Naomi Osaka burst into the global spotlight in 2018, when the Japanese tennis player defeated the legendary Serena Williams in the U.S. Open Final to win her first Grand Slam at age 20. Now, just two years later, the 22-year-old has broken the all-time earnings record for a female athlete in a single year after making $37.4 million dollars in the last twelve months from prize money and endorsements, according to Forbes.
The highest-earning female athletes since 1990, when Forbes began tracking the data, have all been tennis players. Maria Sharapova, who retired from tennis earlier this year, previously held the all-time single year earnings record after garnering $29.7 million in 2015. Before Osaka arrived onto the elite tennis scene, Sharapova and Williams were the top-earning female athletes of the decade. This year, Osaka beat out 38-year-old Williams — who has been the highest-paid female athlete for the past four years — by $1.4 million. Forbes is set to release the complete list of the 100 highest-paid athletes next week, but reported that Osaka ranks No. 29 while 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams is No. 33, the first time in history that two women have made it onto the list.
Osaka’s young career is full of historic firsts. The 22-year-old, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian-American father, moved to the U.S. when she was three years old and entered the professional tennis circuit in 2014. Two years later, she cracked the WTA top 50 and earned the Newcomer of the Year award. In 2018, she won her first title at Indian Wells, becoming the youngest player to win in a decade. That summer she won her first Grand Slam — becoming the first Japanese player to do so — in an emotional U.S. Open final that left both her and Williams in tears. That same year, she became the first Asian player to be ranked No. 1 in the world.
Osaka was set to represent Japan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which have since been postponed to next summer due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and signed endorsement deals with several Olympic sponsors ahead of the Games. Represented by IMG, Osaka currently has 15 sponsorship deals with global brands like Nike, Nissan Motors and Japanese skincare company, Shiseido. Her current Nike deal, which paid her more than $10 million last year according to Forbes, runs through 2025.
Social distancing continues this weekend amid the global pandemic, and several new TV seasons are here for the binging. If nothing here suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.
The Lovebirds (Netflix movie, Friday) — Kumail Nanjiani might have a lot to say about The Beastmaster and Krull, but his movie with Issa Rae is also sliding onto Netflix. They portray a couple who get sucked into a murder mystery, and god only knows if they and their relationship will make it though this (hilarious) ordeal.
Homecoming: Season 2 (Amazon Prime series, Friday) — Janelle Monáe is the new Julia Roberts, sort of. Monáe’s character wakes up in a rowboat with no clue about her identity or why she’s floating in the middle of a lake. Cue another unsettling season of conspiracies.
Rocketman (Hulu, Friday) — Taron Egerton’s fantastic turn as Elton John is finally home on a streaming service. Enjoy the spectacle and emotion of Bernie Taupin’s rise to iconic status, including his 1970s breakthrough and the subsequent fantastical transformation.
Defending Jacob (Apple TV episode, Friday) — Chris Evans’ dad/ex-prosecutor character attempts to pull off a few last-ditch efforts to prove the innocence of his son, who’s been charged with murder.
Control Z (Netflix series, Friday) — A nefarious hacker dumps students’ secrets upon an entire school, which leads to an overthrowing of the entire social order. Only a recluse named Sofia can save them all from more disaster, so let’s hear it for inventive introverts.
Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:
Friday Night In with The Morgans (Friday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton are back, hopefully with more insight into The Walking Dead.
Betty (Friday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — This week, Janay struggles to do the right thing in the face of a tangential #MeToo dilemma, as Skate Kitchen director Crystal Moselle (The Wolfpack) brings back her O.G. crew for this funny and freewheeling series.
Billions (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — Taylor’s missed opportunity leads to scrambling and an attempt to salvage the whole mess.
Killing Eve (Sunday, AMC 9:00 p.m.) — Villanelle and Dasha embark upon a new mission together while Eve digs into Villanelle’s whereabouts.
Snowpiercer (Sunday, TNT 9:00 p.m.) — Layton starts digging into the murder while actually gathering intel for The Tail’s revolution. Elsewhere, Melanie’s dealing with a resource crisis involving the whole train.
