Open Thread

404 Media reports: Spotify is requiring users in the UK to verify they’re over 18 to view “certain age restricted content,” and users are reporting seeing a popup on Spotify to verify their ages following the enactment of the UK’s Online Safety Act last week, which forced platforms to verify the ages of everyone who tries to access certain kinds …

Variety reports: “South Park” will not be airing a new episode on Comedy Central this week, but that doesn’t mean creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are taking a break from targeting President Trump. In a new trailer for Season 27 Episode 2, the show’s version of Trump is seen groping Satan’s leg under a table during a public dinner …

Variety reports: Disney has released the first trailer for director James Cameron’s third “Avatar” movie, titled “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” It’s scheduled to hit theaters on December 19, 2025, three years after “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Just like “The Way of Water” introduced the aquatic Metkayina clan of Pandora, “Fire and Ash” will debut a new group called the …

Variety reports: “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is off on the right foot at the box office. Marvel‘s latest comic book adaptation has lifted off with $118 million from 4,125 North American theaters over the weekend. Those ticket sales were slightly ahead of expectations of $100 million to $110 million. “Fantastic Four,” a retro-futuristic adventure starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, …

Variety reports: David Letterman unloaded on CBS and Skydance on Friday for cancelling “The Late Show,” which he launched 32 years ago, saying the network had mistreated his successor, Stephen Colbert. In an interview posted to his YouTube channel, Letterman said he does not buy the official explanation that the show was cancelled for financial reasons. “This is pure cowardice,” …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Patrick Aiello and Timur Bekmambetov‘s reboot of War of the Worlds is debuting around the world on Prime Video on July 30. The modern-day adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel follows Will Radford (Ice Cube), a top cyber-security analyst for Homeland Security, who spends his days tracking potential threats to national security through a mass surveillance program, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: After Deadline reported a Murder, She Wrote reboot in the works at Universal, Jamie Lee Curtis has officially confirmed she’s on the case. The Oscar winner revealed she “a minute away” from taking over the late Angela Lansbury’s beloved middle-aged mystery writer and amateur sleuth role, Jessica Fletcher, in a feature adaptation of the CBS series that …

Variety reports: Sacha Baron Cohen is shocking fans with his Men’s Fitness U.K. cover story, which includes photos of the muscular body transformation he underwent before filming scenes as Mephisto in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The “Borat” creator debuted as the infamous comic book villain in the Disney+ series “Ironheart” earlier this summer. “Some celebs use Ozempic and some use …

Variety reports: The mysterious marriage and subsequent split between David Geffen and model Donovan Michaels has spilled out into the public domain. And it’s getting nasty. On Tuesday morning, Michaels, aka David Armstrong, sued the Hollywood mogul for breach of contract in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that the multi billionaire treated him like “a living social experiment — a …

Variety reports: Anne Hathaway is officially back as Andy Sachs in a first-look photo the Oscar winner and 20th Century Studios posted to social media amid filming “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 2006 comedy-drama. Hathaway is returning alongside original co-stars Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, plus director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Superman has transformed into a bonafide crowd pleaser at the box office in a much-needed inaugural win for the Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios, which is run together by James Gunn — also the film’s director — and producer Peter Safran. The big-budget tentpole was all but assured of staying atop the domestic box office in its …

The Associated Press reports: Lin-Manuel Miranda plans to use the 10th anniversary Broadway performance of his award-winning cultural phenomenon “Hamilton” as a fundraiser for a coalition of nonprofits providing immigration services. The Aug. 6 performance of “Hamilton” at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre is expected to raise about $3 million for the Immigrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition, 14 nonprofits …

Variety reports: Just hours before “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” was canceled at CBS, Jon Stewart opened up about the uncertain future of “The Daily Show” if the proposed Skydance–Paramount merger goes through. David Ellison’s Skydance Media is in the process of buying Paramount, which is the parent company of CBS and Stewart’s network Comedy Central. On Thursday’s episode …

Variety reports: The calamitous weather of recent years has taken many lives, caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage and is changing the climate and economies of countries all over the globe. But the Steve Miller Band’s 2025 North American tour may be the first to be canceled due to the ongoing trend of climate change-inducted weather disasters, rather than …

ABC News reports: The largest Mars meteorite ever found on Earth was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Wednesday for $4.3 million. The Martian rock, known as NWA 16788, weighs more than 54 pounds, is nearly 15 inches long and is 70% larger than the next biggest piece of Mars that has been recovered, according to the …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Making Pee-wee as Himself was no picnic for director Matt Wolf. He clashed with the protagonist of his film, the late Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens, over creative control — friction documented on screen. But his efforts were validated today with five Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program. …

Variety reports: If President Donald Trump, like Richard Nixon, kept an enemies list, one seemingly unlikely name would be right at the top — not a lawmaker or one of his predecessors, but the funny lady who tossed Koosh balls into the audience, and who speaks in frank and unadorned language about her disdain for him. At this point in …

Variety reports: Superman can lift up collapsing buildings, Godzilla-sized monsters and, now, the box office. “Superman,” the newly rebooted comic book adventure starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, flew to $122 million in its first weekend of release. Those are strong ticket sales, enough to rank as the year’s third-largest debut after “A Minecraft Movie” ($162 million) and …

Variety reports: It’s up, up and away for Warner Bros. and DC Studios‘ “Superman,” which got off the ground with $56.5 million across Friday and preview screenings in 4,135 theaters. That’s the second-biggest such figure for the calendar year, floating just behind “A Minecraft Movie” ($57.11 million) and ahead of “Lilo & Stitch” ($55.94 million). It’s a successful lift-off for …

Variety reports: Nick Offerman said in an interview with IndieWire while promoting his film “Sovereignty” that only “dumb people” think Ron Swanson, his beloved “Parks and Recreation” character, is a Donald Trump supporter. The actor said that MAGA supporters think Ron “must be one of us” just because he has a shotgun or something. “He would think he’s an absolute …