VP of production development Jay Polidoro and director of development Tony Ducret will oversee the project for the studio.

Winner of the best supporting actress Oscar for “Girl, Interrupted,...

Angelina Jolie and Doug Liman, who famously worked together on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, are reteaming for another thriller set in the world of spies.

Coming on top of multi-studio competition, Universal is wrapping up the final deal points to land The Initiative, a hot spy package that sees Jolie attached to star, Liman on board to direct and F. Scott Frazier writing the script.

Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum of Rk Films will produce. The longstanding banner, which in recent years produced Netflix hit Damsel and Sony’s rom-com smash Anyone But You, had previously worked with Jolie on the big-budget Disney fantasy Maleficent movies.

Described as a “Training Day set in the world spycraft,” the story would see Jolie playing a rogue master spy named Bright who works outside the lines (because sometimes you need someone bad to bring down people who are even worse, as the movies...

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning's box office sets one final global push ahead of its VOD release. The eighth, and potentially last, Mission: Impossible movie sees Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his Imf team pushing forward in their battle against the rogue AI called the Entity, racing to stop it from wiping out humanity.

Top-lined by Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning's cast also includes Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, and Shea Whigham reprising their roles. Joining them are newcomers Holt McCallany (Mindhunter), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Tramell Tillman (Severance), and Katy O'Brian (Love Lies Bleeding).

Now, following its twelfth week in theaters, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has made $595 million at the worldwide box office, according to The Numbers, meaning the movie could make one final global push to...

People really, really love the "Mission: Impossible" movies. Inspired by the 1960s TV series of the same name, the films star Tom Cruise as super-spy Ethan Hunt, with Cruise performing wildly dangerous stunts on-camera as his character gets involved in all kinds of espionage. These things are global blockbusters, with even the "worst" of the franchise knocking it out of the park at the box office, and yet, I had never seen a single one until now. Spy movies have never really been my thing, while Cruise's ties to Scientology make him less than appealing. Be that as it may, in the name of art and criticism, I tried to set my hang-ups aside and see what the heck this "Mission: Impossible" thing was all about.

Years of exposure to commercials for the "Mission: Impossible" sequels and seeing clips on social media had led me to believe that 1996's "Mission: Impossible...

Hollywood has seen a lot of dedicated-to-the-core stars who are willing to go to unparalleled heights for the sake of their roles, irrespective of whatever their parts may require of them. Out of them, some actors have paradoxically taken the brave leap to go to extremes even for their really weird roles, just for the sake of their love for the game.

Be it through CGI or a tremendous amount of prosthetics and makeup, these actors have done everything required for their characters. And while, of course, their end performance has been nothing short of spectacular, it didn’t make their parts feel any less weird.

Thus, here’s a list of 10 actors who have donned some really weird roles, from Alan Tudyk to Andy Serkis. Dive in!

10. Alan Tudyk’s Robot Sonny in I, Robot (2004) Robot Sonny, the character whom Alan Tudyk voiced and lent his facial expressions to...

Since the 1897 publication of H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds, the story and its subsequent adaptations has served as the quintessential allegory for the power struggles that shape our world — and a time capsule of the media that informs us about them. There was the Orson Welles-directed radio broadcast that actually convinced listeners that aliens were attacking Earth; the 1953 technicolor version starring Gene Barry that evoked the newscaster era of WWII; and Steven Spielberg’s 2005 take starring Tom Cruise, which narrowed in on 24-hour news and...

South Park is well-known for its unhinged comedy and satire that voices relevant issues while featuring big-name celebrities like Donald Trump, Paris Hilton, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the list continues. Ever since its inception on August 13, 1997, South Park has made a name for itself for not taking things lightly.

Spanning over 330 episodes and more to come in the future, the most unhinged episode for me has to be Episode 1 of Season 27, Sermon on the ‘Mount, which absolutely had me at a loss for words. South Park’s ability to provoke and surprise the audience still prevails after 27 seasons, as it most recently called out its parent company, Paramount Global, for its deal with Skydance.

