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The coronavirus pandemic may have almost entirely shut down the movie industry, but only in America, whose leaders have struggled (or, in some cases, not struggled enough) to contain its spread. Good thing James Cameron was making his many Avatar sequels half a world away, off in far-flung New Zealand, which was able to get its numbers down to zero before just about everyone. And lo and behold, they did such a good job that Cameron and team are “100 percent complete” shooting Avatar 2, and “95 percent” done with Avatar 3.

As per Entertainment Weekly, the Oscar-winning filmmaker broke the news during a Zoom call with frequent star Arnold Schwarzenegger, as they spoke ahead of the 2020 Austrian World Summit.

“COVID hit us like it hit everybody,” Camerons said. “We lost about four and a half months of production.” He’d already announced that they pushed the release date back a year, to December 2022. “Now that doesn’t mean I have an extra year to finish the film because the day we deliver Avatar 2 we’ll just start working on finishing Avatar 3.”

He added, “So where we are right now, I’m down in New Zealand shooting. We’re shooting the remainder of the live-action. We’ve got about 10 percent left to go. We’re 100 percent complete on Avatar 2 and we’re sort of 95 percent complete on Avatar 3.”

While Hollywood productions have been put on hold and even numerous theatrical releases have been repeatedly delayed — and will no doubt continue to do so considering Tenet’s comparatively paltry box office numbers mid-COVID — Team Avatar Sequels have been dropping photos from the set, featuring stars like Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Kate Winslet, and Cliff Curtis hard at work.

Of course, just because principal photography is done doesn’t mean you’ll be seeing it anytime soon. There’s a ton of effects work to be done, and Cameron has to deliver on next level tech that will advance the art in ways that will keep audiences coming back for a ream of sequels over the next handful of years. And just to remind you, when Avatar 2 does drop in two years and change, it will have been 13 years since the last time you feasted your 3-D eyes on Pandora, and maybe the last time you heard about “unobtanium.”

(Via EW)

TikTok — which has become of the most popular social media and video sharing apps — was supposed to be yanked from U.S. app stores this weekend, having drawn the ire of President Donald Trump. But those worried that that would bring an end to a program that’s only gained in popularity during the quarantine era can breathe a sigh of relief: A federal judge has put a stop to that, at last for now.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols gave TikTok a temporary reprieve after its owner, ByteDance, successfully argued against Trump’s ruling. Back in August, the Trump administration had claimed the app was a national security threat, alleging that the Chinese-owned company was poaching users’ information. He’d ordered that it find a new American owner by mid-September. The company had been working with Oracle and Walmart, but the deadline passed without a finalized deal.

But TikTok was able to convince Nichols, who was appointed by Trump, to give them some more time. As per THR:

“The company argues that Trump’s ban exceeds presidential authority, violates users’ First Amendment rights, and because it’s arbitrary and capricious, also flouts the Administrative Procedures Act. TikTok adds that the ban amounts to impermissible regulation of users’ “personal communications” and was not “motivated by a genuine national security concern, but rather by political considerations relating to the upcoming general election.”

They also argued that there was no proof that the Chinese government was tapping into user data.

Had Trump’s ban gone into effect as planned, TikTok would vanish from app stores over the next six weeks, and current users would not receive updates. After that the app would have likely disappeared from the United States altogether. Current users, of course, would still have access to the app, but there would be no more updates. Ironically, argued TikTok lawyer John Hall, that would prove a threat, as updates often include security updates that protect users from predators.

So for now, TikTok is saved, ready to fight another day against a president who reportedly barely pays taxes because he can’t. Let’s celebrate with the latest TikTok blockbuster:
 

(Via THR)

On Sunday, The New York Times revealed they’d gotten their hands on President Donald Trump’s long-withheld tax returns, and surprise surprise, the news wasn’t great. The short version of the epic piece: His entire empire is a dense latticework of money-losing businesses propped up by tax grifts big and small, ready to crumble at any minute — say, as soon as he leaves the White House.