I Know This Much Is True (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Mark Ruffalo’s devastating portrayal of twins sees Dominick prep for a hearing with a review board that holds Thomas’ fate in its hands. Also, painful childhood memories for the twins abound.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — A confrontation between Tiago and Mateo goes down along with Josefina’s confession to Sister Molly.
Insecure (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — A couple’s vacation for Molly and Andrew goes smoothly until a hotel employee throws a wrench into things.
Run (Sunday, HBO 10:30 p.m.) — The season finale finds Ruby and Billy at a difficult crossroads about their future, and it’s not looking good for love.
Harley Quinn (Sunday, Syfy 11:30 p.m.) — Harley goes on a mission to rescue Ivy from Scarecrow and explores whether the Legion of Doom is responsible.
Creepshow (Monday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — Harry accidentally brings a scarecrow to life, and Lydia attempts to cover up after murdering her lover, but she gets stuck in an elevator with the body.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of MacGruber‘s short-lived theatrical release, Vanity Fair published a fascinating oral history on the making of the Will Forte comedy and how it went from a box-office dud that was panned by critics to a cult classic on par with Spaceballs and The Naked Gun. In fact, the film is surprisingly a favorite of very serious director Christopher Nolan who’s known for delivering some of the most technically impressive and mind-bending modern cinema.
While reminiscing on the years shortly after MacGruber bombed, director Jorma Taccone first realized the film was finding an audience when Anne Hathaway was promoting The Dark Knight Rises on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2012. According to Hathaway, she was intimidated by Nolan until she noticed that he kept dropping movie quotes whenever he was in a good mood. The movie he kept quoting? MacGruber.
Taccone eventually introduced himself to Nolan at a Directors Guild of America dinner, and the two built up enough of a rapport that Taccone invited Nolan to surprise the cast during the table read for Peacock’s upcoming MacGruber TV show. Unfortunately, Nolan couldn’t make it, but he did send along an email to the cast. “It’s kind of stellar, Taccone said. “It was such an amazing way to start the read-through.”
Here’s Nolan’s email via Vanity Fair, and no pressure here:
Though I can’t be there in person to watch you take the first step of your odyssey—know that my spirit soars with you, and whilst it’s perhaps unfair to add to the great sense of responsibility you must already feel, I am duty bound to tell you—the world is waiting, the world is watching.
Learning that Nolan is a huge MacGruber fan also arrives on the heels of the director’s surprising decision to debut the new trailer for Tenet inside Fortnite. While the move left film buffs scratching their heads given Nolan’s devout devotion to the prestige theater experience, Fortnite producer Donald Mustard revealed that idea came from Nolan himself.
The idea of debuting the TENET trailer came from a phone call with Christopher Nolan. We were all talking about our love of seeing new trailers in a THEATER and how sad we were that we can’t do that right now – but how maybe this could be the next best thing. Hope you love it!
— Donald Mustard (@DonaldMustard) May 21, 2020
Christopher Nolan, as it turns out, contains multitudes.
(Via Vanity Fair)
Dabirul Islam Choudhury, a 100-year-old Muslim man in the UK, has raised over $207,000 for those affected by COVID-19 by walking laps in his 260-foot-long community garden while fasting for Ramadan.
The funds were raised on his Just Giving page and will be donated to the Ramadan Family Commitment (RFC) Covid-19 crisis initiative, run by British-Bangladeshi television broadcaster Channel S.
The program raises money for vulnerable individuals during the 30-day period. Ramadan is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community.
Muslims observe the period by fasting every day from dawn to dusk. The fast is said to create a raised level of closeness to God.
Choudhury set himself the challenge of walking 100 laps during the Muslim holy month which ends on May 23. He was inspired by Colonel Sir Tom Moore, the 100-year-old war veteran who raised almost $40 million for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) by taking laps of his backyard.
For is efforts, Moore will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Choudhury has used the occasion to send a message of unity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Thank you for your generous donations,” Choudhury said. “We have proved that we can stand hand to hand and shoulder to shoulder during the most unprecedented time of our lives.”
He also congratulated Moore for his knighthood.
“I would like to congratulate Captain Sir Thomas Moore for being knighted for his exemplary efforts to raise funds for our NHS,” Choudhury continued.
Choudbry says he is “honoured to serve, and will continue fiercely to fight for COVID-19 victims.”