For over two decades, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have delivered episodes that are not just funny but often shocking, offensive, and, to use the perfect descriptor, truly ‘unhinged.’ Therefore, the story doesn’t stop here.

F1 Nears Another Box Office Win, Set To Overtake This Monster Movie Soon (Photo Credit – Instagram)

After earning widespread praise and smashing multiple box office records, Brad Pitt’s Formula One racing drama F1 has sped past the global earnings of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Earlier, it overtook World War Z to become the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt’s career. If the current momentum continues, F1 could finish a little behind James Gunn’s Superman reboot in worldwide rankings.

Having already raced ahead of some popular 2025 releases like Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Sinners, F1: The Movie is now closing in on another major milestone – surpassing a blockbuster monster movie. Here’s how much more F1 needs to earn to outgross it.

F1 Set To Outgross This Blockbuster Monster Movie

The monster movie in question is 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,...

Superman Set To Overtake Will Smith’s I Am Legend As Global Box Office Run(Photo Credit –Facebook/Prime Video)

It’s been a month since the theatrical release of James Gunn’s Superman, and the reboot is currently the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 2025 worldwide. With an impressive global haul of nearly $580 million, the David Corenswet-led superhero flick is now trailing Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning by just about $16 million.

Backed by strong reviews, with an 83% critics’ score and 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Superman has already outperformed several popular 2025 releases, including Brad Pitt’s F1, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Sinners. And now, the film is all set to fly past a widely admired blockbuster starring Will Smith. Curious to know which one? Keep reading.

Superman Set To Outgross This Will Smith Blockbuster

That movie is none other than the 2007 action-horror I Am Legend,...

Much has been written — including by us — about how Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, after a solid opening, has dropped off significantly at the domestic box office. While the movie still has a chance of making around $260–280 million domestically, its total will be only so-so for the MCU, even if it still vastly outperforms Captain America: Brave New World ($200 million) and Thunderbolts ($190 million).

Its overseas performance is also falling short of expectations. At the moment, the film’s worldwide cume stands at $434 million, suggesting it will likely top out around $550–600 million globally. While that’s a decent number, it’s far below what Marvel films were making just a few years ago. It appears that foreign audiences are experiencing the same kind of superhero — or rather, Marvel — fatigue we’re seeing domestically. Captain America: Brave New World topped out at $414 million worldwide, while Thunderbolts hasn’t even cracked $400 million.

British actress Vanessa Kirby first caught the public's attention playing Princess Margaret on the Netflix series "The Crown," praised by us on /Film for her "deliciously droll, sometimes even downright wicked performance." She then went toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise in the "Mission Impossible" series, had a passionate affair in the sapphic Western "World to Come," and received an Academy Award nomination for her lacerating performance as a grieving mother in the underappreciated Netflix drama "Pieces of a Woman."

Kirby has a husky voice and a cutting presence, and her roles often have a dynamic tension between vulnerability and strength. The complex emotional interiority she brings to her characters is drawn from her theatre background, where she played some of the great female roles written by Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Tennessee Williams.

If you have enjoyed her past performances or have just come across her as Sue Storm in the new, beamingly optimistic "Fantastic Four: First Steps,...

Tom Holland’s new suit in Spider-Man: Brand New Day has an evolved spider logo on his chest, indicating a proper transition for the character from his Civil War days. The upcoming fourth movie in the franchise sees Peter Parker after everyone forgets his identity following the events of No Way Home. At the end of that movie, he is seen with a new, hand-sewn suit that resembles his classic one. From the spider egg design in Captain America: Civil War to Brand New Day’s adult spider, Holland’s Peter Parker has come a long way.

Brand New Day’s spider suit has been the talk of the town ever since they revealed it earlier this month, ahead of its filming in Glasgow. The logo has been of particular interest to fans as it acts as a metaphor for Peter’s own evolution.

What the Evolution of Tom...

Wednesday Season 2 Tops Netflix TV Shows List ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Netflix has seen Wednesday return to the top of its US streaming charts, with the new season also leading worldwide. Jenna Ortega steps back into the role of the sharp-minded and unsettling Wednesday Addams, whose previous term at Nevermore Academy ended with a mystery solved but with consequences that put her in an unfamiliar position and with the center of attention. This time, she faces the one thing she never wanted: a rise in popularity.