But there were a number of details that did come as a surprise. The one that got most people more than most was also the piece’s lede, which comprised these damning words: “Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750.”

There was more — a lot more. There were detailed attempts to untangle his Christmas tree lights ball that were his finances. There were shady transpirings. There were salacious details, such as that he had his administration hire his daughter Ivanka as a private consultant when she was already a White House employee, to reduce his taxable income, then deducted the fee “as a cost of doing business.” There was them labeling one of their frequented homes as an “investment property” for tax savings, which they would have gotten away with had Eric Trump not blabbed the truth to Forbes back in 2014.

But it was hard to get past that lede — that damning opening intel. Upon learning a self-proclaimed billionaire was paying almost nothing in taxes — and had paid actually nothing for many years — was not well received online.

Some asked if anyone had paid more than a purported business wiz in taxes.

Some pointed out that Joe and Jill Biden paid quite a lot more than that, despite allegedly not being as wealthy as the Trumps.

Some pointed out that he’d paid more in taxes in other countries where he’s not president.

Others tried to reason with his ride-or-die supporters.

“Al Capone” started trending.

A reminder that Trump doesn’t know how to spell Al’s full name, “Alphonse,” despite weirdly trying to use it.

It’s enraging, upsetting news, but some tried to find gallows humor.

Or still make jokes.

One that was definitely both funny and angering was the $70,000 he pays for hair products. To maintain that.

Eventually #TrumpIsBroke started trending.

So maybe there’s a silver lining to all this. Sort of.

Anyway, election day is Tueday, November 3, and many states are already sending out absentee ballots and allowing early voting.

There were a few weeks when Taylor Swift’s eighth album Folklore did not sit atop the Billboard album charts. When it landed, it went straight to number one, selling a massive 846,000 units in first week. There it sat for the next six weeks, the most for any album since Drake’s 2016 album Views. But now, after surrendering the title to others over the last three weeks, Folklore is back to the top of the charts.

The album’s return to No. 1 is thanks to 87,000 equivalent album units, with 56,000 of those being albums sales and 30,000 being streaming equivalent album units. This gives her the most overall weeks at No. 1 in a career among female artists, which is to say 47. Earlier this month she tied Whitney Houston at 46 weeks, which she has now passed. It also gives her the fifth most weeks atop the charts for any artist behind only The Beatles (132), Elvis Presley (67), Garth Brooks (52), and Michael Jackson (51).

Elsewhere on the top five, Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon came in at No. 2, with 75,000 units, Alicia Keys’ ALICIA placed No. 4, and Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die scored No. 5.

The new entries into the top ten of are Moneybagg Yo and Blac Youngsta’s Code Red at No. 6, Keith Urban’s The Speed of Now, Part 1 at No. 7, and Lil Tecca’s Virgo World at No. 10.

(via Billboard)

Donald Trump’s tax returns have long been the Holy Grail of those who, well, want to hold the president accountable to the law. For years a man so unpopular he was booed at a public wake has blocked any and all attempts to access them, hoping that his supporters won’t smell anything fishy about his finances. But almost four years shy of his 2016 presidential win and just over a month until Election Day 2020, The New York Times has gone and belatedly obtained those long-elusive returns. And guess what? It’s not pretty.

Let’s start with perhaps the most shocking revelation, which is that the president — a purported billionaire and self-described business genius — only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he won the presidency. Ditto the following year, his first full year at the job. In other words, there’s a chance that you paid more in federal income taxes than a man whose name still remains on a number of buildings in New York City (and around the country).

But at least that was more than he had paid previously. According to The NYT, “He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.”

What’s more, it appears Trump’s financial worries are about to come home to roost. As per The NYT:

As the president wages a re-election campaign that polls say he is in danger of losing, his finances are under stress, beset by losses and hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due that he has personally guaranteed. Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.