Choudhury’s efforts won him praise from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. “On behalf of @UKLabour, I would like to thank Dabirul Islam Choudhury for his incredible fundraising effort,” the Labour leader tweeted.
“I know he has now raised well over £150,000 for those affected by coronavirus in the UK and Bangladesh.”
For a 100-year-old man to do laps in an 260-foot-long garden is a feat in an of itself. But to do so while fasting is truly incredible. According to his son, his journey has only made him stronger. “When we started, we started at a small pace but he’s been increasing his number of laps he’s doing,” his son, Atique Choudhury, told the BBC.
“The problem we have is that we have to try and stop him because he wants to carry on,” he added.
Choudhury was born on January 1, 1920 in British Assam (current-day Bangladesh). In 1957, he moved to England to study English literature. Because of his education he would grow to become a community leader and has worked tirelessly to help the people of Bangladesh.
Many industries have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented shutdown that tried to limit its spread, but the gaming industry continues to thrive while the shutdown continues. Some major titles have seen movie-style delays later into the calendar, but as people wait out the pandemic at home they’ve taken to video games in record numbers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the gaming industry had its best month ever in April.
Game spending topped $10.5 billion last month, higher than March figures ($10 billion) and up 17 percent from the same month in 2019 according to the latest report from Nielsen’s SuperData.
Perhaps the best example of this is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the title that captured the attention of a record number of people who also owned Nintendo Switch consoles before a shortage struck in the shutdown’s first few weeks. According to the report, it’s taken just two months for Animal Crossing to become the biggest game in the console’s history.
Nintendo’s social simulation game Animal Crossing: New Horizons led the charge, selling the most digital units — $3.6 million — of any game during the month. After only two months on the market, the game is now the top Switch title in lifetime digital sales and lifetime digital revenue.
Considering that number tops any Mario game or even Breath of the Wild — largely considered the best Switch game and one of the best titles of the current console generation — it’s a good indictor of Animal Crossing‘s popularity. So no, your Twitter feed filled with screenshots from your friend’s islands is not a mirage.
Boundary-pushing electronic pop duo 100 Gecs continues their prolific year. The group has tapped UK pop singer GFOTY and DJ Count Baldor for a zany remix of their track “Stupid Horse.”
The remix arrives alongside a fitting yet jarring visual. Directed by Weston Allen and animated by Cole Kush, the video features the group’s signature technicolor aesthetic. The video launches the viewer into a digital alternate reality where GFOTY and Count Baldor sport wigs and act as alternate versions of 100 Gecs’ members Dylan Brady and Laura Les.
The reworked track is the latest in a string remixes released by the group, all of which are slated to appear on 100 Gecs’ upcoming project 1000 Gecs & The Tree Of Clues. Along with the “Stupid Horse” remix, their Charli XCX, Rico Nasty, and Kero Kero Bonito collaboration “Ringtone” will also appear on the forthcoming mixtape. Big-name artists weren’t the only ones 100 Gecs enlisted for assistance with remixes. The group’s mixtape will also feature reworked singles from fans who received stems for the album from the duo’s Twitter.
Listen to the “Stupid Horse (Remix)” above.
1000 Gecs is out now via Dog Show records. Get it here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
For a game that flatly declares golf “boring,” What The Golf is one hell of a golf game. It’s a title that turns everything into golf — even some of you favorite other video games like like Portal, SUPERHOT, Donkey Kong, and Frogger — while sharing its disdain for the traditional world of quiet courses, serene nature, and a distinct lack of cats on the course. That’s because if you ask the Danes behind the hilarious physics simulator, everything is actually a golf game when you really think about it.
“We wanted to kind of — I think it’s a bad word — but we wanted to kind of show off. Show you that those game mechanics that were in that game that you loved so much? It’s basically a golf mechanic,” said Rune Drewsen, a co-founder of Tribrand, which made What The Golf? “The only game that’s not golf is What The Golf? But all the other games that you’ve played? Even Assassin’s Creed. That’s golf.”
