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John Travolta has signed on to star in the thriller ‘Black Tides’.The 71-year-old actor is set to lead director Renny Harlin’s upcoming movie, where he will play a father forced to battle orcas at sea, Deadline reports.‘Black Tides’ tells the story of Bill Pierce (Travolta), an estranged father who attempts to reconnect with his daughter and grandson.However, their reunion takes a terrifying turn when their boat is attacked by rogue orcas off the southern coast of Spain, forcing them into a desperate fight for survival. The movie - which is slated to begin filming at the end of the summer - will reportedly be “shot old-school, with in-camera effects and real water work”.‘Black Tides’ will be co-written by ‘Buried’ scribe Chris Sparling and ‘Apocalypse Z’s Ángel Agudo, while Adrián Guerra and Nuria Valls produce for Nostromo Pictures.Harlin told Deadline of Travolta’s casting:...

Last week, The Discourse spent a couple of days being dominated by a New York magazine article with a title as stark as it was alarming: “Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College.” It turns out A.I. tools make it so easy for students to let robots write their papers that any moral qualms they might have about it go flying out the window. But before you fall into a terror spiral about future bridges you may want to drive on being designed by engineers who got their degrees thanks to ChatGPT, consider soothing your nerves with a college sitcom in which no one is using A.I. to plagiarize their homework because homework barely comes up at all.

Overcompensating may be set in the present day and revolve around a closeted queer kid, but it’s a late 20th century throwback in the most satisfying possible way.

Overcompensating...

Ahead of her directorial debut, ask the actor about her 00s romcoms, working with Heath Ledger and Julia Roberts and whether she is still a Duran Duran fan

Julia Stiles has been on our screens for almost three decades. After studying theatre in New York as a child, Stiles was cast as a disturbed teenager in the 1998 Michael Steinberg thriller Wicked. This led to her break-out role as the antisocial older sister of Larisa Oleynik and potential girlfriend of bad boy Heath Ledger in the 1999 Shakespeare-influenced 10 Things I Hate About You (based on The Taming of the Shrew). On screen, she then dated Freddie Prinze Jr in Down to You, and swapped ballet for hip-hop with Sean Patrick Thomas in Save the Last Dance.

As Stiles grew up, so did her characters. She played a young assistant to Betty Rizzo from Grease (Stockard Channing) in The Business of Strangers.

In the short time we got to know Louis Tomeo’s Days of Our Lives character, Aaron, we grew to like him. He was Tate’s friend who proved his loyalty by taking the young Black’s place at lacrosse camp so his buddy could be with Holly. And while Aaron’s had to deal with family drama in the form of Clyde forcing his sister Cat to pretend to be Abigail come back from the dead, he had a far more heartbreaking situation in real life which he shared on social media.

He Was a Grandma’s Boy

Tomeo shared several pictures on Instagram and wrote, “If you know me, you know I’m a total grandma’s boy,” he began, continuing, “If indeed you knew me, you knew also that I wore my grandparents about my person like armor. Their legacy and importance in my family was regal.

Did Quentin Tarantino Make John Travolta Play A Board Game Before Offering Pulp Fiction? (Photo Credit – Prime Video/Instagram)

Before Vincent Vega slicked back his hair and danced his way into movie history, John Travolta literally had to roll the dice. Quentin Tarantino, the mastermind behind Pulp Fiction, had an oddly specific way of casting his Vega. And it all started with a throwback game night.

At a Supanova Comic Con event in Adelaide, Travolta remembered the night Tarantino invited him not to talk scripts or rehearse lines but to play board games based on Travolta’s old hits. “All he wanted to do was spend the evening playing board games of my old movies,” Travolta recalled (in an interview with Nz Herald). “For instance, we played the Grease board game, we played the Saturday Night Fever board game, we played the Welcome Back, Kotter board game.”

Quentin Tarantino had...

John Travolta has enjoyed a brilliant career, and he continues to amaze us with his talent. But behind the glitz and the glamour and the Hollywood red carpets, the actor’s personal life has been marked by several tragedies.

Not only did Travolta lose his former girlfriend to cancer, but over the years, he has lost several more dear and loved ones. That includes his wife, actress Kelly Preston, and their son Jett. Here is a walk down memory lane into the life of the Pulp Fiction star.

John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994) | Miramax Films How did John Travolta lose his son and wife?

John Travolta first met in 1989, on the set of The Experts. After a couple of years and several relationships with other people, the two finally married in 1991, and since that day, they were inseparable until the actress’s unfortunate passing. They had three kids together, sons Jett and Benjamin,...