But wait, there’s more! It turns out that a lot of the Trump empire’s businesses aren’t exactly money-winners, forcing him to create a dense latticework of schemes to stay afloat. From The NYT:

The picture that perhaps emerges most starkly from the mountain of figures and tax schedules prepared by Mr. Trump’s accountants is of a businessman-president in a tightening financial vise.

Most of Mr. Trump’s core enterprises — from his constellation of golf courses to his conservative-magnet hotel in Washington — report losing millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars year after year.

His revenue from “The Apprentice” and from licensing deals is drying up, and several years ago he sold nearly all the stocks that now might have helped him plug holes in his struggling properties.The tax audit looms.

And within the next four years, more than $300 million in loans — obligations for which he is personally responsible — will come due.

Trump this week is scheduled to make his first appearance on the debate stage with his rival, former vice president Joe Biden. There’s something else Biden can use, on top of the stuff about escalating COVID-19 deaths, astronomical unemployment, kids in cages, palling around with dictators, yada yada. If things get really rough, Biden can always just say Trump’s a horrible businessman and wreckless spender who’s drowning in debt.

(Via The NYT)

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are used to weathering criticism, having endured plenty of it during a tumultuous final season of the HBO show. But recently inspired still more controversy, when word broke about their next project: a Netflix show about a world where slavery didn’t end in the United States. But it turns out that controversy has very little to do with Benioff and Weiss themselves.

Instead the culprit is really Liu Cixen, author of The Three-Body Problem, a series of novels Benioff and Weiss hoped to adapt. Cixen recently made controversial comments about Uyghur Muslims in an interview with The New Yorker, which drew criticism from a number of conservative voices and politicians in the United States, who called on Netflix to stop work on the project. Netflix responded to the criticism on Saturday, issuing a statement that distanced the streaming service from the author’s comments but defended the show in a statement, according to Variety.

The streamer has stood firm in a responding letter, repeatedly pointing to the fact that “Mr. Liu is the author of the books, not the creator of this series.”

“Mr. Liu’s comments are not reflective of the views of Netflix or of the show’s creators, nor are they part of the plot or themes of the show,” wrote Netflix vice president of public policy Dean Garfield in the letter.

Netflix made sure to not condone the statements and clearly stated the author isn’t involved in the show’s creation on Netflix, but it’s an inauspicious start for the series, to say the least.

D.K. Metcalf has emerged as a nearly unstoppable force in his second season in the NFL. The massive Seahawks receiver has a breathtaking combination of size and speed, and has become a favorite target of Russell Wilson as the recipient of Wilson’s phenomenal deep ball ability.

However, rookie Trevon Diggs of the Cowboys might’ve come up with a unique way to keep Metcalf out of the end zone, putting his new strategy to work on Sunday. Metcalf torched Diggs on a go route and Wilson put a perfect pass on him for what should’ve been a walk-in touchdown. Instead, it ended up as a Seahawks turnover because Metcalf pedaled off and, for some reason, decided to stroll into the end zone holding the ball like a loaf of bread.

As such, Diggs darted in from behind and punched the ball out of Metcalf’s hands and through the back of the end zone for a touchback to give Dallas the football at the 20 and keep the game tied at 9-9.

Wilson was, rightfully, upset at what transpired and Metcalf could only shake his head on the sidelines after the embarrassing end to what should’ve been his latest highlight reel touchdown. One can assume that Metcalf will learn from this play and hold the ball much more tightly, even when he’s dusted a DB on a go route in the future. For now, though, the Cowboys get a gift thanks to the effort of Diggs and carelessness of Metcalf.

While Purple Rain stands as Prince‘s most popular and recognizable album, many will crown his 1987 album, Sign O’ The Times as his best body of work. Since its release three decades ago, the album has been praised and celebrated time and time again, with the most recent example its 2017 induction into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. Another example dates back to 2004 when Rolling Stone labeled it “the most complete example of [Prince’s] artistry’s breadth, and arguably the finest album of the 1980s.”

