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We shouldn't be excited about this. Every minute we've wasted watching disappointing cash-ins of animated classics run through the live-action moviemaking machine tells us that the new take on "How to Train Your Dragon" will be just another money maker. And yet, there's something about seeing Mason Thames' version of Hiccup taking his new pal Toothless on his first test flight set to John Powell's score that will undoubtedly stir something in fans, courtesy of the brand new trailer for the upcoming film from director Dean DeBlois.

Looking to make no attempt to escape from the flight plan of the original 2010 film, the new trailer for "How to Train Your Dragon" packs a powerful scalebound punch while showing us all the familiar scenes that we've come to know. Hiccup is the once again misunderstood son of Viking Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler reprising his role from the original...

Wicked: For Good gets a promising update from Stephen Schwartz. Schwartz is known for his work as the composer and lyricist for the original 2003 Broadway musical Wicked. Schwartz also served as the co-composer for the 2024 film adaptation of Wicked, which he worked on with John Powell. Now, director Jon M. Chu and the rest of the Wicked team are preparing for the release of the sequel Wicked: For Good later this year. Chronicling the second act of the acclaimed Broadway musical, the film is set for release on November 21.

Per Variety, Schwartz has provided an update for Wicked: For Good. The composer admits that there is "a lot of work to do" on the sequel, but notes that it is "exciting." He expresses that the first movie is "a lot of live up to" but is still enthusiastic about the sequel. Check out the full quote from Schwartz below:

We...

What is the definition of “Star Wars music”? Maybe, to paraphrase Jimmy Carter, you just know it when you hear it.

Most people would answer by pointing to the man who invented and canonized this unique subgenre: John Williams, composer of nine Star Wars films from 1977 to 2019, the original themes for two spinoffs and a district of Disneyland. Williams established an orchestral, operatic musical language, rich with tuneful character themes and draped in classical tradition, a style now so deeply familiar and revered that it is, for many fans, holy scripture.

But as this sprawling galaxy continues to expand, the artists behind every new adventure are questioning what the musical topography should — and can — be.

In the most recent Darwinian leap, a trailer for the second season of Andor was soundtracked with the countrified clang of electric guitar in Steve Earle’s Iraq War protest anthem, “The Revolution Starts Now.

Audiences at CinemaCon this morning got their first look at the live-action remake of “How to Train Your Dragon,” the first time it’s premiered ahead of its release this summer. But Universal is so sky high on the film, the studio announced during its CinemaCon presentation Wednesday that it has already greenlit a sequel.

Universal has dated “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” yet another live-action adaptation of the DreamWorks Animated film, to open in theaters June 11, 2027. It opens a week after “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” which Sony also just dated during its CinemaCon presentation.

Director Dean DeBlois — this franchise has been his baby since the very first animated film back in 2010 — will be back in the director’s chair for the sequel.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is an adaptation of the 2014 film specifically, not a new story extending off the live-action film. That film detailed heroes...

When How to Train Your Dragon director Dean DeBlois and stars Gerard Butler and Nico Parker took the stage on Wednesday morning at CinemaCon to debut the first-ever screening of the live-action remake, their microphones didn’t work. It was an inauspicious start for the trio, who gamely picked up their prewritten banter about the project and urged the room full of theater owners to consider playing the live-action remake on their biggest screens possible when it hits theaters nationwide on June 13. It was also the only bug of the event: How to Train Your Dragon left CinemaCon attendees thrilled, with multiple breaks for applause and reports of some viewers overcome with emotion during the movie’s climax.

Reviews are embargoed for the foreseeable future. However, the social media response was likely just what Universal had hoped to achieve with more than two months to go before its release.

“Pretty...

The beloved How to Train Your Dragon story is coming to life in a brand-new way! Directed by Dean DeBlois, the man behind the original animated films, this live-action remake brings back the magic, adventure, and heart of the 2010 classic. Starring Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid, along with Gerard Butler returning as Stoick, the film promises to be a stunning and emotional experience.

Filmed in Northern Ireland, this is DreamWorks Animation’s first live-action movie, with the legendary John Powell returning to create the score. How to Train Your Dragon had its world premiere at CinemaCon on April 2, 2025, and will officially hit theaters on June 13, 2025.

Thanks to the early premiere, however, we have first social media reactions to the movie, and so far things look overwhelmingly positive:

The CinemaCon attendees love How to Train Your Dragon! They say it’s one of the best live-action remakes ever.

