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When word surfaced around three years ago that Zoë Kravitz would be overseeing Channing Tatum in her directorial debut, the working title of the film attracted plenty of attention. That was the case because it only seemed natural that the Magic Mike trilogy star would be starring in a movie called P***y Island. Yet eventually, the working title gave way to a real one, Blink Twice, which is now approaching its time in theaters.

Whew. Let’s just say that this film’s trailer looks slightly stressful — “so, everybody’s dead” is not a line of dialogue that bodes well — and has inspired YouTube comments including “If Saltburn was Midsommar” and “…or the lovechild of Get Out and Glass Onion.” What can we expect from Blink Twice?

Plot

Beyond movies that highlight his dance moves, Channing Tatum mainly dabbles in comedy and action with occasional dark moments, including his antagonistic turn in The Hateful Eight. In Blink Twice, he apparently careens into evil to portray billionaire Slater King, who runs an island that appears to be fueled by some of the scandalous vibes where IRL famous people are later exposed as patrons. Yet let’s not get political and, instead, let’s move this discussion away from any resemblances to reality for this thriller.

Kravitz, who wrote the film with E.T. Feigenbaum, previously told Deadline that the original title of the movie was “a nod” (albeit a somewhat “playful” nod) “to this time and place we claim to not be in anymore, in terms of sexual politics.” She added, “People are evolving and changing but there is still a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths from past behavior.” Clearly, Slater King’s island is not the paradise that he sells it to be, and yes, this looks like shades of a story that we’ve seen before but with additional twists:

“[T]ech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, and sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun-soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.”

Cast

The Blink Twice cast includes not only Tatum but also Naomi Ackie, Christian Slater, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, and Alia Shawkat.

Release Date

Blink Twice arrives in theaters on August 23 courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.

Trailer

Behold Channing Tatum enjoying this dastardly role.

The future of Inside the NBA rests in the hands of David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery being willing to meet NBC’s offer to the NBA for the third piece of the league’s next rights package alongside ESPN and Amazon.

Earlier this week Charles Barkley confirmed he built an opt-out into his new 10-year deal with WBD that would allow him to go to a new network if TNT loses the NBA. That led to many fans hoping that the whole Inside crew would simply move to one of the league’s new homes if TNT lost rights, but that sounds like it would not be the case.

According to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, host Ernie Johnson would stick with WBD Sports even if they lose NBA rights. Johnson also does MLB play-by-play and hosts March Madness studio coverage, and would be unlikely to look to move to a different network. Friend also notes sources indicated skepticism the ever-busy Shaq would look to find another TV home if TNT loses rights.

As of now, NBC is considered a frontrunner for the third piece of the puzzle, but WBD gets the chance to make the final decision matching that offer to keep what would be a smaller piece of the pie than they have now — Amazon is expected to get part of the playoff package in their deal. If they do, then Inside will continue on for the foreseeable future. If not, the greatest sports studio show ever will be coming to an end soon.

Mild spoilers ahead!

In the past year, we’ve gotten a bunch of “consumer product origin story”-type movies, such as Air, BlackBerry, Flamin’ Hot, and even Tetris (the funniest name I’ve seen for this subgenre is “buy-opic”). On May 3, the latest entry to this ongoing phenomenon arrives to Netflix — the Jerry Seinfeld-directed Unfrosted purports itself to be the origin story of Pop-Tarts. But if you’re expecting a slightly dramatized “true story,” you may end up getting something else entirely.

The star-packed ensemble comedy, which features roles and cameos from a murderer’s row of comic talents including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Sarah Cooper, Aparna Nancherla, Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, Dan Levy, Jim Gaffigan, and many, many more — is more of a parody of the slew of buy-opics we’ve received over the past 12 months than anything. While the film does do the usual timeline shuffling and character condenscing we’ve all come to expect, it also has zany subplots like a milkman mafia, and has Kellogg’s recruiting astronauts, fitness gurus, and even other food companies’ mascots in its quest to beat rival breakfast Post to the store shelves with its toaster-friendly pastry.