Wednesday Season 2 Ranks Top On Netflix

The second season has landed an 83 percent critics’ score and 80 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, improving its critical reception by ten percent compared to the first season. It currently outperforms other popular Netflix titles, including The Hunting Wives, Eric Bana’s Untamed, Sofia Carson’s My Oxford Year, and Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2, per Flixpatrol. Wednesday...

Once thought to shoot this autumn, the Tom Cruise-starring underwater thriller Deeper is reported to be on hold due to its huge budget.

Originally due to film in a matter of days, director Doug Liman’s underwater thriller Deeper may have hit a bit of a road block. The project, which has been knocking around Hollywood for years now, was set to star Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas, with Warner Bros providing the backing and filming set to begin in August or September of this year.

According to Puck (via World of Reel), however, Deeper is now on hold, with the sticking point said to be the budget. Warner had originally earmarked $200m; Cruise has reportedly pushed for $275m, but the studio’s refused to go over $230m.

Whatever the truth behind the story is, these dizzyingly high numbers are quite odd in themselves. Deeper was originally written by Max Landis,...

Spider-Man: Brand New Day started filming earlier this month, with the MCU movie dropping a new teaser this week (via YouTube), which proves Kevin Feige might finally get one of Marvel’s best superheroes right. Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s greatest heroes, known for his more grounded and relatable stories in the comics.

The MCU had been missing this aspect of the character, as previous installments saw Spider-Man teaming up with mentor characters and alternate universe variants in more larger-than-life stories. However, the teaser for Brand New Day has a very early 2000s vibe.

As a result, the upcoming movie feels fresh in its visual style, with practical stunts, real locations, and a new suit, all of which contribute to its raw and realistic aesthetic. Therefore, Spider-Man seems to be finally standing up on his own in the MCU, and Tom Holland’s fourth outing will finally do the Web Crawler justice.

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has hit the $1 billion mark at just 26, making him worth nearly twice as much as the Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise‘s $600 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth. The math is almost comical. Ten years ago, 17-year-old Donaldson was grinding out gaming videos on “MrBeast6000”, while Cruise was already sitting pretty on an estimated $400 million empire built from decades of box office domination.

In 2015, if you told anyone that a teenager making YouTube videos in his bedroom would outpace Tom Cruise’s Hollywood fortune within a decade, they’d probably recommend touching grass. Yet here we are. Fast-forward to 2025, and the kid who counted to 100,000 almost 8 years ago on his YouTube channel is now counting billions.

He started his journey in 2012 at age 13 with zero dollars and a dream of viral fame. A decade later, he’s proven that giving away millions can somehow...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps North America Box Office Day 17 Update (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps crashes at the box office every weekend. It has once again faced a steep drop in North America and lost the #1 spot in the domestic box office chart. However, the film has successfully surpassed Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings at the domestic box office. Keep scrolling for the deets.

This is the 37th film in the MCU, and it features a fresh new cast comprising Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the titular team, alongside Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson. It recently entered this year’s top 10 grossers list worldwide, and according to reports, a sequel is in development.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps box office collection on its 3rd weekend in North...

Weapons North America Box Office Day 3: Opening Weekend Update (Photo Credit – YouTube)

Weapons is continuing the successful journey of horror movies this season. After Sinners and Final Destination: Bloodlines, Josh Brolin’s film opened in cinemas with impressive numbers and was at the top of the domestic rankings on its debut weekend. Keep scrolling for the deets.

The film starring the MCU stars, Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, received rave reviews, including an A- on CinemaScore. The original horror flick has registered one of the biggest openings for horror films this year, which is a significant feat for Warner Bros Pictures. They have been on a winning streak this year; other films by WB, including Superman and F1, are also doing a marvelous job at the box office.

How much has the film earned at the domestic box office on its opening weekend?

Weapons is experiencing an impressive word-of-mouth.