On April 4, Deadline shared a first look at Prime Video‘s new YA street racing series Motorheads, which will premiere on May 20. The streamer ordered the "coming of age" series in November 2023 and announced the main cast.

Audiences will follow a group of outsider teens who bond over their love for adrenaline and speed from automobiles as they try to overcome the aches and pains of growing up. The series sounds similar to a mix between The Outsiders, Outer Banks, and Grease in the best possible ways: budding teen romance, a found family friend group, and adventures that will last a lifetime.

Deadline shared the series' synopsis, from writer-showrunner John A. Norris:

"Motorheads is about first love, first heartbreak, and turning the key in your very first car. Set in a once-thriving rust-belt town that’s now searching for a glimmer of hope, the series is the adrenaline-filled story...

Photo: McKenzie Westmore, Paul Greene

Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Desert Reign Films

Hallmark has announced a new rom-com, seeing the return of Paul Greene to the feel-good network. He stars alongside McKenzie Westmore, Gail O’Grady and Lorenzo Lamas in the colorful movie, Love In The Clouds.

The movie is filmed against the backdrop of the annual Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico and reveals love reaching new heights. Read on to learn more about the movie and its cast, and enjoy photos taken on the film set.

Love In The Clouds on Hallmark Channel Photo: Gail O’Grady

Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Courtesy Desert Reign Films

According to Film New Mexico, Love In The Clouds follows the unlikely romance between a free-spirited hot air balloon pilot and a grounded, by-the-book TV reporter. Along the way, sparks fly as their paths intersect amidst the stunning backdrop of the Balloon Fiesta and...

I never like telling people they’re wrong about what they think. But sometimes, when I hear people say things, it seems like they’re not telling you what they think at all. They’re repeating observations they’ve heard but haven’t really thought much about. Spend a few minutes digging through those thoughts, and suddenly they no longer make sense.

3 ‘Why Can’t Hollywood Cast Actual Teenagers to Play Teenagers?’

You’ve heard it before: Actors who play teenagers are too old, and that’s stupid. It was silly decades ago with kids on 90210 sporting receding hairlines, and it’s silly now with that one student on Stranger Things hiding deep wrinkles. How about you try casting a real teen for once? Not only will they look more convincing, they’ll act more convincingly because they’re authentically playing someone like themselves.

Emi Films

Angela Lansbury was 53 when Grease came out!

The Force is with Chewbacca!

Chewbacca’s bowcaster, used in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, has sold for $768,600. The item was one of 450 items for bidding by Propstore, a memorabilia company, at its Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction in Los Angeles.

According to the item’s official description, the photo-matched bowcaster prop was used in every film of the original “Star Wars” trilogy, with restored dressing components. It was estimated to fetch $300,000 to $600,000. Chewbacca’s signature bowcaster served as his primary weapon in “Star Wars: A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”

Other items up for bidding included the ghost catcher and pedal from “Ghostbusters,” which sold for $327,600, while Conan’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) Atlantean Sword from “Conan the Barbarian” — along with four behind-the-scenes photos — sold for $176,400.

Michael Keaton’s Batsuit, worn by the actor in “Batman Returns,” fetched $157,500. Notable costumes sold included John Travolta’s T-Birds...

April 2025 is bringing plenty of exciting new shows, movies, and events to Peacock! Whether you’re into thrilling dramas, comedies, or family-friendly content, there’s something for everyone. In this article, we’ll take a look at all the fresh titles you can enjoy next month on the streaming service. Get ready for some great entertainment!

1. Girl You Know It’s True (April 4)

Girl You Know It’s True (2023) is a film that tells the story of dancers Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, who gained fame in the late 80s as the pop duo Milli Vanilli. Despite their success, the duo never actually sang on their songs or debut album.

When the truth about their lip-syncing was exposed, it led to one of the biggest scandals in music history. The film is directed and written by Simon Verhoeven and stars Tijan Njie, Elan Ben Ali, and Matthias Schweighöfer.

2. WrestleMania IX: Becoming a...

When you think of songs written specifically for movies, you probably think of one of two things. First, songs from borderline-or-full-blown musicals that then became huge in their own right, like “Shallow” from A Star Is Born or “The One That I Want” from Grease. The other is god-awful songs about whatever’s happening in some terrible movie that are usually a lowlight of an artist’s catalogue, like Eminem’s “Venom.”

Occasionally, though, a song that was meant to serve as a complement to a movie becomes an unmitigated success in its own right, sometimes even eclipsing the lasting power of the movie itself.

Here are 11 legitimate hit songs you might not realize were written for a movie…

[subtitle]11‘Iris’ by the Goo Goo Dolls[/subtitle]

The Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” is an absolutely iconic part of the late 1990s cultural landscape. Much more so than the movie it was actually written for,...