Fortunately, it has a pretty good reason for just how silly the re-telling is: A framing device in which Seinfeld’s Bob Cabana (a stand-in for the real-life Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts inventor Bill Post) recounts how he invented the product to a runaway boy at a diner (it’s adorable; he’s got a bindle full of toys and everything) to keep the kid occupied until his parents can catch up. It’s exactly the goofy sort of invention you’d do for an under-ten-year-old, which makes all its cartoonish twists seem almost logical, and turns it into a family-friendly version of a now-familiar filmmaking style.

Unfrosted is streaming on Netflix on May 3.

With all of these Western dramas popping up and captivating the dads across the nation, it was only a matter of time before Jordon Peele decided to have a go. Sorry Taylor Sheridan, but you might have more competition.

Under Peele’s company, Monkeypaw Productions, he will be executive producing the currently untitled docuseries for Peacock that intends to “dismantle the whitewashed mythology of the cowboy,” that is seen so often in modern pop culture. Here is the official synopsis:

The untitled Black cowboy docuseries will rewrite a foundational piece of American history, unmasking the forces that erased the identity of the Black cowboy from frontier history and present. Stories of real cowboys will take viewers on a thrilling odyssey that connects to the heart of the resurgence of Black cowboy culture that we see today across music, art, fashion and film in a three-part series to premiere on Peacock.

This isn’t the first time Peele has ventured into television, he hosted the 2019 The Twilight Zone reboot for two seasons, nor is it the first documentary series to come from the Monkeypaw Productions. You can stream his last cowboy-inspired flick, Nope, on Peacock to prepare, but please try to keep your horses safely indoors.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Francis Ford Coppola has been through a lot in his 85 years on Earth. He’s made hit films, raised a small army of directors, and somehow managed to start his own marijuana brand, so he really doesn’t need to return to filmmaking if he doesn’t want to.

But the director has been brainstorming his next film for decades, so if he wants to self-finance a $120M epic featuring Adam Driver, who are we to stop him?? He isn’t fazed.

Coppola’s upcoming epic Megalopolis is set to premiere at Cannes this year, and while Hollywood might be on the fence, fans of the iconic filmmaker are ready to welcome him back with open arms. Here is everything we know so far about the upcoming film.

Plot

The story follows Adam Driver as Cesar, an “idealistic architect attempting to rebuild New York as an American Utopia.” Driver becomes entangled with Julia Cicero, daughter of the corrupt mayor, Frank Cicero, and the three clash over ideas for a more sustainable future after the city continues to crumble.

Coppola told Vanity Fair he was inspired by H.G. Wells’ Things to Come which he discovered as a child. “I wasn’t really working on this screenplay for 40 years as I often see written, but rather I was collecting notes and clippings for a scrapbook of things I found interesting for some future screenplay, or examples of political cartoons or different historical subjects,” Coppola said. “Ultimately, after a lot of time, I settled on the idea of a Roman epic. And then later, a Roman epic set in modern America, so I really only began writing this script, on and off, in the last dozen years or so. Also, as I have made many films of many different subjects and in many different styles, I hoped for a project later in life when I might better understand what my personal style was.”

Cast

The star-studded cast includes Driver alongside Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne and Kathryn Hunter. Jason Schwartzman, Coppola’s nephew, also appears, because nepotism is allowed in the case of very good movies.

Release Date

The movie will debut at Cannes on the evening of Thursday, May 16, but does not currently have a distributor. While it does not have a wide release date yet, Coppola hopes it will turn into a New Year’s Day classic. He told Vanity Fair, “It’s my dream that Megalopolis will become a New Year’s Eve perennial favorite, with audiences discussing afterwards not their new diets or resolutions not to smoke, but rather this simple question: ‘Is the society in which we live the only one available to us’”

Trailer

No trailer has been released yet, but the first image gives us a glimpse of Driver as Cesar:

(Via Vanity Fair)

Super Nintendo World opened in Universal Studios Hollywood in 2023. Now it’s taking a warp pipe to the other coast. The Universal Orlando Resort revealed details about the Mario-themed land coming to its new Epic Universe theme park in Florida in 2025.