Freakier Friday North America Box Office Day 3: Opening Weekend Update (Photo Credit – Instagram)

The verdict is out for Lindsay Lohan’s comedy film, Freakier Friday. The sequel’s opening weekend collection surpassed the previous film’s by a significant margin, which is a great start for the film. It lost the top spot to Weapons, but it does not matter because they have different target audiences. Keep scrolling for the deets.

The film received positive reviews from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and their collective consensus states, “It doesn’t reinvent the original’s story so much as it swaps the formula around for a frothy good time, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan easily slipping back into roles that fit them like mixed-and-matched gloves.”

Freakier Friday’s opening weekend collection at the domestic box office

According to the latest data provided by Box Office Mojo, Lindsay Lohan...

Here’s What You Can Watch On Ott This Week (Photo Credit – Instagram)

This week, as India celebrates Independence Day, our watchlist coincidentally features a few espionage thrillers. Netflix once again leads the pack with three titles, including a spy thriller. Manorama Max brings a Malayalam black comedy, while Prime Video offers two titles, one of which is also a spy thriller. Several other exciting releases are lined up. To know the release dates, plots, and platforms, scroll down.

Netflix

Saare Jahan Se Accha: The Silent Guardians (Hindi) August 13, 2025

Saare Jahan Se Accha is a spy action thriller set in the 1970s, exploring the escapades of a spy tasked with monitoring, interfering with, and to some extent preventing Pakistan from obtaining nuclear weapons technology.

Fixed (English) Adult Animated August 13, 2025

Fixed is a purely adult animated movie about a problematic dog who has trouble controlling himself and tends to hump everything.

Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas have been spotted together around the world this year, and fans can’t stop talking about it.

The 63-year-old Top Gun superstar and the 37-year-old Knives Out actress first sparked dating rumors after being seen on a series of outings in early 2025.

At first, sources insisted the meetings were all about potential projects, but recent sightings, including a hand-holding moment in Vermont, have fans convinced something more could be brewing.

While the two have yet to publicly confirm a romance, multiple insiders say their connection has grown stronger over the past several months. Between helicopter rides, dinner dates, yacht vacations, and work collaborations, they’ve spent a lot of time together on and off the clock.

We’re breaking down everything we know so far about Tom and Ana’s rumored relationship, from their first meeting to their latest summer getaway.

Click through to...

Superman Worldwide Box Office: Ready To Beat Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 8(Photo Credit – Instagram)

James Gunn’s Superman is soaring high at the cinemas despite the competition. It has strong legs at the box office, beating films left, right, and center. Superman has edged closer to beating the worldwide haul of Tom Cruise-led magnum opus, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, aka Mission: Impossible 8. Keep scrolling for the deets.

There have been many speculations on the film’s break-even numbers. Some reports claimed that, by industry rules, it needs around $750 million to break even at the box office. However, James Gunn recently called those reports utter nonsense. With the movie already over $560 million worldwide, it is likely near or profitable under most scenarios. Meanwhile, the same cannot be said for Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning.

Superman at the worldwide box office

David Corenswet starrer Superman...

Gal Gadot Wonder Woman (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Back in 2016, when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hit theaters, one thing was clear, Gal Gadot was Wonder Woman. With just a few scenes, the Israeli actress stole the show from two of the biggest comic book titans. Clad in Amazonian armor and wielding that iconic lasso, Gadot brought strength, grace, and a dash of mystery to the big screen in a way fans hadn’t quite seen before.

Her take on Diana Prince became a defining moment not just for the Dceu but also for superhero cinema. And let’s not forget, this wasn’t her first rodeo. Fast & Furious fans had already seen her pull off high-octane stunts with effortless cool. But here’s the kicker in this little throwback tale: before Gadot suited up and took the invisible jet for a spin, the coveted role of Wonder Woman...

Oblivion Returns To Streaming (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

Tom Cruise has had a huge year after he returned as Ethan Hunt for the last time in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Now, one of his earlier science fiction films has made a quick return to streaming after disappearing for a while. Around 12 years ago, Cruise teamed up with Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Oblivion, a story about a man fighting to protect humanity after a stranger changes everything on Earth.