All week, the cohosts of The View have, like many segments of the mainstream media, been talking at length about the national security blunder now known as the “Signal Scandal,” in which top-tier officials, including cabinet members, accidentally added a journalist to their discussion of impending strike plans in Yemen. The severity of the mistake has captured the attention of the nation for days, and now, Ana Navarro thinks Donald Trump‘s administration has finally found a way to change the conversation: by sending Jd Vance to Greenland as part of Trump’s supposed mission to acquire the territory, which is currently part of Denmark. Navarro, who channeled Sandy from Grease with her sharp leather jacket, shared reports that second lady Usha Vance’s prep team was unable to find a local family who would welcome her because they all oppose the Trump-Vance policies and added, “There’s all...

The first day of Propstore’s huge film and TV memorabilia auction was a success with over 450 items sold. More details below.

Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction kicked off yesterday and it’s safe to say the first day was a success.

Over 450 items of film and TV memorabilia were sold for a whopping total of $6,800,000. That’s an eye-watering amount of money, but among the items sold were some rare and pretty iconic pieces of memorabilia.

One of the biggest sellers was Chewbacca’s Bowcaster with Restored Dressing Components from the original Star Wars trilogy. The bow went for $768, 600 in the end, but it was originally estimated to go for around $500,000. People just love Chewie, I guess.

As far as bowcasters go, this one is pretty nice. Credit: Popstore

A ghost trap and pedal from Ghostbusters also fetched a respectable $327,600 while someone paid $81,900 for Michael Gambon’s robe...

Peacock has announced the lineup of movies, TV shows, and live sports that will be available on the streaming service in April. The Peacock April 2025 schedule includes the Original documentary WrestleMania IX: Becoming a Spectacle, offering a behind-the-scenes look and featuring never-before-seen footage of the 1993 Las Vegas extravaganza that promised fans a WWE event unlike any other.

Plus, don’t miss WrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, at 7 Et/4 Pt, streaming Live on Peacock. The action doesn’t stop there; April 17 marks the highly anticipated return of Detective Elliot Stabler in Peacock’s Original Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5.

Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5

For a dose of nostalgia, come and knock on our door – Three’s Company is coming to Peacock on March 31! Stream all eight seasons of the beloved ’70s sitcom and relive the hilarious hijinks of Jack, Janet, and Chrissy. Speaking of TV neighbors that we love,...

[Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2022 and has been updated multiple times since.]

Movies might seem like magic, but Hollywood’s favorite actors, directors, producers, stunt performers, props masters, costumers, script coordinators, and cinematographers are still only human. Since before that child extra prematurely covered his ears for Eva Marie Saint shooting Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” audiences have delighted in finding the little moments that make their favorite films imperfect.

Like freckles on a human face, mistakes can make movies infinitely more special to the audiences that love them. Consider the clumsy stormtrooper of “A New Hope,” whose hilariously audible collision with an Imperial spaceship doorframe turned the extra’s true identity into an ongoing mystery for the Star Wars ages. Or, for “The Lord of the Rings” fans among us, there’s the anachronistic automobile appearing in “Fellowship of the Ring” right alongside Sam and Frodo. As for the Wizarding World, how about that bike seat on Harry’s broomstick?...

If one of your favorite versions of the famed webhead from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) was Spider-Man Noir — voiced to perfection by Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage — then fret not. That's not the last you've heard from the scene-stealing webslinger. In fact, Cage will be reprising his role in glorious live-action form with a highly anticipated new Spider-Man series for MGM+, Spider-Noir. It features a stellar cast alongside the celebrated star, including longtime performer Lukas Haas. MovieWeb recently caught up with Haas while he was promoting the release of his new caper film High Rollers, a quick follow-up to last year's release Cash Out. Haas also took time to reflect on his experience shooting Spider-Noir.

"It was a really, really cool project to be a part of. I had a great time working on that. Nic is so cool and awesome," Haas told us. "And Brendan Gleeson is amazing. He plays my boss.

John Travolta is an iconic actor, but his career has taken various twists and turns. The actor rose to stardom in the 1970s when he played a role in the television series Welcome Back, Kotter. His TV fame helped land him his iconic role in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, playing smooth-dancing Tony Manero. Soon, Travolta portrayed an equally notable role in the musical Grease as the leading male love interest, Danny Zuko. Travolta has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction.

Despite his status as an Academy Award nominee, Travolta has had plenty of misses in his career. The actor has had multiple movies score a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, including Look Who's Talking Now, Speed Kills, The Poison Rose, Staying Alive, and Life on the Line. While these scores were particularly lacking, he boasts a whole additional host of titles with single-digit scores,...