The journey begins with a portal from Celestial Park to Super Nintendo World, which transports people (and Goombas and Shy Guys and Dry Bones) “through the iconic green pipe into the immersive land,” according to Universal. “As guests emerge from the pipe, vibrant scenery and exciting kinetic energy surround them as they are greeted by the familiar sights and sounds that they’ve experienced on their Nintendo game consoles.”

[John Hammond voice] Welcome… to Super Mario Land.

Highlights in Super Mario Land include Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, the towering Bowser’s Castle, the family-friendly Yoshi’s Adventure ride, and restaurant Toadstool Cafe (I suggest the Fire Flower Spaghetti & Meatballs). Super Nintendo World also features the debut of Donkey Kong Country.

The Mine-Cart Madness coaster sounds nuts:

Guests will hop into a mine cart and careen through the jungle to help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong protect the coveted golden banana on this first-of-its-kind family coaster. Utilizing an unprecedented ride system, innovative technology and a unique coaster design, Mine-Cart Madness will send riders on a thrilling adventure where they will experience the jaw-dropping maneuvers that they’ve seen Donkey Kong and the mine carts perform in the video games – including getting blasted out of a barrel, seemingly jumping over gaps as they speed along a rickety track, and so much more.

Have a look:

You can see more images from Epic Universe’s Super Nintendo World below.

Super Nintendo World

Yoshi’s Adventure

Mine-Cart Madness

Toadstool Cafe

Mario and Luigi Meet and Greet

Epic Universe opens in 2025. Find out more information on Universal’s website.

Living with depression and anxiety is hard enough, but things are made much worse when the people we depend on minimize or discount the disorder. It’s prevalent for people dealing with depression to have parents or loved ones who say that they are just faking it for attention or that they just need to get out of bed and start living life.

If it were only that easy.

When people say these things, it can be extremely invalidating and cause further stress, anxiety and confusion for the depressed person.

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Writer and performance artist Sabrina Benaim did an incredible job of explaining what it feels like to have your depression and anxiety invalidated by a loved one. In 2014, she delivered an award-winning piece at the Toronto Poetry Slam called “Explaining My Depression To My Mother,” which has made countless people with depression feel seen.

In the poem, she beautifully explains the difference between depression and anxiety.

Anxiety holds me a hostage inside of my house, inside of my head.

Mom says, “Where did anxiety come from?”

Anxiety is the cousin visiting from out-of-town depression felt obligated to bring to the party.

Mom, I am the party.

She also explains why her happiness is beyond her control.

Mom says, “Happy is a decision.”

But my happy is as hollow as a pin-pricked egg.

My happy is a high fever that will break.

Mom says I am so good at making something out of nothing and then flat-out asks me if I am afraid of dying.

No.

I am afraid of living.

Benaim’s powerful poem helped earn the Canadian team the top prize at the 2014 Toronto Poetry Slam. After her performance went viral, she became a vocal advocate for anxiety and depression, performing tours in the U.S., Australia and Canada. She has also published two books, “Depression and Other Magic Tricks” (2017) and “I Love You, Call Me Back” (2021).

Oh boy. For a few days, Justified lovers have been reckoning with the realization that Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins did not 110% adore each other during every moment on the set of the FX show. The horror. And not even Goggins posting a shirtless photo squashed the mental image of the actors who portrayed Raylan and Boyd wanting to maybe do this in real life.

Soap operas are fun? Hmm. The chatter kicked into high gear when Olyphant more than took the high road while fielding a Vanity Fair question on the subject. This began with Goggins admitting that the two “weren’t talking” near Justified‘s final scenes while adding, “I think we just needed to separate, like brothers… We just needed to take a break in order to come back together.”