Less than three months remain until Hiccup and Toothless take flight once again with the live-action How to Train Your Dragonremake. To celebrate, Funko is preparing a new line of Pop! figures for the occasion that represent the new versions of Hiccup and Astrid, played by Mason Thames and Nico Parker, as well as the lovable Night Fury. All three are available to pre-order now ahead of their arrival in May, but the pop culture brand also teased another Toothless figure specifically based on the DreamWorks animated spinoff series Dragons that will be coming soon exclusively to Target. The whole collection will ship out just in time for the new film to hit theaters on June 13.

Hiccup and Astrid are brought to life in the figures with the same outfits seen in the official promos for the upcoming live-action feature from the original animated films' director Dean DeBlois. That also...

"How to Train Your Dragon" will soon follow in the footsteps of the many remakes of Disney animation movies by getting a live-action, computer generated hybrid film that takes the fantasy adventure and gives it a real world makeover. Perhaps the best thing this new take on the beloved DreamWorks Animation movie has going for it is that the franchise's original director Dean DeBlois, who was behind all three chapters of the animated trilogy, is steering the ship for this remake. At the very least, that means this will pack the same emotional punch that its animated predecessor did, including hints of that uplifting score from composer John Powell returning (at least in the footage from the trailers we've seen so far). 

Since "How to Train Your Dragon" is bound to make a splash at the box office in its new form, it should come as no surprise that a...

Action is easily one of cinema's most entertaining genres, and adventure often goes hand-in-hand with it. Action-adventure movies have undergone many changes over the years, but action has always captivated its audience's hearts and minds worldwide. Whether through jaw-dropping fight choreography or massively epic explosions, the action keeps people watching, and the adventure keeps them invested.

These action-adventure movies have a central character with almost inhuman skills, a villain worthy of the worst beatings, and an adventure that requires dangerous stunts like jumping out of planes and battles with small armies of foes. However, they also have a human component on which the average viewer stakes emotional investment. The best action and adventure movies aren't just entertaining romps — they help define their genre. Every film on this list has one, the other, or both in spades, and each is essential viewing for fans.

Updated March 14, 2025, by Jordan Iacobucci: The action-adventure genre never gets old.

It is a tall order anytime a film composer takes on the music for a Star Wars film. The legacy of John Williams and the rich music he provided for the Skywalker Saga is a huge part of the franchise. Michael Giacchino and John Powell both took on the music in Rogue One and Solo respectively.

Now, with the next film, The Mandalorian and Grogu, set to be released in 2026, there may be questions as to who will be the composer. Let's speculate who could score the next Star Wars film.

Who will be the composer for The Mandalorian & Grogu?

Ludwig Goransson is an obvious choice first choice. He composed the music for the first two seasons of The Mandalorian and several high-profile films. He's won two Oscars for Black Panther in 2019 and Oppenheimer in 2024. The musician provided a unique style to a galaxy far, far away and is one...

It's hard to believe that 25 years have passed since the new millennium, bringing new technology, evolving social change, and, of course, spectacular movies. The stage for the 2000s was set with titles premiering in 2000, featuring fresh comedies, stunning animated films, and captivating dramas.

Many of these films have made a significant impact on cinema and are still consistently referenced and quoted today. Each film is unique in its own way and has served as inspiration for countless other films that parallel their cinematic perspective and narrative structure.

The Road to El Dorado Helped Launch DreamWorks as an Animation Staple Released March 31, 2000

Founded by legendary director Steven Spielberg, American film producer David Geffen, and former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks is known as one of the most prominent animation studios of the 21st century. Responsible for the Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon franchise, in addition to many other impactful films,...

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 10, 2025

Billy Joel postpones tour dates after surgery

Billy Joel has postponed eight stadium concerts he was scheduled to perform over the next four months because of a recent surgery for an undisclosed "medical condition."

An announcement this morning said that the singer “is expected to make a full recovery” and will undergo doctor-supervised physical therapy. “While I regret postponing any shows, my health must come first,” Joel said in the statement. “I look forward to getting back on stage and sharing the joy of live music with our amazing fans. Thank you for your understanding.” Joel is expected to resume playing concerts July 5 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The postponed shows in Toronto, Detroit, Syracuse, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Edinburgh, and Liverpool will be rescheduled.

Netflix strikes movie deal for Stephen King's Cujo remake

Netflix is ready to take a new bite at Stephen King's Cujo.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performed a musical medley to open the 2025 Oscars, featuring songs from Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, and The Wiz.

To open the performance, Grande took the stage for a passionate rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. Then, she ceded the stage to Erivo, who dazzled while singing “Home” from the 1978 musical The Wiz. To close it out, Grande returned for “Defying Gravity.”