Exclusive: Rachel Dratch and Amy Spanger are the latest stars to join next week’s one-night-only Vape! The Grease Parody benefit for the Entertainment Community Fund.

Vape! The Grease Parody, set for Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 pm/Et at The Town Hall in New York City has not completed its casting. Dratch, who will play Teen Angel, and Spanger, as Marty, join the previously announced Kerry Butler (Sandy), James Carpinello (Danny), Ann Harada (Jan) Jackie Hoffman (Rizzo), Aisha Jackson (Frenchie), Joel Perez (Kenickie) and Jelani Remy (Sonny).

Vape! is a send-up of the iconic musical Grease, poking fun, as the synopsis states, “at all the wonderful moments, sexual innuendos, outrageous characters, rivalries and secret romances from the original, while taking a satirical look at the state of youth culture today, which may have evolved,...

Conan O'Brien has been tapped as the host of the 97th Academy Awards, and while O'Brien is a consummate performer and comedian and he's hosted other awards shows like the Emmys, this will be his first go-round at the Oscars. Naturally, with almost 100 past ceremonies, many of them being broadcast on network television and seen by millions across the world, there are plenty of preferences audiences may have about what he should do while on stage. Should he do a riff a la Billy Crystal and insert himself into the scenes of some of this year's big contenders? Should he playfully mock the people in the audience in the hopes of roasting them just spicily enough? Or perhaps he'll do a musical number? 

O'Brien may not be seen as a singer first, but he has performed songs live, such as when he showed up in a live performance celebrating "The Simpsons" at the Hollywood Bowl,...

Picture: The Super Mario Bros Movie – Illumination Studios

It’s a busy end to February on Netflix UK with 45 new additions to the library this week, including Illumination’s Super Mario Bros movie, Kate Hudson’s new Netflix comedy Running Point, and every episode of the first season of Pokemon Horizons.

First of all, here are the week’s highlights:

The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023)

Director: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic

Genre: Animated, Action, Adventure | Runtime: 92 Minutes

Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key

Illumination Studios greatly adapted one of the world’s most iconic and beloved video games. With plenty of action and easter eggs galore, it’s one to watch with all the family this weekend.

Mario and Luigi, the plumber duo from Brooklyn, are transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, where they find themselves in a conflict between the mushroom princess, Peach, and the tyrannical fire-breathing turtle Bowser,...

Secret Cinema, sort of under new ownership, will be back this summer with a Grease production taking place in London.

Considering how much it used to dominate some of the UK entertainment website headlines, things have been awfully quiet in the world of Secret Cinema for the last few years. Right up until the pesky pandemic, it was putting on premium priced event screenings of films, surrounded by attractions and such like related to the movie in question. Films such as Back To The Future, The Empire Strikes Back and Dirty Dancing were amongst the higher profile attractions. Over time, the price went up and the pushback grew, but tickets still sold in great numbers.

Covid-19 though changed everything, and a controlling interest in the company was sold. That deal went through in November 2022, with TodayTix Production Holdings Limited taking a 75% controlling stake in Secret Cinema. Since then, very little.

The 2025 SAG Awards honored a slew of actors Sunday night, but the ceremony also paid homage to the city of Los Angeles after the devastating wildfires in January.

Host Kristen Bell kicked off the night with a monologue, in which she gave thanks to the firefighters in attendance for their heroic acts. Later, a tribute video was played to honor the hub of the entertainment industry. Clips from various iconic films and shows — including Grease, La La Land, Clueless, Baywatch and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air — graced the big screen, highlighting the ambition and hope of L.A. even amid such travesty.

The L.A. wildfires ignited on Jan. 7 in the Pacific Palisades before spreading across Los Angeles County. At least 29 people died due to the natural disaster while thousands were displaced or lost their homes. Many Hollywood stars lost their homes in the blaze, including Mandy Moore, Anna Faris,...

Many actors have a sliding doors moment in their career when they pass up a choice role in a soon-to-be iconic movie. For some, it isn't a huge deal. Denzel Washington, for example, already had two Oscar nominations and one win under his belt by the time he decided he didn't want to star in David Fincher's "Se7en." Sure, he later came to regret turning away one of the defining films of the '90s, but he was already an established star and would be just fine without it. That isn't always the case when an actor hasn't quite built up the body of work to go around rejecting great parts –- just take Henry Winkler and Danny Zuko in "Grease."

Winkler was virtual unknown when he won the chance to play Fonzie on "Happy Days." Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli started out as a minor supporting character but quickly...

It’s a quieter week on Netflix UK, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some excellent new additions to the library. This week, Netflix’s exciting new political thriller Zero Day, starring Robert De Niro, is added, and Gladiator and The Theory of Everything return.