Oblivion Returns On This Platform After Leaving Prime Video

The movie was available on Prime Video until June, and it has now reappeared on Peacock for all subscribers. When it first came out, it earned middling scores on Rotten Tomatoes but drew comparisons to Blade Runner for its vision of a bleak future.

Tom Cruise in Oblivion pic.twitter.com/64JlpgIAvi

— Cinema Connoisseur (@MovieEndorser) June 29, 2025

It...

Emilia Clarke was supposed to be in Iron Man 3 ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Known for her iconic portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in HBO’s historical drama, Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke rose to stardom and is now a household name in the Hollywood industry.

Her acting in Game of Thrones earned her critical acclaim and several award nominations while helping her bag roles in movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story, Me Before You, and Last Christmas. However, she was never spotted in a superhero film or series until Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Secret Invasion. But there was a time when she got a chance to play a role in a major Marvel movie but lost it.

Which Marvel Movie Role Was Offered To Emilia Clarke?

While filming Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke got the chance to star in Iron Man 3. In a throwback Instagram post by Drew Pearce,...

War of the Worlds was declared rotten upon its premiere on Prime Video on July 30, 2025. For a film based on H. G. Wells’ sci-fi novel, it received surprisingly bad reviews from critics and the audience. To be fair, it is a modern reimagining of Wells’ novel, but with Ice Cube and Eva Longoria in the lead roles, audiences clearly expected far better.

Almost two weeks later, War of the Worlds has finally managed to crawl out of the trenches and now has a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was not spared on IMDb either, as it has scored 2.7 out of 10, based on 16,000 reviews. Given the overwhelmingly negative consensus, its chances of winning over a broader audience remain slim.

Rich Lee has directed War of the Worlds, which stars Ice Cube as Will Radford, a top cyber-security analyst for Homeland Security. Will’s job is to identify potential threats to national...

Ben Affleck On Drinking Struggles Amid Marriage To Jennifer Garner (Photo Credit – Facebook)

Ben Affleck opened up during an appearance on the Howard Stern Show (via People), admitting that if he hadn’t split from Jennifer Garner, he likely would still be struggling with alcohol. The actor, who shares three children with Garner—Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel—revealed how trapped and overwhelmed he felt in their marriage. “We probably would’ve ended up at each other’s throats,” he said. “I’d probably still be drinking.” Affleck explained that his drinking wasn’t just about partying—it began because he felt stuck, burdened by parental responsibilities and unhappiness in the relationship.

Ben Affleck Keeps It Respectful: Acknowledges Love for Garner Despite Marital Struggles

Affleck didn’t throw shade at Garner despite the heartache and scotch-fueled couch naps. Instead, he respected their efforts. “We tried for the kids,” he said, but...

Every year, fans bid farewell to their favorite franchise or series, and 2025 is no different. However, it is rather a pivotal year in entertainment for we will be saying goodbye to not one or two but six major franchises.

Spanning science fiction, action, horror, teen drama, and more, these closing chapters have defined a generation of viewers, but it is time to bid them farewell. From Tom Cruise’s celebrated Mission: Impossible franchise to Hawkins’ final battle with Vecna or Joe Goldberg finally paying for his crimes, 2025 has already and will mark the final curtain for some of the most popular worlds on the screen.

While some endings were planned all along, others resulted from shifting corporate strategies or creative closure. Whether it’s a send‑off that feels earned or one that leaves fans wanting more, each farewell carries weight in the streaming wars. So here is an in-depth...

Will Smith reflects on his heartbreak as a father after Jaden’s emancipation request (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Will Smith’s blockbuster-filled career may look like an endless highlight reel, but one flop left him devastated—not for himself, but for his son, Jaden. In his memoir, Will, the King Richard star opens up about a painful chapter from 2013 when he and Jaden took a chance with After Earth.

The After Earth Fallout: Will and Jaden Smith’s Toughest Challenge

After Earth wasn’t just a box-office bomb; it shook Will and Jaden Smith’s bond to the core. The father-son duo hoped to deliver sci-fi magic, but critics—and audiences—were unimpressed. Instead of a cinematic triumph, they faced one of Hollywood’s harshest flops, forever altering their on-screen dreams. To add salt to the wound, Jaden—just 15 at the time—was receiving harsh media and fan backlash. “Fans and...