It’s worth noting that none of the songs from Wicked were eligible for the Best Original Song category. This was due to the Academy’s definition of an original song, which stipulates that it must be “written specifically for the motion picture.” Since the filmmakers opted to keep the soundtrack faithful to the 2003 musical,

However, Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation still received 10 total nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Erivo, and Best Supporting Actress for Grande.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performed a musical medley to open the 2025 Oscars, featuring songs from Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, and The Wiz.

To open the performance, Grande took the stage for a passionate rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. Then, she ceded the stage to Erivo, who dazzled while singing “Home” from the 1978 musical The Wiz. To close it out, Grande returned for “Defying Gravity.”

It’s worth noting that none of the songs from Wicked were eligible for the Best Original Song category. This was due to the Academy’s definition of an original song, which stipulates that it must be “written specifically for the motion picture.” Since the filmmakers opted to keep the soundtrack faithful to the 2003 musical,

However, Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation still received 10 total nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Erivo, and Best Supporting Actress for Grande.

Anora was the big winner at the 2025 Academy awards, taking home Oscars for best picture, best director for Sean Baker and best actress for Mikey Madison.

The Brutalist star Adrien Brody picked up best actor, with the film also winning for cinematography and original score.

As expected, Zoe Saldana and Kieran Culkin won the supporting actor prizes for Emilia Perez and A Real Pain, respectively.

The ceremony took place tonight (March 2) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with Conan O’Brien hosting for the first time.

Oscar winners 2025

Best picture

Anora The Brutalist A Complete Unknown Conclave Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez...

The 97th Academy Awards is taking place tonight (Sunday March 2) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Scroll down for winners

The ceremony started at 4pm Pt/7pm Et (midnight UK time) and is set to run for around three hours (although it usually overruns).

Conan O’Brien is hosting the ceremony for the first time, with Raj Kapoor returningas executive producer and showrunner, and Katy Mullan serving as executive producer.

Screen is posting all the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony. Refresh the page for latest updates.

Winners in bold, as they are announced, below...

The bumpy road to Oscar glory will reach its end Sunday night at the 97th Academy Awards, closing out one of the most unpredictable awards seasons in years. Ups and downs, twists and turns, mudslinging, mea culpas, tears both happy and sad — we’ve seen it all in recent weeks as the race kept us guessing what new upheaval might come next.

And that includes who wins tonight. “Emilia Pérez” might have the most nominations (13), but Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical lost its frontrunner status pretty much the moment star Karla Sofía-Gascón’s history of bigoted tweets resurfaced. In stepped “Anora,” which won top prizes with both the PGA and DGA and seemed ready to sail to a Best Picture victory…until “Conclave” swept in and showed us that the race was much tighter than we’d thought.

And what looked like an unobstructed path to best actress anointment for...

It’s finally time for the 97th Academy Awards, as the 2024-2025 awards season comes to a close and we hand out some Oscars. And this year, Sean Baker’s sex worker dramedy Anora ended up triumphing, winning five awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Lead Actress for Mikey Madison.

This meant that Demi Moore, long considered the favorite to win for her work in The Substance, ended up losing out. In other categories, Adrian Brody won Lead Actor for his work in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, while Kieran Culkin picked up his expected trophy for A Real Pain and Zoe Saldaña overcame the Emilia Pérez controversy to win for Supporting Actress.

Anora also won awards for Original Screenplay and Editing, while Conclave picked up a win for Adapted Screenplay and Dune: Part Two was recognized for Sound and Visual Effects. The Brutalist also won for Cinematography and Score,...

Updated, 1:30 Pm: Nobody does it better when it comes to movie theme songs, and the Oscars know it. Sources tell Deadline that there will be a tribute to the music of the revered 007 franchise during 97th the Academy Awards on Sunday.

Details are scarce, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will continue to honor the Bond legacy, after presenting longtime franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson with the Irving G. Thalberg Award during the 15th Governor Awards in November. The Academy on Thursday declined comment about the Bond music tribute.

Previously, February 24: Doja Cat, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Blackpink’s Lisa, Queen Latifah and Raye were revealed Monday as musical performers for this year’s 97th Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said they will participate in “showstopping performances celebrating the filmmaking community and some of its legends at the 97th Oscars.

“Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” is returning to theaters for its 20th anniversary, starting April 25. For the re-release event, graphic artist Matt Ferguson has created a new poster to celebrate the film.

The film will run in U.S. theaters and select international territories for one week, including new formats like 4Dx. “Revenge of the Sith” is the third film in the “Star Wars” prequel franchise and takes place after the Clone Wars begin. Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) gets pulled to the dark side of the Force to become Darth Vader as Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Yoda (Frank Oz) are forced to go into hiding.

The cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee, Jimmy Smits, Peter Mayhew, Ahmed Best, Oliver Ford Davies, Temuera Morrison, Anthony Daniels, Silas Carson and Kenny Baker.

Thursday, Feb. 27 ‘The Assessment’ Trailer: Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel and Alicia Vikander...

"Like a Bird" from the prison drama Sing Sing just won a key prize at the 15th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Sunday night so does that make the tune written by Abraham Alexander, Brandon Marcel, and Adrian Quesada the new frontrunner for the Best Song Oscar?

The guild has been handing out its award for Best Song Written and/or Recorded for a Film for the last nine years, and in that span it has lined up with the Oscars only three times: "City of Stars" from La La Land, "Shallow" from A Star is Born, and "What Was I Made For?" from Barbie. In four instances, the guild picked songs that were nominated for but didn't win the Oscar: "Mystery of Love" from Call Me by Your Name, "Hear My Voice" from The Trial of the Chicago 7, "Dos Oruguitas" from Encanto, and "This Is a Life...

The most successful big-screen Broadway musical adaptation in history will arrive on the streamer four months after premiering in theaters.

Good news! The most successful big-screen Broadway musical adaptation in history officially has a streaming premiere date. Universal’s blockbuster film version of the first half of “Wicked” will be available to stream on Peacock beginning in March. While NBCU won’t be able to push people to its flagship streamer in the leadup to the March 2 Academy Awards, the company is taking full advantage of the movie musical’s extended premium video-on-demand (PVOD) window, which began on Dec. 31, 2024.

Key Details: “Wicked” will arrive on Peacock on March 21, 2025; four months after its theatrical debut. The streaming version of “Wicked” will include the full “Defying Gravity” collection of bonus content. The movie musical is nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Sign Up $7.99+ / month peacocktv.com

While “Wicked” devotees have been...

This year’s contenders for the original score Oscar are an innovative and international mix and, for the first time in more than a quarter century, two musicals are among the nominees: “Emilia Pérez” and “Wicked.”

Three are past Oscar winners: German Volker Bertelmann (for “All Quiet on the Western Front”), Americans Stephen Schwartz and Kris Bowers. Three more are newcomers to Oscar: Englishman Daniel Blumberg and French composers Camille and Clément Ducol.

For “The Brutalist,” experimentalist composer Blumberg supplied Brady Corbet’s epic about a Holocaust survivor’s challenges in America with a small orchestra score played by just 18 musicians but recorded all over Europe. Renowned London pianist John Tilbury performs much of the key material.

Tilbury, 89, “has a beautiful Steinway literally in a shed in his garden in Kent,” says Blumberg. “I basically moved in with him for a month. I put microphones next to his face so...

The Society of Composers and Lyricists announced its 2025 awards recipients at the sixth annual Scl Awards.

Composers and lyricists gathered together for a dinner and ceremony hosted by singer-songwriter Colin Hays, held at the Skirball Cultural Center. The evening opened with a performance of “Lean on Me” — meant to bring the community together after the recent wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles.

While the night’s atmosphere was overall celebratory, the awards ceremony took several opportunities to acknowledge the recent tragedy in the city. Composer Starr Parodi, who lost her home in the Palisades Fire, was given a replacement plaque for her previously earned jury award on stage.

Among the top awardees for the night were Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist, Diane Warren for The Six Triple Eight, Kris Bowers for The Wild Robot and Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Luca Guadagnino for Challengers.

Composer Harry Gregson-William accepted the Spirit...

The Wild Robot‘s Oscar prospects may have gotten a boost on Wednesday as the Society of Composers and Lyricists announced its sixth annual award winners. The animated feature won Best Original Score for a Studio Film, defeating three of its Oscar rivals: Emilia Pérez, Wicked, and Conclave. The last of this year’s Best Score Oscar nominees, The Brutalist, competed in another category at the Scl Awards, winning Best Original Score for an Independent Film.

So does that mean the Oscar will come down to The Wild Robot and The Brutalist? In the Scl Awards’ previous five years, they agreed with the Oscars three times: Joker (2019), Soul (2020), and Oppenheimer (2023). In 2021, the Scl voted for Encanto (studio) and The Green Knight (independent), but the Oscar went to Dune. And for 2022, the Scl picked Nope (studio) and Everything Everywhere All at Once (independent), while the Oscars opted for All Quiet on the Western Front.