First of all, here’s this week’s top highlights:

Genre: Drama, ThrillerRating: TV-MARelease Date: February 20, 2025Cast: Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy CaplanLanguage: EnglishWatch on Netflix

Episodes: 6

Genre: Political, Thriller | Runtime: 45 Minutes

Cast: Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Joan Allen

Robert De Niro is back to his best in Netflix’s latest political thriller, Zero Day. Not one to miss this weekend, make sure to watch an episode or two!

After a devasting cyber attack results in thousands dead, and the threat of another attack looms, former US President George Mullen is called out of retirement to lead...

We can all agree that John Travolta's 50-year career in film has had its share of crests and nadirs. It's been an up-and-down roller coaster ride that has seen peaks like Saturday Night Fever in 1977, Grease a year later, and Pulp Fiction in 1994, while also dipping all the way down to the "valley of regret" with uneven films like Gotti and Battlefield Earth. But the legendary actor's career has not been so disparate that there haven't been some quality performances somewhere in between that deserve a little more attention.

Let’s talk about the incredible journey of John Travolta through Hollywood’s ever-changing landscape. From lighting up the screen with his legendary dance moves in the ’70s to becoming an action superstar in the ’90s, and then reinventing himself as a compelling character actor, Travolta has done it all.

John Travolta in Grease (1978) | Credits: Paramount Pictures

What’s particularly fascinating about his filmography is how certain movies reveal hidden gems every time you watch them. You know those films where you catch something new on your fifth viewing that completely flew over your head the first four times? Well, Travolta’s got quite a few of those under his belt. Here are ten of his movies that just keep getting better every time you hit that play button.

10. Face/Off (1997) Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in a still from Face/Off (1997) | Credits: Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Touchstone Pictures...

This article contains spoilers for the first three episodes of “School Spirits” Season 2.

In the first three episodes of “School Spirits” Season 2, Maddie Nears (Peyton List) realizes that while she’s stuck in limbo in the high school, her body, which has been possessed by the ghost of ’50s student Janet (Jess Gabor), is Awol.

Her friends, led by Simon (Kristian Ventura) and Xavier (Spencer MacPherson), track Janet-as-Maddie to her childhood home, but then lose her… until she unexpectedly turns up to Maddie’s very surprised mother (Maria Dizzia), who assumed that her daughter is probably dead.

The show’s creators, Oliver Goldstick, Megan Trinrud and Nate Trinrud, teased what happens in the next few episodes (which roll out on a weekly basis) and explained that huge “Veronica Mars” homage.

“School Spirits” producers Oliver Goldstick, Megan Trinrud and Nate Trinrud (Credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Paramount+)

TheWrap: We ended...

Sixty-six years ago today, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper died when their plane crashed following a show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. It’s a seminal moment in Boomer mythology that Don McLean coined “The Day the Music Died” in his 1971 hit “American Pie,” which basically invented the entire concept of Sixties nostalgia prior to Grease, Happy Days, and American Graffiti. The tragedy was also documented in countless books and articles, including this stellar Rolling Stone piece by Jonathan Cott in 2009, and dramatized in...

Some say that Hollywood is a small town, and it definitely feels like that when titbits like this surface. George Lucas is a well-known name in the industry and it turns out he was rooming with another industry legend in his younger days.

George Lucas | Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Randal Kleiser, who gave Hollywood some of its most seminal hits like Grease and Blue Lagoon, was George Lucas’ roommate. It’s a wonder that the house did not explode with the talent inside it, given how instrumental these auteurs would be in modern Hollywood.

Randal Klieser and George Lucas were part of each other’s first films Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in Grease || Paramount Pictures

The two filmmakers were in the same house and were actually instrumental in getting the other’s films off the ground. George Lucas and Randal Klieser made use of each other’s connections as well,...

Timothée Chalamet learned to play guitar and sing like Bob Dylan for “A Complete Unknown.” He also gained 20 pounds to look more like the folk music legend, he revealed an interview with NPR.

“I’ve turned over every stone. I did all the work, like you just described, physicality, behavior-wise,” Chalamet told “All Things Considered” host Ailsa Chang. “But something we haven’t really talked about, I also put on 20 pounds because, believe it or not, I was thinner than the guy.”

Chalamet is nominated for best actor for his performance in the James Mangold film, which chronicles Dylan’s arrival in New York City at age 19 in 1961 to his transformative “going electric” moment at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

The 29-year-old actor previously spoke about his body type in a November interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.

“If I auditioned for ‘The Maze Runner’ or ‘Divergent,’ things of that...