Zach Cregger has touched on his approach to the Resident Evil reboot in an interview with Inverse, and surprisingly, it won’t feature any characters from the beloved games. Elaborating on this, the director, who has become the next major standout voice in horror for his work on Barbarian and Weapons, stressed that it’ll be an original story, rather than repeating Leon’s arc.

I’m not going to tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games. [Fans] already have that.

But despite not committing to rehashing the game’s narratives, even with Cregger’s original vision for the movie, the director assured it’ll stay true to the franchise’s core, claiming it’ll be a love letter to the games.

Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Is a Love Letter to the Games Despite No Original Characters

Some of the more successful game adaptations,...

It's one thing for an actor to make a movie, to trust in the script and their fellow actors, to believe in the director, and to trust in their own performance. It's another thing to see the finished film with an audience at a premiere; it must be easy to get in your head about it, to fear that everyone's only clapping out of politeness because they know you're in the room. How can you know if the movie is any good? At a certain point, isn't everyone just telling you what they think you want to hear?

Plenty of actors have found a way to solve this problem, and that's to truly see their work through the eyes of the audience. The solution, it seems, is to become an audience member yourself, to sneak into the theater unnoticed and to watch how everyone around you is watching your movie.

David Corenswet and James Gunn’s Superman has potentially revealed its release date, which might hint that the Dcu film won’t be able to beat Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel. According to a tweet, it seems that the film will be digitally released on August 26, 2025.

The movie will be available to rent/buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and all other major Ott platforms soon. Check out the tweet below:

‘Superman’ releases digitally on August 26

• 45 days after its theatrical release

Read our review: https://t.co/kOa2QatMs8 pic.twitter.com/7lABQXwTHL

— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) August 9, 2025

The film is headed towards digital release just 45 days after its theatrical debut, which could potentially hint that James Gunn and the Dcu might have given hopes of beating Henry Cavill and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

Superman Will Not Be Able to Beat Man of Steel Henry Cavill in...

Prime Video's new War of the Worldsadaptation recently invaded the streaming charts, but it certainly didn't come in peace, as it immediately came under attack from critics. So much so that the tech-driven remake, starring Ice Cube and Eva Longoria, ended up scoring 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and cemented its status as one of the worst movies of the decade. However, Amazon's modern take on one of the most influential sci-fi stories of all time has finally found redemption, with a single positive review pushing its score up to 4%.

While many felt that War of the Worlds deserved its abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score — as shown by the reviews, which have cited numerous issues with the film, including an uninspired narrative, poor visual effects, and excessive product placement — it is not all doom and gloom. One positive review has pulled the 2025 adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel out of the 0% Club...

There was a period when Jeremy Renner was on a winning streak. After landing a role in Kathryn Bigelow's award-winning war drama, "The Hurt Locker," he was appearing everywhere. Besides following it up with an impressive performance in the Ben Affleck-directed heist movie, "The Town," he then started switching between spy stories and superhero outings in three of the biggest franchises at that time.

After joining the Imf alongside Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and drawing back his bow with Earth's Mightiest Heroes in "The Avengers," Renner dared to try and pick up the slack left by Matt Damon's amnesiac assassin, Jason Bourne, in the spin-off espionage thriller "The Bourne Legacy." While it received a lukewarm reception at the time and a so-so success at the box office, it feels that, even riding off of the "The Avengers," Renner's run in the Bourne-verse stands...

Guy Pearce's performance in The Brutalist earned him an Oscar nomination and his best Rotten Tomatoes score. The Infernal Machine is one of the top-streamed movies on Paramount+, despite receiving mixed reviews. Despite a 37% critics' score, Pearce's performance was hailed as the soul of The Infernal Machine.