Universal dropped the first trailer for the DreamWorks “How to Train Your Dragon” live-action remake on February 12, following the high-flying teaser seen during the Super Bowl. IndieWire got a sneak peek of the trailer (boasting some familiar moments from the animated original) and three scenes at a recent Universal presentation at the studio with director Dean DeBlois.

The live-action remake revisits the Viking dragon slayers on the island of Berk, led by Chief Stoic (reprised by Gerard Butler). The new film concerns the secret friendship between Stoic’s son, Hiccup (Mason Thames), and Toothless, the rare Night Rider dragon. The focus of the trailer and footage was on big-screen spectacle.

In the first scene, Hiccup awkwardly struggles during dragon training, while the badass Astrid (Nico Parker) excels with more talent and confidence. In the second scene, Hiccup disastrously attempts to tame a wild dragon during his test of courage in the arena,...

Dean DeBlois is getting ready to show off footage from his live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon.” But he wants to explain some things first.

The filmmaker — an animation legend who made “Lilo & Stitch” and the original “How to Train Your Dragon” with Chris Sanders and directed two more “How to Train Your Dragon” installments for DreamWorks Animation on his own — had flirted with live-action filmmaking before. He had sold a number of spec scripts, including “Sightings,” which would have beaten “Stranger Things” to the Spielbergian punch by a good decade. But none of those materialized. Now, with “How to Train Your Dragon” (2025), he finally has his shot.

“I myself am not a huge fan of the animation-to-live-action trend,” DeBlois admitted to TheWrap from an edit bay on the Universal Studios lot. “Universal wanted to revisit this story. It’s like, ‘We’re going to do it. Let...

You might expect that a man who has been doing production and set design on feature films for more than 30 years would be a bit jaded, and that earning a seventh Academy Award nomination for his work would be met with a shrug. But that’s not how it’s been for Nathan Crowley. Instead, the man who has made a career of being Christopher Nolan’s go-to production designer exudes joy and excitement while discussing his Oscar bid for Wicked on the eve of final voting on Feb. 11.

“I just wish we could do it all again,” asserts Crowley (watch his full Gold Derby interview above). When his interviewer expresses surprise at this declaration given that the usual feeling is one of relief, he assures, “I think we’ve all been spoiled, because nothing will live up to that experience. I look back on the two years I was...

Though the Academy deemed Wicked ineligible for Best Original Song, they’ve reportedly decided to open the 2025 Oscars with a medley from the film musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

The news comes from Matthew Belloni’s What I’m Hearing newsletter, in which the Hollywood insider reports that the Academy made the decision along with the show’s executive producers.

“I’m told that the Academy and executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan have decided to open the show with a Wicked medley, featuring stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo,” Belloni wrote. “Which makes sense. In a year with mostly little-seen nominees, the telecast is leading with its best asset. (The Academy declined to comment.)”

As we previously explained, none of the songs from Wicked were eligible for the Oscars because they didn’t meet the Academy’s requirements of being “written specifically for the motion picture.

John Powell and Stephen Schwartz didn’t feel slighted that their score for Wicked was largely overlooked by awards groups in the run-up to the Oscar nominations. “No critics gave us any kind of recognition whatsoever,” Powell told Gold Derby, “and I take that sort of as a compliment.” That’s because, “if we did our job right,” then the audience, and critics among them, “would need to completely think that [this music was from] the musical and that it was already in existence.”

Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

But then the Motion Picture Academy bestowed a Best Score nomination upon the Wicked duo, and they felt validated. “You’re nominated by basically a bunch of other composers, lyricists, and music editors as well — music people. And they’re the ones that sort of sat through it and suddenly realized, holy sh-t, this is completely different, but it’s a hell of a job.

Final voting is February 11-18. The 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2 and air live on ABC at 7 p.m. Et/ 4 p.m. Pt. We update our picks throughout awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.

The State of the Race

The Best Original Score nominees are “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked,” and “The Wild Robot.” Daniel Blumberg’s score for “The Brutalist” is the favorite for his unnerving “slabs of sound,” but Volker Bertelmann could win his second consecutive Oscar for “Conclave,” and “Wicked” could also be triumphant for its immense popularity.

For “The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet’s VisaVision epic, about the struggle to build an institute in post-World War II Pennsylvania, starring Oscar-nominated Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce, the director tapped experimental composer Blumberg for his second score. Envisioning the score as “slabs of sound,” the music developed into a...

Hans Zimmer‘s Dune: Part Two score beat the odds on Sunday to win the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. The victory comes after the Oscars declared the score ineligible because it contained too much music carried over from Dune: Part One. Denis Villeneuve‘s epic sequel to his adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s 1965 book did end up receiving five Oscar nominations: picture, sound, production design, cinematography, and visual effects.