In an interview with the new PBS SoCal digital series Locationland, location manager Danny Finn describes the kismet moment when he discovered that the house used for Freaky Friday in 2003 was still standing and still owned by the same woman. Even better, she was open to allowing it to be used again for Disney’s August 2025 release, Freakier Friday.

“I called and got an old, robotic answering machine, left a Hail Mary voicemail,” Finn recalled. “Two minutes later I got a call from an unknown number and this voice answered, ‘Hi. It’s Me. Yes, I still live here. Same house, new husband, all good.’ So we ended up shooting there, which was wonderful.”

Then, last week, everything changed.

“We’ve since confirmed that that house — along with every house on that block — was lost in the Palisades Fire,” he told Locationland.

In the midst of that life-altering tragedy, Finn...

Image Source: Paramount Pictures Back in 1978, Grease took the world by storm, dominating the box office and solidifying its place as one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time. With catchy tunes, unforgettable dance numbers, and all the Danny-and-Sandy romance you could handle, it was a bonafide cultural phenomenon. Naturally, Paramount decided to ride that wave and greenlight a sequel. But here’s the twist—most of the original cast didn’t return for Grease 2, and the magic of Rydell High didn’t quite translate the second time around. The film flopped hard, pulling in less than 10% of what the original made at the box office. Ouch. Fast forward a few decades, and Grease 2 has managed to rewrite its narrative. It’s no longer just “that sequel no one went to see”—it’s a certified cult classic! From the catchy “Cool Rider” anthem to the...

Soap Hub looks at the Hits and Misses for the week of January 13-17 in the worlds of Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful,l and The Young and the Restless.

Top 10 Hits and Misses

10. Miss: Lulu blames Dante for losing Charlotte (Gh). Lulu (Alexa Havins) gets back from Prague, and she tells everybody who will listen that Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) is to blame for her losing Charlotte (Scarlett Fernandez). That whole Prague saga went wrong for so many reasons. Dante is probably last on that list. Meanwhile, Lulu’s the first.

9. Miss: Kerry falls hard for Leo’s fake pitch (Days). Kerry (Derek Yates) didn’t even wait five minutes to leak Leo’s (Greg Rikaart) “new spoilers.” Lady Whistleblower attempted to blame it on some hacked email, but come on. That deflect was weak sauce. Kerry should have known better.

8. Hit and Miss:...

We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about Severance, The Rookie, Outlander, Landman and more!

1 | If Happy’s Place‘s Bobbie has said that she’s technically old enough to be Isabella’s great-grandmother, and Gracie is supposed to be Isabella’s age, then isn’t 25-year-old Emma Kenney too young to play the part of Bobbie’s daughter?

More from TVLineSeverance Season 2 Premiere Recap: Welcome Back to the Office (Grade It!)The Rookie Boss Warns of More 'Conflict' Ahead for Nyla and James...

Wicked has hit a new high at the box office. The movie is based on the Broadway musical of the same name which tells the origin story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the future Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, and her unlikely friendship with Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera). The Wicked release kicked off the weekend before Thanksgiving in 2024 and its box office quickly rose to make it the highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation both domestically (beating 1978's Grease) and worldwide (beating Mamma Mia!).

Per Deadline, Wicked has now crossed the $700 million milestone at the global box office. This comes from a $460.6 million domestic gross with an additional $240.4 million from international markets. It is only the sixth 2024 release to have passed that milestone, following Dune: Part Two ($714.4 million), Despicable Me 4 ($969.1 million), Moana 2 ($991.3 million), Deadpool & Wolverine ($1.338 billion), and Inside Out 2 ($1.699 billion). It is also the...

The 1970s saw a variety of musical movies, of which many have now become classics, among them Grease, which has two very dark Elvis Presley coincidences, one of them the result of a tragedy. It’s not unusual for stage musicals to be adapted into movies, and in 1978, it was Grease’s turn. The musical, by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, made its debut in the early 1970s to great success, and just a couple of years later, it was brought to the big screen by director Randal Kleiser.

Grease takes the audience back to 1958 to meet the T-Birds’ greaser leader Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Australian new girl Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John). Danny and Sandy meet at the beach over the summer and fall in love, and to his surprise, when he returns to school, Sandy is the new girl. Danny and Sandy’s romance goes through many ups...

John F. Burnett, the veteran film editor who cut Grease, And Justice for All and Murder by Death and films for directors George Cukor, Blake Edwards and Sydney Pollack, has died. He was 90.

Burnett died Oct. 24 of natural causes in Lincoln, California, his son, cinematographer and producer John Earl Burnett, told The Hollywood Reporter. He said he chose not to disclose the news of his death until now for “personal family reasons.”