For his portrayal of the villainous industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren in Brady Corbet's The Brutalist, the ever-brilliant Guy Pearce was the well-deserving recipient of an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor earlier this year. As well as that, Pearce earned the best Rotten Tomatoes score of his career with his starring role alongside Shōgun'sCosmo Jarvis in Charles Williams' feature-length debut, Inside, which has since dropped from 100% to 96% following its U.S. release.

Now, the year gets even better for Pearce, as one of his more forgotten filmography entries finds unlikely streaming success in the U.S. The mystery thriller The Infernal Machine,...

Not since Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has an original horror film shown such promise as Zach Cregger’s Weapons. The filmmaker’s follow-up to his breakout hit Barbarian, Weapons debuted toexcellent reviews and a triumphant audience response this week, setting up a major box office performance. Horror has had an uneven run in the last year, but elevated horror designed for the big screen has done rather well. Weapons falls directly into this category. The movie is looking at a strong $38 million haul in its domestic box office debut, against a reported budget of around $38 million.

Barbarian debuted in 2022, and emerged as a runaway hit at the box office, grossing a healthy $40 million domestically against a reported budget of $4 million. Depending on how strong the walk-in business is for Weapons, the movie could actually overtake Barbarian in a single weekend. Inspired by Tom Cruise's Magnolia, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson,...

Heath Ledger’s one iconic scene in 10 Things I Hate About You proved to be better than Tom Cruise’s scene from Jerry Maguire. Tom Cruise’s love-confessing scene in Jerry Maguire became the go-to moment for couples on how to profess love. Despite the film gaining a cult-classic status, we think that the confession scene in the Cruise starrer was a bit… overhyped.

Being iconic, we believe that Heath Ledger’s love-confession scene in 10 Things I Hate About You was much better than Cruise’s scene in Jerry Maguire. Of course, people have their different opinions, you cannot compete with a microphone holding Heath Ledger, especially when “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” plays in the background.

Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire Scene is Nothing Compared to Heath Ledger’s Classic Movie Heath Ledger in a still from 10 Things I Hate About You | Credits: Touchstone Pictures

Well,...

Quentin Tarantino has decided that he’s only going to direct ten feature films, then retire from that part of his career. For a full year, we were hearing that his tenth and final film was going to be something called The Movie Critic, which would reunite him with Brad Pitt, reprising the role of stuntman Cliff Booth from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But then, Tarantino decided to scrap the project. Given that Pitt won an Oscar for playing Cliff Booth, he was understandably disappointed that the movie wouldn’t be happening – and, in a shocking turn of events, he got Tarantino to agree to let another director bring the script for The Movie Critic to the screen! Pitt has reteamed with director David Fincher for the film, which may or may not be called The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth now – and below, we have put together...

As the career of Hollywood legend Bruce Williswas entering its final stages, prior to his illness-induced retirement just three years ago, the Die Hardfrontman was cashing in on his legacy as an action icon by starring in a selection of lesser-known, testosterone-fueled flicks. One such movie, 2022's Gasoline Alley, has found unlikely success on streaming over recent months and has now re-entered the top charts and become the most-watched movie on Paramount+ in the U.S., as of August 5, 2025.

Directed by Edward John Drake and penned by Drake and Tom Sierchio, Gasoline Alley sees Willis star alongside Luke Wilsonand Canadian actorDevon Sawa in a movie that does exactly what it says on the tin. Ticking all the action boxes, the movie may have received a poor 23% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from critics. However, its audience rating more than makes up for that, with a huge 83%, impressively higher than his previous hits Looper,...

Though Louis B. Mayer created the Academy Awards as a union-busting enterprise and a bid for further studio control, they're now considered the highest honors in Hollywood. Studios put millions into Oscars campaigns for their films and stars, and Oscars commentary has become an industry in and of itself. In the Internet age, the Academy Awards now generate iconic viral moments like the memorable "La La Land" and "Moonlight" mix-up in 2017.

Even as we recognize their insignificance, it's difficult not to get invested in the outcome of the Oscars. However, as Oscar voters are fallible people, they don't always get it right. Remember when "Green Book" inexplicably won Best Picture in 2017, mirroring the "Driving Miss Daisy" controversy in 1990? The history of the Academy Awards is filled with instances of voters having very bad taste and having very good taste -- though, of course, taste is subjective.