Zimmer, who wasn’t present to accept his award, now has five Grammys in his illustrious career. He previously won for scoring The Dark Knight, Crimson Tide, and The Lion King, plus the “Circle of Life” song from the latter.

This isn’t the first time an Oscar-disqualified soundtrack went on to win the Grammy. Antonio Sánchez‘s score for Birdman was likewise ruled ineligible at the Oscars but claimed the Grammy in 2015.

Challengers, the hit film starring Zendaya,...

As the devastation of the Palisades and Eaton fires continues to rock Los Angeles to its core, and other blazes pop up around the Southern Californian city, residents continue to stay on high alert. Evacuations have come with the wind’s sudden change of direction, so staying vigilant is something very familiar to those who call the City of Angels home. Shaken out of bed on Thursday morning was Grammy-nominated film composer, John Powell, but this time, it wasn’t a city-wide evacuation alert. Instead, it was a glimmer of hope — some terrific news from Wicked director Jon M. Chu telling him that he had been nominated for Best Original Score at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards.

John Powell is a very busy man, and as usual, his work is hitting those high notes. Hot off his second Oscar nomination for Wicked yesterday, for Best Original Score, Powell has already moved on to revisiting a story that helped define his career in the shape of How to Train Your Dragon. Yesterday, when speaking to Collider’s Meredith Loftus, in the wake of the exciting news, Powell opened up on his thoughts about the unique challenges of adapting the beloved animated classic into a live-action film, while trying to retain that same magic.

“Emilia Pérez” and “Wicked” emerged January 23 as the two Oscar craft juggernauts, scoring seven nominations apiece and setting up a battle of the musicals at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2. This matches the seven craft nominations of last year’s eventual Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer.”

Jacques Audiard’s operatic thriller “Emilia Pérez” grabbed cinematography (Paul Guillaume), makeup and hairstyling, editing (Juliette Welfling), score (Clément Ducol and Camille), sound, and two original songs (“El Mal” by Clément Ducol and Camille and Audiard and “Mi Camino” by Camille and Ducol).

Jon M. Chu’s populist blockbuster “Wicked” captured costume design (Paul Tazewell), production design, makeup and hairstyling, editing (Myron Kerstein), sound, score (John Powell and Stephen Schwartz), and VFX.

Sharing four noms were “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” and “Nosferatu.”

Brady Corbet’s post-Holocaust immigrant drama “The Brutalist” nabbed cinematography (Lol Crawley in retro VistaVision), production design, editing (David Jancso...

Do me a favor. Grab your headphones, turn to your music app of choice, and press play on Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score for "Challengers," Luca Guadagnino's 2024 film about sex, tennis, and power. I'll wait while you listen.

How freaking powerful does that score make you feel? I'll tell you this much: When I went to see "Challengers" at my local movie theater last spring on a random Thursday afternoon, I left the showing feeling like I could run a marathon or perhaps lift a car. That was partly due to the stunning lead performances by Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist as the most twisted tennis threesome of all time — as well as Guadagnino's cinematography, which he crafted alongside his director of photography Sayombhu Mukdeeprom — but quite a lot of the adrenaline I felt after seeing "Challengers" was thanks to its pounding, aggressive score. Reznor and Ross,...

Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced today by actor-writer-comedians Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang in a virtual presentation that revealed the nominees in all 23 Academy Award categories. The 97th Oscars airs Sunday, 2 March, with the in-person event taking place at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

And the nominees are…

Best Picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

Actor In A Leading Role

Adrien Brody - The Brutalist

Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo - Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes - Conclave

Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice

Actor In A Supporting Role

Yura Borisov - Anora

Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce - The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice

Actress In A Leading Role...

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), is scheduled to take place on March 2nd at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with Conan O’Brien hosting… but before we get to the ceremony, we need to know the nominees. This morning, actor/writer/comedians Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang were tasked with announcing the 2025 Oscar nominations – and the list of nominees can now be seen below!

Best Picture

Anora – Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, and Sean Baker

The Brutalist – Nominees to be determined

A Complete Unknown – Fred Berger, James Mangold, and Alex Heineman

Conclave – Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, and Michael A. Jackman

Dune: Part Two – Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe, and Denis Villeneuve

Emilia Pérez – Nominees to be determined

I’m Still Here – Nominees to be determined

Nickel Boys – Nominees to be determined

The Substance – Nominees to be determined

Wicked – Marc Platt...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards (Oscars), set to honour the outstanding films of 2024. Originally delayed due to the Los Angeles wildfires, the announcement was made on January 23, from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Brady Corbet’s ‘The Brutalist’ leads the pack with multiple nominations, lauded for its ambitious narrative chronicling the life of an immigrant architect in mid-20th-century America.