Burnett also worked with directors Robert Ellis Miller on The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), The Girl From Petrovka (1974) and Bed & Breakfast (1991) and with Herbert Ross on The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and The Goodbye Girl (1977).

He edited two sweeping ABC miniseries adapted from epic novels by Herman Wouk, 1983’s The Winds of War and 1990’s War and Remembrance, winning an Emmy (shared with Peter Zinner) for the latter.

Burnett got his start at Warner Bros.,...

This claim, included in Universal’s thorough and impressive list of box office achievements for 2024, is technically true: “Domestically ‘Wicked‘ is now … the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all-time at the domestic office ahead of ‘Grease’ ($188.62M).”

Also technically true is that “The Grinch” is bigger than “Gone with the Wind,” “Sing” is bigger than “Jaws,” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is bigger than “The Godfather.” Also, the 1977 first “Star Wars” is only the third biggest success of that franchise.

Presenting grosses without adjusting skews the real picture of how they compare. It is a prime case of film history erasure, an all-too common occurrence these days. The somewhat (but not impossible in most cases) effort to sort out the true success of films through history starts with adjusting box office takes to current ticket prices. Normally, that is fairly simple, since we know the costs by year and can do the math.

When Jon M. Chu, director of Wicked: For Good, explained the decision to drop Part Two from the title, he said that no one really wants to see a movie named Wicked: Part Two. The film’s script always had For Good, and they felt it made more sense to focus on the journey ahead, Variety reports.

The title connects to one of the show’s most powerful songs, where Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (played by Ariana Grande) reflect on how their bond changed them.

In December, Wicked: For Good received mixed reactions online, but the movie has become a major success, breaking records in box office history.

Chu also mentioned that there were no other titles considered. ‘For Good’ felt like the right choice, representing the culmination of their story and where they’re headed in the movie:

Who wants a movie called ‘Wicked: Part Two’? On the script,...

“Wicked: Part Two’s” official title, “Wicked: For Good,” prompted some mixed reactions online when it was first revealed in December. Director Jon M. Chu, however, believes the title of the second installment has certainly been changed for the better.

“Who wants a movie called ‘Wicked: Part Two’?” Chu told Variety on the National Board of Review Awards gala carpet on Tuesday night in New York City. “On the script, it always said, ‘For Good,’ and so it was just a point of like, ‘Do we really want to call this “Part Two”?’ And nobody wants that.”

The title is a reference to the penultimate song of the hit Broadway musical, in which Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo in the film adaptation) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) sing about how their relationship has impacted their lives. Chu noted that no other film titles were under consideration. “I mean, that’s the destination.

Live entertainment company Atg Entertainment, which has staged the likes of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Lion King, and Stranger Things: The First Shadow, has acquired Spanish theater producer and operator Som Produce.

The deal gives the company, formerly known as Ambassador Theatre Group, a foothold in the growing market of Spain, led by Madrid, the third-largest theater market worldwide.

Financial terms of the transaction, unveiled on Wednesday, were not disclosed. Atg, which owns and operates 64 live event venues, including theaters, music arenas, cinemas, and conference spaces in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany with more than 18 million audience members each year, is majority-owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners. Atg also owns ticketing platform ATGtickets.com, which processes more than 18 million tickets each year

“Through our in-house production companies and working closely with top producers and promoters Atg presents over 15,000 live performances annually, including...

Did John Travolta lose out on The Expendables 2? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Yes, That was almost the reality, folks, before John Travolta missed his shot at joining the most bro-tastic crew in Hollywood. Back in 2011, the Expendables 2 rumor mill was buzzing. One name cropped up – Travolta. David Varod, CEO of Nu Boyana, casually dropped the bombshell in an interview with Novinite.

The sequel, set to shoot in Bulgaria, was already lined up with a roster that included legends like Stallone, Statham, and Die Hard’s Bruce Willis. And then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better—Boom—Travolta was supposedly in the mix. It was supposed to be a reunion of every action icon you could imagine. Except… it never happened.

While the idea of Travolta joining the Expendables squad was a fan’s fantasy, it didn’t play out that way. Why? Well, maybe it was...

Universal's hit Broadway-musical-turned-movie Wicked arrived in theaters Nov. 22, and obsessed fans are already itching for its second act. The film instantly found a wide audience and began breaking records. Opening weekend, it earned $114 million at the domestic box office, and over $630 million globally since its release. The original record-holding classics Grease and Mamma Mia! must retire the honor — Wicked is now the highest-grossing musical adaptation of all time.

Luckily, fans won't have to wait too long to see part two. The sequel, now titled Wicked: For Good, will dance and sing its way back into theaters Nov. 21, 2025, adding it to the list of the most-anticipated movies coming out in 2025. Almost exactly one year after the release of Wicked, audiences will get to revisit the bewitching world of Oz and its enchanting leads, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande), as the duology finishes their story with a flourish. For...