Unlike Golf Story, an indie heavily influenced by Mario Golf‘s arcade simulation, What The Golf? is more a physics engine designed to make you giggle unexpectedly. And by minimizing the seriousness of golf with some extremely silly mechanics, it makes a distinct political point without having to make it obvious. The folks behind the game “don’t have anything against” golf, but they do think the “rich man’s game” is certainly deserving of a bit of video game scorn.
“I think it’s super important when you do satire or whatever in some kind of sense that you’re kicking up. You should never kick down in society and I’m pretty sure that golf is one of the games that actually led to most countries’ downfall in a way,” Drewsen said. “I’m pretty sure that a lot of coups and stupid business sh*t have been planned on the golf course. I’m not sure any coups have been planned on the table tennis table or something like that.”
What The Golf? starts simply enough: a cartoon golfer stands on a tee with a cartoon hole in the distance and some cats curiously in your way. The controls are even simpler: use a single button and your joystick to get the ball to the hole and advance along. But it quickly turns into much more than that, and a bullet time-like system of slow motion helps you navigate through levels with your ball still in motion. Repetition is key to the laughs, as well as how you progress through and learn new ways to complete levels. Soon the same hole setup plays out very differently.
Subsequent holes get more and more outlandish and creative. There are some serious shades of titles like Baba Is You or Wario Ware that make for some inspiring and unexpected level design — think courses where the power meter of your “golf” shot suddenly becomes a bat to propel other objects forward or different gravitational forces from planets in a space-themed mini level. As you play through the laboratory setting of the campaign, your golf ball turns into various other objects that change the makeup and abilities of the object you propel through levels.
What the Golf? drew big crowds of people laughing at some of the levels that made the final version of the game at PAX in 2019. But those were just small doses of a concept that’s fully fleshed out here, and seeing the title developed into a significantly more substantial thematic journey makes for an even more rewarding experience.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about the title is that it pays homage to other games without feeling repetitive or recycled. What The Golf? directly parodies everything from Mario to Super Meat Boy. There’s a beloved game that gets its own level later on that I won’t spoil but is truly inspired. And sports like bowling, snowboarding, and auto racing feature in some level design as well. If you missed the joke somehow, the on-screen puns and declarations when you complete the level will help you along. Drewsen equated the punch lines to the “KO” you see in fighting games, pointing to the absurdity of something that’s now become commonplace, if not expected, in a video game genre.
Games of every kind get a look here, even those little ball bearing obstacle course puzzles you probably got at the doctor’s office when you were a kid. Seeing this all executed in a single title is legitimately exciting. It deftly navigates delicate tasks — moving a vase through an obstacle course without breaking — and the more chaotic levels where anything goes. Despite the quick pace of progressing through the game, the reply value is certainly there in all the “crown” challenges that offer new, more difficult versions of the same courses.
That’s not to say the game is just stealing concepts from other titles and has nothing new to offer. To the contrary, watching everything become golf — and thereby a sport — is a wholly imaginative work that’s extremely satisfying to play and conquer. What The Golf? constantly surprises, even if the references are plainly obvious to those playing. It’s a game that uses every resource available to do something unexpected, a tough task when you know how every challenge should end. It’s art that can only exist as a video game, which was exactly the point.
“I think that’s what video games should do,” Drewsen said. “I think it’s super important, like if you have a graphic novel or a comic or whatever, I think it’s super important that you do something with that medium that only that medium can do. That will make the biggest impact on the audience because they will say ‘Oh my god, if they made a Netflix series out of that it wouldn’t be this awesome.’”
The creativity at play is impressive and makes what could be a straightforward puzzle game something much more. It often plays as a platformer, and a pretty good one at that. What The Golf? was released on PC and the Apple Arcade in 2019, but the retooled Switch version released this week adds some considerably worthwhile modes and special levels. There are “first person” experiences out of the Switch doc that are not to be missed, and two-player Party Mode is a blast of competitive chaos. There are also daily challenges and an “Impossible” challenge, all of which maximizes its value on the Switch in a very real way.
Smartly, the game has a menu option to “Show To A Friend” without messing up your save or having them complete your accomplishments. This is great title to watch, but one you want to play all for yourself. Trust me when I say the laundry list of fun features and surprises mentioned above just starts to scratch the surface of the fun. There’s so much to explore, and a lot to laugh about along the way. Even if you, like the game itself, proclaim to hate golf.