Indeed, some Oscar winners are best left gathering dust.

James Gunn’s Superman Set To Surpass Kong: Skull Island Worldwide After Beating Multiple Box Office Giants (Photo Credit – Instagram)

James Gunn’s Superman reboot, starring David Corenswet in the titular role, is currently among the top ten highest-grossing movies of 2025 at the global box office. In addition to garnering critical acclaim, the film has surpassed several popular 2025 titles like Brad Pitt’s F1, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Sinners. Whether it can surpass the lifetime total of Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning remains to be seen.

Superman Set To Outgross This Monster Movie Starring Tom Hiddleston

Just a few days ago, Superman outgrossed Peter Jackson’s 2005 award-winning epic adventure monster movie King Kong. And now, it’s all set to surpass another hit monster film. We are talking about the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island, which starred Loki actor Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman,...

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There is a pecking order in Hollywood that determines which actors and directors get first crack at the hottest material in town. When agents and managers (relying on the perspicacity of their underpaid assistants and readers) come across a script that could be a launching pad for a billion-dollar franchise or an awards season thoroughbred, they fire that sucker off to their top client (even if they're not exactly right for the lead role). This is how you get Tom Cruise embarrassing himself in "Far and Away" with the worst Irish accent you'll ever hear outside of a community theater production of "The Plough and the Stars" (and even then).

But every A-list screenwriter's gotta start somewhere, and if you find yourself in a fertile creative environment that hasn't been completely overrun with apex industry predators, you might uncover a...

In an interview with Variety, Weapons director Zach Cregger was asked about one of the most surreal moments in the movie: the floating gun scene, with a glowing ‘2:17’ etched across it. But the filmmaker himself says that, “I don’t understand it.”

The scene in question occurs when Josh Brolin’s Archer Graff is having a nightmare, and the gun appears above a house when he looks up. It’s a massive assault weapon hovering in the sky, which never spawns again in the movie, and neither is it explained.

So, let’s look at more of what Cregger said and how viewers interpreted this moment from Weapons.

Zach Cregger’s Response to the Floating Gun Scene in Weapons Josh Brolin in Weapons | Credits: New Line Cinema

Weapons features Josh Brolin as Archer, a grieving father and one of the many parents who are forced to cope with the sudden disappearance of their children.

It’s not Man of Steel, and it sure isn’t The Witcher — but somehow, Henry Cavill’s critically panned 2019 crime thriller Night Hunter is having a streaming moment. The gritty, low-key whodunit has clawed its way up the global charts and currently sits at #2 on Paramount+ worldwide, ahead of several blockbuster hits, including Tom Cruise’s Top Gun franchise. Yes, really. Cavill’s forgotten thriller is outperforming Top Gun: Maverick, a movie that ended up grossing $1.5 billion and becoming Cruise's highest-grossing film of his entire career. Sometimes all it takes to win the streaming wars is a late-night mystery, some pulpy energy, and Henry Cavill scowling in a Minnesota snowstorm.

What Is 'Night Hunter' About?

Directed by David Raymond, Night Hunter debuted at festivals in 2018 before getting a quiet theatrical release in 2019. It bombed with critics, earning a grim 14% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience reception wasn...

Tom Cruise‘s Deeper, starring Ana de Armas, has faced another hurdle, as according to Puck, director Doug Liman might be eying to part ways with the production, which is struggling to land a studio backing. While the movie was originally announced in 2016, based on a script by Max Landis, it wasn’t until the trio of Cruise, Liman, and Christopher McQuarrie got involved that the project was revived.

However, despite the goodwill generated by Cruise’s WB deal last year, the project appears to remain stalled as of now, following The Bourne Identity filmmaker’s reported shift to other projects.

Tom Cruise’s Deeper Remains in Deep Waters Amid Doug Liman’s Potential Exit

After McQuarrie rewrote Landis’ original script, Cruise and Liman, who had previously delivered Edge of Tomorrow for WB, joined forces for the deep-sea venture, and many felt the movie would find a home at WB.