The Best Actress category has drawn significant attention, with Demi Moore (The Substance) and Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) leading the conversation. Moore’s performance has been hailed as one of the best of her career, while Gascón’s nomination is historic, representing a landmark moment for transgender actors in Hollywood.

In the Best Actor category, Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) stands out for his deeply moving portrayal of a prison inmate seeking redemption.

‘Conclave,’ a gripping...

One of the most open-wide races in years is coming into focus. “Emilia Pérez” led all nominees for the 97th Academy Awards with 13, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Its haul sets a new record for a film not in English. “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” tied for second place with 10 each, both also receiving nods for picture. Brady Corbet was also nominated for directing and Adrien Brody scored a lead actor nom, his first since winning for “The Piano” in 2003.

More major milestones: “Conclave” supporting actress Isabella Rossellini earned her first nomination, 46 years after her mother Ingrid Bergman’s final nom. Demi Moore also earned her first nomination, for her lead performance in Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror film “The Substance.” Fargeat became the ninth woman to ever be nominated for directing, following her fellow Frenchwoman Justine Triet (“Anatomy of a Fall”) last year. Fargeat also...

The 2025 Oscar nominations spotlight a significant slice of the best films of 2024, with this year’s nominees ranging the gamut from are all set to recognize an incredible range of movies, including Pope-picking drama Conclave, Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, and Jesse Eisenberg’s intimate character study A Real Pain.

Netflix’s Emilia Pérez emerged as one of this year’s frontrunners, receiving 13 nominations across 12 categories — star Karla Sofía Gascón notably made history as the first trans actress to be nominated for Lead Actress. The film was also nominated twice in the Original Song category (for the tracks “El Mal” and “Mi Camino”) and director Jacques Audiard received one of the five Best Directing slots.

The Brutalist, meanwhile, earned not just Best Picture, Directing, and Original Screenplay recognition, but picked up nominations for three of its key cast members: Adrian Brody, Guy Pearce, and Felicity Jones. Wicked director Jon M. Chu...

“Wicked” composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz is set to receive the Icon Award from the Guild of Music Supervisors.

Schwartz musical credits include “Enchanted,” “Godspell” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Music producer Bonnie Greenberg is set to receive the Guild’s Legacy Award.

In a joint statement, Gms president Lindsay Wolfington and VP Heather Guibert said, “The Guild of Music Supervisors Awards is a night of coming together in our community, and we need this more than ever. This year, we are thrilled to honor Stephen Schwartz and Bonnie Greenberg with our Icon and Legacy awards. Their individual contributions to the craft of storytelling with music are immeasurable and have had an indelible impact on our community.”

Previous recipients of the Icon Award include Robbie Robertson, Paul Williams, Diane Warren, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Kenny Loggins and Marc Shaiman. Previous recipients of the Legacy Award include Allan Mason, Pilar McCurry,...

“When you walk into a room and it’s pink – what does that sound like?”

That was the question presented to composer John Powell, who is partly responsible for the music in Universal’s blockbuster adaptation of “Wicked.” You can watch a new featurette about his score below. Yes, he is wearing a T-shirt that says “My Dog Thinks I’m Cool.” And yes, that is amazing.

Powell, whose previous work includes “The Bourne Identity,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” admits in the video that he never saw the original stage version of “Wicked.” “I asked if this was a problem,” he recounts in the featurette. “But we all agreed that maybe it wasn’t. As I started to write new things, I absorbed all of [original composer] Stephen [Schwartz]’s material into my muscles. It’s very much a cinematic version of his language.”

Director Jon M. Chu...

Smash hit musical Wicked will be available to stream for a premium price this week ahead of a physical media release in February.

Not too many Broadway musicals have had the impact that Wicked has had over the last 20 years or so. With a book by Winnie Holzman based on Gregory Maguire’s novel and taking place both before and around the events of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz and its iconic 1939 film adaptation, the story follows Elphaba Thropp, a girl born with green skin who will become the Wicked Witch of the West.

She accompanies her paraplegic sister, Nessarose, to Shiz University. On arrival, she accidentally unleashes a burst of magic, attracting the attention of Madame Morrible, who enrols her at the school and forces popular socialite Galinda to share her room, sparking a mutual loathing between the girls. This covers the majority of part one,...