Update: 2025/01/05 08:03 Est By Brennan Klein

Mufasa Comes In Below $24M Projections By A Hair, Still Takes No. 1

This article was originally written Saturday Am and has been updated Sunday Am with up-to-date box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.

Mufasa: The Lion King has finally triumphed over Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The former is the photorealistic CG-animated prequel to the 2019 remake The Lion King while the latter is the third installment in the live-action franchise adapting the long-running video game series. The Mufasa release kicked off the weekend before Christmas, debuting opposite Sonic and falling behind it at No. 2 on the domestic chart for two consecutive weekends. However, it slowly closed the gap, claiming No. 1 on the daily chart on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day, as well as other individual days in between.

Per Deadline, as of Sunday morning, the box office...

Two of John Travolta's most famous movies have topped the charts on Pluto. Grease (1978) and Pulp Fiction (1994) are currently streaming for free and sit at #6 and #7, respectively. Both movies were popular and influential when they debuted, and have stood the test of time, as new generations have discovered both. And the two movies couldn't be more different, with one being a musical and the other a crime thriller with a non-linear structure.

Travolta was coming off his hit film, Saturday Night Fever in 1977 when Grease opened a year later and became a beloved hit, earning nearly $160 million at the domestic box office on a $6 million budget (not counting releases). The instant classic about a greaser named Danny (Travolta) falling in love with Sandy (Olivia Newton John), a well-to-do girl, cemented his major movie star status, and is considered one of the greatest musicals ever.

By the time Pulp Fiction...

Wicked, Universal's beloved musical fantasy film, has achieved the extraordinary by becoming the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all time. The record was previously held by Mamma Mia!, a 2008 feel-good romance film directed by Phyllida Lloyd, which earned $610 million at the global box office. Wicked has surpassed this benchmark, amassing an astonishing $634 million worldwide after only six weeks of release.

Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), the film marks the first installment of a two-part series, which is loosely based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, L. Frank Baum's Oz books, and the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. The first musical act has surprised many fans globally, including those who typically dislike musicals.A month prior, Wicked broke the all-time domestic box office record by becoming the highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation, earning $214.3 million by its second...

Wicked just notched a huge milestone!

The 2024 film adaptation of the Broadway musical is now officially the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in global box office history, via Variety.

After bringing in over $634 million worldwide in the past six months, the movie has overtaken 2008’s Mamma Mia to achieve the feat.

Keep reading to find out more…

Mamma Mia amassed $611 million (not adjusted for inflation) by the end of its box office run.

The Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo-led film has brought in $424 million domestically and already surpassed 1978’s Grease ($188.62 million) as the biggest Broadway adaptation at the domestic box office.

Wicked: For Good is coming in 2025. Find out who is in the cast!

There are already several moments from the Part 2 film that were teased in a trailer. See them here!

Is Dorothy going to appear in the second movie? Find out what the director said!

Universal’s “Wicked” is officially the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in global box office history, overtaking 2008’s “Mamma Mia” to notch the harmonious milestone.

“Wicked” has generated $634 million worldwide after six weeks of release while “Mamma Mia” amassed $611 million (not adjusted for inflation) by the end of its box office run. “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, has earned $424 million domestically and, weeks ago, surpassed 1978’s “Grease” ($188.62 million) as the biggest Broadway adaptation at the domestic box office. These benchmarks are good news for Universal since the second half of the big-budget musical, “Wicked: For Good,” opens in 2025. This record is also notable because it bucks the recent trend of underseen stage-to-screen remakes, including 2023’s “The Color Purple” and 2021’s “West Side Story,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “In the Heights.”

Meanwhile, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” cemented a franchise record with $74 million in its international box office debut, the...

As we slide into the final episodes of the season, this crazy world is getting even crazier.

From heart attacks to the National Guard playing war games on M-Tex land to curb the drug cartels, it’s clear the story is building toward an explosive finale.

Landman Season 1 Episode 8 proves the narrative has no intention of slowing down, and I couldn’t be happier about that.

(Ryan Green/Paramount+) Just When I Thought Ainsley Was a Lost Cause…

From what I can tell, Ainsley isn’t anybody’s favorite character. She’s teetering on the brink of adulthood without the essential tools any successful adult needs to survive.

It still shocks me that she had never seen a retirement home. On Landman Season 1 Episode 7, her childlike reaction to the realization that people congregate together to die was mind-blowing.

Jessica Knight and Alden Parker: The Romance That Could Change NCIS Foreverby...