Thirty-one years after its release, the late singer’s estate released a super deluxe edition of the album along with a two-hour Prince performance on New Year’s Eve in 1987. The show, which was a benefit concert for The Minnesota Coalition For The Homeless, took place at Paisley Park and sports an incredibly smooth performance alongside jazz legend Miles Davis.

The performance was released alongside the super deluxe version of Sign O’ The Times which includes a boatload of unreleased songs and edits to Prince’s original work, amounting to 65 additions and alterations in total. Among the new additions fans can find “Can I Play With U?,” which stands as Prince and Davis’ only collaboration from their respective careers, and the full remastered audio from his 1987 show in Utrecht, Netherlands.

You can watch the two-hour performance featuring Miles Davis, who appears at the 1:43:00 mark, in the video above. The super deluxe edition of Sign O’ The Times is out now via NMG/Warner. Get it here.

[via Okayplayer]

Prince is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

One week ago the Atlanta Falcons blew a 29-10 fourth quarter lead to the Dallas Cowboys in which they allowed Dallas to recover one of the slowest and weirdest onside kicks in NFL history. In that game, the NFL’s NextGen Stats had them at a 98 percent win probability, before their implosion.

On Sunday, the Falcons looked to bounce back against the Chicago Bears, and once again looked to have a stranglehold on the proceedings when they took a 26-10 lead into the fourth quarter, and, once again, had a 98 percent win probability. The Bears had already benched Mitchell Trubisky for Nick Foles after the former No. 2 overall pick threw one of the worst interceptions of the week, and Foles entered the game and immediately marched the Bears down the field only to throw a pick in the end zone of his own.

The Bears would have a ton of chances, including a 4th and goal from the 17 that saw Anthony Miller drop a touchdown pass that would’ve pulled them within, potentially, one possession. However, the Atlanta Falcons were not going to give up on their dream of blowing two assured wins in back-to-back weeks, as the offense stalled out and the Bears would indeed proceed to score 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, punctuated by this dime from Foles on 3rd and 9 with just under two minutes to play.

Still, this left the Falcons with ample time to drive the field and swipe a victory away from the jaws of defeat, as the Bills did earlier in the afternoon when they blew a 28-3 lead to the Rams (something the Falcons know all about) only to see Josh Allen win it in the closing seconds.

The Falcons are not the Bills and Matt Ryan is not Josh Allen, though, which is a truly incredible sentence to write. Ryan ended up tossing a game-sealing interception as they crossed midfield, putting a bow on two of the worst meltdowns in NFL history, in back-to-back weeks.

It’s the first time a team has blown two 15-point leads in the fourth quarter in a single season in more than 20 years, and happened in two consecutive weeks. The Bears scored all 20 of their points in 4:17. The Falcons win probability charts look like the stock market in early and then late March.

As a Browns fan, even I cannot imagine the depths of despair of watching this Falcons team with any sort of investment. Godspeed to you all. They play again next Monday night in Green Bay.

So far in 2020, BTS has granted their vast fan base two albums with February’s Map of the Soul: 7 and July’s Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey. While a pair of albums is more than most artists release in a year, K-pop group shows no signs of slowing down as they’ve announced another album set to release before the end of the year. Making the announcement on Twitter, the band revealed that they will release a deluxe album titled Be on November 20.

In the tweet, the group included a link that prompts their fans to download an app called Weverse where a press release for the album from the band’s label, Big Hit Entertainment, can be viewed. The press release reads, “Hello. This is Big Hit Entertainment. BTS’s new album “BE (Deluxe Edition)” will be released on Friday, November 20.” The announcement later says, “‘BE (Deluxe Edition)’ contains the most ‘BTS-esque’ music yet,” giving fans an extra reason to be excited for the upcoming album. The press release also reveals the group’s goal with their upcoming album. “The latest story from BTS begins by declaring that “even in the face of this new normality, our life goes on” and imparts a message of healing to fans and to the world.”

The announcement arrives after the group went to a record store to perform “Dynamite,” “Save Me,” and “Spring Day” for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.