Stephen Schwartz will see you now. The worthier wizard of “Wicked” is the one who wrote one of Broadway’s all-time top song scores and now, a little over two decades later, has overseen the transition of that music into a film that is almost certainly on the fast track for Best Picture contention. He is not the only veteran of the seminal Broadway team on board for the music, either, as the soundtrack finds him rejoined by the stage production’s original arranger and music supervisor, Stephen Oremus.

It’s a world-class Team of Stephens. Beyond having been the primary instigator behind turning “Wicked” into a stage musical (drawn from Gregory Maguire’s book), Schwartz is renowned for winning six Tonys and three Oscars as the composer and/or lyricist of the shows “Pippin” and “Godspell” and films like “Enchanted.” Oremus, meanwhile, is a Tony winner for his orchestrations...

There’s a secret magic hidden just below the surface in the Land of Oz. No, it’s not the Grimmerie, nor even the many aspects of visual design crafted by the production team of “Wicked.” It’s the film’s score, which builds on Stephen Schwartz’s classic Broadway compositions and allows director Jon M. Chu to stretch and extend sequences so cinematic moments can really land. Composer John Powell created these musical bridges across numbers and across the Emerald City, but he got the job without having seen any version of “Wicked” before.

“I knew some of the songs, obviously,” Powell told IndieWire. “One of my first gigs in Hollywood was working on the songs of ‘The Prince of Egypt’ with Stephen [Schwartz] and Hans [Zimmer] and so I had to admit to him that I’d never seen the musical.”

But that outsider perspective was invaluable to the music team on “Wicked,...

Need something new to watch on Netflix? With the holidays upon us, no doubt folks are about to do some much deserved clocking out of work and settling in for streaming hours. Netflix has a surprisingly short supply of new movies this month, with less than 10 archival films announced to arrive on the first (when the bulk of new titles are usually added) and a slighter-than-usual handful of originals too. Not to worry, we were still able to handpick five must-watch titles among the bunch, so here’s this month’s curated list of the best new movies on Netflix right now.

Netflix ‘That Christmas’

Co-written and produced by “Love Actually” filmmaker Richard Curtis and based on Curtis’ trilogy of popular children’s books, the animated holiday film “That Christmas” stages a series of intertwined Christmas tales in a fashion that will be familiar to any “Love Actually” fan. Featuring...

This article is part of ScreenRant 's Exclusive 2025 Movie Preview. Keep an eye out for the full feature next week!

The highly anticipated live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon has unveiled a new image featuring Hiccup (Mason Thames) and Astrid (Nico Parker) in what appears to be a tense battle. Directed by Dean DeBlois, who helmed the original animated trilogy based on Cressida Cowell's novel, the upcoming fantasy film reimagines the beloved 2010 DreamWorks classic with an all-star How to Train Your Dragon cast, including Gerard Butler reprising his role as Stoick the Vast. Set for release on June 13, 2025, this marks DreamWorks Animation’s first venture into live-action filmmaking.

ScreenRant shares a new image of How To Train Your Dragon where Hiccup and Astrid lie side by side as they look out from under a dusty wooden palette in a mix of fear and curiosity. Clad in Viking...

Leading contenders for the Society of Composers & Lyricists’ 2025 Scl Awards include “Emilia Pérez” composers Clément Ducol and Camille, who picked up three nominations, for their score and for two original songs from the musical drama. Matching that number as an individual was Atticus Ross, whose three nominations are split between his scoring work on “Shōgun” and a song for “Challengers.”

The Scl’s nominations in eight film, television and interactive media categories were announced Wednesday morning, with the awards program scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 12. Scroll down to see the full list of nominees.

The org’s annual Spirit of Collaboration Award will be given at the event to composer Harry Gregson-Williams and director Ridley Scott, in honor of an ongoing partnership that has resulted in “Gladiator II” being their seventh film together. Last year the same award went to Martin Scorsese and the late Robbie Robertson.

Oscar-Grammy-Emmy winner Atticus Ross and the duo behind the music in Emilia Pérez lead the nominees at the 2025 Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards.

Ross earned two nominations for his musical work on Shogun and a nod for “Compress/Repress” from Challengers. Clément Ducol and Camille received three nominations for the Netflix film starring Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, including two bids for outstanding original song for a comedy or musical visual media production. Ross, Ducol and Camille’s works have been shortlisted at the Academy Awards; nine of the 15 songs shortlisted are nominated at the Scl Awards, while six scores shortlisted made the Scl list.

The 6th annual Scl Awards, which celebrate excellence and innovation in music for visual media, will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 12 and hosted by singer-songwriter Colin Hay.

Other nominees include Miley Cyrus for “Beautiful That Way” from The Last Showgirl; Elton John and...