In response, Olyphant explained that there were simply some frustrating moments when Goggins pushed back at scripts to ensure that Boyd Crowder stuck an authentic landing. The Deadwood lead also suggested that the friction could have been a means to leave the series without being sad at the end because it’s “easier” to leave without melancholy. Maybe? Whatever the case, these two are just peachy now, and Olyphant pointed towards a highlight of his Alien role being that he can go visit his friend. Via Vanity Fair:

“Bangkok’s really special. There’s a monster in [Alien], and the monster takes up a lot of screen time. That lets me go down to the beach. I got to go see my buddy Walton Goggins down there filming The White Lotus.”

It’s true: Bangkok is special. And how is Goggins doing in Thailand? He’s occupied with memorializing his current experience by lip-synching Radiohead’s “Karma Police.” People, he’s lost himself:

“Down the road… when I’m eventually asked …What was it like doing the WHITE LOTUS,” Goggins wrote. “This will be my answer. MIKE WHITE!! What an experience this is.” It’s best not to read anything into this, y’all. Simply form an appreciative queue.

Aside from her recent memoir and sharing videos of herself dancing on Instagram, Britney Spears has been staying mostly out of the spotlight lately. However, it seems Spears was just involved in an unfortunate incident that is generating some attention.

According to reports from TMZ and Daily Mail, Spears and boyfriend Paul Soliz were at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles on late Wednesday, May 1 and early Thursday, May 2. There was reportedly a disturbance that prompted somebody to call police. The claim was made that a woman matching Spears’ description was harassing and threatening hotel employees and guests. Officers arrived around 10:30 p.m. but left after seeing no signs of trouble.

Spears and Soliz then apparently returned to their hotel room, where they “partied and drank.” The pair reportedly got into an altercation that turned physical, and Spears “may have hurt her leg.” Paramedics were called following claims that Spears was “screaming and out of control in the hallway of her suite.”

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told Daily Mail, “Emergency services received a call at 12:42 a.m. with reports of an adult female injured. At 1 a.m., an ambulance arrived on the premises. I can confirm no-one was transported. Services left the scene at 1:17 a.m. The police department were not called.”

The publication notes Spears was “seen clad in her underwear, clutching a pillow and appearing distressed as she left the hotel.” They also shared some photos of the situation and went on to note that Spears “appeared to be topless and looked disheveled as she held the pillow to her chest,” and that a “man was seen wheeling a stretcher with the star’s belongings on it — with a fire truck also seen at the Hollywood hotel.”

Spears reportedly left the hotel with her security and without Soliz.

The beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is boiling like a hot pot dinner, and it’s perhaps inevitable that Azealia Banks would chime in to pick a side. Longtime fans of the controversial commenter wouldn’t be shocked by whose side she chose, but if you weren’t tapped in before, you might raise your eyebrows on discovering that she didn’t care for Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria,” preferring Drake’s “Push Ups” instead.

A few reasons she gave include Kendrick “wearing the same size” as her, “the tone and timbre of Kendrick’s voice,” her feeling that “the mix is muddy as hell,” and that the beat is “dumb trash.” Her conclusion is that “Drake won. That’s it.” In typical Azealia Banks fashion, though, she quickly lost the plot, arguing for a conspiracy theory that “Kendrick sent goons to have both diss tracks from Cole and Drake removed from DSPs.”

Real quick, though: Drake was threatened with legal action by the estate of Tupac Shakur, whose likeness he unethically reproduced using AI (Congress really needs to get on some sort of legislation about this instead of, like, banning apps and selling bombs). Cole removed his track after seeing some backlash to it, citing his internal discontent with how it all worked out.

Of course, Azealia Banks has always had it out for Kendrick Lamar, writing in a rant about Doja Cat taking her spot, “He be making the kind of rap music that allows white people to indulge in weird fetishization of ‘the Black struggle’.” Her position is also something of an about-face, considering she was just trashing Drake a few months ago for allegedly getting liposuction. Also, her quibbles with Drake aligned with much of what Kendrick said in “Euphoria,” but Azealia’s never much been one for consistency, right?

She, of course, is still best known for a song from over 13 years ago and her salty assessments of everything everybody else has done since sooo… She’s entitled to her opinion, but it certainly looks like she’s on the outs this time.